Chapter 3: Building E-commerce presence: websites, mobile sites & apps

Question 1

What type of factors may be part of a SWOT-analyses when assessing the a firms´ e-commerce presence ?

Answer 1

Strengths:

• Current sites do not address market needs.
• Unique approach.
• Easy navigation
• Better personalization

Weaknesses:

• Limited financial resources
• No prior online experience
• No existing user base
• No media attention

Opportunities:

• Ability to address large market with unmet needs.
• Potential to capture significant share of this market
• Potential to develop related sites.

Threats:

• Approach could be copied by competitors.
• Advertisers may not want to try the new website.
• Rapid pace of technological development.
• Low market entry costs

Question 2

What types of presence may be listed in an e-commerce presence map ? Explain in detail how they are linked to the platforms and activities.

Answer 2

There are several types of presences that can be described in a presence map:

1. Offline media
   - -> Platform: print, tv, and radio
   - -> Activity/impact: education, exposure, and branding
2. Social media
   - -> Platform: Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Blogs, …
   - -> Activity/impact: conversation, engagement, sharing, and advice
3. Website/app
   - -> Platform: traditional, mobile, tablet
   - -> Activity/impact: search, display, affiliates, and sponsorships

Question 3

Describe the 7 design elements of the customer interface!

Answer 3

The 7 design elements of the customer interface consist of:
- Context
= layout and design of the website (form vs function)

• Content
  = all digital information included on the website
• Commerce
  = tools that the sides provide to organize and facilitate commerce.
• Community
  = Allowing users to build and join communities together.
• Connection
  = Different ways in which websites connect with other businesses/websites.
• Customization
  = Personalization (initiated by the users) and tailoring (initiated by the website) are the main customization options
• Communication
  = different ways in which the website and its users communicate with one another.

Question 4

Explain the context dimension of the customer interface in more detail.

Answer 4

Context usually refers to a balance between functionality and aesthetics (design) of the website.
Functionality = user friendliness of the website.
–> Nowadays, due to technological developments this balance isn’t either either anymore, a combination of functionality and design (= integrated website) is easily possible.

Question 5

Explain the content dimension of the customer interface in more detail.

Answer 5

Content refers to all digital information included on the site. There are four ways of evaluating content:

1. Offering mix (product, information or services)
2. Appeal mix (cognitive or emotional)
3. Multimedia mix (text, audio, image, video, graphics or a combination)
4. Timeliness mix (time sensitive or not?)

Question 6

Explain the community dimension of the customer interface in more detail.

Answer 6

Communities make it so that users are more engaged in the website, which leads to more brand awareness and loyalty.
–> To what extent do we want this?

Question 7

Explain the customization dimension of the customer interface in more detail.

Answer 7

Customization can be initiated by two groups:

1. Customer initiated customization: we call this personalization.
2. Website initiated customization: we call this tailorization. Examples: recommendations

Question 8

Explain the communication dimension of the customer interface in more detail.

Answer 8

What kind of communication do we allow?
2 categories:
1. Broadcast (one-to-many)
2. Interactive (one-to-one)

There are 4 ways to classify communications:

1. One-to-many, nonresponding user
2. One-to-many, responding user
3. One-to-one, nonresponding user
4. One-to-one, responding user

Question 9

Explain the connection dimension of the customer interface in more detail.

Answer 9

content provided on the site created by the site owner or derived from third parties. Sites connect with other businesses (websites) in several ways:

1. Outside links: user is taken outside the home site.
2. Pop-up windows: user remains on the home website, but a giant window pops up in the forground.
3. Framed links: links take the user to a new site, but the new website is framed in some way by the original site.
4. Outsourced content: site content is derived from third parties. Ex. portal site

Question 10

Explain the commerce dimension of the customer interface in more detail.

Answer 10

These are the tools that allow and facilitate commerce:

• Registration
• Shopping cart
• Security
• Credit-card approval
• …