The Process of Moving to E-Commerce

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Detailed Requirements List
Feasibility Analysis
Development Methodology
Implementation Plan
Testing and Training Plan
Conclusion
References

Introduction

The process of launching a product sale over the Internet is complex. The system, although not new, is constantly improving and adapting to the realities of today’s market. It is needed to be aware that the trends that were popular when creating the page in an online service may change, and it is needed to be mindful that this may discourage the customer. An analysis of the market for creating sales web pages is only a tiny part of what should be considered when transitioning to online sales (Valacich & George, 2020). There are essential nuances when considering the entire transition process. This can be as much about filling the site itself and ordering a designer as it can be about constructing logistics pathways and establishing a timely delivery. This research paper will analyze how to create the content to work with the site, what features there should be, and how to properly set up the functionality to make it much easier for the customer to shop online.

Detailed Requirements List

The first issue that needs to be settled is to start by filling the site with various buttons and features. It is essential to understand that this is cannot be a quick process and requires considerable fine-tuning as the project builds, referring to the feedback from testers and customers who will be the first to use the services. The first thing to do is create an initial screen that will greet the customer. It should contain basic information about the product, its characteristics, description, price, customer feedback, and the purchase button. These elements are the most important when the company makes a web page for selling a product, as they allow the client to orientate himself with the product and study it before buying it.

Once the customer has familiarised themselves with the site’s features and is ready to proceed with the purchase, they need to be redirected to a new screen. It will show which product has been added to the shopping cart and offer additional accessories. This will make it possible to assemble sets of additional items, which may be helpful when the client buys one thing or another (Levin & Yehudai, 2019). After confirming that an item has been added to the cart, the client should be offered a choice to continue shopping or place an order. If the customer chooses the first option, they will be redirected to the previous page where the item was added to the cart. If the customer chooses the second option, a new screen opens where the customer is offered to place the order.

During checkout, it is possible to request the possibility of authorization to provide some bonuses or subscribe to the newsletters with discounts. In this way, the customer will be aware of new offers from the retailer and will not lose contact with the place where he made the order (Software Maintenance Overview – Tutorialspoint, n.d.). Creating a detailed list of requirements involves some other essential steps. The first one is identifying relevant stakeholders to indicate how the requirements will be met. In this case, it includes the management of the company, customers, staff, and the state as a source of the legal framework. Further, one needs to conduct interviews with selected stakeholder groups, namely staff, and customers. It can be performed with questionnaires, both online and offline. The next requirement is to define a focus group that contributes to the development of the target market representation. In this regard, it is formed by a group from the analytical and marketing departments.

The next step will be to find out how customers accepted the product or service. The most effective way is to create questionnaires, which include several essential factors. Firstly, the questions should be short and precise, in addition, the client should have easy access to the questionnaire. Further, the questionnaire should not be too long and not take a lot of the client’s time. It will formulate honest and thoughtful responses and remove the possibility that the client will ignore the questionnaire. Finally, one might offer clients some bonuses after completing the survey to increase their motivation.

Feasibility Analysis

Creating this type of sales and shopping method screens requires mainly first-class staff, namely UX/UI designers, programmers, front-end developers, and testers. Graphic designers are needed. These professions are best suited for the task at hand and help design the required number of web pages, making them as attractive, user-friendly, and famous as possible (Levin & Yehudai, 2019). In addition to human resources, financial resources are needed to buy the necessary equipment. The comfortable work of the staff directly determines the result of the job done and has an impact on the final product (Leach, 2018). In addition to the already mentioned equipment and workforce, suitable premises for collective work are needed.

To effectively calculate the profitability of a particular system, it is necessary to calculate the ROI and the breakeven point of this system. Calculations should be carried out, taking into account the monetary benefits of customer ordering at $185,000 per year, and one-time costs of $275,000. Besides, recurring costs of $85,000 per year, a discount rate of 12 percent, and a five-year time horizon should also be considered. Thereby, a net profit for a year considering a discount rate would be $88,000 per year and $440,000 for five years. Thereby, taking into account all these indicators, the ROI for the particular period, namely five years, would be, on average, 45 %. The breakeven point, in this case, would be $700,000.

Such things are affordable as the number of people in the field is growing every year due to the popularity of the profession and the development of IT technology. The same is true for the equipment and the space needed for work. At the moment, there is no shortage of both items in the world, and one can rely on rapid development. Thus, it can be stated that the feasibility of the goal is high enough if the requirements for hiring employees, sound equipment, and good working space are met.

Development Methodology

All of the above factors should be considered when estimating how soon a company will break even, as the cost of renting premises, labor, and other components vary from region to region and from specialization to specialization. Considering the data given in a hypothetical situation, the payback period of such an investment is approximately one year. This figure is close to ideal, as many businesses cannot afford to pay for themselves for several years due to high costs and failed ideas.

In this case, if one takes into consideration specific figures, this system is quite flexible, which makes it possible to count on payback shortly. It has some factors that can change throughout the business and is stable over time (Tarwani & Chug, 2016). As early as the second year of this type of sales, the company can expect to make a profit, and in the long term, after about five years, it is possible to make a profit of around ten percent on the investment in this company. Therefore, this development strategy, namely, setting up sales through the Internet without having an actual location, is very comfortable. It carries fewer risks than opening a physical shop and relies only on competent management and good conditions for future development. As for the development, the methodology should be flexible and depend on the circumstances faced by this branch of business development (Tarwani & Chug, 2016). It is impossible to calculate all the risks, so it is required to build on what will happen while creating the layout of the development site, the sales process, and the first customer feedback.

Implementation Plan

Speaking about the plans for implementing this system should consider that it takes quite a long time and is not done with an emphasis on the earliest possible launch. It is necessary to have a thorough basis and knowledge of the principles of all these mechanisms and their launch in the operating mode from the first time, without finalizing the departures and emphasizing multi-functionality. Observing this method of preparation, it should be borne in mind that the key here is the time in which the project will be ready to launch. For example, creating a template page will take a relatively short time compared to finding the necessary materials and specialists to work on. It should be understood that the early launch can lead to angry feedback from customers, who will disagree with some of the problems that may haunt them at the first opening of the site. This can lead to reputational losses and, consequently, worsened sales at launch.

Strategically correct steps must be followed to properly launch the product and implement it into the public Internet network. According to this, the first one should be to gather a team, provide the necessary equipment in one room and start development. Once this stage is complete, it is possible to proceed to the second, namely the creation of the design of its pages. For this, it is needed to contact the designers, who, together with experienced programmers, can implement the functionality and make it user-friendly (Lingaraju & Jagannatha, 2019). After these preparations must conduct many tests and release their product to the public. However, this is not the end of the development cycle because it must continue all the time and keep the product in a functional state.

Testing and Training Plan

Despite the already past stage of planning the launch of the product, it is necessary to consider that the product support cycle does not stop and needs to be constantly improved and tested. Therefore, after all the necessary preparations, which may take several months, it is required to conduct in-depth testing of the product (Mendes-Moreira & Davies, 2018). It should be fulfilled at different stages, first within the company, to identify the presence of bugs and glitches. After many problems are solved, a page can be released in the public domain with the note that the product is still under development and many things in it will be finished in connection with buyers’ requests. This will let the company know that the product is ready to be developed and will not cause an adverse reaction from users, even despite the website crashing and malfunctioning.

After customers can interact with the site and use its services, they can write a review, which will describe in detail the problems in the operation or functionality of the product. This data should be collected and analyzed by a specialist and sent directly to the firm that deals with development. After a thorough analysis of what happened, the development cycle begins anew because starting from the design stage, some changes must be brought that seem inappropriate to the user (Mendes-Moreira & Davies, 2018). After all the work has been done repeatedly, testing for new bugs and bugs and still asking for user feedback for further improvements.

Conclusion

To summarise this paper, the process of moving to e-commerce is incredibly complex, both in its organization and its further development. Although current technology makes the transition more accessible than before the pandemic, when it was much slower due to its unpopularity, there are still problem areas that need to be addressed. For example, it is necessary to have a clear understanding of how the Internet sales system works, find experienced people in the field of web page creation, make grammatical use of the available resources, and interpret the data obtained.

Although this type of selling is much easier for buyers, it is harder for salespeople to master. It requires a significant investment of time, effort, and working resources to develop. The main problem can be the lack of physical contact with the customer when it is possible to offer a selection of products, conduct consultations and select the right product. There is no such opportunity via the Internet, and there will always be problems choosing the right product.

The lifecycle of such projects needs to be maintained and developed. As this industry is relatively new and not fully mature, system failures, bugs, and logistical errors will occur. In this market, it is needed to be flexible in decision-making and be able to draw the correct conclusions from what is available. This can be seen as the key to success in the future, as this area covers a global market and allows interaction with customers across vast distances.

References

Leach, R. J. (2018). Software metrics and software maintenance. Journal of Software Maintenance: Research and Practice, 2(2), 133–142.

Levin, S., & Yehudai, A. (2019). Visually exploring software maintenance activities.

Lingaraju, Dr. G. M., & Jagannatha, Dr. S. (2019). Review of web page classification and web content mining.Journal of Advanced Research in Dynamical and Control Systems, 11(10), 142–147.

Software Maintenance Overview – Tutorialspoint. (n.d.). Www.tutorialspoint.com.

Tarwani, S., & Chug, A. (2016). Agile methodologies in software maintenance: A systematic review. Informatica, 40(4).

Valacich, J. S., & George, J. F. (2020). Modern systems analysis and design (9th ed.). Pearson Education, Inc.

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