Free «E-Commerce» Essay

In the corporate world today, business organizations are continuously growing and this is evident by their recent diversified operations. This has been due to the need for more profits by the owners and the need to thrive well in the tight competition. The business entities have therefore been forced to employ the use of e-commerce so as to reach more consumers globally. This write up will explain the need for a local clothing store along the Jersey Shore boardwalk to retain its domain name, the possible ethical dilemma in case of sale is its domain name, importance of its various e-commerce software and creation of effective presence in the web as well as the web marketing strategy which it can employ.

According to Palmer (2010), e-commerce is the ability of business to conduct its activities such as advertisement and selling online through the internet. On the other hand, domain name is the unique name that is used to identify an internet site of an organization or a business. Therefore, I will not sell my business domain name since the consumers of my products do not have a chance to easily access my business website and do a comparative shopping with ease. Since my customers are already using it, selling the domain name of my web site may end up confusing them about the range of products that I offer. The sale may also easily lead to the destruction of the goodwill which I have built all along since the business started. This can happen when the new domain name holder misuses it; therefore creating a wrong impression on my business since most of the people would still be thinking that it is my domain name.

Selling of the domain name generates a number of ethical issues. It involves ethical dilemmas like certain illegal actions which may be done by the buyer. The buyer may be my competitor who would want to use my domain name to take away my customers. He can do this by cheating them that my business no longer exists; or even finding some other unethical means to convince them once they log into the website of the buyer unknowingly. Another ethical dilemma which is likely to occur is the abuse of my business name by the buyer. In the course of selling my domain name, the buyer may discover some of my business secretes and end up letting them known to my fellow competitors. Finally, he may also acquire the name and fail to protect the confidential issues of my former clients. This can occur in cases where the buyer goes ahead displaying the information about them to the third party which may be totally unacceptable to my clients (Schneider, 2011).

Among the e-commerce software that enhances business operations online are the catalog display, shopping cart capabilities, and transaction processing. They serve the business at various capacities and therefore are very beneficial to the business. The catalogue display helps the business by limiting the need of physical explaination to the customers the details of the products in terms of color, size or even price since all those details can be obtained online. It is also of benefit to the business since it enables it to display a variety of products in a homogenous catalog. The catalogue display is also of advantage to the business since details of the products will be displayed at all the time in the website; hence ensuring ready information to the potential customers. Finally, this service is important to the business since it may help to improve the business security. This is by limiting the displaying of the catalog information specifically to the logged in customers (Schneider, 2011).

On the other hand, shopping cart capabilities help the business to easily identify the names of the items, numbers and sizes that are selected by the customer, for easy calculation and delivery of the products. It also allows for easy additions and deletions of figures when doing calculations on the purchased items. The last e-commerce software, the online business transaction processing, assists the business to serve the customers from different and far locations. This is because all the activities that accompany the sales can be done or processed online. It can also help the business to cut down the cost of offering the sales services since the transaction processing can be done without any paper work. Additionally, it helps to save time since the business transactions can be conducted very fast through the online correspondence. Finally, it helps to keep the transaction information very safe. This can benefit the business since such information may be needed for future reference (Schneider, 2011).

In order to meet the objectives of conducting my business online, I will have to create and keep an effective presence on the web. I will do this by ensuring that my website is updated so that in case there is any change then the customers can get to be informed promptly. For me to have details of my products reaching more people, I will also integrate the social media into my online advertising system so that all the social media users are able to see and even read about my products’ information. I will also ensure that all the relevant information which may be needed by the potential customers is clearly and accurately displayed so that the consumers can have comprehensive information regarding the products (Kendrick, 2010).

I will also test my website to ensure that it can easily use different types of internet connections such as modems and the browsers like Safari and Internet Explorer. This will enable me to be sure that the customers can easily download the information using the various means. I will also make the writings legible and use simple terms so that the information is understood by most of those who access the website. Additionally, I will make the good use of the blogs which can be searched easily using the search engines such as Google. Finally, I will create online video via the web and the video sharing sites such as YouTube so as to make my advertisements self explanatory (Kendrick, 2010).

In order to effectively market my products online, I will first plan on an effective market segmentation strategy which will help my business to reach every potential customer. The segmentation will be in accordance to the age and the loyalty of my customers. Segmentation by the consumers’ age will be in terms of the young and the old generation. Thereafter, I will try and reach the young generation by thoroughly marketing the clothing which they are likely to consume through the social networks such as Twitter and Facebook. This is because these groups are the most regular users of these social networks. I will also conduct promotion contests through the web site so that they participate. On the other hand, I will try to reach the old generation by requesting them to allow me to send them update e-mails and the business periodicals online (Schneider, 2011).

As to the loyal customers, I will have them informed through their e-mail addresses of the changes in the products. I will also accept live chat with them through the internet where I can get their complaints. Finally, I will ensure that my website is ranked at the top in the most popular search engines so that the less established customers can get to see about my products easily whenever they try to. This will therefore entice them to get more information from the web site. I will also allow live chart with the customers so as to get a chance to tell them more concerning my products. Lastly, I will make use of the Power Point to help to display the pictures of my products and show their video (Schneider, 2011).

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is worth noting that e-business should be employed by all the business organizations since it helps to reach a large number of people. It also allows for online selling process which really saves time and resources for any business. However, those who seek to take advantage of the technology must put measures in place to block those who would like to hack into their sites to access the secrets of their businesses.