The Practicalities Of Going Online
Section One: Introduction
The internet offers the potential to achieve a global market success for any business. Businesses that go online increase their opportunities to reach their target market and is cost effective when compared with other forms of marketing. It creates opportunities, benefits and challenges for a business but in the long run is worth it for the added publicity and hopefully profits. Going online has benefited many organisations including Tesco PLC. I will be using Tesco as my example of the benefits, opportunities and challenges for a business by using the internet. Tesco has operated on the Internet since 1994 and started an online shopping service named 'Tesco Direct' in 1997 which
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This also opens up access to people who may not be able to visit the stores due to poor mobility.
Product
The customers are able to view images of all the products available. This will benefit Tesco as the images encourage people to buy if they like what they see. If the images were not shown then this could lose sales from customers that are unsure of what they wish to purchase. This is also an opportunity for the customers to find the preferred item or new ones that look like an improvement to their usual brand.
Originally Tesco used to be only in-store, by expanding their services online they have created many benefits and opportunities that have changed the way they sell and do business. They are able to communicate easier with their customers, provide an excellent service to their customers and further promote the business with efficiency.
Section Three: Task Two (P5)
Efficient
“Achieving maximum productivity with minimum wasted effort or expense.”
The internet helps Tesco to be efficient as they can collect orders in advance and prepare for them. They are able to continue business in-store and serve others at home. With a couple of extra staff (to be the ‘pickers’ and drivers to deliver) Tesco are able to maximise efficiency by adding extra orders from customers that aren’t in-store and this reduces the amount of people in the store which may block shelves if it gets too crowded. Time and money is
If the customers do their shopping online from this they can save the travel cost and less time; if customers go to the shop, they have to look around for the product they want to buy but online it’s just one click of a button. If they look at the ASOS website it's very straightforward and eye catching for the customer who doesn't know who to use a computer would easily be able to use the website for their shopping. If still the customer can't find the things they are looking for they can find that by writing in the search engine:
Tesco is the largest UK store, founded in 1999 by Cohen. It is currently among the principal retailers in the world (Akridge, 2012). The company has undergone different steps to put up with customer demand (Piercy, 2012). Because of these steps, changes have occurred that have increased customer satisfaction (consortium, 2006). This has introduced self checkout systems which have increased sales and save more time while shopping (Jones 2008). These systems also bring challenges (infrastructure network 2002). Different solutions can be used to counter these problems
In addition to its low direct costs linked with economic transactions. Also the company has reduced its agency costs, therefore being efficient. Tesco is also known for its high degree of Complementarities; however the Internet has helped the company to use its distribution channel through internet for only a partial range of goods and products, that are able to be stored, processed and transmitted in a digital format. Add that the Internet can provided the company with exchange of information for goods and to track the deliveries and most important is providing in-line customer services. Therefore reducing the costs and increasing the speed and the quality of data transfer. To conclude, in a way to be able to deliver products to its clients, each company should benefit from the interned but also build a complementary physical logistics system. Tesco also is using the Lock-in strategy: “Stay safe online policy” that protects its users by giving them tips and commands to use. We can take the example of “Keeping a watchful eye” which lowers the threat of fraud by providing an amount of complicated tools through the suspicious activity on the account of each user. Many actions taken by the company aimed to have loyal customers that are able to rely on Tesco’s services and depend on it due to its precision and honesty information. And
If TESCO had understood it then the company would not have equipped the stores with self-checkout service. It persuades American consumers to shop like British. British shopping habits differ from the US shopping habits. American consumer prefers to buy more goods per visit but shop less often than the British consumer. In addition, US consumers like to interact with vendors asking questions and sharing stories, this is a deeply rooted practice. Therefore, it was a bad move to introduce self-checkout technology in stores in the US because it did not match with its market characteristics (The Independent,
Internet Marketing, or online marketing, refers to advertising and marketing efforts that use the web and e-mail to for direct sales, as well as sales leads from websites or emails. Today, Internet Marketing is evolving into a broader mix of components a company can use as a means of increasing sales.
In this, you have to create a separate list of emails of the customers in different categories according to the product they shop. Now you have the category-wise list of your old and existing customers and you know their choice of products. You can now send them customized deals and offer.
In internet marketing assignment 2 I am going to be describing the benefits and the opportunities of using internet marketing. I am going to be selecting an e business and explaining how internet marketing has made it more efficient, effective and successful. Also I am going to describe the challenges to a business of using the internet as a marketing tool and I am also going to analyse the opportunities and challenges to the business of using internet marketing.
Tesco have incorporated a virtual shop for use at airports, it allows travelling passengers to utilise spare time they would have when waiting for departure by allowing them to scan barcodes and place orders for shopping through a Tesco app. The capital costs for setting this up could be quite big as creating a well working app to be functional with the virtual store may cost a significant amount, the virtual boards displaying the shop will also need to be purchased and installed. Long term it is proven to show that online sales have increased significantly and new customers have been bought into Tesco stores once used in the airport. Tesco holds their own specific department that is dedicated to finding innovative and creative ways to enhance the customer experience; this is called ‘Tesco labs’. Recently Tesco have developed their apps to work in store, so that if an item is out of stock it will be able to be scanned and delivered to the customer at a later date. They have done this to increase customer satisfaction so they are not disappointed by having their desired item out of stock, it also works positively for Tesco as it makes up for what would have been a lost sale.
The Board of Directors require the research & marketing plan be presented verbally, as well as in report format.
The advent and prosperity of the Internet has provided many marketers with a platform to spread brand awareness. E-Marketing is defined by Chaffney as “The management and execution of marketing using electronic media such as the web, e-,mail, Interactive TV, IPTV and wireless media in conjunction with digital date about customers characteristics and behaviours”(Chaffney, 2006 p. 10) In “2009 brands spent half a billion pounds on internet advertisers, up from £114 million in 2002“(mintel,2010) This growth represents the fast moving nature of the web, and how important it its for firms to reach their target audience throughout it. Characteristics show ways in which companies can engage and serve consumers with the best possible service,
Nowadays many people prefer to shop online because of its numerous benefits. However, the practice has disadvantages as well as advantages. Within article I will be will be looking at three businesses in particular within this article; Amazon, Asda and Dell, and on
Retailers in UK must take advantage of increasing number of internet users. Since the location is no more important, products can be provided at lower prices. New entrants can take advantage of financial freedom by developing organization as per logistical demands for a new format. Niche Markets can reach more new customers due to global presence. Hamleys toy shop in London for example, gets majority of its sales on website from US customers. By use of website a retailer can display any number of products. Also firms can collect rich data from customers and personalize service for them. Advantages to consumers include 24 hour shopping. Thus they can shop anytime and no longer have to wait in the queues. Moreover, some goods like music and software can be received instantaneously (Afuah & Tucci, 2003).
In today’s world of business, everything is computerized and most of the companies use the Internet and information business to help keep their quality, save time and also cost. It also can reach out to more customers worldwide. For an example, with a website in the internet, it would relay the message to millions of viewers worldwide regarding the product and service that the particular company can provide and indirectly saves cost in advertising in television and print advertisments.
Before one proceeds to explore the importance of internet and online marketing to business, it is important to understand how well New Zealand is connected with internet. New Zealand is in a very comfortable position to benefit from internet use. The physical internet infrastructure is growing and Government’s ultra-fast broadband and rural broadband programmes have made sure that high speed internet is available throughout the country. This could potentially lead New Zealand to have the best network infrastructure in the world, as evidenced by the use of internet by businesses throughout the country (Adams, 2013). Ninety six percent (96%) of firms are connected with internet. The economic performances of these firms depend on how well they use it. Apart from the availability of internet, it is vital to note the way businesses use internet by to improve the way they do business. Most of the businesses in New Zealand do not use internet to its full potential, as proved from the World Wide Web Foundation (2012) ranking. New Zealand is ranked 17th in the world for its ability to extract economic value from