Online Retailing and Internet Marketing - Coursework Example

Introduction Internet-marketing is the use of electronic media for the trade of goods and services. This trade might be within different firms or within different countries. The e-marketing do not only deals with the trade while general public is enable to do online-shopping’s. This online-shopping requires special mode of payments. The e-marketing has increased the level of business and trade of each entrepreneur as it helps to gain the maximum global market share. The electronic media use the internet resources not only market their products and service but also enhance their sales through the internet mode. Brief description on E-marketing History Internet marketing (e-marketing) wasn’t a new field rather the concept was initiated in early 1960’s when the use of file transfer and email was in use. The use of this internet marketing (e-marketing) was limited to few large organizations and some daring financial institutes. Within the years of 1960 and 1970 different other concept arises such as multimedia application and video links. The use of multimedia offers the potential to introduce many innovative techniques and application especially within the civil administration, banking applications and other commerce business. Now with time, the concept of internet marketing (e-marketing) expanded numerously that now companies used to market and sales their product with the help of emails. The communication gap is reduced at minimum levels and the businesses are launched at global levels. The excess to any product and service become convenient, this increases the level of internet commercialization in early 1990. These all enhancement coined the entrepreneurs and business administrators to develop latest and fastest applications for the business. It is the emerging concept in which still further developments are taking place with time augmenting information and communication technology. This augmentation increases the business functions (human resource, marketing, finance and other support area of the business). The concept of internet marketing (e-marketing) supports all the aspect of trade except the actual delivery. However, the monetary exchange is possible electronically in the latest year of 1997. The overall ecommerce application was successfully launched in the new era of 2000 and most the banks increased their distribution channels only because of ecommerce applications. Direct Marketing Direct marketing is the sub-head of marketing with two main broad categories that distinguish it from other types of marketing. The very first character is that it opt different users or consumers and directly interacts through electronic media. This direct interaction uses unsolicited commercial communications such as spam or junk mail to interact directly with the consumers. The second characteristic that makes it different from the marketing technique is that it focuses mainly to drive purchases at pre-decided number of units or specific “call-to-action.” The major advantage of direct marketing is that it can track the positive responses from the customers directly. Direct marketing uses techniques as 1. Door hangers 2. Package inserts 3. Magazines 4. News papers 5. Radio 6. Television 7. E-mail 8. Internet banner ads 9. Pay-per-click 10. Billboards and 11. Transit ads D`Dmas jewelry firm D`Dmas is a Dubai-based organization famous for its gold and diamond jewelry and now with joint ventures in South East Asian companies, it is deciding to enhance its online marketing techniques to develop its global market. The company major product is highly priced and thus requires capturing major businessmen and high class society people for their jewelry. But overall, their direct marketing technique will capture the whole global market to capture maximum customers at global level. Not only customers, they are trying to capture supplier for their firm that can provide best form of gold and high caret diamond. Since last year, the firm was using joint ventures as their offline-marketing technique that was causing huge cost to the firm. The firm realizes that any other joint venture or acquisition will cause a huge cost to the firm. Therefore, they decided to market their product online at global bases. Current market strategy for domestic Market D`Dmas is currently using different online and offline marketing techniques and most of them involves exhibitions of their designs through live walk and modeling, ads through magazines, television and radio, and different other marketing campaign. Their most important marketing campaign is the use of celebrities to represent their new design, and live walk and modeling. Moreover, the magazines and television ads are becoming more famous within the marketing region and enhancing their sales per year. Strategic role of on-line sales The strategic role of online sales are provided that helps the firms to know that what objectives they can fulfill by the use of internet marketing for their firm. With growth in time and technology, the firms are trying to retail online at global level in order to adopt cost-effective strategy. The more they are bale to lower their cost, better will be their financial positions. Furthermore, the firms with online marketing techniques can better handle their sales and per year revenue. One-to-one approach rather one-to-many approach The firms can target the specific consumers and interact directly, providing a complete scenario about the perception of their product and evaluate accurately about the future sales of the product. Usually the consumers when target the advertisement of your firm, this shows that how many consumers are interested in your product per day. Moreover, this one-to-one approach offers the firm to know the direct response of the consumer about their demands, and needs. Demographic targeting of consumers rather behavioral targeting The targeting of the market through offline techniques can capture the market on the bases age, sex and geography. The online-marketing technique uses deeper targeting of the consumers by providing awareness to the consumers at global level. The target market of the firm increases by the use of electronic marketing techniques. Measurability The most important strategic role that the online marketing technique provides is the ability to measure the market exactly. The latest techniques such as pay-per-click (PPC), pay-per-banner impression (CPM) or pay-per-action (PPA) are used by the firms to measure the number of consumers that uses to visit their online retail shop, measure the daily costumers buying from online retail shows and the response of the customer through their direct emails. Response and immediate results The results of your marketing campaigns are directly measured through online process. Similarly when one decided to buy the jewelry will might decide to get more information through online services. These all things together provide immediate response and result to the firm. Profile of selected target market Through the use of internet marketing techniques, we are now trying to capture the most famous celebrities, businessmen and luxury people that can buy our diamond and gold jewelry. Our target market will be the most high-class society that used to buy diamonds and gold at regular basis. This target market will directly be interacted to know their response and intensity towards our product. Furthermore, our marketing strategy will keep the factor of awareness high within this society that keep updated with our latest designs and offers. This special target market is selected at global level via internet by the use of special internet marketing technique. Opportunities within International market The opportunities that the firm seeks at international level through their internet marketing tools are as 1. The jewelry firms are rarely founded at internet and thus our catalogue of designs is the best opportunity as it provides the best and latest design to our consumers at international level. 2. Through internet the firm will be able to protect and safe much of their cost that incur during the live marketing campaign for the product. 3. This international market will provide best consumers for the product as different celebrities, luxury peoples and businessman will be attracted to buy our product. 4. Huge target market is another option and opportunity gain by internationally marketing of our product. Objectives of the firm Objectives and goals are the factor that provides the reason for the existence of the firm. These are the factors that update the consumers for the specific action of the firm. Similarly what are the objectives of the D`Dmas that driven the firm to internationally market their product via electronic media? These objectives will be fulfill within the two year plan of the firm and are given as below 1. The very fist objective of the firm is to capture a huge target market of the product so that they can increase their yearly sales and productivity. As with growth in the rate of gold and diamond at international level, the buyers of these jewelries are become lesser day by day. Therefore, the firm decided to diversify their firm by marketing their product at global level. 2. The second objective of using the electronic marketing to market the product at international level is to lower their cost within the firm. Through joint ventures and acquisition in eastern countries, the firm has faced lot of cost and thus now requires a more cost-effective strategy that can provide productivity. Therefore, the firm has decided to market the product at global level through internet technology. 3. The firm wants to interact with consumers directly to know their response and action towards their product. They want to measure accurately about their market for product. On-line sales Strategies The firm adopts different on-line marketing strategies to cover their two year objectives and these strategies are given as follows 1. E-mail marketing 2. Interactive advertising 3. Web banners Email Marketing It is the tool of direct marketing that uses the electronic mail as a mean of direct communication with your target market. The purpose of the use of email marketing is 1. The emails send to enhance the relationship with your target customer. This customer might be the new one or the old customers of the firm. Usually this technique encourages the loyalty of your customers. 2. The emails send to new customers for their acquirement to buy an immediate jewelry or convincing the old customers to buy the new design of the jewelry. 3. These emails usually add advertisement, designs or catalogue of their jewelry that enhances their marketing and sales of the product. The researchers in America show that in 2006 $400 million were spent by the firms for e-marketing. The reason is the maximum target market capturing by using the internet techniques. The firm found that these tools not only help in measuring the accurate response of the consumers but also enhances long-term relations. Interactive Advertising The interactive advertising techniques are used by the firms to promote the buying decisions of the consumers. The internet advertising uses the direct marketing tools such as internet, interactive televisions, mobile devices and kiosk-based terminals. A sophisticated and dimensional dialogue within the consumers and marketer enables him/her to engage the customer directly and personally that affect directly on the buying behavior of the consumer. Viral marketing is one of its tool using images, texts and animations to attract the customer. For instance, the burger king has developed Subservient Chicken campaign to promote their new chicken sandwiches by saying a message “Have it Your Way”. Other avatars are assumed by interactive advertising such as brands and directories. The directories are used to provide a complementary role for conventional advertising, this help the consumers to recall and compare different brands that were seen on the televisions. Responses to these directories are made through different forms and click-to-call technologies. One of these click-to-call technologies is pay-per-click, used by advertising agencies online to capture their consumers. Web Banner The web banner, as the name shows, the banner provided on the World Wide Web for the advertisement of the product. This entails embedding of advertisement of the firm’s product on web page. This actually formed in intention to attract the traffic on the internet by linking it to famous web sites. The banners are formed from different techniques such as Java Script program, Silver Light, Java Shockwave or Flash. The web banner is directed to the main site of the firm when the user clicks on the banner. This event is named as “click through”. Identifying potential relationships The above all strategies help in providing the potential relationship with the customers and what type of these relations are given as 1. Loyalty of the customer is achieved to enhance long term relations. 2. They will become the regular viewers of our website to seek the best product. 3. The relationship will be in “responsive nature”. The customers will response to the firm about their need, demand and views about the product. 4. These relations enable the firm to convince on the buying behavior 5. The relation of consumer will change into members of the firms when they become the regular costumer and viewer of the firm through internet. Distribution Strategy The distribution strategy via internet techniques will be simple and secure. As the firm is famous and recognized holding 100% reliability, therefore, it will introduce online financial transaction of money. This will enhance the online ordering of the jewelry to the firm who will be responsible to distribute the purchased jewelry through air mode. The firm decided to develop a contract with FedEx for the delivery of the product, where as financial transactions will take place through western union or transaction through international banks. Risk Management As internet marketing remains the most unsecured way and the product that the firm is using to market is highly expensive, therefore the risk associated is very high. Therefore, the firm decided to achieve the maximum risk management techniques to keep the security system high. For risk management, not a single and specific strategy is taken in account rather the security system of the firm is tightened to protect the firm from any future risk. Marketing Audit The marketing audit basically run before two main approaches and these are 1. Analyzing the sales volume of the firm 2. Analyzing the cost Analyzing the sales volume The firm has to analyze the targeted sales and actual sales done by the firm. The difference between eh two will clear the situation that either the firm succeeded or fails to capture the market as planned. The larger the difference between the actual and targeted sales, the firm is facing the failure mode. Whereas, the minimum is the difference between the two, the firm succeeded and thus should continue the same strategy. Analyzing the cost The next step is to analyze the total cost incurred on e-marketing and expected cost of the firm. If actual cost is higher than the expected cost, then the firm will face huge cost in the year. Where as decrease of actual cost from expected cost or minimum difference between the two shows that the firm actually achieves what it was trying for. Analyzing the sales and cost When the firm analyzes the actual cost incurred on selling the total volume of the product then the actual results will show that either the firm succeeded to achieve its objectives or facing the failure mode. This last step updates the firm either to keep using the strategy or should stop it in the future. References Alan M. Rugman and Richard M. Hodgetts (March 2000) “International Business”, Third Edition. Anant K. Sundaram, J. Stewart Black, (1995) “The International Business Environment” First Edition. Charles W.L. Hill, Gareth R, Jones (2003) “Strategic Management” 6th Edition Fred R, David (2005) “Strategic Management” Eleventh Edition Garth Saloner, Andrea Shepard (2001) “Strategic Management” Gregory G. Dess, G. T. Lumpkin (2003) “Strategic Management” Henry Mintzberg (2003) “Strategic Planning” Ian Brooks, Jamie Weatherston, Grahan Wilkinson (April 2004) “The International Business Environment” First Edition Jobber. D., 1997. CIM Handbook of Selling & Sales Strategy. Butterworth Heinmann Payne.A.,ed.1995. Relationship Marketing for Competitive Advantage. Butterworth Heinemann. Peck et al 1999. Relationship Marketing: Strategy and Implementation.  Oxford: CIM/Butterworth Heinemann Philip R. Cateora and John graham (March 13, 2006) “International marketing”, Thirteen Edition. William O Bearden, Thomas N Ingram, Raymond W LaForge (January 13, 2003) “Marketing, Principles and Perspectives”, Third Edition. Read More