The Top Ten Issues in E-Strategy

 

Next, let’s look at the standards to determine the degree of the integration between the virtual and physical operation (bricks-and-clicks). The following 4 business dimensions should be evaluated:asp?id=content&style=mini#_ftn25" name=_ftnref25>[23]

1.      Brand

·        The choice to integrate brands or keep them separate is largely a choice between trust and flexibility. Extending a company’s current brand to the Internet gives instant credibility to a web site.

 

2.       Management

·        There are two choice for the management: Integrate or separate. An integrated team can better align strategic objectives, find and exploit synergies, and share knowledge. Separate teams can focus more sharply, innovative more freely. Because each approach has its advantages, companies may choose to adopt one according to their own business model.

 

3.      Operation

·        Decisions about integrating operations should be based on the strength of a company’s existing distribution and information systems and their transferability to the Internet. Integration can provide significant cost savings, a more compelling and informative site, and a competitive advantage over pure dot-com competitors.

 

4.      Equity

·        Of all the integration decisions, this one is the most important. Integration allows the parent to capture the entire value of its Internet business. Separation can help attract and retain talented managers and provide access to outside capital.

 

 

The Internet offers many opportunities for a better understanding of customer’s behavior and for developing a closer relationship with them. Customer relationship management (CRM) and personalization systems allow for the collection and application of comprehensive information to create a more customized environment for the consumer.  While the potential for such systems is substantial, they are complex and difficult to implement, and if not professionally managed, can lead to the abuse of consumer privacy.

 

CRM is based on the concept that every interaction with the customer or partner is part of a larger relationship management process. The quality of that relationship must be maintained in order to best achieve enterprise goals. asp?id=content&style=mini#_ftn26" name=_ftnref26>[24]

 

Right now CRM is the hottest topic of e-commerce environment. It focuses on the retention of customer by collecting all data from every interaction that every customer makes with a company from all access points whether they are phone, mail, web or field. The company can then use this data for specific business purposes, and at the same time, Marketing, Service, Support or Sales are concentrating on a customer-centric approach rather than a product-centric. 

 

A successful CRM implementation include 6 critical phases as below:asp?id=content&style=mini#_ftn27" name=_ftnref27>[25]

1.      Researching problems and identifying objectives

2.      Establishing and communication customer-centric strategy

3.      Planning and making preparations

4.      Redesigning work processes and consolidating corporate resources

5.      Choosing the right software and CRM solution

6.      Finalizing and continuously improving

 

A CRM strategy is about both software and service. CRM software can enable effective Customer Relationship Management, and make an enterprise has the right leadership strategy and culture. The major vendors of CRM include SAP, Siebel, PeopleSoft, and Oracle.asp?id=content&style=mini#_ftn28" name=_ftnref28>[26] The CRM software market is expected to continue expanding dramatically. Meanwhile, The exploding demands for web-enabled CRM applications are creating a myriad of opportunities for service companies to add value.

One important aspect of CRM is personalization. Personalization is critical to helping suppliers use CRM technologies to find more customers, keep them, and give them better service than before. It is all about providing information that reflects what you know about a certain customer--and what you know is changing all the time. Basic personalization starts with simply using his or her name on a Web page. But the name game is no longer enough. When customers contact you, you gain their appreciation by having the answers they want.  

The goals of personalization are simple: Learn and understand what the customer really wants, then ensure that the customer gets the same "look and feel" and message across any channel. The businesses that are most successful with their CRM strategies are those that learn to create solutions for their customers instead of finding customers for their products.asp?id=content&style=mini#_ftn29" name=_ftnref29>[27] By gathering and processing simple dynamic data from the web, companies can use personalization to suggest promotions or offers. For example, if a company knows that the consumer prefers contact via the web or e-mail, it can use that consumer’s preferred channel to sell its products.

 

The traditional value chain describes the flow of information starting with the supplier and ending with the customer. It does not describe the true relationships between a company engaging in e-commerce, its customers and its suppliers. Companies would want to share information with their customers and suppliers in varying stages of the value chain.

 

As the Internet allows the creation of electronic networks that link buyers and sellers in the value chain with greater ease and efficiency, roles in the value chain also change. Now, the customer is at the center of the value chain and the information system and CRM system link the customer to all the phases of processes. Value Chain management is an important aspect because if implemented successfully, it entails establishing the client’s requirements in order to provide the best possible solution and achieve value for money.

 

 

 

Having said the top ten issue of e-commerce strategy, I will make a conclusion of this paper. With the emergence of e-commerce, consumers get lots of advantages as follows:

 

·        Convenience and Ease of Use. Consumers can purchase the product they want at any time and from any location, by using an Internet connection.

·        Variety and Larger Selections. Consumers can compare and contrast more products more quickly.

·        Without Sales Pressure. Customers who dislike salesmen can avoid the experience altogether. Internet shopping makes it easy to go offline to think about a purchase.

·        Quickly gain of detail information. Customers can get detail information about the product itself and the vendor.

·        Easy comparison of price. Customers can compare the price of the same product with several vendors easily.  Consumers are able to research a product and its competitors more thoroughly before purchase and compare many prices from different retailers.

·        Personalization. Companies can target every customer individually.

 

However, nothing is perfect. When we go back to look at these issues like privacy, security, fraud and legal violations, we can see that there are still some disadvantages remaining as below:

Finally, let’s look at the future trend of e-commerce. There are some common Internet tends that are overall stats: asp?id=content&style=mini#_ftn42" name=_ftnref42>[40]

 

·        Foreign users are generally young, well educated and often male.

·        Education is a key factor in Internet usage.

·        Cyber cafés and public access boost usage worldwide.

·        With liberalization and privatization - competition increases and technology improves.

·        The middle class worldwide is increasingly going online.

·        E-commerce is becoming increasingly popular worldwide.

·        The Internet is recognized as a mass medium.

·        New demographics are being created, as not only white-collars go online.