Report on Website
INTRODUCTION
The fast rate of technological advancement in 21st century incessantly revolutionizes all economic sectors in the world; therefore, the world is migrating towards the electronic commercial (e-commerce) activities in order to save both time and money which are very essential parts of human life. It is also for this reason that I have decided to come up with an online book shopping website in order to provide e-commerce services to readers world-wide. There is a greater need to make available reading (book) materials to all educationists and leisure readers, in a platform that they are able to make their own choices in the comfort of their own houses, offices or their education institutions. This translates back to the issue of saving time and money. Sharing a lot in common with Amazon.com, the Wix.com website is an online bookshop where clients are able to access, select, place orders online, after which their orders will be delivered to them as per their description. This paper is, therefore, a report of the functionality and usability of this website.
- PURPOSE OF THE DOCUMENT
The major purpose of this paper is to discuss the design, the structure, the functionality and the usability of the Wix.com online bookshop with regards to the clients. In relation to this, the paper is going to discuss the major factors that have been put in place in order to make sure that the website serves the needs of the customers.
- PRODUCT SCOPE
The scope of this paper is limited to, the features of this website. How the graphical user interface (GUI) is designed to aid the customers in navigating through the website in search of their desired books and other reading materials. It also touches on the functionality of the website. Among the features include the use of text, images and icons displayed throughout the website as a communication and guidance of the navigation to the prospective clients and all other visitors of the site.
2 DESCRIPTION OF THE WEBSITE
2.1 THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE WEBSITE
The Wix.com is an online bookshop whereby educationists (students and lecturers), as well as leisure book readers, will be able to buy books online with a high level of convenience. Even though there are other similar products to it, for example, Amazon.com, this new online bookshop is designed in such a way that it will serve all the clients in a better way. This website is purely oriented to the customers’ needs and requirements. This is because the customers are the major stakeholders in the success of this online bookshop.
2.2 THE FUNCTIONALITY OF THE WEBSITE
The major aim of online e-commerce solution center is to deliver successfully, the products that are ordered by its clients. One of the major failures of an online shop is to fail to deliver a product in a timely manner (Cotterell, Mike & Hughes, Bob, 2009). Therefore, the expected network server and available Computers as well as new mobile technologies that will be used should run the entire shops’ software system, handle the online retailer shopping process, carry out the ordering, do the processing of transactions as well as keeping track of clients and items (Neuner, &Liebe, 2014). It also has to secure payment system that will link to the current accounting system. Due to the above reasons the functionality of an online shopping website has to be close if not perfect, so that it can deliver well to its customers. As a result, the website has a number of features meant to make it easy to use, even for the first time visitors. The major and important features of this website are discussed below.
- Home Page
On the home page, there is a drop down menu which contains a list of pages which are very important for visitors. The pages included in this list include;
- Home: with a brief introduction of what the website is all about
- Books: which has a sub-section where the visitor can be able to find newly released books, the best-selling books, as well as books on special offer.
- Genres: this is where the clients are able to search and find books on a specific subject and the field of their interest. Among the books included in this page are; fiction, biography, non-fiction, travel guides, music and drama among others.
- Contact us: This page provides users with necessary details used to contact the support team in case of any query.
- Cart: the last feature included in the drop down menu found on the home page of the Wix.com website is a shopping cart. This is where online shoppers are able to place the orders that they have selected. It is a simulation of the physical shopping cart used in supermarkets and shopping malls to place items that the shopper has picked from the shelves.
- Quick Find: this is a search option that allows users and visitors to search through the website for materials that they are interested in.
- About us: the Wix.com online bookshop has this page in order to provide information to the visitors as to why the website was created. The major goal of the web site is to provide an e-solution center for textbook selling and buying among readers. This page also has got details of the location of the website owners. In addition to this it provides the goals, mission and objectives of the website.
- Order Online: This option allows shoppers to make their online orders by describing the books that they want delivered to them. In order to do so, the clients have to provide their personal details and how they are going to make payments upon successful delivery of their orders.
The above features on Wix.com website allow customers to have a very easy and simple access to the above various pages so that they are able to learn how to search, select and make an order of the books that they are interested in. This is made possible by the availability of a quick search option which allows users to search the entire website for any information that he or she needs to find within a short period. A website is very effective because it provides the user with the ability to buy and make payments for the reading materials through the same website. Just like a shopping mall, the online buyers are able to place together their items in a virtual shopping cart and in a collection that they are able to make payments through online transaction. This has been made possible because the website requires and allows buyers to create accounts with them so that they are able to feed in personal details. In order to access the website, the registered members are able to log in and make their orders. It is also through the use of these personal details that the sales department of the Wix.com online bookshop is able to deliver the books placed in a virtual cart. The mode of payment is also very simple as users clear their bills using credit card details. In order to help customers avoid buying the wrong books or placing excess orders, the website has the ability to allow customers to add and remove items from the cart before taking the final step of making payments. Payment methods include discovering, visa, Master Card or American Express.2.3 OPERATING ENVIRONMENT
In order to ensure the maximum number of visitors, the Wix.com online bookshop website has been developed in such a manner that it has both a desktop view and mobile view. This is to ensure that even individuals who are using new mobile technologies are able to access and carry transact business on the website. This is because many enterprises in this age have embraced the new mobile technologies in their system as the new mode of communication and business transaction (Berishna-Namani, 2009). The new mobile technologies (iPhones, iPad and Android devices) have greatly impacted business enterprises. They are the new methods of communication, interaction and business transactions; hence Wix.com online bookshop has developed in such a manner that it can be viewed via mobile screen. In an effort to reach more of its target audience, the Wix.com online bookshop has the ability to connect to the social media networks, for example, Facebook and twitter. This is a very successful marketing platform because of the large connectivity that the above social media networks have. Advertising this website over social media allows it to reach more prospective clients.
The website is also available in the several search engines as well as common browsers, for example, Google, internet explorer, Mozilla Firefox and Google chrome. In order to make it available to clients during the search process, the search ability of this website has been optimized using the Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategy. This method has highly increased the visibility of this site among the available search engines among those who key in the keywords during their searching process. The website still allows the user to optimize visibility by editing the keywords used by users during their search. The key words can continually be updated even in the future.
In order to monitor the website traffic, there is statistic icon, whereby the owners of the Wix.com online bookshop are able to view the statistic of their visitors. Through this feature, the owners are able to keep track of the nationalities of their visitors, the genres of the books they view as well as the length of time they stay on the website.
The Graphical User Interface (GUI) of this website is very user friendly as it is simple and does not confuse even the first time visitors. Users are able to easily navigate through the website from the home page to the books section whereby the different types of books are categorized according the available genres. The website is also simple in terms of its design. It is very straightforward because it uses simple colors. There is the proper use of background colors that are well in contrast with the text used in it. This increases legibility and readability of the website pages.
In order to ensure high standards of security, this online bookshop requires registered members to have strong log in passwords in order to ensure safety of their personal details. This is a means of deterring away cybercriminals who target accounts of online transactions. In conclusion, this website is appropriately designed in its entirety to act as an online e-solution center for online shopping of books.
Reference
Berishna-Namani, M. (2009). “The role of Information Technology in Small and Medium Sized
Enterprise in Kosovo.” Web 6 May 2014. http://www.fulbrightacademy.org/file_depot/010000000/2000030000/21647/folder/82430/Berisha+Paper+IT+in+SMEs+in+Kosovo.pdf
Cotterell, Mike & Hughes, Bob. (2009). “Software Project Management.” London. McGraw Hill Publishers.
Neuner, J. &Liebe, B. (2014). “E-Commerce: Turning a great idea into a great Business.” Web 6 May 2014. http://www.sdcexec.com/article/11148921/adding-e-commerce-capabilities-to-a-warehouse-or-distribution-center-requires-more-than-installing-new-equipment-or-revamping-workflows
