Ecommerce concepts and applications

Marketing Strategies

The seamless customer experience refers to the various channels a merchant might use in order to market its products or services. Historically, such channels have been the physical store, customer service centers that might be contacted by telephone, and mail order brochures that customers could use to browse the merchant's products or services. Current developments in technology have added one more channel, the Internet.

To make the customer experience seamless means that the merchant, as far as humanly possible, provides the customer with the exact same experiences in whichever channel he or she chooses to browse or shop. The Internet storefront of the Amazon.com bookstore, for example, should have the same variety and prices offered by the company's physical store. Customer service should also be of the same quality over the whole range of channels from which the customer may choose. The more integrated the channels are, the more seamless the customer's experience.

When launching a Website, the business person has a number of things to consider and a variety of steps to follow. Creating and launching a Website is approached in four phases. The first is the preparation phase, during which the advertising campaign is developed. Research is also done during this phase in order to determine the market potential of the product or service. The pre-launch phase consists of submissions to search engines and directories, developing strategic alliances, and submitting press releases. When the Website is launched, this phase also includes strategic advertising, direct mail campaigns and announcements in newsgroups. The final phase is the post-launch phase. Here the Website owner evaluates the performance of the product or service offered through the site. This evaluation will then reveal whether the Website has been successful, or whether more research and development is needed. When the evaluation is complete and improvements made accordingly, the cycle can begin again.

Physical architecture refers to the physical make-up of information resources such as computer hardware and software, files, screens, reports, forms, and so on. The physical aspect of information relates to how logical components will be implemented. The logical aspect refers to components of data and processing. An example of physical architecture can be demonstrated via the example of the payroll. Initially, the payroll was managed in manual format, then with time clocks, and finally electronically, via mainframes, minis and PC's. As such, physical architecture changes often and with increasing speed as time passes. The logical aspect relates to the nature of the business itself and changes only with the business.

A startup refers to a business that is in its earliest development stages. It therefore is not yet showing any growth in terms of profits or turnover. Indeed, having just started, the startup owner is more than likely still in debt in terms of business loans. It is also not a certainty that the business will succeed. A startup on the Internet for example is one that has just entered the launching phase of its development. As such, the owner needs to do significant research and development in order to ensure success.