Case Study of E - Commerce Assignment

Research report for case
study

Conclusion
It has been concluded from this report that in order to expand business, it is better for a
company to take its business in e-commerce sector. This would help in enhancing the customer
base, attaining and retaining the new ones etc. by which high profitability can be generated. But
as incorporating the online business, organisations have to develop a number of strategies to
design attractive and innovative websites whereby, customers can easily access the demanded
products and purchase through easy modes.

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This report is based on “Sam's office” which provides small plants for the interior décor
of offices. This association was established by VU graduates and operates in Suburb of North
Melbourne where in Lara, West of Melbourne. This business is increasing, so number of
employees are also increasing. So this investigation there will discussion about introduction
about industry Sam is thinking to expand business through e- commerce techniques. So in this
investigation there will discussion about different models i.e. Saas, Iaas. Saas is best because this
is time and cost effective which is relevant in current market. There is discussion about issues
and benefits of using new technique at workplace through e- commerce. At last there is provided
some recommendations through which it can be implemented in better way.
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Table of Contents
TITLE: ............................................................................................................................................1
Introduction .....................................................................................................................................1
Client Background Industry.............................................................................................................1
Industry is the client in...........................................................................................................1
The Industry globally.............................................................................................................1
The industry in Australia........................................................................................................2
Three main competitors for the client....................................................................................2
The main problem the client is addressing in moving to new system....................................2
Recommendation.............................................................................................................................2
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TITLE:
To analyse the significance of e-commerce focus related to B2C Cart and B2C e
Marketing over the performance of retail office. A case study on Sam's Office Plants.
Introduction
This present report is based on the study of the significance of e-commerce focus related
to B2C Cart and B2C e Marketing over the performance of retail office. The discussion of this
report is based on a office which is named as Sam's Office plants, which is a small business and
established from the year of 2013 by the former VU graduates and operates in the Suburb of
North Melbourne which is close to the Melbourne CBD (Yan and et. al., 2016). The business
majorly deals in sells and rents office plants to both small as well as large offices and also
provide decoration and interior facility to the other businesses. The key motive of Sam's Office
Plants is to expansion of business at larger level and providing more effective facilities and
service to their existing and new customers (Chen and et. al., 2015). The company is concern
over applying e-Commerce facility in respect to improvising its Business to Customer(B2C)
operations and Business to Customers e-Marketing. These e-commerce models are effective in
developing the operations of firm at larger level and also helps the firm in attaining higher
growth and success. This report contains the study about the issues faced by Sam's office during
its expansion and how these are overcome through using a suitable e-commerce solution.
Client Background Industry
Industry is the client in
This report is based on the analysis of business expansion through using e-commerce
solutions, thus in this over all report is based on Sam's Office. In this clients is operates in retain
industry and deals in providing plants and interior facilities to large and medium size businesses.
A industry selection is required for a business to implement significant operations and functions
(Falk and Hagsten, 2015).
The Industry globally
In today's modern business environment the key motive of each small as well as large
business organisation is to expansing business at global level for the purpose of attaining higher
growth and success (Awa, Ojiabo and Emecheta, 2015). The headquarter of the firm is in North
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Melbourne CBD. The company currently operates from two locations i.e. one is the head office
that is located in North Melbourne which is also a small warehouse and the other one is an open
horticultural base which is stated on a wide property in Lara, West of Melbourne (Kurnia and et.
al., 2015). The company has planned to expand its operations at global level for the purpose of
attaining higher growth and success. With the help of suitable e-commerce strategy company can
easily expand at global level and attain huge amount of benefit and success.
The industry in Australia
In the present report Sam's office is the chosen organisation which is operated in plan
retail, thus the company deals in providing interior and decoration facility to other small as well
as large business clients in respect to enhancing their performance (Wankmueller, Mastercard
International Inc, 2015). The company majorly operated from its headquarter which is stated in
North Melbourne, which is very much near to the Melbourne CBD. Melbourne is the coastal
capital of Southeaster Australian State. However the base functions of the firm has operated from
Australia and the company is already having a good reputation within Australia.
Three main competitors for the client
The company has its operations all over the Australia and the company has competition
within market (Grbovic, M., and et. al., 2015). The key competition of the firm are Franchams
Indoor Plant Hire and Office Plant Rental, Ambius Austral which also provides Indoor Plants
Services and Fleming's Nurseries. These three are the major rivals of Sam's office.
The main problem the client is addressing in moving to new system
The major issue faces by Sam' s Office is the IT System which is used by the firm at
current basis (Rutherford and et. al., 2016). The expansion of business will create problem in the
currently used IT systems thus the data on the computer systems and laptop requires to be
consolidated and incorporated in the office data system. With the optimisation of new system
these issues can be resolved and organisation is also able to expand the business at global level.
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E-commerce
E- commerce is the other name of electronic commerce. E- commerce refers to the
process in which trading, sales, purchase of good and services are performed through online
measure. In this system money gets transferred through online sources. e- commerce refers to the
process through which online transactions are done (Wang, Wang and Liu, 2016). Marketing is
also done through online sources. With the help of e- commerce it is easy to eliminate middle
men which requires cost and take time in delivery. With the help of e- commerce, there is direct
relation between consumers and business operators. There are some different ways through
which e- commerce activities can be communicated i.e. B2B, B2C. In order to understand
changes and perform actions in better and effective manner (Chaffey, 2015). There is ease in
marketing as well because this is the best way to communicate with consumers regarding new
services, products to consumers. Sam's office deals in providing small plants to consumers
through horticulture background through small plants for interior of offices.
As Sam is thinking to expand business through e- commerce activities. In order to
understand changes in business operations there is requirement of changes in better and effective
manner (Rahayu and Day, 2015). In order to make clear understanding about e- commerce there
is requirement of IT assistance which sounds to be costly for Sam's office. They are thinking that
bushiness expand through e- commerce, then there is risk of high cost and low profits because
this cost is fixed which is incurred irrespective of profits or revenue (Yan and et. al., 2016).
There are different models such as LAAS, SAAS, etc. through which e- commerce can be
implemented in better and effective manner. With understanding models, it is easy to understand
specific changes which are relevant in current market and performing actions to get positive
outcome.
IAAS
IAAS refers to Infrastructure as a service is a form of cloud computing technique which
assist in providing virtualised resources through internet. This is the important component which
assist in knowing what can be done through which operational efficiency can be gained for cloud
computing (Chen and et. al., 2015). This is the technology which is not costly and simple to use
individuals of Sam's office. Dynamic scaling, internet connectivity, automatic administrative
tasks, etc. are some features through which IAAS can use effective method which is important
for understanding changes in better and effective manner (Falk and Hagsten, 2015). With login –
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in IAAS technique, there is requirement to create virtual machines which provides knowledge
about some data bases.
If Sam's office uses IAAS then it is easy to use it and cost can be minimised. Thee is less
possibilities of work load and buying and purchasing of product and services can be use. But
there will some disadvantages as well i.e. when there is new software for IAAS, then old version
has to be removed (Awa, Ojiabo and Emecheta, 2015). Consumers has to pay on the basis of
their use i.e. on the basis of hours, week, moths, etc. IAAS is the software for cloud computing
which ease in conducting operations and perform actions in order to provide hot and mange
infrastructure.
SAAS
SAAS refers to Software as a Service in which there is participation of third party in
hosting application and providing services to consumers. SAAS is the model which is related to
application service provider (ASP) and provides services on demand of consumer through
software delivery models. In this software, users who are approved by organisation can use it. If
Sam's office use this technology, then they can easily assess mail, sales management gets easy,
billing and collaboration can be done in effective manner (Kurnia and et. al., 2015). SAAS
services are provided through Sales force, Oracle, SAP, Microsoft, etc.
If Sam's office use this software, then updates to consumers can be done in effective
manner without their intervention. These software can be availed through subscription basis.
This software is hosted on the basis of on demand on customers. This software assist in some
specific areas such as HR, accounting, customer relationship management, accounting, document
management, etc. With the help of this model, solutions are best which are not related to other
software. Service provider of SAAS are responsible for its maintenance and security measure are
up to date and encrypted (Wankmueller, Mastercard International Inc, 2015). This approach is
cost effective and easy to integrate at work place. But there are some disadvantage of this
software is it is complex to use.
Sam's office has to select SAAS service provider because this is us to use and technical
assistance is provided by service provide,so IT assistance is not required much. This software
can not be customized, so use-ability of software is as per their requirement. With this it is easy
for consumers to use it and get updates related to launching of new products.
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Issues and Benefits of implementing SAAS
There are issues and benefits which Sam's office will face while implementing SAAS for
growth of business through use of SAAS. Some issues are discussed as under-
Lack of customisation- With use of SAAS, there is lack of customisation because
personnel at Sam's office can not get customised services (Grbovic, M., and et. al., 2015).
Employees at Sam's office has to use in specific format which is fixed because they can not
change it.
Complex to use- This software is complex to use, so there is requirement of training
through which individuals can use in better and effective manner. For communicating with
consumers, multiple steps has to be followed. So this dose not fulfils all the needs.
Some benefits of SAAS are discussed as under-
Out of the box solution- This is the major benefit of SAAS technique because this is the
solution which is helpful to consumers to know that is new provided by Sam's office
(Rutherford and et. al., 2016). There are pre built themes which attracts consumers to visit site of
Sam's office and this increases number of subscription and number of visits for specific page.
Cost and easy integration- This software is cost effective because there is no requirement
of specific IT specialist, As maintenance of SAAS is done service provided. This software can
easily implemented by Sam's office through ERP, POS, 3PL and other e- commerce system.
Current Trends and Examples related to e- commerce
These days, there are different trends which are current in market. With considering these
trends, it is easy to perform work as per current market and growth can be achieved. Some trends
are discussed as under-
Personalisation and customer engagement- In current market, there is increasing role of
e- commerce but at the same time, personalisation is important (Wang, Wang and Liu, 2016). In
past years, there was lack of personal interaction among buyer and seller but in current market,
there is essential role of customer satisfaction.
AI, assistants and chat bots- Artificial intelligence, robots are not relevant in current
market because of change in working style of individuals. Assistants are handling issues faced by
consumers and then when personnel get time, they solve and consumer satisfaction can be
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maintained. Chat bots are working in absence of employees and they are working in absence of
individuals at work place, so consumers are getting some revert on their comments.
Interactive product visualisation- In current market trend, there was good visualisation
of products and services to consumers through which they are able to visual representation of
product and services (Chaffey, 2015). As Sam's office deals in horticulture and providing small
plants for interior décor of offices, so with proper visualisation it is easy to attract consumers and
to communicate with them properly.
B2B e- commerce is exploding- In older days, e- commerce is related to dealing with
consumer i.e. B2C. But in current market, B2B is also done. Hence with e- commerce sales and
consumer base gets increased.
Recommendation
From the above analysis, it has been identified that to expand business in e-commerce
industry, a company has to make some fundamental changes in such a manner, that they can
easily develop interaction with potential customers. Along with this, organisations have to
formulate sophisticated strategies in order to attract new consumers and retain the existing ones.
In context with Sam' s Office, as in expansion of business it majorly faces issues due to
ineffective IT system. Therefore, it is recommended to Sam' s Office, before adopting any option
of e-commerce system, concern on given model -
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This model illustrates that when designing an e-commerce site or on-line dialogue, Sam's
office need to give critical importance to two main areas viz. “The way to listen to potential
customers in on-line dialogues” and “How to provide personalized and relevant experience to
them”. This will help in increasing the insights into individuals by which they can engage with
company through online dialogue. There are various types of system available, that helps present
enterprise in attracting the potential customers towards business, as well as develop effective
interaction with them. It includes Content-based recommender system – it helps in matching the
description of a service with profile of interest of users; collaborative filtering system – it
compares purchased or rated items of particular product or service by CF (Collaborative
filtering) technique. From both techniques, it is better for Sam's Office to adopt both options for
offering good services to its customers.
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Illustration 1: A model for on-going online dialogue

This system will enable Sam's Office in development of cloud-based systems, via using a
modular architecture, which is available in both Open Source and hosted distributions. This
system runs in a hosted cloud-setup, as well as can be integrated by using REST-services8,
including various adapters (either of the shelf or custom made). Along with this, Luminis
Recommendation Services may also help respective company in integrating the system with
Fulfilment systems (ERP), Product Data Management Systems and Customer Relation
Management Systems. As this company have a large amounts of data, including millions of
customers and distinct catalogue items and more, therefore, implementation of above system
may aid matching the users' profile automatically with their demanded list. Hereby, using this
system, helps Sam's Office in improving the customer relationship whereby, when any customer
opens the website of this company, then it will automatically match their profile with chosen
products and give recommendation also to choose the best one. This will also allow to users to
check different packages like basic, advance and premium for purchasing a service of Sam's
Office. But the main challenge that customers might face while using the online service of given
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Illustration 2: Hybrid Recommendation strategies

company is security concerns, because to match their profile with given product, they have to
provide entire details of business for which they want to purchase the same. In this regard,
hacking incident with high profile may hit the confidence or interest of customers in online
purchasing.
In order to implement the above system, further it is recommended to Sam's Office to use
Saas model of cloud computing. This model will save time, increase profit, provide flexibility
and reduce cost for installation and configuration of new system at business. Other benefits that
respective company can gain by Software as a Service (SaaS) model in business are data storage,
sharing and collaboration, personalized computing, on-demand scaling and more.
Implementation issues
As it is recommended to Sam's Office to implement both content-based and collaborative
filtering system while designing the e-commerce site, which help in matching the description of
a product with user's demand. Therefore, to install this service, it is essential for given company
to concern on other aspects also. It includes requirement of training for staff members,
identification of risks, reduce security concerns and more. In order to expand business, as this
company is going to use cloud-based system (SaaS) for installing Hybrid Recommendation
strategies, in its online website. Therefore, it is essential to provide effective training to staff
members to enhance their technical skills, by which they can put their efforts in developing the
proper interaction with customers through on-going online dialogue system. This would help in
understanding customers demand and fulfil the same within short-period of time.
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Implementation of any new system in online business, may arise a number of risks as
shown below:-
In context with Sam's Office, as it is run by a graduate entrepreneur therefore, the main
risks that might face during implementation of new system are less-skilled workers, usage of old
techniques that might increase issues related to hacking, pishing and more, financial issues and
more.
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Type of risks Likelihood (low, high and
medium)
Possible mitigation strategies
Phishing High Installation of anti-phishing
countermeasure to spot spear
phishing and suspicious emails,
protect both customers and business
from threats of same.
Unprotected online
service
High Using HTTP with SSL i.e. Secure
Socket Layer, which establish a
web-server link between a browser
and web-server. This would ensure
that all data passed between
browser and web-server, which
remains integral and private.
Financial risk Medium For implementation of new system,
Sam's Office required a huge
amount of fund, whereby any
failure may lead to impact on
business profitability. For this
purpose, diversifying the
investment is considered as an
important financial planning
strategy, that will eliminate the
losses related to severe downturn.
Risk of imitation High For this purpose, Sam's Office will
protect its business idea by
intellectual rights.
Employee resistivity Medium To reduce this risk, company will
provide proper training to its
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workers to enhance their skills.
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Conclusion
It has been concluded from this report that in order to expand business, it is better for a
company to take its business in e-commerce sector. This would help in enhancing the customer
base, attaining and retaining the new ones etc. by which high profitability can be generated. But
as incorporating the online business, organisations have to develop a number of strategies to
design attractive and innovative websites whereby, customers can easily access the demanded
products and purchase through easy modes.