It is a fact that younger people in this country are more likely to purchase goods over the Internet than older persons - 57% of men aged 15 - 24 use the Internet with 89% of them being aware of the retail possibilities it holds (, 2001). There is also the fact that nearly half of the male population in the UK surf the web, this compared with only a third of women. (, 2001).
2.2 Growth Opportunities
If ‘Blue Chimp Clothing’ is successful, in the future there are other areas that it could look into to expand into. These could include:
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T-shirts in a female cut and style. This diversification would be fairly easy to implement. It would just mean having to find more feminine designs and printing onto female cut t-shirts in more feminine colours. Research would also have to be done to review the current female fashion trends.
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Selling goods to clothes shops. There may be a chance to supply a limited number of prints to small businesses individually. These could be privately run shops or maybe a small chain of shops. Here the benefit for them would be the chance to sell unique items with a wide range of designs, and the benefit for us being a wider customer base. It would also provide a positive advertisement for the company’s web site.
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Investing in new equipment. From this we could invest in printing equipment and start to manufacturer the t-shirts ourselves. By not having to send the t-shirts away to a printer we would be able to reduce costs on logistics and manufacturing. It would also speed up the whole production system.
The company could also look into EDI (Electronic Digital Interchange) technology. Again this would speed up the whole production and also the delivery system.
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Invest in a High Street shop. With the company starting up as an ‘e-tailor’, this would change it into a ‘Click-and Mortar’ business. This would be advantageous by firstly increasing the customer base, but also making people more aware of the web site.
This would probably have to be a long time in the future depending on the initial success of the site. (Rappa, 2001)
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Online designs. There is currently a site running called 99dogs.com that allows the customer to choose the exact style and design of their t-shirt. It allows them to choose the type of t-shirt they want i.e. short/long sleeve, round/V-neck, the colour and also a design they like in any size anywhere on the t-shirt. Although the designs are not particularly fashionable and are more of a cartoon ‘fun’ style, the idea is definitely worth considering.
2.3 Key Areas of E-business Activity
The two areas I will be reviewing in regards to my e-business are:
- Logistics.
- Sales and Marketing
I chose to concentrate on logistics as a key business activity for the main reason that as I will constantly have to deal with stock going in and out of the business, it would be an advantage to have knowledge of how to operate the supply chain effectively and efficiently.
I chose sales and marketing due to the fact that as my business is new and will be operating within a niche market, I will need to market and advertise the site well in order to attract the initial customers.
3.0 Logistics
Logistics is concerned with the movement and storage of materials. Its scope ranges across the whole supply chain from the origin of the raw materials to the final delivery of the end product. To operate effectively it needs to have a logical plan from the start to the end of the supply chain, plus stay within its two main key objectives:
Achieving appropriate customer-service standards and
- doing it in a cost-effective way. (Taylor, 1997)
3.1.1 Inbound Logistics
Inbound logistics is the area surrounding the transportation of raw materials to a business where they use them to manufacture their product. In the case of ‘Blue Chimp Clothing’ this would mainly revolve around the supply of the plain and then printed t-shirts.
There are two ways this can be achieved; firstly you could provide the transportation yourself either through purchasing and running a series of vehicles, or outsourcing the job to a specialist company. This would generally be the most effective and reliable way but would incur a greater cost to the company. On the other hand, you could make sure that the suppliers you deal with delivered the goods to you. This would be very advantageous from a financial point of view but may mean you could end up having to rely on a company whose delivery strategy may turn out to be unreliable. This could result in your customers suffering from the slow service resulting in negative publicity on your behalf.
3.1.2 Outbound Logistics
This is the area surrounding the actual delivery of the finished product to your company’s customers. Depending on the product in question, this can be done in a number of ways.
Firstly, a company such as MFI that sell furniture will generally have their own outbound logistics department that will deal with the delivering the goods. This would enable them to have full control of where and when the goods are delivered.
Secondly, specialist logistics companies exist if you wish to outsource the department. These include large haulage companies such as Eddie Stobart that can deal with bulk orders for delivering from warehouse to warehouse, or companies such as Federal Express or DHL who deal with smaller deliveries e.g. taking stock from a warehouse to a distribution outlet or shop.
Finally, there is the option of using the national postage system. This would mainly be used for delivering individual packages to people’s homes. Again companies such as Federal Express or DHL could be used for this and would be an advantage if speed was necessary, but to do so would generally cost a lot more.
I believe that ‘Blue Chimp Clothing’ would mostly use the national postage system for deliveries to my customer’s homes, simply because of the reduced cost for the consumer. As regarding the handling of my stock, initially I would seek to find a supplier that delivered the products itself, but I would also research how financially viable and time saving using an outsourced logistics firm would be.
3.2.1 Supply Chain
The supply chain is a series of relationships between businesses that supply goods and services to meet customer needs. As regarding ‘Blue Chimp Clothing’, the businesses that would be involved in this would be:
- The company that supplies the plain t-shirts
- The company that prints the designs onto the t-shirts
- The company that transports the t-shirts between each
- The company that delivers the goods to the customer
There may also be other businesses involved that supply the resources to these companies such as the materials to make the t-shirts or paint and screens for the printers etc.
There are generally three stages in the supply chain:
- Upstream activities – this is where the goods i.e. the t-shirts are delivered into the company.
- Internal activities – this is where the products are manufactured i.e. the designs are printed onto the t-shirts.
- Downstream activities – here the goods are delivered to the customer / distributor.
3.2.2 Supply Chain Management
Supply chain management aims to improve the entire chain of activity from the raw material to the final consumer order. This may be by reducing the time to proceed from one step to another or by simply reducing costs along the way. (Lowson, 1999)
The main step taken in supply chain management is to implement an EDI (Electronic Data Interchange).
“EDI is the exchange of business documents such as purchase orders and confirmations, invoices, remittance advice, shipment releases, advanced shipment notices and planning schedules, on a computer-to-computer basis.” (Lowson, 1999)
This could just mean simply implementing it between different departments within a business e.g. the sales department and the warehouse, but could also be implemented between different companies e.g. a businesses warehouse and the companies suppliers.
Although this type of technology may be out of reach of ‘Blue Chimp Clothing’ at the moment simply because of the cost, complexity and up-keep within the implementation, it would definitely be worth researching for the future.
There are simpler and cheaper supply chain management techniques that could be implemented immediately by the company though. These include:
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Planning - developing a strategy for managing all the resources that go toward meeting customer demand for your product or service. (, 2003)
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Sources – choosing suppliers that will deliver the goods needed to create your product or service. (, 2003)
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Manufacturing –scheduling the activities necessary for production, testing, packaging and preparation for delivery, measure quality levels, production output and worker productivity. (, 2003)
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Delivery - Coordinating the receipt of orders from customers and scheduling the delivery of their goods. Also setting up an invoicing system to receive payments. (, 2003)
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Returns - Creating a network for receiving defective products back from customers and supporting customers who have problems with delivered products. (, 2003)
3.3 Storage
With ‘Blue Chimp Clothing’ probably having to deal with separate companies when buying in the t-shirts and then sending them to the printers, storage will have to play a large factor within the logistics side of the company. To begin with this would probably only have to be a garage or small storage area, but if the business was to be successful this may have to change to a small warehouse to accommodate for the extra stockpiles there may be. There is another other option of the JIT (Just In Time) production technique, this instead of more traditional batch production techniques.
“JIT is a management philosophy that strives to eliminate sources of manufacturing waste by producing the right part in the right place at the right time. Waste results from any activity that adds cost without adding value, such as moving and storing.”
(, 2003)
With this the company would vastly reduce their need for storage space and would be able to select the number of each design of t-shirt to be printed by their demand on the web-site, also there would be a vastly reduced stock pile that may have ended up costing the company money because of wastage or storage costs.
4.0 Sales and Marketing
‘Sales’ is defined as the actual selling of a product whereas:
“Marketing is the management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably” (Bickerton, 1996)
In regards to marketing, the whole management process can be broken down into three separate orientations:
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Product orientation: here a firm will manufacture what it can or is best at and then attempt to sell the product to anyone that will buy it.
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Selling orientation: here the firm will place a major emphasis on advertising and selling to ensure sales
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Market orientation: this places a major emphasis on prior analysis of the target market. From here the company will adapt their products and services to meet these needs. (Bickerton, 1996)
I believe that ‘Blue Chimp Clothing’ will be affected by all three different orientations. This is because firstly, we will do what we are best at – making and selling t-shirts – and will sell to almost anyone, simply because it is the only thing we can do. Secondly, we will have to place a large emphasis on advertising the products otherwise few people will know we exist. Finally, research has been done in the target market and as a result we have found a niche that we can fill.
4.1 Sales Channels
A product or service can be sold through many different sales channels; these can include a more traditional media while others are new and can be groundbreaking.
The more traditional ways include:
- Television: here a product is sold directly to the consumer. The type of advert broadcasted and the time it is shown will create awareness within the target audience e.g. advertising toys in an advert break on children’s TV channel.
- Radio: like television the product can be sold directly to the consumer:
“More organisations, including corporate giants like Pepsi-Cola, IBM, and General Motors, and professional societies like the American Society of Association Executives, are regularly using radio to target audiences with specific messages. Radio's popularity as a public relations placement tool is just beginning to grow. Radio offers endless placement opportunities, thousands of stations, a cheap medium, and easily targeted audiences”
(Shell, 1993)
- Banners: with the Internet having been around for years now, this has become the most popular way of advertising online. By placing a small advert with a sufficient and persuasive content on other sites, with the link to your site you can attract customers from various areas of the Internet. (Barrett, 1997)
More recent forms include:
- E-mail: here, both potential and existing customers may be contacted to advertise products and services. The best ways to utilise this media more effectively is by:
- Creating a teaser
- Use of a consistent format
- Have a quick download time
- Know your readers' interest
- Provide a clear, undeniable and working means of removal.
(, 2003)
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Mobile Phones: a good example of this is the way Topshop and Orange have joined together to display new fashion lines over the WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) on the new mobile phones. (), 2003) The main restriction though is the fact that many consumers do not have the most up-to-date phones needed to receive this information. The other main way mobile phones are used is with the SMS (Short Messaging Service). Here customers can be contacted when new products are in stock or when sales or deals are on.
I believe that with ‘Blue Chimp’ solely trading over the Internet the most effective sales channel would come from banner advertising. This can be done on an exchange site that allows you to choose the types of site your banner appears on while choosing the types of banner that will appear on yours. (, 2003)
There is also the idea of advertising on the radio, although an appropriate audience may not be reached every time, the low cost may be an area to look into.
4.2 Customer Relationship Management
“Customer Relationship Management, or CRM, is an information technology industry term for methodologies, strategies, software, and other web-based capabilities that help an enterprise organize and manage customer relationships.” (crm.ittoolbox.com, 2003)
According to Vantive, a CRM solutions provider, the e-customer expects to be able to gain access to a company through e-mail, call centres, faxes and web sites. They also expect an immediate response with a personalised touch.
With this, and the fact that the Internet has brought in global competition, many companies have found it hard to differentiate their products from their competitors. This has resulted in many companies moving from a product-orientated view of the world to that of a customer one. (crm.ittoolbox.com, 2003)
“CRM allows companies to gather and access information about customers' buying histories, preferences, complaints, and other data so they can better anticipate what customers will want. The goal is to instil greater customer loyalty.” (crm.ittoolbox.com, 2003)
Other benefits can include:
- Faster response to customer inquiries
- Increased efficiency through automation
- Deeper understanding of customers
- Increased marketing and selling opportunities
- Identifying the most profitable customers
- Receiving customer feedback that leads to new and improved products or services
- Obtaining information that can be shared with business partners.
(crm.ittoolbox.com, 2003)
An Internet company called myfamily.com felt the benefits of CRM. Due to an increase in new customers they were unable to respond to an ever-increasing number of e-mails. With this they outsourced to RightNow Technologies who used their eService-Centre to handle the customer service enquiries. Here customers are able to find answers to questions on their own because it uses technology that automatically brings the most requested and relevant information to the top of the knowledge base.
The results of this were, after adding up the salaries and benefits that would have been paid to customer service representatives and comparing that figure with the cost of the RightNow license, MyFamily.com experienced an ROI of 260% in nine months. (Rosencrance, 2003)
5.0 Conclusion
The conclusions I have reached as regards starting a new e-business are that firstly, there are many ways that the Internet can benefit a company, and secondly, it seems that the more successful businesses are those that operate in the smaller niche markets.
Whether a company is just starting out, or whether they have already been successful in the ‘bricks-and-mortar’ industry, with the web allowing for a company to trade on an international stage it allows them numerous opportunities to increase their profitability. This could be by simply expanding their customer base, finding cheaper suppliers or even speeding up the logistics side of the business. On the other hand though, I have found that with companies dealing on a global market it may be hard to differentiate your business from that of your competitor. As a result the handling of the customer has become more important.
From the research I have conducted, I have found that to have a competitive edge with an e-business you must try and penetrate a niche market. It seems that the first companies into the market always seem to come out on top.
I feel that if a person had a good enough e-business idea to implement, and they had the right attitude and determination to go with it, they could become a very wealthy person.
6.0 Synopsis
(2003) Young Designers [Internet] Available from: [Accessed on 19/05/03]
Because there are so many young designers currently available in this country, many of them will be trying to break through into the fashion industry. As a result many of them will probably take any chance they can to try and get their foot in the door. It was this article that gave me the idea of using their ambition to my advantage.
proquest.umi.com (2003) Internet success stories this year [Internet] Available from: [Accessed on 19/05/03]
It was this article that really inspired me to think of an original idea for a business. I think the thought of being a multi-millionaire at 21 really appeals to me! The article proves that the Internet is a really powerful tool and if used properly reap rewards to any one.
www.imrg.org (2003) Internet Shopping Surges to 6% of All Retail [Internet] Available from: [Accessed on 19/05/03]
This article simply strengthened my case for using the e-business approach. With retail sales on the Internet increasing and now accounting for millions of pounds of public expenditure, it would be a ideal time to start a new business in a relatively untouched market. The Internet also allows for the opportunity to receive designs from all over the world instead of just in a local area.
7.0 Bibliography
(2003) Effective e-mail marketing. Available from: Agri Marketing;
Skokie; Mar 2003;
(2003) JIT Production [Internet] Available from:
[Accessed on 19/05/03]
Bickerton, Pauline. Bickerton, Matthew. Pardesi, Upkar(1996) Cybermarketing. Butterworth-Heineman, Oxford.
(2003) Untitled [Internet] Available from: [Accessed on 19/05/03]
(2003) Supply Chain Management [Internet] Available from: [Accessed on 19/05/03]
crm.ittoolbox.com (2003) What is CRM? [Internet] Available from: [Accessed on 19/05/03]
www.imrg.org (2003) Internet Shopping Surges to 6% of All Retail [Internet] Available from: [Accessed on 19/05/03]
) (2003) Topshop and Orange to Join Forces. [Internet]
Available from:
[Accessed
on 19/05/03]
(2003) Banners [Internet] Available from:
[Accessed on 19/05/03]
Lowson, Bob. King, Russell. Hunter, Alan (1999) Quick Response – Managing the Supply Chain to Meet Consumer Demand. John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Chichester.
(2001). E-commerce Polls. [Internet] Available from: [Accessed on 19/05/03]
proquest.umi.com (2003) Internet success stories this year [Internet] Available from: [Accessed on 19/05/03]
Rappa, Michael (2001) [Internet] Available from: [Accessed on 19/05/03]
Rosencrance, Linda (2003) CRM With a Family Touch. Available from: ,
April 2003.
Taylor, David (1997) Global Cases in Logistics and Supply Chain Management. Gray Publishing, Tunbridge Wells.
Shell, Adam (1993) Radio days. Available from: The Public Relations Journal; New York; Aug 1993
