E-Business: The product
E-Business is one of the strategies in the twenty first centuries that have been successful, especially in connecting with and accessing the international markets. This is due to the fact that the simple transaction will only involve sending of money for the products that the customers’ desire and this will include shipping cost (Kotler & Armstrong, 2008). This is the reason why we have adopted it as our system of operation and customer servicing for our bathroom and bedroom equipment. These are the products that our company is offering to the market. Through our website, the customers will shop through our products, after which they will make a choice of the products that they need, buy clicking ‘buy’. After clicking, the products or items will be included in the shopping list. Our company mainly focuses on the sale of mobility products and special needs’ products, such as wheelchairs. The main reason why we have focused on the sale of the same is due to the fact that they can be easily shipped from our main stores to the clients in all regions all over the world. Upon shopping and making the full amount of the product, the customer receives the product within 7-14 days, depending with their location.
The customers’ benefit
The most essential thing to note concerning E-Business is the fact that the customer should shop with ease, and the fact that they should be in a position to easily find the products that they need to from the shopping website, with minimal possible challenges (Kotler & Armstrong, 2008). In this case, therefore, we have made our website easy to understand and navigate through, for each and every customer. In order to achieve this, therefore, we have classified all our products under three broad categories, and these are Mobility Products and Special Needs Equipment. All these are included on the purchase page of the website. Upon opening the Purchase page, the customer is ‘issued’ with a shopping trolley, which will appear on the bottom right hand side of the page. Upon shopping (whereby all the client has to do is click on the product), the product will be included in the trolley and the products’ names listed next to it. At the same time, the prices will be accumulated below the products’ list, and this will ensure that the customer knows how much money he has shopped. The client can also return some of the products to the shelf by simply clicking ‘revoke’.
Essentially, information is one of the most essential tools that link a seller with the customer, especially, considering the fact that we are operating on E-Business, and which means that the customer is not in close contact with the product. In this case, therefore, the client relies on the description of the products in order to be convinced to purchase (Kotler & Armstrong, 2008). Full information concerning the products will, therefore, be necessary, whereby all the products will have a ‘description’ category to the right. This will aid in many ways to sell the products. For instance, the customer will not only understand the services that the product seeks to offer and their warranty, but also this will aid as a marketing tool and opportunity for the product. Therefore, information will be qualitatively offered.
Domain name
The domain name for the website will be www.homeandspecialneeds-mart.com
Competitors
Most of our competitors have websites that they use to run their businesses, especially, those that offer similar products as our and that apply E-Business transactions. For instance, some of our direct competitors include www.mediametrix.com and www.Alexa.com. By taking a look at these two service providers, other than similarities in our products and theirs, their strategy include capitalizing on their websites’ graphics. They have focused on creating an easy website through which customers can navigate their way around.
Current competitive strengths and weaknesses
Strengths
- E-Business has been on the rise, especially in the second decade of the twenty first century, and this will open up more platforms to access the international markets.
- With cheap advertising through social media and its consistent growth, we will be able to advertise our services in many regions across the world.
- Africa has opened up a large E-Business market in the past 5 years, and maximizing on targeting the market is a major advantage to our company.
Weaknesses
- Having established our website as an amateur company, getting loyal customers might be a major challenge.
- There is a lot of competition in the past five years, especially, in the mobility and special needs’ products.
Differentiation
In order to make a lasting impact on the customers, our corporation will have to be different and outstanding, since as it has been seen in the strengths and weaknesses, there is high competition in the market. Our name will make our company stand out, since www.homeandspecialneeds-mart.com will be easily found even on the search engines, in case customers look up for home and special needs products. Creating a graphically simple but highly professional website will also be a major advantage, for our clients to navigate their way around, as it was previously explained.
Our website’s goal
Our website seeks to assist persons who have problems finding mobility and special needs products in not only getting them from our store, but also describing in details the services that our products will offer, as well as other essential aspects, such as warranty.
Income source
Our company’s major source of income will be the sale of our products to our clients. However, with the progression of time and the customers’ reception, our company will minor into advertising for other companies’ products, particularly, vertical; products (which will not bring competition for our products).
Updating information
Some of the information will need to be constantly updated on the website. These include the introduction of new products, changes in price for the new products as well as any advertisers that might require the services of our products. In this case, therefore, the company will hire one website updater, whose prime role will be to put any necessary changes on the website.
References
Kotler, P. & Armstrong, G. (2008). Principles of marketing. 11th edition. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, pp. 255-264.
