Ecommerce
Revenue models.
The revenue models exemplified in the following lines are: web catalog, digital content, advertising supported, advertising subscription mixed, fee for transaction, fee for service.
Web catalog revenue model a) Quelle
http://www.quelle.com/en/
Quelle is one of Germany’s most successful mail order companies, established in 1923. Quelle sells clothing items for all ages, house and gardening accessories, electronics, leisure time and sports accessories. Customers can select the items they want from a very large catalog, which covers all tastes, trends, and needs (Quelle, 2008). The catalog is very well divided. For example, for each clothing category customers can select their desired items by searching according to color, length, size, or price range.
A b) IBM
http://www.ibm.com/us/
IBM is one of the most successful companies in the it market. The company’s success has also been expanded by online sales. Obviously, the company needed a very clearly developed web catalog for its customers. The web catalog divides products into: software, systems, servers and storage, small business products, medium business products. IBM also offers support for workstations, IBM certified used equipment, upgrades and accessories. The web catalog also provides information on special offers and financing offers (IBM, 2008).
A c) Furniture Online
http://www.furniture-online.com/
This company provides furniture for home and office, and accessories. All furniture items are listed in a web catalog divided into the following sections: medical filing, large document filing, architecture and engineering, arts and crafts, workplace organizations, seating solutions, office furniture, facility essentials, ergonomic products, data cabinets, brands.
Digital content revenue model a) Altova
http://www.altova.com/
Altova is the industry leader in XML editing tools software, and made the top of the 100 digital content companies made by EContent in 2002 (Market Wire, 2002).
A b) Content Reserve
http://contentreserve.com
Content Reserve is basically a “secure site where member publishers can upload and sell their ebooks, electronic publications, digital audio, music, video and other digital content. Services include storage of approved materials, digital rights management, pricing, monitoring downloads, and access to a network of buyers and sellers” (Deitel, 2008).
A c) Selling Professional Services Online
http://www.bitwine.com/
Bitwine is responsible for providing advisors and experts to customers that require professional help.
Advertising supported revenue model
The best examples of this kind of revenue model are obviously represented by TV broadcasters listed below:
http://www.cnn.com/
http://www.fox.com / http://www.mgm.com/
Advertising subscription mixed revenue model
The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/
European Management Journal
http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/115/description#description
http://www.asq.org/pub/qmj/
The Guardian is specialized in providing news for its customers, while the European Management Journal and the Quality Management Journal are periodicals specialized in management related issues.
Fee for transaction revenue model
Real Adventures
http://www.realadventures.com/vacations/2591_service-travel-agency-united-states.htm
Real Adventures is a travel agency in the United States that provides very diversified packages for its customers.
Drive
http://www.drive.com.au/
Through this website, customers can select from a variety of new and used cars, and also bikes and scooters.
Fee for service revenue model
Sportsbook
http://www.sportsbook.com/
This website allows paying customers to bet online in exchange for a specified fee.
Table 1 Revenue models exemplified
Website URL
Revenue model http://www.quelle.com/en/
Web catalog http://www.ibm.com/us/
Web catalog http://www.furniture-online.com/
Web catalog http://www.altova.com/
Digital content http://contentreserve.com
Digital content http://www.bitwine.com/
Digital content http://www.cnn.com/
Advertising supported http://www.fox.com/
Advertising supported http://www.mgm.com/
Advertising supported http://www.guardian.co.uk/
Advertising subscription mixed
http://www.elsevier.com/
Advertising subscription mixed
http://www.asq.org/pub/qmj/
Advertising subscription mixed
http://www.realadventures.com/
Fee for transaction http://www.drive.com.au/
Fee for transaction http://www.sportsbook.com/
Fee for service
2. Customer centric design
Bad adherence
NASDAQ
http://www.nasdaq.com/
The NASDAQ website seems to be a good example of bad adherence to some of the customer centric web site design guidelines. This website’s content uses plenty of business jargon that in most cases only professionals in the field are able to understand. At some level, this is somewhat excusable since the website is dedicated mostly to professionals. In addition to this, the business terms used here do not come in more popular forms that other viewers can understand. However, the website is also visited by users that do not have a lot of knowledge in the field, but are interested in the provided content.
Moderate adherence
Quelle
http://www.quelle.com
Quelle is a company specialized in mail ordering. The company’s website provides full information on the company’s products and services, pricing, delivery and payment conditions. However, in my opinion, the main problem is the overall aspect of the website. The website is simply quite crowded. It is quite difficult for a new user to orient around the website and to find the items of interest to him.
Good adherence
Drive
http://www.drive.com.au/
Through this website, customers can purchase new or used cars, and bikes and scooters. The design is quite simple, the information is easy to access. The website is consistent in using design features and colors. All in all, this website is very easy to use for anyone.
Regarding the issue of serious eCommerce websites that might be making mistakes, my opinion is that if an eCommerce website makes such errors, this is not a serious website. Ecommerce has significantly diversified over these past few years, and people involved in eCommerce have gained more knowledge and experience. This is why I find it quite unacceptable for a serious eCommerce website to make such mistakes. Customers’ requirements have also diversified in a significant manner, and they do not accept such mistakes. Therefore, serious website must conform to these requirements and eliminate any issue that is not in accordance with these requirements.
3. The basic steps involved in building an eCommerce website that uses a shopping cart that uses PayPal as its payment method are the following: performing online research, preparing product information, opening a PayPal account, registering a domain name, selecting a web host company, building the eCommerce website, testing the website, and marketing the website (Drost, 2006).
In order to use this payment system, the buyer and the seller must be registered for PayPal. Regarding credit cards, money can be added from the credit card. This also applies for bank accounts.
Appendix
List of website URLs presented in the paper http://www.quelle.com/en / http://www.ibm.com/us / http://www.furniture-online.com / http://www.altova.com / http://contentreserve.com http://www.bitwine.com / http://www.cnn.com/
http://www.fox.com / http://www.mgm.com / http://www.guardian.co.uk / http://www.elsevier.com / http://www.asq.org/pub/qmj / http://www.realadventures.com / http://www.drive.com.au / http://www.sportsbook.com / http://www.nasdaq.com/
Reference List
Company history (2008). Quelle. Retrieved August 30, 2008 at http://www.quelle.com/en/unternehmen/sicherung_firmengeschichte/2005/.
IBM Products (2008). IBM United States. Retrieved August 31, 2008 at http://www.ibm.com/products/us/en/.
Altova Named to EContent’s “Top 100 Digital Content Companies to Watch.” Market Wire online. Retrieved August 31, 2008 at http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_pwwi/is_200212/ai_mark02049773.
Selling Digital Content Resource Center (2008). Deitel & Associates, Inc. Retrieved August 31, 2008 at http://www.deitel.com/ResourceCenters/InternetBusiness/SellingDigitalContent/SellingDigitalContentCompanies/tabid/2428/Default.aspx.
Drost, Herman (2006). How to Build an eCommerce Web Site. Retrieved August 31, 2008 at http://www.isitebuild.com/build-ecommerce-web-site.htm.
Website Payment Standard: Overview (2008). PayPal. Retrieved August 31, 2008 from https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_wp-standard-overview-outside&nav=2.0.0.
PayPal (2008). Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved August 31, 2008 at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PayPal.
