Category: Online Shopping

Introduction

There are many factors that affect consumer behaviour today. For instance, the Internet has influenced buyer behaviour significantly compared to the traditional shopper. The proposed research seeks to determine the effect of online shopping applications on impulsive buying. The issue to be addressed will focus on whether this influence is positive or negative. Bhardwaj and Manchiraju (2017) note that the Internet, and technology in general, has increased impulse buying among target audiences. Whereas impulse buying supports profitability for the owner of the business, it can have dire negative effects on the shopper.

Although there is significant research on the topic, one gap that is easily identifiable is that there is little research on how consumer behaviour affected by online shopping apps impacts the quality of life. The research proposes that online shopping apps, whereas beneficial, are addictive and can lead to financial dependency. The study will prove this by determining whether individuals using online shopping apps believe their behaviour has changed, and how the said behaviour has been altered.

Literature Review

Vonkeman, Verhagen and Dolen (2017) argue that the Internet has revolutionised shopping. The rise of e-commerce has allowed people to buy their favourite products from different parts of the globe with just one click. Additionally, technology has made logistics that much easier and relevant due to the amount of products that are shipped worldwide (Wen, Li & Liu 2019). Chen, Su and Widjaja (2016) confirm that e-commerce is currently valued at $3.46 trillion in 2019. The projections for the future are positive with critics anticipating that the sector will grow even further. Today, consumers do not need to go to a web shop to buy the products they need (Moser 2018).

Online purchasing has been made easier through the development of applications (Farah & Ramadan 2017). Apart from individual store apps, there are shipping companies that allow the consumer to buy items from different shops and ship them at once (Moser, Schoenebeck & Resnick 2019). Additionally, apps such as Amazon also bring together different merchants and work as a one stop shop for consumers.

According to Chan, Cheung and Lee (2017), the rise and evolution of online shopping apps has also increased impulse buying among consumers. This can be considered a negative side effect of the industry. One element that has to be considered when discussing online shopping apps and impulse buying is purchase intention. In the traditional set-up the purchase intention was often crafted through the display of the products and the physical environment that the client was in, when he or she visited a shop.

An example can be given to clarify further. If a consumer was interested in buying a chandelier, many of the physical shops would display their chandeliers in high ceilings with bright lights and they would always be lit, even if it was during the day. This presentation was attractive and would ideally push the client to buy a piece as they could imagine how the beauty of the chandelier would be translated to their own houses despite not having the same environment. Since this cannot be done with online shopping, Xiang et al. (2016) believe that consumers go through a trial and error phase until they get what they actually like.

Olsen et al. (2015) go further and confirms that online shopping apps have increased impulse buying due to the wealth of information they provide the consumer. Ideally, each of the products that are listed on a shopping app like Amazon has a link to the manufacturer, a list of reviews from other shoppers and even other similar products. All this information makes shopping easy. The consumer can also go online and get more information on the product before they decide to buy.

Thompson and Prendergast (2015) confirm that this is one of the reasons why online shopping has grown over the last couple of decades. This can be compared to traditional shopping which only gives the consumer limited information. For example, if a person goes to a supermarket to buy hair shampoo, he or she will only get information on the back of the box or bottle of each shampoo. Darrat, Darrat and Amyx (2016) argue that the 21 century shopper wants to make smart decisions about the products they buy, including understanding the materials that were used in the manufacturing process.

This brings in the concept of ease of price comparison. Notably, a significant percentage of shoppers love good bargains (Chen & Yao 2018). Thus, the knowledge that is shared, plus the ease of price comparison, makes online shopping highly addictive and convenient. In turn, clients tend to buy products they do not need but that they believe are offered at a cheaper rate at that particular time (Shapiro 2015).

It is important to note that impulse buying only describes the purchase of products that are not needed and that were not planned for at the beginning. This is enhanced by the online advertising which tempts users to buying things they would ideally love but had not, at that particular moment, prepared to buy. The nature of the Internet and synching allows different browsers and other online platforms to collect user interests when they are online. This data is then used to develop proper marketing and advertising material for individual users. Online shopping apps also collect this data and use it to suggest other items that the user can purchase alongside the planned products already bought.

It is arguable that there is a section of consumers who would not indulge in impulse buying even through online shopping apps. Gautam and Jenis (2018) explain that marketers group consumers in two main categories  emotional buyers and non-emotional buyers. Emotional buyers are people who would more likely fall victim of impulse buying whereas non-emotional shoppers would need more convincing to buy things they had not planned for earlier.

To attract the non-emotional shoppers, the concept of customer is king is often used in online shopping apps (Joo 2017). The apps offer 24-hour chat support, have attractive return policies and can be reviewed for other consumers (Yigit & Tıglı 2018). All these make online shopping in general more attractive but more so to the non-emotional shopper who find it convenient and fast.

Park, Jun and Lee (2015) argue that the issue of online shopping apps and impulse buying is demographical. The premise suggests that there are several characteristics that an online shopper has to have to make them vulnerable to impulse buying.

For example, the previously mentioned emotional angle has to be considered in order for someone to become an impulse buyer. According to Liu and Lu (2017), other characteristics to consider include age, where younger people are more likely to become impulse buyers than older ones; gender, where females are at a higher risk of developing impulse buying behaviours than males; and financial status, where people with less responsibilities are more likely to shop without planning than people with responsibilities. These demographics can be used to also explain why some people fall victim of impulse buying while others do not (Tak & Panwar 2017).

It is crucial to point out that the idea of owning things that have been branded as classy or luxurious is tempting to shoppers (Akram et al. 2018). This is why some of the most common brands use celebrities and role models to advertise their products. The same applied to online shopping apps where they use different models, or even celebrities to urge consumers to purchase the products (Ku & Chen 2019). Some of the words that are used on the apps also attract the shoppers as consumers feel the product is a must-have at that particular moment. Arguably, a majority of the research papers already published agree that online shopping apps have greatly affected consumer behaviour (Liu & Hsu 2017). Interestingly, this change is often described as negative due to the fact that it ties to individual financial crises.

Research Questions

There are five main research questions that will be asked in this study. The five questions are:

1. Do online shopping apps have any influence on impulsive buying?
2. Are online shopping apps increasing impulse buying among the target populations?
3. How do online shopping apps affect consumer behaviour?
4. Are online shopping apps reducing impulse buying among the target populations?
5. What can be done to either increase or reduce the influence of online shopping apps on impulse buying?

Research Methodology

The research project will employ a qualitative research methodology. Bengtsson (2016) defines qualitative research simply as a non-numerical approach to data collection. The research design works best for the study proposed as the research questions seek opinions, characteristics and personal description of activities (Connelly 2016). Additionally, the researcher will use a combined secondary and primary data collection techniques.

It is critical to note that the researcher will use the phenomenological approach to qualitative research methodology. This approach is best suited due to the fact that the researcher will use both secondary and primary data collection techniques as mentioned. Notably, the secondary data collection technique will include reading and drawing information from books, journals, conference materials, dissertations and other academic materials. Secondary data is important as it allows the researcher to find out what other research studies on the same topic, or similar topic, have realised. Ideally, the information that has been presented in the literature review was gathered through the secondary approach.

The primary data collection, on the other hand, will include interviews that will be done by the researcher on a sample population. The selected sample will be made up of 50 people who will be randomly selected. The random selection ensures that no bias is recorded in the study, thus, making the research more viable and reliable. It is important to note that the researcher will distribute the questionnaires and conduct the survey physically.

One of the ethical concerns that might arise from the research is the proper disposal of data after collection. The researcher anticipates that the sample population will inquire about how the data will be handled. To curb any anxieties over this, the researcher will not require any personal identification of the participants. Additionally, the participants will be assured that the researcher will adhere to data disposal methods as stipulated by the university. It is also important for the researcher to notify all participants that the research is purely for academic purposes.

Questionnaire

The following questionnaire will be used to collect primary data.

Bio Data

• How old are you?
  • 18-29 years
  • 30-39 years
  • 40-49 years
  • Over 50 years
• Are you male or female?
  • Female
  • Male
• What is your level of education?
  • None
  • High school
  • University
  • Post-graduate

Online Shopping

• Have you ever tried online shopping?
  • Yes
  • No
• Which of the following apps have you used before?
  • Amazon
  • Alibaba
  • AliExpress
  • Flipkart
  • Social Media Online Shops
  • Other (specify)
• Would you recommend online shopping to anyone?
  • Yes
  • No
• How often do you shop online?
  • All the time
  • Often
  • Not Often
  • Never
• What type of products do you buy most online?
  • Personal care products
  • Electronics
  • Food items and groceries
  • Cosmetics
  • Clothes
  • Shoes
  • Anything
  • Everything

Consumer Behaviour

• Where do you shop most among the following?
  • Online Shopping App
  • Physical shop
  • Equal for both

Influence of Online Shopping Apps on Consumer Behaviour

• Ranging from 1 to 10, with 1 being lowest and 10 being highest, what would be your response to the following statements
  • Online shopping apps have changed how much I spend on shopping
  • I often buy unnecessary things due to the ease of online shopping apps
  • My shopping behaviour has not changed due to online shopping apps
• From a range of strongly disagree to strongly agree, how would you rank the following statements:
  • Online shopping has cheaper options so I use it often
    • Strongly Disagree
    • Disagree
    • Agree
    • Strongly Agree
  • Online shopping helps save time so I use it often
    • Strongly Disagree
    • Disagree
    • Agree
    • Strongly Agree
  • Online shopping delivers products at your doorstep making it convenient and this is why I use it often
    • Strongly Disagree
    • Disagree
    • Agree
    • Strongly Agree
• Would you agree that online shopping apps have done the following?
  • Made me shop more
    • Yes
    • No
  • Made me shop less
    • Yes
    • No
  • Made me use more money in shopping than I would have
    • Yes
    • No
  • Made me borrow money to buy something I liked
    • Yes
    • No

Conclusion

In conclusion, there are various advantages of online shopping. For instance, it is easier and more convenient as it can be done from anywhere. Additionally, consumers get impressive bargains due to discounts and also the ability to compare prices of different brands of the same product. However, one of the negative factors that have been tied to online shopping is impulse buying. Arguably, the notion is made that much worse due to online shopping apps.

The essay looks into the influence of online shopping apps on impulse buying. The researcher will employ the use of both secondary and primary data collection techniques to get the required information. Additionally, the study uses a qualitative research methodology. It is important to note that the selected study sample will be randomly selected to ensure a significant representation of the target population. Additionally, it will also reduce the level of bias recorded in the study.

Reference List

Akram, U, Khan, KM, Hui, P, Tanveer, T & Akram, Z 2018, Development of E-commerce: factors influencing online impulse shopping in China, Journal of Electronic Commerce in Organizations, vol. 7, no. 4, pp. 1-19.

Bhardwaj, V & Manchiraju, S 2017, The role of impulse buying, hedonism, and consumer knowledge towards sustainable consumption of fast fashion, in 2017 ITAA annual conference proceedings: oral presentations, Iowa University Press, Iowa City, pp. 1-6.

Bengtsson, M 2016, How to plan and perform a qualitative study using content analysis, NursingPlus Open, vol. 2, pp. 8-14.

Chan, KHT, Cheung, MKC & Lee, WYZ 2017, The state of online impulse-buying research: a literature analysis, Information & Management, vol. 54, no. 2, pp. 204-217.

Chen, C & Yao, J 2018, What drives impulse buying behaviors in a mobile auction? The perspective of the Stimulus-Organism-Response model, Telematics and Informatics, vol. 35, no. 5, pp. 1249-1262.

Chen, VJ, Su, B & Widjaja, EA 2016, Facebook C2C social commerce: a study of online impulse buying, Decision Support Systems, vol. 83, pp. 57-69.

Connelly, ML 2016, Trustworthiness in qualitative research, MedSurg Nursing, vol. 25, no. 6, pp. 435-437.

Darrat, AA, Darrat, MA & Amyx, D 2016, How impulse buying influences compulsive buying: the central role of consumer anxiety and escapism, Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, vol. 31, pp. 103-108.

Farah, FM & Ramadan, BZ 2017, Disruptions versus more disruptions: how the Amazon dash button is altering consumer buying patterns, Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, vol. 39, pp. 54-61.

Gautam, P & Jenis, C 2018, Factors affecting online impulse buying behaviour, International Journal of Education and Management Studies, vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 328-331.

Joo, PE 2017, Effects of shopping motives and apps browsing on mobile impulse buying of fashion products, Fashion & Textile Research Journal, vol. 19, no. 3, pp. 280-288.

Ku, SCE & Chen, C 2019, Flying on the clouds: how mobile applications enhance impulsive buying of low cost carriers, Service Business, pp. 1-4.

Liu, C & Hsu, K 2017, Key factors in impulse buying: evidence from Taiwan, Global Journal of Business Research, vol. 11, no. 3, pp. 73-86.

Liu, Z & Lu, Z 2017, Research on influence of shopping apps characteristic on consumers impulse buying, Modern Economy, no. 8, pp. 1484-1498.

Moser, C 2018, Impulse buying: interventions to support self-control with e-commerce, in Extended abstracts of the 2018 CHI conference on human factors in computing systems, ACM Digital, Montreal, pp. 12-16.

Moser, C, Schoenebeck, YS & Resnick, P 2019, Impulse buying: design practices and consumer needs, in Extended abstracts of the 2019 CHI conference on human factors in computing systems, ACM Digital, Montreal, pp. 1-10.

Olsen, OS, Tudoran, AA, Honkanen, P & Verplanken, B 2015, Differences and similarities between impulse buying and variety seeking: a personalitybased perspective, Psychology & Marketing, vol. 33, no. 1, pp. 36-47.

Park, C, Jun, JK & Lee, TM 2015, Do mobile shoppers feel smart in the smartphone age?, International Journal of Mobile Communications, vol. 13, no. 2, pp. 157-171.

Shapiro, JM 2015, Impulse buying: a new framework, in VL Crittenden (eds), in Proceedings of the 1992 Academy of Marketing Science (AMS) annual conference, Springer, Cham, pp. 19-23.

Tak, P & Panwar, S 2017, Using UTAUT 2 model to predict mobile app based shopping: evidences from India, Journal of Indian Business Research, vol. 9, no. 3, pp. 248-264.

Thompson, RE & Prendergast, PG 2015, The influence of trait affect and the five-factor personality model on impulse buying, Personality and Individual Differences, vol. 76, pp. 216-221.

Vonkeman, C, Verhagen, T & Dolen, M 2017, Role of local presence in online impulse buying, Information & Management, vol. 54, no. 8, pp. 1038-1048.

Wen, X, Li, Y & Liu, Q 2019, The impact of impulse buying and network platforms on consumer purchasing behaviour: a case study of a technical product, Tehni
ki Vjesnik, vol. 26, no. 4, pp. 17-35.

Xiang, L, Zheng, X, Lee, KOM & Zhao, D 2016, Exploring consumers impulse buying behavior on social commerce platform: the role of parasocial interaction, International Journal of Information Management, vol. 36, no. 3, pp. 333-347.

Yigit, KM & Tıglı, M 2018, The moderator role of brand awareness and brand loyalty on consumers online impulse buying behavior, International Journal of Research in Business and Social Science, vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 31-48.

Online and offline purchase behavior studies have become quite numerous and widespread. On the one hand, earlier studies argue that purchase intention is the key motivator for the consumers. On the other hand, recent inquiries show that purchase behavior plays a far more significant role than the initial plan to buy anything. Qualitative forecasting techniques show that individual buying habits are more critical in purchase decision making.

Qualitative Forecasting

Qualitative forecasting is an approach based upon subjective factors at times when there is no sufficient data to use quantitative techniques. Qualitative method is based upon judgment and intuition of the experts in the matter and consumers. Forecasters usually apply this method for intermediate or long-range predictions (Ezeliora, Umeh, Mbeledeogu, & Okoye, 2014). There are four basic qualitative forecasting techniques: executive opinion, sales force opinion, Delphi method, and consumers opinion.

Executive opinion is averaged subjective views of key members from all departments about the number of sales during the examined period. The executives usually discuss a matter during a brainstorming session or other meeting. Therefore, the forecast is made quickly and easily without the need to elaborate statistics and charts. However, this is still groupthink, so leaders and other authorities present in the room may affect the opinions of individual members making the forecast less objective (Ezeliora et al., 2014). Another relevant and straightforward forecasting technique is sales force polling as it consists of opinions of people close to the action. Salespeople are the closest to the customers and can provide specialized predictions about the specific territory and period.

Consumers opinions are usually obtained through surveys using telephone contacts, questionnaires, and interviews with the customers. This technique is especially relevant for business with a limited market to find out their customers future needs and make an accurate forecast. Equally important is the Delphi method which is a jurys opinion taken anonymously and analyzed by a panel of experts. Even though all the techniques mentioned above are subjective and may be considered inaccurate, experts continue using qualitative forecasting at times when there is no sufficient historical data.

Online Purchase Behavior

Getting to know consumer online purchase behavior is crucial for those who want to succeed in selling their goods on the internet. In the past 60 year psychologists and consumer behavior researchers implied a powerful influence on purchase decision (Liu, Li, & Hu, 2013). This means that people who are shopping online often make their decision about purchasing something relying on the impulse rather than on a plan. On the one hand, it is common knowledge that most people do not buy online if they have not planned to do so. On the other hand, the sole intention does not guarantee that a customer will buy at a certain online store. Several factors influence customers purchase decision, among those factors is the overall attractiveness of the website, secure payment methods, positive feedback, fast and safe shipping, and client support availability (Lim, Osman, Salahuddin, Romle, & Abdullah, 2016).

Moreover, in specific scenarios, customers may buy something entirely without a plan especially when it comes to buying new types of products. Liu et al. (2013) mention that purchases of unfamiliar brands result more from impulse than from prior planning (p. 83). So, controlling and influencing online purchase is far more important than getting to know what customers actually want.

Conclusion

Under the above-mentioned circumstances, it is only natural that online stores use qualitative forecasting techniques to examine the specific online purchase behavior their customers have. Customers surveys, salespeoples opinion, and the opinions of experts are common sources of information for the online business to improve the buying experience thus increasing their sales. So, todays studies show that getting to know consumer online purchase behavior is much more valuable than information regarding what customers plan or want to do.

References

Ezeliora, C. D., Umeh M. N., Mbeledeogu, N. N., & Okoye U. P. (2014). Application of forecasting methods for the estimation of production demand. Decision Support Systems, 3(2), 220.

Lim, Y., Osman, A., Salahuddin, S., Romle, A., & Abdullah, S. (2016). Factors influencing online shopping behavior: The mediating role of purchase intention. Procedia Economics and Finance, 35, 401-410.

Liu, Y., Li, H., & Hu F. (2013). Website attributes in urging online impulse purchase: An empirical investigation on consumer perceptions. International Journal of Science, Engineering and Technology Research, 55, 829837.

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Subject of Course Project

The subject of this course project is an online shopping platform for La Donna boutique. The boutique has no online marketing services. I will carry out investigations on this course project and my findings will provide solutions and create opportunities for La Donna boutique on using online services.

Business problem statement

La Donna boutique lacks online services. This has made its customer to be physically going to the boutique to purchase goods. La Donna competitors are 15th Street boutique and Echoes boutique. Both boutiques use online services. Most of their customers purchase their products using online services.

We are living in a world of technology and most people would prefer to look for the product online which will be delivered on their doorstep instead of wasting time going for the product (Chan, Cheng, & Hsu, 2007). La Donna competitors make their sales using online services because they aggressively market themselves making their products available on internet.

This is a great challenge to La Donna boutique because they are losing customers to their competitors’. They are waiting for customers’ consultations in order for them to give details about their product, unlike competitors who go for the customers by providing full details of their product on the internet (Klett, 2000).

Name of the company

La Donna is a boutique which is located in La Jolla in San Diego. It is highly known for providing classy fashions made by designers from all over the world. Their products include clothing, shoes, jewelries and accessories.

General benefits it will provide the organization

By using online services, La Donna cost of production will be reduced because it will be selling goods directly to the customers and this will make producers to get rid of costly intermediaries. This will result to improved services from the boutique to the customer. Interacting costs will also be lowered since communication will be via internet.

Internet interactions with the customer will give the boutique a better chance of negotiating the actual and final price of the product (Figiel, 2005). Good negotiations lead to increase of sale. Interactions will also help the boutique get ideas from customers and this will make the company improve on its products and services. La Donna will also cut costs of keeping stock due to increase in demand.

The boutique will save more profits due to reduced cost but it will be a great disadvantage to the employees. Their services will no longer be required by the boutique because most of their tasks will be done via online services.

La Donna will be able to acquire new markets and maintain its current customers because its goods will gain quality exposure. Exposure will earn the boutique a better marketing position that will enable it stand the competition (Chan, Cheng, & Hsu, 2007).

High level approach (es)

E-commerce is the ideal technology that will be used in this project. The e-commerce that will suit La Donna boutique is business to consumer marketing. Amazon is the e-commerce business model that La Donna boutique will use.

Amazon is a well-established online merchant. Amazon enjoys economies of scale and this makes it become a great competitor. Amazon will market the products and services of La Donna aggressively in terms of price, service and delivery. Amazon is a committed e-commerce business model and it offers its services at the lowest cost as compared to its competitors (Ziener, 2001).

References

Chan, C., Cheng, C., & Hsu, C. (2007). Bargaining strategy formulation with CRM for an e-commerce agent. Electronic Commerce Research and Applications, 6(4), 490 – 498.

Figiel, V. (2005). A Strategy Typology and Application to E-commerce. Journal of Applied Management and Entrepreneurship, 10(1), 139.

Klett, R. (2000). La Donna Detroit. Library Journal, 125(10), 210.

Ziener, C. (2001). Developing E-Business Systems and Architectures: A Manager’s Guide / Electronic Commerce: Online Ordering & Digital Money. Library Journal, 126(8), 123.

Introduction

Online shopping is increasingly gaining currency among customers, not only in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) but also globally. As demonstrated in the literature, the application of technology-based online services has achieved tremendous growth in recent years due to the wide penetration of the Internet and its capacity as a channel of information and commerce (Behjati & Othaman, 2012).

A survey conducted in 2010 by MasterCard Worldwide showed that the proportion of customers in the UAE using web-based channels to conduct their shopping had increased from 29% in 2009 to 42% in 2010 (Middle East Company News, 2011).

There are several convergent factors that impact consumer buying behavior for individuals to either shop online or continue resisting this type of buying. In an attempt to identify these factors, the present study uses a mixed-methods methodology to show the importance of online shopping and how this concept has changed consumer habits on shopping in the UAE.

Literature Review

Available literature demonstrates that customers with tight work-related schedules cite convenience as their main reason for switching from traditional shopping to online shopping (Kapur, 2012). At the click of the mouse, these customers can use the Internet to make online purchases and then have the goods delivered at their doorstep.

Findings from a recent MasterCard survey on online shopping demonstrates a surge in customers who now prefer to shop online in UAE, with the growth being led by individuals within the age group of 25-44 years (Middle East Company News, 2011). The age factor demonstrates that within the general population, working customers are more likely to do online shopping than unemployed people.

As demonstrated by Behjati & Othaman (2012), “the perceived reliability and notion of trust on the Internet is the basis for customer involvement in online shopping” (p. 306-307). Other customers have cited cost savings, cost control, and time savings as the basis for their involvement in online shopping (Kapur, 2012). However, according to this particular author, some customers who would like to use online shopping desist from doing so due to complaints that online products are priced higher than what big retail outlets offer.

Extant literature demonstrates that “the UAE is fast emerging as the most attractive retail destination worldwide on its concrete fundamentals of a strong economy, growing the middle-class population, surging consumer confidence, and increasing domestic consumption” (RNCOS, 2011 para. 1). These fundamentals have been cited in Behjati & Othaman (2012) as the main drivers of online shopping. Hence it is expected that more UAE consumers will switch from traditional shopping to online platforms.

Data

A mixed method (quantitative and qualitative) was used to collect primary data to show the importance of online shopping and how this concept has changed consumer habits on shopping within the UAE context.

In the quantitative paradigm, a survey instrument was used to collect data on 29 participants. Data analysis using the SPSS computer program shows that almost two-thirds (65.5%) of the participants are female and 20(69%) are students, while the rest work in various occupations. 9(31%) of the participants earn a monthly income of between 1000 and 5000, 12 (41%) have an income of between 5001 and 10000, and 8(27.6%) earn an income of over 10000.

8 (27.6%) of the participants say they prefer physical shopping, 7(24.1%) prefer online shopping, and 14(48.3%) prefer both forms of shopping. The figure below shows the reasons why participants prefer to do physical shopping (data values include participants who say they prefer both shopping styles).

The next figure demonstrates why participants prefer to do online shopping (data values include participants who say they prefer both shopping styles)

It is insightful to note that only 11(37.9%) of participants sampled in the study posses a credit card. When asked their preferred payment method, 2(6/9%) of the participants say they prefer to pay via credit card, 9(31%) prefer online banking service, and 18(62.1%) prefer cash on delivery service.

In the qualitative paradigm, the researcher interviewed one participant about their preference for online and physical shopping, and if they thought online shopping would overcome physical shopping. The participant said that busy schedule, ease of finding products online, home delivery, and availability of many online shops were the main reasons for preferring online shopping over physical shopping.

In the second item, the participant said online shopping would take time to overcome physical shopping due to its limitation in socializing and lack of capacity to know what items best suit an individual before making a purchase.

Analysis

The findings of this study reinforce previous studies that found more consumers are switching from traditional shopping to online shopping due to convenience and cost considerations.

Behjati & Othaman (2010) cited perceived reliability and notion of trust as the main reasons for customer involvement in online shopping, while Kapur (2012) cited cost savings, cost control, time and energy savings as the main driving force for consumers’ involvement. However, this study comes up with other motivating factors for online shopping in terms of effortless shopping and the capacity for online platforms to provide more variety.

Previous research conducted by MasterCard Worldwide showed an increasing number of consumers using online channels to do their shopping in the UAE (Middle East Company News, 200). This finding has been reinforced by this study because, cumulatively, seven in ten people prefer to do online shopping or can comfortably mix online shopping with physical shopping.

Additionally, this study demonstrates that customers are increasingly trusting online shopping as only a small proportion of participants say they prefer physical shopping due to lack of trust in online shopping. These observations show online shopping has become an important facet in consumers’ life within the UAE context. The notion of trusting online channels to do shopping demonstrates a shift in consumer behavior.

An important finding in this study is that a sizeable number of consumers prefer to use physical shopping due to the capacity it provides in enabling individuals to socialize (e.g., engaging in social events, dining in restaurants as they shop, etc.).

This finding has not been assessed in previous studies and therefore, requires online shopping marketers to come up with strategies and approaches that will enhance consumer experience as individuals shop online. The lack of satisfying consumer shopping experience may be the reason why some people feel that online shopping will take some time to surmount physical shopping.

Conclusion

This study shows that online shopping is increasingly becoming popular in UAE and that it has changed consumer behaviors owing to factors such as increased trust in online buying, effortless buying, looking out for cheaper deals, and facilitating choice.

However, as the findings demonstrate, more research needs to be done to change customer perceptions on the use of credit cards to pay for products as most customers still prefer to pay using the cash-on-delivery approach. Increased uptake of electronic payment methods is fundamental in enabling a successful takeoff of online shopping. Additionally, more research needs to be done to ensure customers who prefer to do online shopping receive satisfaction from experience.

References

Behjati, S., & Othaman, S.N. (2012). What drives consumers’ online shopping? Conceptual review of online shopping attributes investigated in previous studies. Interdisciplinary Journal of Contemporary Research in Business, 3(12), 297-311. Web.

Kapur, S. (2012). Moms beat the heat with online grocery shopping.

Middle East Company News. (2011). MasterCard survey reveals jump in online shopping in the UAE in 2010. Web.

RNCOS. (2011). Online retailing driving the UAE retail Industry [Press release].

Introduction

Shopping constitutes a compulsory function for humans in all walks of life. For a majority of people, shopping is an activity that has transcended from being merely a necessity to one that has become a favorite pastime that brings happiness, recreation, and ‘quality time with friends and members of the family. There are basically 3 kinds of shopping where we buy things we require, things we convince ourselves we require, and things we look at (window shopping) just for pleasure. In the modern world of today, it is possible to indulge in all 3 kinds of shopping by utilizing 2 methods: Traditional shopping and ‘Online’ shopping.

Body

Traditional shopping involves shoppers physically entering a brick-and-mortar store or shopping mall to select items of their choice, pay for them in cash or by credit card, and either take delivery personally or have them delivered to their homes by the retailer. ‘Online shopping is a relatively new method of shopping that involves the shopper sitting in front of a Personal Computer at any location (it could be at home, in the office, in friends’ apartments or in internet cafes), browsing through different categories of products at selected websites either alone or with the assistance of family members and/or friends, choosing items, paying for the purchases by credit card or by electronically transferring money from a bank account (from personal experience, I have noticed there is usually no other payment option).

The selected goods are delivered within a period ranging from a day to a week or even longer. In almost all cases, due to the fact that while selecting an item its availability is also clearly mentioned, the entire selection is delivered; if for some unforeseen reason some items are not delivered, then the value of those items is refunded to the customer by the ‘Online’ seller.

Traditional and ‘Online’ shopping are similar in two ways. Firstly, both forms of shopping follow the general concept of commerce; in both cases, there is a buyer and a seller, both of whom share a specific understanding of how the commercial transaction is expected to unfold, run its course and reach its satisfactory conclusion. Secondly, the prominent method of payment in both forms of shopping is credit card payment; although traditional shoppers can opt for check or cash payment, and although ‘Online’ shoppers can opt for electronic transfer of funds from their bank accounts, credit card purchases are preferred in both cases.

Traditional and ‘Online’ shopping is different in several ways. In one group of differences, Traditional shopping holds ‘absolute’ superiority: Firstly, shoppers experience the physical thrill of shopping. Shopping is commonly seen as a way of unwinding after a hard day’s work, or (especially in the case of housewives), escaping from the monotonous routine of everyday life (cooking, cleaning, and looking after the kids). Then there is festival shopping, which usually involves the entire family shopping for decorations and gifts for such occasions as Christmas, Easter, and Thanksgiving (personally, I have several fond memories of this).

Secondly, Traditional shoppers are brought face-to-face with an item that they can touch, feel and examine at close proximity – this goes a long way towards making up their mind to buy it. Thirdly, Traditional shoppers are able to talk with the salespersons or merchants of the store or mall upfront, and freely seek clarification or additional information about products that interest them. Fourthly, Traditional shoppers are able to bargain and obtain a better price for their purchases.

Although people in the United States do not usually engage in energetic bargaining, there are people of several other international cultures (such as Italians, Greeks, and Indians), to whom bargaining forms the essence of the shopping experience, and without which they would end up with the uncomfortable feeling of being cheated. Fifthly, Traditional shoppers are able to judge the merchant’s reputation (and by association, the products being sold in that store) by interacting with other customers. Sixthly, Traditional shoppers are able to take home their purchases immediately, or at the most have them delivered to their homes on the same or the next day.

They, therefore, save time as do not have to wait for days or weeks to receive their purchases as is the usual case in ‘Online’ shopping (there is also the distinct possibility of some items not being ultimately delivered due to some reason such as shortages caused due to improper inventory management). Lastly, almost everyone is well aware that today’s world is blemished by an increasing number of cybercrimes.

These have grown at an alarming rate with increasingly ingenious methods being adopted by computer-savvy criminals. A very large number of innocent people have been, and are being fleeced of their hard-earned money over the Internet – their only crime being that they had to give their personal and bank details while shopping online. On the other hand, Traditional shoppers do not need to give their names, address, and (most importantly) bank account information which are all ‘must-do’s in the case of ‘Online’ shopping.

In the second group of differences, ‘Online’ shopping holds the ‘absolute’ superiority. The first difference involves selection. ‘Online shoppers can browse through a wide selection of products from different retailers and place a single order involving products from different retailers, rather than otherwise embark on the tedious exercise of visiting several stores or malls physically to pick up a few items here and a few items there.

Secondly, ‘Online’ shoppers are benefited by a significant reduction in prices as ‘Online’ sellers have vastly reduced overheads to contend with (especially store/mall rent/maintenance and salaries/perks for salespersons) and are able to comfortably pass on a sizeable part of this benefit to customers in the form of reduced prices for the products sold. Lastly, ‘Online’ shoppers have the luxury of doing their shopping at leisure from the comfort of their home, without having to drive to far-away shopping destinations and being traumatized by rash drivers and difficult car parking situations.

In the third group of differences, both types of shopping score nearly equal points. The first difference involves the time element. In Traditional shopping, customers save time as don’t have to wait for days or weeks to receive their purchases. ‘Online’ shoppers choose the time and place to shop, thus saving valuable time and problems associated with traveling to and from the store.

Secondly, while admitting that the ‘sight and touch’ factor is important, ‘Online’ shoppers find it is irrelevant in the case of items like computers, consumer electronic items, cosmetics, perfumes, and jewelry, where ‘Online’ specifications are clear-cut, very detailed and imminently satisfactory. Lastly, while Traditional shoppers can get clarification and further information about a product from the salesperson or merchant, ‘Online’ shoppers have access to clarifying the information in the form of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) and ‘Online’ customer service for the products they intend to purchase.

Conclusion

From a fair and impartial judgment of both cases, it is my contention that Traditional shopping is definitely better than ‘Online’ shopping simply because the comparative number and weight of its advantages vis-à-vis ‘Online shopping is much more significant as compared to ‘Online’ shopping own unique advantages. As a result, while agreeing that ‘Online’ shopping continues to grow in the United States, it will not overtake Traditional shopping mainly because of the two greatest ‘arrows in the quiver’ of the latter – Firstly, it involves the formidably unique ‘sight and touches’ advantage that Traditional shoppers enjoy.

And secondly, it gives people an opportunity to mingle with others, interact with acquaintances, friends, and relatives and spend ‘quality time with them – in our increasingly busy and modern world of today comprising people increasingly cocooned in their own lives and problems, this pleasurable human interaction afforded by Traditional shopping is literally priceless.

Introduction

In the last few years, the Internet has played a significant role in disseminating information in the United States and other parts of the world. The use of Internet nowadays is so rife that it has become the number one source of not just information, but also communication and many other purposes like social networking and gaming.

One of the greatest and most popular features that it particularly provides is online shopping, which is defined as the process whereby consumers purchaser goods directly a seller in real-time, without a brokering service. Actually, online shopping is a form of e-commerce. With the advent of the internet and introduction of security, online shopping has today reached unimaginable magnitudes.

However, this form of trade has penetrated some areas more than others. Studies have also shown that demographics play a huge role in either promoting or stifling online shopping, for instance, areas with high literacy levels, income and occupation of the family head have been found to be more active in online shopping.

Online shoppers generally use credit card to pay for their purchases, however, improvements in internet security has led to the creation of online money transfer websites such as Paypal. Other common payment options include debit cards, wire transfer, postal money order, gift cards, and so on. After a payment has been accepted, purchases can be delivered through the following steps: downloading, drop shipping, in-store pick-up, and shipping, among others.

We chose this topic because many people have been shopping from the cyber world and online shopping is a controversial issue, which has been widely discussed. In this paper, we will be focusing on how and why online shopping has gained much fame and become a great phenomenon in the United States.

Conclusion

Online shopping was set up by the invention of Internet, computers ad technologies to accompany these systems. The world’s most popular online shopping sites: eBay and Amazon, were very influential in the growth of this commerce. Today, online shopping has become a great phenomenon thanks to the rapid development of internet security technologies and a similar pace in the penetration of the World Wide Web.

The growth of online has been dramatic in the recent years due to several factors which include convenience as a shopper is bale to purchase goods at the comfort of his home, 24-hour availability, and the ability to compare prices of similar or related products all at one place.

Customers also access free product reviews and are able to make informed decisions before making a decision. And if a customer is not satisfied with a specific product, he/she can easily choose another related product offered by the same online shop, or elsewhere based on these expert reviews, rather than depend on salesmen who are known to trick customers into buying their products.

Online shopping also offers a number of benefits to sellers. First, it reduces their operational costs, saves them a lot of time which they can divert to other business demanding tasks, the online stores are available on 24-hour basis and this makes them more accessible than conventional stores. Finally, online stores can have a global market access through the internet.

Despite these benefits of online shopping to both buyers and sellers, there are still some risks that need to be addressed so that the system can be adopted by more people. These include identity theft, untrustworthiness of the online sellers, and so on. Most of these risks are currently being addressed by online shops, security experts and authorities.

In general, many people have turned and changed their mind to use online shopping rather than the typical shopping, therefore, online shopping has become a great phenomenon in the United States. With all the experiences, consumers are more able prevent and become more careful of the dangers that online shopping possesses. While online shopping is still a controversial issue, it is, after all, more of a boon than a bane.

The world is developing fast in technology and communication; the advancements have been adopted for numerous business purposes improvement.

In the 21^st century, the invention of electronic Medias and the Internet has changed the way businesses and other institutions are managed. As businesses use these technologies to improve their efficiency, resource allocation, communication and marketing, they are creating business to providers of the services.

Businesses are taking advantage of scientific innovations and invention to reduce and control operational expenses, one of recent technological development that have been implement in business is the use of online shops instead of traditional physical location shops (Duening, Hisrich, & Lechter, 2009). This paper discusses a business plan to develop an online shop that will engage in electronic products.

Product Overview

The business that this business plan aims to engage in is online shop for electronic products; the shop will be situated in the United States where different information will be fed for the consumption of the users. The name of the business will be called “Shoppers Online shop” .

The business will not have physical store but will act as a link between customers and the suppliers of the products. The online site will allow customer to seek for electronic products that they want then when they place an order, the company will make efforts to seek for the products and ensure that the customer gets the delivery of the product within the agreed period of time.

Payment for the products will be made through international payments methods which will include pioneer, electronic money transfers, internet money transfers, and mobile money transfers. For customer in the United States, there will be option of cash on delivery (Avery, 2004).

• Business Opportunity

Marketing is an integral part in an organization’s management; it creates business for a company and offers insight information necessary for developing and innovating effective business strategies. The electronic industry is highly competitive with new players coming up and old ones developing new working strategies or approaches; to be competitive in the industry mostly in an international market, then there is a need to have strategic decisions and ensure that scientific methods of decision-making are adopted.

The following are the drivers of the business opportunity:

• The development in the electronic industry; there are a number of electronics that are required in the world produced by various companies
• The emergence of generation Y that have embraced online buying
• Technological development and advancement
• Existence of international monetary payment service and
• Effective logistics and supply chain management strategies

The above drivers will offer a business environment for the Shoppers Online Shop (Livingston, 2008).

• Suppliers and Inventory

Since Shoppers Online Shop will be dealing with electronic goods, the company will have its suppliers as electronic companies in the United States and other parts of the globe.

The most important aspect that the company will be engaged in is ensuring that the companies that it gets the products from are reputable and have a continued mark of quality. Advancement in technology has facilitated the growth of electronics industry such as home appliances, mobiles, IPhone, and telecommunication industry; on the other hand company’s electronic products are on the rise.

The sector is dominated by leading world producers who depend on their operational management decision to remain afloat in the competitive industry; some of international companies in the industry include Samsung, Nokia, Sony-Ericson, Apples, and Google Android-powered phones; these are some of the companies that Shoppers Online Shop will sell its products to.

To remain competitive companies in the sector must adopt effective marketing strategies (Shane, 2003).The opportunity that the business will utilize is that of lack of a single site that can interlink the purchase of these products; the shop will focus on creating a platform where someone can buy different products from the company or link the customers will the suppliers (Avery, 2004).

To ensure that Shoppers Online Shop has effective supply and management tools, the company will have a supply chain management policy; supply chain management refers to process undertaken by a business in the supply of goods and services into the business and sometime extends to supplying goods to a customer.

The logistics starts from ordering until delivery of goods; it is the major task of procurement department although it is conducted in collaboration of other departments. Companies involved in a supply chain vary, and thus company needs to develop a strategy that caters for all the companies (Shane, 2003). This business plan aims at developing strategies for employing an integrated supply chain network between companies that are likely to vary. The companies supply chain will look into the following:

• Supplier’s integration analysis

Before taking any step in implementing a supply chain management, the initial step is analyzing the current system and the logistics that take place in the company. In this section, the company should identify key suppliers to the company; the kind of goods they supply and rate them according to dependability level.

Re-order level, if it is maintained in the company, is established where the minimum amount required for a manufacturing process to take place is analyzed. This information is recorded. Duration that a certain supplier takes to supply goods is established and recorded. Shoppers’ online shop will ensure that has maintained healthy relationship with their suppliers as it will ensure constant supply of products to the company.

• Value determination

Different suppliers offer different quality of goods; the available information about the value of goods from a certain customer are interpolated. One of the major aims of a supply chain management is to ensure that the goods used in manufacture are of the right quality and quantity; this goes ahead as it is reflected in the final products of the company.

Integrated purchasing strategy

At this level the company aims at interpolating the demands for good that it has for a certain period of time; it is not always that a supply is constant throughout the year, however, it varies with time and season. After understanding the amount required at a particular time Gantt charts are used to interpolate data and form the background of the case. Computers can be used to give data analysis of the trend in required supplies.

Supplier base management

With the data at hand, including data about reliable suppliers whom the business had not done business with earlier, a supplier base is developed. This is the amount of order in terms of amount to supply that will be given to a certain supplier. The minimum quality and quantity that can be accepted is developed and the system of supply is devised.

Duration given to a certain supplier to have supplied the goods is set, the system should have a system where it can record the level of quality met by a certain supplier for better and easier analysis in the future.

Procurement department/team

The team to be mandated with the task of vetting and allocating orders should be established; it should contain experts in procurement and involves head of department who will advise the department on quality and quantity they require. This department should be vetted to ensure that only people of high integrity have been deployed. If the team is compromised, chances that a well arranged supply chain will fail is very high.

Supply chain synchronization

This is developing mechanisms for checking on the quality and quantity of goods and services to be supplied. After deliveries have been made, the company receiving the supply should counter check against the specification of the ordered goods. A person who will be responsible for this task should be recognized early enough. Checks and balances should be set to ascertain that there is transparency in this area.

In a nut shell, when developing a supply chain management policy, it is important to look into the following areas and ensure that data for each process is interpolated;

• Have a Supply chain synchronization
• Establish a Procurement department/team
• Set a Supplier base management
• Integrated purchasing strategy
• Set minimum quality and Value determination mechanisms
• Interpolate available data and undertake a Supplier’s integration analysis

With the above policies, Shoppers Online shop will have constant supply of its products to satisfy its customers’ needs (Shane, 2003).

Competitive Analysis

The online business will focus on selling electronic goods and offering such services that go with the products like transportation, packaging, and some after sales services. To ensure that the business keeps improving, the management will engage in aggressive products development and improving the site to make it user friendly and in the case improve the confidence of the customers.

The mission and vision of the company will be its driving force where it will offer the guideline and the expectations that the management should fulfill, this involve internal and external objectives. To get the right improvements for the company, the management will not only focus on local strategies or on companies that have their operational base in the United States; it will engage research firms that can offer quality decisions to improve the operations.

In the last century, the world embarked on massive computerization and each country was having a program of computerization. With the development of the computers, there was the internet that was developed to meet the goal of making the world a global village. Almost each company, whether it is profit making or nonprofit making, countries embassies and local governments have a website that gives information (that is meant for public consumption) about the organization.

The individuals are not left behind, almost everybody, especially the youth, who are computer literate have an email address. There is the growth of social media that have been used as networking tools among the youth. Companies and other organizations are also subscribing as members to these networks. They are not limited to space and distance, as far as you have internet access you can as well contact the information that is found in this social net works. They include Face book ad Twitter among others.

The business world is one of the major sectors that benefited from this technological advancement. There are new ways of doing business. The young population is highly growing and has adopted the new technology with a lot of ease. One way of reaching this market must in one way or the other have to involve the computer world. Advertising and marketing are the traditional way that businesses have utilized in their effort to expand their market (Avery, 2004).

Internal/External Analysis of Business Objectives

Objectives are futuristic strategies that are implemented in a business as a guiding policy to focus on its roles. In most cases, objectives are derived from mission statement, vision statement and core objectives of a business. Internal business objectives involves in strategies that a business undertakes to satisfy its customers.

Customers involve internal a customer’s (staff) and external customers. These objectives are concerned in enhancing efficiency in the business and ensuring that the focus is on customer satisfaction. In the event of an online shop, the following are the mission, vision, and objectives that the management will aim to attain.

Mission

To be the most reliable online shop that is respected for its integrity, timely delivery and effective customer management; the company will offer products that have been marked for quality purposes and one that can be relied upon by the customers.

Vision

To be the most trusted online shop in the world where customers can find solutions to all their electronic demands.

Objectives

The following are the objectives that the company will have:

• Improving societies social, economic, and political standing
• Build their stakeholders wealth through ethical businesses operation
• Maximize profits and optimize resources utilization

There are other indirect objectives that are derived from an internal objective. It involves developing a strong brand name and attaining customer loyalty. It may involve human resource planning, developing a marketing strategy and creating a good business environment. External business objectives aim at reaching the outside world for the benefit of the organization. After the internal objectives have been attained, the business is prone to benefit from external advantages.

These advantages should be predicted and measure put across to attain them. Examples of external objective are increased market share, social corporate responsibility and ethical business. Social responsibility is a strategic issue in managing organizations today. Ethically, it is the obligation of an organization to involve itself in activities that guard and improve the welfare of its environs.

This should be done alongside its own business interests. Corporate social responsibility is a term often used in reference to the concept of organizational responsibility as applied to business organizations and the larger environment that they operate in. This includes creating and distributing increasing value for all the stakeholders and supporting community welfare initiatives in education, health and the physical environment.

These responsibilities have largely been ignored, and to a large extent, abused in the recent past through shameful, fundamentally flawed and value destroying practices by certain companies. These responsibilities are taking centre stage in managements’ strategic thinking in global businesses today.

Organizations are now adopting the “Triple p” principle. In this principal, the effect of production should be analyzed with the following three aspects in mind: company’s profit, planet and people. Profits are the individual company’s goals and financial objectives, whereas the people and planet is the outside world that the business operates in.

As a result, it has become more important for firms to integrate corporate social responsibility in their strategic positions and organizational structure. No company can succeed in today’s fiercely competitive business environment without building strong social responsibility programs into its strategy (Avery, 2004).

Environmental Assessment (S.W.O.T)

Strengths

The strength of an organization will undoubtedly be engineered by its internal managerial mechanisms. The external environment also plays an important part in strengths. The management should ensure that it recognizes its own strengths. After realizing its strengths, it should ensure embark on utilizing its strong points. Strengths include location, loyal experienced employees, strong brand name and effective management among others.

Leadership of an organization should be in the forefront, in engineering a business in its recognition of strengths and analysis. A strategic awareness plan is the only way out. Through this arrangement, the organization will be able to adopt different modalities and outreach programs of reaching out to its consumers. In retrospect, strategic marketing plan should be in a position to explicitly document the various channels that can be used by the company to allocate more resources towards creating awareness.

Opportunities

Opportunities / chances of success of the company are dependent on both the internal and external assessment criteria of the organizations profile of operation. Some of the underlying opportunities that a company enjoys to the macro environment are the diversification of its activities to reach the various sets of lifestyle that need to be addressed.

Realizing the available opportunities will lead to an increased business and more market share. To ensure that the company meets demands of different category of people, the management divides the marketing using three parameters as demographics, economic situation, location/place, and price.

Generation Y is fast adjusting to current technology and they are willing to adopt the nest high technology that is affordable. On the other hand, the older generations are more likely to be interested with basic product that will meet their demand. Depending on the component and the strength that a certain machine has, the cost follows suit.

The approach ensures that the company can produce products of high quality and be able to sell them at an affordable price; the research and development center ensures that there is high innovation and invention to make the company’s products the products of choice by customers.

In recent world of technology coupled with the growth of generation Y and improvement of technology, have changed people’s media consumption patterns; there has been a move to free news media leaving the print media like newspaper at an underdog position.

According to a report released in March 2011 by Project for Excellence in Journalism, an international organization that evaluates and studies the performance of the press, observed that there was a 17% increase in use of free news from the amount recorded in 2009. When people rely on the internet and other courses of free media, reader’s perception on different issues such as international relations, culture, politics, economic, and social dimensions have changed.

Of late there have been advocacy for the free press media, this enables free news media to have the better part of the society since they are not controlled neither are the information they give become accountable to anyone. they offer news that allows readers to post their opinions a different approach than the one taken by traditional press news media; the speed at which someone can get a certain news article and the minimal cost , if any, involved in retrieving the news article has enabled the sector of the media to affect print media in sales volume.

Generation Y is known not to be financially stable and have the internet with them usually, they have internet enabled phones, laptops, desktops, televisions, and radios; these are medias that can offer news at almost no cost. On the other hand, they offer information that are current and probably offer the information in the most understandable manner to the target audience or community in general.

The print media gives a collection of news, both international and local news and handles different areas of the social, political, and economic arenas; however, they happen to have the greatest position as reported medium, they give news that have already been reported by most free press media.

The main strength that print media has had is its diversity and wide interpolation and analysis of news, by the time they are printed, news will have attracted different views thus they can report news that have already been commented, improved or restructured in different ways.

Weaknesses and threats

These refer to stumbling blocks that may deter the organization from progressing towards a particular direction. Weaknesses can be provided by nature and the way business models are structured. There are weaknesses that can be predicted and their effects mitigated while others are unpredictable and the only thing that a company has to do is to develop preventive strategies.

The future is unpredictable and thus threats cannot be fully avoided. One of the most effective ways is by developing a continuous development process through improving products and services. Information technology is one of the ways that processes can be improved; on its part, IT keeps increasing and thus there is need for a company to keep pace with the development. It is a way to counter threat.

P.E.S.T.L.E. analysis

PESTLE Analysis of Business Environment: this analysis of the external environmental factors is done through referring the appendices.

Political: Political environment includes the government systems and judiciary systems which influence the business of the international organizations. Due to this, the company is required to work according to the government regulations of the foreign countries.

Economic: the economic performance of a country and the world at large is of great concern to a business. If the world economies are on the rise, then its benefits will trickle down to individual business. Currently the world is facing world global crisis that affected it since 2007. Expansionary and contraction strategies are being adopted by governments to ensure that their economies are on track.

Social: Social environment of the business demand for the coordination between the values of the company as well as the community. In this regard, a business has an effective commitment with the social and ethical standards of the varying nations. Social norms are considered essential by the business organizations as the purchasing behavior of the customers living in a particular society is dominantly affected by these norms.

Technological: These are very much critical aspects of the business environment. All the electronic companies are developing their own technologies with advance means for attracting global customers. Adopting the right technology will assist a company gain a competitive edge in its area. Different countries and industries have different levels of technology adoption. When undertaking a technological adoption measures should be taken to ensure that the technology adopted is the appropriate one.

Legal: The companies have to follow the business laws and acts of the international business as well as domestic business. While working on the global level, the companies have to consider three types of the legal systems including common law, civil law and theocratic law. The non-compliance with such laws creates critical legal issues for the company which has an adverse impact on the business performance as well as corporate image of the company.

Ecological: The ecological environment affects the business in a broader way than individuals. At present, the companies are affecting the natural ecology through discharge of the harmful effluents in the environment and use of energy sources in an excess amount. All these come under the corporate social responsibility of the business. This is the major consideration to be followed by the business organization

Research and development

Information has been kept in a business in different forms, some organizations have the traditional ways of having wares houses for data and previous performances; information can be derived from research and development processes conducted by the organization. This is a method that is bulky and requires a lot of time to manage and get information from it. It is mostly backed by charts and diagrams that explain different processes. These data is used to make decisions.

With increase in technology, there are various data keeping, analysis, gathering and management systems; the general name of these systems is business intelligence. Business intelligence is a term used to refer to a collection of applications that aim at keeping and making available a data bank in a certain industry or organization; the bank is referred to when decisions are made. When developing the database, the initial stage is information gathering, then sorting the information, analyzing it, and finally making is accessible for use.

Business intelligence can be used in the general strategy of a business or a certain area/department in an organization. The major benefit that a company derives from using business intelligence tools in the right way is competitive advantage. This is because a firm has an access to information that assist in making informed, current and futuristic decisions. Shoppers Online shop should use the tools to develop the best decisions when it’s needed; this will facilitate effectiveness and appropriate business decisions.

Business intelligence tools take two angles: custom-built tools and commercial reporting tools. Whichever the category they are meant to keep custody and give access to certain information from data warehouse maintained in a company for better decision making.

Custom-built soft wares are developed in a company and aims to keep and avail certain information, to limited people working in a certain area or organization; commercial reporting tools are developed for sale to help in a specific line of business; they are made kin such a way that they can be integrated in the system operating in a business.

An example of a commercial reporting tool is Oracle, Reporting and querying software, and ORAP. Word access (spreadsheets) fall in the category of business tool; it has the widest use. Different industry require different information, thus different system with varying levels of data rights are used.

When developing a marketing strategy, the first thing that marketer should do is to perform a marketing research; marketing research starts before a company has created the products required in the market and continues through the product cycle. It aims at recognizing a deficit that the current products in the market are not meeting, and developing product that can fill the gap.

When developing a marketing strategy, a company should aims developing a strategy that will give maximum results at the minimum cost possible; thus for an effective marketing strategy, timely, organized and relevant information is required. To get this information, a company needs to undertake market research and analyze the data for decision-making; information collected should be easily manipulated to reflect the changes in ad hoc requirements of information by management.

Market research has the role of collecting, interpolating, analyzing and storing internal and external data; the data collected should be presented in a form that enables informed decision-making. Market research starts with a desk research where marketers use the available secondary materials to understand the situation and basic operations in the market; the information can be gotten from published and unpublished materials.

When developing a marketing strategy, it is important to understand internal and external factors likely to affect the strategy; internally the company aims at understanding its strength and weaknesses, whereas an external analysis assist a company understand the position that it holds in the market as well as the effects of competitors.

If it is the case of new company, it is able to understand the market dynamics operating in certain industry for future marketing related decisions like marketing entry mechanism. External environment trend is likely to affect the behavior of consumers so when well understood better strategies will be made effectively.

When undertaking marketing research, the main aim is to understand Psycho-dynamics of the market and the underlying factors that can be used for the advantage of the company and developing mitigation measures against those factors that are likely to affect the business negatively.

• It aims at answer the following questions:
• What is going in the minds of target customers mind?
• What need in the market is not met by the current products and offers an opportunity for the company?
• What need is not met but is pressing in customers life?
• What persuading terms and tools can be used effectively for a certain category of market segment and
• What can be used as association in the advertising strategy

In modern globalized and industrialized world, competition is not evitable; always a company that is producing similar products like current company exists. In the case of innovation, it is based on some existing brand that is driven to a new level. A marketer should ensure that he understands the competition and the kind of products available.

This is the way the marketer will know what products are not available or what the competitions are offering; it is always important to offer something extra than competitors. Competition comes from local company and from international companies selling their products in the local target markets; however, every situation or opportunity has its own unique potential that an entrepreneur must capture if he will be successful.

Understanding what the competitors are offering is a crucial stage where the company should spend its time and resources; other than knowing the products marketers should aim at understanding consumer behavior against competitor’s products to develop an appropriate entry strategy different from that of the competitor.

Knowing the gap that goods in the market are not filling assists, a company to develop a line of products that it will focus on. Prices, promotions and advertising methods used by competitors will need to be analyzed so as a counter approach can be used for the same.

Venturing a market can be considered as a business risk; business risk is the uncertainty on to whether the kind of business that the one has engaged in will be of success; the same principle applies to existing business when they want to extend their business to other areas of a start up business.

Businesses are driven by market for good produced; thus an entrepreneur must ensure that there is potential in the choose location. When investing in some kind of a business there is the initial and subsequent running expenses (Ebbena & Johnson, 2006).

With the internal and external marketing analysis in mind, the next step is coming up with an appropriate market that goods will be sold. Products that a company develops can only meet the needs of a particular group in the community differentiated by some similar characteristics like age, income level, location, tastes and social class. A market segment is a homogenous subset of the main market, which share similar characteristics that make then demand/require similar goods.

A segment is also stimulated by similar innovations. After developing a marketing segment, the next step is to develop mechanisms to enable sales in the target market. One of the ways to enter in the target market is marketing mix. An effective marketing mix ensures that goods are available to the target customer, when they need them and they are affordable. Having the marketing segment in mind, then the company can know the kind of products that will be produced (Avery, 2004).

Recommendations

To enter the online shop market and remain competitive, “Shoppers Online Shop” should engage in the following main business management activities:

Adopt total quality management policies

Total Quality Management (TQM) are the activities in the management function that influence the quality of policies, responsibilities, objectives and their implementation through quality control, quality planning and quality improvement. Most organizations are focusing on quality improvement process than on the product itself.

In other terms quality management system is the process of quality improvement where skills are used to add value to the quality of the products and enhance their future. This is done for the purposes of retaining present customers, and welcoming new ones. In almost all organization, the production process has been modified in order to ensure quality improvement.

Total quality management involves managing processes for a desired benefit. It involves structuring and controlling all processes involved in an organization so that they give effective results. Large and complex processes are normally broken down into small and inter-related processes for easy management. In doing this, one has to take into consideration, the time and the budget allocated to the specific processes.

Total quality management consists of competitive moves and business approaches aimed at producing successful performance; it is a management’s “game plan” for running the business, strengthening a firm’s competitive position, satisfying the customers, the stakeholders, share holders and the staffs. It seeks to develop the way into which all those that are a party to the business get satisfied. It aims at going a step further and satisfying the customers beyond their expectations.

There is a lot of focus on the customer; the customer is the greatest asset that an organization can have. To get customers loyalty is the dream of every business and that’s what most businesses target. The compliance to TQM is one of the key factors required for the improvement of quality. Its implementation takes place in either the project level or the organization level.

Given the speed with which change occurs in the global business environment, standard, planning techniques and asset allocation methods have become woefully outdated. Achieving new levels of business sophistication is a never-ending process, requiring companies to rapidly reallocate assets to meet changing conditions. To effectively accomplish this reallocation the organizations need a system that provides continuous evaluation and improvement, ensuring effective use of both business (hard) and organizational (soft) assets.

Because of the ever changing market place, many organizations are transforming their business in order to compete favorably. Total quality management happens to be the widely applied technique in virtually all organizations. They have realized the benefits that come with this technique and it has been applied in all processes.

In the implementation of TQM six concepts which are considered to be vital must be taken into consideration. These are customers (both internal and external), leadership and teamwork, continuous improvement, control of business processes, preventive action, and preventive management (Ebbena & Johnson, 2006).

Most of the successive organizations have realized that a key factor in TQM is monitoring performance to ensure that all of the needs and requirements of customers are being met. They have come to the understanding that the term customers do not only refer to the people who buy products from them but also to the internal employees. Employees are one of the valuable assets that any organization can boast of and therefore they have to be handled with care at all times.

Shoppers Online Shop should change its main marketing base and focus on concentrating on new markets that are less saturated and are promising; such markets include Latin and South America, Africa and the Middle East, in these markets, the company can look into the needs of the people and work towards that line.

They are also developing economies where the cost of production is lower; the company should even consider moving some of its products to countries like Chad, Ethiopia or Kenya where the cost of labor is low and very manageable. Shoppers’ Online Shop should enforce and empower their research and development team further, the team should not enjoy or relax with the success of the company, it should be on its toes to come up with products that are responsive to the needs of customers.

When dealing with developments, the company should come up with products responsive to the particular market segment, for example the company should have seen the need of solar charged phones in developing countries where electric power is minimal. Every market analysis should be taken as innovation types a project of its own; effectively project management plans should be developed to ensure that the project sustainability has been attained.

Though it is the final stage, it carries a lot of weight since it oversees that every process in the organization has been fully upgraded. It is not a onetime process but is a continuous one. Feedback is of importance and considered for further decision making (Avery, 2004).

Shoppers Online shop management should consider its strategic alliances management approach, so far the companies that it has engaged seems not to have the potential to drive the company’s business to higher heights.

One area that the company should look into is the development of strategic alliances that will enable technological innovations through mergers and acquisitions. With the current success in the international markets, Shoppers Online shop should be thinking of a brand extension approach: brand extension is a marketing tool used to market products using the strength of an existing brand.

It involves developing of new products, mostly related to the product already in the market, it is a method of widening of the range of products (or services), by riding in the strength of an existing brand. It is a method of optimal brand strength by creating additional sales. It is also a form of increasing Brand Equity. Brand extension is strategic and should b e timely; when over done it ends to diluting of a brand.

The company should be on the high note to have other electronic commodities that can drive the market; the new products that the company can develop include television sets, Radios, laptops, and music equipments. The new products are likely to b ea driving force for the company; Apple Inc. with the invention and invention of IPods and I-phones the company was able to control a niche market; a diversion from its main line of business that was desktops and computer software development.

The price of a commodity is an element of total cost plus a profit margin. When a target market has been established, there is need to determine the price that the target customer will afford comfortably and still give the company a profit margin. A marketer should use the knowledge attained in marketing research to predict consumer treads and their potential.

The social class targeted will influence the price of the products. The price parameter can be approached from the actual product price or the possibility that the product can be divided into smaller parts, not necessarily cheap, but the need for this is to enhance affordability (Anctil, 2008).

Summary and conclusion

Shopper’s Online Shop will be an online retail shop that will focus on selling electronic products like phones, Iphones, Ipads, televisions, computers (desktops and laptops), cameras, and other home electronic apparatus made by different companies.

The online shopping industry is highly competitive; to remain competitive amidst the competition, Shopper’s Online Shop will embrace strategic management policies that will improve its customer relations and build loyalty among them. Some of the strategies that the company will involve include strategic logistics and supply chain management, customer relation management, business intelligences, and total quality management strategies.

References

Anctil, E. (2008). Marketing and Advertising the Intangible. ASHE Higher Education Report, 34(2), 31-47.

Avery, G. C. (2004). Understanding leadership: Paradigms and cases. London:
SAGE Publications.

Duening, N., Hisrich, D., & Lechter, A.(2009), Technology Entrepreneurship. New York: Academic Press.

Ebbena, J.,& Johnson, A. (2006). Bootstrapping in small firms: An empirical analysis of change over time, Journal of Business Venturing, 21(6), 851-865.

Livingston, J. (2008). Founders at work: stories of startups’ early days, Berkeley, CA : Apress ; New York

Shane, S. (2003). A General Theory of Entrepreneurship: the Individual-Opportunity. Nexus. Edward Elgar

Abstract

Online shopping has become an integral component of today’s business world. It is one of the populous activities over the internet. Internet buying behavior is nothing else but the process and act of making use of the things gotten over the internet.

Just like ordinary shopping, consumers go through various stages when purchasing goods online. This paper examines the buying process for an online product from the Kindle store. Specifically, this paper highlights the stages a customer would go through when purchasing an E-reader from Kindle store.

This paper details how the customer would get to recognize their need, how they would search for information, how they would evaluate alternatives, how they would choose the product, how they would make their actual purchase and finally how they would react after the purchase decision.

Introduction

Many researchers have conducted surveys over the recent past in a bid to understand the stages consumers go through as they make their online purchase decisions (Liang and Lai, 2000).

The studies have also concentrated on what it is quite important to know for the marketers, consumer online shopping behavior in particular. Marketers should know the way customers respond to marketing initiatives and the way they make their purchase decisions when buying products online (Foxall, 2005; Kotler and Armstrong, 2005).

In today’s business environment, the business that clearly understands the way customers react to various marketing mix approaches has a great edge over its competitors.

Problem recognition

According to Kotler & Armstrong (2005), the buying process for an online product begins with the need of recognition. This need can be stimulated by an internal or external factor (Case et al., 2001). For instance, a consumer could have a desire to own reading tablet.

This need then transforms to become a compelling drive. At this point, the marketer needs to clearly understand the customer’s unique needs and what could have triggered the needs (Foxall, 2005).

Search and determination of alternatives

Once a customer is convinced of their need, the customer will seek more information about the various available brands (Foxall, 2005). The source of this information is usually varied. The marketer must design a unique marketing mix to make prospective customers aware of its brands (Kotler and Armstrong, 2005).

The marketer can rely on positive referrals (Cho et al, 2001). Loyal and satisfied customers would recommend Kindle products to prospective customers.

Evaluation of alternatives

From the gathered information, the consumer will decide on a final brand. At Kindle stores, customers can choose Kindle Paperwhite 3G, Kindle Paperwhite, Kindle or Kindle Keyboard 3G (Amazon.com, 2012). The marketer must be interested to know how the customer evaluates the various alternatives (Huang, 2000).

Kotler and Armstrong (2005) have argued that the evaluation of alternatives would depend on the individual customer and the purchase environment. Sometimes, consumers rely on logic while at times they make impulse purchases.

Purchase decision

Kindle stores offer a variety of prices. For instance, Kindle Paperwhite 3G is worth $179, Kindle Paperwhite is worth $ 119, Kindle is worth$ 69 and Kindle Keyboard 3G is worth $ 139 (Amazon.com, 2012). Since some customers are price sensitive, their purchase intentions and decisions will be influenced by their disposable income (Blackwell et al, 2006).

Alternatively, the customer can decide to buy based on the potential benefits of the product (Case et al, 2001). Since customers will only buy when they believe that price of the E-reader is tantamount to its benefits (Kotler and Armstrong, 2005), the marketer should price the product appropriately so that customers can get their perceived value.

Post-purchase evaluation

After buying the product, the customer will either be contented or not. The customer will display some post purchase reaction which the marketer must be interested in (Kotler and Armstrong, 2005). This reaction will be influenced by the relationship between the customer’s expectation and the actual performance of the product.

If the customers’ expectations are not met by the product, the customer will be very dissatisfied (Foxall, 2005). Therefore, the marketer must only claim what is in tandem with the products’ actual performance to achieve customer satisfaction.

Conclusion

The above is a detailed explanation of the buying process for an online product specifically E-reader from Kindle. Consumers follow these stages as they seek to make a purchase decision (Kotler and Armstrong, 2005). However, the customer might not necessarily follow the above stages sequentially.

When buying an online product, the consumer will first recognize their problem. The customer will then proceed to search and determine the various alternatives available.

The customer will then evaluate the alternatives and make a purchase decision (Kotler and Armstrong, 2005). Finally, the customer will engage in post-purchase evaluation.

References

Amazon.com. (2012). The world’s best-selling E-readers. Web.

Blackwell, D. R., Miniard, P. W., & Engel, J. F. (2006). Consumer behaviour 10^th Edition. USA: Thomson Learning.

Case, T., Burns, O. M., & Dick, G. N. (2001). Drivers of on-line purchasing among U.S. university students. Proceedings of the 7^th Americas Conference on Information Systems, 873-878.

Cho, Y., Im, I., Hiltz, R., & Fjermestad, J. (2001). Causes and outcomes of online customer complaining behavior: Implications for customer relationship management (CRM). Proceedings of the 7th Americas Conference on Information Systems, 900-907.

Foxall, G. (2005.) Understanding consumer choice. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Huang, M. (2000). Information load: Its relationship to online exploratory and shopping behavior. International Journal of Information Management 20: 337–347.

Kotler, P., & Armstrong, G. (2005). Principles of marketing 11^th Edition. USA: Prentice Hall.

Liang, T., & Lai, H. (2000). Electronic store design and consumer choice: An empirical study. Proceedings of the 33^rd Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences. Web.

Introduction

Consumer engagement forms the pinnacle of satisfaction in the sensitive service environment (Lovelock & Wirtz 2011). When the perceived goodness is aligned to the goal of customer engagement, it is easy for a service company to create strategic value addition in services offered to customers. Thus, the proposed Secure Online Shopping System (SOSS) will provide consumers with the platform to buy tickets online without fear of internet insecurity.

The Proposed SOSS model

The element of continuance is essential in investigating the concepts of adaptability and acceptance by customers in the process of online purchasing decisions. Consumer trust and satisfaction are the key determinants of continued purchase of a particular service, especially when the service is online as is the case within the ticketing business. In the face of globalisation and the e-commerce development, companies offering the same services may resort to strategic value addition as part of competitive advantage assurance. The ticketing company may compete via service delineation by concentrating on the value addition strategy in the proposed SOSS model. Therefore, the new service called SOSS, which is proposed in the management of the online ticketing business, will form part of the actual customer safety guarantee service. The proposed model will be necessary in proactive customer attraction and retention amidst competition from other players offering the same ticketing services. Besides, the proposed model is equipped with necessary safety systems to protect the customer from online scammers (Baker, Magnini, & Perdue 2012). The proposed system will maximise the security of customers who are buying the tickets online since it protects the identity of the customers, thus ensuring confidentiality.

Alternatives, risks, and assumptions

The main alternative may be to create a complete system modelled on the concept of single market segment for the online ticket customer. This alternative is not suggested since it aims at establishing the broadest possible mechanism for optimising customer satisfaction in the same way as the SOSS. The risk may be the inability to modify the features which ensures that the online tickets are appealing and appropriate to target clients, since consumer preferences is this industry is unpredictable (Frow, Ngo, & Payne 2014).

How SOSS will reduce perceived risk of potential customers

The service that proposed SOSS will create is free since the targeted customers are expected to view the same as part of the company’s value addition. Rather, customers will only be charged for the service and any other related costs. Besides, the targeted customers will take care of their own internet costs. Reflectively, the proposed SOSS will reduce the service duration and cost that the customers incur, thus, the company will benefit from the economies of scale as a result of increased customer traffic (Ryals 2008).

In relation to the proposed SOSS, purchasing or interaction process “refers to the mechanisms, procedures and flow of activities through which a service is delivered to customers” (Ryals 2008, p. 29). Lloyd, Harris, and Reynolds (2004) note that value addition through the SOSS improves ticketing efficiency as companies reap from faster service deliver, unlike the offline model where each customer has to show up physically and stay in a queue for a substantial amount of time. Since the proposed SOSS will strive to completely eliminate this element, the ticketing company will benefit from improved consumer preference (Kowalkowski, Kindstrom, & Brehmer 2011).

The customers operating within the proposed SOSS model will have the opportunity to make online purchases from the comfort of their homes and without worrying about online insecurity. This is possible because the system can be customised to meet the desires of each customer. With the information in the ticketing database, the proposed SOSS will take into consideration the place aspect of 7Ps marketing principles to ensure value addition to new customers (Ryals 2008).

Why current customer will appreciate SOSS

The proposed SOSS model will make the customer experience more interesting by ensuring that extra features such as service inquiry, placing order, and making payment are possible by following simple steps. As a result, the current customers will enjoy benefits such as reliability, trust, and optimal security in the ticketing network (Kowalkowski, Kindstrom, & Brehmer 2011).

The desired awareness created in the online platform and different distribution packages is essential in sustaining online trade between the company and current customers. For instance, the safety and security of the customer over the cyberspace trading platform have become such an important issue in determining consumer behaviour (Lovelock & Wirtz 2011). Thus, introduction of the proposed SOSS is vital towards creating loyalty among the current customers. Introducing the modified SOSS platform at the ticketing company will ensure the safety and security of current clients interested in the company’s product.

Proactive measures for mitigation in event of unsuccessful implementation

Content creation is critical in executing a successful ticketing service, irrespective of the size of the company. It is essential to incorporate the preferences of the customers to ensure that the system is accepted and sustainable (Kowalkowski, Kindstrom, & Brehmer 2011). In addition, the plan will incorporate the right mix of a monitoring channel to increase the competitiveness of the system in attracting and satisfying the demands of the customers (Lovelock & Wirtz 2011). In addition, the reporting criteria for the ticketing business should reflect the success of marketing calendar and set periodic targets in order to minimize the impacts of unsuccessful implementation.

Reference List

Baker, M, Magnini, V, & Perdue, R 2012, “Opportunistic customer complaining: Causes, consequences, and managerial alternatives,” International Journal of Hospitality Management, vol. 31, no. 1, pp. 295–303.

Frow, F, Ngo, V, & Payne, A, 2014, “Diagnosing the supplementary services model: Empirical validation, advancement and implementation.” Journal of Marketing Management, vol. 30, no. 2, pp. 138-171.

Kowalkowski, C, Kindstrom, M, & Brehmer, P 2011,”Managing industrial service offerings in global business markets.” Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, vol. 26, no. 3, pp. 181-192.

Lloyd, C, Harris, K, & Reynolds, L 2004,”Jaycustomer behaviour: an exploration of types and motives in the hospitality industry”, Journal of Services Marketing, vol. 18, no. 5, pp. 339-357.

Lovelock, H, & Wirtz, J, 2011, Services marketing: People, technology, strategy, Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice-Hill.

Ryals, L 2008, “Determining the indirect value of a customer”, Journal of Marketing Management, vol. 24, no. 8, pp. 847-864.

Online shopping is the method of selling goods and services that allows individuals to sell goods directly over the internet. Online shopping is the newest trend in retail ventures and it has become very popular over the last few years. Other forms of retail supply include delivery, counter service, self-service, and use of sales people. Online shopping offers customers a convenient shopping schedule because it remains operational for twenty-four hours a day.

This mode of operation is better than the use of door-to-door sales people who can only contact customers for a limited amount of time each day. Supplying goods over the counter gives retailers the chance of getting immediate feedback from customers. In addition, customers are able to inspect their purchases on the point of purchase thereby reducing chance of customer-dissatisfaction and after sales services. Nevertheless, most online retailers are able to get useful reviews from customers because most online shopping outlets pay close attention to this functionality. The only method of retail supply that has the least useful type of feedback is telemarketing/delivery.

This method of supply is centered on maximizing sales without necessarily focusing on customer feedback. Furthermore, retailers who use deliveries are intent on finding new markets as opposed to retaining customers. Online shopping is associated with many cases of fraud and identity theft. This risk is small in other forms of retail supply such as use of sales people and self-service. For instance, self-service is often the purchasing mode of choice for security-conscious shoppers.

Most companies have an online presence because they want to satisfy the needs of a substantial number of consumers. Most modern consumers have fully embraced online shopping especially where trusted brands are involved. Consequently, most companies are requested by their customers to offer online shopping options. In addition, online presence also serves advertising and branding needs for the retailer.