TOP298 - Internet, E-Business Scope & Business Transactions Analysis

This report examines the scope of e-business, focusing on internet technologies and business transaction types with Asos as a case study. It discusses the environment for e-business, including political, economic, socio-cultural, technological, legal, and environmental factors. The report also analyzes the advantages and disadvantages of an online business presence, security and legislative issues, and modes of communication accessible to Asos. Furthermore, it explores the importance of internet technologies, key features of HTML, the role of search engines and browsers, and the application of intranet and extranet in business communication. The different e-business models for significant outcomes in business and the key components for designing an effective web page, analyzing the role of a good website design on a business are also covered in the report. Desklib provides a platform for students to access this and other solved assignments for academic support.

TOP298- THE SCOPE OF INTERNET AND BUSINESS
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THE SCOPE OF INTERNET AND BUSINESS
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Table of content
Introduction:....................................................................................................................................3
Task 1: Scope of E-business............................................................................................................3
1.1 Environment for e-business and business transaction types......................................................3
1.2 Advantages and disadvantages of having online business presence.........................................5
1.3 Security and legislative issues faced in Asos due to e-presence...............................................6
1.4 Modes of communication accessible to Asos and their application in its business...................6
Task 2...............................................................................................................................................7
2.1 Importance of internet technologies and their significance in E-Business................................7
2.2 Key features of HTML..............................................................................................................7
2.3 Analysis of the role of search engine, browsers and client servers...........................................8
2.4 Application of intranet and extranet in a business communication...........................................8
Task 3...............................................................................................................................................9
3.1 Models of E-Business for significant outcomes in business.....................................................9
3.2 Analysis of E-business models for generating revenue.............................................................9
Task 4.............................................................................................................................................10
4.1 Key components for designing an effective web page............................................................10
4.2 Analysis of the role of a good website design on a business...................................................12
4.3 Existence of different issues for usability of the website........................................................12
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................12
References:....................................................................................................................................13
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Introduction:
E-commerce or the electric commerce refers to the communication process undertaken by a
business organisation in which the data and financial resources are transferred through the online
measures. As per the common believe the future of an e-commerce depends on the financial
expense of the company in the e-commerce activities (Da Costa, 2016). This aspect of e-
commerce has been discussed in this study with the help of practical examples from Asos which
is an online fashion shopping site targeted for a specific age group. For this, the researcher has
assumed the role of online business manager for Asos and conducted this particular research.
Task 1: Scope of E-business
1.1 Environment for e-business and business transaction types
Factors Influence
Political Based on the government policies the value added taxes increase reducing
profit margin and increasing price of Asos.
The recent government decision of scrapping the student maintenance grant
would reduce Purchasability of Asos, which is the target market of the
company.
Economic The increase in minimum working wage might increase expenses of Asos as it
employs 1475 full-time employees along with 66 part-time employees.
Socio-cultural Since 2015, the rate of online purchase has increased considerably generating
larger sales scope for Asos.
Consumers have become more ethically conscious concerning purchase of
goods requiring sales and marketing processes to be ethically sound (The
Guardian, 2017).
Technological Currently, online shopping has become preferable for the consumers to the
direct shopping, therefore, Asos are expected to acquire larger market in such
market environment.
The organisation might utilise technological advancement to generate a
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physical existence in the market other than the virtual one (Asos.com, 2017).
Legal Adherence to Consumer rights acts 2015 while conducting its interaction and
transaction with the customers (Legislation.gov.uk, 2017).
Follow the Data Protection Act 1998 while managing the data regarding its
customers, suppliers, employees and other stakeholders
Environmental Asos for delivery of its productsdepends on the delivery services. Therefore,it
needs to be conscious about the carbon footprint of these delivery service
providers to maintain its positive image in market (Legislation.gov.uk, 2017).
It also needs to find a way of green packaging to replace plastic package.
Table 1: Environment analysis of Asos
(Source: Created by author)
Business transaction types:
Business-to-Consume-Here business organisation directly communicates with customers and
conducts the selling process with customer directly.Observing Asos’s online transaction
activities the researcher has deduced that the organisation’s operations can be categorised under
the B2C transaction.
Business-to-business -The manufacturer sells the product to anintermediary company, who
further sells the product to the customers (San-Martín and Camarero, 2014). The retailers that
purchase the goods from the wholesaler and sell it to the customer can be considered as such
type of intermediary.
Customer-to-customer-Here customer sells a product to another customer. Sometimes, online
sites avail some of their customers to sell the product on the same site such transaction between
the customers might be considered as the Customer-to-customer transaction (Zhu, 2015).
Customer-to-business-In certain cases, customers possess certain products or services that the
business organisations purchase from them (Mangiaracina et al. 2015). The recruitment
website’s activity of selling CVs to the recruiters might be considered as such type of
transaction.
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1.2 Advantages and disadvantages of having online business presence
The online presence has become necessary for the retail organisations, which largely has catered
to the convenience of customers. The following table provides an understanding of the merits
and demerits of e-presence:
Advantages Disadvantage
 Eliminates the geographical barrier and
expands the market
 Avails scope for 24/7 transaction and
business operation
 Organisational websites receive
advertisements from other businesses,
which add to the business revenue
 Multiple customers can be handled
simultaneously through automated
display process. This increases
efficiency level.
 Customers receive quality service as
per their convenience, which
contributes it their level of satisfaction
and loyalty for Asos.
 Scope for word of mouth marketing
 Easier and more efficient inventory
management as records are
automatically maintained
 Issues of data security are still there,
data theft and online forgery might
hamper the business inconsiderable
manner
 This makes customers, to a certain
extent, reluctant towards online
product purchase
 Generally, such online sites avail
information only in one language which
limits business prospects due to
language barrier and Asos is no
exception to this
 It lacks the physical connection with
the products that largely contributes to
customer’s purchase experience.
Therefore, consumers sometimes visit
online sites very frequently yet
purchase from physically present
stores.
Table 2: Advantages and disadvantages of online business presence
(Source: Turban et al. 2015)
1.3 Security and legislative issues faced in Asos due to e-presence
Security issues-One of the major security issues concerning the e-transaction is the virus, which
might lead to data theft and forgery of financial resources. While the second can generate
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financial loss for the company, the first might violate confidentiality issue generating
considerable distrust of customers regarding the company (Sicari et al. 2015). Moreover,
malware programmes have the potentiality of changing the format of a data, which might lead to
data loss. Application of the firewall might reduce this issue as the software firewall avails the
opportunity of verifying if the user wants to run a software, permission for which has not been
given previously (Turban et al. 2015). This reduces the possibility of virus attack. Another major
issue with the online interaction and transaction is that generally, people cannot verify identity of
the other party. Use of the digital signature and digital certificate can address this issue as they
serve as evidence that the actual user has sent a request or received information.
Legislative issues- for the protection of the data from the above-mentioned issues data
sometimes is encrypted which encodes the data into a non-readable format which the receiver
further decodes and receives the message. While this measure reduces possibility of data loss, it
raises legal issues. The Electronic Communication Act 2000 questions the authenticity of digital
signature (Legislation.gov.uk, 2017). On the other hand, the European Union prescribes standard
digital signature among all the users across Europe (Certifiedsignature.eu, 2017).
1.4 Modes of communication accessible to Asos and their application in its
business
The modes of communication that Asos has access to are Online websites through which the
organisation avails its products to its clients, addresses the queries of its customers and
communicates organisation's aim, objective and image to the customers. While mobile app of the
organisation directly targets the sales and customer’s purchase decision. It comes with the feature
of notification that used to attract customers towards its offers product lines (Omonedo and
Bocij, 2014). Social media, on the other hand, is used for relationship marketing as it avails
scope for effective communication in an informal manner. Finally, e-mails are another way of
notification applied by Asos to inform the customers of its activities, offers and trends, while e-
mail is often considered as a back dated measure for communication, its formal mode often
proves to be successful in influencing customer preference in a positive manner.
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Task 2
2.1 Importance of internet technologies and their significance in E-Business
Since the invention of internet in 1960, rapid change in global economy was noticed through
implementing the wide features of internet. Internet went online for the first time in 1969 with
the help of ARPA (Advanced Research Project Academy) connecting major universities in
United States. However, the idea of using internet in E-commerce has given a new shape to the
business worldwide. As stated by Boone and Kurtz(2013), the deep-rooted significance of
internet in many industry has been improved widely but also creating big challenges in
competitive threats to each organization. Further, he added that the role of internet in today’s e-
commerce companies is widely proven to be improved than traditional business operation.
Nowadays, many companies are setting new milestone through implementing internet
technologies thus leading to enhance business operations, customer service, supply chain
management, consumer attraction and improved sales through online marketing. Therefore,
internet can be considered as one of the most significant attributes for an organization to deal
with developed business processes.
2.2 Key features of HTML
HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) is referred as predominant programming language for
designing efficient and effective web pages. As opined by Halavais (2013), HTML provides
unique interface for allowing objects and images to embed and used in creating interactive
forms. Moreover, HTML provides better interface for creating the structured documents through
denoting the structural semantics in the context of writing text such as paragraphs, headings,
links, lists and some other items. Moreover, HTML can embed the scripts in different languages.
For example, JavaScript that can affects the HTML webpage behavior. Based on the viewpoint
of Ristoski and Mika (2016), HTML cannot be referred to be a programming language. It is one
type of markup language very different from programming language, which illustrates the
makeup of a webpage (Via Browser). Apart from that, some of the most important features of
HTML are such as Web Workers (Enhances the webpage performance through processing in
separate background threats), Video (possible to embed video without requiring any codec or
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plug-in of third party), Application caches (webpage can store information as much as possible
on local computer. It works as cookies do. Google gear can be referred as an excellent example
of this).
2.3 Analysis of the role of search engine, browsers and client servers
The search engines provides interface for online searching against different keywords. Some of
the most famous search engines in the world are Google, Bing, Ask.com and Yahoo and so on.
On the other hand, browser provides interface for browsing the webpage through internet. The
role of search engine is correlated with browsers in terms of browsing the different websites. The
concept of client server model reflects about one server who provides services to all the clients
associated with it. It is a centralized concept where server acts as main member while other
computers (client) behave based on the instruction sent from the server.
2.4 Application of intranet and extranet in a business communication
As opined by Molenaar (2013), intranet works as a network where staffs/employees can
communicate, create content, develop and collaborate the company culture. However, extranet
also behaves as an intranet but provides the controlled access to vendors, consumers, partners,
and other outsiders of the company. However, it can create confusion to some people but if
integrated into the business model, it can result into more streamlined, efficient, better
connection and enough productivity for the business. The word “extra” refers to the crucial thing
of the business yet existed outside such as authorized vendors, suppliers and clients. In other
words, extranet is referred as private communication, document sharing, collaboration, data
transfer and knowledge sharing between companies.
Task 3
3.1 Models of E-Business for significant outcomes in business
Selling a product online might be very profitable for a business. After the development of e-
commerce, different options have been merged together to create online revenue. An e-business
revenue model can be stated as the plan to generate revenue online. While e-business revenue
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model shares wide similarities with mortar to brick business, they also enable an marketers for
reaching consumer worldwide and offers significant diverse for generating values. The following
models can be helpful in deciding the e-commerce business structure. Web-catalogue revenue
model, Digital-content revenue model and Fees for transaction model
3.2 Analysis of E-business models for generating revenue
There are hundreds of ways to earn online money. Experts have highlighted some of the major e-
business revenue models such as:
Web-catalogue revenue model
As stated by Jackson (2016), though the aim/goal of any e-business company can help in
reducing the cost and improving the consumer service, however, the main aim of many e-
commerce business is for generating revenue and earning profit. This model would mainly
entertain with shopping cart providence and electronic catalogue. E-commerce business with
implicating this type of revenue model can include online selling of electronic items, computers,
books, videos, music and gift and so on. After the development of e-commerce, different options
have been merged together to create online revenue.
Digital-content revenue model
Web server has been found very efficient in distributing process of content. This type of revenue
model deals with various types of information service distribution such as corporate information,
legal information, news and resources, government information and so on. Normally, a consumer
needs to pay certain amount of fees as subscription fees. For example, through paying monthly
subscription fees, a customer can get access to the online articles, journals and so on.
Fees for transaction model
This type of revenue model illustrates that anyone who is transacting online over internet so all
they need to do is to give certain amount of fees based on the size and type of transaction. For
example, if a customer wants to book a hotel for residing over internet through the site of a
particular site. Then the customer need to pay for the operating fees.
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3.3 Highlighting the scopes for further development of E-Business Models
However, e-commerce model discusses about the efficient development of business revenue
models, but it also discuss about the growth required in them. Some experts have found some of
the most significant models or changes in the model that would be requiring them. Some of the
important changes can reshape the face of e-commerce in certain business sectors. Targeting the
affiliate marketing enables the marketer through offerings and marketing other product on own
webpage. On the other hand, online advertising has been very popular nowadays in increasing
the customer attention regarding any particular product or service. Through this implementation,
an organization can purchase some advertising space in their website and thus owning good
benefit. After the development of e-commerce, different options have been merged together to
create online revenue.
Therefore, it can be said that points underlined in this section is very considerable in context of
generation sufficient revenue through marking the key areas. However, only concentrating over
generation of revenue might not be fruitful since organizational strategies and business operation
is indulged in it. Thus, it can be interpreted that with relevant steps that can be taken into account
while minimizing potential barriers is significant.
Task 4
4.1 Key components for designing an effective web page
Designing an effective website has never been an easy task without considering the most
important elements that could take a base or stand for that website. Based on the viewpoint of
Eid and El-Gohary (2013), a good website is what is preferred by everyone and has lack of
sources to be less informational and attractive. Therefore, some of the very important elements
must have in a webpage for widely affecting the consumers.
Space: space is important in a page that denotes everything from readability to the flow
Simple navigation: navigation to a web page must be easier and navigational menus should be
inserted in a page so that consumers might not get irritation through poor navigation method.
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About us: company information with relevant stories must be given in a page that gives relevant
and sufficient information to end users.
Contact information: putting contact information in a page can help a customer or interested
individual to contact with company directly through given medium.
Search: most of the sites are now putting search block and button so that customer can find any
information related to their query. It reduces the time limit to look for a particular content in the
website.
Informational footer: informational footer refers to the information put together added in last of
the scrolling page. It has become trend to add informational footer in a page. It has been seen that
most of the pages repeats the information on the above as well as in the footer so that visitor can
eye to that information what company wants to show them.
Good images: adding good images that is relevant and attractive to customers must be added to
the page. It reflects the website quality and attracting those who are not very interested in reading
each words of the site.
Web fonts: as opined by Strauss (2016), web font is very important while designing a webpage
because it has been found that irrelevant use of web fonts can results into lack of customer
attraction towards the site and leads to lack of page visitor.
Thus, using all the components before designing a webpage clearly leads to high amount of page
visitor and leading to successful adoption of the designed webpage.
4.2 Analysis of the role of a good website design on a business
A good website has been the key to improved consumer attainment and creating positive
perception among customers and partners to deal with increased sales and brand loyalty ().
However, it has been found that the number of customer or page visitor depends upon effective
webpage development. For example, if a company is excellent in delivering quality product and
services then since the age of globalization and rapid growth in e-commerce business, it affects
significantly to choose as the first option. Based on the viewpoint of (), 35% users were
unsuccessful in completing simple tasks on average websites. Lack of sources and information
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supplied through webpage decides the attraction of customers. However, designing such
webpage can be very difficult in terms of attracting consumers to go with online shopping or
usability of internet to communicate with company.
4.3 Existence of different issues for usability of the website
Since the age of website development, the loopholes or the issues existing with website
significantly affects the usability of a webpage. Some of the common issues arises with website
developments are such as complex fonts (difficult for user or visitor to scan), duplicate page title,
wrong purpose for using pagination, tiny clickable areas, no option for contacting company
support, not added search button, extra functionality requires registration. Is has been observed
that longer registration form most of the time distracts customer and thus reduces webpage
visitors.
Conclusion
This study is significant in understanding the scope of e-business in context of developing good
webpage. Researcher has mentioned the communication modes in e-business as well as
illustrating the legislative issues with online business companies. On the other hand, researcher
has underlined the importance in internet technologies in today’s world for enhancing e-
commerce business.
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