The U-Build-It company has established itself through the way it offers hardware and gardening products that range from hand tools to build and plumbing supplies as well as gardening supplies and plants. This is coupled with the kits produced under contract by the local lumber company for doing it on your own utility and storage sheds as well as patio and porch furniture. The business has intentions of start an e-business that will help it market their products globally. This will facilitate the company in attracting customers from a wider range. It will also require the management to open an online store that will enable them to get views and insight from customers across the world. In order to do this the company needs to describe what the business solutions will look like for the phases incorporated. This paper will focus on bringing out the necessary steps that are required for the starting up of an online strategy.
The first thing that the company needs to do is describe their products and the items they produce and sell. This will require a range of considerations that describe the way the product will get to the customers. It will also involve the considerations of whether the company will have inventory for each of their products or will their products be one of a kind or rather artwork and vintage items. Similarly, it will also involve the consideration whether the company intends to sell the wide range of products or whether they want to specialize in some of the products. The U-Build-it business solution will require finding a niche that enables them to identify the products they intend to sell. This will involve the marketing department to size up the competition in order to familiarize with the main online marketplaces the company advertises their products. They must also ensure that their products are truly original which will give them an upper hand in their sales. Additionally, they must offer expertise which will guarantee the company of the quality that differentiates the company from the rest (Cugelman, 17).
Phase one of the business solutions will require the establishment of a business plan. This will involve a research of the competitors in terms of the products they offer, the types of sites that appear and are related to the search, an appealing language that would target the buyers, the prices incurred for the products and the way the products will be delivered either through shipping or other pricing strategies that would work for the business. In addition to this phase one will also require a clear and comprehensive plan before initiating the process. This will involve a strategy on how the products will be grouped on the site and what information will appear on the website. Phase one will require a design wizard to select an appropriate structure that will utilize the variables page. It will have the company’s editor section that will customize colors in the text used, navigation buttons as well as other elements that will enable customers to view the products offered (Belew, 11). Additionally, it will involve the creation of an item or product page that will ensure the company can add products and promote the site as well as a catalog manager that enables the company to enter the products before importing their catalog and building pages.
This will be followed by the creation of Info and privacy policy pages that use the publishing method selected after establishing the publishing options. The web page will have the company’s logo that will incorporate the policy. It will also describe the goals of the company that will have the design and publish elements of the site. The task will be completed when the complete design wizard has been initiated. It will enable the company to publish the site and add products as well as enable customers to purchase from the store after it has been opened. The site will have a link that will enable the customers to view the products. It will also enable the company to build the site using their own tools in the design and introduction page by accessing the web host portion of the merchant solutions account (Cugelman, 17).
The front-end and back-end technical architectures for each phase will be in such a way that customers can view the products and the prices and give feedback to the company. This will be coupled with the ability of the company’s management to view these feedbacks and change the strategies or implement the appropriate insights. The back-end will require payment procedures such as PayPal or credit cards, debit cards as well as checks that will facilitate the delivery of the product. The management will be able to verify the validity of the customer’s information and the address in order to determine where the product should be sent as well as the transportation procedures. This will require a technical architecture that facilitates the easy processing and completion of ship online orders. It will also have appropriate drivers of store traffic with tools such as coupons, marketing emails and discounted listing on shopping sites. These tools will enable the company’s management to measure the success of the website through extensive reports and analysis of the daily data that will be retrieved about the customer activity (Teich, 263).
The website will be personalized in such a way that enables data driven recommendations from live web insights to help optimize the online marketing and increase sales. The web based site will have a section where customers may contribute or give their insight in terms of the products and services offered by the company. It will have a portion that allows the company’s management to view the number of people who visited the site on a daily basis. This will be accompanied by the ability to describe the problems addressed by the customers and establish credibility on solving these problems. The site will also ensure that the company keeps in touch with the rest of the world in order to acquire new tips and methodologies that may be beneficial to the company. Incidentally, it will be able to view the other sites from other companies and attract more customers. The graphics will give more details and enable navigation of the site in order to view the products and get more information about the company. The search engines will help the company to drive targeted buyers to the site through the power email marketing that enables visitors into potential buyers. The back-end technical architecture will help increase the company’s income through the sales and up-selling. This will be achieved through offering products that complement their original purchase.
Works Cited
Belew, Shannon, and Joel Elad. Starting an Online Business All-in-One for Dummies. Hoboken, N.J: Wiley, 2012. Print.
Cugelman B; Thelwall M; Dawes P, "Online interventions for social marketing health behavior change campaigns: a meta-analysis of psychological architectures and adherence factors."Journal of Medical Internet Research 3.1 (2011): 17. Web.
Teich, Annie. "Using Company Blogs to Win over Decision Makers." Publishing Research Quarterly. 24.4 (2008): 261-266. Web.
