The benefits of e-commerce to businesses include reduced cost, increased customer satisfaction, a broader customer base, and potential higher sales. For customers, the benefits include convenience, easier comparison-shopping, a higher degree of selection, possible lower cost, and the ability to order customized products. The disadvantages of e-commerce for businesses include losing sales when their Web sites are down, loss of sales to customers who are not comfortable performing transactions online, a higher rate of fraudulent transactions, and the recurring threat of new competition from dot-coms offering lower prices. Possible disadvantages for consumers include the potential for fraud, not being able to see and touch items before purchasing them, and the cost of returning items.