Adrian-Sorin Alexe - Creating growth in an online store (2)

Creating growth in an online store that works with drop
shipping and multiple payment methods
Program Course: Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Educational Institution: Business Academy Aarhus
Student Name: Adrian-Sorin Alexe
Class: PBIE 13B
Tutor: Heine StrØm
Company name: Shopincrypto IVS
Submission date: 2015-01-05
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Content
Executive summary....................................................................................................................4
1. Introduction........................................................................................................................5
2. Problem formulation............................................................................................................7
2.1 Limitation and delimitation of problem formulation...............................................8
2.2 Additional problems......................................................................................................9
3. Research design.................................................................................................................10
3.1. Research type..............................................................................................................10
3.2. Research objectives....................................................................................................10
3.3 Research paradigm......................................................................................................11
3.4 Methodology and data collection..............................................................................12
3.5 Approach.......................................................................................................................13
3.6 Strategy..........................................................................................................................14
3.7 Time frame....................................................................................................................16
3.8 Theories and models...................................................................................................17
3.9 Quality assessment......................................................................................................19
Sources.................................................................................................................................19
Data collection.....................................................................................................................19
4. Analysis................................................................................................................................20
4.1 Analysis based on research objective questions....................................................20
4.1.1. Who are our customers and how can we approach them?...............................21
4.1.2. What is the right advertising campaign for us?..................................................22
4.1.3. How to create a great experience for the customer? ........................................23
4.1.4. Where to find a trusted whole seller which uses drop shipping delivery?.....24
4.1.5. What payment methods should we offer?...........................................................25
4.1.6. How to create an efficient service centre?...........................................................25

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4.2 Analysis based on questionnaire made for the Danish market ...........................26
4.2.1. What is your age?....................................................................................................26
4.2.2. What products have you bought in the last 12 months?..................................27
4.2.3. How much have you paid for the last product ordered online? ......................27
4.2.4. How do you gather the information before you choose the products you buy
online?...................................................................................................................................28
4.2.5. How important are the following factors in order for you to shop online?...29
4.2.6. Have you bought tangible goods from foreign online stores?........................29
4.2.7. Why do you choose to buy from foreign online stores? ...................................30
4.2.8. Why have you not shopped at foreign stores? ...................................................31
4.2.9. In what way your online sales changed overall in the past 12 months?........31
4.2.10. Which delivery method do you prefer from the online store?.......................32
4.2.11. Why did you return an online purchase?...........................................................33
4.3 Analysis based on business models.........................................................................34
4.3.1. Analysis based on the Business Model Canvas..................................................34
4.3.2. Analysis based on Build Measure Learn loop .....................................................36
5. Findings and interpretation of findings.........................................................................37
5.1. Findings based on research objective questions...................................................37
5.2. Findings based on questionnaire made for the Danish market..........................38
6. Conclusion and recommendations..................................................................................45
Bibliography ............................................................................................................................46
List of figures and tables:
Table 1. Proportion of consumers who shops online once a month.
Table 2. Products bought in the last 12 months.
Table 3. Price of the last product ordered online.
Table 4. How the information about the products is chosen before the online purchase.

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Table 5. Important factors in the shopping process.
Table 6. Decision whether buying from foreign online stores.
Table 7. Factors that determine the buying behaviour from foreign online stores.
Table 8. The reason for not shopping from foreign online stores.
Table 9. The status of the online purchases in the past 12 months.
Table 10. The preferred delivery method.
Table 11. Reasons for returning an online ordered product.
Executive summary
The primary purpose of this project is finding a way to create growth within the
Shopincrypto.com store, and the desired result it is a steady 5% sales growth with every
month of activity until the limit of 10.000 orders per month.
In order to grow to the expected rate an analysis is made that has the purpose to
reveal the preferences of the customers. With the results we can observe what most of the
customers prefer and using this information create a strategy in order to comply with the
demands. During this analysis several factors were evaluated that are considered important
because they define the niche market for which we want to offer our products and services.
The analysis is made using two main sources, desk findings and questionnaire
results, which will give data of different nature and this includes the desk resources with
data of objective nature because it is based on E-commerce reports, and questionnaire data
which is subjective because it is obtained harvesting customers opinions. This will give to
the whole report more validity and trust because the data is verified , twice.
The findings point out that the niche market which we choose to offer the products
and service to is large enough and this will make the growth even faster, it has good
financial resources, are convinced that the number of purchases will increase in the future,
they prefer clear, simple and easy to use stores and services and as payment method they
prefer to use the credit/debit card, also known as Dankort. The preferred delivery method is
home delivery and they will pay for it if it includes the express two days delivery, and to
implement this system in the store is not expensive or hard to do and we will offer it in the
near future.

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The majority of the customers in the targeted market are not affected very much by
the price variation and this proves that they will prefer the quality over the quantity. This is
why when we create the value for the products that we offer, we will include all the facilities
that they can benefit from such as efficient service centre, good delivery service, variety of
desired products and good prices thanks to the drop shipping method which helps cut the
expenses and deliver smaller prices.
In order to have the best possible products in the near future a research will be made
in order to determine what suppliers we will use, based on the products that they offer, the
quality of the services and how trustworthy the supplier is. The other thing that we will
change in the near future it will be the design of the store, but it will be done when a certain
amount of sales is made in order to be sure of the success of the store. The Business Model
Canvas will continue to be used because it keeps the company organised, it is simple to use
and modify and offers vast opportunities for growth in the company.
1. Introduction
The name of the business is Shopincrypto and the main activity consists of selling
products online using an online store. This store sells mainly electronics and accessories. It
uses an innovative delivery system that is called drop shipping.
Drop shipping is a new business opportunity in managing and delivering that allows
our business to buy individual or multiple products from a whole seller and they will ship
them directly to our customers. This is why we have decided to partner up with several drop
shipping suppliers and listed their merchandise on our store for sale. By using this system
we have a low capital for the start, great variety of products and no investments in the
inventory.

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Dealing with multiple payment options is an opportunity to get new customers that
will eventually lead, in time, to a growth of the company. We have found out about the
Bitcoin and other virtual currencies and we have decided to make use of them because they
present some potential, because of the increasing usage, independency from governments
and the variation of the price.
At the very beginning the shop was meant for every customer who wishes to
purchase some small gifts for somebody special. This has lead to losing the focus, over the
targeted customers and in the last instance a mismatch of the wishes of the customers,
regarding what we can provide and what the customers want/need. Right now we do not
have the customers that we initially intended, not the products that we intended and finally
not the overall results that we expected.
We can say that the main and the most important problem that we have right now it
is finding who are our customers, how to reach them and what are the products and the
services that they desire and how can we implement them into the store.
The purpose of solving this problem is related to the growth within the company and
reveals what it is needed to do in order to achieve satisfactory results, which means
increasing sales.
This complex problem is the most relevant because if we find out the answers we can
follow the right track in order to achieve success, and if we still remain with those questions
we will not have a clear view of the situation and this can mean failure in certain situations.
An expected outcome of this complex problem it is having displayed on the store the
specific products and services that the customers are interested in and also having a steady
monthly 5% increasing in the customers numbers.
This problem is happening right now, and not dealing with it will probably lead to a
confusion regarding our business model, confusion on the customer part and eventually will
lead to a slow growth process or even regression.
Among the parts of this complex problem, it resides the question related to the
advertising, eventually finding which place is the best to advertise and how to reach the
customers that are targeted by us. We will find out, using desk researches and the
questionnaire if we will use Facebook advertising, Google advertising, both or some other
one.
In order to solve all the questions that we have we will use a questionnaire and desk
findings. The questionnaire will help us to analyze the personal opinion of our potential
customers regarding several actions that determine if a store is trusted, reliable and able to
ship the products available on the store with no problems or ulterior charges.

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The desk findings will focus more on the subject related to the store design and
functions, and finding what a trusted and interesting store looks like and what content it
should contain in order to be attractive and interactive.
For a better organisation and a better overlook of the business we decided to use
several business models such as Business Model Canvas and Build Measure Learn. In this way
we can observe what is going wrong, and take care of that, or observe some opportunities
using theories or innovation. Another reason for using this business models is that they can
be easily changed and in this way we can experiment new ways, without having trouble to
come back at any time and evaluate the results.
The research type is exploratory due to the fact that the problem is not clearly
defined. In this way we can determine the best research design, the data collection method
and the subjects needed to be approached. Another reason for using exploratory research is
that the topic approached in this research is relatively new and the available data is not
enough or difficult to access.
To be more specific, in the research that we will conduct, we will make a social
exploratory to find out how people react to certain visual stimulus, such as web store design
and colours used, and their reaction toward it, they like it and are willing to browse further
or they do not like it and will leave the page. We will analyze all this using a questionnaire
that it can be found in the appendix of the document.
By analyzing the researches we can formulate hypotheses and apply them later into
Shopincrypto store. Then we can observe in real time the effect or lack of effect of these
hypotheses. We can decide if it is the time to continue with them or try to go further to the
researches.
2. Problem formulation
Who are the customers of Shopincrypto.com and what actions are needed to be taken
in order to achieve a monthly growth of 5% in sales?
The problem that we are dealing with right now consists in finding a way to create
growth within Shopincrypto store (5% every month).Creating growth means, in this case,
growing the number of the customers of the store by 5% every month until it reaches the
value of 10.000 monthly customers.
This problem addresses the potential customers and it is relevant for the growth
study and later implementation of changes into the store.

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2.1 Limitation and delimitation of problem formulation
The customers of Shopincrypto.com are unknown, the computer address and
navigation data is available but there has been no market segmentation process and now
they, the potential customers, cannot be targeted efficiently.
In order to solve this particular problem it is needed a segmentation of the market in
order to find out whom the customers are, what are their preferences and their actual
number in order to calculate the potential profit and if it makes sense to have this business.
A limitation regarding the problem formulation it is the financial factor, the lack of
finances to develop a greater and more specific research. Another limitation that may affect
the results of the research it is the time. We have a limited time to perform the questionnaire
and the other researches and this can lead to not reaching all the eventual problems and
eventually not solving them in time.
Another limitation could relate to the limited amount of instruments used in the
construction of this report. We have decided that we will use BMC and BML loop because they
are the only ones available and suitable for this type of report. By using this two we believe
that we will have a result that will be effective, usable and correct.
Among the limitations that could compromise the validity of the report it is the
geographic location are that we are in and the inability to travel or organise focus groups.
This is why we will use the computer and the internet to conduct this research; we will have
an online questionnaire that it will be filled in by the people who are in the target group; The
desk researches will be conducted on the internet and as sources we will use the ones that
we consider valid for this specific research.
It can be considered delimitation the fact that we will focus our research on certain
areas which have a connection with the problems identified by us. In this way some subjects
that have no use will not be approached.
The literature researches that we will include in here could affect the validity and
direction, so we choose only subjects that have connection with our problems and those
which come from trusted sources. In this way we can be sure that the data is real, usable,
and on subject.
Among the most important part when it comes to delimitation it is the selection of
the right people to question using the questionnaire, because if we select the right people
we will have results that can be trusted and build strategies on top of it. If the questionnaire

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filling in is not supervised we might end with results that cannot be reliable. The same thing
happens when people from out the target group fill the questionnaire.
2.2 Additional problems
When it comes managing a business based on an e-commerce website, we have to
take into consideration data about web design, surveys and customer preference. This is why
we need to implement a lot of customisations to the design part, also include some new
buttons/functions that are helpful or are entertaining for the customers.
Choosing of the underground colour will also be a task that can be done after the
research that will reveal the preference of the customers. Choosing the style of the page
such as the minimalist one it will be made depending on the preferences of the customers.
The advertising situation is an important one and we need to handle it with special
care because this is one of the most important factors that can lead to success. We have to
choose between Google and Facebook when it comes to the advertising, because they have
the best responsive results as a method.
Establishing what products and researching for them is the base problem of the
store. Then we can decide what kind of shop we want to become and start marketing and
advertising as one. The most important factor when choosing a whole seller to work with is
how trusted he can be, we need a trusted partner to deal with. We need a trusted whole
seller because we will have continuous activity together.
As a part of the business, we need to establish what practice we will have regarding
the pricing strategy. An adequate strategy will bring us one step closer to the goal.
It is needed a work platform for the store that will have to be user friendly and also to
include the needed functions. Choosing the right one might be difficult due to the fact that
many stores require a significant amount of money for the membership and access to the
building platform.

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3. Research design
3.1. Research type
The research type that we decided fits most the situation is the one called
exploratory type, and to be more specific it is social exploratory. This is the most suited
because the study will be conducted in order to find the preference the targeted customers
within a market and regarding the shopping experience and how can it be improved.
Since we are dealing with potential customers and we wish to find out their
preference, we will use some questioning methods such as a questionnaire. This
questionnaire should provide the right information that we need now and is enough to be
reliable proves to be eligible.
This research data will be gained using quantitative research methods such as
questionnaire and desk researches. The questionnaire will be used to find what
attracts/repels them into an online store and mainly what content should appear on the
store. The questionnaire will be also used to determine which characteristics the store
should have, what kind of offers we should have and what prices we should have in order to
attract our target group.
The desk research will be conducted in order to determine who the customers are
and what are their web surfing and shopping habits. After we find out the information about
the market we can elaborate a specific marketing strategy that will fit the situation.
3.2. Research objectives
The first research objective is to identify who the potential customers are, and then
apply strategies that are recommended for that target group. To settle this doubt we decided
to make a questionnaire which will reveal the people's preferences, regarding the buying
habits.
The second research objective consists of finding and analyzing all about advertising
available for lecture on the web. In here there is the well known Search Engine Optimization,

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which can be used by making online marketing on some specific tags or words combination.
This option is not suitable because it addresses all the users and we need only certain
people that are within the target group. In this case we will put to the balance the Google
advertising and/or Facebook advertising option.
The third research objective is related to the search of the preferences regarding the
content of the store Shopincrypto.com that they would like and be satisfied with the
experience. In here there are included subjects such as: Product preferences, Store design
and colours, Price level/Sales and Payment Security and Variety.
The forth research objective is to research and then make contact with the most
suited suppliers for the possibility of drop shipping, and to be more specific, we will need an
whole seller in which we can trust to fulfil all the shipments since this can help or damage a
business, the delivery system and time.
The fifth research objective will be to research on the specifics of the payments, what
the customers need to be sure that the transactions are safe and the preferred method of
payment. It is needed to find out what other methods of payment we need to offer along
with the usual credit card method.
The sixth research objective is regarding the creation and development of a service
centre that will satisfy the exigencies of the customers and provide them the right
information, guide them when it is the case and solve any eventual problem related to all the
services and products that the store offers. A deeper research will reveal all the things that
need to be taken into consideration when deciding to construct a reliable, on point and
efficient service centre.
3.3 Research paradigm
The chosen research paradigm it is hermeneutics, since it is used in the
interpretation on texts that have some relation to the culture of the individual, and this is
what we need, to interpret texts in order to determine some specifics such as habits
regarding the attitude of our potential customers.
By using hermeneutics we can focus on what certain visual stimulus and see what
representation it has for our customers and we can see how the customers react towards it,

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and this will help us figure out what visual elements we should implement in our shop in
order to make the customer fell safe and delighted.
We use hermeneutics to observe and analyse what colours do the customers like and
then we plan to apply them to the shop in order to make the store more attractive which will
lead to a better image of the shop in the customer view.
3.4 Methodology and data collection
The research methodology is based on qualitative research because it is used to
understand the meaning of certain stuff such as attitudes, habits or website content. We use
it to describe and understand an experience, beliefs and values of our potential customers,
which can help us to develop the right strategy for the selected target group.
The area that we wish to approach and understand can be best observed and
analysed only using quantitative collection methods such as questionnaire and desk
findings. The questionnaire in here will have the mission to evaluate which colours best fit
the business activity, e-commerce store, and after this we can elaborate an adequate
strategy that will give us the wanted results. The desk findings need to be made before the
questionnaire, in order to have a target group to analyze, and the desk findings will reveal
the right advertising strategy in order to get the right customers enter the shop and have
them have a nice shopping experience.
Desk researches are used in the creation of this research paper because they apply to
the situation, are used to reveal market tendencies, and provide useful information that we
can use in order to provide a better experience for the store customers. Within this desk
researches we will focus more on the questions regarding the store content and appearance
and at the same time finding which gadgets/functions are more likely to improve the
shopping experience.
The challenge that we encounter now is building the questionnaire in order to get the
data that we need from the responders, and this is why we need to make a complex
questionnaire that provides trusted and useful data that we can use after to create a
successful marketing strategy.
The first step is creating the questions that have relevance to the problems that we
encountered and wish to solve. Then we will test the questions to make sure that they offer
the wanted result. After this we have to make a logical order of the questions and make sure
that the structure of the questionnaire is not complicated.

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Next step regarding the questionnaire is searching and finding the target group,
which will give relevant answers. Then we will wait until we have a sufficient number of
responses that will make the questionnaire valid.
The final step when it comes to the questionnaire handling it is analysing the result
data. After the analyses of the data the findings will be stated and a marketing strategy for
the store, based on the questionnaire responses, will be created and applied within the
store.
We did not use quantitative collective method of data because this is used mainly for
the measuring certain variables and testing theories or hypothesis by questioning them. At
this certain point we do not possess the data or hypothesis to analyze and this is why we
opted to not include qualitative collection methods in this research paper. For the future
research we can have the research made using qualitative research methods, in which we
would analyze the data that we are collecting right now, in order to test the hypothesis
based on the results of this report.
This quantitative data collection method allows us to have a sufficient number of
answers that will give the report validity and reliability and allows the research to dig further
into the problem and have responses which will help solve the problems present in problem
statement.
3.5 Approach
The approach in this research case represents a plan and the necessary procedures,
in steps, from assumptions to detailed data collection, analysis and interpretation of
analysis. In this plan we will have to make several decisions, depending from case and what
we wish to find out, in order to make sure that we have the right people to question, the
right questions that will answer the problem statement, the right analyses and the statement
of the findings and finally, the outcome of the research putted in a specific marketing
strategy.
The research consists of an assumption based on the research problems stated in the
section called problem statement; it will use a procedure of inquiry named research method
that consists of desk findings and an online questionnaire; and finally a strategy that is
named research design and it can be founded in the structure of the report.

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The method we use is defined as quantitative and the instruments used here vary
from questionnaire to business models, and all this instruments test objective theories by
examining the relationship among variables. These variables can be measured with the help
of instruments and the outcome of this conversion it is showed as numbers that will be used
in statistic procedures.
The theories are tested deductively, based on the results of the analysis, and the
response can be generalised in order to respond the problem statement. Even dough the
response is general due to the fact that results from analysing numbers that come from a
sample of population, there is still valid, reliable and consistent.
3.6 Strategy
When it comes to build a strategy for the research, the first thing to do is to
determine which are the variables, and then determine if there is a relation between them
and lastly determine of the result can be generalised.
The inquire strategies associated with quantitative research are those who invoked
the post positivist perspectives. These include true experiments and less rigorous
experiments called quasi-experiments and co relational studies. More recently, quantitative
strategies involve complex studies with many variables, which also include elaborate
structural equation models that incorporated causal paths and the identification of the
collective strength of multiple variations.
In this case the survey is the way to go because it includes cross-sectional and
longitudinal studies using questionnaire for data collection, with the intent of generalizing
from a sample of the population to the whole population that can be considered our
customers.
The first step within this research it is to conduct desk researches regarding the
gathering of information about our customers and what drives them to purchase specific
products.
The following step is to analyze the findings that have been made using the desk
researches and obtain, if it is possible and still is relevant, a generalised opinion/numbers
regarding the market. The information gathered on the previous steps it is valuable and
relevant in order to make a decision regarding the placement of the advertising of the store.

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It will allow us to target the specific customers that we want based on specifics such as: age,
occupation, geographical position and interests in some specific matters.
Next step to make is to take the data collected from the first two steps and decide
what colours should the background image have, what colours should be predominant in the
store, how crowded/minimalistic the design of the store should be and last what functions
should the website have in order to be considered safe and provide an good experience to
the customer/visitor. In here it should be available also all the gathered data that speaks of
the preference of certain products. In order to have a holistic approach towards the
construction of this report we should have conducted a market research that will reveal what
is the current situation of the e-commerce websites, how many there are in Denmark, what
do they offer and what actions do the best one take. There are some reports done every year
by a research institute that shows what are the customer preferences regarding several main
decision making factors. It also includes the numbers of the users in the northern Europe,
available for every single country also, the numbers of orders made through a year on
average and the frequency of shopping, devices used for accessing the store and data about
the preferred delivery method and time. An important part that we need information about is
the preferred payment method and the reason for using/not using other payment
possibilities. In this step it must be included also a research about finding the right suppliers
that can be trusted, because in this business a good connection with a supplier that has the
right products, that the customer needs/wants, can mean a step forward toward the success.
The difficulty in realising the research about the suppliers resides in the fact that there are
few suppliers that can deliver great services, great products and in the right amount of time.
Even if a supplier will qualify based on these variables, it has to provide a free delivering
service based on drop shipping. The good news is that more and more suppliers/whole
sellers choose to work with this drop shipping service and this makes it easier for us to find
the right one in which we can trust.
Also, the desk researches will reveal how to manage the pricing of the products, how
to make special offers, how to choose when to make sales and what percentage of sale will
be enough to catch the interest of the customer. The desk findings will reveal what are the
future trends within this market, e-commerce market, and how can we implement them into
the store.
The next action is to build the questionnaire. The constituent questions will have to
be set in correlation with the problems that we need to solve so basically the questions will
be referring to the preferred style of shopping, the amount of time spent on the website, and
the elements that are taken into consideration when making the shopping decision. This will
help us find out if we need to focus on how to prepare the adequate and adapted offers and

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if we need and what type of complementary products we need to have on the store. This part
will confirm/infirm the data that we have previously gathered during the desk researches,
regarding the advertising. It will show also if we need to partner up with some other stores
or if we need to make the advertising on other places such as forums, blogs or specialised
websites. The questionnaire should provide the knowledge that allows us to focus on
specific actions when it comes to the shopping experience, such as the creation of a blog
within the store that will guide the customer through the store, clear some of his doubts
regarding our activity and guiding steps for a better shopping experience.
Since the geographical position it is delimitation we considered that spreading the
questionnaire through the forums and specialised groups of users shall provide answers that
we can take into consideration and consider them valid and reliable.
After creating and spreading the questionnaire through the web we will gather the
information and after that we will analyze that to reveal what do they prefer or consider
more important, whether it comes to design and store specifics or whether it comes to
products itself. The findings that will result from the analysis will be the base for the
marketing strategy, strategy that we will implement into the store.
3.7 Time frame
The actions that will be made in order to obtain responses to the problem statement
are complex and need to be taken in a specifically order to make sure that the outcome will
be the wanted one. After a rigorous verification of the tasks that need to be done, we
decided that this will be the right order for the specific actions:
Action Time period(weeks)
Create report structure 49
Desk research 49
Findings of desk research 50
Questionnaire 50
Questionnaire findings 51
Advertising strategy 51
Conclusion and
recommendation
52

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3.8 Theories and models
Although business models have been an integral part of trading since the pre-
classical times, the business model concept became prevalent thanks to the internet in the
mid 1990 s. In this case we need to use a business model for our e-commerce store, which
means that the business exploits and uses the internet to complement the traditional
operations made into a company. In this case we will conduct the commercial transactions
with our business partners and customers, and all this transactions will be held exclusively
in the online environment.
The rapid growth and adoption of new technologies have facilitated the
organizational transformations, due to the expansion on the internet usage on a global scale
and the adoption of new ways to shop, such as browsing the internet using the smart
phones and tablets. All this changes have allowed the development of new ways to create
and deliver value, which have offered the possibility of creation of unconventional exchange
mechanisms and transaction architectures. These factors allowed the company to change the
way we organise and engage in economic exchanges, both within and across the industry
boundaries, and this includes the ways in which a business interacts with customers and
suppliers/whole sellers as well.
There has been a change in the late period which consists in less concerning with
causal explanation and empirical testing. It consists of highlighting the notion of value,
monetary and financial aspects and aspects related to the architecture of the network
between the company and the exchange partners such as delivery channels. Each of these
components constitute a part of the business model and it could be a source of
differentiating among business types, but none of this components are enough to capture
what it can be integrated in the whole business model.
Business Model Canvas consists of nine basic components of a business model.
Instead of simply having them in a row, they are put on a canvas so the visualization of the
different issues’ relation is improved. That helps the user to map, discuss, design and invent
new business models. The whole thing can basically be divided in the product on the left
side and the market on the right, while the value proposition is obviously divided in half.
A further quite typical problem is the detail of cost and revenue structure. A whole
business plan always has a financial plan and people work on it for weeks and months.
However, when we are scribbling out our BMC, we have only some guidelines on where the
costs develop and where the money might come from. It might happen eventually that the

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product price is way more expensive than what customers are willing to pay for. A more
detailed description and analyze would require more time. Of course, we always have these
problems with models because it can be pretty tricky to fill out the right model, but these
models can be easy upgraded.
Our conclusion is that BMC should be used initially by the entrepreneurs and
businessmen and eventually, as they get more experienced with its use, they could try
different variations that fit better for their businesses. This was our case also, because filling
in the business model canvas can reveal what weak spots you may have but it does not
necessary tell you what to do in order to solve the issue. Our recommendation is that the
entrepreneurs should work with BMC and its variations in order to have a more holistic
understanding of their businesses.
Build Measure Learn Loop it is used within this business and report because of the
fact that we can observe in real time what our actions lead to and we keep track of the
changes and observe which one brings the most results and persevere in that direction. The
fundamental activity of a start-up is to turn ideas into products, measure how customers
respond, and then learn whether to pivot or persevere. All successful start-up processes
should be geared to accelerate that feedback loop.
Organizations can design their products and services to directly meet the demands of
their customer base without requiring large amounts of initial funding or expensive product
launches that may fail. Waste spending and risk are massively reduced. Originally designed
for high-tech companies, the philosophy has now expanded out to include any individual,
team, agency or company looking to introduce new products or services into the market.
This involves turning ideas into products, measuring how customers respond to
those products, and then learning from the results (pivot or persevere). Success is derived
from focusing on accelerating this feedback loop as much as possible. A true experiment
begins with a hypothesis with predictions about what is supposed to happen. This is then
tested empirically to determine if the hypothesis was in fact correct. The Build-Measure-
Learn loop therefore requires an acceptance of failure. Failure should only be viewed as a
negative if it did not result in learning something fundamental to the business.
While we measure and get feedback, we should be driving towards an incremental
growth by applying the learned facts and then restart the loop. If growth is stalling or fails to
materialize, it may be time to stop. Businesses that cannot bring themselves to pivot or
change their ways based on feedback from the market could find themselves in the land of
the living dead - neither growing enough or dying, consuming time and resources but not

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moving ahead. It takes courage to make one, but without it your days are numbered until
money dries up or a new player disrupts what you are doing.
3.9 Quality assessment
Sources
The sources that are used to develop this research are believed to be trusted because
the sources are mainly articles and sections from specialized literature books. This leads us
to believe that the data that we have used from these sources is valid due to the fact that the
authors of these articles are specialists and the research that led to the making of this article
is made by specialists in the field.
The data collected from our sources is tested, in order to be proven right by
matching the search to similar documents and if the information point into the same we
consider that it is valid and reliable. The data that was used during the desk research has the
origin in articles made by big companies that have this as main activity and have multiple
resources when it is working with an idea or concept.
The data collected from the questionnaire it is considered reliable, valid and
consistent due to the fact that it is used a questionnaire which has a right structure due to
the questions that will provide answers that will respond the problem statement along with
additional problems. The data collected using this instrument is reliable because the people
who answered are part of a specific targeted part of the market and their response represent
the real answer to the main issue. It is considered reliable data because we take all the
answers, analyze them, elaborate theories and then eventually apply this theory into practice
in the online store.
Data collection
The collection method used in this research it is a part of the quantitative collection
and the adequate instrument to conduct this research is the questionnaire, which we have
chosen in order to answer several questions that are stated in the section called problem
statement. We have found out that for what we need, the opinion of the eventual customers
regarding several facts, we can use the questionnaire because it provides to collect the right
type of information that, after a complete analysis, we need in order to formulate a theory
that will elucidate the eventual problems that we have or may encounter in the future.

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The data collected using the desk researches measures what we intent to measure,
and this consists of the particularities of the targeted part of the market and by collect it and
analyzing it after, it will give us the data that we were searching in the first place.
The constancy of the data is not one of our concerns because it affects the back-up
data that we posses but it can be considered that the data that we processed can be
corrupted because the previous data may be corrupted.
4. Analysis
At the beginning of the data analysis we focus in finding answers for the questions
founded in the part named problem statements. It begins with answering at the first
question stated as research objectives. The second part of the data analysis will have the
purpose to put to the test the suppositions that we have formulated within the
questionnaire.
When approaching a subject of this matter, within an explorative research, it is vital
to have a holistic approach because this allows a broader vision on the subject putted on the
test. In this way it is recommended to make usage of the objective point of view when
dealing with desk researches and then make usage of the subjective point of view by
analyzing and working on the questionnaire.
4.1 Analysis based on research objective questions.
A good and efficient method to solve the issue/incertitude that we have is to try to
answer the questions that we have until now. This is why the way to solve this is to answer
every single question that we have until now and proceed with the creation of a strategy that
has the purpose to put an end to this situation. The responses founded for this issues will be
analyzed in order to be considered on point and trust worthy and will be used in the
marketing strategy or action plan that will make use of the retrieved information regarding
the preferences and tendencies and make a accordingly plan for the growth of the online
store.

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The chosen questions which will to be answered are relevant because they approach
the problems and by retrieving the answers from the respondents it will be possible, by
analyzing them, to have real and various opinions that can be used to formulate the problem
solving strategy. These questions represent the objective point of view that will lead to the
solving of these issues because they represent the advices of professionals in the matter and
objective point of views incorporated in the construction of the reports that are relevant in
this case.
4.1.1. Who are our customers and how can we approach them?
Finding and determining who the customers are is the foundation stone of any
business, no matter what their industry is or where they choose to sell their products. This is
why in this case it is necessary to determine who the customers are, what are their major
preferences and what are the possibilities to increase the traffic on the store Shopincrypto.
Several actions are needed to solve this issue and this includes making a desk
research to determine the major particularities of the consumer and determine the
stereotype of an average store customer. The next action is to determine what the preferred
places are for the online shopping experience and what services they offer for their
customers.
The first action consists in a desk research regarding the particularities and other
specifics of the average customers of an online store. The data that we want to collect has to
provide information about the individual and in this case consists of numbers of individuals
that can be potential customers and the resources that they use during the shopping
experience such as time spent surfing the store, products and number of products
purchased online on average and at last what can they afford to spend on average.
The second action is made in order to determine what the competition offers and
what is the standard regarding the services that an online store needs to have. In here a desk
research will be enough to provide the available data regarding the competition that the
store has and what services the competitors offer. We will use this data for the further
changes that will be made in the store and we rely on this data to give results in practices as
it shows in theories.

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4.1.2. What is the right advertising campaign for us?
Advertising the product that is present in the store is a task pretty difficult because it
is needed a lot of experience when it comes to the strategy designed to approach the
customers. The customers are usually very sensitive when it comes to the information that
they encounter, so preparing the right visual and eventually audio effect it is critical. The
main factor that needs to be taken into calculation when generating an advertising campaign
is finding what is more appealing to the receptors of the advertising message, meaning the
customers.
To generate a successful advertising campaign we need to observe what category of
products the customers prefer to buy, what range of price the customers prefer and
determinate right place for us to advertise the store by analyzing the available ones. By
having all this information we can relate to the case and generate a successful advertising
campaign by choosing the right words, few words but carefully chosen.
The first action that needs to be made is to establish what products/services the
online store will offer. A desk research based on reports of e-commerce activities within the
Nordic part of Europe will reveal what are the most requested categories of products
available for shopping in the e-commerce environment. The report is reliable and points out
that home electronics is among the top requested category for the online shopping
experience. A more deep research within this report should reveal a more specific
subcategory of products that we should focus to show and sell on the store Shopincrypto.
The second action is to determine the price range of the products that will be
available on the store, and at the same time diminish the variety of products, factors that
help us when building a quality service for the products that we offer for sale on the shop.
This will help with the stores perceived image as a more professional one that can handle
any issue related to the products offered to sale.
The final action that needs to be made in order to have an answer to the questions is
to determine how we can attract their attention using our advertising campaigns, and
eventually to determine what channel is the fittest for our advertising strategy and the
answer for this question will be given by comparing the available choices that we have. The
desk researches reveal that the best way to go, for us, is to choose the targeted advertising
and in this case the providers that give the best results are Facebook ads and Google
Adsense plus Adwords. Other results that came out during the analysis do not match our

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aspectatives because they prove to be not as efficient in generating traffic t for the store as
the previous stated.
4.1.3. How to create a great experience for the customer?
A great experience for a customer depends from person to person, but there are few
common elements which, mixed and putted in the right way, generate a pleasing feeling
when browsing an online store. The feeling of pleasure/confidence/ safety comes from a
specific catch phrase, which should contain specific words and it is usually the first sentence
of an advertisement.
In order to be able to generate that specific feeling of trust, confidentiality and
reliability that the customer wants/needs it is necessary to make an analysis of several
elements such as standard of quality of a service for the products, returning conditions and
secured payments. By making a correlation between these criteria it is possible to individuate
what the customers need and then offer them the specific complementary services.
The next step in order to offer the right experience to the customer is to offer a
pleasant visual stimulus by using specific colours for the store. An important role in this
visual experience it is the whole design and functionality of the Shopincrypto store.
The first action needed to be held is to find the right suppliers for the delivery
system, in order to have the orders delivered on time, to create a trusted and functional
communication channel between the customers and the store staff and finally to construct a
efficient returning system for the unsatisfied customers. This action is necessary because if
all the conditions above are fulfilled the customer observes that the store is professional and
is able to execute an order in the requested time, offering at the same time assistance for
the cases in which the order is misplaced or wrong. This helps the reputation of the store
and gives more credibility, which may lead to a prolonged relation with a satisfied customer.
In the case in which the customer is unsatisfied with the order, and the store is not able to
solve the issue, then the store is not considered to be trusted and the relation with that
specific customer is broken immediately, and we all know that a happy customer is a good
customer.
The second action needed to be made is to make sure that the visual part of the store
is appealing and this can be achieved by making a desk research regarding the preferred
style of design of the store. Then another topic necessary to approach within this action is
the colour palette of the store, because the right colours may induce a sense of calmness

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and tranquillity or reliability when other can induce discomfort or agitation and this may
drive away the customer.
The advices of the specialists regarding the suggestion of a specific palette of colours
for different purposes of the store and the advices of specialists regarding the style of the
design may be applicable to the shop and are taken into consideration.
4.1.4. Where to find a trusted whole seller which uses drop shipping
delivery?
Drop shipping is one of the factors that allowed the creation of Shopincrypto store,
because by using drop shipping the business does not have to include expenses with the
storage space and delivery and also it allows the possibility to have almost zero percent risk
with the selling of the products available on the store, meaning that we do not have to worry
if certain products do not sell because we do not need stocks. This system allows us to have
really small risks with stocks but at the same time we depend on what the whole sellers have
to offer for sale. But this is a small price to pay because now, with the globalisation of the
services and companies, it is easier to get in contact with a lot of different suppliers which
use drop shipping as a delivery method.
The delivery channel is a very important part of the business and sometimes it can
make a difference between a good business and a not so good one. The delivery system has
to include a very specific amount of information regarding the delivery period, the delivery
company and last but not least the right order in the delivery package.
A partnership with a trusted whole seller/ producer, who will deliver the order on the
behalf of Shopincrypto store, is vital especially for a long lasting relationship with the
customers. The variety of whole sellers whom use drop shipping is large but finding a
trusted one for a prolonged partnership is more difficult.
The action that is needed here is a comparison of the available whole sellers in the
close geographical region, which have the requested products ready to ship and with good
quality and reliable returning system. Another factor which has to be taken into
consideration when choosing a whole seller as partner is their size as a business, to be more

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specific their financial report which prove that they are a big company and more trusted at
the same time.
4.1.5. What payment methods should we offer?
The payment offer plays an important role within the acquisition of a product, due
to the fact that desk researches point out that most customers pay attention to the
available payment options before they make the decision to buy the product. This is only one
factor that determines if a customer finds out the product and the complementary services
appealing or drives them away from the store. This is why we need to find out what is the
preferred payment method and apply it to the shop, and not choose any other payment for
any reason but the efficiency.
The way the customer feels when navigating through the store is important, and the
feeling that we want to achieve is comfort within the shopping experience, regarding the
security of the payment and the honesty of the services provided by the shop, and the sense
of tranquillity which comes from the fact that they are sure that the items will arrive in the
promised time, with the agreed price and the exact products that are being ordered.
In a research article made by PostNord it is revealed the fact that the Danes use the
debit or credit card, especially Dankort, in 80 percent of the cases when they shop online,
behaviour that has increased in the last year by 10 percent. Within this report it is presented
that the next payment method, according to the popularity of usage, is considered to be the
invoice which is used only by 8 percent of the online customers.
The action that needs to be taken here is to compare similar articles, which reveals
the statistics of the e-commerce within the Denmark or Northern region, which will give an
insight of the situation and reveal what the preferences are and in this way we can make a
decision regarding the usage of payment methods.
4.1.6. How to create an efficient service centre?
A service centre has the main task to relieve the customers of all the doubts and
unclarities regarding the activity of the company, the products that we sell, our services that
come along with the purchase of the products available in the store and at last the liabilities
that we have regarding the relationship with the customers and their data.

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The service centre is a part of the buying experience and a good service centre will
help the customer with all the issues or difficulties that initially can occur from the earliest
stage, from the moment in which the customers choose their products and proceed to the
payment, until the arrival of the package, and eventually post-purchase services such as
loyalty card or discounts for further purchases.
The action of finding out how to run a successful service centre begins with analyzing
what could go wrong at any stage and what the solution should consist of, and if the
according action is successful it means that the specific problem has a solution, and if it
shows that the issue is not solved it shall continue exploring other possibilities that will lead
to the solving. This set of actions should continue until there will be no more questions
needed to be answered, and only then we could say that we have a successful service centre.
4.2 Analysis based on questionnaire made for the Danish market
The previous step within this whole analysis had the purpose to get the general point
of view regarding these issues that we confront with and the eventual recommendations of
the professionals or certain studies/reports that are based on accumulated knowledge
during the time and successful strategies applied, proven and approved for the performance.
The questions have been chosen and formulated in order to cover all the issues that
concern the creation of the strategy for the future growth of the shop that will come with the
right strategy applied to the right people, using the right methods/channels and at the right
time. The answers retrieved from the respondents are valid, correct and countable and this
makes them reliable and after their procession the generated data will represent the base for
the formulation of the action plan. The results of the queries are being processed and
presented as percentages, while the biggest percentages are considered the most relevant
and the point of reference when deciding what route to follow for the road to success. The
questionnaire is made in English because of the language barrier and the possibility of
mistakes when translating the questions and answers.
4.2.1. What is your age?
Responses: a) 18-30 years; b) 30-50 years; c) over 50 years

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This first question is constructed around some factors that we consider relevant for
us and this consist of a minimal age of 18 years and a non stated maximal one for every
respondent and that the respondent should have made at least one purchase from an online
store.
These factors make our research valid because the customers need to hold a credit
card in order to make a purchase, and the minimal age for having a credit/debit/Dankort is
18 years old; also there is no maximal age for holding a credit card so we will not put any
limits regarding this factor; and in order for a possible customer to have an opinion it is
needed a shopping experience and without a shopping experience you do not know what to
expect and you do not have any exigencies and eventually preferences.
A customer’s response will be considered valid only if he fits the previous stated
requests. If it fails to fulfil all of them the response he will give will be considered not valid
and it will not be taken into account, including here the statistics of the responses as well.
4.2.2. What products have you bought in the last 12 months?
Responses: a)Books; b)Clothing/Shoes; c)Consumer electronics; d)Films/DVDs; e);Personal
care ; f)Photo; g)Sports and leisure; h)Toys; I)Health supplements
This second question does not impose any specific terms addressed to the
respondent in order for his answer to be evaluated as valid; it only reaches out to determine
what category/categories of products the customer prefers, so that we can observe what the
tendencies are and in this way we can focus our resources in the right sectors. This, along
with the targeting of the market of customers/users, will help us to aim in the right direction
that will eventually lead to a specialisation on a certain type of products.
This will certainly improve the chances to fulfil all the demands of a specific group of
people, which will lead to a professional specialised store that will provide the right services
and products that will give happiness and certainty to the customers, which will finally lead
to sales that is our final goal.
4.2.3. How much have you paid for the last product ordered online?
Response: a) Under 250 DKK; b) 250-999 DKK; c) Over 999 DKK
This third question weights pretty much when it comes to two important steps which
are making the decision regarding the store’s practiced price, and of course calculating our

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margin of product and then observe if our final price of the product fits the expectations of
the customers, and calculating what is the potential of our targeted customers, regarding
the calculations which may result in a enough number of customers which can afford to pay
a specific price and keep the business going or an insufficient number of customers which
will eventually lead to a collapse of the plan.
In this way it will be easier and safer for us when it comes to the choosing of the right
supplier/whole seller because we will have a well defined limit, in which the calculations will
result in having the desired profit, for the desired products/services that the customer
requests.
Knowing the price that the customer can/is willing to pay for certain products it will
also help the business in knowing what kind of marketing plan to apply to the store in order
to obtain the maximum efficiency within the activity.
4.2.4. How do you gather the information before you choose the
products you buy online?
Responses: a) Online; b) The store of the website ; c) Search Engine; d) Testing the product;
e) Friend recommendation; f)Physical stores; g)Online Advertising; h)Direct mail advertising;
I) Advertising in papers/magazines; j)Social media ; k)TV advertising
Choosing a product implies a lot of factors which can be the trust in the
website/store, the feeling that the arrangement of the store gives you, the lack, insufficiency
or overload of information regarding the products or the services offered, the delivery
method, price, variety and availability and many other reasons that can attract or drive away
the customer from that specific store. This is why gathering the information on certain
products before buying them online can help you to get rid off of some incertitude such as
accessing unknown stores or may help you dodge some stores that are not secured or those
who offer merchandise that can be putted under the question mark.
Every consumer prefers to buy merchandise from stores that are safe and usually
these shops happen to be the ones who invested money in advertising in one or more
available/known channels such as TV commercials, Search Engine Optimization, Targeted
advertising, Direct mail or just using the Search Engine and usually choose among the first
tree results that appear on the top.
Different people use different methods to gather the information on the products
that they desire and this means that the methods may vary such as people from some
specific environments consider some advertising channels more trusted than other, for

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example young people who use the internet a lot through different devices may consider the
search engine for example Google to be more trusted than the advertising in the TV.
By determining the right advertising for our targeted customers we can make sure
that we will have more traffic coming to the store in the detriment of other channels, and
this will lead to a temporal, financial and managerial efficiency when attracting new
customers to the store. It is also known that attracting a new customer is five times more
expensive than maintaining an existent one and here is where the financial part applies.
4.2.5. How important are the following factors in order for you to shop
online?
Responses: a)Easy to order ;b) Low prices; c)Product Availability; d)Saving time; e)Comparing
prices; f)Home delivery option; g)Product reviews; h)Better products
This fifth question has the most importance when it comes to observing the
preferences of the customer regarding the shopping experience and what they prefer in
order to have a better feeling because there is a saying that states that the customer is
always right and we have to comply with the situation in order to maintain them as
customers. Every customer has a set of presets, conditions that need to be fulfilled in order
for the store/products/services to be considered useful or trusted, that guides them through
the whole shopping experience and makes them to be attracted by some shops and feel
rejected by others. But the good news here come with the fact that even dough every person
has some specific particularities, there will be several customers that will have the same
behaviour or will value the same category of factors, and in this way we can focus on the
biggest percentages and provide them with the desired particularities that represents for
them the convenience.
There is a common trend within the Northern region of Europe that the customers
prefer that the store should be easy to navigate and the products easy to order should have
prices lower than the competitors and that the shipping has to include home delivery,
through the available methods.
4.2.6. Have you bought tangible goods from foreign online stores?
Responses: a) Yes; b) No
This question is not the most relevant and it does not offer the most insight but
offers precious data which reveals one of the tendencies of the customers, the one that
drives them to buy from the stores that are convenient for them even dough they know that

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the stores are foreign ones. In this case we observe that there are not so many borders
regarding the online shopping, when there is a minimum of a common spoken language
even if it is not the mother language of the customer. The financial factor surpasses in this
case the other factors such as preferences for the customers that the data or products to be
displayed in the customers mother tongue or currency corresponding to the country of the
buyer.
Another factor that seems to have a major effect on the amount and frequency of the
purchases made from foreign online stores is the age of the customers, because an early age
represents usually a more open mindset towards different approaches when it comes to find
a convenient place where to shop online for the products and if it is the case make a better
deal than with a regular purchase from a convenient physical store.
The curiosity of the human nature to find a better way to solve the issues that he is
confronting with alongside with the globalisation offers a great opportunity to explore other
options than the regular and eventually to have the opportunity to compare the prices with
the shops from the customers country makes foreign online stores a response for some of
the customers in search for as specific type of products/services.
4.2.7. Why do you choose to buy from foreign online stores?
Responses: a) Price; b) Choice variety; c) Availability; d) Saves time; e)Good delivery and
return system
This specific questioned is addressed exclusively to the people who answered
positively, meaning they answered yes, to the previous question regarding the intent to buy
products from foreign online stores. The customers which answered negative to the previous
questions will automatically jump this question because it will make no sense to answer this
one. Those who answered negative to the previous question will automatically jump to the
next question where they can elaborate the reason why they choose not to shop from foreign
stores. Those who answered positive to the previous question will have to jump the next
question because answering that one will give no useful insight and even confuse them, and
even more, this will lead to an invalid answer.
Usually when a customer chooses to look in other stores for a specific range of
products or services it means that he is not satisfied or he did not find that thing that makes
the store convenient. The answers given here will give an insight over the determination of
choosing to order from foreign stores and this will help us by knowing what the customers

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are looking for and we can take advantage of this chance by adopting in our store if it is the
case the products or services that the foreign store puts up for sale.
4.2.8. Why have you not shopped at foreign stores?
Responses: a) Not secure enough; b) Unsure of overall price; c) Uncertain of return options;
d) Expensive shipping/delivery; e) Lack of customer reviews
This question is specifically addressed to those customers who stated that they did
not shop from foreign online stores and it has the purpose to determine the factors behind
the decision to not purchase from this stores. By having the responses and analyzing them
we will have an additional motivation of the customer that drives him away from this type of
stores and we will use this data for the shaping of the offered services/products, fact that
may attract an additional number of customers.
The comfort of the customer is given in the first place by the level of security of the
store and by level of security it means uncertainty that the store is a legitimate business and
will ship the products that the customer orders and not run with the money and two, and
this is very important, the security of the transactions because in here the data of the credit
card and the customers data is involved and the theft of this important information could
lead to a very big problem for the holder of this type of information because they can be
easily duplicated.
Any good store has to include vital information about the overall price of the
products, duties that need to be paid if the customer is resident in a different country or
region and finally clear information regarding the return procedure and allocated time for
this action. The lack of any kind of information regarding these important concerns of the
customer will lead to the impression that the store is a fraud or unsecure and this will lead
the customer to another online store that provides clear information regarding these issues
and represents convenience.
4.2.9. In what way your online sales changed overall in the past 12
months?
Responses: a) Increasing; b) Constant; c) don’t know; d) Decreasing
The spending on shopping depends mainly on the available amount of revenue and
depends secondary on several factors such as age, social status, sales period, geographical

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location and finally the type of person that you are, and in this case people can be spenders
or savers.
Another global factor that has a major effect on the spending and the amount to be
spent is the global crisis that affects everybody and everybody has a natural instinct to save
more than before the crisis in order to have some provisions for the future. This effect is
felted a little bit smoother in the Northern part of Europe because of the stability of the
economy within this countries but it is felted anyway.
Considering the previous factors, still, the Nordic customers, including the Danish of
course, are confident that they will be able to spend even more than until now and this trend
is expected to continue at least for the near future period. This confidence comes from the
calculations of the income that will arrive in the near future and their needs for certain
products and services that can be acquired online.
The biggest percentage of the questioned market of consumers predicted that their
consuming behaviour will continue to rise while the second biggest percentage representing
a quarter of the consumers predict that their behaviour will maintain within the limits and
only a small percentage of the interviewed population representing one tenth of all predict
that they will decrease the amount of money dedicated for the online spending. Overall this
appreciation of the near future situation gives us confidence that things are moving forward
and the people will continue to buy online for the desired products respecting the same
rules as before and putting the biggest accent on commodity.
4.2.10. Which delivery method do you prefer from the online store?
Responses: a) Store pick-up; b)Letter box; c) Home delivery; d)Collection point
The delivery method is one of the most important factors when it comes to the
choosing of a product and this is why some people abandon their chosen products at the
check-out because they do not find the desired delivering method or because the cost of the
delivery method which can be considered too high.
Since the delivering method is a part of the commodity factors that people are
looking for, there can be recommended to offer multiple delivery methods, free shipping
being through the most desired one, which our shop offers. The trend within the Nordic
countries, Denmark included of course, is to have the products shipped preferentially to the
door of the customers and the next most preferred one is the letterbox delivery, which is not

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that different than the first one because the package with the desired products arrives in the
immediate perimeter of the destination address.
This delivery methods are preferred because of the commodity of the customer,
which means the desire to have the products delivered closest possible to them, and
because these methods are the safest because they have usually the tracking code which
allows monitoring the current position of the package and status of delivery. These two
factors make home delivery the most desired method of delivery and the safest one currently
available and mostly used.
4.2.11. Why did you return an online purchase?
Responses: a) incorrect size; b) Damaged or missing goods; c) Wrong item shipped; d) Not
the expected item; e) Changed my mind
Returns are a double edge sword because returns are free for the clients and an
expense for the company. The statistics show that in average two from five orders are being
returned from various causes. The customers from Denmark are satisfied in ninety percent
with the returning system of the packages because it is usually simple, easy and free of
charge and this proves that the standard within this part of the online store is pretty high
and this determines us to step to the game.
Providing the right information about how the product should be returned, and this
may include a return label for the simplicity of the return action, and the pre-filled
information to avoid all the other possible mistakes regarding the returning system. The
main reasons behind the lack of satisfaction that causes the return of the order is that the
return system is sometimes more complicated than it should be and it is in some cases
pretty expensive.
Even if a return is made after an acquisition from an online store, it does not mean
that the customer will not ever shop again from the shop but instead by providing an
adequate return system and the right instructions the customer observes that the store is
preoccupied with the customers and this is a good reason to try again with this shop by
making another acquisition in the future from the same store.

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4.3 Analysis based on business models
4.3.1. Analysis based on the Business Model Canvas
The business model describes the rationale of how an organization creates, delivers
and captures value. It is used an major importance tools for the overview of the whole status
of the business and also it is being used with the purpose to see the missing links or even to
test different theories and variations within the business.
Customer Segment (CS)
Within this segment we deal with the customers, for whom we are creating value
added to our products, and the best and easiest way to do that is choose a specific segment
of customers. By having a specific type of customers it is easier to create and apply a
strategy because the created strategy here will be applied onto the whole amount of
customers within this niche market.
Value Proposition (VP)
In here it is detailed described the whole amount of services and products that
together create value for the customer situated in the niche market that we targeted. The
advised right strategy for this type of business, online store, the customisation and quality
of the products play the most important part because this is what the customers cherish the
most. Tailoring the products and services that we offer to the specific needs of the customer
is the value that we offer.
Channels (CH)
In this segment it is presented and described how the store communicates with the
customers and how it plans to reach the targeted customers. We intent to present the
created value for the products of the store by offering the right services complementary to
the acquisition with the usage of the adequate channels for the best possible
communication.
Customer Relationship (CR)
To offer the right tools for the shopping experience makes a great sale but by
offering to the customers the right tools, services and importance makes a great relationship
that will most likely lead to further purchases, which is the actual purpose of the online store

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Shopincrypto. The customers need a specially build experience that includes personal
assistance, automated services and self service as well. The right mix of these parts will
result in a successful business, while the rest will be a tentative of success.
Revenue Streams (RS)
This part of the business model represents the sources of the finances that will keep
the company going and if all goes as planned it will generate profit. Since the business will
deal with one segment of customers this will be the source of income, along with the
advertising that will depend on the traffic in the store. The price of the products will be a list
price and from time to time some price cutting strategies will be applied by offering
deductions consisting on a specific amount of percentage.
Key Resources (KR)
Within this segment of the model there are presented the assets that the company
uses/needs in order to keep the right track according to the plan. These assets represent
resources of different nature such as physical, financial, intellectual, temporal and last but
not least human. The opportunity that is available thanks to the development of the
technology, communication and globalisation is the possibility to delegate to some other
companies different parts of the work that needs to be done and this makes the financial
and intellectual resources the most important in a business nowadays.
Key activities (KA)
In here there are presented the essential things that need to be done in order to
make the plan work and the afferent activities to these necessary actions. In this case the
most important activities that need to be made within the business are to focus on creating
and delivering value, maintain the customer relationship and constant try new solutions for
all the processes included in the business.
Key Partnerships (KP)
This part of the business model refers especially to the partnerships and external
affiliation of the company, made from various reasons including dropping the manufacturing
cost, reducing the liabilities of the company or lack of competences regarding the
manufacturing/managing/delivering products or services. We choose to externalize certain
activities such as the design part, because of the lack of competences, and the
server/payment processing/ package delivery because there are other companies that can
do this and it is more convenient to choose them because they are credible and reliable.

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Cost Structure (CS)
Within this part there are presented and described all the costs affiliated to all
activities within the business that are present in this business model. The products that we
offer are made with a value driven cost structure, in which the costs that we have are
founded in the value that the customer requests and all the costs turn around and are
determined by the value that we offer. The main characteristic of our adopted cost structure
is based on fixed costs; no matter the quantity the price will stay the same per unit mainly
because the customers buy one product of a type.
4.3.2. Analysis based on Build Measure Learn loop
The Build Measure Learn loop is using in the construction of this report and more
specifically it is being used in the construction of the questionnaire, especially in
determining what the adequate questions are, how many, around what purpose are they
build and what their order should be.
The creation of the questionnaire using the Build Measure Learn loop started with
settling what information we intent to receive, and that information was in the form of
opinions that it will be processed and presented in the form of percentages. Then we started
building the questions and offering answering options that will guide the customers to
indicate the preferences that we intent to harvest.
After that we needed to find out who need to respond in order for that information
to be valid and useful. Then it is considered that a specific group of people can give us
useful feedback, and this is why we imposed some delimitation in order to get only the data
that we need. Then finding the right people was the next step and we found that a forum
with members which fulfil our demands exists and then we proceeded by asking them to
answer the query that we constructed.
The whole process in the construction of the questionnaire that we have used can be
compressed and stated by focusing on finding the best possible way to solve an issue, test
that hypothesis, observe the results and then decide if it is good enough to be used in the
questionnaire and if it is not find another way to do it until the desired result is achieved.
This is a simple yet useful tool that drives the progress within any category of work
towards the desired result, by constantly building a theory, put it to the test, validate it and
then do the whole process until there is no more progress to be done regarding that issue.

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5. Findings and interpretation of findings
5.1. Findings based on research objective questions
The findings based on the data that we collected from the desk research is presented
bellow and it is of an objective nature, in order to find out the opinion of
professionals/specialised companies/specialised reports, which are in contact with the
problem but not this specific context and this It is believed to make this data more valid and
trusted than the opinion of certain regular people regarding the solving of the previous
presented problems.
Our potential customers are people with the age between 18 and 50 years old, who
have shopped before from online stores and know what to expect and what to demand in
order to obtain a pleasant shopping experience within an online store.
We can approach them through different online channels but the ones that they use
and trust the most are the search engine results, the store itself that should contain useful
information and the online discussions.
The online advertising campaign is one of the recommended tools and the statistics
show that by using different sources of targeted advertising such as Google advertising and
Facebook Advertising along with the Search Engine Optimisation will generate the traffic that
we desire which will make the 5% growth in sales monthly possible and even achievable with
the right actions. These right actions are composed by different tags/product tags that will
make our customers understand the real value that we offer along with the products, since
our customers are not affected very much by the price of the product, but by the value that
they perceive. This is why we intend to build a marketing campaign as soon as we find the
right supplier which can provide trusted services along with good quality home electronics.
The experience that will lead to the purchase will have to generate a sense of
commodity and trust, and this can be achieved with a simple yet easy to use design of the
store, a variety but not too big variety of products and a secure environment for shopping.
The sense of commodity that is referred before relates to the fact that the store has
to offer security for the credit card information, security for the data of the customer and

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security that we will keep our word regarding to providing the right shipping method and in
time also.
Finding the right supplier/suppliers is more difficult to do because there are a lot of
suppliers which offer services but with only few of them we have the certainty that they will
keep their promise in delivering the goods to our customers with the right size, colour and
in the right time. This is why this issue is not fully solved because we did not reach to a final
decision regarding the selection of the suppliers, and this will happen in the near future after
several selections and few test deliveries to make sure they provide the right services.
When it comes in choosing of the payment methods to make available for the
customers it gets easier because there is a major trend in Denmark regarding the preferred
method of payment, and this is credit card payment with a majority of payments done with
Dankort. So basically making all the major credit card options of payment and specially
Dankort will make the customers feel more secure about the store in general.
A store that will generate trust on the behalf of the customers has to include a client
service centre and a good enough service centre has to include all the answers to every
possible thing that can go wrong from before the purchase itself until the expiration of the
two year guarantee for every single product that will be sold through this store. This is why
there will be necessary a further deeper analysis on what information the service centre
should offer/contain.
5.2. Findings based on questionnaire made for the Danish market

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Table 1. Proportion of consumers who shops online once a month.
The results retrieved from the answers given by the respondents give us the certainty
that even dough we do not have the official numbers of the possible customers and we have
only some percentages, we are confident that we have a solid and vast market in which to
operate, with a good range of age including the people who usually have a monthly income,
which gives us a small certainty that there will be enough people which can guarantee the
growth of the shop as predicted.
Table 2. Products bought in the last 12 months.
When analyzing the given results it can be spotted that there is a preference when it
comes to the chosen category of products that can be bought online and the ones that top
the preference are the consumer electronics, clothing and shoes, books and personal care.
Analyzing this and the possibility to attract the customers with good enough offers, we
realized that the category of products that we wish to sell should be consumer electronics or
clothing. Realizing that the clothing companies can create easily their own shop, we abandon
0%
10%
20%
30%
Age 18-30 Age 30-50 Age 50+
30%
24%
11%
Proportionof consumers who shops online once a month
28.00%
33.00% 34.00%
18.00% 20.00%
13% 11% 11% 8%
What products have you bought in the last 12 months?

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that possibility and in this case the choice will be consumer electronics because these
products can be marketed easier and with the right targeted market, some sales can be
produced without having to invest a large amount of capital.
Table 3. Price of the last product ordered online.
This question reveals the financial potential of the potential customers and this will
allow us to make several calculations regarding the possibility to choose the category of
products that match this range of prices and at the same time allows us to be able to
calculate the cost structure and the potential revenue that will come as a result of a
successful purchase. This result will help in the decision to approve or dismiss a product
depending on the price, and this will lead to a category of products that are more in the
reach of the customer.
Table 4. How the information about the products is chosen before the online purchase.
Under 250 DKK 250-999 DKK Over 1000 DKK
31.00%
47.00%
22.00%
How much have you paid for the last product orderedonline?
44.00% 56.00%
49.00%
30.00% 32.00%
25.00% 27.00%
13.00% 14.00%
9.00% 9.00%
How do you gather the information before choosing the products you
buy online?

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The information that is harvested here allows us to determine which of the
information sources the customers prefer to use as a guide and which of them are
considered trusted and which are considered not trusted or doubted. The results point out
that there is not only one source for the gathering of the information regarding certain
products or services, but those who top the preferences are the store itself with the
information that provides, the search engines which is the easiest way to find information
about a vast amount of things and lastly online discussions have an impact on the opinion of
the customers. This information guides us to focus on the search engines and to invest
capital in order to appear in the top for certain keywords and then to provide useful
information regarding the products on the store.
Table 5. Important factors in the shopping process.
The answer received from the customers regarding these questions allows the
observation of the most important factors that the people consider when it comes to the
online shopping experience. Since there is not a big difference regarding the percentages of
the responses it is leaded to believe that they all pose some importance and neither one
should be neglected in order for the store to remain convenient. This convenience consists
in the easiness of the navigation through the store, the prices preferable low enough, the
availability of the desired gamma of products and the possibility to have the goods delivered
safely and in time at the home steps.
Easy to
order
Low prices Availability Saving
time
Comparing
prices
Home
delivery
option
Product
reviews
Better
products
than
others
44.00% 44.00% 38.00% 36.00% 38.00% 39.00%
27.00% 20.00%
How important are the following factors in
order for you to shop online?

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Table 6. Decision whether buying from foreign online stores.
This question is formulated with the intent to discover the availability of the targeted
customers to buy from foreign online stores and the answers will determine the status of it.
The mainly positive result within the age group 18-50 years old puts into the light the fact
that they are more price sensitive than the senior buyers, and this could pose a threat
because the prices in the Eastern Europe, Asia and Russia stores are lower than in the Nordic
Europe region. This is one threat that we have identified but have not found yet a way to
suppress, but the search continues because this financial factor affects a large group of out
targeted customers.
Table 7. Factors that determine the buying behaviour from foreign online stores.
Since there is settled from the previous questions it is important to dig further into
the issue in order to determine what the offers are at the foreign online stores make, and
how convenient are they in the eyes of our customers. It results that the things that our
targeted customers consider attractive is first the price, second the variety of products that
are not in the Nordic market and the third important factor is the availability of the products
that are presented into the store. This affects only the price sensitive customers, and in this
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Age 18-30 Age 30-50 Age 50+
No 35.00% 39.00% 61.00%
Yes 65.00% 61.00% 39.00%
Have you bought tangible goods
from foreign online stores?
No
Yes
77.00%
58.00%
54.00%
9.00%
15.00%
Price
Choice variety
Availability
Saves time
Good delivery and return system
Why do you choose to buy
from foreign online stores?

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category there are not too many of our customers which make the foreign online stores not
an important threat for us at the moment.
Table 8. The reason for not shopping from foreign online stores.
This question offers the opinion of the customers related to the decision to not shop
from foreign online stores and the data that results can be used to determine what factors
our store should not include. The top reasons for not shopping within these shops are the
lack of security, which mean the absence of security when it comes to the communication of
personal data or credit/debit card data, uncertainty regarding the overall price, because
when shopping from other shops other taxes can be added to the price of the package and
the customers do not have the certainty that shown price is the final cost, and finally the
uncertainty regarding the returning systems, price and procedure.
Table 9. The status of the online purchases in the past 12 months.
0.00% 5.00% 10.00% 15.00% 20.00% 25.00% 30.00%
Not secure enough
Unsure of overall price
Uncertain about return options
Expensive shipping/delivery
Lack of customer reviews
29.00%
27.00%
28.00%
14.00%
4.00%
Why have you not shopped at foreign online stores?
62%
26%
3%
9%
In what way have your online purchases changed
overall in the past 12 months?
Increasing
Constant
Do not know
Decreasing

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This question has the purpose to understand what is the expectation and confidence
of the targeted customer regarding the past twelve months. Analyzing the results we
observe a generally positive scenario in which the customers state that they are increasing
the amount of purchases and this can mean two things, the volume of the purchases
increase in numbers meaning that they have ordered more items or they have increased the
available budget by making purchases that cost more, related to the past period. This
statistic points out that the people are optimistic that they will be able to purchase more
products that they desire and this is good news for our store also, knowing that we have the
demand for the products.
Table 10. The preferred delivery method.
This question is created with the intent to discover what the preferred delivery
methods are, for the goods purchased from the online stores, and helps us to orientate in
the consequent direction to make the customer happy with the available choices. This will
lead them to trust more our services and the store including also. The next delivery method
that it would be advised to have in the offer is the letterbox delivery method or offer the
possibility to the customer to choose to collect personally the package from the closest
collection point. Since the answers point out these methods as the preferred ones and the
easiness of making them available, along with the disponibility of the customer to pay extra
for fast delivery, makes this issue easy to solve and not expensive at the same time.
Store pick-up Letterbox Home delivery Collection point
32.00%
37.00%
70.00%
33.00%
Which delivery method do you
preffer from the online store?

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Table 11. Reasons for returning an online ordered product.
This question is created with the intent to find out the reason behind the returning of
the orders purchased from an online store and the answers putted into statistics will
supposedly show the predominance of some particular reasons. As it is supposed there are
some main reasons and the top ones are related to the discrepancy between the products
particularities selected before the purchase and the product shipped. The main reasons for
returning a shipment are related to incorrect size, damaged or missing goods and wrong
item shipped, with only nine percent of respondents which responded that they returned the
order because they changed their mind meanwhile.
6. Conclusion and recommendations
Creating and managing an online store is a complex task because it requires several
analysis and researches in order to determine what to sell, how to sell, to whom to sell and
through what channels to sell. Actually it requires even more factors to consider and in here
it needs to be included the design type, the variety of products, complementary services,
complementary categories of products, payment types and methods, delivery methods and
eventually partnerships.
The first step to take is to make a plan of the business and it is recommended to use
a business model, Business Model Canvas is easy and efficient, can be up scaled and it has
been proved to be efficient by several other companies. In here there are several fields which
hold a part of the business and this is the place where you can try new strategies and have
an overlook over the whole business and eventually observe the missing pieces or room for
improving everything inside a business.
Incorrect size
Damaged or missing
Wrong item
Not as expected
Changed my mind
59.00%
22.00%
17.00%
13.00%
9.00%
Why did you return an online ordered product?

Adrian-Sorin Alexe - Creating growth in an online store (2)

Adrian-Sorin Alexe - Creating growth in an online store (2)

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