Automotive Website and Its Features and Functionalities - Case Study Example

Introduction The importance of website has grown in the last few years as it has become an important tool in the hands of organizations which determine their business success. The manner in which technology has grown and the invent of new methods which allows people to be connected even at far off places by clicking a mouse has helped to improves the process of answering queries and solving matters in a few seconds. This has also been used by the business to develop ways through which they are able to expand their business opportunity and has thereby been able to develop their services which have helped the revenues to soar up. This increases the development of a web interface which enables customers to get the required information as the interface should be simple and communicative. This has helped to identify convenience and easy use as one of the main factors which determines the success of the website over a longer period of time. Different theories and areas in relation to web interface has been identified and developed so that the complex business goals which looks towards ensuring better customer usage pattern and use of the brick and mortar system has helped to increase the efficiency. This has helped to improve the web interface and acts as major factors which determine the success of the organization. The development of e-commerce platform which ensures that there is better access and transition has helped to develop the entire process and increased convinience in user interface. The different models which have been developed looks towards ensuring that a platform is created through which in depth assessment of the users and their application of technology so that better interface can be developed and proper services through the development of new online applications can be provided. This has thereby provided different heuristics and testing ability to gauge the manner in which websites help to improve the interface between the user and the company. This report looks into a comprehensive assessment of five website companies Holden Australia, Toyota Australia, Honda Australia, Suzuki Australia and Mitsubishi Australia all dealing in the automotive industry. This paper looks to make a comparison based on different parameters and features provided by the website like effectiveness, usage, objectives and congruence of all the aspect to improve customer interface. This further looks towards examining the relevant areas through which the overall business parameters can be evaluated and process developed to improve customer satisfaction by meeting their expectations. Automotive Website – Features & Functionalities Before moving on the different features which automotive industry looks towards providing to its customers it is important to understand the manner in which the different key factors have a role in determining the usage pattern for people surfing the websites of automotive companies. The automotive industry like other industries have undergone widespread changes by ensuring better product visibility, features, videos and pricing. This has ensured that the customers are able to collect relevant information pertaining to the companies’ products its features without looking to visit the stores. This has improved the manner in which buisness is done so that comfort and ease in gathering information can be obtained by just clicking on the mouse. It has been seen that the development of technology and the development of websites have enabled the automotive industry to grow and move ahead as it has ensured better comparability between products for the customers, ensures that the issues are addressed quickly, customer satisfaction has been enhanced and has also provided the opportunity to contact customers even at far off places. The development of website by the automotive industry has helped them to create awareness and ensure that the customers are updated regarding the new launches and products. This has helped customers get a lot of important information which will permit them to ensure better services and develop a long term relationship with the industry or the company to be in particular. Issues The report looks towards examining five automotive players namely five website companies Holden Australia, Toyota Australia, Honda Australia, Suzuki Australia and Mitsubishi Australia. The website address of the different websites is http://www.holden.com.au www.toyota.com.au/ www.honda.com.au/ http://www.suzuki.com.au/ http://m.mitsubishi-motors.com.au All the different website are targeted towards the automotive industry that works in Australia and looks towards ensuring that the targeted customers are able to gather valuable information regarding the performance of the automotive industry Different parameters have been identified based on which the different factors will be evaluated so that the performance of the different website can be made. On the whole the comparison is made on 24 different parameters which will help to understand the web interface of the different automotive industry better. Holden started its operation in the year 1856 and deals in different products like automobiles, and engines. The company started its business from Australia and since then it has increased its business over different regions of the world. The company has an employee based over 7000 employees and is listed in Australia (Holden, 2012). Toyota started its operation in the year 1937 and deals in different products like automobiles, commercial vehicles, engines, and motor cycle. The company started its business from Japan and since then it has increased its business over different regions of the world. The company has an employee based over 1.3 lacs and is listed in Japan. The company also has over 522 subsidiaries and has evolved as one of the major player in the automobile market (Toyota, 2012). Honda started its operation in the year 1948 and deals in different products like cars, motor cycle, power equipment, engines, robots, aircraft, solar cell, and similar other products. The company started its business from Japan and since then it has increased its business over different regions of the world. The company has an employee based over 1.8 lacs and is listed in Japan (Honda, 2012). Suzuki started its operation in the year 1909 and deals in different products like automobiles, commercial vehicles, engines, and motor cycle. The company started its business from Japan and since then it has increased its business over different regions of the world. The company has an employee based over 50 thousand and is listed in Japan. The company also has different subsidiaries and has evolved as one of the major player in the automobile market (Suzuki, 2012). Mitsubishi started its operation in the year 1870 and deals in different products like mining, ship building, telecom, financial services, insurance, electronics, automobiles, and others. The company started its business from Japan and since then it has increased its business over different regions of the world. The company has an employee based over 3.5 lacs and is listed in Japan (Mitsubishi, 2012). Domain Name The domain name is the name which different organization creates for their company and is done with the purpose of giving an individual identify and to ensure that people are able to remember the domain name easily. The domain name should be such that it should make it easy to identify the organization & their business. The domain name usually has the following name to end with it “.com” or “.org”. The domain name for Holden Australia is http://www.holden.com.au which shows the following features The domain name represents the company The domain name is easy to remember The domain name has .au which represents the country to be Australia thereby enabling the users to ensure that the country for which it is searched The chances of making errors or spelling mistakes is limited as the name is simple and can be easily written and a few spelling errors will also highlight the same in the search page The domain name for Suzuki Australia is http://www.suzuki.com.au/ which shows the following features The company is represented by the domain name Remembering the address is easy The domain name has .au which represents the country to be Australia thereby enabling the users to ensure that the country for which it is searched The chances of error are less as the person will be directed to the same website even if mistakes in spelling is made The domain name for Honda Australia is www.honda.com.au/ which shows the following features The company is represented by the domain name Remembering the domain name is simple The domain name has .au which represents the country to be Australia thereby enabling the users to ensure that the country for which it is searched Making errors is less suspectible because even if the user types an incorrect domain name the website automatically directs the person to the correct name in the search engine The domain name for Toyota Australia is www.toyota.com.au/ which shows the following features The company is represented by its domain name The name is simple and can be easily remembered The domain name has .au which represents the country to be Australia thereby enabling the users to ensure that the country for which it is searched Chances of making errors are little as the website directs the person to the same place even in case of errors which ensures that the person is able to search the correct company The domain name for Mitsubishi Australia is http://m.mitsubishi-motors.com.au which shows the following features The domain name is simple and represents the company It is easy to memorize the name of the company The domain name has .au which represents the country to be Australia thereby enabling the users to ensure that the country for which it is searched People even typing wrong spellings are directed to the website of the company which ensures that the chances of making mistakes is limited   Holden Australia Toyota Australia Honda Australia Suzuki Australia Mitsubishi Australia  Domain  1 1  1  1  1  Search Engine Position The position helps to find out the ranking that the website has based on the people who have searched it, the easy use of words and accessibility that it is able to provide to its customers. This was seen by the fact that typing Holden Australia, Toyota Australia, Honda Australia, Suzuki Australia and Mitsubishi Australia the Google highlighted their website address on the first page (Acharya, Kagan, Lingam & Gray, 2008). This has been further presented for each website Holden Australia featured as a listing on the top of the ranks which ensures that people searching for the website is able to ensure that the site is easily found. The screenshot for the listing of Holden Australia is as below Toyota Australia is one of the most searched search engine in Australia and as highlighted from the search engine that people looking to find information about Toyota are quickly directed towards the website of the company. Honda Australia list as one of the most favored searched engine and helps the user to find the website of the company by typing the relevant information. The search engine position highlights that the website appears on the top making it easy for the people to gather information Suzuki Australia when searched by people tops the list which enables the user to search the information regarding the company very easily. The search position also highlights that it positions on the top of the list which ensures that it can be searched easily Mitsubishi Australia is one of the most searched website for the automobile industry as typing the name of the company ensures that it is available on the top of the list. This is shown in the search engine position below The different domain name for the different automobile company is thereby witnessed as one of the major search engines Search Term: Spelling Mistakes Even when the user incurs a spelling mistake the search engine looks towards finding the same link for the automobile player which ensures that the user is not guided to a false link but is directed towards the correct link of the company. Search Term: Automobile When the user types the name automobile it shows the major players in the region which ensures that the user is guided to the links of the automobile player who are dominant and makes it easy for the user to search the automobile player they are looking for.   Holden Australia Toyota Australia Honda Australia Suzuki Australia Mitsubishi Australia  Search Engine Position  1.5 2  2 2  1  Conditional Assessment The automotive industry looks towards using information technology for their business but is largely limited as customers prefer to visit the showroom, ensure a test drive and look into other features. Customers look towards feeling the actual scenario and based on it look towards determining the company they will choose. Despite it the web pages of the different automobile company helps to invoke a response as it shapes the behavior of the person in that direction and makes them act in a manner and search for the products so that they can purchase it. The Holden Australia website http://www.holden.com.au/ looks to offer different features to its customers by presenting both the information & transaction based process. The different services which the website looks to offer includes vehicles, offers, used cars, fleet, test drive, brochure request, dealer enquiry, requesting a service, corporate information along with the price for different cars . This thereby enables the user of the web interface to gather different valuable information which will help them to get a basic idea about the models of the cars, the prices and similar other features which will determine the success of the website of the company. The Toyota Australia website http://www.toyota.com.au/ provides both the information & transaction based process to its user as the interface has been designed accordingly. The different services which the website looks to offer includes vehicles, offers, used cars, fleet, test drive, brochure request, dealer enquiry, requesting a service, corporate information along with the price for different cars . The user can also compare the information with other players and based on their evaluation look towards selecting a particular company whom they find fit. The Honda Australia website http://www.honda.com.au/ has developed its interface in such a manner that it offers its user both the information & transaction based process. The different services which the website looks to offer includes vehicles, offers, used cars, fleet, test drive, brochure request, dealer enquiry, requesting a service, corporate information along with the price for different cars . The Suzuki Australia website http://www.suzuki.com.au/ has ensured that the users are able to look towards using the information & transaction based process for the different functions they want to carry out. The different services which the website looks to offer includes vehicles, offers, used cars, fleet, test drive, brochure request, dealer enquiry, requesting a service, corporate information along with the price for different cars . The website also looks towards offering its user more services and varied features through which they are able to ensure maximum benefit. The Mitsubishi Australia website http://www.mitsubishi-motors.com.au/ looks to offer different features to its customers by presenting both the information & transaction based process. The different services which the website looks to offer includes vehicles, offers, used cars, fleet, test drive, brochure request, dealer enquiry, requesting a service, corporate information along with the price for different cars . The company has also integrated their website in such a manner that the users are able to gather other information which will simplify their process and ensure better search options The conditional assessment for the five different automobile players show very little differentiation and similarity due to the fact that most of the players look towards following the same strategy and looks towards presenting the customer with maximum information through which they will be able to maximize their information level. Despite it the website of Honda is more conservative as it looks towards directing the customers to different areas which will help them to gather the required information in those areas. Context The layout of the site for Holden Australia website http://www.holden.com.au/ is good and helps the person navigating the site to get information at a relevant click and also has options where through different clicks the user is able to gather valuable information. The site has been developed in such a manner that even a layman can gather valuable information regarding the models, features, designs and other look of the car. The website also looks to offer important information relating to contact information and queries so that all the issues of the customers gets sorted out easily. Note: The above website provides valuable information relating to the car and information from where the customer can look towards ascertaining all information which will make the entire operations to be clear and provide valuable information that the user is searching for as the website is comprehensive The layout of the site for Toyota Australia website http://www.toyota.com.au/ has been developed in such a manner that it provides the user with various information. The website has been developed where it looks towards ensuring that every person visiting the website is able to find out the information they are searching for so that their differences get sorted out Note: The above website helps to highlight the manner in which different features regarding the cars can be searched and also provides a special search key through which the user can look towards searching any information that is pertinent and relevant to the user The layout of the site for Honda Australia website http://www.honda.com.au/ is simple and helps to direct the user towards a particular segment they are searching for. This will ensure that the user is directed towards a particular direction and page which will ensure that complexity reduces. The website also looks to offer important information relating to contact information and queries so that all the issues of the customers gets sorted out easily. Note: The above website provides valuable information relating to the car but is rather slightly complicated as the user has to go through a process before being able to garner the relevant details making the entire process to be lengthy and operative The layout of the site for Suzuki Australia website http://www.suzuki.com.au/ has been developed keeping in mind the manner in which a layman will be using the website. The website offers navigation system though which the users are directed to the different pages where they can garner valuable information. In addition to it the page ensures that all the queries and doubts can be solved and the questions of the persons can be found at Note: The above website provides valuable information relating to the car but is rather slightly complicated as the user has to go through a process before being able to garner the relevant details making the entire process to be lengthy and operative The layout of the site for Mitsubishi Australia website http://www.mitsubishi-motors.com.au/ has ensured simplicity in the website and looks towards offering the customers the manner in which they will be able to search different things about the automobile. The page also offers the user an alternative through which the user will be able to put forward the questions to the management and ensure that all of them gets solved Note: The above website helps to highlight the manner in which different features regarding the cars can be searched and also provides a special search key through which the user can look towards searching any information that is pertinent and relevant to the user   Holden Australia Toyota Australia Honda Australia Suzuki Australia Mitsubishi Australia  Context  1.5 2  1 1  1.5 Read More