E-commerce (also written as e-Commerce, eCommerce or similar variants), short for
electronic commerce, is trading in products or services using computer networks, such
as the Internet. Electronic commerce draws on technologies such as mobile commerce,
electronic funds transfer, supply chain management, Internet marketing, online
transaction processing, electronic data interchange (EDI), inventory management
systems, and automated data collection systems. Modern electronic commerce
typically uses the World Wide Web for at least one part of the transaction's life cycle,
although it may also use other technologies such as e-mail.
Electronic retailing (E-tailing) is the sale of goods and services through the Internet. ... E-tailing requires companies to tailor their business models to capture Internet sales, which can include building out distribution channels such as warehouses, Internet webpages, and product shipping centers.
Electronic retailing (E-tailing) is the sale of goods and services through the Internet. ... E-tailing requires companies to tailor their business models to capture Internet sales, which can include building out distribution channels such as warehouses, Internet webpages, and product shipping centers.
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Management information system (MIS) is
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A DSS is a collection of integrated software applications and hardware that form the backbone of an organization’s decision making process and help to make decisions, which may be rapidly changing and not easily specified in advance.
Management information system (MIS) is
Integrated collection of people, procedures, databases, and devices Provides managers and decision makers with information to help achieve organizational goals.
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Their approach creates a network self-sufficient agile micro teams (called “squads”), which are connected into wider teams and groups of specialists. Instead of a “matrixed” approach to structuring teams, they’ve created more manageable and more human organisational units.
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Much of the thought around Lean UX focuses on design groups within product organizations (startups and enterprises). What happens when you try to use Lean design methodologies inside of an agency.
This presentation was given at the Lean UX Meetup in San Francisco on May 30, 2012.
Balancing the holistic approach of the designer with the iterative approach of Agile is a challenge for any team – but even more so in an agency environment, where clients want fixed-price contracts and guaranteed scopes. In this talk I describe some ways I’ve found to reconcile these needs.
Can a Digital or Traditional Agency be Agile? Ryan Lejbak, the CEO of Canadian-based digital agency zu didn't think so. However, the staff of 60 convinced him to try. There were lots of ups and downs along the way, but over the past 18 months zu has experienced higher revenues, margins and client satisfaction. And the employees love it.
Ryan will take you through the process of moving from Waterfall to Agile and share lessons on what ideas worked and what didn't. See this behind-the-scenes look at the transformation of an agency and see what disrupted the agency model in Canada.
Social Media & E-commerce (How social commerce works)Alexandru Rada
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Please feel free to follow me on @alexandrurada or visit my site at http://alexrada.com
Design Principle Basics, UX Best Practices & 2016 Trends - Kuala Lumpur Marke...Freelance
Several basic design principles play an enormous role in the success rate or failure of marketing campaigns.
Learn how to take full advantage of these make-or-break factors – which largely determine whether customers are drawn in by featured content, or simply walk on by without even noticing it.
Download this colorful slide presentation, in which the ever-animated trainer Nikki Johnson highlights the basic principles of graphic design, simple UX best practices, and 2016 website trends, which all marketers should take to heart to position their work for maximum success.
Learn how to provide more constructive feedback to your design team as a marketing professional.
In recent years, the border between Online Media and E-Commerce is diminishing. Almost every single person in a metropolitan daily uses both social media like Facebook, Twitter, etc. for networking and uses internet to make huge purchases using e-commerce sites like Flipkart, Amazon, etc
We can also share our recent purchase details on the social media using the links to the product pages of e-commerce sites.
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📈 Unlocking Business Growth with Customer Data Platform: Discover 10 dynamic use cases that leverage the power of data to fuel your success!
From refining target audiences to optimizing customer journey, these strategies can propel your business forward.
Explore the full blog here: https://www.webmaxy.co/blog/egrowth/customer-data-platform-use-cases/
Get access to all your customer data and interactions in one place. Take a WebMaxy eGrowth trial now! https://www.webmaxy.co/egrowth/
#customerdataplatformusecases #cdpusecases #customerdataplatformusecase
A Framework for Digital Business TransformationCognizant
By embracing Code Halo thinking and a programmatic approach to business process change, organizations can better engage with customers and deliver mass-customized products and services that drive differentiation and outperformance.
An ecommerce platform is a software solution that allows businesses to set up and manage their online stores, including website design, product catalog, shopping cart, and payment processing.Heading..........Read more
Imagine a mortgage loan that does not require monthly payments. A reverse mortgage (RM) is just the type of mortgage loan, which is reserved for older homeowners. Being a type of home equity loan, it is usually repaid after the borrower(s) moves out or expire(s). While it is often considered a last-resort source of income, RM has become a popular retirement planning tool for many homeowners. Check out this infographic to find the answers to some of the frequently asked questions on RM.
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Social media is a big brand influencer and businesses just cannot afford not to be on social media channels. But just being on social networking sites for the sake of being there would also not serve the purpose. In order to understand your core audience it is necessary to segment your users in the right bracket, understand their behavioural attributes and also find out how often your brand is being spoken on social media channels.
All this can give you a head start in analyzing the audience thought process and coming up with a social media strategy that can help your brand gain much-needed visibility.
Creating your website the right way makes all the difference. Without the right strategy for designing your website your customers just would not be able to connect with your brand or business. Thus it pays to have a website that makes all the right noises in attracting and providing them the right spur to return back to your website.
Starting from the URL that you choose to the user interface that you provide all make a vital difference to how the audience connects with your site. Check out how to create a website that stands out from the crowd by going through this insightful resource now and let your brand visibility grow online.
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Every day, enterprises across the globe are engaged in two key activities: delivering effectual effects and building decisions that create impact. If you are in the big business of building enterprises that will be more valuable in future than present your decisions need to be driven by smarter data.
Companies today are witnessing a huge explosion in data availability - 90% of the world’s data was formed in the most recent years. Structured, semi- structured and unstructured data across internal business systems and external sources like social
media, market data and syndicated study are now creating an incredible opportunity to construct insights, therefore leading to intelligent decisions. However, as this data is generally available to an enterprise’s competitive set, only those who have a vision for
leveraging this intellect and are adept will eventually out-compete others.
A project manager supervises the planning and implementation of various activities in a business setting a project manager usually leads a team of employees and assists with setting goals, time limits and developing work flow charts and project plans. An individual in this arrangement should have both management and people skills as well as superior written and verbal communication skills.
Industries across the globe are burgeoning. Stiff
competition has permeated every stratum among
enterprises. To sustain themselves in such an environment,
companies are seeking new and improved methods by which
they can revamp their business and also their existing
production processes. With the emphasis firmly resting on the requirement for
more robust processes, companies are transforming their
project plans drastically. Now, the buzz and objective is to
move on to a more adaptive process that ushers in change
and provides results. Moreover, businesses need a process
that offers enhanced flexibility which can alter the very
nature of the process itself.
Over the past few years, the rise of mobile devices and the changes in media utilization that came along with it have arguably been the biggest drift in the tech world at least according to leading figures from U.S. tech companies, that trend isn't over yet. When queried what they expect to be the biggest drivers of their companies.
No business can exist in isolation. The need to delve deep into understanding customer behavior and trends has become all the more crucial in this age of Social Media omnipresence. A powerful tool, Social media analytics (SMA) is a veritable boon for
companies to unearth prevalent customer preferences by gathering and analyzing data spread throughout the Web, on diverse online platforms such as social media websites, blogs, photo and video sharing sites. This vast chunk of information enables businesses to gain valuable insights and proficiency; and helps them gauge the pulse of the market, which ultimately aids in converting information into robust actionable strategies.
The finance department is responsible for managing the company’s financial risks, financial planning and financial reporting. But is it in control? Does it have full control over your financial processes? Complete control over data feeds? Intelligent control on reporting?
Businesses need to ensure accurate and consistent financial close on time, every time. The best-in-class automation solution frees up time and resources to devote to more financial analysis, and reduces the overall stress on your finance department.
The recent explosion in the popularity of apps has seen more and more people set out to develop their own, and the technology behind them has changed as a result. The big technology companies which easily dominated the market in years past have had to become more competitive in order to keep up sales, while people with limited technical skills have sought out simple design modules to enable them to develop their ideas.
Mobile application development is a term used to denote the act or process by which application software is developed for handheld devices, such as personal digital assistants, enterprise digital assistants or mobile phones.
These applications can be pre-installed on phones during manufacturing platforms, or delivered as web applications using server-side or client-side processing (e.g. JavaScript) to provide an "application-like" experience within a Web browser.
Cloud computing is the delivery of computing services over the Internet. Cloud services allow
individuals and businesses to use software and hardware that are managed by third parties at remote locations. Examples of cloud services include online file storage, social networking sites, webmail, and online business applications. The cloud computing model allows access to information and computer
resources from anywhere that a network connection is available. Cloud computing provides a shared pool of resources, including data storage space, networks,
computer processing power, and specialized corporate and user applications.
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of limitations; which is the reason why it may not be the best fit for
every team or product. There are other Agile and Lean approaches too,
like Kanban or XP.
Therefore, what is crucial is for us to comprehend that these current
shifts call for a dynamic and progressive outlook from developers and managers. The need of the hour is to utilize the benefits that a Scrum Master brings to the table, in terms of opening up team communication and problem solving techniques.
In many ways, the Agile Manifesto gives us a road-map and lays a firm foundation for efficient software development.
There are naysayers among those who swear by traditional methods; but these criticisms do not hold water because the
entire agile movement rests on robust methodologies and concepts. So what does this augur for the future? No one can
tell with certainty.
Agility encompasses believing and relying on one's ability to respond to unpredictable events, rather than banking on the
competence to indulge in pre-planning. At the end of the day, the methodologies remind us that even though we create
and work with software, the human element, and the resultant collaboration it enhances, is all too important in the larger
scheme of things.
Agile software development is a group of software development methods in which requirements and solutions evolve through collaboration between self-organizing, cross-functional teams. It promotes adaptive planning, evolutionary development, early delivery, continuous improvement, and encourages rapid and flexible response to change.
The Agile development model is also a type of Incremental model. Software is developed in incremental, rapid cycles. This results in small incremental releases with each release building on previous functionality. Each release is thoroughly tested to ensure software quality is maintained. It is used for time critical applications.
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websites and web applications and is one of the more revolutionary
technology offerings that have been developed of late. Its overwhelming
popularity is such that everyone, regardless of their position on the tech
learning curve, wants to try their hand at using this excellent front-end
framework which basically makes putting together a website from scratch a breeze! It is also doubles as a web application framework that is a software framework designed to support the development of dynamic websites and web applications.
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2. Introduction
E-commerce (also written as e-Commerce, eCommerce or similar variants), short for
electronic commerce, is trading in products or services using computer networks, such
as the Internet. Electronic commerce draws on technologies such as mobile commerce,
electronic funds transfer, supply chain management, Internet marketing, online
transaction processing, electronic data interchange (EDI), inventory management
systems, and automated data collection systems. Modern electronic commerce
typically uses the World Wide Web for at least one part of the transaction's life cycle,
although it may also use other technologies such as e-mail.
E-commerce businesses may employ some or all of the following
Online shopping web sites for retail sales direct to consumers
Providing or participating in online marketplaces, which process third-party
business-to-consumer or consumer-to-consumer sales
Business-to-business buying and selling
Gathering and using demographic data through web contacts and social media
11
3. Business-to-business electronic data interchange
Marketing to prospective and established customers by e-mail or fax (for example,
with newsletters)
Engaging in pretail for launching new products and services
Introduction
2
4. Types of Licensing Models
On-premise E-commerce
On-premise E-commerce software usually requires initial one time purchase investment
in terms of licensing fees. Also, it implies extra costs related to hardware and installation
services as well as data migration and on-going maintenance fees that are usually
charged on a yearly basis for software updates and support. Some examples of typical on
premise E-commerce platforms are Hybris (company), Intershop Communications, Sana
Commerce., Oorjit. and IBM WebSphere.
3
Advantages
Easily customizable
Data security
High performance
Disadvantages
Large initial investment
Self-maintenance
Technical knowledge
5. Software as a service (SaaS) E-commerce
Software as a Service (SaaS)- is a cloud based delivery model in which applications are
hosted and managed in a service provider's datacenter, paid for on a subscription basis
and accessed via a browser over an internet connection. Two examples of typical SaaS
E-commerce solutions are Shopify and Demandware. But there are much more of such
examples.
Advantages
Affordable low-cost solution
Hosted/upgraded by E-commerce
provider
Easily scalable
Disadvantages
Limited integration with back-end
systems
Lack of data security
Limited control over the system
4
Types of Licensing Models
6. Open source E-commerce
Open source E-commerce is a free of charge platform that doesn’t imply licenses fee.
Furthermore, open source users are also responsible for installing, maintaining, securing
and configuring the software on their own servers.
In order to set up an open source platform, basic technical expertise is required in the
areas of web design and development. Software products that are distributed as open
source are generally free, and users can access and modify the source code. Several
examples of typical open source E-commerce platforms are PayCart, PrestaShop,
osCommerce and Magento.
5
Types of Licensing Models
7. Categories of E-Commerce
As with traditional commerce, there are four principal categories of E-commerce: B2B,
B2C, C2B and C2C.
B2B (Business to Business) — This involves companies doing business with each
other. One example is manufacturers selling to distributors and wholesalers selling
to retailers.
B2C (Business to Consumer) — B2C consists of businesses selling to the general
public through shopping cart software, without needing any human interaction.
This is what most people think of when they hear "E-commerce." An example of
this would be Amazon.
C2B (Consumer to Business) — In C2B E-commerce, consumers post a project
with a set budget online, and companies bid on the project. The consumer reviews
the bids and selects the company. Elance is an example of this.
C2C (Consumer to Consumer) — This takes place within online classified ads,
forums or marketplaces where individuals can buy and sell their goods. Examples
of this include Craigslist, eBay and Etsy.
6
8. E-Commerce Strategy
As in any new venture, the first step in succeeding in E-commerce is to set goals. Do
you plan to increase revenue from existing customers? Gain new customers? Increase
the average order value? Sell through new channels? Lower prices? Once you have
figured out your goals, it's time to set a plan.
A SWOT analysis can help you assess the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and
threats of your company's current environment. What does the market look like? Where
does your business excel, and where does it falter? Review your entire business, not just
segments of it. Evaluate external opportunities, because this is the often the primary
place to invest time and money. Be honest with yourself when analyzing weaknesses
and threats, or else the analysis will not be helpful.
After the SWOT analysis is done, see how it fits into your overall vision. Where do you
see your business in five years? In 10 years? This will help you set business objectives
for the current year, where you set objectives for sales, profits, customers, traffic, new
systems and new staff. After the objectives are set, you can set a strategy into place
yourself, or hire an E-commerce consultant to help you.
7
9. Other tools that can help you determine how to best grow your company into a new
segment include PEST (Political, Economic, Social and Technological), MOST (Mission,
Objective, Strategies and Tactics), and Porter's Five Forces analyses.
8
E-Commerce Strategy
10. Best Practices
U.S. retail E-commerce sales for the first quarter of 2015 were $80.3 billion, up 3.5%
from the fourth quarter of 2014. E-commerce sales are expected to continue rising
steadily, putting pressure on E-commerce websites to deliver intuitive user experiences,
fast-loading content and simple shopping cart checkouts.
What best practices are being used today on high-performing E-commerce sites? Better
site search, larger product images and responsive site design.
9
11. Leveraging Key Facets For Improved Outcomes
Design features
Customer engagement
Design is key to website success and each online store should be tailored to visually
appeal to the customers as well as provide user-friendly functionality that will smooth
the process from browsing through products, to finalizing a transaction. There is no
absolute rule for design; not all features are appropriate for all websites but keeping
up-to-date with the latest options is necessary to keep pace with ever increasing
customer expectations.
How a company chooses to engage with customers is a direct reflection of the company
brand and their values. Engagement can be in both a passive way, by putting online tools
available to them, or actively by seeking participation in voting polls, social media or
feedback contributions. Whichever way a company decides to engage with their
customers it should be a means that can be maintained given the resources available, as
well as fulfilling any sales-related objectives. Once a positive interaction has been
experienced, people will expect that to be equaled second time around, or improved
upon. 10
12. Currency, customs and discounts
The price of an item is always a central consideration to any consumer, and generally
a significant factor in the decision to buy or not. In the same way, it is essential for a
positive customer experience to clarify all customs charges, currency and discounts
information in order to secure the sale.
Unexpected customs duties from a cross-border sale can leave a lasting negative
impression on a customer and affect their future shopping choices, whether to buy
cross-border or not, whether it is from the same retailer or another. The greater number
of retailers that behave responsibly in this area, the increased number of happy
customer there will be, and the E-commerce industry stands to benefit.
11
Leveraging Key Facets For Improved Outcomes
13. Delivery options
Feature the search box
Delivery is both the fulfilment of the retailer’s obligation to the customer and a
moment of direct contact; the importance of the delivery experience is because these
two factors are a reflection of the company. The delivery can be frustrating and
disappointing in the worst case, but in the best case, it can leave such a positive
impression that customers want to buy again. By understanding the value of
convenience and performance meeting stated expectations the latter is achievable for
all E-retailers.
Most E-commerce sites treat their site search as an afterthought. Compared with
featured-product slideshows and animated overlays and other "toys," the humble site
search box can seem static and utilitarian. But it doesn't have to be. More than most
other pieces of the online shopping experience, site search allows for direct
communication between the customer and the retailer. It doesn't need to be limited to
that dictionary-like lookup system of the last generation of E-commerce. It can be a
dynamic, intuitive, and interactive tool for directly connecting with the customer. 12
Leveraging Key Facets For Improved Outcomes
14. Instead of hiding the search box in a corner of the site navigation, A/B-test locations to
find where search performs best and where it's most intuitive for your visitors.
Write more copy in your product descriptions
Product descriptions are at the heart of an E-commerce site. Nearly every customer
who converts on a product will do so only after reading the product description.
If your product description is bland, undescriptive, unemotional, boring, or otherwise
uninspiring, it is less likely that a customer will buy your product. What should you
do? Write more copy. Don’t just list the article; describe it. Write about it. Explain how
to use it. Discuss its advantages. Powerful product descriptions will make people want
to buy.
There’s another major advantage in producing longer product descriptions: SEO. More
copy is better for search engines. The more copy you write, the higher your likelihood
of appearing and ranking in search engines.
13
Leveraging Key Facets For Improved Outcomes
15. Make your images bigger
Generally speaking, larger product images improve your conversion rates.
Intuitive customer expression and smart search suggestions
Is your site search smart enough to recognize "pants," "slacks," and "trousers" as the
same kind of product? Can it recognize spelling mistakes and auto-suggest alternatives
in real time? Can it dynamically create such connections, rather than rely on constant
manual updates from programmers?
When you make images larger, it helps shoppers gain a closer look and better
experience of the product. Pictures are more effective than words at engaging attention
and capturing users’ interest. When you make your images nice and big, it forces the
user to pay attention and encourages them to convert.
14
Leveraging Key Facets For Improved Outcomes
16. The smarter your site search, the more likely it is to result in conversions. People are
pretty good at making connections between similar concepts, overlooking obvious
mistakes, and filtering out obviously irrelevant details and results; unfortunately, those
are also things that most computer programs are terrible at. In other words, your site
search results are only as good as their programming.
15
Leveraging Key Facets For Improved Outcomes
17. Personalize results for mobile shoppers
One of the greatest frustrations for mobile shoppers is wading through a site search
system that isn't optimized for the smaller screens and touch-based interfaces of today's
smartphones and tablets. Search results on mobile platforms tend to be excessively long
reels of results, laborious to review and often irrelevant to the shopper's actual interests
or needs.
By making use of intelligent preferences and observations about the shopper, you can
deliver results that are prioritized for their individual interests so that the most relevant
and preferred items are listed first. There is no need for endless swiping and scrolling to
find the right items, because those items are always at the top of the list. Even the
limitations of smaller screens become minimized when the most relevant results are
presented first.
16
Leveraging Key Facets For Improved Outcomes
18. Conclusion
While E-commerce is a growing industry from the figures, and the trends we can see
happening around us, there is no guarantee of success that having a website or
becoming an E-retailer will result in sales, or happy customers.
As we have tried to draw attention to in the previous pages, there are numerous and
often simple ways of engaging with customers and building up a reservoir of confidence
that will encourage repeat purchasing.
While not all the ideas mentioned in this publication may be applicable or affordable
for every online retailer, being aware of possible future improvements and making an
effort to remain up-to-date with best practice website developments will be an
important factor when aiming to establish an online business.
17
19. E-commerce is an expanding industry, as is the technology it is based on, which means
website best practice is constantly evolving and changing, both increasing the pressure to
have a state-of-the-art website and allow newcomers to the online world to catch up fast
provided they can invest the necessary funds and manpower.
Also, although the internet has opened up competition through accessibility, website
design is one way that helps differentiate brands and allow leaders in retail to stand-out
and capture more of the market. The offline side of E-commerce cannot be overlooked
however, for this is the confirmation of the retailer-customer relationship that has been
initiated online. Fulfilling the online order through delivery of physical goods is vital,
and as we have indicated through examples, it should be as easy as possible for the
consumer, so that their experience is positive and memorably so.
Clarity of obligation and therefore customer expectation must be established in order for
there to be satisfaction with the service received and to avoid unpleasant surprises.
18
Conclusion