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Introduction Of E-Commerce And Strategy Assignment
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The most important notions behind doing this research study is to recognize a definite firm that is deploying as well as E-Commerce solution within its functioning as well as also to study the different sorts of benefits the company is receiving deploying those tactics. The investigation of this report will additionally concern on how planning as well as executing a new tactics in addition to e-commerce solution will assist the company in producing the appropriate administrations to its patrons. The SME that has been selected for this work is UK based bakery shop named as Marshfield Bakery.
Present background and tactical position of the company
Marshfield Bakery makes quality handmade cakes, café, bread rolls, as well as occasional products that are dispersed all through the UK and Europe. Marshfield Bakery Limited is a Private restricted firm (Ltd.) organization situated in 3 St James's Road Kingston upon Thames, United Kingdom, which utilizes 68 individuals. The organization began exchanging on 13 January 2005. Considering the strategic position of the company it can be said that the firm is operating under a tough competitive market as UK is already famous for bakery items thus Marshfield Bakery operates under tremendous pressure as lot of other renowned bakery shop are already functioning under the same market. Some of the toughest competitors of Marshfield Bakery are:
- The Cake Crew Ltd
- Fiona Cairns Ltd
- Sweet Tooth Factory
- The Handmade Cake Co
- Cutter & Squidge Ltd
- The Vegan Cakery
- The Brownie Owl
- Dangerfields Bakery (Pomanda 2022).
How can an e-commerce strategy will help the organization provide its customers with better quality products
A web-based business procedure is a vital piece of the 4.0 business which has altered the manner in which firms manage its operation. It is vital to figure out for this situation that although Marshfield Bakery is an SME, it is developing at a fast speed as well as a capable web-based business system would assist this association with taking care of its tasks considerably more effectively. Shopping basket programming or a capable online business technique could make all the difference in the approach to spreading the business, following requests, effective stock, following of instalments, back orders, etc in Marshfield Bakery. Without a doubt, in the realm of upsetting innovation, Marshfield Bakery is adjusting its web-based business technique to take care of the requirements of its clients in general. Nonetheless, the necessity in those instances is to recognize the place of singularity, which will separate the Marshfield Bakery from others in the opposition. The significance of web-based business in Marshfield Bakery was additionally enlightened and underscored during the worldwide pandemic of Covid 19. Web-based business is additionally helpful in light of the fact that it is advantageous for Marshfield Bakery. Nonetheless, it is critical to developing the point of interaction of the site in a basic manner so it interfaces with the clients and the clients and effectively use it (Ray 2011).
The utilization of a web-based store or online existence is extraordinarily financed friendly for Marshfield Bakery; and it is, for the most part, a one-time strong speculation post which is an apparent expense of support. It is extraordinarily financial plan cordial when found as opposed to keeping an actual shop where the entrepreneur needs to pay the capital expenses, and afterward repeating costs alongside transportation and upkeep.
A web-based presence of Marshfield bakery might create an appropriate acclimation itself to the progressions that happen in the UK business sector. An internet-based presence makes the assortment of information and data on changing business sector drifts very simple for the client and the entrepreneur and consequently, it is viewed as basically significant for all little to medium endeavour proprietors to have a web-based presence since they are currently at a weak spot but not have laid out a hold over the market to such an extent that they can neglect to change business sector patterns and fundamental data.
E-Commerce Strategies that have been employed by Marshfield Bakery
One of the top global retail chains in terms of revenue is Marshfield Bakery. A successful and effective e-commerce approach is employed by this company. Examining the company's financial data is simple to understand. The percentage of e-commerce sales for the organization is 2.8%, and this includes mobile phone use. The company's website had a complete redesign in 2017 as part of its focus on regional "trends" and customization of its products for the regions they would be shipped to most frequently. This was a huge accomplishment for the business, and in the subsequent year, the firm's revenues rose by 40%. The company possesses a great number of shares in the market, and the blooming business is attracting more people to invest in their business (Pol 2010).
The fact that Marshfield Bakery is one of the leading firms in the world in the same industry and it is likely due to the fact that it was among the first to recognize the enormous potential of the online business world. Over time, the business has demonstrated its reliability as a retailer. In fact, it has been demonstrated that a consumer interface and effective services provided by a distributed system can work miracles without even needing a physical store. The company's mobile application is used for about 42% of its sales. The remainder of users primarily accesses the company's website.
Along with being one of the largest bakeries in the world, it was also among the first to recognize the value of a firm's online presence. Marshfield Bakery was among the first companies in its sector to publish its whole catalogue online. Considering it was a huge success, the company gradually began to include more sophisticated AI on their website so that users could personalize its products to suit customer pReferences. Later on, this approach was employed by numerous firms. Marshfield Bakery has never provided specific success metrics, although the company's production increased dramatically after using augmented reality for its customizations.
This business would be considered a bit of a wild card on this list. Marshfield Bakery isn't the first corporation that comes to mind when thinking of e-commerce and it is not, yet the company has benefited greatly from it. The company first released its software in 2011, and within the initial three months, it had a lot of trusted users. The business used its application in a novel method to keep track of purchases and earn points for gift cards or freebies after enough points had been accumulated. It is also among the first businesses in this sector to accept payments made online. This feature was included in the application, which allowed users to order bakery items, scan a barcode that appeared on the screen, and authorize payments. Additionally, this increased the customers' points (Rosário 2021).
This section will examine a few e-commerce-related security vulnerabilities and also the technology or steps to follow used to prevent them.
- Financial Scams: These include frauds involving credit cards as well as frauds involving phoney returns or refunds. By using its numbers from a system, the former tries to hijack a saved credit card. The latter does significant harm to SMEs by filing phoney return orders. Only exercising prudence will help you prevent the latter, which remains. Implementing an AVS, or Address Verification System, avoiding saving card details across multiple devices, and avoiding utilizing Wi-Fi Networks for purchases can all help prevent the former.
- Phishing is the practice of con artists posing as users or companies to contact businesses and request their private information. To persuade the user to start believing them, they frequently display numerous false reports of digital results. They might then hack the machine manually or send a virus to attack the software and steal data. Using anti-phishing or anti-spam technology would automatically filter messages from sources that are unknown or unreliable.
- Spamming: At first, junk mail attacks did think to be harmless; however, it has since been discovered that phishing emails frequently leave links in the comments of blog posts, contact forms, and social media posts. If a user clicks on a link unintentionally, the spammer is then able to access the user's email address or other contact details. This eventually results in a mass-mailed malware infestation. Again, anti-spam software can simply prevent this.
- DDoS: A number of significant businesses, including WhatsApp and Amazon, have suffered losses as a result. Distributed Denial of Service, which is better known as DDoS. The website can no longer respond to any kind of command or function due to this infection, which can even entirely halt it. It frequently happens that assaults come from untraceable IP addresses, rendering the user invisible. To protect an application or website against DDoS attacks, the network should be secured. Additionally, servers should be redundant, warning signs should be kept an eye out for, network services should be continuously monitored, and limited network broadcasting should be prioritized (Rosário 2021).
How an E-commerce strategy will enable the organization to reposition itself by penetrating new markets or providing new products and services to existing markets
Strategies that drive e-commerce businesses are easy to listen to but complicate to apply. Every business has its own model, and getting online is not the same for all. Therefore, there are different strategies that need to be implemented at different times after looking at the needs of a business. The primary benefit of an e-commerce strategy or service is that it is not constrained or limited to any one market or area. It could not be reachable or accessible in a certain area, but it may be seen from everywhere at all times. Furthermore, because e-commerce doesn't need to use traditional marketing techniques to expand, it can do so much more quickly. In the instance of CafePod, its site can expose the company to potential clients and provide them with an outline of the firm in the instance of a new market entry.
The company's ability to get visitors to start placing orders depends on how engaging its website is. Receiving a request from a new market, however, entails entering it and replacing someone. That will require slightly more work than any normal introduction. To entice potential clients, the company can use appealing marketing strategies and provide savings and value-added deals. When new businesses enter marketplaces, they also give away free trials of their goods so that consumers can try them out before choosing whether or not to buy them. Since buyers are receiving free goods, this automatically sparks their interest in the new businesses' offerings.
In order to increase client interest in them and instantly infiltrate the market, they will need to sell their sales techniques successfully and efficiently. The company will mostly need to make an effort to differentiate itself from its rivals, let its clients know that they appreciate their business and money, and perhaps most importantly, that they are a reliable brand.
Part 2: - Design an E-Commerce Solution
Introduction
Some of the primary goals of this research are to develop E-commerce strategies just on close customer requirements and specifications. The E-Commerce techniques will be designed specifically for the interaction between customers, as well as one‘s staff who will be launching the disbursement blueprint (Janjevic, Winkenbach, and Merchán, 2019). The research will also cover over the goals of having an E-Commerce strategy for the company, in addition to the multiple kinds of resources that will be needed to implement the E-Commerce layout. This study's E-Commerce strategy will be tailored specifically for the Marshfield bakery, makers of cakes, snack bars, biscuits.
Details of the design of E-Commerce strategy
It is best for Marshfield Bakery to set up E-mail automation as its E-Commerce strategy. Here is a detailed discussion of the key mechanism Marshfield Bakery needs to put in place on an urgent basis.
Welcome Flow: In order to provide a rebate along with the fermenting guide along with some of the lead magnets on the site of Marshfield Bakery (Hånell, and et.al., 2019). In this, the clients provide detailed information in the email and make sense of main objective for adding the aim to the business, how the bakers are unique as well as the reason behind purchasing from them.
Uncontrolled Cart or checkout: Customers frequently add products to the cart but, owing to payment issues or pricing, eliminate people from the cart and finally do not buy them, as evidenced by the industry's electronic mail (Attar, Shanmugam, and Hajli, 2020). Marshfield Bakery will start introducing some additional features, such as free postage or free coupon codes for price reductions, which will generate a strenuous desire to purchase. It will be easier to place an order for the product that is considered as one of the most important aspect for dealing with the service.
Confirm Order: Among the many E-Commerce strategies Marshfield Bakery will take part in, this will be the last event where Marshfield Bakery will receive order confirmation emails from the majority of e-commerce platforms. Upon receiving the order confirmation, they will also email the customer a confirmation message.
The goal of business of handing an E-commerce strategy
Online business helps organizations reduce the expense of a thing that makes, devoting, extracting, and having to manage publication data by digitizing it. Furthermore, the online business contributes to the growth of the group's brand image. Internet business adds to an organization's success in addition to providing better customer service (Zhao, Zhou, and Deng, 2020). Using the previous documentation, Marshfield Bakery is categorized as an SME; thus, their connected operative has yet to reach the level of flat operative by implementing a suitable e-commerce strategy. Marshfield Bakery's E-Commerce strategy is E-mail Mechanization ASAP, and its main goal is to digitize the effective communication here between the firm and its clients.
- To reach wide range of clients for the business
- To make payment through online services
- To provide issues of clients through different online platform
- To enhance the sales of bakery products with a profit for the business
Several payments system
Despite the numerous payment systems available in the market today, many small and medium-sized businesses have not taken advantage of Amazon Pay. Marshfield Bakery will implement Amazon Pay as its new payment gateway system. In the online world, Amazon Pay is considered to be a safe and quick way of paying for purchases by small businesses such as Marshfield Bakery. The Amazon account credentials are used to log in and pay at heavy trader sites and applications by operating customer data from the Amazon account (Janjevic, and Winkenbach, 2020). Additionally, the Amazon Pay wallet allows customers to pay using wallet money as well, so they are not concerned about immediate cash. Moreover, should Marshfield Bakery desire to sell their product via Amazon in the near future, the company will be content to contribute them in setting up payment doorways for their goods and services.
Justification for the choice of design
The main reason why companies implement E-Commerce strategies these days is to make their business procedures earlier and to deliver unified facilities to their clients. A small business like Marshfield Bakery will need to design e-commerce strategies for several reasons to stay ahead of its competitors and also to compete with them:
- To make the procedure of business is quite smooth as well as faster functioning
- To provide help the customers while ordering and issues related to payment without human help
- To retain the customers for a long period of time
- To create a honest relation with the client
- To offer best services to the clients which helps to enhance the sales
- The identification of e-commerce strategy design is considered as one of the most important aspect of developing a store that is a web based for selling the customers and target them for a long period (Gutt, and et.al., 2019).
Analyse resources which required for implementing the E-commerce design
Marshfield Bakery will require four main assets to implement its e-mail automation design. These assets are described below.
Litmus
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HubSpot
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Pardot
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BEE free
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Testing messages on any device is made easy with Litmus, one of the top assets for implementing automated email campaigns (Kraus, Reibenspiess, and Eckhardt, 2019).
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For publicists who are rather new to the game like Marshfield Bakery, HubSpot's email showcase robotization capabilities make setting up assignments easy.
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Among email automation tools, Pardot stands out for its ability to make customized messages with dynamic content to increase commitment rates.
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With BeEE Free, Marshfield Bakery makes it easy to contain buttons, text blocks, and pictures within email layouts; this includes a variety of different features (Holland, and Gutiérrez-Leefmans, 2018). A Marshfield Bakery advertiser can easily create smooth and modern mail messages with BEE Free
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Conclusion
From the above discussion, it can be concluded that the identification of the e-commerce strategy is considered as major step for the business to analyse the strength. It helps in understanding the new techniques which are helpful for business to create a powerful level of profit for the Marshfield Bakery. It provides detailed information about the use of strategy for enhancing online services of Marshfield Bakery for making appropriate profit.
Part 3: Implement an E-Commerce Solution
Introduction
In this section, we examine the implementation of the stated strategy, which is email mechanization for Oxford Business School, and the methods to be used to apply it. E-commerce solutions are also analysed for their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (Purba, and Widjaja, 2020). The college's objectives are also evaluated along with its strategy for meeting them.
Implement an E-commerce strategy for Oxford Business School
As part of Oxford Business School's e-commerce strategy, email automation for each of the College's courses would be implemented. There are a number of simple designs which are easily understood by students as well as staff members. As a first step, the college needs to create a website that makes it easy for people to purchase any course online (Ayokunmi, Seman, and Rashid, 2022). Moreover, email automation will help to promote the services to various students and professors. As well as this, it also features a main menu that serves as a kind of home page for students, and it allows them to categorize their courses as well as access the various accessories available. Furthermore, it comprises discounts for promotional purposes that help to entice more individuals.
As well, the customer has the choice of adding diverse items to their cart, which mainly displays the product details. The client's particulars, such as their name, address, phone number, etc., have to be occupied out afterward all has been established. A detailed product description, along with the price, appears after the customer's details on the right side (Zebari, and et.al., 2019). The following are three payment methods: direct bank transfers, PayPal, and credit cards. In the admin dashboard, you can see details about orders, products, sales, and profits. Customers can view all their actions from this dashboard, such as buying products. This dashboard is only visible to admins or users with access to the backend.
Implementing the strategy using a social platform
The college's different sides must be promoted by using a social platform like Facebook to implement the strategy. Additionally, it will increase the level of profit and enhance the usage of different courses by students (Setyowati, Widayanti and Supriyanti, 2021). As a result of the different pages that sit on Facebook, the college can promote its different activities, which enables it to gather more information about its passengers.
SWOT Analysis of E-commerce solution
In the activities of business, there is use of SWOT analysis for analysing the strategies of business. The concentration of discussion is on to accomplish the suitable guideline along with the framework.
Strengths
Oxford Business School's e-commerce solution is comprehensible and easy to circumnavigate so that people can easily use it. A discount also increases the number of sales by promoting more products to customers. People, however, have a hard time understanding and utilizing the registration process.
Weakness
Payment integrity is a major security concern, as it causes confusion among customers. Information security concerns and financial abuse are some of the major drawbacks of e-commerce. Lack of knowledge about the product's quality and physical condition prevents the user from touching, wearing, or sitting on the online product (Lestari, and et.al., 2020).
Opportunities
It is possible to conduct financial transactions anywhere in the world, but e-commerce has become quick, efficient, and effective in the past few years. Online purchases have become more comfortable.
Threats
It has become increasingly competitive as more and more big corporations enter this field. They make ordinary people suffer at the expense of their company. The abuse of personal information can result in identity theft, privacy concerns, and a fear of spam.
Evaluation of how the strategy has met the College’s objectives
Building a powerful website is easy with WordPress. The College needs to use email automation to raise awareness of its services. Additionally, WordPress is simple to use, making it an excellent choice for people without extensive programming experience (Farooq, and et.al., 2019).
Because of the college's diverse software and skills, an e-commerce plan and potential solution can be created to assist the college in meeting its goals. This approach results in high productivity, the support of multiple web themes, and the use of appropriate tools to create the website's structure. Email mechanization, on the other hand, requires learners to employ a variety of approaches and to come up with novel ideas. Many popular websites use WordPress as their platform of choice. SEO techniques are increasingly being used by WordPress users and website owners. The e-commerce solution is regarded as one of the most advanced in terms of adaptability.
WordPress is an excellent platform for website owners who do not remember how to type. College growth and advancement are directly addressed as a result of email mechanization. It creates a wide range of scenarios that permit all professors and students to benefit from the e-commerce platform while keeping business growth in mind (Daries, Cristobal-Fransi, and Ferrer-Rosell, 202). The strategy was difficult to implement at first, but the faculty's options have changed as a result. It will be beneficial for the improvement of business services and will be a large platform for learners to improve their skills. Overall, it achieves the goals and develops numerous factors for managing the company system. The development side of the app includes different platforms where the CMS is considered one of the easy and balanced ways to handle the different types of changes in the activities. It helps in achieving the targets of College and creates a valuable impact on others also (Wahyuni, and et.al., 2020). The different functionality of strategies gives better changes according to the requirement of the business.
Conclusion
It can be concluded that an e-commerce strategy is considered one of the most powerful steps in order to achieve the goals and objectives. The suitable implementation of the desired strategy helps to manage the motive of college and achieve targets of providing appropriate courses to the students. It will create a valuable impact on the outsiders as well which plays a very significant role in developing a positive environment. The evaluation of e-commerce solutions gives a better understanding of the various scenarios related to the WordPress which helps to achieve the target.
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