Project 1
Jim Danenberg
Ned Calkins
Nikolaus Hoyt
Steven Matthews
Arianna Smallcombe
Western Michigan University
Bus. 2700 Information and Communication Technology
Schneider Hall, Room 2145 MWF 11:00-11:50 : CC# 41007
Team 5A
Executive Summary
This report is to understand information communication services and e-commerce, by letting each group member research a specific area of online business transactions. The areas of interest in this report are B2C (Business to Consumers), B2B (Business to Business), search engines, and the future trends of e-commerce.
In the B2C section of the report you will learn about the services that are provided on these sites and what features and services that make the best B2C sites. The B2B section of the report talks about which B2B sites are the most helpful to other businesses when it comes to navigating and using their websites. Coming in the third section of the report you will find comparisons of search engines, and what makes the best search engines. Finally in the last section of the report you will find the future of e-commerce and the trends that the public should see with e-commerce in the future.
The Importance of
B2C Sites
Today the economy is dependent upon a web service called B2C. This is a way of using the Internet to get products from businesses to consumers in an orderly manor. These businesses thrive on consumers ordering their products, or using their services through the Internet. That explains the importance of these websites to have many great features. The goal of these B2C websites is to attract new customers, but also keep satisfying past customers. This can be difficult with competitors, so it is important to have great performance along with helpful features.
To begin with, Pay Pal is a very popular B2C site with a lot to offer. When it comes to paying bills online Pay Pal is the way to go. There are an unlimited number of helpful ways that they can conveniently help consumers pay their bills. Also, you can send money through Pay Pal, to anyone in 56 different countries. Not to mention, Pay Pal is free to use, and offers great security. Secondly, Pay Pal offers a lot of benefits to eBay sellers. For instance, they offer preferred rewards that allow you to earn cash back. With Pay Pal eBay sellers are always protected and shipping and tracking are a breeze. There are even free eBay tools to help with sales. Any eBay seller out there would be silly not to take advantage of this terrific site. Finally, Pay Pal even offers great resources and tools to merchants as well. An example, merchants can use Pay Pal to accept credit cards on their website. This service would be very helpful to bring consumers with credit cards to their website. Pay Pal also offers low fees too merchants who use Pay Pal for their websites. One last neat offer on the Pay Pal website is Skype, the leader in online voice communications. This is a link affiliated with eBay, which allows users to communicate with others on their PC’s. With so much to offer, it is no wonder Pay Pal has over 78 million accounts, and rising.
Another terrific B2C website is Coast-to-Coast Fulfillment. This is a full service fulfillment house that specializes in taking orders from clients and then shipping to their customers. The reason that Coast to Coast does so well is because their specialty is getting orders, shipping, and processing payments. Therefore, they are able accomplish this much more efficiently, than their clients could. This is called outsourcing, and it allows company’s to stay competitive, and better serve their customers. With orders coming in everyday, it is hard for company’s to stay on top of all that goes into order processing. Whether it is through e-mail, e-commerce websites, telephone, fax, or mail, Coast to Coast can handle high volume sales. They are equipped with highly qualified employees, using the latest technology to process client’s orders, at costs much lower than the average in-house costs. As far as the customers go, they are handled very well with great customer service. These representatives know how to treat customers with respect, and are always able to help. Coast-to-Coast offers the best software, volume discounts, friendly maintenance, and frequent upgrades to better suit their client’s. Coast-to-Coast also offers retail support solutions, data management, and account billing. Their products range from electronics, to household items, and apparel. Anything that a customer needs, Coast to Coast has it!
In conclusion, it is clear to see how important B2C sites are for our economy. Not to mention how helpful they are. Both Pay Pal and Coast to Coast offer so many great features to their customers. On each of these sites customers are able to everything from paying their bills, sending money through e-mail, to outsourcing purchase orders. All of which are extremely helpful and time saving. It is fair to say that without B2C sites available, the world would not be were it is today.
The Low
Down on Business-to-Business Website
As I was browsing the web looking at all these business Website I started
to make a metal note of what I found to be the best business-to-business
Website. The three sites I picked as being the best B2B sites are: Hewlett
Packard Co., Dell computers, and the American Express company. These sites all
come with color that attracts your eye right away and just jumps out at you.
The Hewlett Packard Co. site is laid out so that you can look at all the
different areas of products they offer on the homepage, and these products
range from computers to software to the printers and accessories that you would
need for your business. This site has specific areas for small businesses or
large businesses, which I found to be very helpful in making it a much more
user friendly website. If I were a business owner this would be the site I
would use because everything is simple and laid out in front of you. By
breaking down the website into different distinct sections it makes the website
easier to use and all the more fun to use too. All the products offered, from
computers and servers to music, accessories and other technology, come with
complete details of the product on line so that you know exactly what you are
getting. Along with the details and specifications of the product most sites
include cost and how it is a benefit to use for a business. With all the power
on this website it even allows you to have online chat with customer service
with lots of helpful information. Overall this is one of the best sites in all
of business-to-business e-commerce with a complete list of tools and tips for
the everyday lay person.
The Dell computer website is another awesome website that offers lots of helpful information. I enjoyed their site so much from previous use that I thought I would use it in this report. A couple of months ago I went onto the website and looked at all the computers to evaluate the different computers and see which one was the best fit for me. The Dell site was the easiest site I have ever used because all I had to do was click on the computer link and then I was swept away to all the different computers that they offer. The computers page is good because it is colorful and full of information that makes decision making easy. A picture of the computer you are looking at comes up and then a complete list of info on the computer itself. Another great feature is that you can compare the computers side by side and see which one is best for you. This is what I loved so much about the site that made me buy the computer from them. Not only can you compare computers but also you can build your own computer to your specifics or you can get computers for gaming or business needs. Their website is the real deal, because when you go there to look at a specific product you can find out what it will cost with their calculator and then you can even see the warranties, it completely lays out the information for you in a easy to read and understand manner. The site contains specific areas for your business size and needs which allows you to easily cruise through the site and make good economic and business decisions for your company. Before buying you can call sales and product specialists at there service centers to catch up on even more information and make sure that you are making the right purchase for you needs.
The final website I picked to look at was the American Express website. This site allows you to do personal or business work. You can look at your personal accounts and see your balance or even pay your bill, which is becoming more mainstream. On the personal side of things you can get financial help and get advice from real people who know what they are talking about. You can look at different banks and see if you would like to do business with them. One of the nicest parts about the site for personal use is that it allows you to do travel arrangements and helps you setup your vacations by using your card. On the other side of the site you have the business side, which is set up for small businesses and corporations. The small business site allows you to apply for a card and then look at your bill and even pay your bill online. The small business section was not as good as I had hoped because the world is being run more and more by small business and lots of home run businesses so I thought that this section would comprise a little more information. There is also a section for corporations and those areas are broken down even further for companies whose revenue exceeds one billion dollars and companies whose revenue does not exceed one billion dollars. If you don’t know which card to get they will help you by making a recommendation to get you on the right program and get the right card. The biggest thing that jumps out at me is the fact that American express allows business to save money and they help them do this by using there card which is a great idea since a business is always looking for ways to cut costs and increase revenue. Another helpful item on the site is there expense-counting reports that help you watch your expenses and help manage your money. There are also sections that give solutions to problems and advice to plan and manage money which can be very helpful to large companies that might not be able to look at the small areas and save as well as they can look at the large areas and save money. Along with the management programs out there you can also see how you can use your card to help with business travel. As one of the only cards pushed towards the business world the American Express website is easy to move through and easy to use.
The one thing all the sites have in common is that they have color and are not just plain. Each site has a little something to it that makes it unique and special. The sites are very user friendly, to the point that even if you were a first time computer user you would find what you were looking for and complete the transaction. The website are full of information and details on their products, and if that is not enough info for you then all have contacts for you to reach to quiz their specialist that are willing to help you. It seems to me that the web page designers for these companies followed KISS, Keep it simple stupid, which allows the everyday person to get on to the site and find what they need, because keeping the customer happy is what a business needs to do to
keep their business.
Comparative Look
at Search Engines
At first glance, all search engines are the same. They all contain a mostly blank page with a couple links and a text box to type your search string in. So what makes one search engine better than another? There are many things that separate the good from the bad, such as ease of use, functionality, and extra tools.
Google is the most popular search engine because it has all these things. Google has search tools for just about everything, from online shopping, to business in your area, and even a search of scholarly papers. When you do a search on Google, you are given links to the most relevant web pages known, and if the web page is no longer available on the Internet, Google has the page cached on their servers so that you can still view it. If you find a website that you like, but it doesn’t quite have the information you’re looking for, there is a “similar pages” link you can click that will do a search for similar pages.
The “Cached” and “Similar pages” links on Google.
Next to Google’s search box is a link for an advanced search, which allows you to customize your search quite a bit. You can specify what words to search for while also specifying what not to search for, you can select what language the web pages are written in, and you can even specify what domain to search in (such as searching within the www.wmich.edu domain).
Teoma is a lesser-known search engine, which is owned by Ask Jeeves. This is a search engine that doesn’t have many frills like Google has; however it does have an advanced search much like Googles. Search results in Teoma are much like the results in Google searches, but Teoma only has caches of few popular sites, not the majority of websites like Google. What Teoma does have that others don’t are “suggestions to narrow your search” and “link collections from experts and enthusiasts”, which are both found on the right side of the search results page.
WiseNut is a very basic search engine with almost no frills whatsoever. The homepage for WiseNut is a blank white page with the site logo, the search box with preferences and “WiseSearch”, and the legal information at the bottom. WiseSearch is much like Google’s and Teoma’s advanced searches, but you only get the option to search for specific words or a phrase, or not search for specific words. You can’t select the language of the websites or the date they were added like you can with other search engines. The search results aren’t very good; they tend to be web pages that contain the search phrase, but don’t actually have anything to do with the search phrase.
Gigablast, despite not being very popular, is a very good search engine. The homepage has an advanced search that is on par with the more popular search engines. It also has links to search for blogs, for travel sites, and for government sites. The high quality of the search engine comes from the search results page though.
Gigablast’s Giga
Bits technology.
Aside from it’s excellent search results, it has something called Giga Bits, which gives you a list of search terms that relate to what you searched for. For example, if you searched for “cooking”, the Giga Bits may include “cooking recipes”, “cooking tips”, and “cooking schools”. Gigablast also has cached web pages, but it also has a link that other search engines don’t have which allows you to view websites stripped of images.
In conclusion, it isn’t so much the search results that determine the quality of a search engine, but the extra tools that separate the search engines from each other. If all a search engine does is search the web, who is going to want to use it when others can make your searching easier? Google is the #1 search engine in the world not because of its excellent search results, but because of all the extra tools it has that make that other search engines basically obsolete.
E-commerce
Future Trends
Many trends are emerging in the relatively new business of e-commerce. Three of the largest trends emerging in e-commerce are the rise of customer satisfaction, a new form of web-based pricing and inventory and multi-channel retailing. First is the large rise in customer satisfaction led by consumer expectations. Next is the new form of web-based pricing that incorporates time into pricing. Finally, multi-channel retailing where many businesses with storefronts are getting into online forms of business as well. These three trends have helped contribute to the recent boom in e-commerce.
Customer satisfaction has long been a problem in e-commerce. Many companies, both with web-based businesses and multi-channel companies, have experienced problems with timely delivery, keeping promises and customer understanding of what to expect from e-business. Timely Delivery has been a problem that has plagued e-commerce from the beginning. Retailers have a huge advantage of giving customers the ability to leave the store with the product the same day they purchase it. During the holiday season this only intensifies as the snail mail slows on its delivery process when it becomes more crucial for on-time delivery. Along with the shipping times comes the lack of some companies inventory systems and selling items they don’t have. This lack of keeping promises has left many people high and dry even after they have placed the order. Customers’ lack of understanding of these issues has made many customers leery of ordering online. However, many customers are learning the trends in e-commerce and using it more effectively. This had made many peoples views of e-commerce more positive and has driven many back to give it a second chance. With the help of new systems for delivery, stock and prices many more will start having better experiences with e-commerce in the future and further drive customer satisfaction.
Pricing, delivery and inventory has been one of the largest problems with e-commerce in the past. Because e-commerce is open to almost anyone, no matter where you live, there are many region specific prices, shipping and handling charges and availability issues that have to be resolved without seeming like you are punishing some and rewarding others. New web-based pricing systems are now being developed and released that can do almost instantaneous price adjustments while incorporating time, region, promotions and stock levels. Coupled with marketing similar to that used by discount travel companies to promote prices as a reward instead of a punishment, will make this new system a huge benefit for both the customer and the e-businesses. This will help e-commerce companies expand, new companies to come into business and different markets such as brick and mortar companies to start into e-commerce.
Many brick and mortar companies are now emerging into the e-commerce scene. Large companies such as Barnes & Noble and Best Buy run large retail storefronts as well as web sites that carry an even larger assortment than their stores. This is a huge emerging trend in e-commerce because unlike most e-businesses that start small with a basic website selling goods and services, large retailers have large amounts of resources at their disposal to create large glamorous websites and they have access to a much larger inventory. Large companies also have the benefit of bulk purchase discounts that smaller firms do not, giving large companies an advantage to pricing. However, as long as current laws stay in place so sales tax doesn’t have to be paid on internet transactions, many people are still willing to pay the usually less than tax shipping charge.
There are many trends that continually change in e-commerce like any other new industry. Trends such as customer satisfaction rising, web-based pricing systems to help make companies more profitable and multi-channel store becoming more internet friendly will continue to help e-commerce expand at a phenomenal rate. Many more trends are sure to develop in a field as new as
e-commerce with the huge power it holds to connect people and business all over the world. Hopefully these trends will lead to a successful thriving new industry that will allow people easier access to everything they need.
Self Evaluations
Ned Calkins:
I learned a lot from the research I did on business-to-business communication. I did not realize how well the website of businesses have become, and how much business they actually do just on their website alone. I think it would almost be easier and more convenient to shop on line because most good B2B sites lay out all the information in front of you in an easy to use format. By shopping online you don’t have to leave the house and deal with poor customer service once you reach the store, because I know that sometimes the individuals at the stores are not the most helpful or motivated people. The best B2B sites were the ones that had links to all the products they sell and then came with a complete description of the product once you found what you were looking for. Another thing that made certain B2B sites better than other B2B sites were the graphics or colors that would jump out and catch my attention. The biggest thing that I think that set the B2B sites apart was the ability of the sites to be so user friendly, and allow you to find all the information you needed on whatever product you were interested in, and if you still wanted some more reassurance on the product at hand there was always a number that you could call for customer assistance.
Nikolaus Hoyt:
This project was a simple project that
required us to use the Internet to lookup different websites. My part required
looking up e-commerce trends. I didn’t really learn much because I run a
website and work with a company that uses e-commerce also. My team was very
reliable and everyone did his or her parts accurate and on time. I think that
future projects will go even more smoothly once we learn formats that are
expected of us.
Steven Matthews:
I think I did fairly well on my part of the project. I had it finished early so that my team members could look it over and see if they liked it. My report followed all the guidelines as far as I can tell." As for references, I only used www.searchengineshowdown.com, if you need to know that, though I don't think you're doing that part of the report.
Arianna Smallcombe:
From doing this exercise I learned a great deal of information. I learned about the importance of B2C sites and what they have to offer. Also, how helpful they can be in accomplishing simple tasks, such as paying bills, which used to only be done through the mail or by telephone. Everything that I learned while doing this exercise I will be able to apply in my future business endeavors. For instance, I will know what to look for in a B2C site, and I know that much can be accomplished through a website like Pay Pal or Coast to Coast. I can even carry these skills into my personal life, by using Pay Pal to pay my personal bills, or to send money. Overall, I think this exercise was a great learning experience, and taught me teamwork skills. My group and I worked very well together, in order to create such a wonderful project.
References
Pay Pal, an eBay company. (1999). Retrieved September 14, 2005, from
Coast-to-Coast Fulfillment. (2004). Retrieved September 15, 2005, from
Business.com, Inc. (2000). Retrieved September 13, 2005, from
http://www.business.com/directory/index.asp
Crain Communications Inc. (2005). Retrieved September 13, 2005, from
http://www.btobonline.com/netMarketing200/2003/index.cms
Author, Greg R. Notess. (1999). Retrieved September 12, 2005, from
http://www.searchengineshowdown.com/
Incisive Interactive Marketing LLC. (2005). Retrieved September 14, 2005, from
http://www.searchenginewatch.com/
eMarket Strategies Company. (1998). Retrieved September 15, 2005, from
ECT News Network, Inc. (1998). Retrieved September 13, 2005, from