Final Project

Here's my business plan and sample web page for my final project!

http://soleilnoir.wikispaces.com/file/view/Final+Webpage.zip

http://soleilnoir.wikispaces.com/file/view/Soleil+Business+Plan+Final.doc

Chapter 11 Homework

1.) Write a report of about 300 words in which you advise Bonnie on using a payment processing service such as PayPal.  Identify at least three reasons that Bonnie should use such a service and at least three reasons why she should not.

Upon review of the proposal, I've found several excellent opportunities, as well as a few potential challenges, in using an electronic payment system.  Using electronic payment will allow you to process payments much more quickly and easily than conventional methods.  This will reduce the delay between order and receipt of funds and simplify the job of your Accounts Payable department, reducing your overhead.  Electronic payments are also cheaper per transaction than traditional methods, saving you additional money.  This in turn will increase your profitability, allowing you to offer lower prices to your customers, making your products more attractive.  Because PayPal operates over the internet, you will not have to invest in additional equipment or software in order to use this service, making it a very cost-effective option. 

However, there are some potential disadvantages to using an electronic payment system.  The relative anonymity of electronic cash means that each transaction will provide your company with less information about your customers' spending habits; your company will need to adjust its marketing and surveying efforts to compensate for this.  There is also the potential for anonymous buyers to engage in activities like money laundering through your store.  While you technically would not be doing anything illegal by accepting their money, for ethical reasons you would need to keep a close eye out for potentially suspicious transactions, especially over time.  Finally, there is a certain amount of cultural resistance to the use of electronic cash, particularly with American customers; some efforts should be made to advertise and emphasize the utility and convenience of electronic payment, particularly regarding small purchases.

2.) In about 200 words, outline the reasons that a consumer who owns a credit card might want to use an electronic payment system, such as PayPal, for an internet transaction.  In an additional 200 words, outline the reasons that a small merchant might want to use an electronic payment system in addition to, or instead of, accepting credit cards.

Consumers enjoy many benefits from being able to pay for purchases through an electronic payment system such as PayPal.  The transfer of funds doesn't require the delay of having to wait for the merchant to receive a check or money order through the post; their money is transferred to the merchant securely and instantaneously.  Merchants also tend to require a minimum purchase for credit card orders, in order to cover the cost of processing the transaction; but the relative cheapness of electronic payment systems allows a merchant to handle much smaller transactions, making it that much more convenient to the customer.  Electronic cash is also particularly convenient because it accommodates people who don't have credit cards, either because they don't qualify for cards due to prior debt, or because they are minors.  Electronic cash also offers much of the same anonymity that paying for items with cash does, for those who don't want to divulge too much information about their spending habits.

Merchants would also benefit from adopting an electronic payment system.  Electronic transactions are quicker and more efficient than other methods, making them less costly to conduct.  This efficiency leads to greater customer satisfaction and a lower cost of doing business, which translates into lower prices for the customer, which in turn tends to make buying from the merchant more attractive.  It requires no oversight or authorization from a third party, which also saves time.  It also doesn't require any additional expenses for hardware or software, such as a credit card reader and a dedicated phone line to transmit information, to handle the transaction -- everything works through the existing infrastructure of the Internet.  Electronic safeguards provided by the payment system also protects against double spending, or customers purchasing goods with money that has already been allocated to other transactions.

Homework for 04/24/11

Questions to answer today regarding Google Analytics...

1.) Which statistics do you feel are most important and why?
     Overall, I think the data from the "Traffic Sources"  tab would be the most useful if I was developing a new online business.  Seeing a spike in direct traffic might be an indicator that advertising through traditional print methods (e.g.; newspaper ads, direct mailers, leaflets delivered door-to-door) were being successful; and search engine results would let me know if I was including the right keywords in the metadata for my pages, to make sure people who are looking for my goods or services were successfully finding me.  Seeing which websites are referring viewers to me would also help me to figure out which other sites I might want to continue banner exchanges with, or come up with other mutually beneficial arrangements.
     The Dashboard data covering the length of visit and bounce rate would also be very useful, because it would give good indicators of whether new content or changes to the presentation of that content are helping to drive new business or keep potential customers on longer.

2.) What statistic would you like to see that may not already be there?
     I'm having a hard time coming up with statistics I'd like to see that AREN'T already on the site -- it seems to be pretty comprehensive and offer a wide range of data for any number of business models.

3.)  How can this information be used to assist in developing an organization's e-commerce strategies?
     Well, if we're talking about the hypothetical children's game/book website that I intend to develop a business plan for my final project, this site would be very helpful for suggesting to me where I could best direct my efforts for developing content.  Creating animations and games can be very time consuming and labor-intensive, so it would make sense to try to concentrate on the sorts of edutainment that people are most interested in looking at, as indicated by the number of visitors to each page and the amount of time spent there.  If kids like playing the games but aren't going to see the animated storybooks, then I can concentrated on making more and better games and limit the number of animations.  And seeing where customers who are interested in purchasing books are surfing in from would be useful, say, if I was planning a tour to promote a new print book -- I'd want to hit the markets where people seem to be most interested in my work.

Homework for Chapter 8

1.) Most electronic commerce Web sites use a three-tier client/server architecture.  In about 100 words, explain why they do and briefly describe what happens in the third tier of most electronic commerce Web sites.

The third tier typically contains databases and applications which it can use to search for, retrieve, and process information.  It then returns the content created to the web server so that the second tier can format the data to generate dynamic web pages. 

2.) Describe and briefly discuss two important measures of a Web site's performance.

One of the most important measures of a Web site's performance to measure is the number of users the server can handle simultaneously.  An accurate measure can sometimes be difficult to make, since it's dependent on the bandwidth of the Internet connection between server and client and the size of the Web pages being delivered.  The two factors to evaluate when measuring the server's capability are the throughput, which is the number of HTTP requests that a hardware/software configuration can process in a given length of time; and response time, which is the length of time it takes to process a single request. 

3.) In one paragraph, outline the main differences between a typical desktop PC and a computer that would be suitable to use as a Web server for a small web site.

Typically, a web server computer is going to have more memory, a faster processor, and larger hard drives that can access data more quickly than a desktop PC.  They will often have multiple processors.  While some servers are standalone models, most are designed to be stackable or mountable on a standard 19-inch A/V rack.  These higher-capacity computers with multiple memory and data storage units will also tend to be more expensive -- perhaps 2-3 times as much as a regular desktop model.

E2: Using the W3C link checker:

I tried using the link checker on the front page of the wbe site for one of my favorite MMORPG's, Champions Online:

http://www.champions-online.com

From this, I learned something very interesting: there is a file called /robots.txt that you can add to a web page that will (in most cases) keep web robots that are prowling the Internet from visiting your site!  You can learn more about the file (and get a copy of it, should you wish to use it in your own pages) here:

http://www.robotstxt.org/robotstxt.html

It seems like the file would have some uses, but web robots can be coded to specifically ignore the file, so it should not be used to try to safeguard sensitive data or anything like that.  The search also located a link with a malformed URL, and another link that used a method that was not supported by the link checker.

Chapter 7 Homework

1.) Why is Nissan Motor Co. so concerned about the use of the domain names nissan.com and nissan.net and how could monetary damages judgment of $10 could be justified?

The Nissan Motor Company was so concerned because the two sites represented a means of reaching potentially millions of customers who are interested in their product.  By not securing the rights to those names, it creates the appearance that Nissan is behind the times in terms of communications technology and careless in terms of maintaining their brand name, both of which would hurt the company's image in the eyes of potential customers. People who go to those sites expecting to find information about Nissan cars and instead reaching the site of the computer company might also become frustrated and look to another car company whose products are easier to find, which would also hur their bottom line.  There is also the risk of the owners using the sites to libel the company to people who might otherwise have a favorable opinion of the company.  A damages judgment of $10 million might seem excessive, until you consider how many millions the corporation spends in advertising for their products and brand name, and the potential audience reached by those two web addresses.

2.) In about 200 words, provide an outline of the ethics of the position taken by Uzi Nissan in this dispute.

Mr. Uzi Nissan has an established record, going back to when he founded his first company, "Nissan Foreign Car", in 1980 (before Datsun had even changed his name to Nissan) of naming his companies after his family name.  His current business of computer sales and consulting had virtually no overlap with the Nissan Motor Company, so there was little chance of Mr. Nissan engaging in deceptive trade practices, capitalizing on the Nissan Motors brand name for his own gain.  Since Mr. Nissan made no comments at all about Nissan Motors, he could not be said to be defaming Nissan Motors through the ownership and ownership of the domains, either.  Finally, because "Nissan" was the owner's family name, he had a basic right to use that name to represent his own products and services to the public.

3.) In about 200 words, provide an outline of the ethics of the position taken by Nissan Motor Co. in this dispute.

Nissan Motor's argument was that, in the minds of the general public, the name "Nissan" is already associated far more readily with the car company than the computer company.  As such, Nissan Motors would suffer far greater damage to their brand name and image by confused consumers being unable to find Nissan Motors' website, than Mr. Nissan would suffer by having to switch to a different domain.  Nissan Motors could also argue that because Mr. Nissan did not respond to or even acknowledge the attempts at contact by Nissan Motors' legal department, there was a legitimate concern that his intentions were not ethical for the future use of the web domains.  It was reasonable for Nissan Motors to try to protect itself from future use of the websites to confuse customers or libel Nissan Motors.

4.) If you believe that the courts' decisions in this case are fair to the parties and the general public, explain why in about 200 words.  If you believe the courts' decisions are not fair, outline a decision (in about 200 words) that you believe would be fair.

I think the courts' decisions were reasonable.  It sounded like an attempt to split the difference -- Mr. Nissan did not deserve to pay any punitive damages, since he was not using his website to confuse customers or disparage Nissan Motors; and forcing Mr. Nissan to do his computer business under a new name would keep Nissan Motors' potential customers from being confused over the names.  To avoid the appearance of might making right and a multi-billion dollar corporation steamrollering over the small businessman, it makes sense to force both companies to do business using their second choice for a website name, if they cannot come to an agreement for sale of the domain.    

Homework for Chapter 6

ASSIGNMENT: Write up a plan for conducting an online auction for parking spaces at Midland University

Parking spaces will be auctioned off by sealed bid.  The minimum bid for an annual parking space is $XXX.XX.  Buyers must submit their bid in a written statement either to the Campus Security Office (pre-printed forms are available for those without access to e-mail) or online using their intranet e-mail account to parking.auction@MidlandUniversity.edu.  Bids must also include the buyer's name, address, student or employee ID number, and the make, model, and license plate numbers of all cars belonging to the individual's household.  Parking passes are non-transferable and may only be used with the vehicles registered at the time of the bid (to prevent reselling or loaning of parking passes).  The deadline for bidding is September 1, 20XX. 

Parking spaces will be given a value rating based on location, proximity to important campus features, etc.; the first highest bidder will then receive the highest rated parking space, the second highest bidder will receive the second rated space, and so on, until no spaces remain. 

Five percent of the parking spaces will be reserved for visitor parking, and another 5% for drivers with disabilities.  Only drivers with disabilities will be eligible to bid on handicapped parking (proof of disability must be submitted with bid), until each participant with a disability has received a parking spot; at which point the remaining spaces will be folded back in to the general pool.  Only one bid allowed per person.

Homework for Chapter 4

EXERCISE 1: On first arriving on the FTD website, the viewer is presented with a special ad showcasing birthday arrangements.  Also, there is a separate tab near the header that is marked “Occasions”, which offers subcategories such as Anniversaries, Sympathy/Bereavement, and corporate gifts.  Using occasion segmentation combined with product segmentation facilitates the sale two ways.  First, it saves the shopper time by taking him directly to a showcase of products that are relevant to his interests, rather than having to sift through everything the florist has to offer.  Secondly, it helps those shoppers who are unfamiliar with the symbolism and “language” of flowers to make a selection that’s appropriate to the situation (e.g.; red roses are symbolic of romantic love, so it would be more appropriate to get an arrangement with white or pink flowers for someone who is just a friend).  In addition, by presenting the viewer with a list of common occasions for buying flowers, it might jog the viewer’s memory with regard to other upcoming events that they might want to order flowers for.

CASE C2: MONTANA MOUNTAIN BIKING

Question 1 – Classify MMB’s customers.  Estimate the percentage of MMB customers who fall into each of the five categories.  Support your classification with logic and evidence from the case narrative.

Given the high rate of repeat customers (80%, according to the description), it’d be reasonable to assume a similar proportion of customers (60-75%) are in the Familiarity or Commitment stages, probably skewing toward Commitment due to the fact that MMB caters to the serious enthusiast.  That would probably also mean that very few (I’d estimate 5-10%) have reached the Separation stage.  MMB has maintained a very consistent business plan for most of its life, giving customers little reason to be driven away from them; and the article makes it sound like mountain biking enthusiasts wouldn’t be quick to give up their hobby.  This would leave roughly 15-20% at Exploration or Familiarity.  I would suspect that slightly more (10-15%) are Exploring based on the traffic being driven by the amateur photography displayed on the site – they wouldn’t be inquiring about the photos if they understood that the website was almost exclusively geared toward biking tours.

Question 2 – In a report of about 200 words, recommend an e-mail marketing strategy for MMB.  In your recommendation, consider the results of MMB’s earlier print mail advertising campaign, your answer to the first requirement, and the potential offered by permission marketing.

Given that a large percentage of MMB’s customers are repeat visitors, I would recommend adding an option to their website that would allow users to submit their e-mail address so they can receive a monthly newsletter or updates regarding featured tours.  In those e-mail messages I would also include links to the photo galleries posted to the website; they are eye-catching enough to draw traffic all on their own, and the links are convenient enough for customers to forward the e-mail to friends who might be interested or are photo enthusiasts.  This strategy also works well with the fact that so many of MMB’s first-time customers are referred to the company by word of mouth.  I might also include a promotion where the repeat customer could receive a discount on his next tour if he refers a first-time customer to the site and they also book a tour.  I would also advise the website include a page for booking tours online, since new customers might be more likely to plan a trip if the option is immediately available on the site.

Question 4 – Prepare a report of about 500 words in which you outline an affiliate marketing strategy for MMB.  Include a description of the types of Web sites that MMB should attempt to recruit as affiliates, and present at least five examples of specific sites that would be good referral sources.

My first recommendation for marketing MMB to the serious cycling enthusiast would be to seek out other mountain biking tour companies in other states (e.g.; http://www.totalescape.com/).  The fact that 90% of MMB’s current customers live in other states, shows that biking enthusiasts are willing to travel considerable distances to indulge their hobby.  A banner network would work to each company’s mutual advantage – if California cyclists might be interested in taking a biking vacation in Montana, it’s also likely that Montana enthusiasts would travel to the Golden Coast to go mountain biking there.

Next, I would recommend recruiting affiliates who specialize in selling equipment and apparel to mountain biking enthusiasts, such as Dick’s Sporting Goods (e.g.; http://www.dickssportinggoods.com; http://www.rei.com/).  Mountain biking is not a cheap hobby; people who have made the commitment of buying their own bike are more likely to consider taking a vacation devoted specifically to their hobby.  Both REI and Dick's are nationwide chains with large customer bases, which would have the potential to drive a lot of traffic to MMB's site. And in turn, providing links and information about cycling gear would be a great convenience for MMB customers who are preparing for their next cycling tour.

Mountain bikers don't just need a bike in order to indulge their hobby, however; they also require proper clothing and safety equipment.  Stores that sell apparel and accessories for mountain biking e.g.; http://www.zoic.com/) also cater to the more serious enthusiast, and would help to drive more traffic to MMB's site.

The number of hits generated by the photographs on the MMB website suggests another potential customer: the outdoor photography enthusiasts.  If people are looking to purchase or use the photos, they must be of quite scenic vistas.  Many photographers are used to "roughing it" and traveling to remote locations in order to get their shot, so recruiting an affiliate like http://www.outdoorphotographer.com/ might convert some amateur and professional photographers into cycling enthusiasts as they combine their hobbies.  Companies that sell outdoor photo equipment (e.g.; http://www.kirkphoto.com/) might also make good potential affiliates if their customers are looking for new locales to shoot pictures.

Finally, the power of word-of-mouth for drawing in new customers might be leveraged by making hats and shirts available for sale with the MMB logo on them, through as site like http://www.zappos.com/.  This would allow our repeat customers to express their like for MMB and get other people talking about and asking questions about the company.