AmazonThe website that i will be looking at is the online shop Amazon.Amazon is a e-commerce company, Amazon.com is based in Washington. For UK users you can order things online form the UK and the items you buy will come quicke, also you can buy things off the Amazon .com and they come from Amercia.
Website Link
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Amazon is used by many people, and it is very popular around this time of the year as we are approaching christmas, also there is a christmas theme on amazon which gives you a more pleasant shoppping experience, Amazon sells a lot of different items from books to shoes, and baby items to home and garden. As christmas is coming up Amazon recommends many diffreent items and this comes up on the homepage when you go on the website, but beofr eoyu can buy anything you have to make an account up first which you need to submit your details and address and also your credit card details, but this is all secure. Also on this website you can create a wish list which you can submit diffreent items to a list and and this is highly premoted at christmas.
Credit Card PlanAlso amazon had a credit card that you can have aswell, and you can recieve many benfits from this and cna get money off your purchases.
Also Amazon allows you to sell your items aswell as buys items, in every topic there is a subtopic of sell you stuff with this you can sell anything used and new and people do tedn to buy your items this is a fast and effective way of selling your goods and could be a alternative to ebay because it may seem more secure and more genuine.
Prime Membership
Amazon has also introduced amazon prime is a membership program which you have to pay £49 a year for but you get great benfits these benefits include free one day delivery, express delivery, you can share your benefits with other users. It may seem a lot fo money but if you are a frequent user of amazon and also with christmas coming up then this is a could time to sign up as you can recieve the items fast and in time for putting them under the christmas tree.
Amazon allows you to track your order anywhere in the world, and to see where they are if they are in the dispatch stage or delivery stage.
AccountsCreating an account is easy you need to provide an email address firstly, then you need to type you name and birthday, you dont have to put your birthday is, but when you log into amazon if comes up with a birthday greeting and tells you about different offers, after you entered that you need to provide a password of anything once you done that you then press continue to the next stage, then you need to complete different stages like what topics interest you the most, then you need to add in last purchases in each topic you dont need to do this as this waste time and you could be buy stuff in this time, after you need to click your account and then you have an account, at your account there are many different services you can go to from view order, you change details, and to payments settings.
Ipod ITouchOn Amazon you can search anything, i have put a serach in for the Apple Itouch the new ipod from apple, this will be in very high demand because of chirstmas is coming and there will be high orders for this, there is three pages of different related to the Itouch, from cases to the actually ipod, i then clicked on the Ipod Itouch 16gb, which is the best Itouch with more space on, there are five big images on the Itouch so you can have a look what you are getting, also as you are on the page you can have a look on people reviews and what they htink about apple new installment, as you go down the page you can see a few details about the Itouch there isnt much details and this is good as this doesnt bore you reading a big article, also on the page tells you how much it is and if they are in stock, and it also tells you how many there are form other shops and new and used ones and tells you the cheapest price, also there is recommended items that you can buy with the Itouch which automatically adds up for you,
The Purpose of The Site and How Successfully It Meets This Objective
the main purpose of the website amazon is to sell goods or services, it mainly sells goods over services, but amazon has started to sell different services like credit cards, and in a few years time amazon will be selling our services like mobile phone tariffs, banking and many more. As you go on the home screen at the amazon website first impressions is that its has lots of goods and different selling catergories to choose from.
these are many more webites like amazon that are easy to use, the webites called Dell is a large computer company which sells desktops computer and notebooks at very reasonible prices. the website allows a customer to buy a range of products starting with small home computers and going up to large file server suitable for a big business, these is also other proucts like printers and scanners and PDA's. The websie only operates onine and telephone sales. There computers are not sold in any retail stores. Dell would be a more successful business if they sold in stores the reason for this is because it is popular at the moment but if they sold their computers in store then they would have more customers and these customers dont have to wait for their computer to be built which takes a while to build and dispatch.
This is a image of the dell's home screen, this shows a variety of different options from laptops and desktops to printers. Also is advertises newer computer systems aswell.
Structured
The structure of any website is very important. customers need to become familiar with the website ver quickly and both Amazon and Dell both carry out this for the customers, al th eparts to these websites are easy to use and quick as well, all the hyperlink directs you to the page you want adn there is no mistake. As a customers i didnt experience any problems with accessing all the hyperlinks. Sometimes wesbites many get cluttered and it is difficult to then use and access pages, but to stop this from happening then the designers use frames which stop the customers form getting lost in the depths of the websites.
Also on both Amazon and Dell there are search facilities which is essential on all websites as this helps the customer to find what they want quickly and easily, and this stops the customers going through menus and layers of the website.
this screenshot shows the website ebuyer.co.uk, ebuyer is a website that sells thousands of computer related items. the screenshot shows the homepage which contains large panels with special offer items, and these change on a regular basis, there are many tabs on the top fo the website to seprate the website, adn this allows the user to search what they what, also it also has a product finder search facility which allows the customers to search what ever they what on the website which saves time and prevents the user from going through all the pages and getting lost, if you move the cursor over the frames at the top of the website they drop down to show othr sub-topic that are in that group.
The Goods and Services The Website Offers.
Many websites make it easy for the suer to see what types of goods or services that site offers. a website that sells goods aswell as services is
http://www.tesco.com/ this is a online shopping website where you can place your order and get them delivered. also tesco offer servcies like insurance, finance and telecoms.
this screenshot shows the homepage of the tesco.com, as you can see form the picture is shows different frames and just like ebuyer as you move your cursor over these frames then other sub-topic comes down to offer more options. also the bottom frames allow you to acces clubcards, and other clubs that you have signed up to, tesco allows the user to do pretty much anything online and this helps the customer as it offers many things that many people use everyday, and this is quick and easy.
this image shows the different options that tesco finance offers, tesco is a very good transactional website because it allows the user to do anything from buying bread to applying for a loan, with tesco finance you can apply for loans mortagages and credit cards online which is quick and easy and no hassle.
The Product Information Provided
a website can use multimedia techniques to provide information about a product. it is important for a website to provide as much information as possible since the customer cannt see or handle the goods before they are delivered. by law the information proivided mst be honest and not make false claims.
Pictures are often used. clicking on them can enlarge small images, and short versions of th eitem description can be ex[anded to give detailed specifications. the idea is to provide a brief overview for the person in a hurry but allow the more discerning shopper to obtain further details.
this screenshot shows the ipod itouch up for sale on ebuyer.com, this image shows the main image and then it shows a image gallery at the bottom of the article, this shows customers what you are buying and what are you going to recieve, also this is easy as you canjust click on a picture to enlarge it.
this screenshot shows an enlarged image of the itouch, if you click on any of the images then it enlarges it to a different screen, and you can scrol through all 8 of the images and they are at a reasonable size and this gives a better e-commerce experince.
24/7 Presence
the biggest advantage to having a busines online is that customers can shop 24/7 there are no opening hours, no restrictions such as there are on sunday trading, christmas day, or easter sunday. people can shop from home whenever they like and look round many stores in a short time. this 24/7 presence does not cost extra: the web servers are online all the time and unlike staff in shop they do not need to be paid overtime for working extra hours or holidays. in the case of an online store orders can be placed at any time of the day or night. the system stores the orders in a database until the staff arrive again to deal with them. in the case of goods such as dwonloads, the system can email passwords or access codes immediatelt and the goods can be downloaded with no need to wait.
the advantage of eletronice shopping is the instant online purchases. a few clicks of a mouse button is all that it takes. however it is pointless it it takes up to 28 days for delivery. customers expect a faster response when an order is placed. in many cases an order placed on day is delivered the next, but in some cases if a item is ordered before a certain time then it could get dispatch the same day, this is because an order is placed direct with the warehouse with no needd to wait for stock to move to the shop. most websites offer a choice of delivery with the next day delivery often costing more. faster response times are possible for a number of reasons
- credit cards transactions can be validated online automatically so the risk of not being paid for goods is low
- much of the clerical work required cna be automated
- invoices and delivery notes can be printed at the same time the order is placed
- the system can analyse sales patterns to make stock control easier
Real-Time Sales Information
real-time information is provided by ilinking the sales web pages to the stock database. this provides the customer with true online information if the goods are in stock. it is also possible to provide estimated delivery dates if the goods are not in stock. if goods are not available the site cna collect a customers details and then send an email when the goods are in stock. many sites offer a way of tracking an order that has been placed so that customer cna log in adn see the progress of the order.
Types of Transactions That Can Be Made
a transaction is where interaction takes place with a database management system. on a shopping website you are interacting with a complex and customer database. transactions can be as simple as clciking on an image of an item to see it any are in stock. they may be more complex in the case of the order form for a first time customer where all new details need to be captured. A system needs to collect the payment information in this case a credit card number and other details used to validate the card and the name and address of th eperson paying bthe bill and the delivery or sometimes called shipping address. the main way of interacting with this page is to use text boxes that require information typing into them. the payment method shows another method, called a drop-down menu, where a choice is given and the user selects one of the choices.
many websites also allows the customer to track orders and see if an item is in stock. on most websites you will register as a user by entering you details which will be stored in a database. other transactions might include being able to edit your customers details.
The Methods used to Capture Customer Information
websites use many methods to capture customer information. some of them are open and obvious called overt methods. with these methods the customer knows that the information is being taken. in other cases the information is collected without the customer realising. methods that do this are called covert methods. the amount of information that is collected in this way is quite considerable. some websites when taking credit card details will log the IP addressof the computer making the transaction. since the IP address are allocated to a computer by the ISP the payment can be easily traced back to a particular computer.
Other methods of collecting data involve putting code on website that leaves cookies on the user's computer. the cookie contains code that indentifies a computer when it returns to a website. using cookies a company can see how often you visit the website what pages you have looked on and how long you have stayed on the site. all the methods on websites nowadays are secure and the amount of information lost is reduced.
this is a screenshot of a payment process that a customer would go through and fill out each feild with information about themselves
The Techniques Used to Enage, Retain and Entice Customers
The only problem with a website is that there is no sales person to persuade the customer to purchase that good, or for a customer to build up a relationship with the vendor helping to ensure that the customer comes back. a website needs to use special techniques to help retain customers.
for a website to be successful people must be know that the website exists adn they need to be encouraged to visit it. customers go to website for many reasons, so a website must relflect as many as these reasons as possible. once a potential customer is there, several techniques can be used to hold visitors. banner advertisements can show off special offers to visitor and these need to be as eye-catching as possible.
advestisements in newspapes and on TV can inform potential consumers about the website, so some supermarket mark their carrier bags with the website so people are aware that it exists. the use of a simple and well-chosen URL can draw people to the website through simple trail and error.
When the customers do eventually find the website it is very important that they become engaged in the pages as quickly as possible. they are not they will leave and never return to the website. the websites content should engage people. presentation and clear design will do this, but slow and poor content and complex interaction can push customers away. once a visitor is engaged then it is important to retain his or her attention, to do this then the content of the website should be updated on a regular basis, and the content that is shown should be relevant and up-to-date prices. also images will also make the website more enjoyable to access.
The Site's Usability and Accessibility
websites should be easy to use, in the design stages the complex of the website should be taken into account, as some people find it very difficult like the elder who arent educated on a computer, and they need to access the website with the easiest way possible, also it is important to make the website accessible to people who might not be able to read small text on screen. many website now make changing the text size feature.
here is a screenshot of the dell homepage where you can change the text size,to regular size or large size
Conditions of Purchase
all websites have conditions of service displayed somewhere on them. they are sometimes difficult to find, but a good website from a reputable company will mae them not only easy to find but also easy to understand. companies are often criticised for making them long and difficult to read. some companies make it difficult to return the goods. security of customers personal and credit card information and likely to be covered in the terms and conditions. a good company will make its position clear and have a statemnt about how it complies with good practice.
