E-commerce

Technological advancement in the recent past has posed a major challenge to most marketing managers in various institutions around the world. With increasing globalization and dynamism in technology, onlineinternete-communication also known as e-commerce has become essential tool for marketing. Internet is a powerful tool for marketing that can enable an organization to be effective and profitable if used appropriately. This is because it has multimedia characteristics or features that make it a good interactive channel. E-communication is essential in reducing costs associated with printing and information sharing as well as trade channel intermediary costs. E-communications helps an organization to deal on one to one basis with its consumers.
   
There are different forms of new media or e-communication devices or avenues which include World Wide Web commonly known as WWW, mobile phones, short messages, chat programs found in the internet, HTML or the hypertext mark-up language, email services, interactive television and other hypertext links found on the web pages that enables individuals to quickly navigate through various pages and documents through the computer. Different companies around the world are today using internet services to market and sell their products.

An analysis of five e-commerce websites from the auto industry and aviation industry
E-commerce has become a major competitive tool in the automobile and aviation industry as competition continues to increase in these two industries. Toyota Company, Honda Company and Nissan motors group are some of the companies in the automobile industries that are currently using e-commerce.  Honda Motors Company has its headquarters in Japan with different branches all over the world. This company maintains its website which enables dealers and consumers to get information regarding the company. In the dealers website of the company, various models of cars are displayed. The website contains other navigation buttons to enable browser users to access different information either pertaining to the company or the products and services. Customers are enabled to make enquiries and to purchase vehicles using online services after which the company organizes for their shipment.
   
Toyota Company is another example of a company in the automobile industries also a Japanese company that is today using e-commerce to market its products. Just like the Honda Company, Toyota motors also has a website whereby it displays various models of its products (vehicles) and also provides sale options for browser users. The website is well designed with clearly marked navigation buttons and bars as well as a good mix of background colours making it easier for browser users to use it. Each navigation buttons lead to a different segment containing different information. Online services are offered while shipments for online purchased products are arranged immediately upon successful closing of a deal.
   
Nissan Motor Company is a multinational company with its headquarters being in Japan. This company deals with manufacture of automobiles. It is the 3rd largest car manufacturer in United States today.
The company has been using and upgrading its information technology infrastructures to market most of the products it manufactures. In the year 2003, Nissan motor company introduced a window server to enable it market its vehicles market its products (vehicles) faster around the world and to enable it reduce its costs. Larry Berger the manager of Nissan North America computer services asserted that windows server has allowed us finally work as a global company.

WIN project undertaken in year 2003 has enabled the company to share vital information with the employees on time as well as to collaborate with the clients more efficiently.  Toshishiko Suba the senior manager in this company stated that because of window server 2003 and exchange server 2003, our employees can now access our network through mobile devices from anywhere. Introduction of windows XP professional model from Microsoft has enabled the company to incorporate Multilanguage in its e-communications without necessarily operating different versions. Each product posted on the website of Nissan company has four translations including Spanish, Japanese, English and French.

The aviation industry has also not been left behind in the use of e-commerce or internet services as a means of selling out their services. American airlines and southwest airlines are some of the multinational airlines in United States. American airline has been upgrading its use of internet for the past several years. Recently, the company introduced WI-FI in-flight booking services to enable its clients to book flights using internet. The website of this company provides several options and a display of services offered including a section of frequently asked question. This section allows clients to ask various questions and gain immediate answers from the company. The website even has an option whereby individuals can use different languages while accessing information about freights or services.

Southwest Airline Company is a low cost airline based in America. It is rated the largest airline company in the world as it carries the biggest number of passengers and sixth in terms of revenues. The airline offers online or internet service which enables its users to book flights online without necessarily having to go the booking offices. Currently, this company introduced the Wi-Fi internet access to improve its internet services to its customers.

Features of good and bad website design
Web design is critical in effective internet marketing of goods and services. Web design entails a combination of technical prowess and artistic skills founded on the knowledge of the changing technology and consumer needs. Website design is essential in determining the number of online customers that visit a companys website. It is thus essential for a company to ensure that the way its website is designed is appealing and easy for potential viewers and consumers to access and navigate through. There are various factors that determine whether a website design is good or bad.
Good website design

For a website design to be described as being good, the following factors must be considered and fulfilled. One of the major determinants of a good website design is the text contained in the website. For it to be good, it should not at any moment interrupt the text contained there in. texts should also be big enough to be to ensure that visitors to the website can lead them clearly without struggling. However, they should not be too big in a way that disrupts the visibility or capacity of a person to read. For a website to be good, the hierarch of information should be made perfectly clear with columns contained in a text being narrower than those of a book to ensure that the reading is much easier on a computers screen.

Navigation is another essential tool that contributes to a good website design. For a website design to be good, the navigation bars and buttons should be easy to read, understand and use them. They should not be complicated with sophisticated language that some users may not understand. They should also be consistent in the entire website of an organization with the frames being used on the navigation buttons being not obtrusive. For large websites, they should have site maps or an index through which website users can navigate through instead of wasting time trying to locate various items contained on the web. The navigation bars and buttons should be able to give the visitors clues on what they are about and the page number they are viewing on the site.

Links are also very vital during website design. Good website design should have link colours that coordinate with the colours of the other pages. In a good site, links should be underlined to make them clear to website visitors. Graphics are also essential in contributing to a good web design. The buttons contained in a website should not be too dorky and big. All graphics should have a label of alt with all graphic links having text links that matches them. The backgrounds and graphics should have colours that are browser safe and all graphics that are animated should be able to switch off by themselves.

The general design of a website is also very important. Pages should download easily and quickly with the home page and first page clearly fitting in a pixel space of 800 by 600. All other pages should also have a visual impact that is immediate and also in pixels of 800 by 600. A good website design should also effectively utilise well graphic elements including pull quotes, subheadings and photos for breaking up big text areas.

Looking at the websites of Nissan, Honda and Toyota Motors as well as the American and southwest airlines, it is clear that all the features of a good website design mentioned above have been implemented. Websites of these companies are easy to navigate through, they have clear and well marked links, graphics are well designed and placed and texts are clear, have right font and easy to read. The two websites are well designed and meets the standards of good website design.

A bad website design
A bad website design is one that does not contain the elements of a good website design. It is characterised by backgrounds that has it default colour being grey with colour combinations of background as well as the text that make text reading difficult for browser users. A bad background of a website design may also contain backgrounds that are busy and distracting which makes it difficult for users to read the text contained therein.

A bad website design has very small texts making text reading a problem to many browser users. It may also have text crowded in one side usually the left age or in a centred style with the body copy on the left being over flush. Also, bad website design maybe characterised by texts or information that is stretched across the entire page. Paragraphs typed in bold, italic, caps or a mixture of the three formatting styles also characterises a bad web design. Underlining texts that do not constitute a link also makes a website design to be bad.

Blue links that are default or surrounding graphics is also an element of bad website design. Unclear characteristic concerning their direction, links contained in body copy and with potential of distracting readers or even lead them to useless or remote pages, un-underlined links making it difficult for readers to identify them and dead links are all elements of a poor web design.  other elements of poor web design include large files of graphics making them difficult or time consuming to load or download, inclusion of useless or meaningless design, images of thumbnail that are as large as the full images, lack of alt labels on graphics, missing graphics and also graphics that hardly fit in the screen. All these are identifiers of bad website design.

There are many indicator of bad website designs including junky advertisement, animations and blinking that does not switch off on itself, unclear or complex navigation bars and buttons, useless title pages and orphan pages, and the general design characterised by lack of focal point on any page, failure of home and entry pages to fit in the standard browser window, and inclusion of many focal points in a single page.

Means of using traditional shopping stores tactics on electronic selling
Electronic selling differs significantly from distribution stores on their arrangement and mode of creating a shopping environment. In traditional shopping stores, various strategies including lighting, music and displays are used. The music is usually directed at attracting the attention of the buyers and to encourage them or entice them to look at the product being offered. Usually, music is employed to fit a particular product. Different lighting styles are used which in most cases keep on changing aimed at catching or drawing the attention of the customers. Lighting is of different colours and they shine at different intervals. Displays entails showing off the products being offered for sale. Some of the best products are used for display purposes which draw the attention of potential buyers.

While not all the above tactics can be applicable for online or electronic selling, some of this tactics can be essential in drawing the attention of a consumer. To begin with, a web designer should ensure that all the qualities of a good website design are upheld as these are the major determinant of the attention that a browser user is willing to give to a particular website. Display is one of the major methods that can be used to improve electronic selling. However, this is only applicable in cases of physical products. Companies should display pictures of their best products at various angles and directions to give the viewer a full dimension or sight of the product. Products should be arranged well to fit in the standard screen and overlapping avoided. Links should be provided for different variety of products with navigation buttons being clearly labelled.

Display rights can also be employed on internet or electronic selling. However, this should be done with a lot of caution as they may scare away potential customers. Display lights should be arranged in such a way that they do not tamper with the information contained in the website. The most effective displays that can be used are in form of animations of different types. Display rights should not be very bright but harmonised to create desired impression. Slow tunes may also be played along the animations but the tunes as well as the lights should not last long so as to ensure that they do not distract the browser user.

Sale of products via the internet
Online shopping has become the in thing today. Most consumers are more comfortable doing their shopping via the net. However, there are some products that are quite sensitive and that consumers prefer to do the shopping physically rather than purchasing them via the net. Such products include clothing, shoes and perfumes. Consumers need to be there to ensure that these goods fit them and are pleasant to them. It is difficult to order clothing online especially for personal use as the delivered goods may vary with the tastes, preferences and even size of an individual. All the products that need in store help are rarely purchased via the net. Also, the risk associated with online purchasing may make consumers to prefer it or not.

One of the major fears of online shoppers is their security as well as those of their products. E-tailers are some of the effective ways that are used today to reduce the risk associated with online shopping. E-tailers also known as online retailers are large retailers whose main work is to ensure that online shoppers have access to online shopping facilities for various products and services. E-tailers are legal businesspeople who are registered under the electronic retailing association. Being legally registered, e-tailers are likely to increase the security of online shoppers as shoppers have a reliable network that can be held responsible in case of failed or lost shipment.

How to boost the level of customer service using internet
Internet is an essential and effective tool of managing and handling issues relating to customer relations. Companies can employ internet technology to improve the satisfaction of consumers and to ensure that the consumers have greater access to services and products offered by an organization. Customer services that are web based are effective in reducing costs associated with offering customer services and also in providing data to consumers. One of the ways in which organizations such as Nissan and southwest airline can employ to improve their customer relations is by ensuring that their websites are constantly updated to ensure that customers are always aware of major changes, innovations and all the internal operations of organization. Posting up to date information is essential in improving the customer service in an organization.

The second way on how to use internet to improve or boost the customer service is by providing interactive devices that enable customers ask questions directly to the customer care in an organization using the internet. There are various customer services that are web based that are currently available in the market and that can greatly help an organization improve is customer service. A service such as i-CSR meaning internet customer service representative is an option that allows an organization to provide 24hour services in a day throughout the year to its clients. With such services, clients can access the website and get attention from the company at all times regardless of the time or the day.

Creating an option of FAQs or the frequently asked questions is also another way that internet can be used to enhance the customer service of an entity. Under this section, clients are able to ask and receive immediate answers on various issues relating to an organization, its products or services. Via this service, clients can view other questions that have been asked and solicit information from them. This is an interactive way that enables an organisation interact with its clients and get to understand their needs and know them better.

Importance of e-communication in an organization
The major benefits of internet marketing in integrated marketing communications are classified into five categories commonly referred to as five Ss by marketing managers. The five Ss include sell, save, speak, sizzle and serve. One of the major benefits of e-communication is that it leads to reduction of operating costs. With e-communication, an entity is able to reduce printing costs as information is posted on the website of the company where it can be assessed by employees and the customers. This was evident after Nissan Company introduced the server systems in year 2003 Microsoft Corporation .

E-communication is also essential as it enables businesses or companies to directly interact and communicate with their customers on a one to one basis. This ensures that all the questions of customers are answered and clarity made on products and services offered. By communicating directly to a customer, an entity is able to solicit loyalty and to improve customer relations and services offered.

Sale of products is another benefit that can be derived via e-marketing or communication. Online services today enable customers to place orders for products and purchase goods via internet. Online sale of products helps an organization to build relationships with the customers as well as solicit their loyalty. Also, online sale enables an entity to convey information at relatively reduced costs. This has been a major strength of Southwest Airlines that has enabled this company gain client confidence and goodwill.

The net has a multimedia nature that allows companies to use movements, graphics, videos and audio so as to make online communication more interesting and exciting. This also allows for messages to be easily and quickly changed thus saving customers and companys time. Also, via the internet, an organization can be able to create databases for specific customer segments.

Internet business is one of the rapidly growing areas today. Most businesses have introduced e-commerce in their operations and to cub the rising competition as a result of globalization and dynamism in technology. The automobile and aviation industries are some of the most competitive industries today around the world. Given the fact that these industries usually serve or operate in the global market, technology is of essence to them and a major competitive force for companies operation in them. Nissan and Southwest airlines are some of the companies in these two industries respectively that have been able to use technology to improve their operations and competitiveness.

The Internet has significantly changed many aspects in the field of commerce. In fact, it can be observed that such technological advancement has provided more opportunities when it comes to trade conducts than any point in history, including the Industrial Revolution. E-commerce, which pertains to the buying and selling of products and services with the aid of electronic techniques, has been widely facilitated over the Internet. For the past decades, e-commerce has grown significantly that virtually anybody can start his or her own businesses online. The opportunities offered by e-commerce are endless, but failures are also subjective. Hence, along with the opportunities found within e-commerce, there should be a proper understanding of the possible barriers in order to set means that could prevent failures.
Opportunities for Success in E-Commerce
    Since the development of e-commerce, incredible opportunities for success in this field has become apparent. To begin with, many producers of goods and services are given the ability to market their goods in a global scale of consumers, irrespective of the geographic locations of both their business and target markets with a lesser overhead costs. For the most part, e-commerce provides equal market access to all market players no matter how small or big their businesses can be. In this sense alone, every individual who has the capability to facilitate or take part in trade online has the opportunity to compete in the global marketplace regardless of business size and even with limited amount of money. What is only required to be successful in e-commerce is to establish a consumer base and a search engine-focused website that is backed up by a reliable host with an equally effective customer service strategy. It should be taken into account that websites are the best gateway for customers to get acquainted with the company the merchant is representing as well as the products and services that are being offered. Hence, creating a search engine that is directed toward the target market is the best route for success of an individual who is into e-commerce (Net Starter, 2010).
    Once a focused website is put in place, one could identify possible opportunities that could later on develop into a  successful business. Wide range of existing e-commerce models and opportunities are constantly evolving. However, the most common of these are those that focus on direct sales, the pre-sales, and post-sales support. Direct sales is perhaps the most common of the e-commerce models as the e-commerce landscape has been widely facilitated for a long time now in selling goods and services. Pre-sales is a successful e-commerce opportunity to use ones website for pre-sales activities that is, to exploit the Internet to generate sales leads through  brochurewares  or the online versions of promotional materials. Post-sales support is a model that uses the Internet to automate the process of customer support so as to reduce the number of customer calls that are routinely accepted in the customer service. By making ones site available to accommodate frequently asked questions, an individual can generate clients that are willing to do business partnerships (Brick Technology Limited, 2006). Hence, it is an opportunity to do business without the hassle of promoting products to individual persons. Whichever model that one tries to use, what is important is the ability to define set expectations from the business outset this way, one can ensure the success of the business.
Avoiding E-Commerce Failures
    Just like any other form of business, e-commerce is also subject to failure when not properly facilitated and monitored. Commonly, e-commerce fails due to its technical vulnerabilities     which may result in the loss of trust from consumers. As the Internet is far reaching and can be considered as an unsafe environment, there are many instances when trades conducted online are placed at risk. Alongside this is the failure to target the right consumer base, a disorganized site that is truly difficult to navigate, lack of pertinent  information concerning products and services, as well as information about purchasing policies and contact information (Maravilla, 2010).
    It is important to note that in order for e-commerce to be successful, it is necessary to have efficient technology and strong marketing strategies to achieve the goal of making it easier for consumers to purchase goods and services online. Considering that most e-commerce businesses are facilitated online, it is imperative for an individual who wishes to establish his or her business within the cyberspace to hold a market research to ensure that the business would have a strong consumer base. Conducting market research also allows e-commerce entrepreneurs to determine if the products and services they are offering address and satisfy the needs and preferences of their target consumers (Maravilla, 2010).
    In order to avoid failure, having a professional-looking website that would attract consumers and make them feel that they really have to buy the products and services being offered is also highly important for e-commerce. For those who facilitate the business, it is perhaps preferable to place oneself in the customers position to realize their needs. Of course, by doing that, it should then be realized that most consumers prefer a website that is organized and easy to navigate, and if the website is informational, it should be search engine-friendly, presents promotional deals, product and services descriptions, and other related items and includes policies concerning shippings, returns, check out procedures and the likes. By ensuring that these things are incorporated in the website, consumers will not have trouble navigating the system (Maravilla, 2010).
    Credit card payments are the usual form of transactions when it comes to e-commerce. As stated earlier, e-commerce is technically vulnerable which, if not properly attended, could produce damaging results for both parties. In this regard, a merchant should ensure that the security of the consumers is its primary concern. In order to do so, measures should be taken to enhance the trust of consumers by implementing a secure system of payment that guarantees the confidentiality of personal information and provides protection from violations against intellectual property rights. This way, merchants would be able to win the trust of the public and send out the message of their reliability (Net Starter, 2010).
Conclusion
    E-commerce offers the greatest opportunities for both big and small companies as well as common people to launch new businesses of their choice. The power of the web, along with strong marketing strategies, allows these companies to sell goods and services to millions of prospective consumers in virtually every part of the globe at a very low cost. As e-commerce has now emerged as the new trend of buying and selling products, it is thereby necessary for both consumers and producers to take precautions that would protect their interests in a good way. On the entrepreneurs end, to survive and become a long-term success in e-commerce, the ability to become aware of common mistakes and pitfalls that can possibly ruin best laid plans is the most important strategy that can be taken. As for the consumers, to become vigilant about the purchasable products online is perhaps the best defense that they can take in order to avoid becoming victims of fraudulent marketing activities.

Over the past years, the inception of the Internet has profoundly changed how people buy and sell products and services. The amount of trade conduct has grown rapidly over the Internet, that it is hard to imagine conducting business without going online. The use of trade and commerce with the assistance of the Internet technology is commonly referred to as E-Commerce of electronic marketing. By definition the term E-Commerce applies to the buying and selling of products and services to accomplish business transactions through the use of electronic techniques such as the electronic mail or messaging, worldwide web, purchase cards, electronic fund transfers, electronic bulletin boards and electronic data interchange (US Department of State, 2009).
    The Pew Internet and American Life Project stated that about 66 of American adults have purchased something online, whether it is a book, clothes or even a cruise. However, if the definition of E-Commerce is extended to include the researching of both products and services over the Internet without the intention of buying, or to bid on an auction but not winning, it was found out that the number of adult participants of E-Commerce reaches to 93. Even with a slumping global economy, online retail business continue to rise (Pew Internet and American Life Project, 2008 cited in Roos, 2009). Hence, E-Commerce is indeed the new trend of doing business transactions.
    The history of E-commerce is short but truly outstanding. Within a few years, the process of networking and computing has significantly improved. As far back as 1960s, many businesses have used primitive computer networks to facilitate electronic transactions. Technologies such as electronic data interchange (EDI) allowed companies to share business documents like invoices, order forms and the likes. By 1979, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) came up with the universal business standard of document formatting known as the ASC X12 over electronic networks.
    In 1971, Terminal Interface Processor (TIP), which was used for dialing into ARPAnet from individual computer terminals was then developed. Yet, it was in 1982 that the greatest evolution in networking was created the Transmission Control Protocol and Internet Protocol (TCPIP), the packet-switched technology that also runs the modern Internet. From  the early 1980s  use of individual computers has been introduced but were mostly accessible in major research universities only. It is also during this period that emails, listservs, newsgroups, and document sharing over networks such as BITNET and USENET were introduced. Similarly, CompuServe, which was one of the earliest and first networking services for home PC users, became popular . This system created tools such as message boards, chat rooms and emails, and established  one of the first examples of E-Commerce, a service called Electronic Mall, wherein users could directly buy items from online merchants (Smart Computing, 2009 cited in Roos, 2009).
    In 1990, Tim Berners-Lee invented the world wide web, which significantly transformed telecommunication and business networking. It should be understood that until 1991 commercial enterprising over the internet was strictly prohibited, but the National Science Foundation lifted such ban, paving way for online based e-commerce. Since then various businesses has grown incessantly over the Internet. However, it was during the 1990s that two companies were noted to have transformed the process of e-commerce Amazon and Ebay. Within the span of 15 years Amazon evolved as the most successful online bookstore, while Ebay leveled to Amazons playing field by facilitating online auctions that can be participated by people from all walks of life. Both Ebay and Amazon revolutionized how e-commerce is carried out (Roos, 2009).
    Based from the given perspectives, it can be inferred that E-Commerce indeed revolutionized the process of  product and services commercialization. The presence of the Internet along with other electronic technologies made it possible for buying and selling products and services to become faster, convenient and accessible to everyone, which can be considered as the most important developments in the field of commerce.

John ordered a number of small items from e-Toys4U.hk for his childs birthday. The items included a game console together with several games,, a tricycle, music CDs, an e-book (compatible with his e-book reader), an iPod engraved with his childs name and a selection box of chocolates. Some items arrived a month before his childs birthday. Other items did not arrive at all. John doesnt have a telephone number to contact e-Toys4U.hk, and it is taking a few days to get a response to e-mails which he has sent demanding redress. Does John have any protection under existing rules, particularly those concerning distance contracts andor the provision of information society services, and are there any proposals for this position to change in the future

Considering the drastic growth in telecommunication technologies today   such as the internet and internet services   this decision of John to order some products online may appear quite understandable. Due to the current developments in these technologies, more and more people nowadays are spending longer hours in front of their computer screens, doing their school works, their papers for work and just simply playing some online games as past time. The rise of the internet caught the world by surprise. A lot of services and activities suddenly sprung from it, and a few years later, almost anything can already be easily done through these internet services and technologies.  These advancements have surely brought the world into a new technological era. In this generation, almost all of mans activities rely on computers and the global capabilities of the internet and the World Wide Web. In simpler terms, almost everything is becoming accessible by just one click of a button. May it be in the fields of education, governance and business, internet technologies appear to be changing a lot of processes and operations. For the field of education, there is e-learning which has already opened a lot of opportunities and possibilities for distance learning systems. In governance there what is called e-governance. This internet service allows political organizations to manage their activities and operations as well as their information resources. But aside from these fields, there dominant internet service that is already changing a lot of thing in the current contemporary society this is e-commerce. Over the years, e-commerce has become a widely known internet service which enables people to transact businesses, shop, sell and trade online. It has made a lot of business operations a lot easier and more efficient, and it is currently dominating the World Wide Web alongside other popular internet services like gaming and information search. Johns situation is a clear portrayal of an e-commerce transaction. What he did was he ordered some items, paid for it and waited for them to be delivered all through the aid of his computer and an internet connection. He did not have to go out and find the best stores to shop, rather, he transacted everything with just some clicks on his computer. This is basically the essence of e-commerce. However, considering Johns case, it can be observed that he became faced with some issues concerning the service he availed. This case shows that not in all situations do e-commerce transactions become effective and efficient. At times, it can also be associated to a lot of issues that are to be discussed in the succeeding parts of this discussion. However, firstly, the ideal of e-commerce must be understood in order to learn the nature of the internet service. By doing this, the aspects that might have affected or caused Johns dilemmas might be discovered. This will also aid in devising the possible solutions to this issue.
E-Commerce
What is E-Commerce
E-commerce has become a popular technological term in the twentieth century business world. Together with the growth of the internet and the World Wide Web, e-commerce also emerged as one of the most dominant and implicative internet services which has the capability to change and improve a lot of individual and organizations day-to-day business transactions and operations. Over the years, a lot of studies have been conducted that veer towards the understanding of this technology. These studies have created different notion on the ideal of e-commerce, however, one definition seems to appear similar among all these descriptions. Generally, e-commerce was defined as operations or processed that,
    business transactions that are conducted electronically over a computer network. It encompasses all aspects of business and marketing processes enabled by Internet and the Web technologies.  (Parsons  Oja, 2008)
Aside from this, e-commerce also encompasses the products and kind of transaction involved in delivering these products to the clients. Thus, a more in-depth description of e-commerce would have to state, that it equates processes that,
    include many kinds of physical products, digital products and services. Physical products offered at e-commerce sites include such goods as clothing, shoes, skateboards, and cars. Most of these products can be shipped to buyers through the postal service or a parcel delivery service.  (Parsons  Oja, 2008)
Considering these definitions, a simplistic ideal of what e-commerce is can easily be formed. In several ways, it appears like e-commerce is the virtual version of the typical and conventional business transaction. If in the non-virtual ideal, a person would have to walk right into a store, find a product, pay the amount and receive the product right away, in e-commerce, the buying and selling appear to be done through the aid of the electronic media. In this virtual form of selling and buying, clients just have to visit any online store which that are mostly readily available through the search engines in the internet, purchase products by looking through the online catalogs, pick a product by simply clicking buttons, pay the item through a credit card account and then the product shall be then shipped right in front of their door steps. Over the years, this technology has become a trend already. A lot of people suddenly became attracted to shopping online despite the fact that they are not actually seeing the items in person. One factor that was seen to trigger this fancy is the perceived easiness and convenience of shopping online. Through this method, people do not have to spend on gas or fares anymore since they are already given the choice to just connect to the internet, find an online store and shop without the hassles and bustles on the roads. And due to this increasing demand on e-commerce sites, a lot of studies and researches on the technologys efficiency and effectiveness have already been conducted.
In most of these studies, it was found that due to the rapid developments that were seen to occur in this technology, the range of products and services offered was also seen to expand even further. Before, e-commerce was only known for delivering items that are easy to ship. However now, due to the development in computer and internet literacy, a lot of people have already recognized the possibility that e-commerce can also touch a lot of other products and services aside from the small items. Today, it can be observed that aside from products, e-commerce also gives way to the delivery of digital products such as music tracks, videos, news, information and softwares (Parsons  Oja, 2008). What enables this possibility was the reality that these products, unlike the tangible ones do not have to be shipped or delivered anymore, but instead, they could just be easily sent through email accounts like information and messages. Another advantage that this kind of products also hold is that it can easily be received by the clients as well, since these items do not have to undergo the postal service anymore.
Aside from these products, a wide range of services have also been made possible by e-commerce. One of these innovative  business ventures are the online tutorials, online editing jobs, online postage of service requests like food delivery, home massage service and a lot of other services. This entails another advantage, but this time, on the end of the businessmen. Earlier on, it was mentioned that e-commerce does a lot if minimizing the transportation costs of clients when they go shopping. But on the other hand, it can be observed that e-commerce also promises a lot of advantages on the end of the entrepreneurs. For one, they are being given the chance to save in terms of rental fee in stalls and office spaces. Also, they are also given the opportunity to save the energy and effort they need exert in going to the store or to the office regularly to supervise the business operations and communicate with their clients personally. In e-commerce, businesses obviously do not need office spaces or stalls anymore. Through this technology, the internet becomes the venue for their virtual stores. Paying the domain fees in creating websites apparently does not appear as costly as building a store or renting a space, and aside from this, e-commerce also seems to save businessmen the energy and effort in going to and fro their shops.
In looking at the aforementioned characteristics of e-commerce, it can be observed that Johns situation clearly falls in this technology. Basically, the steps that John took in ordering and paying for the items for his childs birthday parallel the basic steps in an e-commerce transaction. It can also be observed that the online store he visited is located in Hong Kong since the website consisted of the country domain, hk which stands for the countrys initials. Considering this, it can easily be assumed that one of the primary reasons why John resorted to utilizing e-commerce was the convenience that it promises. Through this technology, he could easily purchase imported items from far off countries by just simply visiting their websites. This obviously saved him a considerable amount of money he could have spent in plane tickets. Aside from this, in looking at the online store.

John ordered a number of small items from e-Toys4U.hk for his childs birthday. The items included a game console together with several games,, a tricycle, music CDs, an e-book (compatible with his e-book reader), an iPod engraved with his childs name and a selection box of chocolates. Some items arrived a month before his childs birthday. Other items did not arrive at all. John doesnt have a telephone number to contact e-Toys4U.hk, and it is taking a few days to get a response to e-mails which he has sent demanding redress. Does John have any protection under existing rules, particularly those concerning distance contracts andor the provision of information society services, and are there any proposals for this position to change in the future

Considering the drastic growth in telecommunication technologies today   such as the internet and internet services   this decision of John to order some products online may appear quite understandable. Due to the current developments in these technologies, more and more people nowadays are spending longer hours in front of their computer screens, doing their school works, their papers for work and just simply playing some online games as past time. The rise of the internet caught the world by surprise. A lot of services and activities suddenly sprung from it, and a few years later, almost anything can already be easily done through these internet services and technologies.  These advancements have surely brought the world into a new technological era. In this generation, almost all of mans activities rely on computers and the global capabilities of the internet and the World Wide Web. In simpler terms, almost everything is becoming accessible by just one click of a button. May it be in the fields of education, governance and business, internet technologies appear to be changing a lot of processes and operations. For the field of education, there is e-learning which has already opened a lot of opportunities and possibilities for distance learning systems. In governance there what is called e-governance. This internet service allows political organizations to manage their activities and operations as well as their information resources. But aside from these fields, there dominant internet service that is already changing a lot of thing in the current contemporary society this is e-commerce. Over the years, e-commerce has become a widely known internet service which enables people to transact businesses, shop, sell and trade online. It has made a lot of business operations a lot easier and more efficient, and it is currently dominating the World Wide Web alongside other popular internet services like gaming and information search. Johns situation is a clear portrayal of an e-commerce transaction. What he did was he ordered some items, paid for it and waited for them to be delivered all through the aid of his computer and an internet connection. He did not have to go out and find the best stores to shop, rather, he transacted everything with just some clicks on his computer. This is basically the essence of e-commerce. However, considering Johns case, it can be observed that he became faced with some issues concerning the service he availed. This case shows that not in all situations do e-commerce transactions become effective and efficient. At times, it can also be associated to a lot of issues that are to be discussed in the succeeding parts of this discussion. However, firstly, the ideal of e-commerce must be understood in order to learn the nature of the internet service. By doing this, the aspects that might have affected or caused Johns dilemmas might be discovered. This will also aid in devising the possible solutions to this issue.
E-Commerce
What is E-Commerce
E-commerce has become a popular technological term in the twentieth century business world. Together with the growth of the internet and the World Wide Web, e-commerce also emerged as one of the most dominant and implicative internet services which has the capability to change and improve a lot of individual and organizations day-to-day business transactions and operations. Over the years, a lot of studies have been conducted that veer towards the understanding of this technology. These studies have created different notion on the ideal of e-commerce, however, one definition seems to appear similar among all these descriptions. Generally, e-commerce was defined as operations or processed that,
    business transactions that are conducted electronically over a computer network. It encompasses all aspects of business and marketing processes enabled by Internet and the Web technologies.  (Parsons  Oja, 2008)
Aside from this, e-commerce also encompasses the products and kind of transaction involved in delivering these products to the clients. Thus, a more in-depth description of e-commerce would have to state, that it equates processes that,
    include many kinds of physical products, digital products and services. Physical products offered at e-commerce sites include such goods as clothing, shoes, skateboards, and cars. Most of these products can be shipped to buyers through the postal service or a parcel delivery service.  (Parsons  Oja, 2008)
Considering these definitions, a simplistic ideal of what e-commerce is can easily be formed. In several ways, it appears like e-commerce is the virtual version of the typical and conventional business transaction. If in the non-virtual ideal, a person would have to walk right into a store, find a product, pay the amount and receive the product right away, in e-commerce, the buying and selling appear to be done through the aid of the electronic media. In this virtual form of selling and buying, clients just have to visit any online store which that are mostly readily available through the search engines in the internet, purchase products by looking through the online catalogs, pick a product by simply clicking buttons, pay the item through a credit card account and then the product shall be then shipped right in front of their door steps. Over the years, this technology has become a trend already. A lot of people suddenly became attracted to shopping online despite the fact that they are not actually seeing the items in person. One factor that was seen to trigger this fancy is the perceived easiness and convenience of shopping online. Through this method, people do not have to spend on gas or fares anymore since they are already given the choice to just connect to the internet, find an online store and shop without the hassles and bustles on the roads. And due to this increasing demand on e-commerce sites, a lot of studies and researches on the technologys efficiency and effectiveness have already been conducted.
In most of these studies, it was found that due to the rapid developments that were seen to occur in this technology, the range of products and services offered was also seen to expand even further. Before, e-commerce was only known for delivering items that are easy to ship. However now, due to the development in computer and internet literacy, a lot of people have already recognized the possibility that e-commerce can also touch a lot of other products and services aside from the small items. Today, it can be observed that aside from products, e-commerce also gives way to the delivery of digital products such as music tracks, videos, news, information and softwares (Parsons  Oja, 2008). What enables this possibility was the reality that these products, unlike the tangible ones do not have to be shipped or delivered anymore, but instead, they could just be easily sent through email accounts like information and messages. Another advantage that this kind of products also hold is that it can easily be received by the clients as well, since these items do not have to undergo the postal service anymore.
Aside from these products, a wide range of services have also been made possible by e-commerce. One of these innovative  business ventures are the online tutorials, online editing jobs, online postage of service requests like food delivery, home massage service and a lot of other services. This entails another advantage, but this time, on the end of the businessmen. Earlier on, it was mentioned that e-commerce does a lot if minimizing the transportation costs of clients when they go shopping. But on the other hand, it can be observed that e-commerce also promises a lot of advantages on the end of the entrepreneurs. For one, they are being given the chance to save in terms of rental fee in stalls and office spaces. Also, they are also given the opportunity to save the energy and effort they need exert in going to the store or to the office regularly to supervise the business operations and communicate with their clients personally. In e-commerce, businesses obviously do not need office spaces or stalls anymore. Through this technology, the internet becomes the venue for their virtual stores. Paying the domain fees in creating websites apparently does not appear as costly as building a store or renting a space, and aside from this, e-commerce also seems to save businessmen the energy and effort in going to and fro their shops.
In looking at the aforementioned characteristics of e-commerce, it can be observed that Johns situation clearly falls in this technology. Basically, the steps that John took in ordering and paying for the items for his childs birthday parallel the basic steps in an e-commerce transaction. It can also be observed that the online store he visited is located in Hong Kong since the website consisted of the country domain, hk which stands for the countrys initials. Considering this, it can easily be assumed that one of the primary reasons why John resorted to utilizing e-commerce was the convenience that it promises. Through this technology, he could easily purchase imported items from far off countries by just simply visiting their websites. This obviously saved him a considerable amount of money he could have spent in plane tickets. Aside from this, in looking at the online store.

Poison chalice is a business term used to describe a deceitful decision. The term silver bullet means a simple but effective solution given to a complex problem (Reynolds 200245). Both words in customer relationship management sprung from the notion that The customer is always right. Both words are used to contradict the importance of customer relationship management. The term silver bullet compares customer relationship management to a silver bullet literally. A silver bullet if aimed well can be used to bring down any animal no matter the size. Roger, Zerres, Zerres (2007) discuss how effective CRM can be to a business. In relation, CRM strategies if well implemented can provide an effective solution to a big problem. Poison chalice defines something perceived to be good but it really is poisonous. Another name for poison chalice is poison ivy.
Customer service relationship as a silver bullet
            This term identifies and applauds the need for customer relationship management (CRM) in business. As a silver bullet, it implies that the adoption of CRM strategies in business can lead to great changes in the overall revenue projections. In todays business environment, it is very difficult to thrive on product alone (Newell 200345). This calls for the employment of other factors to complete the cycle which includes the practice of business ethics, capturing and respecting customers preferences and setting the business focus on the individual customer. In employing CRM, a business needs first to analyze the intended objectives (Romano 200165). Customer relationship management provides strategic advantages in organizing and personalizing relationships with the esteemed customers. CRM systems give business strategic advantages. This removes the need of a certain employee for a certain customer because of hisher relationship with the customer.
             Using CRM helps keep profile of the needs of different customers. This helps in informing the employees on how to address those needs effectively while maintaining the customer. If need calls for change of the strategies, CRM helps the management in formulating new methods to be used. CRM improves the degree of responsiveness hence building customer loyalty (Ngai 200588). Customer relationship management calls for the use of suggestion boxes or any other desired customer feedback methods. Customer feedback helps determine the level of customer satisfaction. If negative feedback is received then this calls for ratification of the already existing methodologies to fit the needs addressed by the customer. A positive feedback does not call for relaxation but calls for more hard work. CRM strategies serve as a guideline in establishing sales strategies and marketing campaigns (Muther 200121). CRM strategies are not supposed to focus on retaining the customers but on retention. A companys efforts in sales should be focused on attracting a target customer. This usually applies with firms that keep few but highly rewarding clients like consultancy firms and banks. Such companies should strategize themselves to offer that client the services one cannot get from any other service provider. The firm should always retain a competitive edge to keep ahead of their competitors. Assion, Limayen (2004) discuss how a company should employ the strategies of CRM. The objectives of the business may be retaining the existing clients, looking for new clients or even both. CRM stresses that a customers purchasing decision is influenced by past experiences (Janice 200245). CRM strategies if well implemented can yield effective results. Current researches carried by the international public relations body showed that in a group of ten firms both applying customer relationship management eight of them come out successful. This is a proof that CRM really works.
Customer service relationship as poison chalice
This implies that CRM strategies may not as well be promising. It is not guaranteed that adopting CRM practices will lead to success. CRM strategies should be accompanied with a detailed plan on how to execute them. If these strategies are not well implemented then negative results are experienced. A business should identify all other factors needed in order to succeed. Establishing a good customer relationship alone will not increase sales (Donoghue 200965). Quality, advertising and pricing are some of the factors strategic managers need to employ in line with CRM. A customer will not retain hisher loyalty in a company that has friendly staff but their prices are high. Instead the customer will be willing to go where the prices are low irregardless of their customer service. Monitoring the needs of customers will not alone build customer loyalty. The attitude of the sales clerk while dealing with the customer also counts (Sharp 200035). The image of the company is portrayed by the attitude demonstrated by the sales clerks. This states that the heart of a company lies on the hands of the people who handle it and not the strategies or the technology improvised.
Case study
An example demonstrating CRM as both poison chalice and silver bullet is the case of Radisson hotels and resorts (Bruce 2004 24). This major hotel chain was losing share quickly. After a few board meetings they decided to lay down two initiatives for customer relation management. Those could be the establishment of common franchising suite and an improved system of data management. This process management to revitalize the condition of the company but not the stability did not last for long. In the early 1990s the group was scrambling again. The methods were not effective and this time the management went back to drawing table. They took into account the process of educating the managers, harmonizing the marketing and IT department (Bruce 2004 25). These strategies were incorporated with the earlier ones. Those strategies performed miracles for the chain group. Cases of losing customers were buried down under.

John ordered a number of small items from e-Toys4U.hk for his childs birthday. The items included a game console together with several games,, a tricycle, music CDs, an e-book (compatible with his e-book reader), an iPod engraved with his childs name and a selection box of chocolates. Some items arrived a month before his childs birthday. Other items did not arrive at all. John doesnt have a telephone number to contact e-Toys4U.hk, and it is taking a few days to get a response to e-mails which he has sent demanding redress. Does John have any protection under existing rules, particularly those concerning distance contracts andor the provision of information society services, and are there any proposals for this position to change in the future

Considering the drastic growth in telecommunication technologies today   such as the internet and internet services   this decision of John to order some products online may appear quite understandable. Due to the current developments in these technologies, more and more people nowadays are spending longer hours in front of their computer screens, doing their school works, their papers for work and just simply playing some online games as past time. The rise of the internet caught the world by surprise. A lot of services and activities suddenly sprung from it, and a few years later, almost anything can already be easily done through these internet services and technologies.  These advancements have surely brought the world into a new technological era. In this generation, almost all of mans activities rely on computers and the global capabilities of the internet and the World Wide Web. In simpler terms, almost everything is becoming accessible by just one click of a button. May it be in the fields of education, governance and business, internet technologies appear to be changing a lot of processes and operations. For the field of education, there is e-learning which has already opened a lot of opportunities and possibilities for distance learning systems. In governance there what is called e-governance. This internet service allows political organizations to manage their activities and operations as well as their information resources. But aside from these fields, there dominant internet service that is already changing a lot of thing in the current contemporary society this is e-commerce. Over the years, e-commerce has become a widely known internet service which enables people to transact businesses, shop, sell and trade online. It has made a lot of business operations a lot easier and more efficient, and it is currently dominating the World Wide Web alongside other popular internet services like gaming and information search. Johns situation is a clear portrayal of an e-commerce transaction. What he did was he ordered some items, paid for it and waited for them to be delivered all through the aid of his computer and an internet connection. He did not have to go out and find the best stores to shop, rather, he transacted everything with just some clicks on his computer. This is basically the essence of e-commerce. However, considering Johns case, it can be observed that he became faced with some issues concerning the service he availed. This case shows that not in all situations do e-commerce transactions become effective and efficient. At times, it can also be associated to a lot of issues that are to be discussed in the succeeding parts of this discussion. However, firstly, the ideal of e-commerce must be understood in order to learn the nature of the internet service. By doing this, the aspects that might have affected or caused Johns dilemmas might be discovered. This will also aid in devising the possible solutions to this issue.
E-Commerce
What is E-Commerce
E-commerce has become a popular technological term in the twentieth century business world. Together with the growth of the internet and the World Wide Web, e-commerce also emerged as one of the most dominant and implicative internet services which has the capability to change and improve a lot of individual and organizations day-to-day business transactions and operations. Over the years, a lot of studies have been conducted that veer towards the understanding of this technology. These studies have created different notion on the ideal of e-commerce, however, one definition seems to appear similar among all these descriptions. Generally, e-commerce was defined as operations or processed that,
    business transactions that are conducted electronically over a computer network. It encompasses all aspects of business and marketing processes enabled by Internet and the Web technologies.  (Parsons  Oja, 2008)
Aside from this, e-commerce also encompasses the products and kind of transaction involved in delivering these products to the clients. Thus, a more in-depth description of e-commerce would have to state, that it equates processes that,
    include many kinds of physical products, digital products and services. Physical products offered at e-commerce sites include such goods as clothing, shoes, skateboards, and cars. Most of these products can be shipped to buyers through the postal service or a parcel delivery service.  (Parsons  Oja, 2008)
Considering these definitions, a simplistic ideal of what e-commerce is can easily be formed. In several ways, it appears like e-commerce is the virtual version of the typical and conventional business transaction. If in the non-virtual ideal, a person would have to walk right into a store, find a product, pay the amount and receive the product right away, in e-commerce, the buying and selling appear to be done through the aid of the electronic media. In this virtual form of selling and buying, clients just have to visit any online store which that are mostly readily available through the search engines in the internet, purchase products by looking through the online catalogs, pick a product by simply clicking buttons, pay the item through a credit card account and then the product shall be then shipped right in front of their door steps. Over the years, this technology has become a trend already. A lot of people suddenly became attracted to shopping online despite the fact that they are not actually seeing the items in person. One factor that was seen to trigger this fancy is the perceived easiness and convenience of shopping online. Through this method, people do not have to spend on gas or fares anymore since they are already given the choice to just connect to the internet, find an online store and shop without the hassles and bustles on the roads. And due to this increasing demand on e-commerce sites, a lot of studies and researches on the technologys efficiency and effectiveness have already been conducted.
In most of these studies, it was found that due to the rapid developments that were seen to occur in this technology, the range of products and services offered was also seen to expand even further. Before, e-commerce was only known for delivering items that are easy to ship. However now, due to the development in computer and internet literacy, a lot of people have already recognized the possibility that e-commerce can also touch a lot of other products and services aside from the small items. Today, it can be observed that aside from products, e-commerce also gives way to the delivery of digital products such as music tracks, videos, news, information and softwares (Parsons  Oja, 2008). What enables this possibility was the reality that these products, unlike the tangible ones do not have to be shipped or delivered anymore, but instead, they could just be easily sent through email accounts like information and messages. Another advantage that this kind of products also hold is that it can easily be received by the clients as well, since these items do not have to undergo the postal service anymore.
Aside from these products, a wide range of services have also been made possible by e-commerce. One of these innovative  business ventures are the online tutorials, online editing jobs, online postage of service requests like food delivery, home massage service and a lot of other services. This entails another advantage, but this time, on the end of the businessmen. Earlier on, it was mentioned that e-commerce does a lot if minimizing the transportation costs of clients when they go shopping. But on the other hand, it can be observed that e-commerce also promises a lot of advantages on the end of the entrepreneurs. For one, they are being given the chance to save in terms of rental fee in stalls and office spaces. Also, they are also given the opportunity to save the energy and effort they need exert in going to the store or to the office regularly to supervise the business operations and communicate with their clients personally. In e-commerce, businesses obviously do not need office spaces or stalls anymore. Through this technology, the internet becomes the venue for their virtual stores. Paying the domain fees in creating websites apparently does not appear as costly as building a store or renting a space, and aside from this, e-commerce also seems to save businessmen the energy and effort in going to and fro their shops.
In looking at the aforementioned characteristics of e-commerce, it can be observed that Johns situation clearly falls in this technology. Basically, the steps that John took in ordering and paying for the items for his childs birthday parallel the basic steps in an e-commerce transaction. It can also be observed that the online store he visited is located in Hong Kong since the website consisted of the country domain, hk which stands for the countrys initials. Considering this, it can easily be assumed that one of the primary reasons why John resorted to utilizing e-commerce was the convenience that it promises. Through this technology, he could easily purchase imported items from far off countries by just simply visiting their websites. This obviously saved him a considerable amount of money he could have spent in plane tickets. Aside from this, in looking at the online store.