Fundamental E-Business Strategies for Small Businesses

Fundamental E-Business Strategies for Small Businesses

Running Head:  FUNDAMENTAL E-BUSINESS STRATEGIES FOR SMALL BUSINESS

 

Fundamental E-Business Strategies for Small Business

By: Troy Johnson

Argosy University

MSM program

Electronic Business Application

Date:  06/25/2010

 

To remain competitive in today’s marketplace managers and marketing professionals need to be familiar with E-business and EC electronic commerce strategies.    Peter Drucker understood the significance of EC “The truly revolutionary impact of the World wide web Revolution is just beginning to be felt. But it is not “information” that fuels this impact. It is not “artificial intelligence.” It is not the effect of individualized and data processing on decision making, policymaking, or strategy. It is something that practically no one foresaw or, indeed even talked about 10 or 15 years ago; e-commerce that is, the explosive emergence of the World wide web as a major, perhaps eventually the major, worldwide distribution channel for goods, for services, and, surprisingly, for managerial and professional jobs. This is profoundly changing economics, markets and industry structure, products and services and their flow; consumer segmentation, consumer values and consumer behavior; jobs and fag markets. But the impact might be even greater on societies and politics, and above all, on the way we see the world and ourselves in it.” (Drucker 2002, pp. 3-4)  Business has swiftly adopted EC technology because it improves communication, supply chains, customer service, customer acquisition, and profit margins.  Pervasive computing and behavioral computing programs help business refer customer’s needs and wants faster than ever before.  Users of the world wide web wage click stream data that help predict future purchases, trends, and other patterns.  This article examines how E-business and web marketing increase brand awareness, industry market share, operational efficiency, and customer satisfaction.

 

Originally businesses used the world wide web to display products and information about their services.  As technology advanced there was an increasing emphasis on collaboration.  The emergence of social media technologies has permanently changed the traditional autocratic decision making process to a far more democratic model.  Just as many hands make light work cloud computing makes superior content, products, and applications by tapping the creative power of the billions of people using the internet.

 

The effects of the brave new digital world touch apiece industry and person.  Each action consumers make can be examined to create superior products and more intelligent demographic advertising.  Even those who do not participate in the world wide web benefit from the improved technologies.  For instance, Wal-Mart uses sophisticated WMS warehouse management software to track its inventory using RFID’s broadcasting frequency finding to track its inventory in real time.  The tracking system has vertically integrated its supply chains reducing inventory shelf time and the need for warehouse capacity.  Those savings are then passed on to all consumers regardless of whether they use the internet.

 

 

However, the global trend has been exponential growth in EC and online participation, so business leaders are continually looking to expand their online presence.  Massive businesses justify significant capital in IT upgrades using business plans and cost benefit analyses.  Amazon.com improves its E-procurement conversion rates by displaying consumer comments and they increase income by suggesting other products similar to the one on the screen.  Websites often state “People who purchased x item also purchased y item and z item.”  As invasive as this might seem most users appreciate the additional suggestions.

 

Small businesses including lawn companies, building companies, and other service contractors use social media websites, search engine marketing, and search engine optimization to improve their income calls from their websites.  Entrepreneurs recognize that the world wide web is swiftly replacing traditional phonebooks just as the vehicle replaced the horse drawn carriage.  This underlines the importance of hiring an inexpensive website designer that will create search engine friendly content.  The prolific growth of individualized and business websites make appearing on the first page results of Google and other search engines increasingly difficult.  This problem gave rise to the search engine optimization industry.  As defined byWikipedia .com, “Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the volume or calibre of traffic to a web site from search engines.”  Marketing executives and SEO professionals use keywords and strategically put links to improve traffic from search engines.  For example Snowbirdseeker.com a pass rental by owner website helps its clients advertise rentals by ranking well for the keyword seasonal rentals.  Search engines enable website owners to target customers that are already hunting for their services.

 

Facebook and Myspace helped introduce the web 2.0 revolution.  Their brand is woven into our society’s artifact and their annual traffic metrics are staggering.  Understanding the commercial aspects of advanced world wide web technologies will help any business.  Business owners can create profiles on Facebook and immediately improve customer communications.  With just a few friend requests a company can benefit from the well documented network effect.  “A primary reason why Facebook has expanded so rapidly is the network effect more users means more value. As more users become involved in the social space, more people are acquirable to connect with apiece other.”  (Turban, 2010)

 

Businesses amass hundreds and thousands of friends by placing a link to their facebook page on their website’s pages.  Since Facebook already has healthy market penetration in The U.S. and abroad it is a great channel to maintain communications with current and prospective customers.

 

Human resource managers use the world wide web for almost all of their activities.  The open structure makes head hunting faster than any other traditional method.  Popular websites like Monster.com and Careerbuilder.com help to swiftly match employers with prospective applicants and vice versa.  Using my sql database and keyword filtration software employers are swiftly healthy to scan applicants for the right qualifications.  The interview process remains in person, but finding eligible interviews primeval saves time and money.

 

Similarly, E-learning has transformed the way students attend class and employees receive training.  Universities offer online courses because they can reach far more students than a traditional onsite classroom.  Also, they are healthy to handle a larger student body without having to expand student housing or classroom capacity.  Cisco systems provides technologies that connect to the world wide web and other networks.  Using E-Learning and E-Training the company is healthy to train its employees faster and at a fraction of the previous cost.

 

 

Perhaps the most extraordinary breakthroughs are coming from WIFI wireless technologies.  Developing countries with limited infrastructure have for the most part remained off the communications network.  Recently however, mobile computing has skyrocketed with almost 600,000 cell phones and 60% market penetration in India.  Mobile computing continues to break down previous geographical barriers opening up new markets.  With apiece new innovation opens more possibilities.  For example, farmers use this same WIFI technology to protect the environment and improve productivity levels.  They are remotely installing intelligent nodes throughout their grounds to collect useful environmental data.  The technology is healthy to measure soil moisture, humidity, temperature, wind speed, rainfall, and a number of other metrics.  Each nodes data is not as significant as the picture painted by computing all of the sensors collectively.  By examining the data farmers or vineyard workers are healthy to schedule watering only in the areas that need water and conversely they can apply fungicide only in areas that are prone to the disease.  This will help to lower the fixed costs involved in vineyard management and this will have a positive effect on the environment.  Using wifi remote sensors farmers and vineyard owners are healthy to track and record key statistics without having to lay thousands of feet worth of wiring.  Ultimately, this new technology will mean superior land use and increased food supply, which is positive for conservation efforts and the overall price of groceries.

 

EC strategies are essential to modern business.  E-business improves communications, supply chains, warehouse management, land use, retailing, E-tailing, logistics, customer satisfaction, and much more.  In order to create and maintain a durable competitive advantage businesses should implement EC strategies that foster customer repurchase loyalty.

 

 

 

References:

 

Drucker, P. Managing in the Next Society. New York:

Truman Talley Books, 2002.

 

Turban, E., Lee, J. K., King, D., Liang, T. P., & Turban, D. (2010). Electronic commerce 2010: A managerial perspective, 6/E. Prentice Hall. ISBN-10: 0136100368.

 

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