EBay Internet Marketing Approach and Website Promotion of Flight 001 - Assignment Example

Internet Marketing Assignment: The Case of eBay Table of Contents PART I: Essay on eBay’s Internet Marketing Approach 3 Introduction 3 1Background on eBay 3 2.Examining the elements of internet marketing 4 3.Understanding the internet marketing mix 7 4.Comparing the internet marketing tools 9 5.Examining the process of interactive order processing 10 PART TWO: Website Promotional Proposal of Flight 001 15 Executive Summary 15 Company background 15 Target customers 16 Products and Services 16 Methods of Delivery 16 Situation 16 The Opportunity 17 The Solution 17 References 18 PART I: Essay on eBay’s Internet Marketing Approach 1. Introduction The purview of Internet marketing is mostly used in a similar context with ‘e-commerce’ and ‘e-business’. In the significance of managing the digital technologies, more understanding on the internet marketing and the impact of e-commerce on organizational marketing could be well described. The concept of using internet for buying and selling of goods and services is an innovative perspective of electronically mediated transaction. While there are financial and informational components to internet marketing, there are other aspects of non-financial components to manage. The buy-side and sell-side of e-commerce is very important in organizational marketing. Internet marketing directly deals with the sell-side of the whole transaction (Chaffey, 2004). There are multiple drivers to the concept of internet marketing. In the course of following discussion, the tutor will be analyzing the key aspects of internet marketing, using the case of e-bay company as an example. Highlighting on the identified factors, the concept of internet marketing mix will be explained. Further, an attempt to draw comparisons on the e-marketing tools or e-tool practices and examine the chain of order processing, with the help of the case study will be covered in the following discourse. 1.1 Background on eBay One of the world’s largest and most popular online marketplaces, eBay, enables its customers the unique facility to trade in millions of items each day. This company was formed by Pierre Omidyar, with a business objective of achieving excellence of being recognized as a most valuable internet retailer (Gopalkrishnan and Gupta, 2007). One consistent stride was to keep improving company’s performance, maintain stable growth and create a fun-loving efficient market place. This breakthrough and strategic management approach offers a competitive edge over its competitors and sustainable growth to the organization. EBay was launched from Omidyar’s home in the mid-1995.s with a concept of creating an Internet marketplace. Ever-since its formation, eBay was well received by its users, who expressed their liking through hits. Keeping his hopes and aspirations high, eBay went on to become a public enterprise in the year of 1998 at a value of $18 a share (Griffith, 2007). In 1999, the trade value rose to a figure of b$282 per share. By successfully beating its competitor Amazon.com, eBay established itself as the world’s most valuable Internet retailer (Lucking‐Reiley et al., 2007). 2. Examining the elements of internet marketing By definition, the concept of e-business is the transformation of business processes using internet technologies. Inherent in the organizational processes, all components of business chain, beginning from marketing, business development, manufacturing and inbound/outbound logistics, are considered to be important in the success of the business process. The buy-side of e-commerce deals with suppliers and the sell-side involves exchanges with distributors and customers. What is of interest in analyzing the concepts and internet – marketing is to begin analyzing whether the business is transacting with consumers (B2C) or with other businesses (B2B) (Chaffey, 2004). Figure explaining the buy-side and sell-side of internet marketing (Source: Chaffey, Ellis-Chadwick, Johnston, Mayer, 2009) eBay company utilizes C2C interactions, which were uncommon but getting popular over time on sites of B2B and B2C. The relative importance of marketing benefits of internet depends largely on the product and its market coverage. Depending on the market the websites serve, organizations serve on different strategies on internet marketing, such relationship-building, brand-building, services, sales-transactions, and news and entertainment sharing (Chaffey, Ellis-Chadwick, Johnston, Mayer, 2009). The key elements of the business environment (macro and micro) must be considered in relation to the business environment in which it operates . Micro-environment is also known as the operating environment or is the immediate marketplace of an organization (Chaffey, Ellis-Chadwick, Johnston, Mayer, 2009). For the development of internet marketing strategy, the most arguable factors are lying in the micro-environment. Needs of the customers, service delivery, competitive analysis, presence of intermediaries and upstream suppliers within the marketplace determine the success of a marketing strategy. Internet has a major implication on organizations and their internet-based marketing strategy (Chaffey, 2004). The macro-environment is the remote environment, influenced by the local and international economic conditions and legal measures within acceptable business standards. There are many opportunities of using internet, intranet and extranets for thriving business supporting marketing functions. At distinct levels, they are, strategic and tactical and operational. The strategy adopted by eBay marketplace has a core service which enables buyers to list items for sale or auction or fixed –price basis, lending buyers the opportunity to bid and purchase items of interest. 3. Understanding the internet marketing mix The strategic marketing mix encompasses a well-established strategic framework of 4Ps of product, price, place and promotion. This framework was originally proposed by McCathy in the year 1960 is still in use. Over time, this framework has been extended to 7Ps. This marketing cum promotional and advertising mix is frequently applied in discussing a marketing strategy, explaining the different elements of organization’s product offerings, demand of products within target markets and price strategies and promotion needs and many others (Chaffey, Ellis-Chadwick, Johnston, Mayer, 2009). Elements of Marketing Mix (Source: Chaffey, Ellis-Chadwick, Johnston, Mayer, 2009) With respect to eBay, the key issues that could be considered in relation to the marketing mix are: Product- These include the opportunities for modifying the core of the product, i.e. what customers want and need from the product. EBay negotiates with sellers to find about the best price for selling an item in a marketplace. It offers the facility of wide range of products, from electronics to furniture, automobiles and enables a buyer to easily purchase and safely process transactions (Priyadarsini and Shanthakumari, 2013). Price- EBay provides the facility of selling a product an unbeatable price compared to that of other smaller online trading sites. A lost-cost advertising to reasonably sell a product is the USP, reaching to millions of people on a daily basis. Place – The auction site is the only physical entity and eBay does not have any material existence. Owing to its web-based presence, users can access from any geographical location. Promotion- Promotion is predominantly made through online medium. Besides, there are magazines and the word of mouth, which are significant modes of promotional. People, process and physical evidence – It provides the advantage of exceptional live online live help to the customers. The transaction process is smooth, hassle-free and enables payment through credit card or PayPal, debit card, with even money-back options to the customer. Customer’s personal information is safe and there is an excellent support line for the customers with open toll-free numbers for receiving any queries and suggestions. Marketing mix for Online Auction (Source: adapted from eBay inc., 2014) 4. Comparing the internet marketing tools For communicating well with the customers, an integrated promotional mix is used which comprises of a blend of advertising, personal selling, sales promotion, public relation tools and other techniques, such as direct mailing. In these, the internet is efficient as an information and entertainment medium, naturally lending itself to being used to promote products. The online promotional mix is an extension of the offline, but with some significant differences. The advantage of any online promotion is its ease of being tracked, measured and targeted assessed in a sophisticated manner. Advertising, personal sales, promotions based marketing and public Relations can all be conducted through the online medium. The strategic approach of eBay takes advantage of advanced technology for creating commercial revolution, focusing on helping retailers and brands, engaging customers from time-to-time. The three major constituents of e-bay business are the eBay marketplace, PayPal and GSI. EBay gets a handsome 17% online market share from its online auctions presently (eBay inc., 2014) It deploys internet marketing tools to interact with the customers. The other name for internet marketing is digital marketing. Also, the terms of web marketing and online marketing are frequently used. Internet marketing comprises of a unique mix of digital customer data and electronic customer relationship marketing system to design, develop, advertise and produce sales. The advantages of internet-based marketing are that it imparts the advantage of free information dissemination, cost effectiveness, online auction and low-cost operation using tools, such as: Twitter: from a PR and marketing standpoint, social media for eBay platform helps in posting any information for search-engine optimized use. Facebook: EBay is connected to Facebook, helping it to act in indirect form of PR, i.e. an indirect form of message communication across a social platform. Email: The fastest, stress-free and cost-effective form of PR is attained through the use of internet, when anyone joins eBay. Despite a lengthy filing process, all information about the profile and their preferences, are maintained in the eBay database, when the user provides his/her e-mail address. EBay use this form of PR to make promotions and send information to the customers, regarding delivery of the item one paid for. 5. Examining the process of interactive order processing The basis of placing order and conducting transactions online is through an internet order processing. A reliable site gives the opportunity to any user to purchase authentic products in a trusted and sophisticated manner. The order processing over eBay is completed in the following steps. This has been explained using screen captures from the company website. 1. Use needs to make a login 2. Then follow to the Settings =>General =>Store Modules 3. One needs to locate the eBay module and click on the icon to expand the selection 4. Then Click on "Manage Listings" (Source: eBay Inc., 2014) Here one will see a page displaying all historical dealings. In case of multiple listings, one needs to use the filter button to narrow down the view of the listings based on status, keywords, or specific date ranges. One can sort items on the basis of product, listing type, date etc to track statuses. A user can re-list items as needed. To review orders one needs to click on its record to be taken on the listing information page. (Source: eBay Inc., 2014) In the listings information page, one will see the following representation of the items as illustrated in the image below. (Source: eBay Inc., 2014) One needs to click on “Refresh data from eBay" button at the top right corner and this will update the listing information and orders from eBay. Automatic updates happen every hour. After orders are placed, they will appear at the bottom of the listing information page. By clicking on the order invoice number(s), the user is routed directly to the order. Here, one can review, process and ship the order as usual to fulfil it. (Source: eBay Inc., 2014) The order status is updated and it will then reflect as an item listing information page. (Source: eBay Inc., 2014) One can also process eBay orders from the regular order status queues. In this case, all orders originating on eBay will be displayed in the order queues, starting with the prefix "eBay" before the invoice number. (Source: eBay Inc., 2014) PART TWO: Website Promotional Proposal of Flight 001 Executive Summary The impact of promotion for present day retailers and manufacturers is all about working the right way to make a long lasting internet presence and generate revenue from it (Resnick and Zeckhauser, 2002). In order to maximize the promotional effectiveness of the company Flight 001, this section would depict the typical dimensions of the organization that is trying to make a mark of its own in the world of retail travel sector. Within the next three coming months, Flight 001 plans to expand its customer base by increasing its online traffic. This section will highlight the cardinal features of the rapidly growing customer base for Flight 001 and make recommendations for a proposed solution. Company background Founded in 1999, Flight001 provides its customers the unique experience of fulfilling their travel-need based merchandise with style and comfort. The name was derived from 1998 Air France 023, travelling between New York and Paris. John Sencion and Brad John, who were travelling aboard in the flight and envisioned a dream to posses their own retail store, in the form of a retro-modern store that satisfied the need of every traveller, came up with the idea to launch Flight 001 (Flight 001, 2015). Presently, the company has its stores spread across a wide range of locations, such as, Brooklyn, Chicago, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Berkeley, and Tokyo, including Asian countries, such as, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Taipei, Jakarta and Manila till Sydney in Australia. The company holds a global ranking of 147,008 with an individual rank of 49,588 in USA itself (Alexa, 2015). Target customers The bulkiest traffic to the site is from the visitors of USA, with a share of 82.7 % (Alexa, 2015). By demography, the lion shares of the visitors are female and are mostly college goers. Also, they are mostly employed or home-based. There is steep rise of a probable number of customer-base from other regions of Asia and middle-east, other than USA within the next few months. Products and Services Users get to choose among a wide range of travel-oriented products on a retail mode. All items are functional, solution –oriented items that address every traveller’s need (Flight 001, 2015). Methods of Delivery Flight 001 ships all order via UPS. The company encourages receiving the orders by 12PM EST for timely shipment (Flight 001, 2015). On the very next day, the shipping is available from Monday to Thursday. The delivery on Saturday or next day shipping is not available for the users.   Situation In order to strengthen online brand awareness and drive a higher volume of traffic within the upcoming three months, the company plans to focus on the core objectives of strengthening the business goals and enhancing customer engagement through the use of internet, such as social media, email to increase the revenue generated over the website. 62.7 % of the customers begin by using a search engine optimization to reach to Flight 001 website. The previous three months data has revealed that the traffic volume has reduced by 21% and presently stands at 12.3% (Alexa, 2015). The Opportunity Presently, covering a wide stretch of six stores in the US, 17 across Asia, one in Australia, and an e-commerce website, Flight 001 is boastful of a worldwide stretch with potential for international expansion. Currently, only international retail licensees are available and experienced master licensees have been sought in regions of Europe, Asia, Middle East, and South America (Flight 001, 2015). This proves the fact that the brand name ahead of its competitors in the growing and other expanding markets. Google has been the largest contributor of a secondary PR for the site of Flight 001. The Solution Flight 001 offers the one stop solution all globally acclaimed functionally travel-oriented products for all range of customers. The company keeps on developing an innovating on its product line. In short, Flight 001 is your digital concierge to the unique airline retail merchandise experience. The company is one a search of improving through innovation using internet and social media sites. The company wishes to include a feedback system to welcome feedback from the customers. A customer-centric approach is doubly advantageous, as it assists in product development and deploys the customers as efficient sales people for boosting business. References Alexa, 2015. Competitive Intelligence. [online] Available at:< http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/flight001.com. [Accessed 5 February 2015] Chaffey, D., 2004. E-Business amp E-Commerce Management: Strategy, Implementation and Practice. Upper saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall Chaffey, D., Ellis-Chadwick, F., Johnston, K. and Mayer, R., 2009. Internet marketing: strategy, implementation and practice. UK: Pearson Education. eBay inc., 2014. Who We Are – One Company. [online]. Available at: < http://www.eBayinc.com/who_we_are/one_company> [Accessed 5 February, 2015] Flight 001, 2015. About-Us. [online] Available at:< http://www.flight001.com/aboutus/> [Accessed 5 February 2015]. Gopalkrishnan, J., and Gupta, V. K., 2007. eBay:" The worlds largest online marketplace"-A Case Study. Paper Presented at the Conference on Global Competition & Competitiveness of Indian Corporate. IIMK. May 18-19, 2007. 544-549. Griffith, J., 2007. The Official eBay Bible, Third Edition: The Newly Revised and Updated Version of the Most Comprehensive eBay How-To Manual for Everyone from First-Time Users to eBay Experts. UK: Penguin. Lucking‐Reiley, D., Bryan, D., Prasad, N., and Reeves, D., 2007. Pennies from eBay: The determinants of price in online auctions*. The Journal of Industrial Economics, 55(2), 223-233. Mclella, L., 2014. Digital Marketing Budgets Increase, Reflecting Focus on Customer Experience. Gartner. pp.1-16. Priyadarsini, K and Shanthakumari, S., 2013. A study on E- Promotional strategies for e-marketing. International Journal of scientific research and management (IJSRM).1(8). pp. 426-434. Resnick, P. and Zeckhauser., R., 2002. Trust among Strangers in Internet Transactions: Empirical Analysis of eBay’s Reputation System. In Michael R. Baye (ed.) The Economics of the Internet and E-commerce, 11(2). pp. 23-25. Read More