Introduction
In this day and age, it is paramount for a company to have an online presence. This is particularly important given that more and more people have access on the internet and therefore use it as a source of information and by extension they source for goods over the internet. It is against this background that this essay shall focus on the development of a website for a start up clothing company by the name Tracy’s collection. Tracy’s collection focuses on women’s clothing with a bias towards trendy dresses, fabulous shoes and handbags.
Benefits of a website and the internet to the company
Tracy’s collection could benefit from a website in the following ways: to begin with, a website will allow the company to reach a wider audience. Millions of people access the internet on a daily basis in search of goods that will meet their specifications. By having their own website, Tracy’s collection will have an opportunity to reach a wider audience who could be looking for clothes that are stocked by the company. Tracy’s collection will not only reach out to a wider local audience but they will also reach out to the national and international audience. Clients who would never have otherwise gone to the store to shop can get a peek into what the store has to offer and pick and pay for what they would like to have.
A website allows potential clients of the company to gain information about the company and its products at any time of the day, from any place in the world as long as they can access the internet. This means that even when Tracy’s collection is not open, the website will still be up and running and therefore business can still be transacted. More and more people can access the internet from their phones hence even when they are on the move, they can still find what’s happening at the store and make decisions on purchases that they would like to make.
A website allows a business to keep their customers updated. Once Tracy’s collection website is up and running, the store can continually up to date the latest information on their products and plans they have for their customers. In doing so, the store will constantly attract attention from potential clients on the local, national and international front. It also encourages more people to visit the website. By linking a website and social media, the store could market its products through viral marketing. Social media allows information to spread like wild fire hence even the smallest of businesses can become an instant success by going ‘viral’. Over the recent years, viral marketing has helped several companies boost their sales in major ways. Old spice is a notable success story that has benefitted from going ‘viral’ over the internet.
A website offers a venue for advertising and publicity. Given that its constantly up and running and can be accessed at any time, it is a cheap and cost effective means of advertising the store and its products.
Other than the aforementioned benefits, Tracy’s collection can also benefits from the internet in the following ways: the internet offers cheaper publicity as compared to traditional forms of advertisement. The advertisement can be accessed at all times and its results can be gauged based on the number of hits to the site. An online survey can be carried out in order to determine what products appeal to the potential clients and what they need to improve on.
Functional specifications
Technological specifications for the implementation of the website
A computer: has to have a high processing speed, enough RAM space and large storage capacity
A server: for hosting the website
Antivirus: to protect the website from viruses and bugs
Videos: for taking photos of the company products
Web browsers: Firefox, Chrome, opera and safari in order to view the page from a variety of browsers
Gimp: for editing pictures
Xampp: for creation of a server that will allow for the page to be tested prior to being uploaded
Windows notepad: to copy and paste posts from
References
Bryant, B. J. (2012). Chron. Retrieved April 4, 2013, from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/benefits-internet-business-316.html
Burton, S. (2008 , July 23). Advantages And Disadvantages Of An Online Business. Retrieved April 4, 2013, from Article Base: http://www.articlesbase.com/home-business-articles/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-an-online-business-494709.html
Kleindl, B. (2002 ). Strategic electronic marketing: managing e-business. Cleveland: Thomas South Western.
