Be able to plan e-commerce strategies

E-commerce strategy An e-commerce strategy encapsulates all the decisions which need to be made when setting up an e-commerce site. As it is documented, it fixes the ideas, which is especially useful if several people are involved, it can cement the decisions so there is no disagreement. It can also be given to any external agencies, if they being used to create any part, so they can clearly see what is needed.

Structure It is important to consider the structure of the website and of each page within it. At all times customer considerations should come first making sure they will enjoy their experience of using the site, find it easy to navigate and use and hopefully make purchases, perhaps also returning again to buy more products and advertising your site by word of mouth to their family and friends. Customer interface The customer interface is the first point of contact the user will have with the on line business. If visitors are not able to use it easily, it is very likely they will shop elsewhere.

Usability issues such as those listed below must be considered when designing an interface: Who are the users? What do the users already know? What do the users want or need to do? What is the general background of the users? What context is it to be used in? What is to be done by the computer? What is to be done by the user?

For customers to buy products from e-commerce sites, they must register by entering their personal details). This usually involves giving full name, date of birth, address and sometimes financial details such as credit card numbers, ready to be used if the customer makes a purchase. E-commerce businesses can use this data to personalise a website. This can also be used to store a user's purchasing details so they do not have to retype this every time they wish to buy a product. A cookie is a small piece of information stored on the user's computer about them for a specific website, such as the last item they purchased or their choice of display options. This is stored on the user's computer so when the website is downloaded into the browser or the user logs in to a web page, the cookie is recognised and the customer's information is inserted into their personalised web page. This could be a problem as it makes purchasing from such sites very quick and easy and could encourage irresponsible spending.

When buying products on line, some customers worry about the delay between paying for goods ordered and receiving those goods. Will the goods arrive? When will they arrive? To allay these fears, some e-commerce businesses provide customers with the facility to see where their order is in the delivery chain. For example, a customer may log on and use the order number to view a particular order and see that the order is being processed. Later, the customer may see that the order has been dispatched and that the products are due for delivery the next day. This reassures customers who might otherwise be contacting the business, worried that they have not yet received their goods. E-commerce sites also take advantage of flexibility to win over customers. Rather than being tied to the house all day, awaiting a package, many sites allow e-shoppers to have their orders dispatched to an alternative address or addresses.

Image E-commerce site designers must pay careful attention to their company's image, or brand reputation. With the emergence of a vocal community of bloggers, Tweeters, and other social media users, it is very easy for one bad customer experience to go viral and be seen around the world. Many companies have keyword alerts set up for any mention of their brand online, so that the PR department is aware of a potential loss of reputation- and can act to resolve it- before the situation goes critical. But protecting the company image can also be handled badly and the news media is full of stories of company employees getting into trouble for insulting customers via an official Facebook® page or Twitter feed.

Style An e-commerce site is an extension of a business, no matter whether it trades in a traditional store or purely online. Most businesses will have a logo and a colour scheme, possibly a standard design or specialised font. A customer should be able to look at an e-commerce site and recognise it as being part of the business as a whole. This can instill confidence in the customer -if they can trust the business, they can trust its e- commerce site.

Activity Look at several e-commerce sites with which you are familiar from the high street, such as Asda or HMV. Do their e-commerce sites reflect the style of their traditional stores? Record your results and views.