Customer Relationship Management

Q.14 ‘Traffic building’ is the process of increasing the number of people who will visit an e-commerce web site. It covers many of the techniques shown in the ‘green’ boxes on slide 10 of this week’s (week 9 CRM) slides. Specifically for your chosen web site, describe the main types of online marketing communications that it could use for traffic building. Justify how each of these types is applicable to your site. Deadline is 6 pm Friday as originally indicated.

One of the methods Aeropostale could use is SEO, Search Engine Optimisation which allows their webpage to appear closer to the top of the search as searchers normally scan a search results page from top to bottom looking for a relevant result. If the Aeropostale page is placed near the yop it will increase the number of searchers who will visit their site. This will not guarantee more sales for Aeropostale but is a good marketing technique to encourage users to visit their site. A successful Internet marketing campaign for Aeropostale may encourage traffic to web pages, but it may have involve the use of paid advertising on search engines. SEO may generate a return on investment although the search engines are not paid for the search traffic,  and there are no guarantees of continued referrals which may affect the business. Due to this lack of guarantees Aeropostale can suffer major losses if the search engines stop sending visitors to their site. This would give them a boost over their competitors if their page was appearing closer to the top.

Another method they can use is pay per click which is used in search engine where Aeropostale would pay only when a user clicks on the advertisement to visit their website. When the user types a keyword matching aa word on Aeropsotales keyword list, or views a webpage with relevant content, the advertisements should be displayed. These are called sponsored links. As said above for SEO this can give them a boost in views and sales over their competitors as their advertisement will appear noticabel for users and as it is only pay per click will reduce their costs.

Another method Aeropostale could use is opt-in email. From experinence of using Aeropostale and registering to their site I know they send out emails to advertise they products and promotions they have on. This encourages users to view the site and is a good marketing technique as when users are on the site they are more tempted to purchase products. Aeropostle use this form of marketing well as they send emails frequently highlighting they products which encourages users to visit the site and navigate round.

E-Marketing

Q.13 For your selected e-commerce site, assess the ease (or not) with which you can find the site using a search engine. Type some of the company’s branded products or key themes into a search engine. Discuss what is returned. Pay particular attention to ‘paid for’ results. Also, check where competitors appear. Interpret the results. Provide recommendations. Deadline is 6 pm Friday.

Aeropostale is a unique brand for the store which is the only apparel brand they sell.  

The first search engine I used was Google and I began my search using the main word, Aeropostale to find a search.

These are the first results for my search are shown aside. For this search I used Google and simply typed Aeropostale into the search and these are the results. The first result showed the official website for the company although the rest of the results thereafter were not the best they could be to give users information about the clothing. I found this unsatisfactory as a user as I would have wanted more results related directly to the company. I have now chosen to widen my search by typing in other keywords associated with the company.

The next search I looked at to change my results was “American clothing” as I wanted to see how high up the results Aeropostale would be in relation to other companies. Surprisingly the results were not as I had wished for as Aeropostale did not appear anywhere on the first 1-10 of the results.

Due to the unsuitable results found using Google I have chosen to use another search engine. I have chosen to look at www.yahoo.com but due to web restrictions I was unable to and was directed to www.uk.yahoo.com.

I will carryout the same searches on this search engine as I did using Google to compare results.

This shows the order the results came in on Yahoo which are similar to the results givin by Google. This order of the results shows the homepage for Aeropostale as the first result on the page followed by oter pages who mention Aeropostle in their site.

I then typed in American clothing for my next search which showed the following results which were again simlar to those from Google.

Within all my searches I have not found many references to my competitors who I would consider to be American Eagle and Abercrombie and Fitch. The only other company who appeared was American Apparel who I would not consider main rivals.

Q.12 Carry out web research to find out what is meant by the term ‘Cloud Computing’. Describe in your own words what is meant by this term. Explain in your own words the impact that cloud computing might have in e-commerce. Ensure that you describe potential benefits and problems. Deadline is 6 pm Friday as originally indicated.

Cloud computing is an Internet based computing model where specific tasks are assigned to different connections and services over a network which is known as the cloud. The collective of connections is known as ‘the cloud’. Cloud computing at the high scale allows users to connect to high powered computing such as an iPhone, BlackBerry or laptop and users can reach into the cloud for resources as they need them. Data are accessed from a cloud of online resources and allows people to access their data and applications from any device. This can also be known as “On Demand Computing”. Cloud computing can be used to sort through enormous amounts of data. Cloud computing can also be seen as a fancy way for repacking grid computing and utility computing. Cloud computing requires a piece of software that can divide and distribute components of a program to thousands of computers.

Cloud computing also includes hardware as a service where computer processing capacity can also be purchased over the web. Cloud computing allows users and companies to pay for and use the services and storage that they need, when they need them and, where they need them. Customers can be billed based upon server use, processing power used or bandwidth used.

Companies can start up cloud computing for their business to develop e-commerce. This will enable customers to access the companies facilities anywhere they want and their details will be stored on their own server that can be accessed from any computer on any system. This will encourage people to use websites who have incorporated cloud computing into their system as they can view products and interests from the website anywhere and at anytime without having to navigate round the website numerous times.

This can have both advantages and disadvantages. Advantages include the user may not have to be connected to a traditional computer to use an application, or have to buy a version specifically configured for a phone, PDA or other device. It’s likely that at some point any device that can access the Internet will be able to run a cloud-based application. Application services are available, independent of the user devices and network interfaces. There may also be fewer maintainance issues even though the device will be used on a large scale which will save money and time for the business. This will help the business as the website will always be up-to-date and appealing to customers. The users won’t have to worry about storage capacity or compatibility. Applications on the cloud will be of the latest version without having up upgrade. Businesses will have complete control of their instances. Both small and medium sized enterprises and obtain the benefits of the infrastructure without having to deal with it directly. It also allows accessibility to multiple data centers anywhere on the globe. It also means that as the need for resources increases, companies can add additional service as and when needed from the cloud computing vendor without having to pay for additional hardware.

Disadvantages include that its use is dependent on accessing the Internet and the “cloud servers.” There are concerns about stability. Most cloud vendors today do not provide availability assurances. Cloud computing is not very enterprise friendly. Most cloud offerings aren’t easy for enterprises to consume. Most don’t allow embedding security and management agents and monitors and few vendors provide security or process compliance audits. Depending on the vendor and the application, businesses will be dependent on them to keep the application up and their data intact. Changes in the application happen without their knowledge or consent. The data is not directly in the hands of the business, but in the hands of a third party. The business will be dependent on their internet connection which could be a problem for critical applications.

The threat of substitute products and services

Aeropostale is a clothing supplier therefore they would not be directly involved with the introduction of new technologies although they can use the Internet to advertise and sell new products. I find their prices fair compared to their competitors and feel this is the same with other consumers. Aeropostale sell online therefore they will have the sales from that. To increase sales they will need to change features of their website and compete alongside competitors and add in extra features to attract customers to their website compared to competitors. This will give them a greater share of the market. I feel Aeropostales website has enough features on it to win a wide audience although they could change the layout and design of it to compete on the same level as their competitors.

The threat of the entry of new competitors (barriers to entry)

Aeropostales main competitors at the moment are Hollister, American Eagle and Abercrombie and Fitch. I believe they would be a threat for Aeropostale due to the high demand for the apparel. In order for new competitors to break the barrier for entry they will have a bigger market to break through due to the high competitiveness and closeness of each competitor. I feel there is enough competition within this market without another company challenging them for a share in the market as they have already established their place in the market.

The intensity of competitive rivalry

Within the clothing market there is intense rivalry and each company wants to dominate the market. Within this especially for Aeropostale with so many competitors they will need to update products and marketing features to ensure they keep on top of the market. Within their website they will need to constantly update customers on offers and changes within the business to ensure they are constantly being reminded of Aeropostale and keep them updated on the company. The competitors are all similar to Aeropostale with all of them designing the same kind of clothing for similar age groups. The only difference between the competitors would be the price of clothing. Aeropostale use advertising better than their competitors I feel by emailing customers of special offers or any updates on the company. This increases the competitive rivalry between them as this gives them a boost in releasing their products to customers.

The bargaining power of customers/buyers

Customers can be a huge influence on a business due to their buying behaviors. If the company is willing to sell a large amount of stock through their website and make all the products available they will gain greater customer satisfaction which will encourage repeat sales. Customers need to be informed of this and a way in which Aeropostale do this is through emailing customers. They are able to get customer information through previous online sales where customers provide the company with their information on how they can be contacted. This can develop a customer/business relationship as customers may feel as part of the business and are led to believe they mean a lot to the company. Customers can put the company under pressure by stopping buying from them and state certain reasons which will make the company change to suit the customer.

The bargaining power of suppliers

The clothing for companies such Aeropostale and their competitors their products are made in companies such as El Salvador and other poorer countries. These countries charge less money for supplies than they would be if they were made in the USA. Suppliers can choose not to work with the company if prices are increased and they are not receiving extra money from the company. This will make the selling prices go up and make competition within the market fairer and more competitive as some companies prices are lower than others.

With the companies I have looked at they are the only places who supply their clothing. Customers have to buy straight from the business premises or website as products are not available through other suppliers.

Q.7 Look in detail at the terms and conditions for purchasing from your site. Are they reasonable? Comment on anything unusual or unreasonable that you find. What about returning goods? Describe the main mechanisms of support provided by your site. Do you think that it is better or worse than the competition? Explain your answer.

From the website I could not find a particular section on terms and conditions about buying online. The only condition I could find was that Aeropostale were only able to accept credit cards from US or Canadian banks and could therefore only ship to USA or Canada. I find this unreasonable as if customers are willing to pay the tax for the goods they should be able to purchase them.

For returning an item the process is straight forward with customers using the information given to them when they received their package. This is done by packaging the parcel up again and sending it with their details and the information needed for the company such as the packing slip. This will allow customers to obtain a full refund for their order and they are given 30days to return the item.

Q.8 Examine the registration process for your site, from the perspective of security. Is your data encrypted? What does this mean?

To register for the site customers have to enter in their email address then decide on a password and confirm it. This is a simple registration process although I would not be convinced on the security of the details. In order to add extra security customers should be able to add in a secret question which they can enter when they are logging into the site.  The data entered is then shared around the company and other details such as their IP address, browser information and reference site domain name every time the user visits the Web Site. We also collect information regarding customer traffic patterns and site usage.

Data encryption is a secure process for keeping your sensitive and confidential information private. It is a process by which bits of data are mathematically jumbled with a password-key. The Encryption process makes the data unreadable unless or until decrypted.

The screen shot above shows the encrypted pages are not saved. Therefore the data from the website is not encrypted.

Q.9 Does the site use cookies? Explain how cookies are used in your site.

Aeropostale does use cookies, which are files stored on the computer’s hard drive by the browser. The cookies will help the company to identify account holders and to optimize their shopping experience. Cookies also allow the company to hold selections in a shopping cart when a user leaves this Web Site without checking out, therefore when customer place an item in their shopping bag they can then return to the website to shop for more products and when they are finished return to the shopping cart and place their order. Most browsers accept cookies automatically but allow you to disable them. If customers leave cookies “turned on” companies feel they can offer a better shopping experience on their website.

Q.4 Explore the Internet for information on your site the site, especially for data that helps to place your site in context; for example, competitors, industry averages, growth rates for some sites.

The website I have chosen has proved popular among viewers in various countries although is ranked at 4,232 compared to it competitor, Abercrombie who was rated at 2,879. This is a significant difference and may be caused due to Abercrombie being available to buy in more countries although there is no evidence of this.

The majority of users of Aeropostale come from USA with 84.7% coming from here, 4.9% from Mexico, 2.2% from Canada and 1.5% from Dominican Republic and the rest of the users from other countries in the world.

On average the daily viewings on average would be around 3,583 per day with recent hits for the website reaching 5,112 hits per day. This is a successful amount of views per day which would be highlighted within their sales figures. Aeropostale has a greater number of hits than its competitors Abercrombie who reach an average number of views of 3.036 viewers. Of the number of views reached Abercrombie have an average of 10 unique pages viewed within their website per day whilst Aeropostale has a weekly average of 12.2 per week. This shows Aeropostale is high above its main competitor in both views per site and page views per user.

In order to purchase products from www.aeropostale.com users will have to follow the guidelines shown below.

Users will have to type the website address- www.aeropostale.com into the tool bar at the top of the page. After doing this they will be directed to the homepage of the website.

From here users are then given the option of where they want to go or view using the well laid out navigation bars. From this screen shot you can see there are various options available for users such as girls, guys, gift centre, sweaters, long sleeves, sale and various other aspects of the website they might find useful.

Using an example, users will have to follow the next steps in order to purchase a product.

Users will need to choose one of the options on the home page above. For this example I have chosen the girls section.

After choosing the girls navigation button users are automatically directed to the main girls page where they have more options of the types of clothing they want to choose.

Views then have to choose from one of the navigation bars above for the type of clothing they want and in this case I will choose Hoodies.

I can then choose any hoodies by clicking on the chosen on that I want. This will then direct users to a personal page which looks like this with their chosen garment where they can then choose colour, size, quantity, add to wish list or email to a friend. To purchase the hoodie selected users must click on the add to bag button after choosing their specific requirements for size, colour and quantity.

The item is then sent to the online shopping bag where it is stored to allow users to view more products.

To then continue to purchase the product user must click on this icon to view their purchases which then allows them to view what they had bought. Users are then able to select various features of the shopping bag including removing or updating items, adding more items to their cart or continue to pay.

To ensure online safety when purchasing items users have two options to choose from who pay with.

Customers are then required to fill in information about themselves and their billing information.

Q6. New channels to market for e-business are increasingly being used. Such channels include mobile device access as well as digital television access. Consider and describe the potential future impact of ONE of these channels for your e-business from the perspective of the e-business. What strategic choices (if any) need to be made.

For the type of business Aeropostale is I feel they have adopted their market for business successfully through their shops and website which allows e-commerce. This has proved successful though I feel if needed, they could introduce digital television as a new channel to market e-business. Television is the most watched device with near every household owning a television set. This will make it viable for all users to access the Aeropostale shopping channel. I feel the introduction to this can prove either fully successful or a failure with no middle man. Shopping programs have been introduced before with channels such as QVC and Bid-TV although these are different as their range of products can change everyday but with Aeropostale they will not be able to maintain a full channel dedicated to their clothing and accessories. To solve this problem they could develop a program for their clothing and work along side other clothing companies to market their products together in slots on the TV. From this they should also include a purchasing facility to allow shoppers who may not have access to their website to purchase the products. This may become an advertising feature for the business and thereafter encourage customers to shop within their many stores or by using their online website.

Aeropostale will need to consider the cost of using television as a new channel to market. The cost may become more than the sales revenue coming into the business therefore the business will not gain profit on the channel. This may be rectified by customers viewing products using the TV then visiting stores or the website to purchase the product. The growth in the sales will determine whether or not this new form is a good aspect for the business. Aeropostale will also need to do research with customers to see where they found about the product and see if the TV channel is more of an advertising technique than buying facility.

Aeropostale will also need to find out about legal aspects involved in this type of market. In order too do this they will need to employ other members or staff to do research on the marketing channel or else use a current member of staff who they can take away from their current post in the business.

The company will also need to set up a department who will facilitate for this introduction to the business. They will need to employ people with the skills needed or teach current staff the skills required for the job.

The business will need to draw up an expenditure plan for the introduction of this method of marketing. This will show if they can afford to use this or what profits they will make from it.

Overall I feel this could be a successful form of marketing if the advertising is done correctly to promote the television marketing.

Q1. Examine the web site that you have chosen. Please provide a short description of the web site in everyday language. Please insert a screen shot of the web site into your answer.

The website I have chosen is www.aeropostale.com

Aeropostale is an America based retailer specialising in casual clothing and accessories targeting 14 to 17 year-old young women and men. The website is laid out with a home page with the options to visit the mens and ladies sections of the online shopping. They also involve advertising in their website from their company as they highlight the sales they have on.

The website also allows visitors to create an account to shop online with the website, find information on customer services, track an order and locate stores that Aeropostale has around the USA. They also include a search facility to enable users to view products using descriptions or key words or numbers.

The website is well set out which makes is easier to users to view products. They use a stylish background for the website using text in different fonts and angles. The tool bar along the side allows the user to find products they want or the type of products they wish to view. This makes navigation easier for the user.

Q.2 Use some search engines or industry sources to carry out desk research to find out specific quantitative information about the size of the business behind the web site. Try to determine figures for turnover, number of employees, and profit for specific (recent) years. Please do so without directly contacting the company.