Benefits of E-Commerce Websites

The report discusses the advantages of using e-commerce websites for product purchases, highlighting the benefits of convenience, time-saving, and effort reduction. It also touches on the importance of website design being user-friendly and suitable for various target markets.

Internet marketing in
business

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1 1.........................................................................................................................................1
P1 Role of internet marketing:....................................................................................................1
P2 Use of internet marketing.......................................................................................................2
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................4
P3 Benefits to customers.............................................................................................................4
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................5
P4 Benefits to business................................................................................................................5
P5 Efficiency by using marketing...............................................................................................6
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................7
P6 Challenges of globalisation....................................................................................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCE ................................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Internet marketing, or online marketing, refers to advertising and marketing efforts that
use the Web and email to drive direct sales via electronic commerce, in addition to sales leads
from Web sites or emails. Internet marketing and online advertising efforts are typically used in
conjunction with traditional types of advertising such as radio, television, newspapers and
magazines. Internet marketing can also be broken down into more specialized areas such as Web
marketing, email marketing and social media marketing. This report is based on the topic of
Internet marketing in business and is on the case study of Mark & Spencer in which roles
internet will be discussed for the growth of company.
TASK 1
P1 Role of internet marketing:
An innovative idea can go a long way toward creating a successful small business. But
ultimately, a company can't be profitable unless it can convince consumers to try its products.
The Internet is a channel that businesses can use to advertise, connect with customers and make
sales (Roberts and Zahay, 2012). The right Internet strategy can play a significant part in the
successful marketing and sales of products. With the help of internet marketing, company can
leads to gain the competitive advantage over the others who do not follow this.
Web Advertising
Marketing is one of the vehicles businesses use to attract customers. The Internet
provides a platform to place advertisements with the potential to reach millions of consumers
around the world. Several advertising options are available on the Web. You can place banner
and text ads on popular websites that are relevant to your particular business. For example, if you
sell your own brand of hot sauce, you might consider buying ads on food-oriented websites such
as Allrecipes.com, focusing on pages that feature recipes that use hot sauce. You can also place
ads on social networks such as Twitter and Facebook.
The Web as a Sales Channel
The Internet also gives retailers an additional channel to sell products. Thirty years ago, a
retail store without a physical storefront was all but unheard of (Shukla, 2010). Today, you can
buy almost anything you want on the Internet by visiting a company's website. This lets you sell
more products without the cost of having to rent out and stock additional retail floor space. The
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ability to sell goods without the cost of a physical storefront is especially helpful for
entrepreneurs who want to keep start-up costs low. If you don't have storage space yourself, you
can use a third-party drop shipper to store and distribute your products.
Market Research
Gathering information about the preferences and habits of consumers is an essential part
of marketing. If you don't know what your customers want, how much they are willing to pay for
products, and who your competitors are, it is difficult to offer the right product to the
marketplace (Chaffey, 2010). The Internet can be used to gather consumer data through Web-
based surveys, email surveys and online tools that let you track user activities and preferences.
Communication and Customer Service
Building a base of loyal customers that come back and buy products repeatedly is
essential to creating a successful small business. The Internet can help companies improve
customer service by giving customers an additional channel of communication that is available at
all hours of the day. In addition, the Web lets businesses distribute important consumer
information such as product manuals, guides and answers to frequently asked questions. This can
help customers make informed decisions about their purchases.
P2 Use of internet marketing
Attempting to decide the most ideal approach to showcase your business online can be
overpowering. It appears there are incalculable changed approaches to draw in people groups'
consideration, yet unless you know how to execute any of them legitimately then emerging on
the web can be for all intents and purposes unthinkable. In this blog I'll demonstrate you seven
ways you can separate your Internet showcasing so you can attempt and decide all the more
obviously which roads may suit you the best.
 Affiliate Marketing: Affiliate promoting is a kind of execution based advertising in
which a business rewards at least one members for every guest or client brought by the
offshoots possess showcasing endeavours (Armstrong and et.al., 2015).
In the event that you have your own items yet aren't extraordinary at deals, partner
advertising is an awesome approach to get other individuals to do your offering for you without
utilizing a solitary individual. Investigate destinations, for example, Click Bank, Commission
Junction and Epic Advertising to perceive what other individuals are offering as member items,
and get a feeling of if there is a decent market for your product(Andreopoulou, and et. al., 2014).
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This works the other much as well – so in case you're urgent to get offering on the web
yet don't have anything to offer you can join as an offshoot for different brands and get a
commission for all that you offer.
 Pay Per Click: (PPC), is a web publicizing model used to guide activity to sites, in which
promoters pay when the advertisement is clicked.
PPC is an incredible approach to get your advert seen by individuals, and on the grounds
that you pay for the individuals who really click your connection it implies that you can be
sensibly certain that you are paying for individuals who are keen on what you have. Instruments,
for example, Google Adwords enable you to inquire about pertinent catchphrases to ensure that
you are picking terms that individuals are looking. A decent general guideline is that more
extended catchphrase phrases permit better focusing on and subsequently less expensive snaps.
 SEO: Search engine optimization (SEO) is the Deliberate Organization of your site so it
appears in the web crawler comes about. There are a considerable measure of so –called
SEO specialists around who will guarantee to get your business to the highest point of the
inquiry engines(Sozinova, and Fokina, 2015). While SEO makes this conceivable, there
is generally significantly more to it and in the event that you need your business to rank
for a very focused term it's improbable that you will end up in the main position
overnight. Web indexes utilize a portion of the most astute PC researchers on the planet
and they would prefer not to be deceived! Hence it's obviously better to adopt a quality
strategy to SEO.
Make content that is important to catchphrases and expressions that your clients utilize,
once more, you can check Google AdWords to perceive what number of individuals utilize
certain expressions to ensure they'll profit you. It's likewise essential to get different destinations
to connection to you to demonstrate that individuals value your substance and need to share it.
Great SEO is a continuous employment however will make its mark over the long haul when
amazing guests begin to discover your site.
 Video Marketing: Video is one of the quickest developing regions of web based
promoting. In addition to the fact that it is prominent with individuals who incline toward
watching to understanding, it enables you gigantic adaptability to introduce your business
in a way that simply isn't conceivable through words alone(Williams, and et. al., 2010).
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YouTube is the second most prevalent web search tool after Google, and it's allowed to
have your recordings there and in addition numerous other video locales. Facebook now
additionally urges recordings to be transferred specifically to your course of events there
with the goal that they play consequently in your devotees' news sustains.
TASK 2
P3 Benefits to customers
The internet has changed customer shopping habits and with rapid technological
developments accessing the internet has become easier than ever. People can access the internet
whenever and wherever they like. Why do people like using the internet? Listed below are some
of the benefits of the internet for the customer.
Customers Stay Updated
The internet has changed customer shopping habits and with rapid technological
developments accessing the internet has become easier than ever. People can access the internet
whenever and wherever they like. Why do people like using the internet? Listed below are some
of the benefits of the internet for the customer.
Instant Comparisons - Customers Can Compare Prices and Features
One of the greatest advantages for the customer is that they can compare products or
services they wish to purchase from the comfort of their own homes (Andreopoulou and et.al.,
2014). Instead of having to visit a number of different retail outlets, the user simply has to open
different internet window tabs to compare prices or features of the product/service they wish to
purchase. Many retailing websites offer the facility where different products they sell can now be
easily compared. There is also price comparison websites that customers can use to get the best
possible price for their products.
Clear Product Information For The Customer
Websites offer clear and consistent product information to all internet users. There is little
chance of misinterpretation or mishearing what the sales person said as in a retail store. The
internet has comprehensive product information whereas in a shop the customer is reliant in the
knowledge of their sales advisor.
Transparent Pricing Available 24/7
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The price of products can be easy for the consumer to find out ; customers can access
pricing information from a range of sellers with a few internet clicks. Customers can take
advantages of pricing that may change regularly or take advantages of special offers that last for
a limited period as they can access pricing information 24 hours a day/7 days a week. Whereas
prices for products offered for sale in retail premises can only be accessed whilst the store (or
when store telephone lines are) open.
Track Your Purchase and Choose Delivery Dates
Many websites allow consumers to track their purchase from when it is ordered through
to when they are dispatched and delivered to them. This reassures the consumer and makes them
feel that they are obtaining a good service online. Some sellers also allow the consumer to
choose the delivery address for each purchase and select their own delivery date and time.
Reduction in Personal Carbon Footprint
Looking after the environment and the world we live in is important for many customers.
When consumers shop online they use their cars less and their personal carbon footprint is
reduced. Retailers can support carbon reduction by sorting deliveries so that purchases by
customers living close to each other can be delivered on the same day.
TASK 3
P4 Benefits to business
Internet marketing has many opportunities that will benefit a business for example it can
help businesses to reach a wider audience, to reduce overhead cost of the business and to expand
the company.
Target Market and Broadband user Personalities
What is the target market? The target market is basically the audience and the business
that will do anything to attract their target market to the business. In the target market there are
different types of customer that prefer different types of products for example:
Demographic segmentation
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Age, Gender, Price, Lifestyle and cultures
Tesco s main target market is the youth for example teenagers and early adults, this target
market is spread all around the world, being satisfied with tesco’s products (Sozinova and
Fokina, 2015). tesco’s Target Market are both gender male and female and also they target to
different cultured, sporty people and lifestyles people live around the world.
Psycho graphic
Customers use tesco one of the 5 broadband personalities which for example fast tracker;
this means that customer will typically use the internet to research tesco’s products so that they
can buy from them. This is beneficial for as this will create more customers to visit their online
website leading to more sales and profit
P5 Efficiency by using marketing
Product:
One benefit for a business that internet marketing has on product is mass customisation.
Mass customisation is where a product can be personalised to meet customers changing needs at
good prices because it’s produced in mass. This means that customers can have exactly what
they want.
Benefits:
A benefit of mass customisation is that customers will be more satisfied as they will be
able to purchase the products that they want, tailored to them, that they otherwise wouldn’t be
able to offline. Therefore, customers are more likely to return to the business and business can
gain customer retention.
Price:
An advantage of price when it comes to internet marketing for a business is dynamic
pricing. Dynamic pricing is when a good or service at a price changes, due to the level of
demand; the type of customer; or the weather. For example: Flights change price according to the
time of year; prices for flights go up during the half-term, as they know family’s will want to go
at this time.
Benefits:
A benefit of dynamic pricing is that if a business constantly updates their prices
according to factors listed above, then they are likely to maximise their potential profits. It can
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also mean that a business targets new market segments, such as customers that are looking for
low prices and that are price sensitive. If prices are reduced then people that may not normally be
able to afford the products/service at the full-price, may be enticed into buying the products if
they are discounted, therefore the business may gain new customers from a different market
segment.
Place:
One benefit for a business that internet marketing has on place is SEO. Search engine
optimisation is when a business designs their website so that when people type in keywords or
phrases the business has chosen it will come up high in search engine results.
Benefits:
A benefit of search engine optimisation is that there is an increased chance of them
getting higher profits from more sales being made, due to their website being high in the search
results of a search engine. If someone types into the home page of ‘Google’ a keyword, then the
website will list all the websites with the relevant information and if your website is one of the
first on the list, then more people are likely to visit it.
Process:
One process that benefits the business is disintermediation. Disintermediation is when the
middleman is taken out of the process, for example: businesses don’t have to sell through
retailers; they can sell straight to the consumers, through the use of internet.
Benefits:
One benefit of disintermediation is that it makes everything a lot faster, as the business
doesn’t have to find retailers that will stock their products and they don’t have to go through the
process of sending the products to the retailers, which all takes time.
TASK 4
P6 Challenges of globalisation
One of the challenges of internet marketing is the costs. Costs of setting up a website can
be quite expensive, as you have to consider things such as, the domain name; protection of the
website; people looking after the website; designing the website; hosting and staff to look after
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the consumer’s requests and query’s. So this is a big thing that a business has to think about
when starting up an online business or website, as all of these things add up and can end up
costing a lot of money.
Another challenge of internet marketing can be the information a business puts on the
website. When creating a website, a business has to be careful of the content that they put on the
website (Williams and et.al., 2010). A business doesn’t want to overload the customer with
information on products, as the customer will get bored and find another website, which is more
to the point and easier to read.
A challenge of internet marketing is security. An online business makes their profit
through online sales, and therefore needs to make sure that people feel secure and safe doing so.
They can do this by making sure their website has regular virus checks and some sort of software
to stop it from being hacked (Leung, Xue and Bai, 2015). They also could make sure that they
use a very secure system when people are paying for products, such as NatWest have the special
password system, so that when you are about to purchase a product, the customer will have to
enter the password as well as all the relevant card details. A company could also use companies
such as, PayPal and ask customers to pay through there. This will make the customer feel more
secure as they know it’s a website they can trust.
A business when starting up a website has to make sure that it is user friendly. This can
be a challenge, as a business will need to take into consideration their target market to decide
how to design the website so that it is suitable and so that they find it easy to use (Berisha-
Namani, 2013). For example: Derby house have made their website simple to use, so that people
that don have much knowledge of how to use the internet can find their way around, but they
have also made it suitable for people that are more technology minded, as there are features such
as animations and access to social networking sites.
CONCLUSION
From the above report it can be concluded that consumer who use e-commerce websites
to purchase products receive amazing benefits that they couldn't if they didn't use the internet and
went to the store. The major benefit is that it is extremely time-consuming and there is a lot less
effort required because they only have to click a few buttons and enter some details in order to
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purchase their new products whilst the process could take long amount of time if they went to the
store.
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REFERENCE
Books and journals
Roberts, M.L. and Zahay, D., 2012. Internet marketing: Integrating online and offline strategies.
Cengage Learning.
Shukla, T., 2010. Factors affecting'Internet marketing'campaigns with reference to viral and
permission marketing. IUP Journal of Management Research. 9(1). p.26.
Armstrong, G., and et.al., 2015. Marketing: an introduction. Pearson Education.
Andreopoulou, Z., and et.al., 2014. Internet marketing for sustainable development and rural
tourism. International Journal of Business Information Systems. 16(4). pp.446-461.
Sozinova, A.A. and Fokina, O.V., 2015. Special aspects of studying the internet as a marketing
communication channel of the service industry. Mediterranean Journal of Social
Sciences. 6(4). p.139.
Williams, M.J., and et.al., 2010. Internet marketing channel optimization. U.S. Patent
Application 12/707,111.
Berisha-Namani, M., 2013. Information technology, internet, and marketing. International
Journal of Electronic Commerce Studies. 4(1). p.103.
Leung, X.Y., Xue, L. and Bai, B., 2015. Internet marketing research in hospitality and tourism: a
review and journal preferences. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality
Management. 27(7). pp.1556-1572.
Chaffey, D., 2010. Applying organisational capability models to assess the maturity of digital-
marketing governance. Journal of Marketing Management. 26(3-4). pp.187-196.
Fawzy, L. and Dworski, L., 2010. Emerging business online: global markets and the power of
B2B internet marketing. FT Press.
Online
Internet marketing. 2017. [Online]. Available
through:<http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/I/internet_marketing.html>. [Accessed on
20th July 2017].
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