Planning issues – suitability of business
The first planning issue is to consideration for the business whether it would be suitable for the business to go online. Because some businesses are not suitable for online purchases due to a number of factors: they may only wish to trade locally, for example a local cycle shop because the goods they are selling online may not be suitable for transporting distances due to the cost/nature of the product.
As this business may be very good to the local community and make profit from trading locally however if it want purely online it may not have as many products to keep up with going online for example log of customer may want the same product but the company may not have that many quantity because it’s a small online business. There could be other problems like transporting the product to the customer for example if a customer order a product from Cardiff for �99.99 with free delivery but actually it will cost the company �129.99 to delivery because it a long distance and that mean the company will make loss.Domain nameDomain name means an address for a website which also known as IP address; all websites have a domain name – which is normally the same as the organisational name, such as www.aol.
co.uk. Ideally, for a business to set up online they will need to register a domain name which isn’t very difficult to do but it may be hard to find a suitable domain name which isn’t being used by another company and which is representing the company, also the name should be easy for the customer to remember and short, and as near to the operational name as possible.Set – up issuesBusinesses have to choose whether to create the website ‘in – house’ or whether to ask ‘outsource’ a specialist company to do it.In – houseA basic website can be created quite easily from ‘off – the – shelf ‘web authoring software such as Microsoft FrontPage. It’s also good for first time user because this has wizard to help non – expert to create a simple website.Also there is specialist package like Macromedia’s Dreamweaver, fireworks and flash technology which enable professional developers to produce many different effects and designs.You can buy theses design tool like FrontPage or Dreamweaver which is software which anyone can make a layout for a website, this is good as it will save money than going to a professional designer (outsourcing).More skill are needed to use the specialist packages that’s when a small business can also obtain help and advice through many free service and local agencies, such as the chamber of commerce. There are also advantages and disadvantages of using in – house.
Advantages> Cost cheaper.> Knowledge of the company.> Made and designed the way you want to responsive and reactive.> Opportunity for staff to gain skill.Disadvantage> Not enough experience> Poor result> Not up to dated softwareOutsourceMany businesses prefer to obtain the assistance of a professional web – design agency which will give advice on all aspects of the site, including security. This is particularly important if the business will be receiving payment online and this what outsource mean.
Using outsourcing it makes a specific style/pattern on the website which is unique and stands out, they have experience so they will know what to do and how to do so, they can design the webpage so it is suitable to the correct audience, their will staff always working, they will take responsibility upon themselves such as PayPal and net pay they will make sure that money has been received to the account.The cost of employing a professional agency can run from �3,000 to over �100,000 but a business may decide this is worthwhile to ensure that the site positively promotes the company’s image. There are advantages and disadvantages of using outsource.Advantages; High quality design; Expertise; Know trends in terms of design; Monitor competitorDisadvantage; Cost �3,000 to �100,000; Not as responsive/reactive; Availability; Less knowledge about the companyImplementation issuesMean putting a plan into action, for example a new online business would have a business plan on how they are going to launch online and how they will try to attract customer to the their online business. However going online can be disadvantages such as the way the business operates online, which could be a problem for lot of customers and the company such as the business information may be set up wrongly so when customers are online its badly organised.
This could mean the company will loses customers as if a customer is on the business’s website and find it shambolic and design doesn’t run with the business type they may think of the website as cheap and leave to different site.The requirement of a business means what sort of products a business will be selling for example if a business is interactive customisation which means it has a lot of requirements for example Ebay when a customer goes on to the site and searches through items the computer will mark that, when a customer buys a product the system will trace that and next time the customer logs into their account or goes on the site again the computer will recommend items.The business may need to work with other organisations which sell similar product which link each other. For example if a customer was to go on a site where they can find car alloy wheel set they will want to find other product which they will need for the car, this is where promotion can be very useful as if the website has a link which leads to car accessory, other part of the car etc it will make the customer online shopping easier as they all be linked to each other.
This is a big advantage as the customer may recommend to other people like friend and family which mean more customers. Online business can’t just promote any organisation as it may have nothing in common with the business for example a online retail promoting a toy store, as by doing this the business may receive the customers they are looking for and may not grow so its important to choose who you will promote. Its best to choose an online an organisation that has something in common for example their product link, which will bring in the customers they are looking for.
