The Internet of Things (IoT) may provide numerous advantages and have a disruptive effect, e-commerce literature has paid little attention. The Internet of Things (IoT) is a term used to describe a situation in which physical items are linked to the Internet and are capable of identifying themselves to other devices and exchanging information. These devices produce a tremendous amount of data. New insights may be developed when it is able to aggregate data from devices and other systems, and these insights could have a significant positive impact on e-commerce. The dual nature of technology foresees the possibility of risks along with advantages.
The phrase “Internet of Things” (IoT) describes the expanding network of physical items with an IP address for internet connectivity as well as the communication that takes place between these objects and other systems and devices that have access to the Internet. Through the use of ambient intelligence, IoT enables remote access to sensor data, remote monitoring and control of the physical world, and the coordinated action of several physical items. These devices, together with the connection between them, can help e-commerce by generating the high-quality data needed to make the appropriate judgments at the appropriate time.
The primary driving force behind the IoT is the blending and integration of various technologies and communications solutions, including distributed intelligence for smart objects, Radio Frequency Identification technology, Electronic Product Code technology, and ZigBee technology [10]. These technologies include identification and tracking technologies, wired and wireless sensor and actuator networks, enhanced communication protocols (shared with the Next Generation Internet), and Radio Frequency Identification technology. An Android or iOS device can function as a sensor in a big network by installing apps on it.
Potential Benefits of IOT
IoT generates a significant amount of big data. The public’s access to data and information, for starters, considerably increases government openness. Increased openness and transparency aid in proper oversight and cut down on waste in government. Second, enabling consumer self-service in this way can give people and businesses more access to information, empowering them to make decisions by utilizing the massive amount of data gathered by IoT and the wisdom of crowds. IoT provides users with insightful guidance. Route planning, for instance, supports drivers by taking into account constraints related to traffic, time, and cost in intelligent transportation systems such as in-car intelligent driving systems and smart highways.
In short, IoT can provide a range of advantages relating to trend analysis of historical data over time as well as real-time measurement and analyses of sensor data. These advantages include enhanced effectiveness, better flexibility, and real-time assessment of service efficiency. The potential advantages of IoT are into three categories: tactical, operational, and strategic/political. This is a common split that works well for e-commerce research. IoT advantages could include:
- Political and Strategic – better trend analysis and forecasting, increased government transparency, and increased citizen empowerment.
- Tactical – better cost-saving and revenue-generating planning, more effective regulation enforcement, greater health and safety measures, and better management and maintenance planning.
- Operational – Enhanced services’ efficacy, flexibility, and efficiency.
Potential Risks of IOT
As new sources of data that are obtained by continually monitoring a wide variety of things in a variety of scenarios become available, organizations are increasingly turning to the IoT. There are, however, a number of technological and legislative issues that must be resolved. It is obvious that there are several challenges in implementing IoT for e-commerce. The degree of information sensitivity is an important factor that the access control mechanism must take into account. User data disclosure could make private information, including dietary preferences or financial information, public. Unauthorized access to this data has a negative effect on user privacy. In this way, IoT necessitates unique strategies to guarantee the ethical and safe use of the data generated, necessitating robust data governance. The safe and ethical use of data produced by IoT devices might be hampered by a lax approach to data governance.
Operational obstacles include challenges with human capital, such as the difficulty in hiring competent staff, a lack of specialists, and a lack of workers with the necessary skills to operate new applications, as well as a lack of IoT-focused training and educational opportunities.
Concerns about data management are also present. When integrating IoT solutions, organizations must deal with a complicated heritage of data and applications. Several generations of systems may be running concurrently in many businesses, and a large portion of the data fed into the system has been done manually, with the attendant risks to the quality of the data.
In summary, IoT encounters a number of challenges relating to the appropriate use (privacy and security, for example) and management of the data gathered by the enormous number of interconnected objects. Conflicting market factors, data privacy concerns, data security concerns, weak or uncoordinated data rules, and weak or uncoordinated data governance are all examples of strategic/political hurdles.
The following are examples of tactical obstacles: expenses, problems with integration and interoperability, IoT acceptability, and trust-related problems. Data management problems, IoT infrastructure limits, and a lack of basic IoT knowledge are operational concerns.
Conclusion
We can say that The Internet of Things (IoT) enables remote sensor data access as well as remote monitoring and control of the physical world. Additionally, combining and analyzing collected data enables businesses to create and enhance services that cannot be offered by standalone systems. Our evaluation indicates that, despite the paucity of IoT research in the sector of e-commerce, the benefits have been the main focus of anecdotal evidence up to this point.
Future repercussions may exist that extend beyond the achievement of the intended benefits. Specifically, obstacles can be attributed to costs, interoperability and integration problems, and acceptance of IoT, trust-related problems, a lack of sufficient knowledge about IoT, IT infrastructure limitations, and data management problems. They can also be attributed to weak or uncoordinated data policies, weak or uncoordinated data governance, and conflicting market forces.
IoT will undoubtedly have a significant impact on e-commerce services in the future and will offer a range of benefits for e-commerce at all levels, but these benefits must be carefully weighed against the dangers and the proper mitigation measures applied.