Small Business Websites

Week 13

Handheld Devices

Online have changed dramatically as years have gone by, changes in technology allow for amazing new things and the ability to do new things. Handheld tablet pc’s, mobile phones, pda’s etc means customers can now access the internet wirelessly just about anywhere at any time.

And with this technology it means there could be a greater amount of customers browsing a business’s website. In the same time it means the site admin can readily access and update the website, and control stock

Customer Specialization

          The language online has changed and, the type of sites created have changed and allow for browsers to customise how they like to see the webpage, and allows for easier browsing. Users can view the page have their details stored on the site, so when they logon the appearance of the site changes to how they suite, and has there previous details posted, and means previous purchases can be traced and the customers most popular searches readily available.   

Domain websites

          As time has gone by, website browsers have preferred to have the 1 website that takes care of it all, its one of the reasons why Google is so popular. More to the point a site that takes care of a whole industry is becoming more and more popular, for example mydomain.com which takes care of a lot of the property related sales, it means a number of business register with my domain. And the property that each real estate agent has for sale, rent or share is listed on the site.

Tutorial 13

Future Trends

1.1 Grow or Perish : Expanding to online storefront

A simple website advertising products does not produce the same effect as an online storefront; so more businesses are giving their customers the option of purchasing online.

However at first there are many hurdles to overcome, such as lack of the users experience with computers, note feeling safe using credit cards online and so on. Many users feel worried of having their credit/savings stolen if they use online shopping. In terms of online banking, a bank is obligated to replace your savings whether they were stolen physically or electronically. Therefore it is in fact safe for users to shop online using their credit/savings accounts. In particular with Australian users, consumer and credit card protection laws cover your purchases when you buy them from Australian shops, so it is in fact safe to shop online.

Shopping online can maximise a businesses yearly earnings. Many consumers may desire the products they are offering, however they may not be able to reach the physical storefront, for example, rural Australians. An online storefront helps the business reach these users. With the online store, back-end features need to be carefully considered, such as delivery services and stock checking (and updating the website to inform consumers when a product is out of stock).

1.2 Global Competition

Going online has many advantages, however it also has a disadvantage. As well as expanding your business globally, you also have an increased amount of competition to deal with.

A business needs to be well informed of its competition, what goods and services they offer, as well as industry benchmarks and standards. However knowledge of these is no guarantee to success. Your products must be desirable to consumers, your products need to be advertised to users, and your online services need to be advertised to users.

Competing online puts a business up against the industry leaders. For instance, if one wanted to set up an online auction website, your major competition would be ebay.com. Some businesses have acknowledged this, and instead have chosen to run their business via eBay. Many businesses have set up an account with eBay, and sell their products through the worlds largest online marketplace. This in itself is smart move, as you take advantage of eBay’s large customer base. However there is the expense of paying eBay a small percentage of each sale. That is the major disadvantage of running a business through eBay.

1.3 Deregulated Markets

When governments remove the restriction on a business or individual in order to encourage the efficient operation of markets, this is known as deregulation. With fewer regulations on a business, this may lead to an increased level of competitiveness, ensuring higher productivity, more efficiency and lower prices overall (Wikipedia, 2006).

Australia has experienced extensive deregulation of the labour market since 2005. Since this is only a recent development, it would suggest the market will continue to be deregulated in the future, providing the levels of productivity and competitiveness prove to be profitable.

The removal of restrictions would encourage more ‘players’ to enter the market. Many would baulk at these restrictions, that is why deregulation proves to be a intelligent move; allowing new businesses to enter market and current business to continue producing but at higher levels of productivity and efficiency.

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deregulation

Class Exercise

With free content/free information, a user is able to use any kind of functional work, artwork or other creative content, without a legal restriction relative to peoples freedom to use, redistribute, improve and/or share the content. Once modified, the work can be distributed as free content. To be considered free content, the work must allow modification and redistribution (Wikipedia, 2006).

An example of free content is the Hangman game:

References

http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Free+content

ADDING FREE CONTENT

tutorial 12

Small Business Websites

Tutorial Notes 12

1.                      Why do companies need to carry out website performance analysis?

Companies need to carry out website performance analysis:

• To see if users are visiting this website
• If users are not visiting the web site maybe how they can improve the site.

2.                      What are the differences between back-end standards and front-end standards?

Back end standards

• Standards in creating a web site
• Front end – user related standards

3.                       

4.                      Give examples of some of the standards that could be used as benchmarks for website performance analysis.

• Network Management Standards
• Database Management Standards
• Software Integration
• Payment Processing

5.                      Why is supply chain as essential for e-business as it is for the traditional business? Discuss.

Supply chain is an essential for e-business as it is for traditional business because information and resources are involved

6.                      What are the “Terms of Delivery”? Explain.

Terms of delivery are trading partners of the goods and services.

7.                      What does “CIF” stand for?

Cost insurance and freight it is a total price showing the cost of good insurance and freight.

8.                      If you place an order for a CD with a US website, what would you regard as a reasonable time-frame for the order to be fulfilled? Discuss.

An order for a cd from the us web site should take no longer than 20 days because that’s 3 weeks which is more than enough time to order the cd and send it through.

9.                      What is “colour coordination”? Give examples

colour coordination is how the colour has been set out on a web site such as is it easy for the reader to see the website .

10.                 Do you feel that human involvement is required for CM (Content Management) or it can be accomplished fully through the use of content management software? Discuss

11.                 Give examples of intra-industry benchmarks for websites.

·        How many times the web site has been visited this will show if the site is popular or not.

·        How the web site functions

How many times the web site has been visited this will show if the site is popular or not.

Week 13 tutorial

Small Business Websites

Tutorial Notes 13

Future Trends

The internet can be a useful tool for small business to help it expand and grow. Although it is perceived that the internet is only meant for larger businesses, some small businesses have captured this concept and used it to help expand their business. In most cases, they have found that it was a good decision to make.

Grow or Perish – This is a future trend where small business may choose to either grow or perish. Considering their current business state, they have to either make their business grow to survive and succeed, or they can not do anything therefore the business shall perish.

In this case, the grow or perish concept can be put into perspective if small businesses either decide to use the internet to help their business or to not use it at all.

Deregulate Markets – This is when the Government decides to take away any restraints that are holding back business markets to perform efficiently.

Taking away restraints provides businesses with the opportunity to compete against each other and maintain competitive. This trend can be performed by business by lowering their prices so more customers will come to them therefore they will increase sales.

Global Competition – Global competition is a popular trend as thousands of businesses all over the world are participating in global competition.

Thousands of businesses have online presence which can be reached to other parts of the world through the internet. In this case, they are competing with other businesses from other parts of the world hence global competition is occurring.