Reading about the second life case study was one of the most interesting things that I faced with during the e-commerce lectures because I have never heard about it before until the day that we read it in class. In second life, all of the things that we are doing in our lives are implicated in the web page which is really interesting.
I learned that second life is an internet based virtual world launched in 2003. A downloadable program enables its users, called "Residents”, to interact with each other through motional avatars, providing an advanced level of a social network service combined with general aspects of a metaverse. Residents can explore, meet other residents, socialize, participate in individual and group activities, create and trade items and services from one another. When I read about the second life, it is sometimes referred as a game but the descriptions do not tell me that is only a game with the lots of things that are done similar to real life. So the concept does not fit the word game where there are no points, scores, winners or losers.
It is seen that second life has effects on people such as changing their lives in the real life, making them more focused on internet in the second life. The creative web site is also an advantage for the firms to advertise themselves as well as making profits. So it can be said that people can earn from second life which is really profitable in some situations. If I would have a business that could be profitable and could be advertised, I definitely would try and want to see how it does work.
Thursday 29 November 2007
Thursday 22 November 2007
Online Market Research...
On the 20th of November, online market research is discussed in class. In generally, it is a very large topic because of the term marketing which is very broad in scope. The goal of the market research is to find information and knowledge that describes the relationship among customers, products, marketing methods and marketers. Its aim is to discover marketing opportunities and issues, to establish marketing plans, to better understand the purchasing process and to evaluate marketing performance. On the Web, the objective is to turn browsers in to buyers! Online marketing research is beneficial for the company’s growth.
To conducting a consumer market both offline and online research is done. The online marketing can be done by 5 methods;
-web-based surveys
-online focus groups
-hearing directly from customers
-customer scenarios
-tracking customer movements
By these methods, the thoughts and needs of the customers can be understood. Actually, I am interested in marketing that’s why online marketing made me think about on it more where I found it very beneficial and necessary for the businesses to develop themselves in an easy and quick way. Moreover, with the online surveys, discussions and chat rooms, customers can be understood more in details efficiently and the latter serving can be done according to their thoughts. In the future for my business, I will definitely use online marketing methods where I found all of them beneficial for to improve my company.
To conducting a consumer market both offline and online research is done. The online marketing can be done by 5 methods;
-web-based surveys
-online focus groups
-hearing directly from customers
-customer scenarios
-tracking customer movements
By these methods, the thoughts and needs of the customers can be understood. Actually, I am interested in marketing that’s why online marketing made me think about on it more where I found it very beneficial and necessary for the businesses to develop themselves in an easy and quick way. Moreover, with the online surveys, discussions and chat rooms, customers can be understood more in details efficiently and the latter serving can be done according to their thoughts. In the future for my business, I will definitely use online marketing methods where I found all of them beneficial for to improve my company.
Tuesday 20 November 2007
Google...
On 20th of November during class time we watched a video about the “Google” organization which was quite interesting. Two friends; Larry Page and Sergey Brin developed this new approach to online search which quickly spread around world and now it is widely recognized as the world's largest search engine. From the video, it can be understood that Google enables its people with;
- easy to research
- the search engine available in many languages
- additionally, provides programs for the users apart from the search engine such as Google Earth, Google Map, Google Video and Picasa.
- kept data collection of all users
Moreover, Google makes money from the clicks and advertisements. By this way they generate profits in the great amounts.
Ten years ago, I remember myself in school lab or in the library searching for some information while talking with friends about which search engines where they were only www.yahoo.com and www.altavista.com . It was not this easy like today to find information in Google because they were new and they did not have the all documents and we always helped each other by telling which one has the which information. I also remember that sometimes we ended our researches without any information. If this fact is compared to Google according to its developed search engine, it can be seen how the search engines developed up to today and how they are different now with the new developments they have got. Finally, I do not even remember when Google came to my life and when I started to use it. I feel like, I was using it all the time doing my work in everyday life as well as using its other features. I think it is because of its online strength and the power of strategy used in the online web which is really effective in all world to all internet users.
- easy to research
- the search engine available in many languages
- additionally, provides programs for the users apart from the search engine such as Google Earth, Google Map, Google Video and Picasa.
- kept data collection of all users
Moreover, Google makes money from the clicks and advertisements. By this way they generate profits in the great amounts.
Ten years ago, I remember myself in school lab or in the library searching for some information while talking with friends about which search engines where they were only www.yahoo.com and www.altavista.com . It was not this easy like today to find information in Google because they were new and they did not have the all documents and we always helped each other by telling which one has the which information. I also remember that sometimes we ended our researches without any information. If this fact is compared to Google according to its developed search engine, it can be seen how the search engines developed up to today and how they are different now with the new developments they have got. Finally, I do not even remember when Google came to my life and when I started to use it. I feel like, I was using it all the time doing my work in everyday life as well as using its other features. I think it is because of its online strength and the power of strategy used in the online web which is really effective in all world to all internet users.
Thursday 15 November 2007
Ways and methods of advertising...
As web advertising is discussed in class on the 13th of November, I noticed that it is a very comprehensive topic with methods and strategies to cover in the online area. Today it is seen that, advertising on web by all types of organizations plays an extremely important role in e-commerce where they are growing very rapidly and companies are changing their advertisement strategies which gives them a competitive edge.
In my opinion, today the web advertising is more important than the usual methods of advertising because no one is reading newspapers and other things too much as it used to be before and the consumer’s preferences are changing day by day. Therefore, companies are looking for different methods with the less costs, richness of format, personalization, location basis and digital branding. Here, the web advertising plays the most important role which is cheaper and preferred more than the media, tv, newspapers, magazines and radio advertisements.
The methods of advertising are;
- keyword banner
- random banner
- static banner
- pop-up banner
- e-mail advertising
The most notable advertising methods are the banners, pop-ups and the e-mail advertising for me. I think there can be sometimes problems with direct mail advertising and the pop-ups. Therefore, It is important for advertisers to know about their recipients. Otherwise, recipients can delete the mail without opening it if they are not interested. For example, I do not open any mail that I do not know where it comes from and I immediately delete them. But on the other side, there are some mails that come from several companies that I am interested reading and look forward to receive their mails. It is because I am shopping from those companies either online or offline and their news are helpful for me and it can be said that some companies are really good at choosing their focus groups. Pop-ups are even more annoying for me because they discourage me working on the internet because they usually give unnecessary information.
In my opinion, today the web advertising is more important than the usual methods of advertising because no one is reading newspapers and other things too much as it used to be before and the consumer’s preferences are changing day by day. Therefore, companies are looking for different methods with the less costs, richness of format, personalization, location basis and digital branding. Here, the web advertising plays the most important role which is cheaper and preferred more than the media, tv, newspapers, magazines and radio advertisements.
The methods of advertising are;
- keyword banner
- random banner
- static banner
- pop-up banner
- e-mail advertising
The most notable advertising methods are the banners, pop-ups and the e-mail advertising for me. I think there can be sometimes problems with direct mail advertising and the pop-ups. Therefore, It is important for advertisers to know about their recipients. Otherwise, recipients can delete the mail without opening it if they are not interested. For example, I do not open any mail that I do not know where it comes from and I immediately delete them. But on the other side, there are some mails that come from several companies that I am interested reading and look forward to receive their mails. It is because I am shopping from those companies either online or offline and their news are helpful for me and it can be said that some companies are really good at choosing their focus groups. Pop-ups are even more annoying for me because they discourage me working on the internet because they usually give unnecessary information.
Monday 12 November 2007
Electronic retailing...
On the 6th of November, in class we talked about electronic retailing or e- tailing and how is it done over the internet.
One thing which e-tailing makes everything easy and beneficial for the company is selling the goods directly to the customer and cutting out the intermediary. I liked this idea of processing because it makes the profits of the companies higher with a direct selling system where the also manufacturer can know more about its customer and who is it dealing with. I think this system works best with the manufacturers of the industrial goods where it is simple to order because in this case customers know what are they looking for. Dell can be given as an example to this where its products are clear and specific so it can be directly ordered from the internet. In the other industries such as furniture or clothing it might not work properly because people want to see the products choose and try there. For me, it is really difficult buy clothes from the internet because the ones I choose definitely need to be tried.
Moreover, after the lecture and learning more about the e-tailing, I understood that online travel and tourism agencies are one of the best in this business even though there are some limitations such as people who do not use internet and the amount of other difficulties. Finally, I decided to do my business report on this topic where I think we would be successful on this area.
One thing which e-tailing makes everything easy and beneficial for the company is selling the goods directly to the customer and cutting out the intermediary. I liked this idea of processing because it makes the profits of the companies higher with a direct selling system where the also manufacturer can know more about its customer and who is it dealing with. I think this system works best with the manufacturers of the industrial goods where it is simple to order because in this case customers know what are they looking for. Dell can be given as an example to this where its products are clear and specific so it can be directly ordered from the internet. In the other industries such as furniture or clothing it might not work properly because people want to see the products choose and try there. For me, it is really difficult buy clothes from the internet because the ones I choose definitely need to be tried.
Moreover, after the lecture and learning more about the e-tailing, I understood that online travel and tourism agencies are one of the best in this business even though there are some limitations such as people who do not use internet and the amount of other difficulties. Finally, I decided to do my business report on this topic where I think we would be successful on this area.
Wednesday 7 November 2007
E-bay...
Today, e-bay is a growing company on the internet with its millions of users and products. It provides a service for all people who want to sell and buy products. E-bay makes its money from the transaction fees and commissions and the loyalty of the customers they provided up to today is in very large amounts. The company achieved its loyalty by giving feed backs, preparing comment pages and the forms for their customers trust them more.
Apart from the millions of users who are happy with e-bay, there also others who are thinking e-bay is harmful for the offline companies and stores. Because of the people who are selling and buying things online some of the firms loose their customers such as the antique shop shown in the video.
Even though I think e-bay is a well and beneficial company, I also think that it is harmful and it makes people lazy. I do not agree with the idea that everything should be done online but it is sometimes good to do such things in the normal life like visiting an antique shop if you are interested in it. The environment changes feelings and thoughts when it is done in the real life apart from doing it online. As I said before, in some situations it can be really beneficial for the customers finding everything that they are looking for. So it can be said that, the success of e-bay cannot be ignored as being the first www online shopping and selling company and being the leader in the world market.
Finally, the e-bay’s web advertising strategy is very efficient and an effective one with its advertisement phrase of “ buy it, love it, save it!” It’s a good one for to stay in people’s memory. I liked it!
Apart from the millions of users who are happy with e-bay, there also others who are thinking e-bay is harmful for the offline companies and stores. Because of the people who are selling and buying things online some of the firms loose their customers such as the antique shop shown in the video.
Even though I think e-bay is a well and beneficial company, I also think that it is harmful and it makes people lazy. I do not agree with the idea that everything should be done online but it is sometimes good to do such things in the normal life like visiting an antique shop if you are interested in it. The environment changes feelings and thoughts when it is done in the real life apart from doing it online. As I said before, in some situations it can be really beneficial for the customers finding everything that they are looking for. So it can be said that, the success of e-bay cannot be ignored as being the first www online shopping and selling company and being the leader in the world market.
Finally, the e-bay’s web advertising strategy is very efficient and an effective one with its advertisement phrase of “ buy it, love it, save it!” It’s a good one for to stay in people’s memory. I liked it!
Customer loyalty & satisfaction in EC...
One of the most important things in the marketing area of B2B and B2C is to increase the customer loyalty which is the “degree to which a customer will stay with a specific vendor or brand for repeat purchasing”. It expects to produce more sales and increased profits over time. It is usually the most important thing for the companies.
If the customer loyalty is done perfectly, it can bring cost savings to the company in various ways such as; lower marketing costs, lower transaction costs, lower customer turnover expenses, lower failure costs such as warranty claims. It also strengthens a company’s market position because loyal customers are kept away from the competition.
As far as I read more in the e-commerce book, I understood that loyalty is a multidimensional concept.
For example, we sometimes do not know the companies who sell online well enough or even we know them, we do not trust them and we buy from somewhere else. It is very difficult for online companies to create trust over its customers. Amazon.com can be given as an example to this where it was not profitable until year 2001 because it was not known enough. It can be seen here that loyalty is very difficult to create over customers and it takes a long time for people to trust. For me, it was the same problem. I bought some books from amazon.com two months ago for the first time in my life and I was not buying anything only because I did not want to give my credit card details. But after having this lecture, my feelings about the online shopping changed more in a positive way as well as with my books delivery on the time without any problems.
If the customer loyalty is done perfectly, it can bring cost savings to the company in various ways such as; lower marketing costs, lower transaction costs, lower customer turnover expenses, lower failure costs such as warranty claims. It also strengthens a company’s market position because loyal customers are kept away from the competition.
As far as I read more in the e-commerce book, I understood that loyalty is a multidimensional concept.
For example, we sometimes do not know the companies who sell online well enough or even we know them, we do not trust them and we buy from somewhere else. It is very difficult for online companies to create trust over its customers. Amazon.com can be given as an example to this where it was not profitable until year 2001 because it was not known enough. It can be seen here that loyalty is very difficult to create over customers and it takes a long time for people to trust. For me, it was the same problem. I bought some books from amazon.com two months ago for the first time in my life and I was not buying anything only because I did not want to give my credit card details. But after having this lecture, my feelings about the online shopping changed more in a positive way as well as with my books delivery on the time without any problems.
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