Digital Retail and E-commerce Awareness
Digital retail uses online channels-websites, apps and marketplaces-to sell or support sales. E-commerce awareness covers models, payments, logistics, returns, digital marketing and data safety. This domain tests whether you can distinguish channels and measure basic online performance.
Core rules and concepts
- E-commerce models: B2C (business to consumer), B2B (business to business), C2C (consumer to consumer, often via a marketplace), and D2C (brand selling directly). A marketplace connects sellers and buyers; it may not own the inventory.
- Online catalogue: product title, images, description, price, stock status, delivery time, return policy and tax details.
- Payment gateways process cards, UPI and net banking. Cash on delivery adds collection and return risk.
- Logistics includes warehousing, pick-pack-dispatch, last-mile delivery and reverse logistics for returns.
- Digital marketing includes search, social media, email and performance ads. Metrics: traffic, conversion rate, average order value, cart abandonment and return rate.
- Data safety: protect customer data, use strong passwords, and do not share OTPs or card details.
Worked example
A store website has 20,000 visitors in a month and 600 orders. Conversion rate = (600 ÷ 20,000) × 100 = 3%. Reasoning: traffic alone is not success; 3% of visitors bought. If traffic rises to 30,000 but orders stay at 600, conversion falls to 2%, so the store should examine product pages, prices, delivery charges and checkout friction.
Traps
- High traffic does not guarantee high sales.
- A marketplace seller is not the same as the marketplace operator.
- COD is not risk-free; it can increase returns and cash handling.
- Online sales do not automatically avoid tax or consumer-protection rules.