Compare and discuss contrast Essay Example for Free

Compare and discuss contrast Essay 1. Launched non-complete version of their website. Consumers get very annoyed when the e-commerce website they are trying to shop does not work. In software related commerce, one of the biggest complaints from users is insufficient testing for bugs before marketing to the public. 2. Annoying pop-up windows and Cumbersome Interface The multiple pop-ups further slowed down user download times and took away the sense of user control. When making a purchase most consumers prefer to make their own decision without pressure from pushy salesmen. From personal experience, most consumers prefer to seek out information as needed instead of having it pop up in another window. 3. Miss Boo, Shopping Assistant This virtual shopping assistant seemed crazy. Why did Miss Boo say Tie me up, tie me down in a shoe that looks like its been attacked? This irrational verbiage symbolized the dementia in design that was systemic in the website. When the company icon/mascot says irrational things it reduces consumer confidence in the products and services provided in the website. 4. Usability In Boo.com case, there was a big disconnection between the bandwidth required to run the website multimedia and actual bandwidth of average consumers. Consumers simply did not have the bandwidth to shop at Boo. com, or the right program (Macromedia Flash) to load the images. People were not ready for the excessive graphics, movies, audio, and video. * Unable to alter customer buying behavior Boo. com was unable to attract customers in large numbers, nor was it able to generate a sufficient level of repeat customer from the small number of clients that did use its services. Few people are happy to buy clothes without first trying them on, which represented a fundamental problem for Boo. D. What could Boo. com have done differently that might made it a success? * Technology First Solutions The technology that was supposed to power Boo. com did not work. As with everything else, the concept for its Web site was extraordinarily ambitious, with complex global distribution and multiple currencies and dazzling interactive features. And it was to have been built from scratch, something the technology team came to realize was difficult, if not impossible. Management spending was unprecedented for a dot. com. By the time the site was supposed to go live in May 1999, Boo. com had run up a $600,000 bill from Hill Knowlton, the companys public relations firm, mostly for setting up lunches with fashion editors for the founders. Hill Knowlton threatened to stop working for Boo. com because the firm was not paid on time. Ms. Leander, a former Elite model who was also Boo. coms marketing chief, hired Roman Coppola, Francis Ford Coppolas son, to direct the companys TV ads, featuring nerdy young people in urban chic clothing, which were part of a $42 million campaign for the big introduction. That included $25 million worth of advertising in magazines, newspapers, and billboards. Many employees said they received a mobile phone, a Palm hand-held device and an American Express card. Salaries were high for a dot-com on the make. III. Compare and discuss contrast between Staples. com Boo. com Usability It has been obvious from day one on the Web that what people want is fast downloading, information rich websites. Speed is a critical factor that drives Web usage. When people come to a website they are invariably looking for information. They dont want to hang around. They dont want to be left waiting. The best website is the one that gets them the right content fastest. In general, usability was a big issue for Boo. Consumers did not have the bandwidth to shop at Boo. com, or the right program (Macromedia Flash) to load the images. During then, the common folk were not ready for the excessive graphics, movies, audio, and video. Also, the annoyance of Miss Boo, their online helper, also detracted people from shopping at Boo. com. As more problems arose, Boo forgot about their customers. Staples. com has not committed the same mistake. It has built a portal based on what customer wants, content rich and fast downloading. This was clearly indicated by Staples. com portal recent won of a prestigious award for best business-to-business site from MIMC, the Massachusetts Interactive Media Council. (www. boston. internet. com/news/article. php/494001).   Convenience Feedback from customer commented that Boo web site was very complicated to navigate through, which meant that it was very difficult to make comparisons between the different brands that were stocked. According to Mori (2000) the ability to find product information and to compare prices is a very attractive feature for Internet shoppers. The Staples. com web site on the other hand has been designed for usability, reduced clicks, time-saving navigational tools, and personalized time-saving features for quick access. * Interaction Interaction is the means of relationship-building with individual customers by providing timely pre-sales information and excellent after-sales support. Boo. com has no strategy of building up customer relationship. The company suffered from very low rates of customer retention. Staples. com offers tremendous online resources that provide personalized, right time customer information. When you place an order, Staples encourages you to sign up for e-mail reminders, which will be sent to you BEFORE you run out. Once you receive the e-mail you can access Staples. com directly, buy what you need and your new supplies will be on their way. Product matchmaker- products are listed specific to the customer personal equipment. Plus, order history and a favorite shopping basket will keep track of items that are continuously purchased for fast checkout! This strategy clearly scored a big plus in term of building good relationship with their customer. * Brand Image For any new start up, making itself known is a big challenge. In Boo. com case, it spent relentlessly to create it brand image. The management committed $25 million to an advertising budget, a huge sum for a start-up. The company chose to advertise in expensive but trendy fashion magazines such as Vanity Fair as well as on cable television and the Internet. Staples. com has an easier path for it inherited the brand name from its parent company Staples Inc. * Vision or Strategy The creators Boo. com had a great vision, but failed to support that with a good strategy. First, the company had failed to consider potential competition from its main competitors who have strong brand name such as Lands End, and Nordstrom. Second, it is evident that little market research was done as Boo. com strived to sell a good (clothing) that was hard to sell on the Internet. As for most shoppers, they prefer to touch, feel, and try on clothes before buying it. Third, they failed to consider their resources as they launched their websites simultaneously in several countries. Staples. com has both a vision and good strategy. It has established a vision of creating outstanding customer service through a great Web experience. With this vision, it laid the strategy foundation that the key to online success and increased market share was to make its e-commerce site as usable as possible. Staples wanted the site to be customer-driven: to support customer needs in an easy-to-use, intuitive way. Conclusion There would be various reasons for failure in EC such as lack of funding, incorrect revenue model, and so much more, but typically, no business model should ever ignore the golden rule customer satisfaction. Strategic planning clarifies what an EC project should do or focus on with respect to the companys mission and the given business environment. To start or to survive companies must learn from the lesson of others failure and successful stories. Appendix A: Critical Success factors (Extract from: http://www. e-bc. ca/) Critical Success Factor Definition Competitive Advantage 1. Convenience The usability of the web site for the purpose for which it was designed: for example, to assist, buying or selling, to find information, to track a process. Users find it easy to carry out the process, so they are more likely to use the site and return to it. 2. Brand Image The ability to build up a brand name for the e-commerce business, and its products and services, using online and offline brand-building techniques. The more awareness a business can generate for its site, the greater the volume of traffic and potential for sales. 3. Interaction The means of relationship-building with individual customers by providing timely pre-sales information and excellent after-sales support. The business builds up a critical mass of loyal customers. Reference: 1. e-business infrastructure: Lessons from failure, Computer Finance, Dec 2000, p11 2. Mack, Ann M. , Stayin Alive, Adweek Eastern Edition, 06/12/2000, Vol. 41 Issue 24, p68 3. Turban, Efraim, King, David. , Lee. , Warkentin, Merill. , Chung, H. Michael. (2002) Electronic Commerce 2002: A Mangerial Perspective, Prentice Hall.  http://www.hostelworld.com/