Starting a business online, Part II - Essay Example

STARTING A BUSINESS ONLINE Part II Domain A domain in the context of this new business is a primary source of identity and selling it for $1000 is ethically wrong because its sale therefore means that the business’s identity has been sold out. The ethical dilemma involved is that as a young enterprise, my business needs the extra cash but then at what expense. Is it at the expense of the store’s identity? I would therefore not sell the domain since the store’s physical location on Jersey Shore has been boardwalk has been known to customers, it would be ethically wrong to sell its online address. . E-Commerce A catalogue display here is a dais that showcases the services that my online offers and the clothes we stock.

Its existence adds onto the store’s credibility as an establishment that actually has what it claims to stock (Plant, 2000). Its existence will also help the enterprise keep track of the results and this way I can be able to provide market research information relating to online product searches on the catalogue. Having it will increase the store’s sales especially when its listed with business directories since buyers are able to place orders as they go through the catalogue either through phone calls or online.

The shopping cart capability on the other hand helps the store to know if there are sufficient commodities to meet orders placed by customers and also provided information on what might be of interest to the buyers so their shopping habit is documented. This will facilitate the store’s growth as stocks are purchased in line with customers’ needs attracting more potential buyers. The shopping cart also the store management to see all that a customer has purchased at one time which helps in faster delivery to online shoppers.

Transaction processing system One of the advantages of a transaction processing system to the new store is that it’s fast and therefore multiple transactions can be effected simultaneously. It also allows buyers from across the world to access the business without necessarily coming to the store physically and this can further the growth of my business. It equally helps in monitoring the development of tasks and resolving of problems through data organization, harmonization of resource managers file servers and also by locking data for updating.

The transaction processing subsequently helps in monitoring communication between clientele and servers, starting communication sessions as needed and routing data to the right destination. This aids in time management as tasks are started at specific times to make available a degree of automation (Dholakia, et al 2002). Creating web presence On creating an effective web presence for the store, I must create time and plan on how to manage my website and frequently update it with the relevant and interesting information on what is in stock - clothes.

Use of free websites like Wikipedia by providing facts which could not only attract investors but also potential customers; YouTube could also be useful by uploading videos and multimedia presentations to further explain what is in store (valentinreport.com). Customers as well as potential investors interested would want to be assured of my online presence so I would ensure to make use of web analytic packages such as Google analytics that will help me get the required data needed to lay bare the store’s online presence (Dholakia, et al 2002).

Sponsoring newsletters with many subscribers and solo emails too will help improve the store’s web presence; at the same time setting up a test with a vendor or publisher in an area that makes sense to advertise would also serve to boost my being online and on the advertisements on the website, the store would ensure distractions are minimized to narrow the customers’ center of attention to available products. I’d have a blog on my website and update it habitually as an effective way to demonstrate to the public that my venture is not faceless but reliable and respond frankly to their questions and this will also enable me to get very useful unsolicited feedback.

Web strategy On developing a web strategy I would ensure to indicate who we are as a company, what exactly we do and what we are involved in. Then define the priorities of the enterprise and since I have a clothing store, on my site, I will include the kinds of clothes stocked, their prices, any offers available and the targeted gender as well as age group. I’d also put contents like my store’s logo, color theme, videos and use both texts and graphics so as to make the website appealing (smallbiztrends.com). The market segment I would target is the youth as they tend to dress down more to different occasions and reach them by making the store has active presence in their online hang outs like Facebook as well as advertise on events a high youth attendance.

Product sampling will also help me in reaching the segment as well as influencer advertising. References Dholakia, . R. R., Dholakia, N., Fritz, W., & Mundorf, N. (2002). Global e-commerce and online marketing: Watching the evolution. Westport, Conn [u.a.: Quorum Books. Plant, R. T. (2000). eCommerce: Formulation of strategy. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Financial Times/Prentice Hall. http://smallbiztrends.com/2010/11/online-advertising-how-to-do.html http://valentinreport.com/2011/11/5-tips-for-creating-an-effective-web-presence-that-impresses- investors