Exclusive Weddings website is the online business providing services for brides in relation to the wedding organization and shopping. Popularity and profitability of the Exclusive Weddings website depend on the effective planning and organization of the business’s operations, management, budgeting, and security, along with the development and implementation of the e-business strategy.
Operating Plan
Organization Structure
The top management team includes the CEO, the COO, and the CIO. Business operations are organized in relation to 4 teams:
- The Marketing and Sales Team is controlled by the Marketing Coordinator and the COO, and it includes marketers, sales supervisors, and sales assistants.
- The IT and Web Design Team is controlled by the CIO, and it includes IT specialists, programmers, designers, and photographers.
- The Customer Support Team includes specialists in working with customers.
- The Accounting Team includes an accountant and a financial consultant (Business owners, 2014; Planning for e-commerce, 2014).
Systems
Exclusive Weddings e-business is oriented to provide the services for customers, and the organization of the business depends on principles of B2C e-commerce (Planning you e-business, 2014). The e-business will be organized to control:
- the technological support of the website;
- the work with customers and suppliers;
- order fulfillment;
- product delivery, shipping, and channel management.
Equipment
Exclusive Weddings e-business needs different types of equipment, hardware, and software to run the business effectively.
Office:
- Rented office and store.
- Office equipment (tables and chairs).
Hardware:
- Laptops.
- Phones to contact the customers.
- Printers (including photocopier and scanner).
Software and Applications:
- Windows Installer XML Toolset.
- Photoshop as the image editing software.
- MS Office (including Excel).
- Flash Software.
- Oracle Software.
- iMovie.
- Graphic design software (Building an effective website, 2014).
Running Business
Exclusive Weddings e-business will be run in relation to several directions. The main direction is selling wedding services to customers, including assistance in the wedding organization, purchasing rings and dresses, additional shopping, and the organization of honeymoons.
The work with customers includes:
- assistance in order fulfillment;
- handling sales;
- 24/7 online e-mail and live chat support;
- the organization of product delivery (Online business, 2014).
The second direction is the work with suppliers and companies who are ready to propose their brands and products via the Exclusive Weddings website. The work with suppliers includes:
- order fulfillment;
- brand promotion.
General Risk Management
Risk management strategies used in Exclusive Weddings e-business include identifying online security and financial threats. The main focus is on preventing risks for customers and suppliers, such as unauthorized access to private and financial data. The followed risk management strategies include Risk Prevention and Risk Reduction (Planning for e-commerce, 2014).
Management Plan
The Senior Management in Exclusive Weddings is presented by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), the Chief Operations Officer (COO), and the Chief Information Officer (CIO).
The CEO is responsible for the decision-making in the company and for developing and implementing business strategies. The CEO controls all the activities and operations in the company as well as performance and productivity (Business owners, 2014; Planning for e-commerce, 2014).
The COO is responsible for controlling marketing and sales as well as the work of the employees. The COO reports to the CEO on the successes in marketing, sales, and relations with customers and suppliers (Business owners, 2014; Planning for e-commerce, 2014).
The CIO is responsible for the work of technologies in the company. The CIO controls the work of the IT and Web Design Team and manages daily issues in relation to the IT support in the company. The CIO reports to the CEO (Business owners, 2014; Planning for e-commerce, 2014).
Financial Plan
In order to start Exclusive Weddings e-business, it is necessary to take a loan in AED 1,500,000. This capital will be spent to acquire necessary assets, including office equipment, hardware, and software. The amount of the loan is determined in relation to the cost-benefit analysis and prediction of the business’s profitability.
Costs associated with starting e-business include the following ones:
- office rent;
- office equipment;
- insurance;
- hardware costs;
- software costs;
- website domain name and hosting;
- company formation costs;
- running costs;
- staff costs (Planning you e-business, 2014).
Focusing on expected profits and losses for the next financial period in 12 months, the loan should be taken with the focus on the 24-month repayment schedule because the company is expected to receive the 10%, 15%, and 20% increases in revenues during the next three years.
Security Plan
The Exclusive Weddings website needs effective Internet Security measures in order to protect the company and customers’ information as well as the whole system from online attacks. The employees become aware of the company’s security practices with the help of regular training.
Training Plan for the Staff
- Basic training on online security practices, including the use of social media, passwords, and email.
- Updates on policies and practices.
- Regular reviews of standards and existing measures (Business owners, 2014).
Protection of the Website
The website uses anti-spyware, anti-virus, and anti-malware software in order to prevent unauthorized access, fraud, and phishing. The focus is on protecting the privacy and customers’ personal data regarding card and bank account numbers. The website’s POS system is protected with the help of the use of encryption and anti-malware software in order to prevent stealing customers’ card numbers (Business owners, 2014).
Security Mechanisms and Practices
- Employees: Authentication and authorization procedures are important to prevent frauds inside the company and defend access to systems. Employees are expected to have confidential and regularly changed passwords and to use encryption. Deterring measures such as the possibility of losing a job are used in the company in case of employees’ fraud.
- Managers: Managers are responsible for implementing security practices based on such principles of Information Assurance as confidentiality, integrity, and availability. Managers and specialists in online security are responsible for implementing security programs to defend networks. Managers implement detection measures, do auditing and inspection regarding the use of data, control the work of the whole system and security policies, and organize employees’ training.
- Customers: Authorisation procedures are used to protect customers. The security of the data is realized with the focus on the use of passwords. Customers can protect their financial operations with the help of the Public Key Infrastructure for e-payments and digital signature (Business owners, 2014).
Strategy and Implementation Plan
Advantages of Social Media for Advertising
In marketing and advertising, social media provide many opportunities because the use of social media does not require any additional resources because the installation of software and registration is usually free or low-cost. In addition to cost-efficiency, the use of social media allows targeting customers directly, depending on their needs and interests.
Creating pages in social networks, using such social media as YouTube, blogs, wikis, and Instagram, businesses can influence the customers’ vision of the company and create the company’s positive image (the Chu, 2011, p. 36). Furthermore, the free use of social media for advertising allows reaching the target audience and developing effective relations with customers (Mangold & Faulds, 2009, p. 358).
Advertisement through Social Media
Advertisements for Exclusive Weddings e-business should be posted with the help of such social media as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. Additional advertisements should be presented as YouTube channels and direct and indirect advertisements in blogs and wikis as the exchange of information about the Exclusive Weddings website’s work and services (the Chu, 2011, p. 34).
Use of Social Media to Advertise
- Facebook: For advertising with the help of Facebook, it is necessary to create a public group in which the services of the Exclusive Weddings website are promoted. The information on the page should include links to the website and the “About Us” section. The discussions of services and the website’s work should be encouraged (Chu, 2011, p. 34). Customers receive the opportunity to post reviews and feedbacks, obtain the necessary information about the services, and exchange experiences, post photographs from their weddings where they used the goods purchased with the help of the website.
- Twitter: It is necessary to create the Twitter account and post advertisements regarding newly added brands, promotions, discounts. Twitter is helpful to share all the news regarding the provision of Exclusive Weddings services.
- Instagram: Exclusive Weddings can post advertisements in the form of photographs to share with their followers. It is important to provide customers with the opportunity to share photographs from their weddings and honeymoons that were organized with the help of Exclusive Weddings.
- YouTube: Exclusive Weddings can use YouTube channels to promote video tutorials used on the website, promote video advertisements on Exclusive Weddings services, and add the advertisements to the suppliers/partners’ video channels.
Strategies to Deal with Competition
In order to compete effectively within the market, it is necessary to accentuate the features of the provided services that help distinguish Exclusive Weddings among the other similar websites (E-commerce: From bricks to clicks – Future Retail 2015, 2011, p. 24). The main strategies are the following ones:
- The flexible system of discounts and the developed loyalty program that provides benefits for past, present, and future customers.
- The wide assortment of goods to select from and brands to choose.
- The flexible system of creating the order depending on the customer’s budget.
- The provision of consultancies and useful information regarding the services, organization of weddings and honeymoons (Mangold & Faulds, 2009, p. 358; The Global Evolution of Digital Commerce and MENA E-commerce, 2013, p. 12).
Strategies to Promote Customer’s Satisfaction
Focus on relationship marketing. Contacting customers with the help of phone calls and e-mails, providing the latest news, and discount notifications, the Exclusive Weddings leaders, can create a positive image of the organization.
Focus on making customers connected with the business. The use of social media is an effective strategy to create a community of customers interested in the company’s products (Srinivasan, Anderson, & Ponnavolu, 2002, p. 42).
Focus on personalization: Advertisements and notifications should be provided to customers depending on their location, age, education, lifestyle, needs, and interests (Mangold & Faulds, 2009, p. 358). It is effective to use online questionnaires in order to gain the necessary information about the customers’ interests and expectations.
Reflection
The experience in developing an operating plan, management plan, security plan, financial plan, and marketing strategies are important and helpful in understanding the basic concepts and principles that are associated with starting an e-business. Referring to the proposed plans, it is possible to conclude that the success of the start-up depends on efficient planning and analysis.
The experience in developing plans supports the idea that it is important to pay attention to all the factors while starting a business and have the full picture in mind while being able to adapt to the situation. It is important to have advanced knowledge in relation to the use of technologies in order to operate the e-business. Furthermore, the project demonstrates how e-business uses modern approaches and fields in the sphere of marketing and advertising.
Challenges experienced during the development of plans are associated with the analysis of the financial information related to the start-up. The financial plan is important to present expected profits and losses related to e-business.
Challenges associated with developing the basic elements of the financial plan were resolved with the help of focusing on the analysis of costs and benefits related to the modern industry of online services associated with the organization of weddings. The other set of challenges was associated with proposing the most effective ways to use social media for advertising. The challenges were overcome after analyzing the typical advertisement content provided on social media websites.
References
Building an effective website. (2014). Web.
Business owners. (2014). Web.
Chu, S. (2011). Viral advertising in social media: Participation in Facebook groups and responses among college-aged users. Journal of Interactive Advertising, 12(1), 30-43. Web.
E-commerce: From bricks to clicks – Future Retail 2015. (2011). Web.
Mangold, G., & Faulds, D. (2009). Social media: The new hybrid element of the promotion mix. Business Horizons, 52(1), 357-365. Web.
Online business. (2014). Web.
Planning for e-commerce. (2014). Web.
Planning you e-business. (2014). Web.
Srinivasan, S., Anderson, R., & Ponnavolu, K. (2002). Customer loyalty in e-commerce: An exploration of its antecedents and consequences. Journal of Retailing, 78(2), 41–50. Web.
The Global Evolution of Digital Commerce and MENA E-commerce. (2013). Web.