An Interior Design: E-Commerce Business

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Introduction: the emergence of e commerce

In the recent times the internet has emerged as a powerful communication tool dominating all spheres of our lives from education, spirituality, health, romance and economic spheres. According to a research by Nielsen as cited by PayPal (3) over 200 million Americans use internet. According to statistics at the internet world stats website (1) the internet use penetration in the world stood at 28.7 percent. This translates to about 1,970,000,000 internet users.

Due to the huge number of internet usage, the internet is vast becoming an attractive business platform. The widespread use of internet, the information superhighway, has spurred a new form of business; electronic commerce. This is a business platform that has hugely become attractive to the mostly young emerging entrepreneurs. The market for e commerce is also huge. According to a research by Nielsen as quoted by Pay Pal, in 2003 the American online shoppers spent 17.2 billion dollars in the last three months of the year.

Background of e commerce

Electronic commerce, often shortened to e commerce, simply refers to commerce over electronic systems. However complex scholarly definitions do exist for E commerce. The government of South Australia defines e commerce as &any form of business in which the parties interact electronically over the internet rather than physical exchange or conduct (1). Andam (6) defines e commerce as &use of electronic communication and digital information processing technology in business transactions to create, transform, and redefine relationships for value creation between or among organizations, and between organizations and individuals.

In the past the term e commerce and e business were used interchangeably and were understood to imply the same meaning. However scholars have in the recent past sought to differentiate the two by offering a more detailed definition for e business. While e commerce has been taken to the buying and selling over digital media, e business on the other hand has been taken to be the enhancing of the traditional brick and mortar business through electronic means.

The common telecom networks via which the e commerce takes place include emails, electronic data interchange, faxes, radio, Short Message Services etc. The payment methods for e commerce do vary and include plastic cards, electronic funds transfer, and electronic cash. Plastic cards include both the credit and debit cards though credit cards are widely used.

The major advantage of e commerce over the traditional brick and mortar means of commerce is the reduction of the cost of doing business and the significant expansion of business. The e commerce reduces several business costs. It reduces transportation costs of looking for information on different suppliers of various components of business. This is done through e procurement sites, brokering sites and infomediary websites. These sites have already compiled vast information available at the click of a mouse. The online stores also reduces the costs associated with putting up or renting physical structures for shops and other costs associated with them such as security, water bills and electricity bills etc.

The e commerce further reduces the costs associated with the middlemen as the buyers and sellers can interact directly. This translates into cheaper prices for the goods and services being offered. The e commerce also harnesses the power of mass market in a way that the traditional commerce wouldnt be able to achieve. The prices for the commodities are easily available to all making it difficult for the sellers to charge differently to different buyers. The e markets can also push the prices down by mobilizing a large number of buyers into demanding for a discount.

The e commerce greatly expands the market reach of the online businesses in various ways. For the digital goods such as music, movies and software the goods can easily be delivered to any part of the world to a buyer with a computer and internet connection. The online seller displays his goods in his online kiosk of which the buyer pays through credit cards or any either ways and downloads the content. In instances where the goods being sold are not digital goods, the use of courier services is employed to deliver the goods.

E commerce industry

In order to have an in depth understanding of the e commerce, it is critical to examine the different forms of e commerce in general. After this examination I will briefly explain where my website for the class, revered designs falls into.

There are several types of e commerce categorized into business to business (B2B) e commerce, business to consumer (B2C) e commerce, business to government (B2G) e commerce, Consumer to consumer (C2C) e commerce, consumer to business (C2B) e commerce, and mobile commerce.

The business to business (B2B) e commerce involves the e commerce between one business to another as opposed to a business to the end consumer of the product or service. The businesses involved maybe between manufacturers and wholesalers or distributors or between wholesalers and retailers. The different websites under business to business e commerce can be grouped into company websites, e procurement sites, information sites or infomediary sites, and brokering sites.

Company websites are websites developed by specific companies giving information on the company and its services and products. Some of the information on the company sites may be targeted to corporate clients. The e procurement sites serve as product supply and procurement exchanges for purchasing agents of specific industries. The sites are set up to enable purchasing agents source their products from several vendors over the net. On the other hand, the Information sites or infomediary sites are sites set to provide information on specific industry for example banking industry. The sites would compile information on the specific industry for industry players and other interested parties. These sites are mostly directories and search engines. The last category of business to business e commerce sites are the brokering sites. These sites act as link between suppliers of a product or services and consumers of those products or services.

The business to Government (B2G) e commerce refers to the type of e commerce between the government and the different companies.The e commerce in the context of B2G may involve e procurement sites, legislative sites etc. On the other hand, the consumer to consumer (C2C) e commerce is the type of commerce between consumers. This largely functions as the online equivalent of on print classified advertisement and auctions for example e bay. The Consumer to business (C2B) e commerce empowers the consumer to negotiate his price, mode of delivery and the business that may supply the product or service at the set parameters bid for the same. For example the job seeker may post his curriculum vitae with a set of qualifications in which interested companies would hire him. The Mobile commerce often shortened to M commerce, is a form of e commerce that is strongly gaining currency especially in Africa. This is the form of business that involves commerce over handheld devices such as cell phones.

My website revered designs which have been created specifically for this class falls under the business to consumer (B2C) e commerce business model. This will be discussed under revered designs business model later in the paper.

Revered Designs business strategy and objectives

The business objective of revered designs is to provide a range of services in the interior designs and custom events creation. Revered designs hope to offer complete professional interior designs, which exceeds the expectations of the clients. It markets the end interior design product as signature interior designs of your house. This would imply that the end product is customized to the clients personal preferences. Revered designs also involved in custom event creations. This service is ideal to the party goers and hosts. The service is expected to create exciting environments where people can party at another level.

The business strategy of revered designs is a simple psychological trick. Customers are most likely to but a product or services that they have previously interacted with. This is what creates great brands. They are often afraid to experiment on new products or services. This creates a major headache for new businesses entering the market. When faced with an option between a known brand and a new one, customers would be more willing to buy the known brand. One way to go round the issue is offer free sample of your product or services to the potential customers. Businesses such as revered designs, may also demonstrate capability to undertake similar works or offer comparable services as those required by the potential customers. The way to demonstrate this capability is by listing comparable projects that have been successfully undertaken.

Revered designs use this strategy to achieve its business objective. It achieves this through use of illustration photography and use of testimonials. It can be said that the high definition and eye catching photography is the biggest strategy for revered designs. Thorough this photography, the potential customer is meant to get a rough sketch of the creative capabilities of revered designs. The photography may also indicate to the potential customers on the scope of the projects that can be undertaken.

Testimonials are usually given by your past clients detailing their satisfaction with your services. This is a powerful business strategy as the testimonials give your business some level of credibility. Testimonials may be from past clients who were in a similar position as your potential clients and how you helped them achieve their objectives. Revered designs have provided a testimonial for each of the two categories of the services offered.

Technology used to achieve revered designs business objectives

In the context of computer hardware needed for the successful running of revered designs business objectives, a standard desktop computer would serve the purpose. It is critical to note that the website will be hosted at Yola.com and as such the revered designs management will require a basic computer with internet connection.

A typical desktop computer may have the following specifications in terms of processor, memory, hard drive and network interface. The computer will have a processor of three gigahertz Intel dual core, two gigabyte memory, one hundred and sixty gigabyte hard drive, and 10/100/1000 megabyte Ethernet card for network connection. An internet modem may also be useful for internet connection.

The revered designs business model

The revered designs business model falls under the business to consumer (B2C) e commerce. The goods and services in this model are sold directly to the consumer in what can also be considered as electronic retailing or e tailing. In the context of revered designs, the services sold professional interior designs and custom events creation. Customers can therefore enjoy a range of services in the interior designs and custom events creation.

The dynamics involved in B2C e commerce involve information sharing (marketing), ordering, payment, fulfillment, and service and support. Information sharing refers to the different mediums in which electronic retailing uses to communicate to the targeted consumers such as advertisement emails, newsletters etc.

Revered designs marketing

Revered designs uses various ways to communicate to the target market including an about us page, a services page and a testimonials page. The use of photography has been creatively used throughout the website and forms part of marketing for the site. It is notable that the website has also included a Google map of its location. This is critical in indicating its offline presence. It may further give a confidence boost to clients who may be jittery on transacting online.

Ordering and payments are a critical component of any e commerce business. In the context of revered designs, it is notable that the business requires an offline interaction between the clients and the service providers. This is unlike contexts in which the exchange of services and money can be a wholly online activity.

The main way in which the revered designs clients can order for the provided services is through contacting the business owners. This is adequately provided for in the contact us link. This is very critical for a business that requires an offline presence. Thorough talking with the clients, revered designs would be in a position to understand their clients needs and tailor their services to suit his preferences. It is at this juncture that the client would be informed on the payment methods and when they fall due.

In the context of after sales service and support, it is relatively easy for the revered designs.This is so because they do have an offline physical location that is open to customers and is provided. Customers can always pay revered designs a visit.

Ethical and Social issues

Photography has been used extensively through out the website. This gives the potential client that these photography are a testimony of the revered designs capability. One would also expect that the designs featured are some of their own works. However the photographs could be sourced from other peoples designs through use of photographs available in the net. One could also photograph great designs in his home or work environment. When other peoples designs are used without their consent and in a manner that be construed to imply that they are the revered designs own work, then there are potential grounds for legal issues.

Conclusion

The viability of e commerce as a business model is continually going to be clear, even in developing countries, with the increasing internet usage and safety of online payments methods.

References

Andam, R. E Commerce and E Business. 2003.

Government of South Australia. Electronic Commerce. 2011.

Internet world stats. Internet Usage Statistics; the Internet Big Picture.2011.

PayPal. E commerce safety guide.2011. Web.

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