ViaBela: Online Business and Website Success Research Paper

Review of Available Literature

• Review of online business case study. The business case to be discussed is the case of Solutions for Women which is the company with online options that are aimed at selling goods to customers through the web-store; at the same time, the website has also educational value as women that are concerned about menopause problems can read more about available options and select the most appropriate treatment methods. The treatment methods include the products offered by the Solutions for Women company. The company was started in the 1990s by Sabina Fasano “that researches and markets natural ways to deal with symptoms of peri-menopause and menopause” (Kraus, 2011). The most challenging task for this business was the expensiveness of products due to their quality while the expenses could not be cut down because of the methods used to promote the products into the market. We predict that we may encounter similar problems as well if we try to promote the products into the market using stores with physical locations though we will not have such problems as the ViaBela is designed to promote goods through online trading methods. The case study suggests that some optimization techniques such as increasing user-friendly options, encouraging the customers to stay longer and review different offers, making the content of the website “keyword enriched”, and “reviewing the links, web copy, and basic setup” (Kraus, 2011). In this respect, the same options can be used for launching our website to meet the needs of the customers in terms of website effectiveness and be visible for search engines that are used for searching the goods available through the website.
• Review of Web 2 0 and beyond: Understanding the new online business models, trends, and technologies (2008) by Tom Funk. The book by Tom Funk (2008) is aimed at explaining the use of online options to optimize the website and make it more user-friendly and effective in terms of the search engine options and other criteria that may influence the visibility of the website for search engines. The book covers the options available under Web 2.0 if the author applies it to online trading and personal life. Web 2.0 is already actively and effectively used in everyday life in chat rooms, blogs, e-mail, and other components that became integral parts of our lives. As such, “our social and business lives will play out in cyberspace rather than physical space” (Funk, 2008, p. 8). In this respect, the online business activities should be well-organized so that the effect was reached to the maximum making the website appealing and engaging, recognizable and interesting, easy-found, and captivating.

While using the Web, we predict that no problems will occur provided that we use original ideas and content interesting for potential customers. As such, different options available online should be applied to the website. For instance, the customers should have an opportunity to contact the representatives via e-mail and via phone call; using the search engine it is possible to find the website while some search box options should be available so that customers could search products and services within the website. In addition, different products should be included into different categories to facilitate the search within the website including information about different products such as the name, manufacturer, type of product, price category/concrete price.

Assessment of the Website

The website to be accessed is the web by the company Skin Care Rx; however, it includes two more websites that offer skin care and body care products for different categories of people by two other companies. The websites are appealing and the customer would like to stay more on such a website and review all available options. The following analysis includes different concepts that should be taken into account and that our website may also apply to make the results more effective.

• Visualization. The visual representation of products is very important as well as the visual images of the entire website. As such, the colors used for the website are neutral and appealing in this case while more provocative color combinations may be used to signify the cosmetics contrasted to skin care products. The images applied here are neutral showing the people and products that can be used. Besides, it is important that every page available on this basis include a completed website with numerous options and distinctive color combinations that are aimed at conceptualizing the company and its approach. However, all three companies presented in this set claim to have natural cosmetics and skin/body care products made of purest ingredients and tested in laboratories.
• Options. The options of every website are extremely important because a website that does not include any information about the company would be questionable for customers who are concerned about safety issues. As such, the information about the company (at least its privacy policy and contact information) should be available for the customers. In this respect, it is necessary to review the following options available on these three websites accessed from one which are very similar to each other. The main opportunity offered by the creators of these three websites is that a customer that signs in can choose the products that are automatically placed into the shopping cart but does not have to use a different cart for each of these three websites. Besides, they offer free shipping options in case a customer orders products on a specific sum and more. The search within a website is one of the most important options because a user should be enabled to type the name of the product into the search box and find out if such a product is available through this website. The selection is categorized in accordance with the following options: top brands, product type, ingredient type, skin type, bestsellers, new products, products also purchased by other customers. In addition, special offers, gift ideas, shipping discounts, information about products including the complete list of ingredients are also available among options of these three websites with one shopping cart.
• User-friendly ideas. The user-friendly options include easy searching of the website within the available online stores that offer similar products and services. The prices do not have to be lower than in online stores that offer similar range of products though a customer should see the information that would be interesting and engaging for him/her while having a glance at the webpage because the first look often characterizes the customer’s desire to stay at the website or to continue search. At the same time, it is possible to include or not the price so that customers could see the range of products and other available options of the website instead of identifying that the price is too high and leaving the website. In this respect, the discount and saving opportunities should be made visible for customers to enable them to use ideas and offers that may help them to save costs on shipping provided that they buy two products or more or include some price limits so that the customers are interested in buying more if they know that the final cost will still be lower than when buying from other online stores that offer a similar range of products.
• Application opportunities. Our website should be designed in accordance with the modern principles of online business including various options for customers to grab their attention and build their loyalty with the help of various discounts, wide range of selection and information about products and ingredients. As such, all the options displayed in the website reviewed can be applied to our website except for the one shopping cart for three websites. However, some cooperation is possible with other companies that offer skin/body care products for African-American students or other specific options. At the same time, it is preferable to operate on our own to avoid questionable agreements and unjustified risk. The color scheme applied by or website may include neutral colors and indicate that paling products are available and these are the integral part of the website.

References

Funk, T. (2008). Web 2 0 and beyond: Understanding the new online business models, trends, and technologies. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger.

Kraus, D. (2011). Case Study: Solutions for Women. SmartBiz. Web.

Skin Care Rx. (2010). Skin Care Rx official website. Web.