Business Coursework - will be investigating the use of the internet by English Country Cottages. I intend to look at both primary and secondary sources from which to cite information. The primary sources that I will use are English Country Cottages and th

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In this assignment, I will be investigating the use of the internet by English Country Cottages. I intend to look at both primary and secondary sources from which to cite information. The primary sources that I will use are English Country Cottages and their customers (through a questionnaire) as well as Chris Studman from CWN. The Secondary source I will use is the internet.

        Marketing is the promotion of a product good or service by its owner company. The four P’s are essential for Marketing and advertising they are:-

  • Product- The thing that is being sold by the company.
  • Price- How much the product costs.
  • Place-Where they are selling it.
  • Promotion-How they get it known what their product is.

The World Wide Web commonly known as the web is a series of documents linked together and accessed through the internet and it was founded in 1994. Many businesses us the internet for their marketing and in the 21st century it is almost impossible to run a business successfully without its aid. However, it is not cheap as you need to have money with which to maintain the website once it is running. As well as having their own site the web allows intercompany communication and communication with clients through video conferencing for instance Skype.

What makes a good website?

To make a good website many factors need to be taken into account this includes the fact that you have to know the purpose of the website. The fundamental purpose of all websites is to appeal to its target market. The main things wanted by all age groups is that the website is easy to use. This includes having call to action buttons so for instance English Country Cottages has a large Check Availability & Pricing button this is good as it tells a customer the way to go if you would like to book. All key points should be seen as soon as you open the page in your browser because if there is not enough information there then people may leave. It also has to be a clean webpage so that it is fast to load as people will give up if it takes too long to load the page. The website also has to be informative so that people know enough about the product before they pay as well as all the information being up to date. Contact details should be easily accessible and should only be landlines not mobile numbers as it puts people off. There should be no mistakes and all links should be working. If possible, it is a good idea to have an easy web address to remember especially staff as it is a bad thing if the staff do not know the web address. Another thing that a business can do on the web is converse with their customers via E-mail. If a company receives mail they should reply as soon as possible, otherwise potential customers may be lost.

Online Shopping Sites

Online shopping sites should be trustworthy and so should not have association with Russia or Romania, as this increases the perception of risks. It also must not have too many steps, as this will aggravate customers who then may decide not to shop with you and leave your site meaning you turnover less money and resulting in a lower profit. All the details must be clear including the delivery charges and all of the ownership details as this will build an element of trust between you and your consumer. One of the most important things for the business is the accuracy of prices as if you advertise for a price you must sell for a price. If a product is advertised too cheap then the business will make a loss however if it is too high then you may find that custom is lost.

Promoting a website

Google is the biggest search engine on the internet today. It accounts for 90% of internet searches so you want to make sure that your website is on the first page, as this will increase chances of people clicking on your links. Google currently have over 200 search parameters or criteria to rank websites these include the relevance and in-formativeness of your website. It is important to get links to your website and this may include online-offsite advertising so that users of other sites know you are there.  Google is the biggest online advertiser and so paying for that advertising space may mean potential customers. E-mail marketing is another good option as it is very cheap but you need people to opt in and many don’t as it clutters their inbox. Another way to advertise is to put your web address on things you don’t throw away as they may be curious as to what you do for example on mugs. Billboards are another good place to advertise as millions of people may read them every year.  Social media is the next big thing with over ½ a billion people on Facebook 1/14 of the worlds people. Having a page on social networks is often free and so is a cheap way to advertise and tell your consumers what you are doing as well as getting feedback. Mobile advertising is also a relatively new thing with companies like Tesco making apps to help people compile shopping lists etc.

        

Task A

        

        The organisation I have chosen is English country Cottages. It was established over 30 years ago and it is a company that specialises in providing good quality cottages in the England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, France and Italy. They are the industry leader in marketing holiday cottages and have an advertising budget of £21 million a year. To use their marketing services they charge a 25% commission on bookings on their website. The aim of their business is to “Provide superior cottages to rent, in all parts of the country.” They are based in Barnoldswick, Lancashire. Although this is where their offices are they trade online because of the nature of their services. If the customers want to book a cottage the most used way is top book online; however you can also order a brochure and book by phone using the Lancashire office. It is part of Hoeseasons Group Limited. Hoeseasons is a Private Limited company and use English Country Cotttages as a trading name. The advantages to this are that that you have limited liability. This means that if your business goes bankrupt the owner of the business does not have to pay for it with their own money. There is also a lower tax on Private limited companies. The disadvantages are that you are not allowed to sell shares publically and you must hold and AGM(Annual General Meeting) and publish your financial earnings each year. A partnership or a sole trader would be unviable because of the size of the business. It would also not work because of the scale of the work to be done. As it is a Europe wide business if it was a partnership it would be difficult to run the business abroad and in the UK at the same time. A sole trader would not work because there are too many cottages to be advertised by one person. There are also too many jobs which need a specialist in that field for instance marketing and sales or regional managers.

Their service is providing links and also being able to book holiday cottages online. The holiday cottages that they advertise must be 4 or 5 stars. They have got over 3000 cottages in the UK and many more abroad. Consequently they have got 6 sites for the 6 countries that they provide cottages in. The prices of the cottages vary from a few hundred pounds a week to a few thousand pounds a week; many of the cottages have disabled access and offer services such as a highchair. The cottages are routinely inspected by the regional managers; this is done every 6 months to ensure that the standard of cottages provided is always 4 or 5 stars. They offer a searching system which includes information like the region of the country, and the number of people in your party. The main types of customers that English Country Cottages appeal to are the higher earners in society (E.g. Doctors) and young couples looking for a weekend break. All the customers will have different needs. A high earning couple may need a quiet non-stressful break where they can relax away from the hassle of their normal lives where they can relax. However a young couple may need a variety of activities to do as well as a town with a good nightlife.

One of the ways to measure external pressures on a company is to use the PESTLE analysis system. The PESTLE analysis system consists of 6 sections they are Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal and Environmental.

The Political contains cuts to the government departments and a fluctuation in the amount of money given in grants etc. The cuts to the government are things like the cuts to the public sector. This would have an impact on English Country Cottages because their main customers are high earning customers many of which are employed within the public sector. This would mean that if they lost their jobs or got a pay cut they may not be in the financial position to go to a cottage provided by English Country Cottages. However a recent trend is middle class families with average paid jobs are staying at home instead of going abroad. These would be potential customers as the money they would spend on going abroad could instead be spent on renting out a holiday cottage.

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        A fluctuation in the amount of money given in grants can be either a good or a bad thing for English Country Cottages. It may be a good thing if the rates go up as the company would have to spend less of their own revenue on reinvesting into the company. However if the grant fund goes down it may be a bad thing because the company would have to spend more of their own profit on reinvesting in the company.

        Economic factors include the current interest rates, Exchange rates and more. As most companies will have a loan they ...

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