E-commerce Website Design and Usability

This assignment delves into the crucial elements that contribute to a successful e-commerce website. It examines the impact of usability and web design attributes on user preferences, explores trust considerations in online purchasing, investigates the role of social support and relationship quality in driving social commerce, and analyzes factors influencing repurchase intentions in B2C e-commerce. The assignment utilizes academic research papers and case studies to provide a comprehensive understanding of the complexities involved in creating effective e-commerce platforms.

Business Skills for e-
Commerce

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
Impact of E-commerce...........................................................................................................1
Advantages and Disadvantages..............................................................................................2
Social implication of e-commerce on society........................................................................3
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................4
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................5

INTRODUCTION
E-commerce is considered as a transaction of buying and selling with the help of internet
or online medium. It can be classified in diverse activities such as mobile commerce, internet
marketing, data collection system, etc. With an application of e-commerce system, the
organisations are attaining various advantages which also assist in improving their competitive
values (Laudon and Traver, 2013). For the present report, John Lewis is being referred as an
organization which will assist in analysing various aspects related to e-commerce.
Impact of E-commerce
In the year 2010, John Lewis has started focusing on improving sales through online
mediums. During the process, a company has also identified opportunities for customers to
interact with the brand through new and multiple touch points. In this respect, an organization
has also focused on changes in strategy so that the highest priority can be set out for e-commerce
system development. It has allowed businesses to advance their sales from £393m to £685m by
the end of year 2011. It has also transformed the operations of John Lewis and helped in
becoming one of the top e-retailers in UK (2012 winner: John Lewis, E-Commerce - Case Study,
2017).
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Figure 1: E-commerce System
(Source: Frepik, 2017)
Although customer base of a company has also advanced with an increase of 27 percent
by the end of year 2011, it has also employed the fundamental change in trading strategy which
was beneficial to meet the needs of customers. The trading process became more convenient for
the clients and helped business to gain better customer base (Liang, 2011). Level of satisfaction
has also increased which has improved the determination of management to promote business
more efficiently on digital channels. Moreover, sales in fashion sector have accounted with an
improvement of 25 percent by the end of year 2012. E-commerce has provided new
opportunities for company and allowed to have a successful launch of 55,000 products through
its online platform (Freepik, 2017).
In the year 2010, John Lewis has also introduced its services called click and collect. Key
motive behind the service launch was to offer significant support to its e-commerce system.
However, it has effectively supported the system and marked 1,500,000 successful orders by the
end of 2011. Customers have taken such service as the most convenient service which allows
them to have purchase of products according to their needs (Sismeiro and Bucklin, 2013).
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In December 2011, John Lewis has introduced its mobile application for better support to
e-commerce activities. It has provided better access to customers to 200,000 products and
allowed to better experience of shopping. Additional features of John Lewis application were
like GPS store location, rating of products, etc. It has enhanced the customer satisfaction and
allowed to gain better competitive values in the market. Later, company has also associated this
service with its subsidiary brands like Waitrose (2012 winner: John Lewis, E-Commerce - Case
Study, 2017). In the year 2012, it has been recorded that 25 percent of all orders within Waitrose
are from its click and collect channels.
Advantages and Disadvantages
Advantages
 Easy access to market: By having an improved focus on online business promotion, John
Lewis has offered easy access to products and services. With an assistance of e-
commerce, selling and purchasing of products have been improved in the desired
manner. A wide range of products is available on the single platform (Zhang, 2011).
 Reduced overheads: Online marketing and e-commerce activities advance the
opportunities for business firm (Ramayah, 2009). For example, a decrease in the need for
expensive retail store has been taken into account. It indicates that through e-commerce
activities, the financial investment in terms of physical store can be controlled for
sustainable development. Although, online presence of products allows customers to
have better convenience (McCole, 2010).
 Customer intelligence: It provides an ability to have an effective analysis of customer
needs. For example, in past three months, the customers have purchased woollen wear
mostly through online platform. On the basis of such statistics available on e-commerce
system, John Lewis can design better strategies in order to have sustainable development.
The customers can easily access detailed information about the products through a portal
which assists in ensuring about their needs (Beaudry and Pinsonneault, 2010).
Disadvantages
 Shipping rates: It has been witnessed that many online shopping portals like John Lewis
charges a shipping rate. It increases the financial burden on customers and affect overall
outcomes in a diverse manner (Tallon and Pinsonneault, 2011). For example, a company
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is offering free shipping on purchase of 100 pounds and above then, it will increase the
burden on a customer in terms of shipping rate.
 Waiting: In online shopping, customers have to wait for delivery of the product which
can be referred as a disadvantage. Although, the delay in delivery of a product in e-
commerce platform is also another issue which might affect the level of satisfaction of
customers (Dahlstrom, Walker and Dziuban, 2013).
 Return dispute: Customers may face the issue regarding improper delivery of goods in
terms of quality. In such situation, if he/she wants to return the product then due to
complex policies, the issues can be faced (Sittig, 2010).
Social implication of e-commerce on society
In addition to this, it can be said that e-commerce application has a great impact on social
values which need to be considered by John Lewis for better development of a system. By
having an improved focus on e-commerce services, customers can easily compare the pricing of
products while making a decision regarding purchase. E-commerce also offers a convenient
shopping option (Davenport, 2013). It is because; the online shopping can be done 24*7 as per
need. It means a person does not need to visit the store during a particular time. However, the
risk regarding uncertainty of payment method increases. It might be possible that if secured
methods are not being used during online payment then bank accounts can be hacked by
unethical parties. However, online payment increases the digital practice within society which is
beneficial for modernization (Schwalbe, 2015).
CONCLUSION
As per the above study, it can be concluded that e-commerce is considered as a practice
that allows businesses to have online transactions of business activities. By having an effective
reference of online facilities, the businesses are also having long-term sustainability. John Lewis
has achieved competitive advantage in the market using online practice. Customer base and sales
have also been enhanced in order to gain a better market share. It leads businesses to an
impressive level of success and ensures that better opportunities can be attained. However, social
values are also being affected due to an application of e-commerce which is needed to be
referred effectively.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Beaudry, A. and Pinsonneault, A., 2010. The other side of acceptance: studying the direct and
indirect effects of emotions on information technology use. MIS quarterly, pp.689-710.
Dahlstrom, E., Walker, J.D. and Dziuban, C., 2013. ECAR study of undergraduate students and
information technology. 2013.
Davenport, T.H., 2013. Process innovation: reengineering work through information
technology. Harvard Business Press.
Laudon, K.C. and Traver, C.G., 2013. E-commerce. Pearson.
Lee, S. and Koubek, R.J., 2010. The effects of usability and web design attribute on user
preference for e-commerce websites. Computers in Industry. 61(4). pp. 329-341.
Lewis, M., 2011. Method and apparatus for evaluating fraud risk in an electronic commerce
transaction. U.S. Patent.
Liang, T.P., 2011. What drives social commerce: The role of social support and relationship
quality. International Journal of Electronic Commerce. 16(2). pp. 69-90.
McCole, P., 2010. Trust considerations on attitudes towards online purchasing: The moderating
effect of privacy and security concerns. Journal of Business Research. 63(9). pp. 1018-
1024.
Ramayah, T., 2009. A decomposed theory of reasoned action to explain intention to use Internet
stock trading among Malaysian investors. Computers in Human Behavior. 25(6). pp.
1222-1230.
Schwalbe, K., 2015. Information technology project management. Cengage Learning.
Sismeiro, C. and Bucklin, R.E., 2013. Modeling purchase behavior at an e-commerce web site:
A task-completion approach. American Marketing Association.
Sittig, A. and Zuckerberg, M., Facebook, Inc., 2010. Managing information about relationships
in a social network via a social timeline. U.S. Patent.
Tallon, P.P. and Pinsonneault, A., 2011. Competing perspectives on the link between strategic
information technology alignment and organizational agility: insights from a mediation
model. Mis Quarterly. 35(2). pp. 463-486.
Zhang, Y., 2011. Repurchase intention in B2C e-commerce—A relationship quality
perspective. Information & Management. 48(6). pp. 192-200.
Online
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2012 winner: John Lewis, E-Commerce - Case Study. 2017. [Online]. Available through:
<https://www.marketingsociety.com/the-library/2012-winner-john-lewis-e-commerce-
case-study#bHEuSyCP8RkomRCA.97>. [Accessed on 4th October 2017].
Freepik, 2017. E-commerce elements. [Online]. Available through:
<http://www.freepik.com/free-vector/flat-ecommerce-icons-infographic_828172.htm>.
[Accessed on 4th October 2017].
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