Flexi Cool Gifts Website: Business Plan

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Table of Contents

Executive Summary
Introduction
Implementation
Special Features
Benefits, Costs And Limitations
Recommendations
References

Executive Summary

Flexi Cool Gifts runs a small business of selling gifts and presents in different cities of Australia. The management of Flexi Cool Gifts is considering the option of a website which might help in increasing revenue and improve the marketing and advertising of the products offered.

Accordingly, the following study has focused on how Flexi Cool Gifts can utilize a website in promoting its business. The proposed plan discusses how the website will be structured and what information and other features will be available on it. Apart from this, the benefits and costs associated with this plan have also been mentioned.

Introduction

The owners of the Flexi Cool Gifts are considering the development of a website to enhance their business. Miss Wong, business development manager, has been asked to lead this project.

Miss Wong has contacted Deakin Innovative Solutions Pty Ltd for a proposed business solution. Following personnel from Deakin Innovative Solutions Pty Ltd took part in carrying out this study:

Marketing Manager (considered the marketing strategy).
Finance Manager (considered the costs and benefits).
Web Developer (considered the structure and design of the proposed website).
IT Manager (consider other relevant IT issues).

Company Profile

Flexi Cool Gifts is a small chain of gift shops selling a large variety of gifts and presents through 12 shops located in Melbourne, Geelong, Hobart, and Mt Gambier. The business is owned by Mr. David Peterson (VIC), Kenny Wong (SA), and Ms Sandra Demetrious

(Tasmania). The owners of the business have realized that their business needs a website in order to earn the benefits associated with e-commerce. Accordingly, the management is looking for the development of a website which will help in the marketing and advertisement of the gifts and presents offered by Flexi Cool Gifts.

Moreover, the management also desires to generate more revenue through on-line transactions and improve relationships with their customers through on-line communication.

Proposed Business Solution

In order to achieve the objectives stated above, the development of an effective and customer friendly website is the ultimate solution.

With the development of a website, Flexi Cool will be able to target its existing and prospective customers more conveniently and efficiently in terms of costs. It is expected that the website will be accessed by 1.5 million users of internet in Australia.

This projection will enable Flexi Cool to promote its products along with additional services through its website.

Implementation

The implementation of the plan will consist of the development of the proposed website, which will focus on its structure, content and other features.

Structure

A website without a proper structure is nothing more than a collection of documents. A properly structured website facilitates the visitors and allows them to roam around easily and understand what the website offers (webdesign, 2011). The structure of the website will consist of homepage, main sections and subsections.

XHTML and CSS

XHTML (eXtensible HyperText Markup Language) will be used in developing the website because a website written in this language can be executed in any browser through computers, mobile phones and other devices (w3schools, 2011). Apart from this, CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) will be used in designing the website’s fonts, colors, and other styles (w3, 2011).

Content

After the identification of the structure, content will be placed in the subsections. The layout of the homepage will be divided in three major parts. The centre of the homepage will be the main content column and additional columns will be given on the right and left of the main content column.

The main content column will contain information related to the enterprise and its operations will be available. Main sections will carry links to contents available in the subsections which will inform the visitor of the website about the products and services offered. Moreover, the subsections will also direct the visitors in using the on-line facilities provided (rocketface, 2011).

Shopping Cart

An ideally placed shopping cart will enable the users of the website to order gifts and presents online while sitting at home. This facility will give Flexi Cool a significant advantage over its competitors who lack on-line transaction processing.

Products Details

As discussed earlier, there will be two columns placed on either side of the main content column. In the left column of the homepage all products offered will be placed tactically to make sure that the visitor is well informed of the products available.

The gifts and presents mentioned in this section will carry a hyperlink. Upon clicking any gift item, a new window will open which will carry details of the item selected including its price and shipment charges. A separate space will be reserved in the same column for displaying any special or discount offers (Web Style Guide, 2011).

The upper portion of the right column will be reserved for advertisements including banner ads and others. It is expected that within one year of its launching, the website will be able to attract new clients for placing their advertisements. This will increase the sources of revenue generation.

Special Features

On-line order placement and payment

The customers will be provided with the facility of online order placement. Once a customer has selected a particular gift, he/she will be required to fill out a form.

The form will contain personal information of the customer like, name, address, contact number, email address, place of delivery, etc. this information provided by the customer will also be used to maintain relationship and letting him/her know about the new discount offers and products.

After filling up the form, the customer will be required to make on-line payment through their credit cards or debit cards, cash payment upon delivery or payment through third parties like PayPal.

On-line Tracking and Tracing

The website will also allow customers to trace and track their orders all over Australia. This technology is expected to bring attraction to the services provided by Flexi Cool. The customers will only be required to insert their order numbers, date of placing order and destination to find out the current position of their orders.

Benefits, Costs And Limitations

Benefits

It has been estimated that with the development of website, an increase of 20% in annual sales will be recorded in the first year. This rate is expected to grow steadily at 8% to 10% a year. Apart from the sale of gifts, the website itself will present new sources of revenue through third parties advertisements.

Other benefits include:

The website will enable the business to expand through increased projection on the internet.
It will be more convenient for the customers to go through the products offered on-line.
Customers will be able to give their feedback easily about the services and products.

Costs

On the other hand, the cost of the website will be $25,000 with an integrated e-commerce system. This amount includes the charges related to domain and hosting. Moreover, a monthly payment of $1200 will be required for website maintenance and updating activities.

Limitations

Along with benefits associated with the e-business, there are some limitations also which are discussed below:

Technological limitations: lack of proper or high speed internet facility is often regarded as a barrier to e-business success.
Products cannot be inspected: one of the greatest limitations of e-business is that the customers cannot feel what the product is. They are unable to touch, smell, taste or feel the product.

Recommendations

In order to expand the customer base and improve advertising and promotion of Flexi Cool Gifts, it is recommended that a website shall be developed with a professional structure and design offering the visitors up to date information related to the gifts and presents available at Flexi Cool.

Considering the nature of business, it is also suitable for Flexi Cool Gifts to offer on-line order placement service together with a smart tracking system, which will help in building credibility.

References

Rocketface, 2011. WebSite Structure. Web.

W3, 2011. Learning CSS. Web.

W3schools, 2011. XHTML-Why? Web.

Web Style Guide, 2011. Page Structure and Site Design. Web.

Webdesign, 2011. Web Site Structure. Web.

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