Digital Commerce

Once, when we wanted to buy a garment, a kitchen utensil or decorative garden piece, we would go to the mall or shopping center closest to our house. Today we can purchase everything we need comfortably from home, without even getting up from our sofa.

The world of shopping has gone through nothing less than a revolution thanks to the digitization that transferred the shopping experience online. Digital commerce includes a range of online activities: distribution of information by suppliers, online sale and purchase of durable goods, services, customer/product support after purchase and more. It is no secret that corona contributed in an unprecedented way to the development of this field. Dedicated websites enable the automatic purchase of products and services through payment processors, without needing to meet between seller and buyer, or to display products in-store. Thus, travel from place to place in order to make purchases is avoided.

Today there is an endless variety of products available for online purchase: clothes, food, medicine, furniture, electric appliances, toys and more. Some platforms, such as eBay, Alibaba, and Amazon, have been wildly successful. But there’s a catch. The opening of digital commerce and access to markets and products that were not previously accessible is accompanied by difficulties and challenges. What laws apply when the manufacturer is located in country A, the platform presenting the product is subject to the laws of country B, the logistics center is in country C, the courier company belongs to country D and the buyer is off in country E? How can the products or platform be properly advertised? What taxation laws apply in the purchase process, if any? Not every product can be advertised or marketed in every country, and each country has its own unique laws and restrictions. It is true that digital commerce holds many opportunities, but one must know its challenges and consulting with experts is recommended in order to understand them in depth.