1 E-COMMERCE PROJECT Name Affiliation Course Instructor Date 2 E-COMMERCE PROJECT Ekuep is an online supplier of restaurant and hotel equipment serving Saudi Arabia and the Gulf region. The company’s operations are entirely online offering solutions such as purchases and delivery using alternatives such as DHL and Aramex. Additionally, they offer professional after-sale services for the reputable brands that they stock. Accordingly, the company’s vision is to enrich the economic diversity of Saudi Arabia through e-commerce. The company’s revenue model is through product sales. The target market for the company is restaurants that are starting and those that are expanding. The company uses the e-commerce website for advertisement, retailing and as a contact centre. Ekuap’s objective is to offer quality products with fast shipping coupled with the best customer service support. The company operates in a niche market where they face competition from Raqtan Food Service Equipment and Saudi Elan. Additionally, the company also faces competition from international retailers and department stores that sale these goods. However, the company is competitively placed being a retailer targeting both small and medium-sized businesses. The company’s strength includes the fact that they are pioneers in the industry which gives the company an established customer base. Also, the business uses scaling where they can both cover large and small orders giving them a wide coverage of the market. Subsequently, the company also is established having industry partners with whom they partner for promotions. The company’s weakness includes that they are a traditional company so they face a lot of targeted competition from upcoming companies who seek to establish their market dominance. On the other hand, the company has the opportunity to venture in non- commercial retails service. This is beneficial to the company since they already have frameworks in place. Since the 3 company’s operation is entirely online, it faces the threat of hackers who might be interested in customer information such as card numbers and passwords (Lee & Lee, 2012). The design of the website covers its business objectives with excellent system functionality while proving description for their services. Uniquely, the website has product photos for advertising. It is also equipped with search functionality to enable easy browsing of items in their stock. The check-out functionality acts as a point of sale and distribution allowing customers to make payments and select shipping method of their choice. Customers are also required to sign-in which is important for business analytics, through checking of repeat customers and rewarding regular customers. Currently, the website has a banner on the home page for adverting. It also has an item catalogue on the home page, including product images, prices and a chatbot for customer assistance. The e-commerce features on the website include online purchasing and checkout facilities. The website also has a menu to aid the customer’s shopping experience. It also has a section where a shopper can compare features and prices before purchasing. The website takes a longer time to reload promotional images on the banner which is annoying when using slow internet. Additionally, the website does not use grouping such that each page has a lot of information which might affect customer shopping experience (Tucker, 2014). Consequently, when a new user enters the site, they access the home page which has a catalogue for the company. The customer can then navigate to the dashboard to choose among a list of sections. When the customer finds the desired product, they are directed to the checkout section where the customers enter the number of units they require then proceed with checkout. Afterwards, customers with existing accounts are directed to log in or create accounts. Upon accessing their accounts customers shipping address, shipping method and payment information. 4 The customer receives a receipt of payment and waits for the product (Heames, Heames & Breland, 2010). The website has ease of use with clearly label prompts which guide the user to each functionality. Additionally, each functionality is indicated and on completing one section the customer is directed to the next. The website uses good colour scheming to accommodate all customers (Pelet & Papadopoulou, 2012). The software used on the website allows for interactive use with a dedicated chat section. Also, the website provides alternatives for shipping and payment. The website provides for payment using a card, both Visa and Master Card or Mada Card. Customers can also pay using selected banks using Bankwire or cash on delivery. The website uses contextual advertising by tailoring advertisement for its users on the website (Hsieh & Chen, 2011). The main competitor is Saudi Elan, who offer a minimalist design with a reduced approach to cataloguing. Their website is difficult to navigate and does not process online sales. Conclusively, the company is adequately placed in the business and their industry dominance guarantees a strong customer base. The e-commerce platform also covers all points to ensure that they maintain customers while at the same time gain new customers. However, the website can use more sectioning so that information is categorized appropriately. 5 References Heames, J., Heames, J. T., & Breland, J. W. (2010). Management pioneer contributors: 30‐year review. Journal of Management History. Hsieh, Y. C., & Chen, K. H. (2011). How different information types affect viewer’s attention on internet advertising. Computers in human Behavior, 27(2), 935-945. Lee, M., & Lee, J. (2012). The impact of information security failure on customer behaviors: A study on a large-scale hacking incident on the internet. Information Systems Frontiers, 14(2), 375-393. Pelet, J. É., & Papadopoulou, P. (2012). The effect of colors of e-commerce websites on consumer mood, memorization and buying intention. European Journal of Information Systems, 21(4), 438-467. E. (2014). Social networks, personalized advertising, and privacy controls. Journal of marketing research, 51(5), 546-562. Saudi Electronic University College of Administrative and Financial Sciences ECOM101 – E-commerce Assignment 3 E-commerce Project 2020/2021 Submission: Part 1: End of week 7, Thursday 15th of October 2020 5 Marks Part 2: End of week 13, Thursday 26th of November 2020 10 Marks Requirement: In this project, you are required to evaluate one of the websites below based on what you learn from this course and your perspective. The evaluation will cover the different aspects of ECommerce such as business idea, website design, marketing, security … etc. You will need to analyze the business and provide suggestions to improve the current business situation. Current e-commerce businesses: (choose one) 1. 2. 3. 4. www.karazlinen.com/ www.ekuep.com www.sorrah.sa/ www.eyewa.com/sa-ar 5. www.nv.sa/ 6. www.darzan.sa/ 7. www.rewayah.store/ 8. www.etarstore.com/ 9. www.sahaba.store/ 10. www.notahstore.com/ 11. www.natureland.net/ksa_ar/ 12. www.aratopia.sa The following questions require critical thinking to be answered successfully. The answers to these questions will drive the ways of improvement of the current e-commerce business. 1. Know the business 3.5 marks ➢ What is the business? (your choice) ➢ What is the idea? (the visioning process) • Introduce the e-commerce business you have chosen. o Provide an overview of the business idea • Product and type of services. o What are the different types of products? Explain o What kinds of services does the online store provide? [ customer service, exchange and return, delivery, and payment options] Explain • Business statement. • Business vision. • Business objective. ➢ Where is the money? o What is the company’s business model? o What is the revenue model? Give a general idea of how the business generates revenues ➢ Who and where is the target audience? Explain demographics, lifestyle, consumption patterns, etc. ➢ Characterize the marketplace. o Size, growth, demographics, structure, competition o Research the market and give an idea about each point ➢ Describe the content of the business website ➢ Conduct a SWOT analysis for the business (Explain each point) o At least three points for each ➢ Develop an e-commerce presence map. o (For example: website, email … etc.) o What activities does the company use these platforms for? (E.g. marketing, customer service, news…etc.) 2. Explain the design of the system 1.5 marks ➢ Explain in detail the design of the system (business objectives, system functionality, information provided) Business Objective System Functionality Information provided Ex: Display goods Digital Catalog Dynamic text and graphics catalog • What can be improved or added into the system design? 3. Explain the current business e-commerce features 1 mark ➢ What are the current website features? ➢ What types of these features can be annoying to customers? Provide pictures. • What can you do to improve the current features on the website? 4. Explain the business e-commerce process 1 marks ➢ Explain in detail all the steps from the time user enters the website until the final user buys a product. • What can be improved in the process? 5. Site Design 1.5 marks ➢ Evaluate the website design focusing on the eight most important factors in successful ecommerce site design (ease of use, ease of purchase, simple graphics … etc.). You are required to evaluate each factor. o What can be improved in the site design to be one of the most successful e-commerce websites? 6. Business software 1 marks The development of an e-commerce website requires more interactive functionalities, such as the ability to respond to user input (name and address forms), capturing customer orders for goods and services, clearing credit card transactions on the fly, consolidating price and product databases, and even adjusting advertising on the screen based on user characteristics. ➢ Explain the different types of software used on the website to perform the current functionalities. • What can be done to improve the software? 7. Payment and Security 1.5 marks ➢ What are the methods of payment available in the online store? o What other methods can be added? Explain why? ➢ What are the technologies used on the website to secure the online transactions? o What other technologies can be added? Explain why? ➢ What is the current privacy policy of the online store? Outline how the information is collected and used? o What can be added to the privacy policy? Explain why? 8. Categorize marketing and advertising strategy and method. 1 mark ➢ Explain the current online, offline, and social media marketing strategies of the e-commerce business? • What can be done to improve the marketing aspects of the business? 9. Know your competitors. 2 marks ➢ Choose a website of one competitor in the same industry (locally or globally) and compare it with your chosen company’s site. Indicate why the competitor’s website is better or worse than the chosen company’s website. Provide screenshots with explanation. o What can be done by learning from your competitor’s experience? 10. Conclude your report. 1 mark Summarize the above points and include your recommendation to improve the e-commerce business. Project Submission: Submission Due Date Point Covered Marks First Submission End of week 7 Thursday End of week 13 Thursday 1-2 5 3-10 10 Second Submission Guidelines for the assignment: ✓ The answer sheet must include the following: o Cover page o Questions o Answers ✓ Make sure to include the cover page with all information required. One mark will be deducted if there is no cover page ✓ This is a group project (3-4 students), which is part of your course score. It requires effort, research, and critical thinking. ✓ You are required to choose one current business from the list. ✓ Each website can be chosen by one group only. ✓ Use font Times New Roman, 12 font size ✓ Use 1.5 line spacing with adjust to all paragraphs (alignment). ✓ Use the footer function to insert page number. ✓ Ensure that you follow the APA style in your project and references. ✓ The minimum number of required references is 5 references using APA style. ✓ Your whole project report length should be between 2200 to 2800 words. ✓ You must check the spelling and grammar mistakes before submitting the assignment. ✓ Up to 20% of the total grade will be deducted for providing a poor structure of assignment. Structure includes these elements paper style, free of spelling and grammar mistakes, referencing and word count. ✓ Your file should be saved as Word Doc. [Example]: Your name_CRN_ECOM101_ Project Assignment Part 1
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