MPPSC 2023 Prelims Paper-I · Question 43 of 100

Correct — A, Ability to operate 24/7. An online store has no fixed opening hours — customers can browse and buy at any time, from anywhere with internet access — which is one of e-commerce's core advantages over a physical shop.

• (b)Limited reach — This is the opposite of the truth — e-commerce actually gives WIDE, often global, market reach; 'limited reach' describes a weakness of a local physical shop, not e-commerce.
• (c)Inability to personalize the shopping experience — Also the opposite — e-commerce platforms typically personalize recommendations and offers using browsing/purchase data; this describes a weakness, not an advantage.
• (d)Higher operational costs — E-commerce generally LOWERS operational costs (no large physical storefront, smaller staff) compared to traditional retail — this describes a disadvantage, not an advantage.

E-commerce's core advantages over physical retail are round-the-clock availability, wider (often global) market reach, generally lower operational/overhead costs, and the ability to personalize offers using customer data. Each wrong option in this question states the opposite of the truth — a real disadvantage of traditional retail, not of e-commerce.

MPPSC often builds distractors by flipping the direction of a fact — describing a genuine e-commerce weakness or a traditional-retail weakness and asking students to spot the true e-commerce advantage among them.

• E-commerce enables 24/7 operation — no fixed store hours
• E-commerce typically widens market reach beyond a local area
• E-commerce generally lowers overhead costs versus a physical store
• Personalization (recommendations, targeted offers) is a strength of e-commerce, not a weakness

• Picking a technical-sounding option that is actually a disadvantage of traditional retail
• Assuming e-commerce has 'limited reach' by confusing it with a local shop

Expect a straightforward 'which is an advantage/disadvantage of e-commerce' question with three distractors that each state the opposite of the truth.

No directly related past PYQ was found.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Which of the following best describes a genuine advantage of e-commerce over traditional retail?

  • (a)Lower market reach
  • (b)Wider market reach beyond geographic boundaries
  • (c)No need for internet access
  • (d)Fixed business hours

  Answer(b) Wider market reach beyond geographic boundaries.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Personalized product recommendations on shopping websites are an example of which e-commerce advantage?

  • (a)Reduced customer engagement
  • (b)Data-driven personalization of the shopping experience
  • (c)Limited product catalog
  • (d)Higher shipping costs

  Answer(b) Data-driven personalization of the shopping experience.