Online business Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Online business - Research Paper Example No longer is it essential for stores to be a physical entity, but a virtual one that is accessed using a personal computer, items on sale viewed, selected, and then purchased all from the comfort of a chair at home. One then has to just wait for the delivery of these items. The Online Store The online store exists in virtual reality as an URL on the World Wide Web. Getting to the store requires using the URL to present the web pages of the store on the computer screen. The experience of window shopping as practiced earlier changes in with online stores. Surfing through the web site addresses of the several online stores from the luxury of chair at home, provides the window shopping experience. In the physical retail store a sales clerk helped one identify items of need, but in the online store one would have to go through the pages of the online store, identify items of interest, and look at the promotional offers on them before finalizing the purchase. In the physical store one push ed a cart around and dropped the chosen items in a cart and took it to a sales clerk, who tallied the items and presented a bill. The bill was then paid for by cash or credit cart. One walked out of the store the proud owner of the items purchased. In an online store there is the virtual cart. Clicking on the items one wishes to purchases, puts the items virtually into the cart, with the advantage of immediately knowing the total value of the purchases at that given time. Once the purchases have been completed, the different kinds of payment options appear on the screen. One then has to choose the payment option and provide the relevant details. The online store verifies the payment and then ships the items to you. All tat one has to do is await the delivery (Lohse & Spiller, 2003). The Advantages and Disadvantages of the Online Store The quick growth of on-line stores reflects the apparent advantages of an online store over the physical stores. On-line stores are quicker to set up in that there is no need to locate and rent or build physical space, once the necessary tie-ups with suppliers are complete. It is much easier and faster to set up the web site with the requisite number of pages containing the details of the business. In addition to the speed with which an online store can be set up, it is also less expensive to set it up. Building or rental costs are avoided, along with the need to buy and stock the goods. The products move out from the manufacturer or whole seller, with a limited investment in them. In addition to cost advantages in setting up an online store, there is the advantage of low operating costs, with added benefit of keeping the online store open 24 hrs a day, 7 days a week, and 365 days a year. There are also several competitive advantages, particularly from the perspective of customer. The foremost of these is convenience and flexibility in the actual purchase processes and the delivery of the purchased goods (Chakrabarti & Kardile, 2 002). Furthermore, the lower costs in setting up an online store and running it in comparison to a physical store translates into lower costs of the items, which is an attraction for customers (Keen Web Templates, 2011). It is not all hunky-dory for online stores. There are disadvantages too. Poor imagery on the websites leads to bad impressions of the products and the online store. In addition customers

Commercial Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Commercial - Essay Example Just when the camera is panned on the windscreen, there is a work-in-progress shown being carried out at the middle of the road and just when there is about to be a collision, the driver steps on the brakes and the car halts before it could collide and kill him. The driver then turns to the grim reaper and says sorry with a smirk for spoiling the plan. In the end, the ad copy says: â€Å"Senses danger and increases braking power† (Youtube.com, 2010). The message in the advertisement is clear and concise which is clearly promoting the technology of the sensor which would increase the braking capability of the car when it senses an object or any obstruction nearby at a certain distance. The ad depicts that just because the driver owns Mercedes with the mentioned sensing technology, he could avoid the accident. Secondly, as the brand of Mercedes is already established, the advertisement contains minimal branding rather, the idea of sensor brakes has been shown. The logo appears at the end of the ad when the message is being shown (Youtube.com, 2010). From the visuals of the ad, the target audience is most likely to be men, aged between 35 and 45, who live in the sub-urban areas or have travelling routes similar to that which has been shown in the advertisement. As Mercedes is a luxury brand, the people who can afford the amenity would be the most accurate target audience as they would be the target market as well (Youtube.com, 2010; Farbey, 2002). Besides this, the advertisement also carries a personality which suits the corporate sector or in other words, the target audience of this ad, judging from the imagery which has been used, is people who are employed (Youtube.com, 2010; Farbey, 2002). Secondly, the ad shows how Mercedes could avoid a serious accident therefore the target audience of this ad would also be those people who value security and safety more than they value other attributes in a car (Youtube.com, 2010; Farbey, 2002). Not only