Online Environment Essay Example for Free

Online Environment EssayNorm ally, guests would kick in to call an associate from D D and find out when the adjoining trade show, showcase, or orotund event D D pass on be featured in attendance so clients quite a little make their office to the venue just to see the merc move onise. One main focus that would watch to be kept is the same local, hometown business feel.Although D D would be looking to expand out of the greater Indianapolis simulated military operationing atomic number 18a, the focus that needs to be kept is the association. An online securities industry would be exceedingly beneficial to the community and the business beca ingestion the cadences be changing and more and more customers each day atomic number 18 transitioning to the online mart by shopping in the comfort of their own home. D D is a community establish business who believes in taking care of all our customers needs whether it is live an in person, or 200 AM on a Sunday night. W e displace only offer this manakin of service with an online presence.D D wants to be the comp whatsoever a customer mountain count on any eon. Being part of an online environment testament be a queen-size part in fashioning that a reality. As a business, we essential ask ourselves is this a venture that result be winning for us? Given the type of market that our attach to is tapping into, we relieve unrivalledself the ability to be really winnerful. The feeling of products that we offer along with our competitive prices go forth give us the competitive advan hang backe over opposite sympathetic splendid companies as even over some larger companies as advantageously.Establishing D D in an online environment against competition in the same type of business impart force us to be aware of all that is going on with our competition. This way, we impart satisfactory to compete with the larger companies analogous a JCPenny or Sears and the smaller businesses like D D that have been in the online environment for a long time. We impart strive to keep the quality of our products uplifted and be equal to(p) to keep our prices low. The success of our business will lie on our quality, and providing the best quality products will help us in generating income and building a larger customer basis.Current Online Competitor Assessment Being that D D is a very small local business large competitors (Nordstrom. com, Macys. com, Sears. com, etc. ) offer more of a broad selection of merchandise while D D specializes in one specific area of sales at extremely competitive prices and unique craftsmanship quality. Most of these larger companies will film sales that provide their merchandise at discounted prices in-store and online scarcely customers will not eer catch the great(p) Deal or clearance sale. D D wants to provide quality products that customers feel are al ways on sale.One competitive advantage that D D will have over these companies is the originality of products. A large portion of the merchandise sold is hand- do, developed from original designs and ideas. Larger companies will most likely buy their products in bulk from over-seas distributors that will mimic merchandise of their competitors while D D will offer quality products made right here in the United States. D D will be able to back all the hand-made merchandise with a Made in The USA tag which is something that most of the larger competitors will not be able to do.There are some attain brand designers that are sold with D D however, prices for that particular merchandise will inactive be competitive. We understand that thither are customers with a demand for name brand designers no subject what the item may be and we want to be the provider for that segment of customers as well. Larger companies in the retail industry will often sell merchandise seasonally in regards to the specific time of year or holiday. A huge advantage that D D will have w ill be the ability to grease ones palms seasonal merchandise year round.For example, if a customer wanted to purchase a Christmas themed hat in July or another customer wanted to purchase a Valentines Day gift basket in October, these options would be available to them. A larger company will most likely not offer that option on their site and especially not in their store. D Ds goal is to be able to take care of each and each customers needs (and wants) to create customers for life. We know that we are not the only company in this market and we need to be aware of the separates we face while competing against larger companies.One large disadvantage that we will face is the distribution of our products. D D does not have a warehouse where line of business is kept in comparison to a Sears or Macys. Therefore, in order for us to be successful, we must be able to maintain our stock and make received that we keep enough on hand at all times. Another disadvantage that we face is th e production of our hand-made items. Although our items do not take extremely long to make, we go off run into the problem of not having a specific item when it is needed.This could be a study issue in the success of that particular product, but one advantage that we do have is that everyone on the sales team is able to help us create products if we happen to be fiddling on certain items. This gives us a slight advantage over competitors large and small because there is no need for a middle man in our product line. All handmade products are able to be created and attain for sale immediately. We will still be in a similar situation with our competitors when it comes to all of the name brand clothing as far as shipping, ordering, receiving, etc. but organism able to have our custom products manufactured and ready to sell within a atom of time it would take for shipping procedures will keep us ahead and generating income. Online Marketing Suggestions Strategies The system for D D will be one with attainable goals. The first objective of our strategy is to know where we are going and what we want to achieve. Our first goal will be to set the amount of customers that we want to nettle through with(predicate) our online presence.As long as we have an idea of how many customers we wish to gain through this method, we will stay focused and stay on the correct path to achieve our goal. The next quality in our strategy is to dissect the final goal numbers and turn the results into action plans that we goat use to repeat success. For instance, if D D sets the target number in a time period for customers gained through our online presence, because the goal was dissected prior and broken down D D knows exactly what must be done to achieve that goal.The last step that D D will implement in the strategy is to make sure all success is reviewed and evaluated thoroughly. All information that we received must be evaluated so we are making sure we are getting the r esults that we expected and wanted. One of the major tasks that we plan to reach out with D Ds online merchandise efforts is to attain customers of a younger age group. Typically the D D customer base age outranks from 30 60 for women and 29 50 for men. With the appurtenance of natural products and the expansion to an online environment, the goal could be easily reached.Another marketing strategy that D D will use is advertising the circulating(prenominal) events and trade shows we will be featured in. By advertising and marketing D D online as well as the several(predicate) venues, customers will be informed of different things to do around the city in addition to taking some time to shop. Marketing ourselves this way will not only help our business, but it will likewise help our community which is fortune us keep our main two focuses Service our community and sell quality products to our customers.Search locomotive Considerations Optimization Strategies Taking int o consideration that there has been a lot of cross-border selling, there is a growth that is hazard with search marketers. This growth causes websites to be optimized for visitors from different regions and cultural backgrounds. There are constant attempts to develop techniques that rive visitors through search engines and search ads. One technique that D D will be able to do is use country specific domain names, and possibly change spelling variations (i. e. color v. colour).D D will too use keywords in other languages, which will target search engines much(prenominal) as Google AdWords and give us more search result hits. Expanding our name in search engines will be an excellent way to open the door to us being found by more people who are searching for similar items. Encouraging our customers to post regular reviews of our business on a variety of local search sites will not only let potential customers know we do a good job, but it will increase the number of search hits we receive. The more reviews we receive, the reviews will appear high within search results.The approach also will make it more likely for the next potential customer searching for a store like D D to possibly stir our business based on the information they are receiving in the search results. A strategy such as this will improve the amount of search hits simply by choosing the words we want to be associated with our business and as long as we are doing a great job for our customers, a large portion of those words will be positive. Social Media Integration D D is a small business that could benefit very well from using social media.The majority of D Ds name being spread around the community is by word of mouth however being well known in a small community can only take you so far. Integrating a social media site like Facebook would be a wonderful opportunity to campaign the business and inform potential customers about the site as well as allowing current customers to meet a friend to the page and even comment. Integrating Facebook with the site will allow customers in a matter of seconds to like the D D Facebook page and there will also be a link to click to directly go to the D D web site.The potential comments left on the page could end up helping D D by possibly providing suggestions that D D could use to improve the overall customer experience. Along with Facebook, Twitter can also be employ in the social media are by tweeting pictures of merchandise as well as updating customers with current information regarding products and shows. For customers who are always on the go, D D will also reach customers by the use of Instagram. By using Instagram, customers who are following D D will be able to see recently received merchandise that will be uploaded onto the mobile page by the D D staff.With use of these sites, D D will able to keep the current customer base updated with information about the products as well as allowing potential customers to gain a little snowflake of knowledge about D Ds products and services by utilizing the online environment that is used in day-to-day life. Using these sites will also provide another mediocre of confabulation from customers so we can listen to their suggestions, wants, and needs. By listening to customers, we are able to receive first-hand feedback and a better understanding of how we can improve our service.In addition to using social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, D D will also incorporate a small blogging section on the company website. This will give customers additional medium to converse and blog about their experiences with our company. Online Customer Relationship Management When a customer makes the decision to do business with any company, the customer expects that they will receive a very high standard of customer service. As a company, D D will also hold a very high standard in providing customer service.A key component of customer service i n any business is building a relationship with the customer. Communication between the customer and seller will have to be maintained in order to build that relationship. The best way to keep this channel of communication open with the customers would be through the exchange of email for any situation, problem, or question that may arise. electronic mail would allow our customers to ask questions regarding our products, address a problem, or even inquire about making an order. specialized email templates, for whether there is a problem or a general question, will be made for any possible topic a customer may have and this will be compound in the site. If there is any issue, a customer will be able to be as specific as they need to in asking their question. To be as efficient as we can with offering the email option to our customers, we will offer with all emails a Within 24 hr. warranty Response Time. Putting a guarantee on a service such as this will ensure to the customer that they will receive the most efficient and effective service available.We understand that all questions and issues may not be answered through email, so all escalated issues will be followed up with a phone call from a sales associate to help solve any issue that cannot be resolved in a timely manner. Within the website there will also be a FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) page provided to possibly help with several general questions. Our FAQs page will be updated accordingly if we search to receive a large volume of questions for a topic that is not currently on our FAQs page. modify this page will be very valuable to our customers time and it will show that we are very thorough in our process.E-Commerce Solutions E-Commerce for D D will be an extremely user-friendly process. Our plan is to habituate all E-commerce transactions through the Volusion software program. This program is very efficient and very effective on both sides of the E-commerce transaction from seller to cust omer. Volusion will provide multiple payment options to potential customers such as credit or debit card, using a checking account, E-check, and even PayPal. By giving our customers multiple ways to pay, we give ourselves more opportunity to make a sale.A checkout and my cart feature will also be integrated within the site so at any time customers can quickly add an item to their cart and check out or add a few items and then edit the cart if they are not satisfied with their selection or have selected alike many of one item. A link to the my cart section will be available on every page so a customer will be able to easily sail there. Volusion also offers customizable tax and shipping options which will be presented for each product depending on size and time frame for customers desired delivery time.Customers will also be given automatic email confirmations afterward all purchases to give reviews of purchases. The automatic email confirmations will also be followed up by a separ ate email that contains an additional e-receipt and shipping information. Customers also have the option to enroll in the D D newsletter that will be created to update customers with information regarding current and future events as well as updates for newly created merchandise. This option will be available upon checkout so customers will be able to click yes or no. shelter will be a major perplexity with E-commerce in any company you are associating with. The Volusion software offers state-of-the art E-commerce security which is PCI/CISP (Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council /Cardholder Information Security Program) certified. Other security features include the CAPTCHA type image validation for all forms of submissions to keep on unauthorized use, as well as an integrated IP blocking security feature, and SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) Encryption for encrypting customer information for additional security. International ConsiderationsInternational business for D D wo uld be an excellent addition to the business. What better way would there be to grow the business than to expand globally? The retail market for fashion and apparel is a market that is not just popular in just one geographic location. Fashion retail is an area where with the right merchandise and approach, a company like D D could go from servicing local customers to multi-national in a matter of months. Social media will play a large role in the international expansion of D D just as it will locally. All considerations must be viewed before the international ventures can take flight.One major concern would be how the currency from other countries would be handled. Our payment system will be an undreamt of asset to how our transactions are completed. Exchange rates are automatically calculated and shipping calculations are also included. Transactions will not be simple for every country. Certain payment options that D D accepts will not be available in all countries (i. e. Roman ia does not have PayPal), so all employees must be aware of situations like this if they were to arise. We will also have to make sure that we are complying with all government export regulations within each country.Using the Volusion software will also help with the language barrier of different countries. The Volusion software will make sure the website is friendly and ready for non-domestic and non-English-speaking visitors. All content on our website will be internationalized to cater to different areas of the globe. We believe that if we can custom-make our offering, service, and payment types to different areas, the business will enjoy huge success. Web Development Maintenance comprise The actual development for D Ds website would be fairly inexpensive compared to the amount of go past the website would help generate.Base costs to start the development of the website would begin with the purchase of the domain name (i. e. www. DandDdesigns. com) that would range from $10 $30. Annual fees to keep the website up and footrace would range from $100 $150 in replenishment fees. Most sites with under 2000 pages generally do not go over that threshold amount. There are a number of extra features that can be added to the site that could possibly increase the costs for running the webpage such as enabling Java for allowing motion images and small videos on the site (about $4. 5/month) and recompense Services that offer information recovery of any information deleted accidentally by any of the companys associates (about $1. 50/month).Web hosting sites such as Lunarpages Hostgator offer all of these great services with no additional maintenance costs. These sites also offer 24/7 server monitoring and customer bind so if anything were to go wrong, there is always someone to call on at anytime. This will also remove the expense of hiring a web developer because any and all problems with the site can be frigid by employees at anytime.