Essay Sample on Interactive and Digital Marketing
Interactive and Digital Marketing
Currently, website designers of e-commerce experience many challenges when attempting to come up with the user friendly to attract visitors and increase online purchases. In order to deal with fierce online rivalry and also reduce the anxiety of cynical shoppers, the website ought to take into consideration certain steps and make use of many strategies in order to enhance online visits, purchases, and supplies.This implies that the achievements of the websites are linked directly to the impact of a strong user shopping practice (Dennis, Wixom, and Roberta 35). This is why this dissertation seeks to investigate specific features of websites. The paper will focus on two websites Amazon and Argos and information will be gotten from the transaction interface of the Amazon website as well as the experience of the Argos website respectively. Therefore, the discussion will try to highlight the genuine problems of the e-commerce designers today and offer commendable solutions.
Essay Sample on Interactive and Digital Marketing: 1 (a). Describe each retailer’s website.
The Amazon website is an online platform through which traders vend goods and in most cases the products are sold to low-cost merchants. In the past, Amazon has used its associate websites to claim that it has the widest selection of products which are sold at the lowest price.
On the other hand, the Argos website was developed primarily to promote the parent United Kingdom based company. The website was developed as a platform through which diverse products manufactured by the company would be sold and distributed to clients in different locations. As such, Argos website was designed and established as a means of helping the people who could not find time to shop in the retail outlets of the company. The website thus facilitated easy purchase of goods from online stores.
(b). What information is available on each site?
Initially, the Amazon website corporation was an online bookseller, but it rapidly expanded and soon began to sell movies as well as music. Later on, the store also introduced expanding introduced the electronic gadgets and household properties. The services offered by Amazon website cannot simply be considered as a specific line of business mainly because the company trade includes both the retail business as well as the Kindle books. A purchaser will often view Amazon as the pioneer store that provided services like the Amazon Prime which gives retail buyers free two-day shipments, on-request video streaming, and limitless admittance to the lending library of Kindle Books. Each component is charged a fee annually and this is because the Amazon Prime tends to overlap with the contribution and as such it is possible to retrieve from business systems with the retail system and provide extra value for the clients.On the contrary, Argos.co.uk which is based in Britain disseminates information regarding the products that are sold in over seven hundred stores that the company owns. The company usually sells products such as jewellery, watches and electronic gadgets. Although the website conveys information regarding similar products sold by the company, it used different strategies in terms of prices and delivery methods for the wide client base.
Essay Sample on Interactive and Digital Marketing: (c). How easy was each to navigate?
One of the key criteria that can drive an online store to succeed is how simple the store would be for clients to go through different sections and panels. It should be easy to access the basic store groupings, portfolios for shopping carts, pages for purchases and any other page that the client requires during their shopping experience. Shopping experiences on both the Amazon and Argos.co.uk websites begins on the home page. On the Amazon website the shopper is usually alerted about products on a two-fold determination of the website.
The first fold involves scanning the home page with the aim of finding products that stand out of and in most cases one of the perpetually cluttered designs with its unique yet subtle characteristics will often attract the attention of the buyer because the navigation section in placed right at the upper-left part of the homepage.
In addition, the shopping cart panels that are located at the top part of the website tend to be very easy to navigate and they may include the the product search and online shopping panels. The groups of website designers and architects in charge of handling the Amazon website have taken extra measures to ascertain that the company website is conspicuous and functional.
On the other hand, Argos website is designed with the aim of achieving its purpose exceptionally well. The main features that can clearly be seen on the main page of the website are used to achieve this as well as the many offers that are placed on this page. All these aspects are placed strategically on the main home page of the website with the aim of attracting and luring more clients to buy products on the online pages hence earn the company more revenue. The Argos website is designed with a main bar which is placed at the top pane and it is used to display the central classifications of the goods including the kitchenette and laundry, home and equipment, plot & DIY, and among others. The color of the bar on the pane is similar to that of the captions that have been placed on the right hand side of the pane and this is used to exhibit the different offers that the company currently avails so as to enable clients to identify what they like and immediately purchase while shopping online. This website has an outlook that seems more specialized due to the color system that has been standardized on the entire site.
Essay Sample on Interactive and Digital Marketing
Every person who is involved in designing websites, customers, project executives and inventors involved in constructing e-commerce websites and databases can easily use this illustration by clearly display the product search and online purchasing panels. Company websites can have these aspects in order to entice both the habitual clients as well as the first time visitors of the site. When the clients are able to recognize the website of the company as well as its products they can easily search for the products that they want and make purchases. The online panel is very important in enhancing the desire of such shoppers to take advantage of the products that are usually sold by the company. Nonetheless, the step towards purchasing must always begin with comprehension of the search panel (Pires, Stanton, and Paulo 9).
(d). What information did you find interesting and useful on each site?
Amazon has merged together their virtual computer files with the client information in order to make sure that a customer is constantly changing the computer system. The purchase records of a client are usually monitored and stored on the server-side. This is a notable improvement especially considering that it animatedly transforms the experience of the consumer based on their prior searches, webpage outlooks, wish-list embellishments, transcribed appraisals and, eventually the purchases that they have ever made. In Amazon, the online books top the list of recurrently bought products. Therefore, the growth team of the Amazon has incorporated the feature which is often referred to as the look inside and it allows customers to view specific sections of the online books, typically the front cover panel, table of contents, leading pages, index page, and the back cover. This feature can be very useful for those customers who need guidance on selecting the most suitable books especially those that are based on the content. Moreover, there is also a return outcome for all the clients who search through pages because they can be informed where the page is unavailable for previewing.There also instinctive features on the search engine that can help to identify the plural as well as singular phrases and words.
Essay Sample on Interactive and Digital Marketing
Despite the eccentricity of this feature it still remains a respectable alternative for clients who are only interested in exploring the book so as to conduct research. Nonetheless, financial means and technology prevents many website designers of e-commerce websites from owning these features. However, these web developers are still capable of designing their concepts in a manner that makes sure that the products are given top priority for the public.
Unlike the features of the Amazon website, the Argos website also airs voiced advertisements that can be recorded by all family members including father, mother, son, and daughter. This was more unique because it helped to connect with clients in a more intimate and familiar manner.
(e). What did you find that you didn’t expect to find at a retailer site?
The Amazon website clearly illustrates the personalized content on its home page because it tailors the subject matter based on how the user has networked with the product search on the pane feature of the website. While carrying out its business transactions, the Amazon website displays that it is a respectable e-commerce website capable of tracing the customer-side comportment from the server side. This facilitates the successful visits from subsequent clients because the services are progressively tailored to their likes and routines. This is centered on the tendency of the purchases that the customer would make, and in specific situations with the aim of accelerating the purchasing process. More importantly, this offers the client a wider array of goods and services that connect together in to their expanses of interest. Amazon also mixes the purchasing practices with tokens of reminders that try to convince the customer to buygoods from Amazon as opposed to purchasing from other sources.On the contrary, information provided by the Argos website are more centered on the pricing strategies. Clients visiting the website are given the opportunity to compare commodity prices with those on other websites.
(f). What did you find lacking at each site?
Examinationand analysis was mainly linked to the Argos website and it helped to reflect on the first-hand experience of clients with the website and the manner in whichthe company has executed its multichannel familiarity (Ranchhod, Ashok&Marandi 95). The goods have clearly written information and this helps many clients to choose particular products such as a two ink cartridges for a printer. Despite this advantage, the clear layout and structure of the Argos website, the existing product explanations and information are still inadequate in assisting the clients to find suitable products such as cartridges for the printer. After examining the printer the client has, the websiteoffers a cross-selling alternative together with appropriate cartridges that are designed specificallyfor the printer. Even though these cartridges are the same and can be browsed, there is no product description attached to the information given withthe type of the printer. Therefore, the website h as failed in terms of providing up to date information on the cartridges.
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(a) What differences are there for sites that have traditional bricks-and-mortar shops from those that do not?
The incorporation of internet network, has facilitated the development of specific internet-enabled ecommerce models and these have been particularly designed in line with customary retail means which are normally known as clicks-and-mortar trade model. It is apparent that many vendors who range fromdivision to department stores and low-end to high-end departments have spearheaded Internet transactions sites together with the pre-standing retail passages. Many people have gotten involved in the online shopping despite the raging debate on the brick and mortar shopping which can often come up when clients are queuing in a line at the mall, or while searching online for a unique product for several hours. Both brick and mortar stores coupled with the online traders have different advantages and disadvantages which are based on the diverse products offered and the specific needs of the distinctbuyer.
Essay Sample on Interactive and Digital Marketing
There are profits for many brick and mortar stores with particular product groups being more tailored for customary retail settings. One majoradvantage of shopping from the brick and mortar stores is clearlythe ability to touch and see commodities. Although the online stores may offer the consumer portraits and videos which may show features of the products, they can still not offer tactile impresses for the client. While shopping online for a watch, clients can know the worth and value of the product by using theweight of the quantity and evenness of the metal.
(b). Does the site encourage consumers to visit the physical shop or just to remain an online shopper?
The general benefits of online shopping cannot ultimately terminate the existence of every brick and mortar store, however they highlight and place an emphasison the convenience of shopping online. There are certain service-oriented businesses like those that offer complex products that still need the brick and mortar stores to thrive. This also applies for the companies that employ staff members who can provide additional value to the shopping experience.Cultural changes must be factored in by trade bosses who are expanding and relocating their businesses for a digital atmosphere.
There are a lot of costs to be incurred when setting up and running the customary brick and mortar transactions and this necessitates undertaking the legwork for surveys, interviews, etc. within the specific arena. During the first year of operation, businesses particularly need this. Generally, brick and mortar stores offer more trust and reliability especially because customers tend to feel safer making their purchases from a store. With so many shady websites all over the place, businesses which have physical stores tend to add a touch of professionalism. This is especially true for customers who still need to see, feel, and touch the products physically before they can buy anything (Ozuem, Wilson, Howell, and Geoff 17).
- How do the retailers’ communicate the image or personality of their shops? How are they alike? How are they different? If you had no information except that available on the web, would know what types of product are sold, whether the products sold are expensive, prestige products or low-priced products; and what types of consumers each retailer is attempting to attract to its shops? How do they communicate the type of consumer they consider primary market?
Online shopping can be compared to any additional website that can be explored as online activity such as banking, bill recompense or even communication since it is more appropriate for the customer. The managing director of Andy Street once made mention of the fact that work and responsibilities that a retailer undertakes assumes that every person ison board for the assembly of the multichannel shift created by the division store. This can be an obstacle to communicating the profits and explaining the changes. Rapid growth and transformation of information technologies provide new methodology for retailers access the end market and with significant increase of internet access, consumers have realized both suitable and secure avenues through which they can buy goods online hence making e-commerce even more attractive to many companies. Since many people value their time , online shopping gives them the opportunity to shop while at work or in the evening when physical stores are characteristically closed. Most online stores can provide an unlimited variety of goods because they are not restricted by any edifice or space and as such buyers are given the choice to purchase any commodity and conduct fast price evaluations. Indigenous stores may simply not have the capacity to contend with the range of products that can be obtained around the world, and this makes the more profitable brick and mortar stores place more emphasis on eminence and accumulation of value to the shopping experience.
Clients are predisposed to seemingly twin professed welfares which are popularly known as distal and proximal dealings and this happens as they implement virtual storefront proximity as well as on-line transactions settings.
Time therefore provides clients with the capacity to work out their determination completely, regardless of the most stubborn of communications. The uniqueness of such communications however is dependent on the suppleness of the time of on-line materials. Exploration participants have also displayed appreciation for the fewer regulations that they have to deal with in their online purchases in comparison to their off-line malls operations. In relation to the perception of empowerment to outside customers, there comes a demanding responsibility as well. Perhaps, the empowerment of clients is also about raising concerns the value of the clients by offering them additional access, contented, edification and commerce to anyenvironment in which the customer is situated globally.
Many market settings that are computer-based provide the organizations with a technique that which they can use to supply content in a variety of ways to their clients. This capacity places more emphasis on the distinctions between providing information in advertising communication and automobiles that are utilized in supplying the information. This is used in reference to content that is distinguishedfrom the popularly known communication. The speed of transition prompted by new technologies has significantly affected the manner in which firms and clients relate to each another. Both the contemporary and emerging technologies have challenged the customary process of conducting transactions and the management of communication between consumers and companies. The advent of the internet has significantly impacted on the manner in which firms and customers coordinate and maintain the evolving marketing panorama. Many of the transformations have been characterized and explicated in the unrelated connections with the processes of marketing communication, and this has influenced consumer comportment within the evolving collaborating marketplace. Control means the ability of consumers to use computer mediated marketing environments to access content at will, modify content to pertain to needs, and share their views with companies or their agencies with regards to their personal needs.
Essay Sample on Interactive and Digital Marketing: Recommendations
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What recommendations would you make to each retailer to improve its website?
Computer facilitated marketing settings take into consideration the permanent human wants and needs and thus tend to offset the traditional marketing communications and dealings. Website activities that are carried out online have become ordinary among many cyber based clients. The promising medium, with its boundlesssequence of accessis unveiling thecustomer control of marketingsettings and this is aligned strongly with the indications from the online clients, that necessitate the contours of marketing to provide moreregulation to customer. As such, online marketing gives customers more liberty in comparison to the traditionalmethodology of marketing concepts.Sales communication is compelling the companies to reinventkey perceptions,practices and prevailing measures to make sure that they are appropriate and in line with thedevelopingworldwidecommunicating market environment. This has consistently posed a major challenge for both doctrinaires andcommunications experts. Therefore, there is room for both the Amazon and Argos websites to improve.
When making improvements for the Amazon website, it is important to reduce the amount of time taken to load information after clicking the search button to less than three seconds. Another option is to have settings that permit the consumers to set their online accounts and include their tastes and preferences as this can reduce the amount of time taken in searching for goods and services that are aligned to specific tastes and preferences.Conversely, Argos website should focus on providing sufficient details that clearly describe the goods purchased through the website. Argos Company tends to produce most of the goods that it sellsvia the online e-commerce platform. The goods ought to include all the details needed by the client when shopping including materials used during production. Providing this information can save consumers timely resources during their research on the manufacturers’ procedures hence reassuring them of purchasing safe and healthy goods.
Essay Sample on Interactive and Digital Marketing: References
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Dennis, Alan, Wixom H. Barbara, and Roberta M. Roth. Systems analysis and design. Hoboken: Wiley, 2009. Print
Ozuem, Wilson, Howell, Kerry, and Lancaster, Geoff. “Communicating in the new interactive marketplace”.Web. 2 March 2014.
Essay Sample on Interactive and Digital Marketing
Pires, Guilherme, Stanton, John, and Rita Paulo. “The internet, consumer empowerment and marketing strategies.” Web. 2 March 2014
Ranchhod, Ashok, and Ebi Marandi. Strategic Marketing in Practice. London: Routledge, 2005. Print.
The Amazon website: Web. 2 March 2014.
The Argos website. Web. 2 March 2014.