Online reputation for Patrizia Pepe - Essay Example

? Online reputation for Patrizia Pepe Online reputation for Patrizia Pepe The general web definition of e-commerce is simple and precise and points out for the reader that e-commerce is actually just any kind of commerce connected electronically as on the internet. Roger Clarke defines e-commerce as “the conduct of commerce in goods and services, with the assistance of telecommunications and telecommunications-based tools”. He says that people tend to use alternate terms for the same phenomenon, replacing commerce with similar or relating terms like procurement, trading, marketing, purchasing etcetera. However, it should be noted that the term e-commerce is used in a sense that has a much wider meaning than the latter mentioned ones. He further explains that e-commerce has various segments that due to their differences in applicability have different names. Electronic catalogues for one, refer to the means through which online sellers communicate with their target market that is, their online purchasers. There are different types of e-commerce being used by the business world today. There is Business to Consumer (B2C), which has the most prevalence in terms of usage currently. The fundamental concept behind this type of e-commerce is that online sellers sell their merchandise to online buyers using various marketing tools. Then there is Business to Business (B2B), as the name suggests, this type of e-commerce is where both sides of the transaction, that is the buyer and seller both are businesses for example, in the case of the manufacturer supplying to the retailer. This is by far the largest e-commerce segment. Furthermore, there is the Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C) model, which facilitates online transactions between two individuals a most prominent example of this scenario is eBay. Next, there is the Peer-to-Peer (P2P) type, which is a technology in itself. It allows the users to share files with each other without needing to use the internet as a medium. Lastly, there is m-commerce, which is actually the use of mobile devices in conducting transactions. Today, websites are optimized to be viewed as mobile devices and thus mobile commerce becomes a part of e-commerce. (Shailendra Sial). In this technologically modern world, where the internet is becoming more and more prominent in social as well as economic spheres, e-commerce has emerged as a particularly potent avenue for business expansion and a decidedly effectual and savvy technique for the modern business to completely penetrate its target market. Countless businesses have taken up this avenue and shown rapidly escalating positive results and more and more businesses have caught the online commerce train in their wake. Patrizia Pepe is one such example. Patrizia Bambi and Claudio Orrea in 1993, created Patrizia Pepe (PP), a clothing and accessories line for men and women and the brand has since then, through constant innovation, an open mindset towards change and incorporation of modern technologies and production and retail methods and techniques progressed rapidly and grown successfully across international borders. PP has in the line of innovation and change, also taken up e-commerce through which it has expanded its business reach to its target market and hence, the resulting sales. Presently, PP uses numerous online websites, which include social networking groups and websites for online purchasing as the medium for reaching its consumer base across the world. Patrizia Pepe has established its brand website, which displays riveting pictures of the new collections, which have been timed to keep flipping so that it keeps the customer’s first glance engaged longer. The website offers information about the current ad-campaigns and press, the latest collections for men and women, the location of the company’s stores, an option to shop online through the website, and a link called community, which leads the customer to a page with links to different social networking websites where Patrizia Pepe has accounts set up. These websites include, Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and YouTube and are used to keep the customers updated and in touch with the latest happenings at Patrizia Pepe as they happen. Two very convenient features on the website are the live chat option and the option to change among different languages that the customer might want the website to be displayed in. This is extremely valuable because it shows that PP realizes, acknowledges and cares about the presence of its international customers. The language the website is displayed in can be translated to Italian, German, French and English etcetera. The live chat option is also very functional, because it allows online customers to resolve issues and get their queries addressed to on the spot instead of waiting for the company to contact them in the future. Both these features help PP in building strong customer relationships and strengthening brand loyalty by increasing customer satisfaction. Patrizia Pepe’s pages on the social networking websites also aim at serving the same purpose as the main brand website, but provide additional help by covering bases the main website cannot. Like providing instant updates as they are put on the web and keeping the customers in touch in a more human-like fashion. The Twitter page for PP says that this brand is for the ‘sexy, rock and wildly glamour girl’. This description sparks interest in potential customers as all of these are desirable traits to some extent and allows the target market to identify with the brand, often helping to form the decision to visit the store or check out/shop through the website because the customer’s interest was piqued. Anyone to ‘follow’ PP’s twitter page is kept updated by regular ‘tweets’. The Facebook page goes a step further in engaging the customer and creating a rapport with him/her by providing pictures of the merchandise and the models in addition to information about recent events, collections and ad-campaigns. Customers can go through various pictures and information arranged chronologically. Anyone to ‘like’ PP’s Facebook page is shown regular notifications as new information and pictures are added to the page. The Flickr page boasts a vibrant ‘photostream’ displaying models wearing the latest collections, customers with Flickr accounts can stay updated through this photostream. The YouTube page opens up to a clip from the Fall/Winter 2012-13 Fashion Show, with sexy and mysterious music in the background (which reflects the brand image) and alluring models walking up and down the ramp in the new collection, the clip is an engaging medium to unmask the new collection for the customers. Interested customers can stay updated by subscribing to PP’s YouTube channel and will be notified whenever something new comes up. The models employed in all the pictures on the website, the pages on the social networking websites and the video ad-campaigns are all extremely attractive and create a desire in both the sexes to either be like them or want them which fulfills PP’s purpose of creating a sales boost. All these techniques and mediums help greatly build and enhance Patrizia Pepe’s online reputation. In addition to the social networking websites, Patrizia Pepe operates an ‘official blog’ to complement its official website. The blog features links for subscription and links to connect to aforementioned social networking websites. It exhibits numerous pages of models adorned with PP’s clothes and accessories that interested customers can flip through. The extensive visual use creates a strong brand image in the eyes of the target customer base and helps them understand exactly what the brand has in store for them. Use of attractive models and creative photography techniques serves to build a positive image in the customers’ minds and strengthens Patrizia Pepe’s online reputation. Patrizia Pepe also features on a number of websites for online purchasing, for example SHOPSTYLE (www.shopstyle.com), FLANNELS (www.flannelsfashion.com) and POLYVORE (www.polyvore.com). These websites categorize and exhibit PP’s collections for customers who like to shop online to browse through and consequently purchase. Patrizia Pepe collections also feature for purchase on websites of departmental stores like Harrods. Patrizia Pepe’s maneuvers to establish on online reputation are duly commendable when one analyzes how it has expanded and reached out to numerous segments of the target market by using the web as its medium of choice. Due to its online presence, it can now reach customers who are regular users of social networking websites, bloggers who blog and follow people/pages of interest, people who frequent online purchasing websites, customers who loyally visit the website of their choice of department stores, photography fanatics who like flipping through photostreams and YouTube users who browse through random videos that look of interest. PP took its online presence a step further when it introduced its application for download on iTunes. This application is especially aimed at the busy fashionista who is always on the move, who is interested in fashion but does not have time to browse at length. PP caters to this market segment by making its application available for download. Now all iPhone/iPad/iPod users have Patrizia Pepe’s latest collection and fashion proposals from the online store only a touch away and always accessible, even on the move. The application is available for download on the Apple website in the iTunes section. In an article titled ‘Building Consumer Trust Online’, the authors talk about how companies can win back customer trust once they mess up their reputation. PP has strong online rapport with its customers to boost the company’s sales. The article touches on a very pertinent issue, it talks about how in today’s world, in spite of the boom in popularity that e-commerce has experienced it is becoming more and more difficult to lead the consumer from merely browsing the merchandise to actually purchasing it. Where once in 1992, internet sales for U.S consumers were around $707 million, by 2002 they are expected to reach $37.5 billion. So the industry is optimistic about further growth and wants to profitably exploit the great potential posed by e-commerce. However, there are numerous barriers, for example the lack of standard technology for secure online payment and the lack of profitable business models. A greater issue is that customers are hesitant to indulge their private information online as it seems insecure to them and they could be targeted for various kinds of online fraud. This causes most people to hesitate considerably from clicking the ‘purchase’ button on the website. In sum, they lack enough trust in web service providers to divulge personal details like credit card numbers online. According to research, this lack of trust arises from the customers perception that web merchants have limited power or control over the personal information they are provided by the customers and that fraudulent individuals and groups can easily access and use this information in devious ways at the cost of the consumer. Such perceptions have extremely damaging negative influences over the willingness of consumer to establish online relationships with merchants. Study shows that a massive 87% of people who are regular web users and visit such websites online, think they should have complete power over the statistical information that online merchants ask for through their websites, and over 71% believe that new and clear-cut laws should be implemented immediately so that their privacy may be effectively protected. This can be attributed to the attitude of the Web service providers who lack faith in the customer base. However, according to this article, commercial websites “are their own best enemy”. Conversely, to traditional belief, conditions that will make people more willingly give up information online are not economic in nature. This means that, consumers do not view giving out their personal data by making it economic in nature and thus part of a business transaction, contrary to the widely held belief of many web merchants. What needs to be done to facilitate positive customer response in this aspect is something that is of the nature of trust building. A more humanistic, business association, based on strong trust between both the parties. Despite their lacking response, consumers realize that providing data to Web merchants is an important part of the process and would most probably be willing to divulge it given a trustful and secure relationship. Customers want full disclosure and informed consent to feel secure and let the much-needed trust levels develop. Since most companies do not disclose how and to what the customers’ information will be treated a large part of the customer base is therefore hesitant to be part of the online purchasing process. This article explains that, the most essential step therefore to get positive feedback is to establish trust with the customers. This practice however deviates from the traditional business minded approach and is going to be tricky for most online vendors effectively execute. This will involve shifting the equilibrium of authority towards more accommodating dealings among the online merchant/business and its customer base. The online businesses should also recognize the need for the consumer’s right to the personal information they divulge online, this means that opt-out information policies should be accepted and enforced. In due course, the online business world can assent the requirements of the customer base and once the required level of trust is established, move towards an opt-in policy. An information privacy, which is more consumer-aligned, will lead to commercially important liaisons that will reap significant profits for both sides. Consumers will be in control, feel secure exposing personal information online, and be more willing and loyal, and companies will benefit by increased sales and consequent profits. (Donna L. Hoffman, Thomas P. Novak, and Marcos Peralta). Patrizia Pepe, although it has user-friendly online interfaces, is a part of the same industry and process faces most of the same dilemmas, and should therefore implement the suggested methods and techniques to boost consumer trust, establish valuable commercial relationships and eventually benefit by increased sales. Anther article published by Josang, Ismail and Boyd talks about how trust and reputation can be established by online service/goods providers. It reiterates the point that trust of the essence when it comes to online purchasing. It suggests a rating system, whereby both parts can rate each other and this will essentially create an incentive for better behavior and improve the quality of the process and the market. It further says that, reputation systems are collaborative in nature, therefore concerted efforts from both sides are needed to streamline the online purchasing process and enhance and establish the reputation of the business online. This article talks about different kinds of trust that come into play so that the reputation of the business can be establish as required. There is reliability trust, decision trust, and more importantly, there is reputation trust. Reputation is considered a group measure of trustworthiness, depending on referrals, ratings and reviews. It is subjective to the individual and is based on firsthand experience only. This is one aspect that Patrizia Pepe can incorporate in its online image. On its blog and website, it can provide a link to a small survey asking customers to rate the transaction. This can be done in the form of taking ratings or reviews and comments so that the company can be made aware of the demands of its customer base, so that it can take steps to accordingly alter the glitches and aspects that customers are uneasy or unhappy about. Research shows that, what needs to be done is that companies should find companies should start investing in alternate substitutes for cues of reliance and status that we are accustomed to in the real bodily world. Furthermore, companies can obtain benefits from improved information technology and the web to fashion competent systems designed for collecting information and as a result deriving the required trust and reputation they seek. This will advance the value and worth of online business markets, aid the customer decision-making process, and propel them towards finally clicking purchase instead of just browsing the company’s website as they have been doing in the past due to lack of trust and reputation of the company. The ratings and reviews that the company collects through the survey links should be made publicly available online so that it boosts trust and reputation. PP’s blog especially, could feature a section that shows satisfied consumer responses and ratings. It is human nature to be more comfortable around something that is’ tried and tested’ and this is exactly what this approach will target. New people will have higher initial trust levels by reading and ‘being comforted’ by the reviews and ratings provided by happy and satisfied previous customers. Another thing that PP could do is provide after sales service, this will enhance the strength of the relationship and increase customer loyalty because it removes the fear of being duped by the company with faulty merchandise. This article suggests that the company register itself with credible reputation engines for this will greatly enhance reputation among online shoppers. A similar article by David Gefen talks about the role of familiarity. It discusses the importance of trust and later links familiarity to it as an additional aspect. An article in the International Journal of E-Commerce titled “What Trust Means in E-Commerce Customer Relationships: An Interdisciplinary Conceptual Typology” demonstrates issues pertaining to customer relationships, human issues in e-commerce and trust issues in commercial online relationships in the sphere of establishing online company reputation and trust. It says that risk, uncertainty and interdependence flourish especially in distant relationships whether personal or commercial, of which online seller/purchaser relationship is a prime example. Since the complexity and vastness of the internet removes most traces of the human element from the process (even though there are but humans at both ends of this tunnel) there is an increased need for trust. This article makes a suggestion; to create a trust typology. Patrizia Pepe should therefore invest in research and development in pursuit of creating such a model so that it can be practically implemented to generate favorable reputation boosts. Some suggestions provided are; implementing privacy policies, increased interaction with consumers (PP puts this into effect with its online live chat feature), reputation building and providing guarantees and other seals to increase comfort levels. A further article by Detlef Schoder and Pai-Ling Yin, talks about untapped resources and about how firms do not employ them to their full capacity. It says that most websites are just multimedia advertisements and fail to incorporate interaction with the customer in the process. PP does not suffer from this issue for it has set up a blog and a website in addition to numerous pages on social networking websites so that interaction with the consumer is maximized. In addition to reiterating the steps that should be taken by the consumer and the company that similar papers have already stated, it also talks about the role of the government and that of trade unions and associations in increasing trust in online procurement transactions and thereby increases the companies’ reputations. An article from the Journal of Retailing titled, “Customer loyalty in e-commerce: an exploration of its antecedents and consequences” investigates in the B2C “context, customization, contact interactivity, care, community, convenience, cultivation, choice, and character”. Its talks about how in earlier days brand loyalty was just about repetitive behavior. Now, with the advent of the internet, we may describe e-loyalty as a customer’s constructive approach toward the e-retailer that results in recurring buying behavior. According to research, of the 8Cs considered, all but convenience were found to be affecting e-loyalty. It also showed that e-loyalty influences word of mouth and the willingness to pay higher prices. With regard to PP, it can be seen that it incorporates all the 8Cs, which will no doubt have positive effects on its customer relationships and resulting reputation. After extensive study and research, it is apparent that trust is a crucial element in establishing and enhancing an online company’s reputation in the mind of its customer base. Approaches that will most succinctly tackle this situation are more human based and deviate from the traditional, mechanical business approach that has no room for emotions and other humanistic perspectives. Therefore, they may be hard for most online businesses to implement. Patrizia Pepe has progressed greatly from when it first started out in 1999, and as it can now be seen, is operating extremely successfully online. It has employed various techniques and methods suggested by the research papers and articles consulted in lieu of writing this paper and is therefore doing quite well with its online operations. It has a strong online presence because of the kind of network it has set up; however, there is still some room for improvement. Further improvement can eventually be achieved in the very near future by investing in research and development and taking up more initiatives aimed to boost customer trust in the business. Once the trust level is high in this commercial relationship, the reputation of Patrizia Pepe will soar to new heights. Bibliography 1. Roger Clarke. 1999. Electronic Commerce Definitions. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.rogerclarke.com/EC/ECDefns.html. [Accessed: 7 April 2012]. 2. Shailendra Sial. Types of E-Commerce. [ONLINE] Available at: http://ezinearticles.com/?Types-of-E-Commerce&id=2002490. [Accessed 07 April 12]. 3. Peralta, M et al. 1999. 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