E-Commerce Strategies: A Report for Carlton Travel's Business Plan

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of e-commerce strategies, focusing on Carlton Travel's business model. It begins with an introduction to e-commerce and the increasing expectations of internet customers, emphasizing the need for businesses to adapt to online platforms. The report then delves into the impact of common applications like payment systems and online shopping on e-commerce, highlighting their role in expanding business operations and enhancing customer experiences. The report also explores the development of an e-commerce implementation strategy, addressing the risks of linking business systems to the internet and the importance of protecting intellectual property. Furthermore, it critically evaluates current e-commerce developments and their incorporation into an organizational strategy, aiming to meet customer expectations effectively. The report concludes by summarizing key findings and recommendations for Carlton Travel's successful transition to an e-commerce platform.

E - Commerce
Strategies

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
P1.1 Critically discuss the expectations of internet................................................................1
P1.2 Critically assess the potential impact of common applications on an e - commerce
business...................................................................................................................................4
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................6
P2.1-Plan an e-Commerce implementation strategy for an e - commerce business..............6
Covered in PPT.......................................................................................................................6
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................6
P3.1 Critically assesses the risks of linking the business systems to the internet..................6
P3.2 Explain the importance of protecting the intellectual properties of an organisation.....8
P3.3 Critically discuss security measures to protect an e-Commerce solution......................9
P3.4 Critically evaluate current e-Commerce developments and assess their incorporation into
an e-Commerce strategy organisation..................................................................................11
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................12
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................14

INTRODUCTION
E – commerce can be defined as the commercialized transaction which means purchasing
or selling of products and services gets conducted electronically over Internet. In present
scenario, it has been analysed that most of organisations are trying to make themselves
digitalised in order to start their business on the internet (Abou-Shouk, Megicks and Lim, 2013).
This is majorly being done because, customer's expectations are increasing rapidly because of the
technology that they are using in daily life. This ultimately pushed organisations to sell there
products and services over computer network because it saves time of buyer and seller. Along
with this, business organisation which is being chosen in present context i.e. Carlton Travel
Working in collaboration with other professionals in the medical field, Carlton Travel which
transforms ideas into finished textile products, bringing them to market in the shortest possible
time. Now, business organisation has decided to do business through using online media tools
(E-commerce). Apart from this, report will be enclosed with expectations of customers that are
using internet in their daily life. Assignment will also focus over impact of common applications
over e – commerce, a plan is to be made of e-Commerce implementation strategy. It is also going
to cover a number of things like risks of linking the business systems to the internet and
importance of protecting the intellectual properties of company. Lastly, current e-Commerce
developments and measure of incorporation into a strategy of organisation that will help in
meeting expectations of customers.
TASK 1
P1.1 Critically discuss the expectations of internet
Customer expectations reflect the experience and expectations of customers towards a
particular product or service. According to McGovern, (2016), the customer's expectations on
internet are increasing but the response firm is receiving is much slower than their expectations.
Continuous meeting up of all the anticipations of consumers may lead firm to face number of
losses in terms of finance, reputation and competitiveness. Here, statement which was given by
the author was somewhat correct because, most of customers focusing over getting a quicker
response from company along with much effective service. In order to do so, internet has been
one of the best tool which helped companies to reach to customers directly with ease and aid
them in providing right service in much quicker way. Apart from this, it has also been found that
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some of expectations like more personalization, options over requirements, constant contact with
customer service, listen closely to the queries, response of company should be effective in nature
and many other things. If Carlton Travel focus on these one and try to fulfil them, then it may
lead firm to achieve its targets. On the other hand, it is required for using right e-commerce
consultant for the company (Carlton Travel) so that they may easily start delivering services to
customers through online websites. For conducting this report, a case study has been taken
chosen is of Carlton Travel which is trying to improve themselves through adopting e-commerce
as their main source through which trade can be done of products and services at international
level as well.
On the other hand, it has also been analysed that author's viewpoint is not clear as well
because meeting every single requirement of customer may impact over profit margins of the
company which at current scenario is not affordable for business firms. But, over the years, it is
being found that continuous process of meeting expectations of users has helped business people
in improving belief of customers in much stronger sense. Here, Carlton Travel which is looking
forward to adopt e – commerce is doing business at domestic level and has already kept its focus
over meeting all the expectations of customers (Akter and Wamba, 2016). This strategy has
helped them to reach to a reputed place at marketplace.
Customer expectations : In present world, consumers do expect quick response from
companies at the time of taking services from the company. Here in order to understand this
concept an example can be taken of Carlton Travel, as they have already kept their focus over
providing right service / products to consumers as per the requirements in a quick sense. Present
case study, where Carlton Travel is looking forward to adopt e-commerce as their major business
source which will aid in reaching to new heights in the future. Company is going to develop sites
in a way which will consider expectations as well that consumers are having for the company.
This could be developed with the help of proper analysis done of both external and internal
business environment. They have used time management method to do so. Some of elements that
are going to be covered in present context are given beneath :-
Time Responses :- In this era, technology has played an important role in changing the
way of doing business. This impacted positively on business as well because most of
organisations have made themselves digitalised where they can provide information to customers
or their clients while they are sitting at there home as per there needs. Here, Carlton Travel
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which is looking forward to adopt e-commerce tool, where this tool if utilised properly it can be
considered as a good instrument which reduced time taking processes like customer reaching to
physical store where he/she buy products and paid for goods which was purchased. This a
lengthy process and e– commerce approach has successfully reduced this time frame In order to
facilitate the ideal interaction the company is taking help from the customer service department
who ensures that all the problems and queries related to the products are resolved in limited time
frame.
Quick Delivery :- Another approach which may improve customers expectations because
delivering products and services on given time frame to consumer will directly enhance belief
over company or on its brand. Delivering goods right on time may aid Carlton Travel to satisfy
customer's satisfaction. On the other hand, if this has not been done in a successful manner then
the customer base will automatically decrease because no individual likes to wait for anything
he/she has purchased. For an example :- The e – commerce business is offering one and two day
delivery of products for their Prime customers. On the other hand, Carlton Travel can also
effectively make themselves approachable to customers if they will adopt e-commerce strategy
and this could lead business company in finding themselves to an all new level where they may
easily create effectively.
Accurate Information :- This is also an effective approach which enhances customer
expectations as they are able to get the correct information about the products and services which
are offered by Carlton Travel and other firms. This factor is beneficial in order to enhance their
overall sales index thus company can perform its operations effectively. If there is new product
then customers can easily get the information from their website thus they can take decision as
they have to buy the product or not. Example: If an organisation which is going to go online or
use e-commerce it is required for their products on websites then it will result in maximising
their profitability ratios as firms will retain loyal customers who will buy their offered products
and services. There are frequently asked Questions related to the products and services in the
description which helps customers in making decision to buy the products or not. Therefore,
these are some of approaches which needs to be carried by every single company so that benefits
can be gained right on time.
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Henceforth, in present case where Carlton Travel have kept its focus on bringing
innovation in their business (e-commerce). They may easily grab a good position This could be
done with the help of proper investigation.
P1.2 Critically assess the potential impact of common applications on an e - commerce business
According to Awa, Ojiabo and Emecheta, (2015), common applications like payment
systems, online shopping, shopping cart software, newsgroups, e-mails, official websites and
many more have impacted positively over business organisations that are dealing in different
sections. In order to smoothly execute joint transactions, it is required that applications could
help partner to talk to one other and trigger the required sequence of processes from the
interface. Through which customer's expectations can be satisfied by Carlton Travel in much
effective and efficient manner. The author have showed his point of view is some what right
because in last few years, organisation's like AliBaba.com, Carlton Travel.com, Inc., and many
more have raised there profit margins with full velocity. Thus, statement which is given by
author is correct. Lets discuss about above mentioned common applications and these are given
beneath :
Payment systems : Innovation in technology is driven more by the demand of customer
rather then supply of products and services. This is an important innovation for the e commerce
industry i.e. Carlton Travel as it helps in expanding the business operations and persons can
easily maker payment, this indicates the development of the overall economy and the financial
system. There is huge impact of the E-commerce system as this has made the payment process
very simple and people can make payment of the products sitting at any pace any time, speed of
product access, wider variety of goods available for selection, international reach of products and
services of Carlton Travel (Wang and Wu, 2012). In the present era Cloud computing and
Internet of things have been applied in transportation, logistics and supply chain management.
These technologies have boosted the overall development of the e - commerce industry.
Example: The person who are buying products from E - commerce (Carlton Travel) can easily
make payment of the products with the help of debit and credit cards which have played a crucial
role in the uplifting trend of the commerce activities over the internet. On the other hand, it has
also been analysed that with the help of payment systems like EFT and so on could help Carlton
Travel in making effective relations with consumers where they may easily free customers in few
seconds.
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Online Shopping : This is a form of electronic commerce which have allowed
consumers to directly buy the products over the internet with the help of web browser or
software applications. The customers can easily buy the products of their choices which are
available on the websites thus they don't have to visit to retailers, this results in saving time. This
e commerce business falls in category of Business to Customer (B2C) as customers can
purchase products online from different websites that are going to be introduced themselves in
online world such as Carlton Travel which is looking ahead to develop effective e-commerce
website. The impact of Online Shopping on E commerce industry is that the sales of products
have increased, there is expansion in the market area. The trends of online shopping have carried
out the most favourable impact on different E commerce activities. The customers are mostly
benefits as compared to the industry as there are different types of discount available on purchase
of different products. Example: When customers are buying the products online from E
commerce Websites they are assured about the products. If there is any mistake in the products
or there is difference in size then they can easily replace the product with the product of their
choice (Barnes and Hunt, 2013).
Shopping Cart Software : This is being considered as a software which consist of e-
commerce over web servers which helps people on internet website make choices over different
items which are available for purchase. This whole process has been named as shopping cart.
Some of software are : X – Cart, Zen Cart, OsCommerce, cubecart and many more which is
continuously helping business organisations to expand their business. On the other hand, it has
also aid them in reaching to targeted consumers at wider range. Thus, it can be said that
companies like Carlton Travel and others needs to keep its focus over number of areas so that
benefits can be gained right on time. This is also being taken as an effective approach which can
be used by Carlton Travel and this aid them in developing attractive plans where company may
perform well in business world. This may lead them in giving good rivalry to competitors.
Newsgroups : It is being considered as a forum on the Usenet service for the discussion
among a set topic or an objective. On the other hand, it is being found that Usenet newsgroup can
be considered as repository among a Usenet system, which helps in posting information or whole
new message which is containing data by many users over many locations with the help of
Internet. It's impact on Carlton Travel has been positive because this helps in providing
information to customers and to public as well of whatever modifications or discounts that
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Carlton Travel is delivering (Cao and et. al., 2015). On the other hand, it is also required for
Carlton Travel to monitor feedbacks that could be easily availed through discussions, there
should be cost effective tools used for promotion of the products and services offered by firms.
This could not help this company in promoting its products because newsgroup can also attract a
segment which has been targeted.
E – mails : Another approach which is being considered as a common application which
is affecting Carlton Travel and its business. The impact was both positive and negative in nature.
Here, emails majorly aids to maintain data. It has been found that most of business firms uses
email software in order to transfer important data from one place to another. This has improved
overall performance level of organisation because important data is being received by the
receiver in micro seconds (Cao and et. al., 2015). E mails are also used in order to market the
products and services offered by firm, strong relationship is developed with customers with the
help of these tools and there can be information communicated about the products which
customers want to purchase. On the other hand, Carlton Travel can create effective plans and
policies related to promoting themselves to a new level where they may give good rivalry to
other competitors.
TASK 2
P2.1-Plan an e-Commerce implementation strategy for an e - commerce business
Covered in PPT
TASK 3
P3.1 Critically assesses the risks of linking the business systems to the internet
As per the perspective which was given by Chaffey, (2015), every time when
organisation makes itself digitalised then it may lead firm to face ample number of risks. Some
of these risks may create high losses as well related to finance and others risks.
Hackers: Here, statement which was given was correct because large number of hackers
are present in business world that are having wrong intentions and can stole data from online
websites and use them against the companies like Carlton Travel and others or for these own
profit. But, it has also been critically analysed that there is always a risk factor if a company is
focusing to reach to desired goals or new heights (Chang and Graham, 2012). Internet is globally
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connected server which uses transmission connected protocol (TCP) and the internet protocol
(IP) to transmit the data through different types of media like computer,laptop,tablet etc. It is the
global network which exchanges through the private, public and government network ,which are
connected through optical fiber,wireless network. The main server of internet is placed in the
USA where the number of cables are connected and put into the seas so that temperature can be
maintained and overall load of the different server is distributed. Different activities can be done
over internet such as email, online shopping, data transferring, audio and video
conferencing ,messaging social networking, online booking of tickets in railways, buses. The
internet was originated in the united states by UK government using the computer network in
1960 and that computer network was known as ARPANET, then it was replaced several times
and commercially named as internet service provider in 1995.The different network speed are
also in the update process where so it could be more beneficial for future days.
Internet security: Internet security is the most important issue in the world of internet. It
is the protection of collected information or data from theft. So it is important to protect the data
and information form attackers like malware, cyber-attacks. It is very important issue for the
organization dealing in the internet world. Due to which larger organization have security experts
which analyse and maintain the security of network. The hacker and cracker are the term used in
the internet world often and now a “script kiddies” which are unskilled cracker. So to protect
data from them hacking internet security is essential. Hacker are those expert which are highly
skilled with programming languages,different technology and hardware (Huang and Benyoucef,
2013). They have the highly advance knowledge about the operating system and they discover
the loophole in the operating system. They constantly generates knowledge and they freely
shares the information what they have discovered. On the other hand, it has also been analysed
that if Carlton Travel has kept its focus on building up an e-commerce site, which may lead them
to becoming more effective and through this, they can also enhance their business level. But, it is
required for them to keep on focusing on hackers because it is being found that there are ample
number of hackers that are present in cyber world which may hack information and use it aginst
Carlton Travel.
Cracker are those experts which illegally violates the data and information through the
distant machines and does malicious activity. Like misleading advertisement could be put over
the online shopping sites where the consumer can get the wrong information,and accordingly the
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consumer will act on it and fraud could be appear. Cracker need chances to hack the Carlton
Travel so than they would not have to pay for their product, or can be done for mislead the
customer. They can be easily identified by there activities and action. The data breaching
activities are also done by cracker in recent times,which can be secured through different anti-
virus product and there are two type of cracker first type are the expert cracker who discovers the
new securities loop holes and the other one are script kiddies, Are those one who know how to
get these programs and to run them, hence script kiddies are immature crackers.
In addition to this, there are some points that can bother Carlton Travel and these are
described below for better understanding:
Seasonal traffic: This is one of the main issue that can hamper business activities of
Carlton Travel because ther might be a possibility that during eak time or during seasonal
websites can face huge traffic. This can give a bad experience to customers as a result, sales and
profitibality can get down.
P3.2 Explain the importance of protecting the intellectual properties of an organisation
Intellectual property rights are valuable assets for your business-most among the most
important it possess. It includes protecting identity, name and overall market image of the
company. Intellectual property is related to innovation and inventions. It provides complete right
to owner of creation for a specific period of time. Now a days it is very important to have
competitive advantage in market place and for this intellectual property is very helpful in
protecting their own work. Carlton Travel which is looking forward to adopt e-commerce. As
new technologies are coming in market, it has become very important to use unique technologies
and processes which are different from technologies of other companies. For this, having
intellectual property is very necessary. Importance of protecting intellectual property of an
organisation. To be ahead in competition protecting intellectual property is a very major aspect.
Intellectual property includes Domain name, Company name and trademark etc. companies need
to protect these.
Company name and idea of Carlton Travel - Carlton Travel is a successful giant in e-
commerce market as there is a possibility that new entrants or failures would try to effect
goodwill and image of company by using their name, logo name and design. As mentioned about
Carlton Travel that, having a great idea for a product or service, there will be chances of being
stolen or copied by someone or who will want to duplicate your success and sell your idea as
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their own. It is very important to protect any unique idea and services that Carlton Travel owns
as competitors can use success of company increase their market. Under these circumstances,
trademarks and copyright are best available protection to secure business success and maintain
continuity of a business (Jahanshahi, Zhang and Brem, 2013).
Protecting Domain name- Domain name represents the original website of company. It
is important to protect it because there are large number hackers who try to theft identity or
personal information from company website. They can use this information for fraudulent illegal
activities. It is useful to protect information of company from competitors. As they can steal vital
information from website and use it for making business strategies to become more strong than
others. In case of Carlton Travel, it is important to protect domain name as it is a e-commerce
business and provide all its services from online platform. If domain name is not protected than
they can have issues related to privacy and leakage of customer information. It can hamper the
image of company because of breach of important information of customers. If it is not protected
than other person or business can use the platform to provide their own product and services
through its domain name (Kourouthanassis and Giaglis, 2012).
Protecting Trademark: It is a symbol or sign that differentiate product and services of
one business from others. Trademark helps in identifying ownership of particular brand. Its
owner can be individual, organisation or legal entities to protect their products. Trademark are
located on voucher, package or on product. It is important to protect trademark of Carlton Travel
because a single logo or sign communicate brand reputation and emotional attachment to its
potential customers without any language. It helps customers to identify the product among
various products available in market. It is a very strong medium to attract customers. Trademark
protection prevents other businesses from using brands. The brands are the inspirational factor as
it helps in building positive feelings in the minds of customers related to the products and
services. This helps in raising employment opportunity thus large number of customers are
attracted who will enhance the overall sales and profitability ratios. The employee retention can
increase by positive feedback of products and services.
Protection for Innovation- Carlton Travel's marketing strategies are so unique that their
rivalries are in sources to use their official assets like logo, brand name and other. In this case,
intellectual property rights are recommendable to defeat rivalry and save company's actual brand
image and reputation.
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