Assignment 1a – Case Study 1 on Electronic Retailing

1. Examine the various models, 'clicks', 'bricks', 'bricks & clicks' and 'clicks &
bricks.' Which if any is the most sustainable?
Various business models exist and are applicable to business organisations.
 "Clicks Model" - In this first business model clicks, the companies have an
online presence through website excluding the presence of physical stores. The
products and bought and sold online completely rather than physical store
presence as well as transactions also occur online. As the name suggests, with
few clicks online shopping for any targeted market could be bought online.
Clicks model lacks the concept of physical presence for the organisations and
offer their product and service entirely online. However, it reduces
environmental harm, thereby increasing sustainability. With no physical
presence, the carbon footprint for manufacturing and other processes reduce
completely.
 "Bricks Model" – In the second business model bricks, the organisations do not
have any online presence or website but a local store. The companies sell their
product or services through departmental stores only rather than any application.
This model is not sustainable due to more carbon footprint at the time of
manufacturing and development. However, consumers often prefer bricks model
so that they could buy things in showroom experience. Furthermore, they could
touch and feel the product before using it, including clothes, makeup or anything
else.
 "Bricks and Clicks Model" – In the bricks and clicks business model, the
organisations combine both offline and online presence including stores as well
as online platforms. For example, the company has both shops and departmental
stores as well as an online e-commerce website that sells product or services.
Furthermore, retailers also include the mobile applications for selling their
service as customers can easily buy as per need with a single click option. This
type of model is very sustainable for a company to co-exist and do retail business
because for traditional use model will be sufficient to maintain logistics and
supply chain; however, in digital presence retailer could effectively attract more
consumers and stay in competitive advantage (Hattangadi, 2016).
  "Clicks & Bricks Model" – This model first makes presence online with the e-
commerce website and then recreate a physical presence for engaging more
customers. According to research, Casper a mattress online retail platform
merchant obtained $600 million in sales after front store opening in 2017 in
North America (Peacock, 2019). From this example, it is clear that as mattress
retailing company, the offline experiences could bring customers touch and feel
concept so that they could be attracted to buy product and services. In this way,
online companies are now investing in stores due to increase and expand
customer network.
2. We are increasingly hearing the term Omni-Channel retailing what does this
mean and how can businesses exploit this new phenomenon?
Omnichannel retailing is a process from which interaction with consumers is
performed with multiple channels including mobile, one-on-one, as well as a web
application through different flows such as product, funds and information (Chopra,
2015). In the first step, the retailer offers product and price information to the
consumer, followed by transfer payment details and order details. Therefore, the
purpose of this channel is to broader scope for reaching consumers by adequate
measures. Due to such retailing, businesses could expand their customer base
effectively.
3. Why are online travel services such a popular Internet application? Why do so
many Web sites provide free travel information?
Travelling is one the common ways for reaching from one place to another.
However, lack of booking makes it difficult to plan any trips, reaching home
location or going for some vital work necessarily. Therefore, online travel services
have become one of the most popular internet applications due to frequent
requirement from consumers. The travel booking providers make travel information
available through their interactive online platforms. The websites produce accurate
information for best hotels, destinations, customer reviews, recent travellers'
experiences, pictures and recommendations, as well as blogs and picture sharing
networks (MacDiarmid, 2006). From such available data, consumers can easily book
their travelling destination with fixed budget respectively. Thus, free travel
information is offered through the website to capture consumer's attention to
booking services related to trips as well as reaching destinations.
 There are several benefits of online travelling services, making it a more popular
online platform.
 One of the most important benefits is saving time and money for looking into
online services. Travelling is very hectic and should be structured and must
offer customised plans. Online travel services save one's average time for
looking at different options as well as it is completely free from any travel
agency packages or consultancy fees.
 Online platforms offer expert insights for choosing a better destination with
optimal plans and night stay. Furthermore, experts on travel agents could
connect with consumers 24/7 with effective customer relationship
management services.
 With a traditional travel agency, it is complicated to track their reputation;
however, online presence rate them through ranking and customer
experiences shared with them. The constant feedback makes them able to
trust travel agencies due to past experiences for making travelling trips a
higher quality approach without any difficulties.
4. Compare the advantages and disadvantages of distributing digitisable products
electronically versus physically. 
Digitisable Products Physical Products
Advantages Advantages
 The lack of inventory  Product display is easy for a
management make distribution retailer to showcase for
simple and do not in charge of consumers. In addition, the goal
storage cost as well as unit per for selling product or service is
demand. visible to explain for
 The scale for a digital product is shopkeepers and department
much more significant because stores.
storage does not remain an issue  The value of the product at the
altogether. time of distribution increases
 The shipping and consumer because they are real, could be
stock management process is touched and felt, thereby
reduced due to the online and building rapid trust and
digital distribution of the relationship with consumers.
product.  The transaction between seller
  The delivery for a product from
the online platform to the
consumer is rapid and do not
require prolonged wait and long
queue for shipping.
Disadvantage
 The products cannot be touched
or feel by customers making it
difficult to sell on an online
platform.
 To maintain online platforms,
take more time as well as
planning.
and buyer is in cash, removing
technical errors altogether
compared with online platforms.
Disadvantage
 A chance for damage increases
with time.
 The products are managed with
many difficulties due to a
number of processes like
inventory.

References

Chopra, S. (2015). How omni-channel can be the future of retailing. DECISION,

43(2), pp.135-144.
Hattangadi, V. (2016). Bricks and Clicks Business Model - Dr. Vidya Hattangadi.
[online] Dr. Vidya Hattangadi. Available at:
http://drvidyahattangadi.com/bricks-and-clicks-business-model/ [Accessed 7
Mar. 2020].
MacDiarmid, H. (2006). How the internet has changed travelling. [online] the
Guardian. Available at:
https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2006/aug/26/travelwebsites [Accessed 7
Mar. 2020].
Peacock, L. (2019). From Clicks to Bricks: Why Online-Only Brands Are Investing
Big in Physical Retail. [online] Shopify. Available at:
https://www.shopify.in/retail/clicks-to-bricks [Accessed 7 Mar. 2020].
Assignment 1b – Case Study 2 On Mobile Commerce
1. What E-Commerce services are provided by M-Commerce?
There are several e-commerce services which are provided by m-commerce, including
from the following.
 Mobile portal: The purpose of mobile portals is to help consumers for finding
solutions. For example, with portal apps career and job-oriented searching could be
done effectively by dropping a resume and connecting on that particular platform.
Also, it offers mobile internet requirements to consumers, including email, messaging,
search, and personal information management, as well as payment solutions (Sadeh,
2010).
 Mobile information services: The information services are also offered by m-
commerce; for example, showcasing the news report will higher alert inside the
mobile phone is one of the reasons. The news apps give SMS alert whenever a new
update is seen with the help of WAP push functionality, respectively.
 Mobile directory services: The online food ordering apps, as well as grocery apps,
offers consumers to select their required product by just inserting current location
with zip code to search nearby places (Sadeh, 2010). Therefore, the mobile directory
allows consumers to find new things with m-commerce based applications.
 Mobile banking and trading: The online banking, as well as cash wallets, is another
m-commerce application which is useful for consumers today. The cashless payments
have become accessible due wallets, including Paytm and Amazon pay. Such apps
offer people to buy things if they don't have money in urgency. Whereas, online
banking and transfer of an amount from one account to another has become possible
due to mobile apps of individual banks.
 Mobile shopping and mobile ticketing: The essential service of m-commerce is
shopping online for fashion or cosmetics related products effectively. Now consumer
could select a product and buy it with home convince and delivery services. The
choosing of product from home and purchase with a single online click makes the
buying process easy and less complicated.
 Mobile entertainment: The digital platforms offer m-commerce platforms that
showcase series, movies and other sorts of entertainment, including music for
consumers.
2. Discuss the role of M-Commerce in retailing
 M-commerce is increasing rapidly due to the use of mobile phones as the source of
communication. Smartphones, including Android and Apple, are predominately
acknowledged worldwide; while, approximately, above 56% of North Americans now
have a smartphone in their hand (Localsphere Digital Media Inc, 2016). Due to such an
increase in mobile phones, customers can now easily shop online with just a single click.
Additionally, m-commerce has widely acknowledged with a number of apps for grocery,
fashion, makeup and clothes. On the contrary, retailing is the process of bullying and
selling goods or services directly with customers.
The role of e-commerce in retail is to increase sales from online platforms. For
example, m-commerce sales have grown to 276% from 2013 to 2017, thereby increasing
54% of online retail sales (CBREUS, 2019). The rapid increase from online retailing
platforms will benefit industry due to the increase in revenue from online mobile app
shopping. As per one study established, 44 per cent smartphone owners use it to browse
online product, and one third always go for making a purchase (eDigitalResearch, 2012).
Another role of m-commerce in the retail environment is the introduction of shopping
apps on smartphones which offers convenience, easy accessibility, and flexibility to buy
anything for consumers. Furthermore, not only consumers are affected; however, retailers
can always be in touch with consumers, including chatbots, instant messaging, and calls
which is comparatively less in stores (Coimbra Ferreira, 2017). Thus, it brings immense
opportunities for retailers to grow their business on digital platforms.
3. Why is M-Commerce such a fragmented market?
It is necessary to understand the concept of market fragmentation first before
proceeding to M-commerce. Market fragmentation is the structured notion which
proposes that markets are diverse in nature and classified as per different segments and
consumers for different requirements, needs and has response towards marketing message
and behaviour (Wind, 2011). In other words, the market could be fragmented as per
consumer needs, for example, electronics, medical, furniture, cosmetics and fashion or
clothing. With such different segments of market consumer's buy things online or offline
as per suitability. Now, m-commerce can also be considered as fragmented market due to
different forms of opportunities for selling products as per consumer choices.
Another valuable reason for m-commerce market to be fragmented is the rapid
development of digitisation for e-commerce and m-commerce both thereby increasing
businesses to penetrate the market and evolve with technical support and developments
(Mordor Intellgience, 2020). For example, Google company created mobile apps for
 music, fitness, online shopping for services, and google play as online wallets.
Additionally, factors of market fragmentation such as E-commerce legislation, privacy
protection, and regulations concerning harmful content are responsible too. The
businesses knew digital platforms are highly concerned with privacy and security
protection which makes them more influenced for launching mobile apps for different
segments. Hence, digital platforms offer organisations to invest in mobile apps and
increase their reach towards online consumers.
4. Why do retailers spend much of their IT budget on M-Commerce?
The retailers are now focusing on implementing mobile apps technology for their
business processes. In addition, for making commercial selling and buying services, they
are investing in the concept of m-commerce. As technology is IT based, spending is done
for making customer experience much better and as interactive as possible. However,
most retailers are facing a challenge to match the frequent change on the multichannel
platform, including transactional website development, additional product integration and
improvisation of multichannel concepts (Williams, 2011). Therefore, even after using m-
commerce platforms, some retailers are finding it difficult to survive in the digital
platform space.
Furthermore, some mobile applications are not user-friendly and lack proper design
and navigation issues. With other influential competitors, it becomes more difficult to
incorporate new information technology concepts for their m-commerce platforms. As a
result, it is increasing spending for IT due to lack of mobile application functions,
technical issues and non-existing user-friendly approach.
5. Discuss the impact of M-Commerce on competition among retailers.
The m-commerce is now widely adopted by every retailer among this industry. As per
research, approximately 60 per cent consumers shopping choice are due to the influence
of mobile apps as compared with store purchases that dropped down to 40 per cent (Eads,
2011). Hence, one impact on retailers is the establishment of a mobile commerce platform
for their organisation to stand out among the competition. Another issue is a wide variety
of options for buying a product online. For example, to buy a product online through
mobile apps, many of them available, including Amazon, eBay, Flipkart, and much more.
Thus, if some furniture like sofa set is available on flipchart and Amazon, but the price is
lower on Amazon, then the consumer will shop from it. Thus, for retailers, it is necessary
to make their product complete variety oriented and different from other platforms.
Another critical concern is a unique customer experience as they demand huge quality
 app for shopping purposes that has flexibility (Fulgoni, 2014). For example, chatbot if not
present on mobile app customers are unable to connect with retailers for their resolving of
queries. Therefore, all such markings are considered an increase in competition for
retailers to gain competitive advantage and survive effectively.
6. What are the difficulties in managing mobile technology?
There are a variety of difficulties for managing mobile technology in context with
business applications. One of the most significant issues to lack of control for social
media networks. For example, after shopping from m-commerce platform, some
consumers share and post product reviews impacting the product buying or selling in a
positive and negative direction. Another issue is to maintain and update the organisation
of multiple technology channels with the database, information management, as well as
removing bugs from apps ((Piotrowicz and Cuthbertson, 2014). With mobile technology and
m-commerce presence, one of the critical concerns for the touch-feel concept is
incomplete as traditional stores offer trial opportunities to consumers. Thus, it is
necessary to focus on bringing excellent and useful product supply from online mobile
shopping environment.
7. What is the future for M-Commerce?
One of the biggest advantages of m-commerce is an instant efficient experience for
consumers to buy things whenever they require rapidly with the flexibility of home
delivery services. Additionally, with the advancement of new technologies and m-
commerce integration in future people will have a high-quality experience to access
online shopping from mobile apps. Furthermore, businesses could also use technologies
like AI and data analytics for predicting a consumer's preferences for online buying with
automated and customised list generation. However, to increase customer experiences to
such technologies will be implemented in the near future. Some of them include QR
codes, mobile coupons, augmented reality, AI, biometric, chatbots and face recognition
technology (Enterprise Mobility Exchange, 2014).
QR codes offer buying of products through verification of code and seek approval.
For example, people could buy online by showing QR codes for necessary items
anywhere anytime. In this way, consumers will have more flexibility to buy things from a
single click. As per one study, chatbot and messaging offer instant connection with the
retailers as compared to a traditional phone call or email communication resulting in the
future scope of m-commerce markets (Verhoef, Kannan and Inman, 2015). Augmented
reality is a new and vast concept which transfers the entities of the physical world into the
 virtual world. If implemented in the m-commerce in future, it could generate feel and
touch experience of buying an online product at their home locations so that emotional
investment for purchase could be generated (CXOToday.com, 2018). Whereas, facial
recognition, AI and biometrics are also capable of adding advance features in m-
commerce sections. Therefore, the future of m-commerce is huge to a variety of new
emerging technologies and their smart integration for building consumer interest in m-
commerce effectively.

References
CBREUS. (2019). What is the Role of M-commerce in Retail Sales?. [online] Available at:
http://www.cbre.us/real-estate-services/real-estate-industries/omnichannel/the-definitive-
guide-to-omnichannel-real-estate/by-the-numbers/what-is-the-role-of-m-commerce-in-
retail-sales [Accessed 7 Mar. 2020].
Coimbra Ferreira, S. (2017). THE M-COMMERCE IN THE RETAIL INDUSTRY: Exploring
consumers and retailers perspectives of features in a mobile app for supermarkets.
Master Dissertation in Marketing. Faculdade de Economia da Universidade do Porto.
CXOToday.com. (2018). How Augmented Reality Is Powering Mobile Commerce. [online]
Available at: https://www.cxotoday.com/digital-enterprise/how-augmented-reality-is-
powering-mobile-commerce/ [Accessed 7 Mar. 2020].
Eads, D. (2011). Retailers are wholly unprepared for mobile commerce. [online] Kony.
Available at: https://www.kony.com/resources/blog/retailers-are-wholly-unprepared-
mobile-commerce/ [Accessed 7 Mar. 2020].
eDigitalResearch (2012). The role of mobile in retail commerce. The role of mobile in retail
commerce. [online] eDigitalResearch plc and Portaltech, pp.1-7. Available at:
https://www.reply.com/Documents/11495_img_PORR12_Role_of_Mobile_May2012.pd
f [Accessed 7 Mar. 2020].
Enterprise Mobility Exchange (2014). The future is mCommerce. [video] Available at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2w0yQUcypU [Accessed 7 Mar. 2020].
Fulgoni, G. (2014). "Omni-Channel" Retail Insights and The Consumer's Path-to-
Purchase. Journal of Advertising Research, 54(4), pp.377-380.
Localsphere Digital Media Inc (2016). Mobile Commerce. [video] Available at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&reload=9&v=Fdt5rRgimao [Accessed 7
Mar. 2020].
Mordor Intellgience (2020). MOBILE COMMERCE MARKET - GROWTH, TRENDS, AND
FORECAST (2020 - 2025). MOBILE COMMERCE MARKET. [online] Mordor
Intellgience. Available at: https://www.mordorintelligence.com/industry-reports/m-
commerce-market [Accessed 7 Mar. 2020].
Piotrowicz, W. and Cuthbertson, R. (2014). Introduction to the Special Issue Information
Technology in Retail: Toward Omnichannel Retailing. International Journal of
Electronic Commerce, 18(4), pp.5-16.
Sadeh, N. (2010). M-commerce: technologies, services, and business models.. 4th ed.
America: John Wiley & Sons.
Verhoef, P., Kannan, P. and Inman, J. (2015). From Multi-Channel Retailing to Omni-
Channel Retailing. Journal of Retailing, 91(2), pp.174-181.
Williams, J. (2011). UK retailers to spend quarter of IT budget on e-commerce and mobile
platforms. [online] ComputerWeekly.com. Available at:
https://www.computerweekly.com/news/2240105046/UK-retailers-to-spend-quarter-of-
IT-budget-on-e-commerce-and-mobile-platforms [Accessed 7 Mar. 2020].
Wind, J. (2011). Market Fragmentation - Definition from KWHS. [online] KWHS. Available
at: https://kwhs.wharton.upenn.edu/term/market-fragmentation/ [Accessed 7 Mar. 2020].