Chapter 4

Question 1:

Select a retail store with which you are familiar that has a Web site on which it sells products or services similar to those it sells in its physical retail stores.

Explore the Web site and examine it carefully for features that indicate the level of services it provides. Using your experience in the physical store and review of the Web site, write a 200 word evaluation of the company's touch point consistency.

E-mall is an online shopping that selling a lots of electronic accessories such as Apple, Digital Cameras and other mobile phone's brand. They also sell branded bags, PSP, and PS3.

It has only one branch in Brunei and is located at Unit A1, 2nd Floor, Setia Kenangan Complex, Kg Kiulap BE1518, Brunei Darussalam nearby Hua Ho Kiulap.

I'm doing survey on Apple Iphone 4s for a months to look for the cheapest one. I looked through online shopping's website and through newspaper. When I get enough cash, then my friend tell me about the website of  E-mall's online shopping. I had doing research on this online shopping and at that time amount stated in this online shop always go up and down and luckly at that time I looked at the website the price was more cheap compared to other mobile shops.

I bought Apple Iphone 4s last May 2012 and it has cost $925 including the Lcd Screen Protector. And now I'm using Apple Iphone 4s in my daily life.

Question 2:

What were the main forces that led to the commercialization of the Internet? Summarize your answer in about 100 words.

Nowadays, the internet quickly grew in popularity, and the sellers found its potential as a platform for cheap and even free marketing. But sometimes luck contributes a bit to the seller's success, but do not rely too much in luck. The real secret is hard work, originality and usefulness – then you get lucky. Most of the buyers are not afraid to spend their money even if it is too expensive. The way the sellers advertise and selling their business will attract peoples to buy. Example Facebook, I'm sure 95% of peoples in Brunei Darussalam are using and spending their time on it. So from there the sellers can take advantage to upload and sell their products. I have experienced before, by buying textiles through Facebook. By searching the seller's Facebook name and looked for the textiles that I want rather than spending a long time at the textile's shop. I just type 'BOOKED' and make a 'Meet Point's appointment to take my textiles.  It shows that the seller doesn't have to spend a lots of money on commercial their business.

Question 3:
Describe two possible service-for-fee offerings that might become available to users of Internet-enabled wireless devices (such as iPad or mobile phones) in the near future. Write one paragraph for each service in which you outline the profit potential and risk of losses for each. 

The Rizqun International Hotel is the Brunei Darussalam's latest 5-star hotel which Uniquely design and incorporating traditional culture with modern comforts offering amenities and convenience. Rizqun is Brunei's newest luxury standard hotel developed especially for business travellers and tourists who prefer quality accommodation, service and business facility support. Rizqun is part of the Gadong Mall complex in Brunei - with direct access to multiple levels of specialty shops, movie the atres, supermarket, fitness centre and lots more - in the Gadong/Centrepoint shopping area. When you book online, you usually can't ask a live person questions about hotel rooms, or anything else you're concerned about. Few people realize that once you make a reservation, your information is remembered in the computer system. Re-booking at a later date then becomes quick and easy. You can book online anytime, day or night. You can plan your entire vacation while sitting on your couch in your pajamas or at your desk at work. Another advantage with online booking is the fact that the Internet has established links between the large national and international airline companies and the large hotel companies. This combined information is advertised freely on the Internet, making it much easier for individuals to make complete plans for their holidays. The existence of these packages deals means that individuals don't have to worry about booking flights and hotels separately and worry about the timing. They merely choose a package that meets their preferences. Booking online allows you to make your reservation efficiently. Most hotel and airline websites are intuitive to the user, allowing you to breeze through your selections. You can find out in seconds whether the dates and types of accommodations you want are available. If you have to call the hotel or use a travel agent, you may be placed on hold or go through a long conversation. One of the disadvantages of booking online is directly linked to one of the biggest advantages. Due to being online, there is a much wider customer base to the information. In other words, information that in the past was more available to individuals in a specific country is now available to anyone in the world that has an Internet connection. This creates an environment of first-come-first-serves competition. The cheapest options are then available to the individuals who see the advertisements first and have funds to purchase immediately.  Other disadvantages exist with the use of online booking. Because of the need for exchanging sensitive personal data, such as home addresses and bank and credit card details, the online booking process is an attractive target for cyber criminals looking to steal this information. Fake websites created for the sole purpose of stealing personal information is also an ever-present danger. Plus, as individuals don't have another individual to deal with in the booking process, it is left to them to read and understand the often complicated terms and conditions.

The Borneo Bulletin is a daily English-Language newspaper in Brunei. It is published by Brunei Press, which also publishes a Malay-Language daily, Media Permata. The Bulletin circulates around 20,000 copies on weekdays and 25,000 copies on Saturday and Sunday. The Borneo Bulletin is the main source of information on local, regional and foreign affairs, as well as business news. Information contained in the online newspaper can be accessed for free and once it is ready for printing. Some of the online newspaper can be accessed as early as in the morning.  Readers only have to press segments or topics they want to read. But the newspapers that we see online is not the same as we usually read newspapers in print form. If the first news that reached after the newspaper printed only spreads the next day, now the news can be added to the online newspaper at any time. We can save the information that we think it's worth and we can share and discuss the information with our friend by sending through email. But sometimes the newspaper can be out of stock. Buying the newpaper also have it own advantage as we can look by through dictionary when we don't understand the sentences. The newpapers also can read by the people who are using mobile phone that don't have internet. So it's depends on us to choose either to buy the newpapers or just look and search through internet.

Question 4:
In two paragraphs, explain why a customer-centric Web site design is so important, yet is so difficult to accomplish.  

 

A customer centric website is so important because people are getting more and more personal, and in the world of product redundancy, only things that get in to customer's mind can survive. Moreover, with lots of website which are similar to each other, website need to focus on customers so that they can have a good impression on the website to come back then become a loyal customer.

Yet, it is very difficult to accomplish a customer centric website because of  the variety and change of customer taste so that it is impossible to satisfy all. In targeting customers a Web site needs to have the content, design, offers and processes that suit the customer base.

Question 5:

Promoting products on the Web is different from using mass media promotion or personal contact. Assume that you want to explain these differences to a person who is planning to open a Web site that will sell fishing-rod. Write one paragraph about each approach (mass media, personal contact, the Web). In each paragraph, explain the advantages and disadvantages of the approach for the fishing rod Web business.

Fishing is one of the most popular activities in Brunei. Even though it will challenge our patience but its fun. Last week I went to hanging out with my guy friend and he ask my opinion about Fishing. He told me that he wanted to open the fishing's shop so I gave him some advices that I think so worth to him.

He told me he wanted to do the online business too. But I said to him there's advantage and disadvantage of promoting products on the web. I also gave suggestion on how to do the business through mass media, personal contact and the web.

M A S S M E D I A

There are many examples of mass media. Some of the examples are:  newspapers, radio, magazines, television, movies and many more.  Basically there are two kinds of print advertising; newspapers and magazines 'classified and display'. Classifieds are the small ads towards the back of the publication, while display ads can be almost any size depending on the publication. Advertising in the print media can be expensive, and for most home businesses it won't be economical. This is where you can really benefit from the expertise of a media or public relations specialist. Once your business grows to a decent size, you may consider buying some radio time. But ad-buyer beware! You could get a big response. Maybe a little too big! Thanks to the immediacy of radio, you could get mobbed the next day, so make sure you have a support system in place to handle multiple inquires via the phone, Web site, emails and walk-ins. If you have a Webmaster or you can do this yourself, load a digital copy of your radio commercial in your Website for your customers to revisit. I did this for of my Web clients, Easy Money Now, featuring multiple radio and TV commercials. One type of advertising that often gets overlooked is cinema advertising. If you arrive to the cinema early, you'll see local business ads followed by big-budget ads. This can be a great place to advertise relatively inexpensively in quite a high-profile way. Contact your local cinema chain and compare advertising rates. However the disadvantage of the mass media is that the information that is provided is very minimal, it doesnt answer questions that people may have after the advertisements over. It provides you with a number which anybody can use to call and ask questions, but realistically who is going to call? Alot of people are ashamed or dont want to know. Another disadvantage is money, it costs a considerable amount of money to show adverts and because of this we are limited to information and are therefore not really getting the whole picture.!!

P E R S O N A L C O N TA C T  OR  P E R S O N A L SELLING

Personal selling is the process of communicating with a potential buyer (or buyers) face-to-face with the purpose of selling a product or service. The main thing that sets personal selling apart from other methods of selling is that the salesperson conducts business with the customer in person. Though personal selling is more likely to be effective with certain types of products or services, it has important applications for nearly all kinds of small businesses. In fact, most of history's successful entrepreneurs have been skilled salespeople, able to represent and promote their companies and products in the marketplace. On the positive side, personal selling allows the salesperson to target the message specifically to the audience and receive immediate feedback. In this way, it is more precise than other forms of promotion and often has a greater persuasive impact. Another advantage is that personal selling can be an important source of marketing information. Salespeople may learn about competitors' products. One disadvantage is that you cannot reach as many customers as quickly through personal sales.  It is expensive maintaining this type of promotional effort due to the high per-contact cost involved.  Costs incurred in personal selling include high cost-per-action and training costs. Job turnover in sales is often much higher than other marketing positions.

 T H E   W E B

The Internet has become the information superhighway for the buying public. Most persons prefer the hassle free transactions that Internet shopping can offer. As a result, the Internet has become the most powerful selling tool. Internet Promotion offers cost effective ways for small businesses to enhance their product or service distribution networks. For example, the use of portals can help create new marketing channels and logistics, or provide better or faster product access for customers. Internet Promotion also provides the advantage of being enduring. Whereas participation at a trade fair or conference loses sales impact, once it is over, and an advertisement in a newspaper or business magazine may quickly lose its sales generating value within a day or two or as soon as the next issue is released; Internet Promotion is often timeless. Apart from the dates and sometimes prices, much of your website content remains valid years after. Another important advantage of Internet Promotion is that it saves time since it generally does away with counselling on product uses and benefits, service information and sales administration. Visitors can access "frequently asked questions" to help themselves, and can buy online, without the involvement of staff. This saves time and money. Disadvantage of doing promoting businesses online is that it may be difficult for the businesspersons and consumers to thoroughly evaluate the legitimacy of a transaction. Small businesses are particularly vulnerable to thieves using stolen credit cards and stolen information to do online transaction. Another disadvantage of promotion via the Internet is that the customers and businesspersons are isolated. There is little personal contact between customer and salesperson prior to and after the sales is closed. Thus, the prospect for repeat sales may thus be diminished. Entrepreneurs are therefore compelled to adopt marketing strategies to drive online users back to their site. From all indications, it appears that the advantages of Internet promotion, far exceed the disadvantages. With adequate knowledge, entrepreneur can benefit significantly from Internet promotion, especially small business owners.