We have already discussed the advantages of the e-commerce technology in the areas of international trade, import/export of goods and services, global sourcing for search of products at optimum prices and so forth. But it is not a bed of roses anywhere and even in this case there exist a few drawbacks which do exist in carrying out these activities of international trade, import/export and global sourcing with the aid of e-commerce technology. We shall discuss a few of these in this article as follows.

One of the biggest drawbacks of e-commerce is that many people may not be satisfied with the virtual experience of trading and buying products lying possibly thousands of miles away just by seeing its picture. International trade, import/export and global sourcing all involve great geographical distances spanning over continents or nations, and this lack of physical proximity comes to the disadvantages sometimes. Secondly the question of safety of payments and trust is also there which will be discussed in detail in another article. For many people e-commerce is not about big international trade, import/export or global sourcing but simply about enjoying shopping over the net, and sometimes the electronic experience does not satisfy their social needs or holiday lust hence they become distanced to the concept of e-commerce. From the seller's point of view, e-commerce does not offer a direct face to face proximity with the probable customer and therefore things may not work out the way they would have done otherwise. However many times international trade, import/export and global sourcing does require personal interaction for a couple of times before things can later be carried out via e-commerce. Therefore in such cases, e-commerce tends to act as an extension of the trader for carrying out activities related to international trade, import/export and global sourcing rather than as an alternative for it.

Many products are such that it is not possible to check them online for their effectiveness in terms of customer satisfaction parameters. For example if someone wants to buy a comfortable sofa set, no amount of pictures would deliver the experience of sitting on that sofa if it were present in a shop having physical proximity to the customer. Hence international trade, import/export or global sourcing in such as case would only be possible if it's a big order and some representative of the company comes and checks the product personally before big quantities of it are delivered later on.

Having taken a look at the above disadvantages it is imperative to mention that despite the shortcomings, the technology of e-commerce is there going to exist, survive and expand because of the immense potential it offers for carrying out international trade, doing import/export business and finding right products and services through global sourcing.