Internet business strategy for small enterprises and local retailers

E-Commerce and Internet

E-commerce

Brief overview of the business

The business that requires a website is a local food store called People's Food Community that sells organic products and buys produce from the local farmers. This business is local in every sense and they cater to people who are health-conscious and support local farming and community. They have their own deli, bakery and salad bar that is popular among a good section of the population.

Internet business model

"A business model is a method of doing business. All business models specify what a company does to create value, how it is situated among upstream and downstream partners in the value chain, and the type of arrangement it has with its customers to generate revenue. In any given industry, the methods of doing business may vary, but there are limits imposed by technological factors, by the competitive dynamic among companies and between companies and their channel partners, and by customer expectations and preferences, among other things" (Rappa, 2004. p.34).

Based on the above definition, the business model that would work well for the food store is a combination of the catalog and merchant model. This is a brick and mortar company that has a store to service its customers and it is looking to use the power of Internet to increase its sales and expand its customer base. So, it requires a website to list its products and consumers can buy them directly from the website and it will be shipped to their place. This is the basis of the merchant model. The food store is also looking to do mail order processing where it sends out catalogs and takes orders through email and telephone and this is based on the catalog model. A combination of these two would work best for the food store.

Functions of the website

The website should perform a wide range of functions that would give a big boost to the company's sales and exposure. Firstly, it should educate people about the benefits of eating organic food and supporting local farmers with an aim to improve the local community. A series of static information pages on the website can talk about the compelling need for this change in lifestyle.

The next function is to make it possible for customers to see the list of available products and order them online. This requires the use of credit card processing. In other words, the website will be a virtual store that will augment the brick and mortar store to cater to the needs of the people who may find it difficult to travel to the store. This functionality is expected to increase the sales of the food store by more than 50% because inclement weather and frequent snow storms make it difficult for people to travel and there is only store for the entire city. In the future, it also has plans to expand its operations to cater to the needs of people across the country.

The website should also email catalogs to customers who have signed up for it. This should give them the list of available produce and the discounts that are offered. The customers can then place order through email or phone and they will be ready for pick-up or delivery. These are the three main functions of the website for the People's food community store.

Benefits from a website

The food store is likely to gain a lot from its website. Firstly, it educates people about the health benefits and this is expected to make a big impact on many Americans who are constantly looking for ways and means to improve their quality of eating and living. Once this awareness is created, more and more people will opt for locally-grown organic food and that by itself can boost the company's sales. The addition of e-commerce or online purchasing of goods can further increase the sales of the store. The email catalogs are a great way to retain the interest of the customers and along with the discounts, it is likely to increase the customer base of the store. These are some of the ways by which the store can benefit by adding an e-commerce store and harnessing the power of Internet.

Effective use of the Internet to promote business

With more and more people accessing the web today, it is more important than ever before to have a presence on the Internet. A website is a great way to make use of the Internet and along with the email catalogs, they are an effective promotional tool to boost the sales of the business. The store can also consider using Search engine optimization techniques to increase its page rank so that people searching for organic food will be able to see this page.

Functional specifications

Functional specifications are the steps or the documentation required to design a software system after taking into consideration the requirements and the expected functionality of the system. (Department of Defense systems management college, 2001).

The functional specifications for the proposed website will include a content management system for the employees to edit the information on the web pages without knowing HTML or other technologies and an email system that can be used for subscribing to the catalogs. Besides, the web pages should be viewable in any browser and conform to the rules laid down by W3C.