Introduction
This paper is an instructional guide, which is prepared with the aim of being presented to the board of the charity organization. The organization under investigation includes older adult people, who want to raise money for charity donations and supporting local artistry by selling handmade crafts and some other related goods via Internet.
Objectives
The purpose of this instructional guide is to provide the charity organization’s board with the real-life examples of effective usage of Internet with the aim of achieving the objectives set by the members. The most significant goal of the guide is to determine the websites, which are easy to use and access for those people, who do not have strong skills in using computers and need a lot of time to learn new applications. In other words, the chosen websites should demonstrate that they comply with the primary requirements of the charity organization’s members and are beneficial for selling more handmade crafts and other goods.
Materials – Determining Related Websites
The idea behind the instructional guide is to choose several websites often used for the retail purposes and conduct their analysis on the basis of studying the features, which are crucial for the target users. The proposed e-commerce retailers might include Amazon, Etsy, eBay, and others. Other websites such as social networks or video-sharing websites will not be proposed because, first, sometimes it takes a lot of time to obtain necessary skills to use them and, second, using them for the determined objectives is intricate.
Of course, video-sharing websites like YouTube have proved to be effective for increasing sales because demonstrating the goods via video clips is more attractive if compared to photos and product description, but the skills and knowledge of the target sellers should be the foremost priority (Robertson, 2011). Social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, and others, which are actively used for marketing purposes, will also be ignored due to the complexity of working with them. Nevertheless, search engines such as Yahoo and Google are recommended.
Procedures – Guidelines for Evaluating the Websites
The procedures section is made up of two subsections – guidelines for conducting instructional activities and necessary resources. The first subsection will focus on the features of the websites themselves while the second one will provide the requirements to resources and skills. The motivation for the similar division is to mention every detail, which might be significant for reaching the established objectives of the charity organization members.
Designing the Conduct of Instructional Activities
While choosing the websites, it is recommended to keep in mind several features. First of all, it is better to use the popular website. Because the primary objective of the target people is to sell their goods and donate money to charity, they are not interested in promotion and marketing because it is expensive. That is why, the first feature for the website analysis is website popularity, i.e. how many people know about the website, how to use it, and what is the number of its everyday visitors.
The second feature is the imbedded search tool. This detail might seem senseless, but, in fact, it is always easier to use the search tool than to browse the categories. In addition to it, having search boxes attracts more customers if compared to category listings (Testing ideas for e-commerce and retail sites, 2016).
Next, it is advised to choose the websites, which offer similar goods. This characteristic is two-sided. On one hand, it implies higher levels of competition. At the same time, because we speak of handcrafted products, their uniqueness will help solve the issue of competitors. On the other hand, people should be informed that this particular website offers the goods they need. So, if the organization is the only provider in the category of handcrafted goods, it might take some time for the potential customers to discover it.
The next feature for assessing the websites is whether they offer the possibility to create free accounts for retailers or particular discounts for the elderly users or charity purposes. The motivation for making an emphasis on the necessity of this feature is the same like in the case with choosing popular websites – it is always better to donate more money to charity than spend on premium accounts. One more characteristic is intuitive website design, which will make the process of operation easier. The justification for attracting attention to it is the focus on the level of skills and technological knowledge of those, who will use the website for commercial purposes.
Another significant feature is offering payment instruments. Some websites have an option of building payment information into the users’ accounts. It makes the whole process of selling easier and faster and it adding this information usually does not require strong knowledge in browsing the Internet and using technologies. However, offering this service requires guaranteeing user security systems as well as being aware of their significance.
The simplest steps to guarantee data security is to use secure connection, make up more reliable passwords, and choose e-commerce platforms knows as safe ones (Schiff, 2013). This feature is a combination of both education and choice. Finally, some retail websites operate not only as e-commerce platforms but also offer deliveries services, which are usually cheaper than using conventional postal deliveries. So, choosing one of them might be a beneficial option.
Necessary Resources
Resources necessary for using the determined websites are minimal. They include computers (laptops, tablets, etc.) and access to the Internet as well as the goods, which would be sold, themselves. Except for these resources, some elementary skills in using the newest technologies are required. Some of them are knowledge of the simplest Internet search tools with the aim of finding the related websites, checking e-mail box and sending e-mails in order to communicate with the customers and track orders, working with Internet browser applications to use the websites for the organization members’ established objectives (uploading images, making up orders, changing their statuses, updating stock availability, etc.), and communication skills.
Assessment – Guidelines for Evaluating the Websites Performance
Table 1. Guidelines for Evaluating Website Performance.
Responses for the Line Items
Ethical Considerations
Although the role of ethics in making choices during this paper was not crucial, it cannot be underestimated. First of all, the determined objectives are conducting business activities. So, business ethics were applied. The primary consideration was user data security because revealing personal information or hacker attacks are undoubtedly unethical. That is why the emphasis was made on different ways of protecting user data such as strengthening passwords, promoting the use of safe connection, and choosing safe websites. Of course, there were the easiest tools for improving data security, but they are still efficient. Not ignoring the issue believing that older members of society do not know how to use them would have been unethical, but this guide was an attempt to avoid this issue.
Another ethical consideration was drawing the line between the younger and older generations in the level of skills and knowledge. It is referred to as the digital divide (Koslowski & Hubig, 2004). In its very essence, it is unethical to point to it. However, because the initial stress was made on the fact that these people are interested in making money instead of learning new applications, it was ethical to provide them with the easiest ways to use the Internet for commercial purposes.
In addition to it, the digital divide was insignificant. Specific attention was paid to demonstrating all opportunities to use the Internet for boosting sales. Of course, stating that social networks or video-sharing websites are not recommended because they are intricate might seem unethical, but they are mentioned. So, very individual is free to choose whether he/she wants to study and use them or fall upon easier ways of doing business.
Justifying Design and Writing Decisions
This instructional guide was developed with the aim of demonstrating that there are numerous ideas for using the Internet for commercial and charity purposes. Special attention was paid to criteria for choosing e-commerce platforms and necessary skills and knowledge. This decision was motivated by the desire to provide the board with all necessary details, which might affect taking the further steps in the organizations’ development.
In addition to details mentioned above, the table of criteria and grades was presented. The justification for making the similar decision is the fact that the table presents all required information in short and could be used for conducting website analysis and choosing one, which would meet the organization’s needs the best.
As of the writing, the emphasis was made on real-life examples of e-commerce platforms as well as other websites, which could be used for achieving the determined purposes. The justification for mentioning Amazon, eBay, and Etsy is the fact that they are among the most popular online retail platforms (Monthly unique visitors to US retail websites 2015, 2016). Moreover, Amazon offers delivery services and works with various payment systems (Pride, Hughes, & Kapoor, 2015). The idea was to hint to analyze them, as they are extremely popular and safe.
Justifying the Logic for Compiling Sources
The logic behind compiling sources into an instructional guide was simple. Instead of providing pure instructions, it is always better to point to some facts. For example, what is the point in recalling user security without referring to the strategies for boosting it? Or why mention social networks without providing the examples of their effectiveness?
Moreover, necessary resources (skills and knowledge) were incorporated into the instructional guide. The justification for this decision was to show the organization the minimal requirements and point to possible gaps in meeting them as well as finding the solutions to this challenge.
Finally, including educational details such as user security information, the use social media, the necessity of search tools and other features was motivated by the desire to demonstrate that obtaining new knowledge and skills is not always complicated. Of course, it is time-consuming and requires a lot of effort, but the consequences will definitely be positive. The justification for making this statement is the fact that taking similar steps would increase the effectiveness of the team as well as attract new customer and, as the result, sell more handcrafted goods and earn more money supporting the local artistry. Furthermore, the aim was to stir the interest in obtaining new skills hinting that it is never too late to study.
References
Koslowski, P., & Hubig, C. (2004). Business ethics and the electronic economy. New York, NY: Springer.
Monthly unique visitors to US retail websites 2015. (2016). Web.
Pride, W. M., Hughes, R. J., & Kapoor. J. R. (2015). Foundations of business. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.
Robertson, M. R. (2011). How to drive sales through YouTube – A reel, mighty video marketing case study. Web.
Schiff, J. L. (2013). 15 ways to protect your e-commerce site from hacking and fraud. Web.
Testing ideas for e-commerce and retail sites. (2016). Web.