Strategic Issues

The E-Commerce Strategist must consider the following issues when developing its Internet Business Strategic Plan :- Market Definition Market Analysis Market Share Development E-Commerce Framework Previous Market Definition Market Definition Addreses the conceptualisation of a defined market for e-commerce through:- specification of a unique selling proposition definition of market Important for next stage of planning The first consideration involves the definition of the marketplace. Primarily it involves the definition of the specific marketplace that the new internet business will be involved in, the unique selling proposition to be offered and the different target audience. This stage is probably the most important stage as it will set the framework for the planning of the business plan Go To Top Market Definition Market Analysis Customer's Profiling Unique Selling Proposition Product Business Models Competitive Opportunity Value add Meeting Customer's Needs The various issues to be considered includes :- Market Analysis This primarily involves the identification of the target audience and the profiling of the customer. Proper identification would ensure that the internet web presence that is eventually built would suit the requirements of the target market Unique Selling Proposition This primarily involves the definition of a specific offering to the market. The offering could be in the form of a unique product or a specific business model. Competitive Opportunity This primarily looks into the value added facilities provided by electronic commerce and what needs to be established to meet customer's expectations. Go To Top Market Analysis Market Analysis Defines the analysis of thr e-commerce marketplace and identifies factors to success as well as defining the risk involved This strategic issue primarily involves the analysis of the marketplace as well as the competition that exist within the marketplace. Critical success factors must also be established as well as the risk factors to enable proper strategies to be defined to ensure success. It should be noted that different marketplace would see the identification of different critical success factors as well as risk factors. Go To Top Market Analysis Critical Success Factors Examination of marketplace Identification of successs factors Risk Analysis Identification of Risk Risk Aversion Strategies Issues to be considered under this phase are :- Identification of the marketplace as well as analysis of the competition within the marketplace. Analysis of the competitors would include identification of its strengths and weaknesses. Definition of the critical success factors prevalent to the specific marketplace Identification of the different risk in the internet business as well as establishment of the necessary risk aversion strategies Go To Top Market Share Development Market Share Development Defines the concepts of :- Brand awareness Customer Attraction Customer Retention Market share development primarily looks at the Establishment of brand awareness Identification of customer attraction strategies Identification of customer retention strategies Go To Top Market Share Development Web Branding Strategies Value Creation Implementation Web Marketing Strategies Customer Acquisition Web Sales Strategies Online Selling Customer Retention Issues to be considered under market share development includes :- Value creation and implementation of a brand awareness campaign to gain market share for the new internet venture Development of the proper strategies to acquire new customers as well as; Development of the proper strategies to retain customers. Proper implementation of the above strategies would be the difference between failure and success of the internet venture. With over 1.5 billion web pages available today, any new internet venture would have difficulties gaining market share and retaining new customers. Most of the internet surfers today would most likely access a limited number of the top sites only and any new internet venture must ensure that its website would be placed among the top websites in the particular marketplace. Go To Top E-Commerce Framework E-Commerce Framework Defines the development of :- An Efficient e-commerce technical and operational infrastructure E-Commerce Team Financial Considerations The E-commerce Framework development involves the development of :- An efficient e-commerce technical and operational infrastructure An efficient and effective e-commerce implementation and operational team A financial framework Go To Top E-Commerce Framework Technical Architecture Security Electronic Payment System E-Commerce Technologies E-Commerce Teaam Roles & Responsibilities Financial Considerations Issues to be considered are :- Technical Infrastructure The technical infrastructure to be built must consider :- Security to ensure prevention of fraud Electronic payment system and; Proper software and hardware configuration Poor definition of the technical infrastructure may cause the failure of the internet venture even before it has achieve its full potential and may also cause huge losses as what had happen to sites like e-Bay when its server crashed due to excessive demand of its services. Developing a proper technical framework is difficult and will incur huge expenses through excessive spending of hardware if the process is not thought over properly. Proper amount of time must be allocated to ensure the financial viability of the new internet venture. E-commerce Team An efficient e-commerce team must be established to ensure that the new internet venture is kept at optimal performance. The right mixture of technology and management experience in the e-commerce team must be established prior to the start of the e-commerce venture Financial Considerations In order to ensure financial viability of the project, several financial considerations must be taken into account which includes hosting cost, advertisement, technical infrastructure set-up cost and etc.