E-Commerce Strategy of Banco Etico Agroalimentare Tuscany - Case Study Example

Introduction3

Assessment of e-commerce4

Corporate web-site4

Facebook5

Instagram6

YouTube7

Improvement8

Corporate web-site8

Facebook9

Instagram10

YouTube10

Conclusion11

Introduction

Banco Etico Agroalimentare (BEA) Tuscany is a small company that is located in Florence and Siena. It was established in 2013 and focuses on the distribution of agro alimentary products. The characteristic feature of it is reliance of traditional of Tuscany is terms of food and wine selection. There are three major categories of products that the company in question sells. They are wine, oil, and food. The former can be placed into further categories: red, white, rose, grappa, and liquor. The company sells extra-virgin olive oil which comes in different packages, ranging from 0.25 ml to 5 l. As for the food that is sold, there are numerous categories ranging from fresh meat to sweets. It must be noted that the company insists that everything is made according to the traditions of the region and if a person something from BEA, one will be able to experience the real state of Tuscany.

The decision to focus on this company is not coincidental. One would make no mistake suggesting that BEA may be a unique enterprise. On the one hand, it actively engaged the innovative methods like e-commerce, but on the other hand, it tries to adhere to the traditional values and believes that it is possible to combine the modern and the old. In addition to that, this company also shows that the contemporary consumers may be interested in buying products that have a certain meaning that is associated with them. In other words, the adherence to the traditions of Tuscany may be regarded as the source of competitive advantage. This paper will present an in-depth assessment of e-business as well as e-commerce capabilities of BEA and suggest some improvements that may be particularly beneficial for the company in terms of performance, sales figures, and attracting the consumers.

Assessment of e-commerce

Corporate web-site

To begin with, it may be particularly important to state that the major platform that the company uses to sell its products in the virtual world is its corporate web-site. Thus, if one accesses it, one will be able to see the entire selection of wines, oil, and food that are offered by the company in question. For example, if one hit “Products” section, one will be able to see different categories of products and browse them easily. Another point that should be mentioned is that goods can be ordered directly from the web-site. In other words, a person may add to cart a product that one liked, fill in all the necessary data and receive the item easily. It would not be an exaggeration to state that the process of making a purchase is relatively simple and will not confuse anyone.

Qin et al. would argue that the above-mentioned web-site represents one of the major approaches to e-commerce. Thus, it is obvious that the company in question bought a simple design of a web-site with the ability to sell goods with the help of it. The functions that it features are quite common: they allow a person who select a product, choose the package, input all the necessary information and pay for it. Some might suggest that this may be too simple, but this kind of approach is very effective. Indeed, the consumers are not distracted and they are able to focus on choosing the products. What is even more important is that the company is able to gain absolute control over this platform, making sure that they can handle all the problems that may appear. This is particularly important since it increases the effectiveness and reliance of this platform.

Facebook

It would not be an exaggeration to suggest that the contemporary business is heavily influenced by the development of social media. That is why it is natural for companies to set up active accounts that serve different functions. Funk insists that Facebook revolutionized the manner in which business is conducted with the help of the Internet. This can be easily seen in the example of BEA. This company creates posts on Facebook that promote the products. This is carried out in the following manner: a post features relevant picture, it also contains the description of the item and a link that will take a person to the corporate web-site which was mentioned above. There is another category of posts that promotes the products and the company but utilises less direct methods. For example, it may feature the logo of the company or the picture of the staff.

A careful look at the time of each post will reveal that the account of this company in Facebook is quite active. The importance of it can hardly be exaggerated. It is obvious that many people use the social media in question on a daily basis and they expect companies who created accounts in it follow the sale example. In addition to that, it is easier to post new information on social media than on the corporate web-site. That is why the social media account would be the natural choice of a person who would like to get the latest information about the company. In addition to that, one should also note that the account in Facebook also allows people to interact with the company easier. Thus, the corporate web-site features different options which the help of which one is able to contact BEA: Skype, phone or email. However, many would prefer interaction in the social media since it is more convenient.

Instagram

It must be noted that the company in question did not limit its presence in the social media with Facebook only. One may be surprised to learn that BEO also has an account on Instagram. Given the functions that are available for the users, one might conclude that this social media can be used as an effective tool to promote the products. A typical post in Instagram of BEA is different from the one in Facebook. First of all, there is less text and the major emphasis is made on the picture, not the description. In addition to that, the company actively uses hashtags in order to attract the biggest number of people possible. One might suggest that this may be the right approach to using this social media since it allows the company to utilise all the peculiarities of it.

Moreover, one would not make a mistake suggesting that to a certain extent Instagram may be regarded as a very suitable platform for promotion of food. According to Mehta, Instagram can be particularly effective since it focuses the attention of the users on the image, making a product quite appealing. Indeed, some posts in the account of BEA feature great picture that urges a person to click on it. Another point that should be mentioned is the use of hashtags. The latter are used by the people to easily find pictures that might interest them. That is why a bigger number of hashtags results in a bigger number of people attracted. If one considers the example of BEA, one will be able to see that it uses a sufficient amount of hashtags that allow numerous people to find the pictures. Therefore, one might conclude that the manner in which the company uses this social media is outstanding.

YouTube

In spite of the fact that YouTube may not be seen as a conventional social media, it is beyond any doubt that it performs all the needed functions that allow it to be qualified as one. Indeed, people are able to create accounts and express their opinion freely. In spite of the fact that some company may be interested in the development of their presence is YouTube, this can hardly be said about BEA. The evidence shows that the company has only one video and it was uploaded a month ago. By any estimate, this kind of performance should be regarded as extremely poor since it shows that the company does not take this social media seriously. Nevertheless, the corporate web-site has indications of three social media that BEA has active accounts on and YouTube is mentioned there.

It is quite understandable that some companies may be quite sceptical about the effectiveness of YouTube when it comes to promoting and selling their products. However, it is often suggested that this particular social media should be regarded as one of the major drivers of demand. Indeed, YouTube is accessed by numerous people on a daily basis and there are many ways in which advertisement can be presented to a potential consumer. What is even more important is that as soon as a company is able to make a person subscribe, it will be able to expose the latter to new content. However, nobody will be willing to subscribe to a channel that only has a single video. That is why from a strategic point of view, the manner in which BEA performed in this social media should be changed since it has a completely different effect on the consumers.

Improvement

Corporate web-site

The first point that should be mentioned is that the corporate web-site should be improved in order to make e-commerce of the given company more effective. One of the recommendations would be to make it more informative. For example, an entry that corresponds to a particular product only has a single picture. It is obvious that under these conditions people are not able to satisfy their curiosity and will require more. In addition to that, the text that each entry contains does not seem to be engaging. It is true that filling a web-site with content may be quite difficult, but it is essential to make sure that there is plenty of information that might interest a consumer. In other words, it is expected that when one accesses a page that is devoted to a particular product, one will be able to find exhaustive information about the item, but that is not the case at the present moment.

Another point that should be mentioned is that the web-site should be more adapted to the multi-language audience. At the present moment, the web-site is available in three languages (Italian, English, and German), but the English and the German versions are far from being performed. To be more precise, there are many words and phrases that were not translated properly; that is why an English speaking person will have difficulty navigating it. It is often suggested that it is crucial to make a web-site that will not contain typos or mistranslated words since it will have a negative impact on the perception of the consumers. Given the cultural diversity of Europe, it may be beneficial to add some other languages so that people from neighboring countries could access the web-site and view it in their native language. It goes without saying that foreign versions should be properly translated so that they can attract and retain consumers.

Facebook

There is a number of recommendations regarding usage of Facebook that may be given to the organisation in question. Thus, it is particularly important to make posts at least once a day since this will show that the profile of the company is active and people should visit it on a daily basis to learn something new. In this case, the content of the post is not that significant: the idea is to make a new post every day and attract the attention of the people as much as possible. Given the variety of items that are sold, it is possible to make a post about every one of them. Furthermore, when the cycle is done it can be repeated. In a word, the Facebook profile of the company will surely benefit from being active.

The next significant element that will lead to the overall improvement of the performance of the company in question focuses on the nature of the content. In spite of the fact that it was mentioned that sometimes the latter may not be particularly important, it is crucial to make sure that there are some interesting posts that are made by the organisation. The thing to avoid is refraining from making posts that are not related to the contemporary situation in the country or in the world. Indeed, if a company keeps posting pictures of its products and insisting on buying its product, a potential consumer might think that it exists in a completely different universe and does not relate to the actual world. Therefore, a company should make sales or special offers that are correlated with holidays, for example. In other words, it is important to show that the profile in a social network was not created for promotional purposes only.

Instagram

As it has already been mentioned, the use of Instagram by the company may be praised. However, there is still some improvement that can be made. First of all, it may be helpful to increase the frequency of posts. Similarly to Facebook, it is important to show that a profile of a company in a certain social network is active and is updated frequently. Indeed, this may not have a direct impact on the sales; however, it will show that a potential consumer will be exposed to new information on a daily basis. Moreover, an account that is updated frequently seems to be quite attractive since it implies that a company wants it to be informative. It has already been mentioned that the wide range of products that are sold provides numerous themes for posts.

Speaking of peculiarities of Instagram, one should note that there is comment section that should be used to its fullest. This means that BEA should encourage its loyal consumers to leave some comments that will guide other, potential consumers, in their selection. In addition to that, this may be a great way to communicate with the company, especially if the latter answers every comment that was made. As of now, it seems that the communication in this social media is one-sided. However, this is something that should be avoided since it places obstacles in the way of developing loyalty and feedback. All this leads to an obvious recommendation: the company in question should introduce some changes into the manner in which posts are made and make the text that they feature more engaging. In other words, users should feel an urge to leave a comment after they read it.

YouTube

Finally, there is a number of improvement that should be implemented by the company if it wants to use its YouTube profile properly. To begin with, it is crucial to increase the number of videos available. As it has already been noted, if a profile has only one video, it creates a rather depressive image. Indeed, a potential consumer might question if there was a point to create an official account. Speaking of the content, one should note that there are some peculiarities, but in general it should follow the general guideline. It may be particularly helpful to create a kind of posts that can be later used in other social media. For example, a post will feature well-written text, an interesting video, and a great picture taken from the video. The first and the second can be used to make a post on Facebook, the second can be used in YouTube and the third is suitable for Instagram.

Further, BEA may be interested in exploring one of the latest trends, namely viral advertising. YouTube has been known for the popularisation of this method of reaching the consumers. In the majority of the cases an amusing as well as unexpected video is created and the users will be expected to share it. The point here lies in the fact that the users will share a video for its amusing properties, but it will simultaneously feature some corporate characteristics. That is why unknowingly, the people will be exposed to advertising. Of course, the creation of viral content may require a lot of imagination; so, it may be difficult at first. However, if a good idea is developed, it may have a positive impact on the sales. Therefore, it is obvious that today the potential of YouTube as a platform for e-commerce has been significantly underestimated by the company in question and this should be changed.

Conclusion

Having examined all the points which were mentioned in the paragraphs above, one is able to come to the following conclusion: the current state of affair in terms of e-commerce and the manner in which it is engaged by the company in question may be regarded as satisfactory. Indeed, the most successful and the most effective element of it is the corporate web-site. It is equipped with a fully functional store where the potential consumers can buy the products and order them directly from the company. This may be regarded the fundamental aspect of the companies virtual presence. However, it may benefit from becoming more informative and being translated properly. The second element to be mentioned focuses on the use of Facebook. At the present moment, the profile of the company features regular posts and links that direct a user to the corporate web-site. However, it will become even more effective is new posts appear every day and if the content is closely connected to the world. The use of another social medium, namely Instagram, should also be highly praised. Thus, the company was able to create a content that is particularly suitable for this platform. However, it may be helpful to increase the frequency of publications and focus more on the comment section. The worst performance is witnessed in the use of YouTube. The latter has a tremendously big potential for e-commerce, but it is not used properly by the company in question. There is only one video that the channel of the company features and it is quite depressing. It is important that is increases the number of videos that are uploaded and creates content that has a potential of becoming viral. This will have a positive impact on the performance of the company.