Course Title: COMP1308Course Title: COMP1308Course Title: COMP1308Course Title: COMP1308

eCommerceeCommerceeCommerceeCommerce

Submitted To:

Mrs Keeran Jamil

Greenwich Coordinator

Submitted By:

Md. Mahbub Alam

ID: 000788896

Date: 22/11/2013

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Acknowledgement

It is my pleasure and privilege to prepare this assignment. It gave me immense

interest and aroused curiosity and I believe that the experience gathered in this

assignment will help me extremely in career building.

I am especially grateful to our respectable teacher – Mr. Monjur Ahmed for giving me

valuable suggestion and support me to prepare this project. Without his advice and

support, it would not be possible for me to prepare this assignment.

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Strategic Evaluation Strategic Evaluation Strategic Evaluation Strategic Evaluation

Document for BootsDocument for BootsDocument for BootsDocument for Boots

Submitted To:

Boots Senior Management

Boots

Submitted by:

Md. Mahbub Alam

Consultant

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Table of ContentsTable of ContentsTable of ContentsTable of Contents

1. Management Summery ...................................................................................................................... 5

2. Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 6

3. Strategic Evaluation ............................................................................................................................ 7

Strengths: ............................................................................................................................................ 7

Weakness: ........................................................................................................................................... 7

Opportunities: ..................................................................................................................................... 8

Threats: ............................................................................................................................................... 8

Political: ............................................................................................................................................... 8

Social ................................................................................................................................................... 8

Economical .......................................................................................................................................... 8

Technological ...................................................................................................................................... 9

4. Impact of IS ......................................................................................................................................... 9

4.1. Investigate the impact of new IT/IS system ..................................................................................... 9

5. eMarketing Strategic ......................................................................................................................... 10

5.1. Strategies which organization has to adopt .................................................................................. 10

5.2. Proposition value and differential advantage of this strategy ...................................................... 12

6. Legal and ethical issues ..................................................................................................................... 13

6.1 Cookie Policy ............................................................................................................................... 13

6.2 Privacy Policy ............................................................................................................................... 13

6.3 Sending Unsolicited Email ........................................................................................................... 15

6.4 Social Exclusion ........................................................................................................................... 15

6.5 Policy on Handing Over the Data ................................................................................................ 15

7. Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................... 16

8. References ........................................................................................................................................ 16

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1. 1. 1. 1. Management SummeryManagement SummeryManagement SummeryManagement Summery

Boots is an organization which sales product to customer. They need an information

management system which capable to manage all type of job in a single platform. All

type of job has to be integrated with this system. This management system can help

customer and also management of Boots. This system has to high efficiency of

performance. User friendly user interface so, this system does not need any kind of

user training. Report manipulations for user and management perspective. Sales and

purchase integration to the system. Users can easy ecommerce by helping this

system. System has to be secure by external threat. Management and user have to

happy using this system.

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2. 2. 2. 2. IntroductionIntroductionIntroductionIntroduction

Boots is providing service to customer by sale products. They sales various types of

goods as customer require. Sales products are such as skin care products, hair care

products, Boots health & Travel Cover and baby care products etc. The customer can

shop in peace and perhaps earn extra points as well.

They have many types of goods. Customers can purchase those goods from their

retail shop. Customer can purchase product using Card and customer can get an

extra advantage using this card. Boots lunched this card scheme nationally in

September 1997 following a two year research programme that had included

extensive in the Norwich and Plymouth area. The majority of their customers are

women. They record customer information in a database which is soft system. Some

time Boots provide some discount to customer for better customer relation and

grater sale.

Boots is a long-established IBM customer. They looking for better Information system

solution. Their database system started in spring 1997. Their database is now

decreasing performance and so, they need a better solution which is better than

now. They have huge information of customer. New system has to achieve the Boots

requirement. Database has to be capable to process of analysis. All previous data

have to have in new database. Previous customer data is a greatest asset of Boots.

Boots wanted to at least eight million signup and they got ten million card holders in

December 1998. As a result their new system has to be strong and entity query have

to faster processing result provide able.

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3. 3. 3. 3. Strategic EvaluationStrategic EvaluationStrategic EvaluationStrategic Evaluation

To be successful and make advancement in the business, it is very important for a

company to plan its futures strategies to the business. To settle on its strategy, the

company first needs to know about its present position. At the present time to

analyze a company’s present position, an accepted tool is often used named SWOT

analysis and PEST analysis. SWOT is the acronym of strength, weakness,

opportunities and threats. PEST is the acronym of Political factor, Economical factor,

Social factor and Technical factor. It is provides compassionate information for

correct organizations abilities and resources to the ready for action environment it

operates inside.

SWOT Analysis:

StrengthsStrengthsStrengthsStrengths::::

• Boots is well known to customers, respected and recognized

• It have huge number of card holder

• Huge number of customer information

• Customer email and contact information

• Low budget products as user required

• Many shops in different of location

• Various types of products

• Boots always able to understand customer required goods

• Financial growth

• Useful promotional strategies

WeaknessWeaknessWeaknessWeakness::::

• Need more time to generate report or query

• All activity are not centralised

• Not have fully integrated system

• Not have experience employee

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OpportunitiesOpportunitiesOpportunitiesOpportunities::::

• Existing customers are the key ambassadors for a organization

• Customer have no objection

• They can expand their fleet by acquiring more shops

TTTThreatshreatshreatshreats::::

• Increase of environmental taxes

• Dependencies on third party shop providers

• IT system breakdown

PEST analysis

Political:Political:Political:Political:

• In this case they need to aware about recent threat of war in Middle East

(Among Israel, Iran and Palestine) and in Africa (recent chaos in Egypt). There

is also chaos happening in Syria

• Taxes may be change

SocialSocialSocialSocial

• Increasing terrorists attack across the globe

• People are normally quite sociable to the prospect of low-priced product

EconomicalEconomicalEconomicalEconomical

• Some countries financial system might downfall

• Improbability due to the cost instability of product

• Long term loans

• Europe becomes more united

• Unemployment rate across Europe is increasing gradually

• Recently GBP value has fallen down

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TechnologicalTechnologicalTechnologicalTechnological

• Most of the bookings are complete through Internet

• The advancement in technology also makes sure the convenience of

replacements and maintenance services to its convoy of airplanes.

4. Impact of IS4. Impact of IS4. Impact of IS4. Impact of IS

The execution of Boots e-marketing strategy has been achieved on the company’s

system. The Boots system has been designed to propose high usability to visitor and

is simple to use compare to some of its competitor. It is simply designed, with an

intuitive navigation – allowing users to move from page to page without the need to

go via main interface. It has high functionality and is without excess baggage. It was

created with the intention not to tire the visitor with redundant graphics and

advertisements which would distract its visitors and make them walk away from the

system. It employs moderate use of text eliminating time wastage while conveying

accurate message to guide users through various links. Each page on the system

consist enough required information without abstract marketing banners to

sidetrack real buyers.

4.1. Investigate the impact of new IT/IS system4.1. Investigate the impact of new IT/IS system4.1. Investigate the impact of new IT/IS system4.1. Investigate the impact of new IT/IS system

The implementation of the strategy has an impact on the business performance

because the site is well integrated into Boots’s existing systems and business process.

A good case in point is the ability to feed press release into the site through

electronic and new destination appearing automatically once fed into the business’s

information system. According to the case study, the effectiveness of the system was

proved when the dedicated cell number on the site hit six months target within six

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weeks. The log file recorded 8 minutes average time spent on the system per person

and almost each caller made a purchase. The system proved that Boots phone

operators were busy selling product rather than answering questions over the

phone.

5. eMarketing Strategic5. eMarketing Strategic5. eMarketing Strategic5. eMarketing Strategic

E-marketing means the focus of marketing on the customers, even as inferring they

require linking other business operation to achieve the required efficiency. E-

marketing is for that reason defined as achieve marketing objectives through the

make use of electronic communication technology which includes internet, eBooks,

e-mail, mobile phones etc.

According to the case study, at the beginning of its long run Boots did not give that

much significance on the digital marketing, though later it was realized by the

administration that the digital marketing activities were needed to adopt for further

success for Boots. The activities that were adopted have been outlined in the

conversation below.

5.1. Strategies which organization has to adopt5.1. Strategies which organization has to adopt5.1. Strategies which organization has to adopt5.1. Strategies which organization has to adopt

Because the Internet gives the most cost-effective distribution channel, Boots has

uncompromisingly pursued its strategy of encouraging customers to book their

product online.

• Boots first initiate the thought of offering a discount to Internet customers, an

ingenuity that has been widely copied by competitors. Any Boots promotions

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are exclusive to the Internet, so that customers must get online if they wish to

take benefit of discounted.

• On the system they added new services which are all meant to attract the

customers.

• Boots arrange different competition through the system for the users where

successful competitor is rewarded.

• Another e-marketing strategy which Boots has taken is E-mail marketing. It is

one of the usual ways of on-line or digital promotion where a people are sent

emails to notify about the services offered by the business. On the other hand,

there are also many other ways of digital marketing which Boots can consider

to adopt. Some of the ways are included below.

• SMM (Social Media Marketing) – Social media is a proven and very successful

means of reaching people on an all-purpose basis or a targeted group basis. In

its simplest form, this kind of service could be treated as the provision of

reaching people by means of utilizing the control of the social media

platforms like “Facebook.com” or “Twitter.com” or “MySpace.com” where

thousands of people can be reached easily and it is a great form of cost-

effective means of digital advertising.

• SEO – SEO is the acronym of Search Engine Optimization. It is an indirect way

of digital marketing which was popular and very necessary for the success of

the commerce. It was very important for the business to be optimized for the

search engines so that the search engines can show the commerce in their

search listing when people search with relevant keyword to find a business or

service similar to the selling.

• Backlines – By means of Backlines, it was possible to obtain an increased

number of visitors to the system and thus getting more dealing. Thus this

indirect approach of promoting the business and spreading the word were

adopted as one of the digital marketing means for the dealing.

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• Mobile Marketing – Advertising were based on distribution the words through

cell as it was possible for people to be online by means of smart phones.

The e-marketing strategies that are planned above are attached with the business

and other policies and objectives of the selling so that a proper mapping of the

resources and activities could take place to portray the above advertising strategies

for the total success of the business.

5.2. 5.2. 5.2. 5.2. Proposition value and differential advantage of this strategyProposition value and differential advantage of this strategyProposition value and differential advantage of this strategyProposition value and differential advantage of this strategy

We can see that Boots is balancing their online and offline promotion by the

following ways.

• Boots frequently provides promotional offers

• Specific campaign to encourage customer

• If we look into the case study, Buy baby product and get a picture frame

promotional offer

• For increasing the online customers they have put the company URL

everywhere.

Above list it is that Boots is evaluation their online and offline promotion smoothly.

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6. Legal a6. Legal a6. Legal a6. Legal and ethical issuesnd ethical issuesnd ethical issuesnd ethical issues

Legal and ethical issues are one of the key factors to success of a business. Legal

issues are those rules which are bounded by the law and everyone must have to

follow those rules. If someone breaks those rules, he/ she must be punished.

In this part, it has been discussed what legal and ethical issues “Boots” needs to

consider with regard to the gathering, processing, distribution and use of information

on the internet.

6.1 Cookie Policy

While using cookies in the system, they must follow the laws concerning the cookies

and must let the system visitors’ percept about that. The company must have a

cookie policy which should contain the following details-

• General Explanation about what cookie is.

• What kind of information they gather by cookies.

• Clear information about how they use cookies.

• What types of cookies they use and explanation for each of those cookies.

• Specific information about why they need to use cookies.

• The ways to manage or opt out of cookies.

• If any of their supplementary partner sites use cookies or not

The cookies must not to be used for personal information gathering.

6666.2 Privacy Policy .2 Privacy Policy .2 Privacy Policy .2 Privacy Policy

According to the case study, it is mentioned that to order online for product, every

customer must have an open an online account in the Boots’s system. This means

that the company has the access to the personal data of its users. For using those

personal information the company must bound to the “Data Protection Act 1998” in

UK/ EU. To do this they must have a privacy policy which should contain the

following details-

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• Which information they required, such as transaction information, card

information, social security number etc. It also needs to be declaring why they

need this information.

• Clear information about for which purpose all information will be used, such

as accounting, billing, and audit, credit or other payment card verification and

screening, immigration and customs control, safety, security, health,

organizational and legal purposes, statistical and marketing analysis, systems

testing, maintenance and development, customer surveys, customer relations

etc.

• What will happen if a user doesn’t want to share personal information?

• Information about if the system is using any technology such as (site tracker,

use of pixel for email tracking etc.) to track user and if it uses, why it’s using

that technology.

• Security policy- what kind of technology it’s using to protect its user’s data

once it is collected from the users and what will happen if any security

breech occur (e.g. user information get hacked).

• Liability issue- it is very important for users to know what will happen if the

data is abused and who is responsible for that. The company must provide

clear information about this. Proprietary issue- information about who owns

the data and how the ownership can be transferred.

• Accessibility- information about who is allowed to access the user data and

under which condition they can access those data.

• Information about what technical and organizational process will be taken

from the company against unauthorized or unlawful processing of personal

data and against accidental loss or destruction of, or damage to, personal

data.

• The data that is collected must be accurate and should keep up to date

whenever possible.

• How long they are going to retain user information.

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• What measures they have taken to ensure the credit cards security of users.

6666.3 Sending Unsolicited Email .3 Sending Unsolicited Email .3 Sending Unsolicited Email .3 Sending Unsolicited Email

For marketing purpose the company may require to send frequent email to its users

which some users may feel very annoying. In these cases, the company must give its

users an option to stop getting those emails. An example - with every mail an option

can be added which will tell users how they can stop those email.

6666.4 Social Exclusion .4 Social Exclusion .4 Social Exclusion .4 Social Exclusion

As the company gives more importance in online promotion than offline promotion,

which results a certain group of people (older people, people who don’t have access

to internet) don’t even get to know about the promotion and when they hear about

it from some other people, they can feel socially excluded. In these cases, Boots must

ensure that they are not limiting access to information from certain section of

society.

6666....5555 Policy on Handing Over the Data Policy on Handing Over the Data Policy on Handing Over the Data Policy on Handing Over the Data

Boots must ensure that they are not handing over or transferring their customer’s

personal data to a country or territory outside the European Economic Area unless

that country or territory ensures an adequate level of protection for the rights and

liberties of data subjects in relation to the processing of personal data.

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7. 7. 7. 7. ConclusionConclusionConclusionConclusion

It is my pleasure to working in this project that has some critical and functional

analysis and Boots is best as I ever seen. I have gathered new experience from Boots.

Boots is vast information based organization which is managing their projects

smoothly. When new system implements it will more user friendly and organised

information based organization. I want to give thanks to Boots to give me the

opportunity to work with them.

8. 8. 8. 8. ReferencesReferencesReferencesReferences