Customer Relationship Management and E-Commerce Strategies - Essay Example

? Relationship Management and E-Commerce Strategies for Starbucks and Green Mountain Coffee Table of Contents I. 3 II. Introduction3 III. Companies Overview 4 IV. Comparison and Contrast 4 References 8 I. Abstract The paper discusses the different customer-centric activities in the websites of Starbucks and Green Mountain Coffee and does so in the context of the support that those activities get from information technology, as well as from the perspective of the e-commerce applications and strategies for CRM that are used to good effect in both sites. The discussion goes into a comparison and contrast of those aspects of the customer activities of the two firms online, with the findings that on the whole, it makes sense to consider the websites as forming part of a CRM platform/strategy that the two firms execute with varying degrees of excellence. The e-commerce components, meanwhile, are seen as effective in extending the relationship experience from the physical stores to the web, complete with orders and payments processing. These latter components too, can be seen from the overarching perspective of the websites executing on good strategies for managing customer relationships (Google, 2013; Google; 2013b; Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, 2004; Starbucks Corporation, 2013). II. Introduction The discussion here centers on comparing and contrasting the major activities focusing on the customers of both Starbucks and Green Mountain Coffee Roasters within their respective websites. This is done in light of how those customer-focused online activities are backed by information technology, and in light of being able to identify the e-commerce applications as well as the CRM strategies that work well for both sites (Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, 2004; Starbucks Corporation, 2013). III. Companies Overview Starbucks and Green Mountain Coffee Roasters can be considered as competitors in the specialty coffee and beverages business, having somewhat similar business models of operating stores and offering coffee and related products and accessories both in the stores and online. Starbucks Corporation on paper seems to have a wider worldwide footprint, having presence in more than 60 countries spread out all over the planet, and having somewhat of a more popular brand in comparison to Green Mountain Coffee, which has a more specialist character. That countries foot print for Starbucks is complemented by a large number of stores, totaling more than 18,000, with about half owned by the company and half being franchises. Looking at the financials, both have managed to do well over the recent years, but over a longer-term horizon of five years, one can see that Green Mountain Coffee Roasters’ share prices have been on a rollercoaster ride, while Starbucks’ share price has steadily improved over that period. Starbucks also has a market capitalization that is six times that of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (Google, 2013; Google; 2013b; Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, 2004; Starbucks Corporation, 2013). IV. Comparison and Contrast Looking at the two sites at their Home Pages, one can see that there is a decidedly product focus for the two websites, with some highlighted products being front and center in large images in the two sites. The exception is that in the case of Starbucks, there are links to engage the customer or visitor to the site on Facebook, Twitter, and what Starbucks calls My Starbucks Idea, which is a kind of forum where customers can share their ideas for products and experiences, and talk to other customers. Here we see a major set of customer interaction activities that, in comparison to Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, is more robust and also front and center together with the products. Green Mountain Coffee in contrast has a more prominent focus on products on their Home Page, with no links for social media and forums present except for a provision for signing up to an email list. The social media interactions and the forum interactions provided by Starbucks can be considered as a major undertaking to engage customers, and this in turn has dimensions relating to the role that information technology plays to improve the customer engagement process. There are two aspects to this. One is the internal engagement via the My Starbucks Idea platform within the site. The other aspect consists of the social media presence in Facebook and Twitter, which Starbucks leverages as a CRM Tool. This CRM tool promises to be effective given the widespread appeal of Starbucks across many different countries. It is also a CRM strategy that is relatively easy to adopt and implement, given that social media strategy only consists of a Facebook page and a Twitter account (Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, 2004; Starbucks Corporation, 2013). Taking a step back, one can see that if the websites are taken to be an aspect of an overall CRM and e-commerce strategy, as a virtual store, that Starbucks keen focus on making the site useful and beautiful is also an aspect of that strategy. It seems to work too, because comparing the two sites, the subjective appeal of the Starbucks site is greater, due to its more pleasant appearance and the use of more modern technology elements such as social media and more robust menu offerings. There are options too that seem to emulate a physical store, including the provision of a menu, a coffeehouse option with Wi-Fi as well as music, and an option dealing with the Rewards via the Starbucks Card. The Shop is an option that opens to a subset of the entire site that offers products and accessories available for purchase. In contrast the corresponding elements in Green Mountain Coffee Roasters are not evenly developed, and this can be construed as a weakness in the way it executed the online strategy as both a tool for effecting CRM in general and for enabling e-commerce transactions. In the latter site, opening the various menu options, such as Gifts and Accessories, opens up a catalog of related products and accessories, with a cart system supported by an information technology platform at the back to take in orders and to handle payments. This is noteworthy, but Starbucks also has the same options available in its online store (Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, 2004; Starbucks Corporation, 2013). Looking at the online stores more closely, one perspective is that Starbucks and Green Mountain Coffee can enhance the customer-focused activities in their sites by providing products and accessories and making it easy for customers to purchase them online. Therefore having an online store is an aspect of CRM, something that customers will appreciate and will make life easier for them. At the same time, the online stores can also be viewed in terms of the two companies being able to leverage their online presence to not only interact with customers in a social way, but via an e-commerce platform that generates sales. The online stores are not a replacement for a physical store but are meant to extend the physical store experience, as can be gleaned from the Starbucks execution, but not so much for the Green Mountain Coffee site execution. That said, looking at the two sites, both are able to offer products and accessories making use of the availability of information technology software to process the orders and the payments from the respective online stores. In the case of Green Mountain Coffee the products and accessories are available right from the menu options presented in their Home Page. For Starbucks on the other hand the menu options include a virtual store, from where Starbucks presents a wide range of products, from coffee to coffee cups to equipment, with pricing and availability and a robust features set for all products. Here one can say that both sites offer a functional execution of e-commerce platforms (Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, 2004; Starbucks Corporation, 2013). Taken together too, one can say that the superior customer interaction experience and the more robust CRM platform in the online site of Starbucks translates to a more robust use of information technology as an enabler of the CRM and e-commerce strategy of the firm, and this works on many levels. Green Mountain Coffee executes on the same strategies, with the same sets of activities and an e-commerce option as well, but with an execution that has room for improvement. Both have functional e-commerce platforms for offering products and processing the orders and payments, and both execute the e-commerce platforms using the same technological paradigms of a cart where customers place their orders and bring to the payment counter for payment. On the other hand, where the entire site with the e-commerce platform is viewed in the light of it being a comprehensive CRM strategy, it is Starbucks that seem to has worked out a better overall strategy and has a visibly better and more robust execution overall (Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, 2004; Starbucks Corporation, 2013). References Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (2004). Green Mountain Coffee. GreenMountainCoffee.com. Retrieved 2 December 2013 from http://www.greenmountaincoffee.com/ Google (2013). Starbucks Corporation. Google Finance. Retrieved 2 December 2013 from https://www.google.com/finance?cid=655693 Google (2013b). Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. Google Finance. Retrieved 2 December 2013 from https://www.google.com/finance?cid=657603 Starbucks Corporation (2013). Starbucks Coffee Company. Starbucks.com. Retrieved 2 December 2013 from http://www.starbucks.com/ Read More