Business Manager 0668
Transactions Process
Tools for customers
Strategies for improvement
Affiliate Programs
Website advertisement
Search Engine Optimization and webpage rankings
Global business diversity
Business climate
Language
Culture
Infrastructure
Website integration of tools
Discuss how you will facilitate customer payment using e-commerce solutions (e.g., how the transaction will take place, including the tools customers will use).
The customer transactions and payments are one of the important elements of e-commerce strategy. The businesses are required to offer a secure and trust worthy system for their client to manage the financial transactions. There are different transactions handling methods used by the e-commerce-based organizations. These payment methods should be aligned with the overall business transaction handling process as well as appropriate selection of tools and e-payment solutions.
Transactions Process:
The transactions of products produced under the label of Sunny Day salon are mainly related to hair care and the business seeks to open new avenues for sales. The existing customerslikely to purchase products that are categorized as consumables and as a result the business can target national and international markets. The consumableproducts will also be added to the existing product range and enabling it to become a diverse product range. The typical transaction perceived for the business expansion model is as following.
The customers are likely to create an online account prior to purchase of products. They can surf for products on the e-commerce website using a guest account however prior to start shopping they need to create an account by providing their credit card details. The later process will allow them to select the products and place an order with their preferred mode and time of delivery. The customers are also likely to receive a conformation after charging their credit card for payment. The payment and ordering process will beaccomplished through a secure online server. Upon placement of order the customers will receive an electronically generated receipt confirming the deliver date and time.
Tools for customers:
There are various online tools that can be used to facilitate an order processing system. Most of the businesses that are related in the market incorporate an e-shopping cart system within their website that handles their product sales. The e-shopping cart system allows the business to offer products, promote special offers, and target the audience with specific products. They also have the capability to highlight the best-selling and packaged products. The packaged products are highlighted through suggesting the products sold in a couple to similar products.
The e-shopping carts solutions are easily available through online stores and resources for developers. It is also likely to acquire shopping cart coding from free websites including the freeware providers. The e-shopping solutions also offer a number of benefits including the data analysis capability to identify the customer locations and other demographic elements that can be analyzed for improvement in services and marketing strategies. The e-commerce websites also acquire secure service providers locations for establishment of their order processing and payment collection processes. There are also other smartphone applications that enable the businesses to manage their business transactionsincluding the App Square register. It is also a cost efficient mechanism to handle the accounting and payment collection for small to medium sized businesses (Ojeda-Zapata, 2011).
The ecommerce payment solutions are available for businesses to handle their payment and order processing requirements. The e-commerce solutions that are pre-fabricated require a great degree of relevance and standardization for the relevant business. The e-commerce solutions are also implemented in accordance with the business processes involved for a particular entity. The Sunny Day Salon requires a standard e-commerce cart to handle its order processing and payment collection functions.
The e-commerce payment solutions provided by various online service providers require a certain degree of commission on the payment processing therefore the services provided are secure and loss of payment option in minimal for professionally developed e-commerce payment mechanism. The organizations need to respond towards their applicable data protection and privacy laws since cybercrime involved in financial embezzlement is also a relevant risk thatshould be considered prior to adoption of a solution. The e-commerce payment solutions are required to maintain a high degree of customer data confidentiality and integrity elements in order to sustain a threat of finial mishandling.
Task 2:
Develop three to five search engine optimization strategies to improve the fundability of your business on the Internet.
Search Engine Optimization:
Search engine optimization is used an s tool buy e-commerce and dynamic website developers to increase the visibility of the website in cyberspace. The importance of search engine optimization cannot be undermined and it also requires various strategies and use of products that can enhance a business visibility on the internet. The search engine optimization can be achieved through undertaking relevant process. The businesses need to identify key words that describe their business products and services. It also requires identifying he possible key words that can be used by the clients to search defined products. The Sunny Day Salon requires establishing a list of key words relevant for its business in various target markets. Later these key words are used as Meta tags for increasing the search results of the business cyber address (Kim, Tao, Shin, & Kim, 2010).
The search engine optimization is also offered by various IT related product developers that offer products to increase vertical and horizontal search engine optimization strategies. These products can be bought in order to further enhance the chances of businesses to increase its visibility on the website. The wider availability of the products to increase search engine optimization is also achieved through adding scripts to the website coding using different technology solutions. The major search engines also offer products that enable a business to optimize its visibility and increase ranking using various algorithms developed to facilitate the requirements.The Sunny Day Salon should not opt to incorporate all available options. It is always wise for the business to develop a strategy and adopt it for a period to time to assess its results as online search engine optimization can be achieved using a simple to most complex strategy depending on the business and its relevant strategy for higher results.
Strategies for improvement:
The strategy for improvement in search engine raking, search engine optimization, and conversion rate from visitors to consumers for a are moistrelevant factors that should be addressed in order to achieve higher results the strategies are developed to increase the chances for a business to highlight its cyberspace presence. The businesses are also likely to receive a consistent flow of customers in case the selected strategy is effective for increasing its cyber viability.Following strategies are suggested for Sunny Day Salon for improvement in the web sales (Kent, 2012).
Affiliate Programs:
The business should identify potential suppliers and related businesses to offer or accept a program for placement of website banners and advertisements. The business agrees on a mutually beneficial program that offers them a place for placement of an advertisement on the website. The program can also offer a certain commission percentage for sales generated through the click of an advertisement placed noteaffiliateProgram Company’s website (Kent, 2012).
Website advertisement:
There is pay per click options that pay a minimal amount of money for placement of the advertisement on the websites. The users that click the business advert placed on the website earn money for the owner of the website. The website advertisement strategy is effective while a promotional package or deal is offered. It enables the company to create an effective financial strategy and generate sales during high seasons (Kent, 2012).
Search Engine Optimization and webpage rankings:
The programs for increasing website ranking are also offered by the search engines. They provide a coding for increasing visibility for the webpages. The web pages are also ranked in relevance with the search selection criterion. The businesses offering services for increasing webpage rankings and search engine optimization also provide data for improvement and targeting the visibility (kent, 2012).
Task 3:
Discuss how to make the website accessible to a diverse customer base, making it internationally friendly. Consider the business climate, language, culture, and infrastructure requirements. Include at least three considerations in the discussion.
The diversity in customer base is achieved through a consistent policy and potential of products and services provided through websites. The global businesses require certain degree of diversity within the policy and infrastructure of their products and business mission. It is also likely that the business develops products that are appearing for various target markets and demographics. The elementsthat are relevant for considerations while spreading a business reach should be edified and addressed in detail prior to operations.
Global business diversity:
The business diversity is dependent on its capacity to reach target markets as well as the products that can cater the need of diverse markets. It is also likely that the businesses similar to Sunny Day Salon require a profound product that caters the need of the market. The initial target market of United Sates requires a comprehensive marketing approach to inform about the salient product features. Similarly the local market can also create an impact on global presence of the business. The global players already in the industry segment require an approach that is implementable throughout the business elements and e-commerce components. The business also needs to establish a strong brand presence and recognition that is in line with the global requirements (Peng, 2012).
Business climate:
The business climate is comprised of the internal and externalelements of globaleconomy. The economic analysis including political, economic, social, technological, legal, and environmental factors is required to address the issues in detail. The global economies have similar issues however the localized cultural and external environmental factors also influence a business capability to cater the markets (Peng, 2012). The business climate for global market is also influenced by the market and competitive forces present in the relevant industry. The business entities similar to Sunny Day Salon can be categorized as small to medium sized enterprises therefore it is required for them to identify the elements present in the global market that cause resistance for the organizations. The identification and analysis can lead to a Language:
Languages spoken in many countries require the products that are manufactured for global market to have a translation usage instructions and ingredients. The translations for native language are not only legal requirements but it also allows the users to better understand the product composition. Similarly the websites that target global market places also incorporate coding or translations of their advertising material in native languages (Global, 2012). The advantage gained through offering localized marketing material can be understood in relation to the adaptability of the products for local cultures. The cultures and countries are different in responding towards products that are offered as local and related marketing material is also translated for targeting the local community.
Culture:
The Sunny Day Salon products can also observe a different response based on the cultures. The demographic elements of a product that is used as a luxury e.g. hair care or skin care requires a specific target in order to appeal its customers. The hair colors for example could differ in terms of its shade for a particular culture while other might not appraise the applicability of the products as differing on tone or color of the product. The cultural differences can also be observed in response to the marketing materials and e-commerce web elements. Some of the cultures are particularly possessive about privacy information and does not trust a foreign website for shopping (Kim, Tao, Shin, & Kim, 2010). Therefore the design and appearance of the website should incorporate elements that are helpful in neutralizing such negative behaviors of users.
Infrastructure:
The infrastructure of e-commerce is related to the website design, usage of secure servers, and availability of technology. The organizations that require a diverse customer appeal should also undertake analysis of the target market and assess the level of technology available in the market. The business is also likely to tailor its website design usage of images according to the basic requirements of the target clients. It is likely that certain high technology resolutions could not be viewed appropriately in the target market. The speed of internet and technology infrastructure is highly considerable while developing solutions for global target markets.
Task 4:
Discuss how you will implement customer relationship management software on the website.
There are various software aided solutions that enable a business to keep a closer contact with its clients and as a result appear as local. The technology advancement has also changed the customer services standards as well as the tools that are used to keep a closer contact with the customers. The customer relations management is an added technique that requires a technology solution as well as a business strategy to maintain effective communications with its customers.
Customer Relationship Management:
The customer relationship management is a concept introduced in the late 1990s when the companies realized that the customer service is not only about the timely delivery of quality products. It also requires taking care of the customer’s needs through developing a closer contact on regular basis. The large organizations incorporate certain procedures for their marketing and sales staff to cater target markets through efficient maintenance of contact. The small to medium sized business also need to stay competitive in this regard to handle their clients more effectively.
Customer relations management has a commercial perspective and according to Buttle (2012) the applicability of the CRM as a solution for banks, automobile manufacturers, high-tech companies, and consumer goods manufacturers. The last category is applicable for the Sunny Day Salon. The dealings of the sector with retail business it enables the business to establish a close contact with the retailers. The costs to serve and consumer profitability is highlighted by the software used for CRM. The research further asserts that the IT enabled services e.g. e-commerce solutions are also likely to take advantage of the CRM offerings. The cost efficacy element of the marketing campaigns that are based on CRM is also an added advantage for the business.
There are various tools and vendors of the CRM services. They are also denounced as CRM vendors offering a range of offline to online solutions. The businesses should also consult their IT and management experts prior to taking a decision about the CRM tools that are helpful in achieving the goals. The CRM selection and implementations is a trivial task and it requires management and IT expertise to achieve higher results. The ideas that incorporate the CRM practices regard customers as partners and extend the benefits of products and services to customers.
Website integration of tools:
The CRM solutions are mainly effective in system integrations and creating a viable platform for the business to unify its customer service efforts in a composed direction. The vendors of CRM are not only technology service providers but they also provide trainings for operating and utilizing the capabilities of CRM software for capacity building and provision of services using technology. The customer service aspect of the software is developed on the basis of a proactive approach and it also has a backend handling that enables the management to feed data for later intimidation.
Similarly the web-based tools for CRM and solutions that can be integrated through websites are provided by salesforce.com, Entellium, RightNow and NetSuit. The vendors of CRM systems also provide their services through application service providers and companies offering hosting for the websites. It is recommended that Sunny Day Salon requests the e-commerce website hosting company to offer solutions for CRM software and selects the best possible solution on the basis of cost for the solutions as well as the applicability for achievement of business objectives (Buttle, 2012).
References:
Buttle, F. (2012). Customer relationship management.USA: Routledge.
Kent, P. (2012). Search engine optimization for dummies. USA: John Wiley & Sons Inc.
Kim, C., Tao, W., Shin, N., & Kim, K.S. (2010). An empirical study of customers’ perceptions of security and trust in e-payment systems. Electronic Commerce Research and Applications, 9(1), 84-95.
Ojeda-Zapata, J. (2011). iPad Means Business: How Apple’s Tablet Computer is Changing the Work World. USA: Happy About.
Peng, M.W. (2012). Global business.USA: Cengage Learning.
