The following paper is an evaluation on the impact of mobile devices and self-service e-commerce in business. It is a case study on the work by a new employee hired by a start-up e-Commerce Company, the Sports R US. The main responsibility of the new employee is to provide a convenient self-service solution that will enable customers to access the sports products sold by the company. The Web application program has to be accessible through a number of gadgets including mobile devices and computers, such as Smartphones, tablets, notebooks and laptops. In the same regard, the application must also be compatible with several browsers, and as such, be able to work with browsers such as Internet Explorer, Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and a host of other browsers. In addition, the website should be in a position to support other self-service tasks. The following paper is a report for the Sports R US which outlines the Human Computer Interaction (HCI) guide used in designing and implementing the e-Commerce platform.
Why e-Commerce
E-Commerce is a modern commercial platform that enables businesses to trade online, whereby buyers can access goods and services through online retail stores operated by sellers, and then make secure online payments, through which they later get access to their products, usually delivered to the desired buyer’s premise. In this regard, the adoption of the e-Commerce platform is a significant step taken by Sport R US in the sense that it enables the company to reach out to a wide range of customers across the globe. As such, this platform specifically targets customers who purchase products and services via the online platform. Furthermore, making the e-Commerce platform accessible through all browsers increases its viability in the sense that more people can access the site, especially considering the product engineering which targets mobile devices. Therefore, when the company manages to create an e-Commerce platform that is accessible by customers through a host of mobile devices like Smartphones, tablets and laptop computers, as well as through various browsers like Google Chrome, Firefox, and Safari, the company opens a wide market potential for its customers, as it will be in a position to sell globally as opposed to its domestic market alone, bearing in mind the world wide reach of the internet.
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Purpose and Goals of a Mobile Self Service
Every other company is adopting the e-Commerce platform as an avenue to reach out to global customers. In this regard, the move by Sports R US is also inclined towards the adoption of a strategic marketing approach geared towards reaching a large expanse of the market. In this regard, the purpose of the mobile self-service is to introduce both efficiency as well as convenience in the purchase of products and services sold by the company through its online store. the company wants to make its customers more comfortable with the purchases they make at its store, and as such, the self-service platform will enable them to peruse through what the company has in its stores, check out the best products and compare prices, then make a purchasing decision on whether to order the product or not. Furthermore, the mobile self-service platform will go a long way in reaching out to many customers through the e-Commerce platform, especially when comparing it to a case whereby the site were only accessible through computers.
As such, the mobile devices approach is instrumental for the company in increasing its market threshold by opening the doors for more customers to access and purchase from the site. For instance, in comparison to other internet enabled devices, the mobile devices are the most common, and as such, more customers will be able to access the company’s website through their mobile devices. Therefore, this means that the company opens more points of sale with the inception of the mobile devices approach, and if each point of sale records a sale, through the purchase of a product or service offered by the company, the company records an increased sales volume, partly characterized by the large number of mobile devices through which customers are able to access the self-service platform operated by the company.
Target Market Segment or Audience
The company particularly targets the younger generation, especially the young adults and the youth who spent most of their time on their mobile devices. This is as opposed to the older generation who would rather access this site from the comfort of their offices either at home or at work. Most elderly people rarely access these platforms through their mobile devices, as they are always busy working either at their home computers or office computers. As such, the best market segment for the company to reach out for is the younger generation, who spent nearly 50% of their day on their mobile devices, either chatting with friends or checking for updates in the mails. Furthermore, the youth are the largest users of mobile devices such as smartphones, tablets and laptops, which in turn lead to a wide market reach-out for the company, as the youth provide a potential market outlay since they also engage in sports and sporting activities. The expectations of the company are met in the sense that the e-Commerce platform will be accessible to users through the simplest and most affordable internet enabled gadgets, the mobile phones.
Audience Needs and Wants
The younger generation, usually referred to as Generation X, following its uncommon hyper activeness, will require the company to go an extra mile to satisfy. The youth in most cases want things that are interesting and engaging, and as such, entertaining to pursue. In this regard, the e-Commerce platform developed by the company should bear in mind the above mentioned features and become as interesting as possible in order to capture and engage the youths. This in turn will make them repeat visitors to the site for purchases of their sporting apparel, equipment, as well as any other sports’ related service. As such, aside from selling its main line of products, the marketing team needs to consider the ingenuity of the youths when preparing the e-Commerce platform in order to keep them engaged and entertained while shopping at the site and this will in turn result into loyal customers once they become confident and trust in the company’s online store. In the same regard, these customers can also go a long way in creating more market for the site when they talk about it with their friends and families, thereby making crucial work of mouth marketing that the company needs in order to increase its sales volume.
Resources Necessary to Achieve the Desired Outcome
The desired outcome in this case is creation of an e-Commerce platform for the company that can be accessible through mobile devices, and opened through a number of browsers, such as Firefox and Chrome, which in turn will make the website accessible to many people, thereby opening a wide market outlay for the company in terms of market reach and as well as potential sales volume should the customers choose to purchase sporting regalia from its stores. Operating an online store is also another way of taking the business to the next level, such as expanding its market threshold as well as increasing its presence from the national level to the global level. In fact, it is through such e-Commerce platforms that concerned companies create the desired global reputation to become trusted multinational corporations with a lucrative brand image and reputable stature in the market place, a concept that further adds to the competitiveness of the company in the market place. The more competitive a company is the more sales it records.
However, in order to achieve these desired outcomes and reach its main objective, the company needs to first create an internet enabled platform, an online store that will allow its customers to reach its stores and purchase their products. In order to do this, the company needs a set of resources. Furthermore, the resources required for the creation of this site also rely on a set of assumptions, such as the scope of the website, in this case considering whether it is regional or global, thereby putting into consideration logistical aspects such as supply chain and global shipping, the size of the business, in which case we consider whether it is small, that is making less than $25 M per year on sales revenue and has less than 50 permanent employees, or its large, making over $ 100 M per year in sales and over 500 employees, and the personal experience of the company, in relation to the newly created e-Commerce platform. Here, we consider questions such as whether the company is relatively new to the platform or already well-versed and accustomed to the e-Commerce platform.
In consideration of the features mentioned above, the next step is to identify a set of requirements needed for the development of the site, which include a website builder, e-Commerce software, a merchant account, as well as accounting software. Others include SSL certificates for PCI compliance, domains like URLs, CRM functionality, and payment gateways, in addition to experienced web designers, web developers, ERP softwares, and mobile POS systems.
Design of the Website for Mobile Devices
Designers of e-commerce platforms face a number of challenges in developing websites for mobile devices following the continued improvements recorded in the tablets and mobile phone technologies. In this regard, the developers have to consider a number of basic principles when designing the site, in order to be in a position to take advantage of the new markets it creates for the company. The first step is to analyze customer behaviour, whereby the e-Commerce platforms applied on mobile devices need to provide the customers with a similar browsing experience as would be the case if they were browsing using the desktop. Therefore, they have to meet a certain expectation that allows the users of mobile devices to access the company’s e-commerce sits but through a simplified and smaller screen.
The web developers also need to use the right foundation when developing the mobile website in order to analyze the behaviour of its customers. They also need to prioritize the content, such as creating a search bar which is accessible on every page, a link to account settings and checkout page, and full-width images for content centric experiences. In addition, there is need to use simple interfaces that are accessible and easier to display on mobile devices. The web developers also have to create an effective checkout process for mobile users, setting it through a well-structured and easy to follow mobile platform. It should consider a number of principles such as the list of products to sell with easy [+] and [-] buttons to manage the quantities, a field for coupon codes if they exist, large and clear ‘checkout’ button, and a visible ‘keep shopping’ button.
