Internet Business and Electronic Commerce - Assignment Example

 INTERNET BUSINESS AND ELECTRONIC COMMERCE Table of Contents 1. Introduction : Page 3 2. Features of Website Design : Page 4 a. Website design analysis – yahooshopping.com : Page 5 b. Website design analysis – ebay.com : Page 5 c. Website design analysis - shopping.aol.com : page 6 d. Website design analysis – levistrauss.com : Page 6 e. Website design analysis – Amazon.com : Page 6 3. Electronic selling and Traditional selling : Page 7 4. Value of Internet as a Distribution Medium : Page 9 5. Relevance of Internet for Boosting Customer Service : Page 10 6. Impact of Internet on an organization : Page 12 7. Conclusions : Page 12 8. References : Page 14 Introduction “The WWW changes the traditional landscape of the business environment from that of being a Market place to one that is more of a Market space” (Dr. Singh, p.4) E-commerce sales total in the billions of dollars every year. As per the statistics released by in May 2005, the US Department of Commerce revealed that the figures reporting that e-commerce sales in the first quarter of the year had been $19.8 billion for the quarter (up by 23.8% from the previous year) (Eschen, 2005). Moreover, E-commerce is succeeding on a business-to-business level, as well as a business-to-consumer level (E-COMMERCE Strategy Support Solutions, n. d). Internet has revolutionized the human life considerably. The traditional principles with respect to many areas of human life have been changed with the entry of internet and the business segment is also not an exception. At the introduction stage many people thought interne is just another medium of communication; nothing more than that. But the as time progresses, people has realized the potential of internet in many areas of human life and at present it is used extensively in education, business, communication, transportation etc. E-commerce is a paperless exchange of business information using electronic data like e-mail, electronic bulletin boards, fax transmissions, and electronic funds transfer etc (Internet - The World Wide Web -The Definition of E-Commerce, 2003). A recent survey conducted by Nielsen/Net ratings and Harris Interactive indicates e-commerce sites are driving more purchases offline than online (Developing a Winning e-Commerce Strategy, 2008). Electronic commerce or e-commerce is attracting business both in offline and online modes. Many people use internet for comparing the features and prices of different products of similar kind then visit shops for purchasing. Online business has much wider scopes than offline businesses because of the wider reach-ability of it. It is easy for a person to purchase a product from America staying in some other countries using a simple credit card. Moreover, the consumer can compare the prices of the same product in various countries and thus he will able to purchase a product for the cheapest possible price. This research mainly concentrates on yahooshopping.com, shopping.aol.com, ebay.com levistrauss.com for analyzing the online business generally and amazon.com for analyzing the online book business specifically. Yahooshopping.com, shopping.aol.com, ebay.com and levistrauss.com are offering various products for the customers like clothing, accessories, flowers, gifts, electronic items, computers, sports items jewelry, watches, holiday tour packages, medicines, fragrances, beauty products etc. On the other hand, Amazon has products such as music CD’s, VHS, DVD, computer software, video games, electronics, apparel, furniture, food toys, etc apart from books. It has started film production also in 2008. Amazon has several websites custom made for countries like Canada, Germany, France, China, UK, Japan etc. This paper explores various features of E-business like Features of Website Design, Value of Internet as a Distribution Medium, Relevance of Internet for Boosting Customer Service, Impact of Internet on an organization etc. Also, this paper compares the traditional business with e-business in order to understand the value of e- business more clearly Features of Website Design Just like the architect or designer of a building, e-business also requires an architect or designer to design the site correctly. The e-business architect or the web designer provides solution for the customer demands in a most efficient manner. Web designing is not an easy task, especially the e-commerce sites. The site should be user friendly in all respects. It should take minimum time for loading and at the same time should have all the necessary features. It is difficult to translate business languages into technical terms of the computer and the internet. The web designer needs good creativity along with a strong business mind in order to design good e-commerce sites. Website design analysis – yahooshopping.com E-business success depends on how long a customer spends time in a website. The site should provide interesting things based on the customer requirements in order to keep the customer tied up in the site. Moreover, the site should be a customer friendly one in locating products, ordering, having questions answered in a timely manner etc. Yahooshopping has all the above qualities. But the arrangement of items seems to be not attractive. They could have reduce the number of ads in their sites so that the customers may feel more comfortable. Website design analysis – ebay.com E-bay website is very cleverly designed. Everything is arranged properly so that the customers can easily locate items and can recognize the prices and features of it. On the left side they have given a complete list of product they offer to the customers. Moreover, the pictures of the products are also given wherever possible. E-bay is asking the users to register for the better access of their products. They could have avoid such lengthy process as many customers of the current world are not much interested in such time consuming activities. Website design analysis - shopping.aol This website is also very well designed. They tried to avoid all the unnecessary ads and excess graphics in order to upload the pages more quickly. Even a layman can make purchase through their website without many difficulties. They have a special feature like “deals of the day” through which customers can purchase the advertised product at a cheaper price. Interactive components like instant chats can be incorporated to this website in order to make it more useful to the customers. Website design analysis – levistrauss.com Comparatively, this website is poorly designed. It is filled with animation graphics and the users need to overcome lot of barriers before getting the exact information about the products they needed. Nothing is clear about their product range or services from the first page. The customer needs to search for each and everything. Website design analysis – Amazon.com Amazon has done everything right in the design of their website. They have even created customized websites in order to cater the needs of people from different regions. Amazon website is easily accessible to even ordinary customers. Not much computer knowledge is necessary to know information from Amazon website. Amazon has concentrated in reducing the high resolution images in their website in order to lead it quickly as they know that most of the people do not have the patience to wait for longer times to upload the web pages. The proper communication between the customer and the Amazon is taking place in their website using lot of advanced features like kindle which enable the users to read their books more easily “An e-Business needs to have a forward-looking application architecture that deals with the following critical requirements: Easy-to-use interface, Integration of intra-business processes, Innovative methods for adding value, Customer- and solution-oriented procedure, Plan for growth and change etc” (Thakkar). Amazon has all the above features in their website which made them one of the favorite e-business websites at present. Amazon can still improve their website in many ways in order to improve the customer traffic. They can add interactive components-real-time chats, message boards, online events, and similar opportunities to enable the visitors to communicate with them. The current technologies like real time chats, message boards, and online events will further enhance the customer interests in the Amazon site (Starting an e-business: What’s involved?) Electronic selling and Traditional selling E-commerce has the advantage of being open 24 hours, 7 days a week and reaching a worldwide audience (WEBEDIT E-COMMERCE SOLUTION). Traditional business on the other hand is affected by time constraints. For example, most of the super markets keep a time schedule for opening and closing. Moreover, these supermarkets may have a holiday, probably Sunday, in every week. Consumers who return after their busy work schedule at their workplace, may often affected by these time schedules of the supermarkets. Such consumers can safely use internet for their purchasing needs. E-commerce is fast, convenient and cheap also compared to other means of businesses. It is easy to shop from home and no need to rush to stores to purchase goods. Consumers can compare the prices of different brands and can decide which brand is suitable for them. If a product is not available in the domestic market, consumers can purchase it from the international market using internet. For example, Rogaine is a medicine available for hair loss in America. It is not available in India like countries. An Indian consumer can purchase Rogaine from America using internet. Because of the less formalities in processing orders, e-business firms can offer products for cheaper prices compared to the traditional business groups. Traditional firms need to include the advertisement cost, service cost, and all the overhead costs of the firm in the price of the product which is not necessary in electronic commerce. Shopping time can be considerably reduced using the electronic shopping. The inconvenience of travelling long hours to reach the traditional shops can be avoided if the consumer opts for electronic shopping. Traditional department shops create a shopping environment through the use of lighting, displays, music and other tactics. Websites also can create such ambiance for the visitors. For example, e-commerce websites can decorate their websites using different interactive components and also they can add links to the favorite websites based on the customer demands and choices. Instant chat or live chat is another component, websites can offer to the customers for the shopping bargaining purposes. On the other hand is a fact that the direct experience of a product is possible only through traditional shopping. For example, if we are purchasing a DVD player, usually we will try watch the demo of that product before taking decision about purchasing it. If we are not satisfied with the demo we can ask for another product of same brand or different brand if we are using the traditional shopping means. On the other hand, it is difficult to get such direct experience about the performance of a product using internet. Value of Internet as a Distribution Medium Even though, a variety of products and services can be purchased through internet, it is not possible for internet to accommodate all the needs of the consumers. For example, it is not possible for us to purchase a perfume after smelling it using internet. On the other hand, we can easily do that in a traditional shop. One of the major concerns of internet purchasing is the safety and security of the information interchanged through the net. Credit card information which is necessary for the purchasing of a product can be misused by hackers. Moreover, personal details provided at the time of purchasing can also be misused. On the other hand, in traditional methods, no such worries are there. Instant purchasing is not possible through internet. Internet purchasing need a certain amount of time to complete the purchasing process and the customer needs to wait till the product reaches him. It is not possible to wait for longer periods in certain cases. For example, a person who is in critical condition cannot perform internet purchasing for bringing medicines from a distant place when it is easily available on the nearby medical shops. Food items which need to be preserved carefully cannot be purchased through internet. For example, Kentucky fried chicken like food items cannot be purchased through internet because it can be damaged when it reaches the customer after one or two or even more days. In short, e-commerce has certain limitations in performing the business. All the products are not equally well conductive through internet. As mentioned above e-tailers should decide upon the urgency of their requirement and the nature of the product or services before they opt for internet purchasing. It is evident from the products offered by the five e-commerce websites of our consideration in this paper that these online entrepreneurs are not offering any product or services which is not compatible for the online purchasing. Relevance of Internet for Boosting Customer Service Customer servicing is an important aspect of every business and e-commerce is also not an exception. “A state-of-the-art E Business Strategy would generally include: Supply chain management, Customer service and customer relationship management, Inventory and service management integration and Tactical operations alignment (E Business Strategy) Supply chain management may include the proper collection of orders and the delivery of goods in time so that the customer gets the goods without any time delay. It is necessary to keep sufficient inventory all the time so that the customers should not be worried about the availability of materials online. The tactical operations must direct towards short-term goals while the planning must target the long term goals. For example, Amazon is one of the pioneers and role models for customer servicing as far as online business is concerned. They are keeping sufficient inventory all the time and their supply chain management is also one of the best in the industry. Customers don’t need to wait long periods for having the products they purchased from Amazon. The World Wide Web provides customized support to all the consumers for their purchasing needs. In traditional businesses the strategies often target a group of people from the society. Successful customer relationship management strategies should include; 1) Knowledge Management: Acquisition of information about a customer, its analysis, sharing and tracking etc. 2) Database Consolidation: Consolidation of customer information in a single database and the re-engineering of business processes around the customer. 3) Integration of Channels and Systems: Respond to customers in a consistent and high-quality manner which in turn dictates the seamless integration of all communication channels with the customer database. 4) Technology and Infrastructure: Sophisticated tools such as search capability, agent technology or automated email, exist to automate and streamline online customer service. 5) Change Management: Change in philosophy and attitudes. The new mantra is to do what it takes to delight the customer (Fathy, n.d) Amazon welcomes each customer with a greeting message and guides the customer properly for taking decisions about the purchasing of Amazon products. Moreover, Amazon follows the purchasing deal closely till the product reaches the customer. The customer services can be improved a lot by incorporating features like customized message boards, FAQs (Frequently asked questions) and live chats etc at the e-commercial websites. Impact of Internet on an organization Internet can influence an organization in many ways. It can help organizations to extend their hands widely to reach even distant customers. Globalization has provided lot of business opportunities to all and it is easy to do business in other countries staying at the luxury of the home country. Offshoring and outsourcing are some of the modern business mantras which were unknown around two decades before. Lot of the underdeveloped countries has immense immobile resources which can be utilized using internet. For example, in America, it is difficult to get people for doing clerical jobs. On the other hand, India like countries has lot of professionals searching for such jobs. These manpower resources of India can be used by an American company using the outsourcing business strategies. Thus they will be able to reduce their costs since the Indian labor market is cheaper compared to the American labor market. Organizations can use internet for advertisement purposes also. Being one of the influential media of the current decade, internet ads can influence a much wider range of people. Customized advertising mails are also possible using internet. Conclusions Internet has opened another channel for businesses and it is growing rapidly. Statistics show that internet businesses have already crossed billion of dollars on every year. It is not possible to purchase everything using internet. But it is possible to purchase products for cheaper rates using internet. The architecture of the e-commerce websites is important for attracting customers. The website should be designed in such a way that it opens more quickly and easy to use. Security features are a must for the e-commerce websites because of the sensitive information about the customer and the money it handles. Customer relationship management is another area which should be managed properly for the improvement of business through internet. One of the major advantages of internet purchasing is the convenience of purchasing 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. Moreover, the customer can save lot of time using internet purchasing. On the other hand the major disadvantage of internet purchasing is the lack of security and safety of the information handled by the internet. It is not possible to have a direct experience of the product using internet purchasing. In any case, e-commerce is growing at a huge rate and there are no threats for it in the immediate vicinity. References 1. Developing a Winning e-Commerce Strategy, (2008), , Retrieved on 9 December, 2009 from http://www.zeromillion.com/ebiz/ecommerce-strategy.html 2. Dr. Singh Mandeep, A Primer on Developing An E-Business Strategy, Retrieved on 9 December, 2009 from http://74.125.153.132/search?q=cache:SxNNH3KmDe0J:www.illinoisbiz.biz/NR/rdonlyres/3608158F-181F-44A8-BC66-353CA27088ED/0/eCommerce.pdf+E-Commerce+as+a+business+strategy&cd=4&hl=en&ct=clnk 3. Eschen Erin, (2005), E-commerce - Reasons to sell online, Retrieved on 9 December 2009 from http://www.monstersmallbusiness.com/ecommerce-strategy/article- 4. E-COMMERCE Strategy Support Solutions, Retrieved on 9 December 2009 from http://www.cannonadvantage.com/ecommerce_support.html 5. E Business Strategy, Retrieved on 9 December 2009 from http://www.economywatch.com/business/e-business-strategy.html 6. Fathy Nazan,(n.d), E-commerce: All about Customer Relationship Management, Retrieved on 9 December, 2009 from http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/electronic_commerce/16952 7. Internet - The World Wide Web -The Definition of E-Commerce, (2003), Retrieved on 9 December 2009 from http://www.businesstown.com/internet/ecomm-definition.asp 8. Starting an e-business: What’s involved?(n. d), Retrieved on 9 December 2009 from http://www.eworkingwomen.com/experts/starting.html 9. Thakkar Meghraj, (n.d), Oracle Architecture and Design Issues for E-Business, Retrieved on 9 December, 2009, http://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=25146> 10. WEBEDIT E-COMMERCE SOLUTION, Retrieved on 9 December, 2009, http://spotonweb.co.uk/ecommerce-details/ Read More