How E-Marketing Is Beneficial - Assignment Example

A Report On The Evaluation Of BestWebbuys (B2c) And Market (B2b) Websites As At 15th Aug.2011 Executive Summary The websites evaluation was conducted with the main aim of establishing whether they meet the requirements for their respective classes of E-commerce. The evaluation found that the Marketo website is of acceptable standards and meets the basic standards for a B2B website and seems very professional. However it was found that it lacks in a few areas that were recommended for upgrading. The website online interactive chat function is not working and is permanently on offline mode which means accessing urgent information from the website administrator may prove to be impossible. The second function not properly integrated into the website is the screenshot function which allows only a few snapshots to load. This was recommended for upgrade since it might cause the company customers trust and consequently losing its credibility. The bestwebbuys.com website is fairly good in that most features of a B2C website are incorporated including customized search engine though it was found that despite serving the purpose its not up to standards .It was recommended that the interactive session box be made functional and the screenshots be properly done with the recommended design tool rather than copying and pasting. Evaluation Criteria The evaluation method employed in assessing the two sites involved comparison of each sites basic feature with the standard requirements features of the same. The main focus points were according to ease of navigation, attractiveness, security and privacy features, availability of search engines catalogues and volume and amount of logically arranged informational data. In addition to that there was also the element of online interaction for urgent information. The Marketo.com, B2B, website scored well against the criteria compared to the best web buys. It is from the comparison that the recommendations were made. Introduction Every company’s desire is to outreach as many clients as possible in order to remain relevant in the business field. With many companies mushrooming, most organization are always on toes to have an upper edge in the competitive world of their operation. This has seen an up rise in modes of marketing products with E marketing being one of the tools that organizations are using. This paper therefore seeks to look on how E marketing is beneficial by looking at the performance of two selected companies Literature review The advancement in the technological innovations in today’s world has affected the process of business transacting in the global market. Computer technology has transformed markets to the electronic age. Due to this, products and services are easily accessible and their delivery is carried out within the shortest time possible with as simple as a button click. It is from the concept of easy and faster accessibility of buyers by businesses and accessibility of products and services by buyers, that the concept of E-commerce was born. These new forms of businesses use websites and other e-marketplace concepts to enable successful business transactions without human contact. The following literature review will therefore tackle the B2B, B2C, C2C and B2E forms of E-commerce web sites. B2B( Business to Business) Minsung (pg.159) defines them as web sites for both buyers and sellers to come together to communicate, exchange ideas, advertise, bid in auctions, conduct transactions, and coordinate inventory and fulfillment. This kind of business has specific requirements; there must be negotiation on the specifications of the product, the delivery details and of course the price. . Integration is also a requirement where there must be a communication link between the buyer and the seller of the goods without physical interaction but rather online. The main objective s of this business include; lowering of business transaction cost such as paper work, save resources in terms of efforts and time when doing business. This is common between businesses in supply chain management, businesses in networking alliances among others. For these websites to be successful they must exhibit certain principal features. Optimization of all pages and components to enable for indexing by search engines is crucial. A tracker for potential buyer’s activities on logging in will be useful. The mode of payment also must be clearly within view in addition to a “contact us” page for communication to flow. B2C Business to Consumer These are business websites that ensure business transactions through selling products and services to potential individual consumers rather than to other companies in the market (Rowley. Pg. 520). The main objective of such websites is to advertise what they offer by reaching out to the largest market segment of potential consumers. They are mainly used by tours and travel companies, online banking, online retailers, entertainment and companies in real estate business. For their success the website must posses the following features; Security against fraud and hacking is necessary through a firewall. Privacy of the site is also a must since certain products can be difficult to place orders for in public domain such as Viagra. The website must have a catalogue to enable browsing for items before selecting and making subsequent purchase. C2C (consumer to consumer) These are consumer websites that sell or communicate products and services to fellow consumers online. Andam (pg.12). C2C is simply commerce between private individuals or consumers….characterized by the growth of electronic marketplaces and online auctions, particularly in vertical industries where firms/businesses can bid for what they want from among multiple suppliers. The main objective here is to enhance contact between the buyer and seller, provide consumers with a variety of options to choose from, with a wide range of prices, quality and packages. These businesses include portals that facilitate bidding on web products. For Such websites to succeed in the online market they must be secured, must have defined payment procedures and user data authentication provision. It is also practical to include a search engine for easier and faster location of products. B2E (Business to Employee) This constitutes an intra-business online networking that permits companies to avail information, products and services to the organizations employees. The main aim is to attract qualified personnel to cope with the market competition. Services from the website include available offers and automated payment systems, online application for insurance policy and updated records for employees. To deliver, they must ensure qualities as home pages that are customized with a single URL for every employee. They must have components that are well defined and the ability for modification and alteration to meet specific employee needs. Case studies This paper will discuss two websites one from B2B and B2E respectively An example of a B2B website is www.marketo.com. Marketo is a revenue performance management company founded in 2006 by world class marketing software executives that provides marketing solutions through guaranteed predictable and accelerated revenues. Marketo offers three main products. Marketo lead management application which enables marketers measure and automate campaigns for demand generation and deliver trusted sales leads that are not only of high quality but also easy to interpret and apply and integrate in the overall strategic plan. This product incorporates email marketing, website monitoring, and lead generation nurturing and scoring applications. The second product category is the market sales insight that enables market representatives to be in a better position to manage every stage of the revenue cycle and deliver effective response to the sales leads within the best times possible for better results. It comprises the best bets and watch list, behavior tracking of the market, mobile access and anonymous web tracking analysis applications. The last product category is the revenue cycle analytics which measures optimize and predict the expected impact on revenues from the market. Under this are: success path analyzer, programme effectiveness analyzer, opportunity influencer analyzer revenue cycle modeler and analytics engine. Other products include marketo free trial, reviews and market demo. In addition, it also offers services such as customer enablement and support, consultancy services and education. Marketo’s target market are mid-sized and divisional customers in enterprise B2B industries such as healthcare, communications,high technology and financial services. The main aim of market is to advertise and create awareness for its products to target market with the overall aim of increasing sales. Case 2 B2C website. www.bestwebbuys.com is an example of a B2C website. The website’s main aim is to advertise and facilitate delivery and availability of a wide range of goods to potential buyers through faster transactions via online marketing. This website has its main target market as the average consumers in households, schools, education institutions and corporate groups. It specializes in specifically meeting the immediate needs of the consumer. The website offers a variety of products including, bikes, books, electronics, videos, and music compact discs all of which are ordered online and delivered including shipping options for overseas customers. The business thrives due to its ability to offer different varieties of products in their different stores under one website. Evaluation of the two websites www.marketo.com (B2B) In my own evaluation of this website I must say its meets the requirements for a B2B website. The website is well developed in that its very detailed and full of information. The user interface is friendly to navigate, it has a “log in” menu which ensures user privacy, it also has a “contact us” and a “contact me” options to ensure communication and feedback. There is also a “chat with a specialist box where immediate feedback and information is available. The skin is attractive and strikes attention from the slide windows. Payment details are available with options to pay with different modes. Products and services are explained in depth and screenshots demonstrating how the software operates is available. Organization of information is logically arranged with links from one item to the other. A search machine is provided at the top of the home page for easier accessibility. However, the chat box is permanently labeled “currently offline” this needs to be fixed, also, some of the snapshots are not loading while others are loading yet they are recommended for use. This can de-motivate the users and lead to dissatisfaction. To keep a competitive advantage in an increasingly competitive web environment, website designers need to constantly identify and build motivation factors into their websites (Zhang and Dran pg.2065 ) www.bestwebbuys.com (B2C) In my evaluation the website is of average standard. It serves the purpose but for such a big online line of stores the job is not well done. It has the search engine by categories as by name of the book, by author, by year of publication and even publisher. The other feature is the catalogue box which is also important. The same applies to other pages for easier search. There is also an option for international shipping and interactive online session which is recommended but not functional. Despite the fact that it is working, the user interface is not attractive in terms of skin coloration and there is a lot of wording which should be avoided on the home page. The home page has been seriously ignored when according to Surendra and Dalal. (pg. 96) home pages perform the same basic functions-to inform-and to persuade as other communication messages. It is also recommended that the screenshots be improved to web quality since most are simply cut and paste photos. Recommendations From the analysis carried in both websites, it is paramount for any organization aspiring to use e technology to ensure ease of access of the website, navigation, accurate content, availability and quick response to clients query. This will help in enhancing client’s confidence and trust to such cites. Security is a vital pillar in any organization. This is one of the aspect that should be used to win clients confidence and should be constantly reviewed to avoid internet fraud. With these in mind, it is important to appreciate the fact that E marketing is gaining popularity and organizations should aspire to deliver their products and services across the globe. Conclusion In concluding this report it is clear that the quality of a website really matters in dissemination of information to potential buyers in the e-marketplace. The website designers must therefore do a quality work on marketing websites to attract and retain the customers in acquiring a large market share. The home page in particular should be presented in such a way that it strikes the attention of the viewers that will consequently make induce curiosity to proceed into the website thus making sending the intended message home. With many business going global, it is therefore highly recommended that they seriously embrace e-commerce as a means of reaching out their products and services to their customers to cut non unnecessary cost of running and maintaining their business ventures. Screenshots retrieved from www.marketo.com Top of Form Bottom of Form         Snapshots retrieved from www.bestwebuys.com Works Cited Jennifer Rowley , Understanding digital content marketing.,Journal of Marketing Management, Vol. 24, No. 5. (July 2008), pp. 517-540. Minsung Li. Studying Business Models for E-Commerce from a MarketPerspective. Journal of Technology and Business. October 2007 151-165 Singh, Surendra and Dalal, Nikunj, ‘Web home pages as advertisements’, Communications of the ACM, Vol. 1999 42(8), pp. 91-98. www.marketo.com www.bestwebbuys.com Zorayda ruth Andam.e commerce &e business.e-asean task force UNDP.APDIP 2003 retrived from V http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:m3A8c6fOg7EJ:www.uop.edu.jo/pdf Zhang, Ping, and von Dran, Gisela, ‘Satisfiers and dissatisfies: A two-factor model for website design and evaluation’, Journal of the American Society for Information Science, Vol. 51(14), pp. 1253-1268, 2000 Read More