Research 2 - Dell

Dell Computers is an American hardware company, founded by Michael Dell in 1984. The Dell brand is one of the best known and renowned computer brands in the world. It specialises in producing computing devices such as notebooks, desktops, servers, storage and network, ink and toner, monitors, electronics and accessories and projectors.

CHARACTERISTICS

Dell supplies directly to the customer and the components are made by suppliers. It uses information technology and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) approaches to capture data on its loyal consumers.

Customers are able to add items and upgrade a selected PC model to their own specification. They are also able to keep track of their delivery by contacting the customer service, which is based in India. As the products are assembled using cheap labour, they are able to price their products at a lower price. Customers can make online purchases in a quick and easy way and communicate with the company through their sales representatives by phone for enquires.

In addition, the company is able to communicate with their customer via the internet, over the telephone, or in person directly, who range from home consumers to corporate customers. Dell pursues a diversification strategy, and has introduced many new products to its range, such as peripherals like printers and toners. They have also started to sell LCD televisions and other non-computing goods now.

FEATURES

Its website is basically a business to business and business to consumer virtual storefront e-commerce model that is divided into links for the different categories of products and consumers, namely home and home offices, small businesses and medium and large businesses. Under each, they are further divided into products, services, support and purchase help which will be elaborate below.

Products

Provide the relevant catalogues online and in print

Supports

Online technical support is offered to both home and enterprise user. Under enterprise support (Basic, Silver, Gold and Platinum Plus Enterprise Support), Basic Enterprise Support provides phone-based support during business hours and on-site servicing upon completion of phone-bases troubleshooting on the next working day. Silver Enterprise Support presents a 24 by 7 support for both hardware and core software troubleshooting, followed by expedited on site arrival of service technicians and parts when necessary. Gold provides rapid response and resolution to critical issues in order to maximize server and storage system uptime and performance whereas Platinum support provides the most comprehensive level of support. It combines response and resolution for critical issues with customized account planning and reporting to proactively improve uptime.

On the other hand, for home and home office users, Dell provides a step to step guide for troubleshooting, technical support tools such as PC checkup that offer a free virus scan and security FAQs. However, if there happens to have any unsolved service or technical support problems, (they already contacted customer service and have their reference number but problem not solved or outstanding), customers would be contacted by Dell's representative within 1 business day once they make a report.

Purchase Help

Purchase Help contains steps to online purchasing such as selecting, customizing, and pricing of systems. It also involve saving of the cart to a later submission date and retrieving of the cart saved. Consumers who are concerned about the privacy and security of their order information can submit their order requests online and provide personal information over the phone instead. In this way, no information such as the credit card number will be given online.

Payment mode:

There are various payment methods. Customers can choose to pay by credit card (Visa, MasterCard, and American Express), telegraphic transfer, cheque or bank draft, direct deposit, Flexi payment and financing or leasing. It normally takes about 5-7 days for the product to reach the customer, starting from the time of online ordering. In addition, delivery charges are applicable to all purchases. They range from $12 to $136, depending on the product type and location. Delivery times are from 9am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays.

Services

Dell provides online services like installation services and extension of warranty. It also gives online training courses for consumer.

Changing advertisements of DELL refreshes people.

STRENGTHS

Dell is the world's largest PC maker and has maintained its position as the market leader for the last few years after beating its rival, Hewlett Packard. Its profits for the 3 months to July 2005 were in excess of $1 billion US, representing a growth of around 28%. The company has diversified a lot in the types of products they offer, to provide peripheral and non-computing products too.

As the products are assembled from the components supplied by suppliers using cheap labour, they are able to price their products at a lower price.

Customers are allowed to customise the products they want according to their requirements, from its internal components to electronics and accessories. In this way, the needs of each individual can be catered to, and they would be able to get a product which most meets their needs.

Also, online comparisons of the products are provided to help them determine the strengths and weaknesses of each system, thus enabling them to make easier choices, especially when there are so many different types of products to choose from. In addition, consumers can have the ease of getting information of products through the e-value code, for products advertised in the newspapers. The products are divided into 3 groups, namely home and home offices, small businesses, and medium and big businesses. This allows consumers to make choices more easily as they narrow the type of products that are more suitable for each group, so that they can choose a system which they would be able to utilise fully.

WEAKNESSES

The company has a wide range of products and components from many suppliers in different countries, and occasional product recalls can cause Dell some embarrassment. For example, in 2004, Dell had to recall 4.4 million laptop adapters because of a fear that they could overheat, resulting in electric shocks or fires.

Dell gets its supplies of components from a group of concentrated hi-tech component manufacturers. This is a very good advantage in terms of business operations, because it allows Dell to focus on other areas like marketing and logistics. However, as the company is reliant on a few large suppliers, it may be locked in for periods of time (i.e. unable to switch supply dues to the lack of large suppliers in the world). For Dell's website, although it does provide for the comparison of products offered, it is only available for medium and large businesses.

Comparisons should also be provided for home and home office users too. Also, the procedure for purchasing may be too troublesome for users who may not like the process of customising their own systems. However, if they do not want to customise, they can actually choose from the systems as featured in the website. Some people may not be used to the idea of purchasing online, and may feel unsafe, such as about whether the products may differ from what they see online, and the online privacy/security of their information.

POTENTIALS

In 2004, Kevin Rollins replaced Michael Dell as Dell's Chief Executive Officer. The new blood and change in management thinking could bring the company into a new, even more profitable period and greater heights. Dell, in pursuing a diversification strategy, has introduced more new products. This may help in expanding their market share, but would also mean that it would have more competitors now, such as iPod from Apple and other consumer brands.

The website has achieved its aim of providing users with information and full customisation on their purchases. Other ways of improvement may include making recommendations and storing of buyers’ information in the database. When making a purchase, the website could recommend users to leave details about what type of products they are interested in, what they might require, the type of environment are in, and what they prefer, so that they could provide or recommend appropriate upgrades as compared to their previous purchases. This would help users to use the system more efficiently, and may most meet their needs by making the best recommendations. The details of the users could be stored in a database, so that when the users revisit the website and want to purchase a new system, the site can just grab the information from the database and provide the most help to the user.

SPECIAL HIGHLIGHTS

Dell allows for the customisation of systems after selecting the notebook model such as the processor speed, operating system, memory, hard disk, software (choice of version of Microsoft office). This choice may not be available for products from other companies. Dell has also set up a blog, Direct2Dell, to provide up-to-date information about the company, such as new products, new retail expansions and customer enquiries. Customers can add comments to any posts, thus providing a platform for communication between Dell and its customers.

In addition, Dell does its part to protect the environment by considering the impact of its actions to the environment, and organises programmes such as recycling programmes, and ‘Plant a Tree for Me’ programme.

RIVALRY

Toshiba, Apple, Hewlett Packard

BILIOGRAPHY

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dell
2. http://www1.ap.dell.com/content/products/compare.aspx/precn_m?c=sg&l=en&s=lca
3. http://support.ap.dell.com/support/topics/topic.aspx/ap/shared/support/en/product_support_central?~ck=ln&c=sg&cs=sgdhs1&l=en&lnki=0&s=dhs
4. http://www1.ap.dell.com/content/topics/topic.aspx/ap/topics/main/en/evalue?c=sg&cs=sgdhs1&l=en&s=dhs&~ck=pn
5. http://www1.ap.dell.com/content/topics/topic.aspx/ap/topics/storeinfo/en/howtobuy?c=sg&cs=sgdhs1&l=en&s=dhs&~section=006
6. http://www1.ap.dell.com/content/topics/global.aspx/services/ent_support/ent_support?c=ap&l=en&s=gen
7. http://support.ap.dell.com/support/topics/topic.aspx/ap/shared/support/dellcare/en/outstanding_issues?c=sg&cs=sgdhs1&l=en&s=dhs
8. http://www1.ap.dell.com/content/topics/topic.aspx/ap/topics/storeinfo/en/deliverytime?c=sg&cs=sgdhs1&l=en&s=dhs&~ck=anavml
9. http://marketingteacher.com/SWOT/dell_swot.htm

Research 1 - eBay

Globalisation leads to the availability of internet access to each individual around the globe which has fuelled the growth of electronic-commerce (e-commerce). Electronic-commerce is the process of buying and selling goods and services electronically, involving transactions using the Internet, networks and other digital technologies (Laudon & Laudon, Page 23). There are various electronic platforms like Intranet, Extranet and Internet available. This leads to the introduction of websites such as eBay and Dell that allow consumers to trade online. The below paragraphs will illustrate the various purposes, characteristics, features, designs, potential, strength and weaknesses of each website.

http://www.ebay.com/

eBay was launched in 1995 and started as a platform for trading items such as collectibles and hard-to-find items. It has evolved to be a global marketplace where businesses and individuals can trade practically everything at great prices. There are various ways of trading, thus you can choose the format that most suitable for you. Moreover, sellers can earn extra income or start their own business through eBay.

CHARACTERISTICS

Business Models

There are various business models such as Consumer to Business (C2B), Consumer to Consumer (C2C), and Business to Business (B2B). C2B involves retailing products and services to individual shoppers. C2C involves consumers selling directly to other consumers. B2B involves the sales of goods and services among businesses.

eBay is a C2C at the front end, but it can also be either a B2B or C2B at the back end. Consumers who have products which they want to sell can choose eBay as a platform for trading. They simply need to post their items on eBay and buyers can either choose to bid or buy it directly. As for the B2B model, it is between eBay and the various methods of payment like banks and Paypal. These payment modes will be elaborated in the later paragraphs. Communication between eBay and the consumers is also needed as eBay will review their products.

Various forms of payment

1. PayPal allows consumers to send money using bank account, credit card or Paypal balance from anywhere in different currencies. The benefits of using Paypal are such that the transaction is traceable, immediate and convenient. However, as the credit card number is needed, there is still risk of unauthorized usage.

2. Wire Transfer, also known as bank transfer, allows you to make payments directly into the seller's bank account. This is an easy and fast way of transaction with minimal or no fees incurred.

3. Money Order is a convenient, safe and economical alternative to personal and bank cheque, which required to be cashed at a Post Office. It is a good alternative especially if a consumer has no bank account or is not comfortable in revealing their bank account number.

4. Cheque provides a proof of payment, and also, a stop payment is available for the parties.

5. Credit Card payment requires just the card number which is a simple, immediate and convenient mode of payment. It allows payment to be traced too. However, users do have to face the risk of credit card fraud and criminal misuse.

6. Cash on Delivery / Pick Up where the seller and buyer have to agree on a specific time and venue to meet up for payment and receivable of goods. Although this is good for large items, there is still a certain degree of risk involved as it is not traceable and there is no prove of payment.

DESIGN

eBay is designed in a way that people can access it easily. It has tutorials to assist those who are new to it. Therefore, it is able to attract web surfers to choose eBay over the other competitors.

eBay’s welcome page:

eBay’s discussion forum:

eBay’s Learning Center:

FEATURES

Auction types

eBay adopts auction-style listings which allows seller to put forward more than one item for sale which last for a specific number of days. Sellers could offer a fixed price and another minimum price for bidding. In any case, a buyer offer to buy at the fixed price will win the auction immediately without having to submit a bid. Another type of auction is known as Dutch Auction which enables sellers to offer more than two identical items in the same auction. Buyers can bid for any of the items.

Photocentric view

Photocentric view is a feature which creates a feel of window shopping that allows users to view larger images. With larger views, buyers can have a more closed-up view of the items which are of interest to them.

eBay Express

eBay Express has a number of versions available to namely US, UK and Germany. In general, eBay express works like a standard Internet shopping sites. Chosen items featured on eBay can be purchased from multiple sellers using a shopping cart. The UK version offers brand new items from pre-vetted business sellers. The fixed-priced items featured on eBay express are aimed at a more mainstream buyer than the traditional auction-loving eBay user. Under eBay express, there is a search function where associates limit the listings which their visitors have accessed to by filtering other inventories available on eBay.

eBay Blogs, eBay Community Wiki, eBay Mobile

eBay launched Community Wiki and eBay Blogs to its Community Content which includes the Discussion Boards, Groups, Answer Center, Chat Rooms and Reviews & Guides. Additionally, eBay also made SMS alerts, a WAP site, and J2ME clients, available in certain markets. With blogs and wiki, users can share information and stay on top of each sales. Any individual can post and edit articles which are of interest to users of eBay and visitors can also leave a comment. Other than that, users can browse eBay polices, seller tools and specialty sites. Photos can be posted on blog to draw attention to the items on sale.

New Alert features

Inside United States (US), users can receive alerts via a phone call three minutes before an auction closed. This enables buyers to stay abreast of the bidding price so as to decide whether to increase their bids. Buyers can also receive text messages when they are outbid or when time is running out and in any case to re-bid for the items through text messages. Furthermore, users can make an option on receivable of outbid and/or time warning alert via America Online Inc., Yahoo Inc. or MSN instant messenger.

Similar features are available in the United Kingdom. Users can also receive text messages for a number of situations such as being outbid, losing an item or receiving feedback from a buyer.

Germany has a more advanced feature than US and UK where users can get customized mobile browser from Opera Software ASA that allows them to do anything they want to do on the eBay website via their mobile phones.

Search items by colours, related brands, and relevant sizes

eBay has another feature which enables users to search and receive results according to relevance and also recognizes users’ common errors such as brand-name, misspellings, shortforms (e.g. “sz” for size).

Faster confirmation and Bid assistant

eBay has enhanced the process of ordering by having fewer pages before reaching order confirmation. Moreover, users need not have to regularly monitor their auction.

"Neighborhoods"

“Neighbourhoods” is another feature where users to join groups of particular interests. For example, the Red Sox group where users chat about their favorite sports team and related Red Sox merchandise.

eBay desktop

With eBay desktop, users get to access to internet online and offline so as to manage search enquires, gather latest information and view content which is of their interest.

eBay sets up open-source community

Community Codebase makes it possible for users to search and bid for items using digital video recorder boxes. Java application, Firefox toolbar and PayPal tool kits are examples of firefox application. Calif.-based CollabNet Inc. provides eBay tools for revision control, issue tracking and discussion forums. Individual members can have access to contents in its database.

Fraud Prevention

eBay has put in place security protection to prevent fraudulent activities. eBay has developed technology and skills to fight frauds and educate the community on how to conduct safe trading practices. To enforce its policies, eBay works with the law enforcer and government agencies throughout the world. The below are some of the examples on ways to prevent frauds.

Buyers’ Tools

1. Account Guard safeguards traders’ eBay account information and warns users against potential fraudulent activities.

2. Alerts/Reminders of listings which are about to end will appear on user’s desktop. Additionally, you can watch, bid for items and receive Second Chance Offers on the desktop.

3. Buying Status - Buyers can track items which they have bided, won and lose.

4. Selling Status - a feature that enhances selling efficiency by managing items which are scheduled and sold as well as items which are on sale.

5. eBay Favourites - With just a single click, users can run their favourite searches, sellers and stores.

6. Customise Toolbar according to users’ needs which make one’s search easier and simpler.

7. Something for Everyone – Non-registered eBay users can also install eBay Toolbar to search for items which are on sale, but they cannot enjoy full functions of it.

POTENTIALS

eBay made a net profit of $377m for the first three months of 2007, compared with $248m a year earlier. Its revenues rose 27% to $1.8bn, with the split between what it makes in the US and overseas now equal. It generates revenue from a number of ways like taking $0.20 to $80 per listing and 5.25 % or less of the final price (as of 2007) and use New Application Programming Interfaces (API).

API is a feature where users can get rewarded by sending traffic to eBay marketplace. By doing so, it will increase the number of purchases made through eBay. It is a win-win situation as affiliates can provide information about their products which can also draw in potential buyers.

Fune-tune listings can be added on their blog if there is a constant change in contents. New and emerging markets provide market development like expanding to almost two dozen countries including China and India. Electronic platforms will replace magazines, newspaper, and even retail stores in the future, so eBay will become one of the successful business models for some companies. Other than market development, market penetration also allows potential consumers to discover the benefits of eBay. Products have life cycles that will reach the decline stage. eBay will then provide a selling platform for these products.

STRENGTHS

eBay is a giant marketplace used by more than 100 million people to buy and sell. There is no time and geographical constraints. Bids can be placed at any time and from anywhere. As a brand, it has grown over the years and has become a generic term for online auction. With its strong position, people use terms like ebaying and ebayers.

Using the B2C business model, eBay has exploited the benefits of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) as both the buyers and sellers have to register with the company.

On the C2C side, strong customer relationship is established resulted from the inter-relationships occurred like feedbacks from the buyers and sellers. Web communities are created to allow members to congregate online and exchange their views on issues of common interest. In order to increase its services to customers and also their revenue, eBay took over websites. Acquisitions provide new business strategy opportunities like StumbleUpon, which allow people to discover great websites for approximately $75 million.

WEAKNESSES

Although eBay is combating fraud using feedback system and a third party business, it is still facing fraudulent activities. These activities include receiving payment and not shipping merchandise, giving a deliberately misleading description. Thus, the C2C side of eBay allows individuals to have the opportunity to exploit from others.

In addition, systems breakdowns are unavoidable. It will affect the trading activities. Other than the technical problems, additional costs like delivery charges and credit card charges are not controlled by eBay. Hence, the total cost of the item will increase.

Online auction reaches only a limited marketplace as Web audience is becoming more mainstream. Online users are more upscale and better educated than the general population. Marketers will also find it difficult to catch the attention of the consumers as there is little time for the marketers to promote and sell their goods. One study found out that a site must capture Web surfer’s attention within 8 seconds or lose them to another site.

RIVALRYS

As there is an increase in the number of global Internet brands, competition is inevitable. International competitors competing in their domestic markets may have competitive advantage over eBay like Yahoo! dominates the Japanese market.

SPECIAL HIGHLIGHTS

Over the years, eBay has built trust in millions of people and at the same time, providing a selling platform for manys, including those that are starting a business. With the help section from the eBay’s website, web surfers can have a better grip in eBaying. Under this section, eBayers can have answers to their queries as fast as possible.

In addition, a security center was set up by eBay for users to report any problems that they have faced in their transactions or during eBaying. This will attract more users to use eBay.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. http://marketingteacher.com/SWOT/eBay_swot.htm
2. http://pages.ebay.com.sg/aboutebay/thecompany/companyoverview.html
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EBay
4. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6570211.stm
5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_auction_business_model
6. http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/sep2007/tc20070917_750709.htm
7. http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,137953/article.html
8. http://www.computerworld.com/developmenttopics/development/story/0,10801,102684,00.html? source=x10
9. http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9001106&intsrc=article_more_bot
10. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6570211.stm
11. Principles of Marketing by Philips Kotler and Gary Armstrong, 11th Edition
12. Management Information Systems: Managing the Digital Firm; Kenneth C. Laudon & Jane P. Laudon
13. www.ebay.com