Internet Strategies for Ecommerce

Abstract

In this paper there will be a discussion about the trend of E- commerce that most companies are getting into these days. I have selected a small flower shop that operates in my hometown. The businesses name is Deb's Flowers. She operates solely out of the actual building her business operates out of and she relys upon the business of local regular customers. She has never considered utilizing the internet in order to boost her profits and her business. In this paper there will be a discussion about how Deb could utilize the internet as a way to boost sales and her business and how she could go about building a website. There will also be a description of how Deb's flower store could benefit from using a website to promote the store, and about what functions the website should perform for the store. There will also be a list of functional specifications for the flower stores' use of the web and the internet. This will also include links to and from other sites in that type of design. There will also be a list of technological specifications for implementation.

Strategies for Ecommerce

(1.) The internet business model that Deb should consider checking into should be the same one that the flower industries' biggest companies use. Debs' flowers should establish a network of local florists in exchange for taking orders. For example on Deb's website big companies like Law the Florist could take orders from the customers but it would actually be Deb's Flowers who would make the flower arrangement and then deliver it (Gray, 2012). The website could provide the Deb's Flowers with credit card processing services, advertising, and transmission services. Deb's Flowers should choose the business model of E-tailor which means that they would sell actual products right to the customers or to other businesses (Gray, 2012).

(2.) Every company out there can reap the benefits of running a website. When it comes to a small flower store like Deb's, since she only sells actual merchandise out of her businesses' building and not on the internet, she is limiting herself to selling to local customers only (Clark, 2012).Larger companies like for instance Flowers.com usually take their orders as a3rd party seller, they have the capability to earn profit sharing % s and they have a great potential to attract new customers. The online functions that may be provided are as follows; Marketing, Sales, Customer Support and Internal communications (Clark, 2012).

(3.) In addition to hooking up with sites like Flowers.Com or Law the Florist.com. Deb's flower store could utilize the Internet for networking on social sites such as Twitter and Facebook (Clark, 2012). The goal here will be to get potential customers to sign into these social media type websites. Once there the customers will be offered coupons and other promotions. Offering store coupons and other promotional offers will help to boost people's awareness of the store's existence and it will help to boost sales, this will also help to boost search engine optimization (Clark, 2012).

(4.) Here is a list of Functional Specifications for Deb's Flower shop's use of the Internet these includes links to and from other sites in the websites' design such as Twitter and Facebook. How will this website be utilized? - The Deb's Flowers website will be utilized in order to make people aware of their products and in order to boost sales and profits for the company (Gray, 2012). How will revenue be generated? Revenue will be generated by using a payment system such as PayPal. The customers will pay through the store's PayPal account. What kinds of items will this website sell? The Deb's Flowers website will