Importance of E-Commerce
Current customer trends and shopping patterns indicate that e-commerce is quickly becoming the primary marketplace for the exchange of goods. A range of benefits has been found to be associated with implementing e-commerce. There are typically lower costs associated since e-commerce requires less physical resources. Online pages, available products, and marketing campaigns can be implemented in a considerably shorter amount of time. The company can quickly adapt to varying economic demands and customer needs. Furthermore, e-commerce provides an additional bonus of collecting data, giving the company statistics and analyzed trends to improve business strategy (“E-Commerce: Advantages and Disadvantages”).
Access to technology and factors which allow customers to have a large array of options from the comfort of their home have led to the formation of an extremely profitable e-commerce market. It provides people with the most critical advantages in business, from a consumer and producer perspective alike, time and information. The convenience of online shopping saves a significant amount of time over physical presence. Meanwhile, the open availability of information gives customers an ability to compare and evaluate products based on preferences (“Top 5 Advantages of E-Commerce to Consumers”). By avoiding the e-commerce market, a company risks increased operational costs and lost sales.
As most retailers switch to online marketplaces, physical shops are beginning to become unprofitable and lack a competitive advantage. Meanwhile, since a majority of people have a significant online presence, the company risks losing customers who may choose to shop at a competitor’s website due to convenience. Overall, an online presence of a company generates exposure, attracts new customers, and drives sales. The risks of not entering the e-commerce sphere have significantly larger consequences than doing so.
Implementation of e-commerce can drastically alter the financial projections of a company. It provides critical data which impact decision-making and budget evaluation. This includes profitability, revenue, and cash flow based on purchase orders and website traffic statistics. Financial forecasts can be validly predicted based on the analytical period-to-period basis which provides a comprehensive assessment of the realities of the market. This use of big data has been critical to improving predictive analysis which can present risk modeling or optimize supply chain networks amongst a variety of other functions (“Big Data Use Cases That 2016 Will Bring”). An e-commerce strategy is going to generate costs for the company at first, as resources will require financial investment and budget redistribution. However, it is likely that the expenses will be recouped in a short period of time as higher revenue targets are met.
Strategy
Communication Strategy
Any transition for the company creates plenty of uncertainty for its leaders, employees, and stakeholders. At the same time, it is a period when an open mind and a strong work ethic are required from everyone involved. Therefore, it is important to communicate the necessity of making the transition to e-commerce and outline steps which will be taken. Communication would occur in stages using a combination of electronic, written, and face-to-face methods. First, a memo should be sent outlining the basic aspects of the strategy and inspiring to shift the focus towards its implementation. Later, conference meetings would occur within departments and relevant stakeholders to introduce detailed steps, market analysis, and upcoming challenges. Throughout the transition process, it may be required to release additional information and make individual calls with significant stakeholders to establish a clear line of communication which would aim to address concerns, educate, and reinforce the idea behind a company’s purpose and the e-commerce strategy (Everse).
KPIs
Human Resources: Action Plan
The recruitment process should include a personal interview with each candidate to learn more about their attributes and skills. Additional questions about the company’s product line and the knowledge of the Internet technology should be addressed. Hired workers should undergo training which includes customer service basics, conflict resolution, role play with other employees, company’s assortment of products, telephone and typing skills, the layout of the website, and other qualifications. It is vital to stress the value of communication between employees and the company as well. Customer support and sales workers should be able to identify arising problems before their occurrence. According to this plan, two potential recruits should have enough experience in working with clients, a positive attitude, motivation and passion, knowledge of the company’s products, readiness to learn, and fast reactions to stressful situations.
Physical Resources: Action Plan
Physical resources are also important to the implementation of the e-commerce plan. The company needs to choose a company that will create the new website. Here, the interests of customers should come first, as their comfort and satisfaction with the website is the key component of increasing sales. Customer requirements for online stores include fast speed, simple layout, and high-quality pictures and descriptions (Paris et al. 1458). In this case, the best bidder is Innovative Technologies, as this firm is the only one that offers to create a site with a high level of usability. While their costs are higher than those of other companies, the revenue from such a website should be higher as well. A contract should be signed with Innovative Technologies. The next physical resources are forklifts and delivery trucks. The costs of the equipment should be researched to find the best price-quality ratio. Then, the best types of machines should be purchased. The delivery trucks should be researched according to their speed as the company wants to continue improving its delivery time.
Timeline and Milestones
The e-commerce plan has to be implemented by the end of September. Therefore, a timeline of necessary operations should be created. First of all, as the website takes 50 days to be completed, its creation should be started at the beginning of July. It is important to hire customer service workers before the end of this period as well because they should have the ability to test the website. All hiring processes should be finished in the second part of August. The next time period should be devoted to training and communication with managers. The purchase of other physical resources can be postponed until the second part of September.
Risks
- Low sales in the online store.
- Additional marketing campaigns can be initiated to avoid the risk of low sales. New offers and exclusive products sold only online can increase the rate of purchases.
- Poor customer service.
- Customer service training should be engaging for workers to elicit a positive response. The customer-driven approach should become the foundation of the business.
- Low-quality website design.
- Continuous monitoring of the designing process can help the company to assure the high-quality of the end product.
Monitoring Plan
Budgetary Performance
Financial Performance
Productivity Performance
While some types of performance are hard to assess due to the lack of measurable results, their input and output can consider such points as active participation, successful use of acquired knowledge during work, customer satisfaction, time to receive an order, and others.
Employee Performance
While productivity deals with sales and customer satisfaction, employee performance also considers their personal achievements and skills. Here is an example of a table for one employee’s performance.
Milestones Achieved Against Targets
Dates for Monitoring Activities
Resources Used for Monitoring
The company’s management can use comparative analysis to assess the progress made by the company. Benchmarking is a useful technique for observing separate elements of the implementation along with the overall speed of the process.
Operational Performance
According to the case study, current operational performance has some issues. The staff does not have enough familiarity with the product line. Furthermore, their training was not effective. Employees lack important communicational skills. Poor customer service leads to decreasing online sales (Chiu et al. 87). Website maintenance has problems that turn clients away.
Recommendations
- Revise the training process for customer service workers.
- Create new communicational channels for employees and managers.
- Devise a presentation for learning the company’s products.
Corrective Actions
- Employees’ morale should be strengthened with collaborative initiatives.
- The rate of order mistakes can be lowered with additional training and manager’s supervision.
- The speed of service should be increased. Customer service workers have to learn specific phrases to speed up the conversation.
Works Cited
“Big Data Use Cases That 2016 Will Bring.” Ingram Micro Advisor. 2015. Web.
Chiu, Chao‐Min, et al. “Understanding Customers’ Repeat Purchase Intentions in B2C e‐Commerce: The Roles of Utilitarian Value, Hedonic Value and Perceived Risk.” Information Systems Journal, vol. 24, no. 1, 2014, pp. 85-114.
“E-Commerce: Advantages and Disadvantages.” Accion, n.d., Web.
Everse, Georgia. “Eight Ways to Communicate Your Strategy More Effectively.” Harvard Business Review. 2011. Web.
Paris, Deborah Libu, et al. “Exploring Implementation Factors Influencing Business-to-Customer (B2C) e-Commerce.” Advanced Science Letters, vol. 21, no. 5, 2015, pp. 1455-1459.
“Top 5 Advantages of E-Commerce to Consumers.” Money Matters, n.d., Web.