BTEC NATIONAL

DIPLOMA IN BUSINSS

Online Business

I have chosen Superdrug as my company to base my assignment on.

Every business has aims and objectives to meet, but the main objectives of most businesses are:

To increase profits – having an online business enables you to target those people who you possibly couldn’t reach before by just having a store, this would just provide an easy access to those people e.g. disabled people. Being online attracts thousands of people to your website which would result in sales increasing rapidly and having global audience can also increase your profits. The other thing that Superdrug should do is to lower their current products prices in order to compete with their competitors and to attract their competitor’s customers to their online shopping website.  Online businesses pay less rent because they don’t need to be located in busy and expensive location e.g. High Street.  Having a website for Superdrug would enable them to be worldwide recognised and their brand/logo will be much better known. Online businesses often buy straight from the producer/manufacture, meaning that they pay less for products.  

To increase sales – online websites targets a wider range of audience e.g. 52 million internet users. By having a website means that customers will be constantly shopping from Superdrug at any time and any day (24/7 shopping). Customers are able to buy from home – no hassle such as traffic, finding parking, queuing, etc. Online businesses are cheap and effective form of advertising which will attract new customers. People from all over the world can buy form the business, not just people who live nearby. Online business provides an easy access to their customer’s with disabilities therefore its convenient for them as they don’t have to get through a lot of trouble to travel to the nearest store. It also enables company’s brand/logo to be widely recognised worldwide.

To grow in size – a local shop is only likely to sell to people who live nearby. Having an online presence enables small business to sell to everyone, regardless of they live. This means that the business’s sales are likely to increase, and with the extra money made, the owner could expand the business – either by buying new shops or by increasing the range of goods/services sold.  Having an online business also enables small business to be able to compete with their competitors e.g. by having an effective and helpful website you can steal your competitors customers. Customer’s judge the business on the appearance and usability of its website, not on its size. Small businesses can therefore compete with much larger ones by being an online business. Retail stores have limited space online companies such as Superdrug are able to offer huge range of products, stored in one warehouse. By having online business you have lower capital/start up costs, much cheaper to offer additional services e.g. holiday insurance. Even offering variety of choices (products/services) to your customer can make you a lot more competitive which will definitely help you to grow in terms of targeting more customers, and making your existing customers permanent.

To improve customer service – having a good customer service is essential to any business, but improving and maintaining your customer services all the time is crucial

For any business success.  Customers don’t want a technical website on which they can’t browse easily therefore making your website simple and easy to order online is very important. Having a specialist (administrator) monitoring your website is also included in good customer service and having that specialist personalise the website according to your customers wants and needs is very important. Most businesses now have an online tracking system on their website, which allows you to check where your product has reached and how long it will take until you receive it. In order for you to be competitive having an online tracking system on your website is very important or you even can have something more advanced than that. Treat your customers in the right way, by offering them special offers, giving useful information about products, providing an online help desk and giving your customers the opportunity to email their feedback comments or ask any question about your product/service. Having a good knowledge about your own products and services is very important in order to achieve your targets and also at the same time being efficient and a reliable business to gain customers trust.  Buying online is relatively cheaper for customers than buying from a store.

To increase market share – to increase your market share and to be the leader of the market is every business’s aim.  In order to have the biggest share in the market by being an online company, you can have competitive prices and charge your customers for your products less then your competitors. Having websites also enables companies to gather useful information about customers visiting their web page, they can also find out which page of their website was the most favourite (one with the most hits) and then according to that they can change what they are offering to meet customers expectations perhaps to lay out their website differently so that the favourite page that most customers go to is now being displayed on the home page of your website and result in increasing your sales. Having a website also enables you to compete with rival companies that prior to 1999; it was not able to compete with. Most important thing is to gain your customers satisfaction, having a website will make the process of buying something very easy for the customers and would make them loyal customers.

By having a website, companies such as tesco have been able to steal customer from their competitors e.g. someone who before shopped at Morrison’s might choose to buy form tesco because they do deliveries.  

M1 – How does having an online presence attract more customers?

In a sophisticated market place it is essential to have an effective and functional online presence. Most customers check information about a company online before contacting them. If a firm does not have an online presence most customers will look elsewhere. Most suppliers and potential employees will also visit a website before getting in touch. Therefore, firms without an effective online presence run the risk of being ignored by customers, suppliers and potential employees alike.

There are many ways in which an online presence can attract customer’s attention. For instance, to start with you would obviously need to make your website look attractive in terms of using bold colours that stand out etc. You would need to include all the basics on the website e.g. company’s background (history), FAQ page, feedback page etc. This way more people are made aware of your business and the goods and services you sell.

By having an online presence you will be attracting those people who would have difficulties in travelling or are perhaps disabled. This way more people are able to buy from your website e.g. those without a car or those who don’t live near to a high street store etc.  People prefer to shop online nowadays because it is more convenient to do so; therefore having a website enables businesses to sell to the growing market of internet shoppers not only because it’s easy but also relatively cheaper then in stores.

You can also attract customers by advertising effectively in other search engine such as Yahoo. Be able to advertise goods and services on other related websites e.g. Superdrug can perhaps advertise on Boots website at the side of the page and this will enable Superdrug to attract customers from Boots to their website. Another way to attract the customers is to have services such as entertainment e.g. games and quizzes.  If customers visit your website to play the game then they will be aware of the products you’re selling and they may even end up buying something, even if they didn’t originally intend to.  

One other thing that would attract the customers is the 24/7 online shopping which will allow them to buy at any time and at any day of the week. People from all over the world can buy from the business. This would make it easier for the customers as they won’t have to spend a lot of money to travel to the shop. It is also useful for those who work long hours or who simply hate going to the shops! The other most important thing is to have a specialist monitoring your website at all time and to provide the customers with a personalised profile according to their needs. This will be a good impression on the customers as you’re showing that your customers are your first priority and you are taking care of their needs constantly. Monitor the quality of your services and product constantly. Remember, satisfied customers who spread the word about your business are the best source of new customers. Pay attention to pricing, customer’s service, product availability and prompt delivery, once you got the hang of that you’re surely to go a long way.

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P2 - The impact on customers of the online presence of a selected business

An online shopping facility allows customers to order and pay for your goods and services over the internet. However there are many disadvantages and advantages of using an online presence:

Advantages

Reduced overheads – by having an online business you don’t have to put up with buying or renting a place for your business therefore the expenses of a shop are eliminated. Superdrug can therefore focus on building an attractive website for their customers and then can spend the money that they saved from ...

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