E-Commerce Business Plan for a Startup Company: Youthcentric om - Case Study Example

E-Commerce Business Plan for a Startup Company- Youthcentric.com Introduction There are famous clothing stores available for the preferences of youth nationwide but locally there isn’t any. Youthcentric.com will comprise of youth centric products and clothing. It will help youngsters to view the available products online so that they can order the selected products which will then, be delivered to their home. Youthcentric.com is a cost-effective operation which will enhance the product purchase among youth. E-commerce Infrastructure For a start-up company like youthcentric.com, ecommerce infrastructure will require: A Web Server App Server Payment Manager And, Database The first step is to develop a system for e-commerce infrastructure. The above mentioned factors can be implemented by taking help of an IT practitioner or expert in order to take the business to the second level which is developing marketing concepts for online business. Marketing Concepts for E-commerce Environment  For an online business, marketing concepts are as important as for tangible business. Marketing concepts primarily include: Product The products which youthcentric.com offers include wide range of clothing, accessories, bags and shoes. These products will be available for both the genders and the age group which has been selected for this purpose is from ages 16 to 28. Price Most of the youngsters usually do not earn by themselves. If they do so, then their salaries are not much higher. Keeping this point in mind, prices for all the products have been kept very reasonable so that it can be affordable for them to purchase products online. Place Place will obviously be the official site of youthcentric.com. All the purchases and sales will be made online via the official site of youthcentric.com. Promotion The two mediums that can be used for promoting an online business can be through word of mouth and through social media networks. Assistance of social media network will be taken for promoting the official site of youthcentric.com. After the site gets famous among youngsters, word of mouth will eventually take place. Effective Communication in E-commerce Environment  For an online business, communication needs to be very strong as this is the only medium between buyer and seller. In this regard, youthcentric.com will focus on following mentioned areas. Focusing on target audience This area will incorporate targeting an appropriate audience. Through this, communication will become more effective and focused. It is not necessary to sell everything for everyone. While starting-up, it is essential to have a clear picture in mind of a specific group of customers to focus (Lynch, 2012). Adding value to products Apart from informing customers about products and services, successful online business needs to add value to their products and services offered to the customers. For youthcentric.com, value addition can be created by providing best quality products as well as keeping customers informed about new collections, designs, sales and promotions (Lynch, 2012). Focus In case of online businesses, it is vital to have a clear strategic positioning for brand. For youthcentric.com, it will always be considered to what this brand stands for. Youthcentric.com will remain consistent in providing information to its customers and to fulfill their expectations (Lynch, 2012). Privacy and Security Issues in conducting Online Business  The growing demand of online business has raised several questions related to privacy and security issues. Many online companies steal the designs and products of large e-tailers. Therefore, it is essential to consider security issues. For this reason, there are number of privacy authorities such as www.truste.com and www.secureassure.org. These privacy authorities recommend including the following information of the organization. 1. Informing the type of data that is collected and how it will be utilized. 2. Providing the email addresses and contact number of the organization. 3. Defining the techniques that will be used to secure the data during storage and transmission. Apart from the above mentioned privacy authorities, another technology which organizations prefer is Secure Socket Layer Technology (SSL). Many organizations believe that SSL is limited to banking institutions and e-commerce only but in essence SSL helps in allowing customers to remain encrypted while they travel from the site of organization to database, thus it eradicates the interception of hacking of sensitive information (Lyris, n.d.). Issues and Challenges of Ethics in conducting Online Business  Ethics are vital for conducting a successful business. Ethics substantially impact the sales of the company as well as the brand image, marketing and advertising principles. For an online business, challenges pertaining to ethics can be: Honesty Integrity Trustworthiness Privacy issues Internet fraud Cyber crimes Keyword scams Search engine spam etc. These issues can spoil the investments and efforts of online entrepreneurs. While doing online business, it is vital to consider all the ethical obligations. In online business, there is a huge concern of reliability among customers in this regard it is extremely important to gain the trust of customers. Only then, an online business can make successful sales (Internet Marketing, Website SEO, and Online Advertising Services, n.d.). For youthcentric.com, especial attention will be paid to developing and maintaining trust of customers in order to maintain brand loyalty. Usually, customers do not rely upon the online services and therefore prefer to stick to one particular business of which they are acquainted to and to which they can place order again and again. This is an opportunity for youthcentric.com to maintain the trust by delivering the best quality product in timely manner. In this concern, all the ordered products will be delivered in time and with excellent quality (Internet Marketing, Website SEO, and Online Advertising Services, n.d.). Utilizing social-media outlets to enhance e-commerce sites  Nowadays, where social media has become an integral part of every individual’s life, it can be very beneficial to take these factors into account and to take help of social media networking in order to expand and grow business. Social media networking can be helpful in following ways. 1. Visibility Before making any physical move, it is essential to start selecting a certain target market which needs to be catered. For youthcentric.com, the target audience is young boys and girls aged between 16 and 28. This age group is highly indulged in social media as well, therefore there are numerous opportunities to expand and grow business by increasing its visibility in social media networks. 2. Common Interest Social networks can be helpful in connecting to more customers of common interest. After making some initial few customers, it would be easier to make more customers and the chain will continue which will help in generating large pool of customers 3. Pace Social networking websites can be very helpful in making initial contacts with customers in order to increase your reach. After the contacts are made, then deepening relationships and close bonds will help in retaining and bringing in more customers through word of mouth strategy. 4. Shared Goals At social networking websites, one can find potential partners and therefore by informed about the workshops and training programs which are taking place. Social media will help in finding the people who possess same goal as it will help in achieving what you desire to achieve. 5. Self-Disclosure Obviously, social media is full of self-disclosure as it allows you to share your thoughts, information and stories. Through blogs, photos, videos and information youthcentric.com can update the potential customers about what it is and what it does (Garrett, n.d.). The Implications of business-to-business e-commerce for your business  Expanding and growing a business needs to take support from strong players in the market. In this regard, for sustainable growth and expansion companies go for alliances, joint ventures, mergers, acquisition, vertical integration etc. Youthcentric.com aims to take assistance of other prominent brands in the markets. These brands can be of online business as well as tangible business. Brands offering products such as shoes, clothing, bags and accessories will also be displayed on the official site of youthcentric.com. Works Cited Garrett, C. (n.d.). 7 Ways Social Media Helps With Business Networking. Retrieved from http://www.chrisg.com/business-social-networking/ Internet Marketing, Website SEO, and Online Advertising Services. (n.d.). Internet Marketing Ethics and Web Ethical Issues. Retrieved from Importance of Ethics on The Internet: http://pwebs.net/i/internet-ethics/ Lynch, S. (2012, April 9). Strategic Communications Plan: 5 On-line Tips. Retrieved from http://web.results.com/bid/83922/Strategic-Communications-Plan-5-On-line-Tips Lyris. (n.d.). Privacy and Security Issues: Building Customer Trust. Retrieved from http://www.lyris.com/web-cms/60-Privacy-and-Security-Issues-Building-Customer-Trust Read More