On-line Demand for Products and Services - Assignment Example

On-line Demand for Products and Services The aspect of on-line demand for services and pertinent goods regards the utility of online platform, for instance eBay, Amazon, and Alibaba (China), in addition to other online avenues, for the sole purpose of shopping. The process thus pertinent portrays the business-to-consumer (B2C) online shopping experience. What informs the context behind the presence of on-line interaction is the fact that retail success is no longer anchored on the presence of physical stores. On the contrary, it is more about products/ services availability for the dynamic consumer base, which in the contemporary era is no longer restrained by physical territorial boundaries or nature. As the growth witnessed in the online shopping arena continues exponentially, various firms are acquiring new wealth focused on new market opportunities of footprint coverage. Therefore, stores are able to subsequently cater to the vast and continuously growing offshore markets in terms of service requirements and market demands. This is because of the growing influence of the Internet where online consumers need both Internet connectivity and valid payment methods to sustain a complete transaction (de Kare-Silver, 2000:48). In most cases, once a particular item has been identified on a website or in another online platform, an online retailer subsequently uses available shopping cart software. These subsequently allow consumers to continue buying products by way of accumulating multiple items, in addition to being able to adjust the quantities acquired. Through the existing ‘checkout’ processes, payment and delivery information is acquired. Here, some stores allow the customers to sign up for permanent online accounts. This is important because of the need for constant information gathering during an online transaction. This involves sensitive information (Sheth, 2003:23). Online accounts are more secure and hence the preferred choice for frequent online shoppers. As such, information should only be entered once. Some of the dominant online accounts include Shopify, Shopgate, and PrestaShop, osCommerce, Magento and nopCommerce. High-end solutions can also be bought or rented in the version of stand-along programs (Huang, 2000:339). This may also work as an addition to an existing enterprise program on resource planning. In the event that a transaction is successfully implemented, online shoppers usually receive e-mail notifications. A less sophisticated avenue involves a process where consumers use email or phones to order their products. However, in this avenue personal information is required and is necessary for security reasons (Huang, 2000:340). The available payment methods include use of accounts such as PayPal, eBay, Alibaba, credit cards, cash on delivery, debit cards, cheques, e-money (various types), wireless transfer, crypto-currencies and invoices (Huang, 2000:342-43). Once the payment has been made and confirmed by the sellers, the products and/ or services required are delivered in a variety of ways. In the case of services, i.e. digital media products such as images, movies, software and movies, digital distribution is used to deliver them. Shipping is usually used for products that are bulky or are more convenient to transport by sea. Other methods used to deliver goods include drop shipping where orders received by the manufacturer enable items to be directly shipped to the customer. This helps manufacturers bypass retailers ensuring savings are made on space, money and time. In-store pick-up utilizes internet connectivity. Here, the consumer utilizes locator software for selecting the drop-off point (Slack, Jennifer & Sue, 2008:49-50). He/ she later on collects the delivered goods at the location that was selected. Will call (in Care Of Box Office) is another avenue where patrons collect re-purchased products, i.e. tickets for various events. This is especially popular because of the convenience of online shopping. Printing out, emailing or providing of area codes for the exchange of products/ services, i.e. scrip (gift coupons and certificates) and admission tickets are other popular methods of online transacting. The globalized nature of the economy of the current era provides platforms on which trade and commerce is carried out in large-scale arrangements. This has a positive effect on socio-economic and political aspects various state sectors (Steve & Sue, 2001:325). Accordingly, it is on this aspect that the retail platform has experienced an increase in terms of sales growth and significant customer traffic. There has also been an increase in conversion of online visitors into paying consumers thereby propelling online sales and transactions into greater heights. Whereas existing internet-only enterprises could not materialize on economies of scale present, lower operational costs and reduced transaction expenditure, large established retailers were able to employ the Internet as an additional aspect. The Internet has supplemented physical stores a fact that has increased its use by multi-channel retailers. Accordingly, the seamless integration of various consumer touch-points, i.e. call centers, internet and stores, has resulted in extra expenditure for a majority of retailers. From the information gained above, it is notable that multi-channel retailing is here to stay. While theoretical contributions predicted that channel conflicts, i.e. sales cannibalization (from established multiple sales avenues) were a potential negative effect, current studies envisage a different opinion (Engel, Blackwell & Miniard, 1995:11). Closer alignment of infrastructure and e-commerce capacity results in general sales volumes and performance improvement. Integration of both offline and online sales channels result in the support of acquisition of new customers thereby generating better revenues vis-à-vis reduced cost expenditures. Accordingly, hybrid enterprises are well placed to offer various online platform products and services. However, the multi-channel retailers may potentially benefit immensely from the sole fact that online visitors can or are often aware of tier physical store network. Consequently, such clients are more risk averse since they face lower online risk perception (Katros, 2000:77). Enhancement of customer retention at multi-channel retail outlets with the reputation of physical store networks positively influences consumer perceptions of subsequent online stores. Above this is the fact that integrative elements, i.e. common operations, cross-channel marketing and infrastructure offer great advantages to hybrid ventures such as multi-channel retailers (Timmermans, 1993:352). According to the customer purchasing process, four phases are prevalent. These include claiming customer attention (acquisition), provision of information to existing and potential customers (information), transaction settlement and after-sales to keep customers returning for more (Timmermans, 1993:354). In evaluating online consumer behavior within multi-channel settings, it is critical to note that various retailers increasingly adopt multi-channel distribution strategies. This enables businesses to target individual consumers by way of both electronic and physical channels. However, in order to develop successful marketing strategies within such contexts, an understanding of consumer patterns is essential (Stone, Hobbs & Khaleeli, 2002:42). This is in reference to consumer choices, in terms of purchasing channels preferred by customers. Traditional Belkian analysis supports the fact that channel selection processes are invariably influenced by situational contexts present (Stone, Hobbs & Khaleeli, 2002:43-44). In situating multi-channel consumer behavior, macro-level factors are core to this understanding i.e. emergent markets and corporate geographies, as well as infrastructural development. Accordingly, unique shopping situations affect consumer choice where various shopping experiences infer future endeavors in terms of online shopping. Thus, not only will such a shopper encounter a majority of the extraneous variables, but will also contend with influences as exerted by cyberspace, intermediary technologies and the Internet (Falk, Sockel & Chen, 2005:67). The result of this is that every shopping instance is indeed rendered unique by way of being situational-specific. This happens through the interaction between environmental and individual factors at a given moment. The Internet’s growth has produced various shopping channels, which are both quite interactive and innovative in terms of consumer utility (Peterson, Balasubramanian & Bronnenberg, 1997:334). Variables that are influential to consumer behavior in any given situational context can aptly be classified into either of five distinct categories. These include the social surroundings, task definition, temporal perspective, antecedent states and physical surroundings Belk’s taxonomy, is still used as a framework on which consumer research literature discussions are organized around and is still remaining influential (Peterson, Balasubramanian & Bronnenberg, 1997:338). Adding to this is the influential aspect of both legal and cultural factors, within individual consumer decision-making choices. These were revised later on because of weaknesses as influenced by cultural and legal factors. Similarly, human memory and learning are factors that also influence consumer decisions. Revision of Belk’s taxonomy resulted in five distinct dimensions each present within particular consumption contexts. These include the physical, temporal, social, cognitive and affective dimensions. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze the varying consumption situations along the mentioned dimensions with variables within each of them impinging consumer channel-selection decisions (Belk, 1975:159). In conclusion, online consumer behavior especially within multi-channel retail environments involves the negotiation of increasing complex and diverse ranges of virtual-physical consumption situations. Accordingly, situational factors influence consumer selection processes regarding utility of particular channels or a combination of the same. Thus, situational factors are also critical in influencing online consumer channel selection processes. References Belk, R. W, 1975, Situation variables and consumer behavior. Journal of Consumer Research, 2: 157-64. de Kare-Silver, M. 2000, e-Shock 2000: The electronic shopping revolution. London: Macmillan Press. Engel, J.F., Blackwell, R.D. & Miniard, P.W., 1995. Consumer Behavior, (International Edition). Orlando: Dryden Press. Falk, L.K., Sockel, H. & Chen, K., 2005, E-Commerce and Consumer's Expectations: What Makes a Website work? Journal of Website Promotion, 1(1): 65–75. Huang, M., 2000, Information load: its relationship to online exploratory and shopping behavior. International Journal of Information Management, 20: 337–347. Katros, V., 2000, A note on Internet technologies and retail industry trends. Technology In Society, 22: 75-81. Peterson, R.A., Balasubramanian, S., & Bronnenberg, B.J., 1997, Exploring the implications of the Internet for consumer marketing. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 25: 329–346. Sheth, J.N., 2003, Research in Consumer Behavior, vol. 1 (Ed). Greenwich: JAI. Slack, F., Jennifer, R & Sue, C., 2008, Consumer behavior in multi‐channel contexts: the case of a theatre festival. Internet Research, 18(1):46–59. Steve, E. & Sue, F., 2001, Expectations versus reality: a snapshot of consumer experiences with Internet retailing. International Journal of Information Management, 20: 323–336. Stone, M., Hobbs, M., & Khaleeli, M., 2002, Multichannel customer management: the benefits & challenges. Journal of Database Marketing, 10(1): 39-53 Timmermans, H., 1993, ‘Retail Environments and Spatial Shopping Behavior’. In Garling, T. & Golledge, R.G. (eds), Behavior and Environment: Psychological and Geographical Approaches, (Vol 9: pp342-377). Amsterdam: North-Holland Press. Read More