E-Business Strategies for Retail: A Case Study of Fantastic Furniture

This report analyzes the e-business operations and security measures of Fantastic Furniture, an Australian furniture retailer. It discusses the company's online presence, security challenges such as cybersecurity and active malicious threats, and strategies for online retail growth through customer acquisition and automation. The report also explores the impact of smartphones on e-business and the future trends in the industry, emphasizing the importance of multi-channel access and technology integration. The report concludes with recommendations for enhancing e-business capabilities, including user-friendly website design and strategic outsourcing, highlighting the need for continuous adaptation to technological advancements.

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ELECTRONIC BUSSINESS
Student’s name
Subject
Date

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Contents
Introduction...........................................................................................................................................3
Business operations...........................................................................................................................3
E-BUSINESS OPERATIONS...............................................................................................................3
Security in e-business........................................................................................................................3
Cybersecurity.................................................................................................................................3
Active Malicious Threats...............................................................................................................4
Online retail growth...........................................................................................................................4
Online Businesses Automation......................................................................................................4
Impact of smartphones on e-business...............................................................................................5
Future of e-business..........................................................................................................................5
E-business capabilities.......................................................................................................................6
Conclusion and recommendations.........................................................................................................6
References.............................................................................................................................................7

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Introduction
Online Commerce or e-business is any business or commercial operation that includes
sharing info across the internet. Commerce establishes the exchange of merchandises and
services among businesses, assemblages and individuals and can is perceived as one of the
essential accomplishments of any company. Electronic commerce emphases on the use of
Information communication technology in enabling the external undertakings and relations of
the company with people, groups and other industries or e-business denotes to market with
the aid of the internet, i.e., doing business with the assistance of internet network (Chaffey,
D., 2015.).
Business operations
The retail entity under consideration is Fantastic Furniture founded in Australia. It is an
Australian held and operated a furniture seller. The company functions under Fantastic
Holdings Limited (FHL). It started as a marketplace stall at Sydney’s Park-lea Bazaars in the
year 1989, by associates Paul Harding and Jonathan De Jong, who was selling outside
furniture. Fantastic Furniture retailer operates its functions nationally and overseas as they
have an enormous choice of furniture available both in a physical store and online, counting
to own range of sofas and cushions that are manufactured right in Australia. The company
knows well that visiting stores examining for that perfect office storage solution, children
furniture, dining table or furniture package can be time intense and that why they offer a vast
assortment of affordable furniture online, so that the customers can find all they need in one
place and peruse from the comfort of their own home. The company believes that operating
online brings about many advantages as it improves the volume of sales made at a particular
time. When the amount of sales is high this, in turn, means that profit realization is high thus
bringing the growth aspect of the business. The company also minimizes the operating costs
of their overall operations since they will require no staffs to accompany their products on the
market. Also, they need no physical store in the marketplace hence no rent is paid for such
feature (Fielt 2014).
E-BUSINESS OPERATIONS
Security in e-business
Cybersecurity
Every business is performing their operation online they must consider the security issues
brought about by technology. Competitors and other frauds may decide to enter into their
system and still meaningful data which when exposed to outside market will decrease their
sales volume. Cybersecurity is among the most critical geographies of electronic commerce.
Without correct protocols in place, online stores put themselves and their clients at risk for
payment fraud. Minor stores face even superior e-commerce security risks owing to
insufficient internet security from cybercriminals. Not only is equitation a considerable risk
for all online suppliers, but acquiescent a fraudulent reimbursement also comes at the cost of
having to repay the charges. Outside of monetary consequences, data breaks damage a
brand’s status and can cause once loyal clients to avoid putting their info at risk again.
Though, using the right gears minimizes the threat of fraud and instill trust within their

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customer base. Measures to prevent cybersecurity issues must be enhanced in the
organization where unauthorized access to data and system be curbed efficiently (Suder, Wu,
and SMEsOI, 2017). Use of biometric scanners may be installed to staffs in the system, and
this means only permitted crews will have access to the network. Also, encryption
capabilities may be enhanced to the vital data in the senior management department that
displays the company’s brand. Data encryption means that intruders to the system will have
no capabilities of getting intended message during data transmission in the system.
Active Malicious Threats
While malware can submissively infect computers, external parties can also enthusiastically
attack web corporations. An e-business typically let users interrelate with a website, possibly
by listing for an account and acquiescing various forms to the commerce's web server. Skilled
computer users may be in a position of exploiting weaknesses in a website to gain admittance
data that they are not permitted to have access. Hackers can steal info like customer names,
credit card figures, and passwords, or they may insert malicious code into a webpage that
causes data harm. Malicious operators may also make-believe to be trusted establishments or
friends to trick employees or executives into divulging sensitive data, and this tactic of data
stealing is known as phishing (Gregory et al., 2017).
Online retail growth
Online stores are forever hunting for growth, and there is the mutual aspect where every
successful e-business manager tries to figure out on a daily basis. One aspect is the
acquisition of new customers, and the other is loyalty which tends to enhancement by repeat
customers. Fast growth necessitates a steady stream of new clients for the business and their
team to convert into larger cart scopes and more recurrent purchases. One of the
compensations of online retail over offline trade is the ability to reach new for customers in
the market that is cheaper and at ease to exert at this scale. Customer reviews and comments
in the webpage plays a vital role in developing online business as new customers visiting the
site will be encouraged to purchase by positive reviews from old customers (Reshma, Aithal
and Acharya, 2015). Offering quality services/products defines how customers will brand the
image of the company to the outside world and for reasonable quality service is a vital
consideration when the managers are in dearth of growing to greater heights in future. Fast
growth is achieved by increasing acquisition and customer’s devotion without the barricades
faced by offline retailers.
Online Businesses Automation
Online businesses are great and smooth in operation since they automation capabilities.
Automation in e-business is encouraged as retailers will purchase software’s that will be
performing some tasks on their own without human intervention. Kim and Peterson (2017)
state that automation capabilities enhance efficiency in operation as they are less prone to
errors as compared to human beings. These automated applications will compute all the
calculations and tasks associated with a particular product and later get the realized profit. E-
Business is developing in vast with the surprising rate, and this is the only tactic in the
modern day corporate reaches to their clients. To stimulate the business and to enlarge the
client database a retailer should have online web existence. Retailers and sellers who ignore
online professional get fewer companions at their doorstep because of substantial online sales

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and individuals love to get the yields delivered at their homestead, and there is a preference
of money back if there are defective or broken instances during delivering chain. One needs
to be much careful when conducting an online business and be very cautious in considering
the advantages and drawbacks of online business. Preserving individual’s time in surveying
market and merchandises before deciding online commerce or offline commerce (Kurnia et
al., 2014).
Impact of smartphones on e-business
According to Scarborough (2016), the swelling popularity of smartphones provides
consumers with greater access to info and products than there before. The current
technologies are growing by bounds and leaps. And with the fluctuating technology, the
techniques of business is also fluctuating. For data, speech and image communications, the
universe has come together in one room in the form of smartphones. With the arrival of these
smartphones including tablets are becoming progressively powerful in aspects of accessibility
of info in e-business. The propagation of such expedients has diverse influences on various
scopes of IT, business performs and consumer performance. The power of smartphone has
infiltrated in no small degree that information is accessible to the consumers at their
fingertips. According to Pantano (2014), mobile expedients are becoming nearer to digital
wallets. The mobile phones are no more deliberated as future technology; it is in detail very
much employed in the present setting. One facet of e-business is suitability and smooth in
application and smartphones are bringing up claims that make it easy for consumers to peruse
and shop online. The chief driving factors in his instance are the mobile shopping
applications and barcode scanners. Cameras will scan the barcode to get the price of a
particular product, and then quest the internet to find similar prices at other retailers.
Future of e-business
In the forthcoming, all physical retail collection will be less about delivery. Purchase and
supply will happen progressively through online stations. From the case, Doug trusts stores
should start focussing more on aspects of distributing experiences. As more and more
individuals are espousing wireless expedients and retrieving the Internet on them, e-
commerce’s prerequisite is updating their expertise and tactics to enable mobile business
efficiently. As the quantity of conduits is thriving, the e-commerce are also presenting
multichannel-access to their clients. However, to hold the clients sureness, e-businesses
should assimilate all their passages and pledge that the client gets quality services from all
conduits. Amalgamation of initiative applications is dynamic for the success of e-commerce
(Wang, Wang, and Liu, 2016). But some productions are unable to integrate their bequest
systems with new submissions. Technical elucidation providers have brought up middleware
products that assist in the achievement of the required integration level and the competency to
endure in market competition.

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E-business capabilities
Online business enhances skills as the complete supply chain can be interspersed with
business to business e-commerce schemes, procurement becomes quicker, transparent, and
inexpensive, and there is no need to grip currency notes or cash that further cuts down on
costs and occasions for accounting faults.
Lastly, e-commerce allows retails stores in tracking logistics that is key to a successful e-
commerce enterprise, as well as sell low-volume merchandises (Business 2014). Although
conservative retail emphases on fast-moving stocking products, the economics of e-
commerce allow slow-moving and even old products to be comprised in the shopping
catalog.
Conclusion and recommendations
Since e-business provision is no longer deliberated an afterward sales action, e-businesses
should be equipped to offer package the moment a user interrelates with the company (even
before the acquisitions a product from the spot). Moreover, e-businesses need allowing
clients in configuring their products and make adjustments also after they deliver their orders
to the retailer. The website associated needs be user-friendly and permit users to compare
various yields on offer and choice the best one. To appear as a real virtual corporate,
organizations essential in outsourcing all the occupations excepting the one where its core
capability lies. In e-business, companies need to be active and produce a vigorous character
in the continuous growths in expertise. According to Andam (2014), technology structure
companies are working on union technologies in enabling data transmission and audio-visual
through a single network.

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