E-Business and E-Commerce

Management

Assignment
Submitted to: Sir Umair Aslam

Submitted by : Muhammad Noman Shahid

Roll no: L-21186
MBA(1.5) 3rd Evening

Preface
This assignment is all about the e-commerce marketing strategies and
techniques that are beneficial and very effective for online business. It
helps to readers to understand that how we can go online, which
strategies used on website, website advertisement and promotion
strategies, rapid increase in the live traffic on website, web based
applications, internet service provider (ISP) selection strategies and etc.

5/9/2019
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1: Define the following terms

A. Opt-in, Opt-out
Opt-in A customer proactively agrees to receive further information.
Opt-out A customer declines the offer to receive further information
B. Qualified lead and conversion marketing
Qualified lead Contact information for a customer and an indication of their propensity to
purchase different products.
Conversion marketing Using marketing communications to maximize conversion of
potential customers to actual customers and existing customers to repeat customers
C. Branding, Brand, Brand equity and Brand experience
Brand The sum of the characteristics of a product or service perceived by a user.
Brand equity A brand‘s assets (or liabilities) linked to the brand‘s name and symbol that add
to (or subtract from) a service.
Brand experience The frequency and depth of interactions with a brand can be enhanced
through the Internet.
Branding The process of creating and developing successful brands.
D. Customer Scenario and persona
Customer scenario Alternative tasks or outcomes required by a visitor to a web site.
Typically accomplished in a series of stages of different tasks involving different information
needs or experiences.
Persona A summary of the characteristics, needs, motivations and environment of typical
web-site users
E. Sense and response communication
Sense and respond communications Delivering timely, relevant communications to
customers as part of a contact strategy based on assessment of their position in the customer
lifecycle and monitoring specific interactions with a company‘s web site, e-mails and staff.
F. Online value Proposition (OVP) Online value proposition (OVP) A statement of the
benefits of e-commerce services that ideally should not be available in competitor offerings
or offline offerings.
2: What are the characteristics of digital media communication?
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Online marketing communications Internet-based techniques used to generate web site traffic.
Characteristics:
Customer identification this stresses the need to identify each customer on their first visit and
subsequent visits. Common methods for identification are use of cookies or asking the customer
to log on to a site.
Customer differentiation this refers to building a profile to help segment customers.
Customer interactions these are interactions provided on-site, such as customer service
questions or creating a tailored product.
Customization this refers to personalization or mass customization of content or e-mails
according to the segmentation achieved at the acquisition stage.
1 Interactivity
2 Intelligence
3 Individualization
4 Integration
5 Industry restructuring
6 Independence of location
3: What are virtual and vertical integrations? What is goal setting and
performance management for E-SCM?
Vertical integration the extent to which supply chain activities are undertaken and controlled
within the organization.
Virtual integration the majority of supply chain activities are undertaken and controlled outside
the organization by third parties.
Goals:
 Increased efficiency of individual processes.
 Reduced complexity of the supply chain.
 Improved data integration between elements of the supply chain.
 Reduced cost through outsourcing.
 Innovation in E-SCM
Performance management for E-SCM:
1 Select distributor. Do not let them select you.
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2 Look for distributors capable of developing markets rather than those with new customer
contacts.
3 Treat the local distributors as long-term partners, not temporary market entry vehicles.
4 Support market entry by committing money, managers and proven marketing ideas.
5 From the start, maintain control over marketing strategy.
6 Make sure distributors provide you with detailed market and financial performance data.
7 Build links among national distributors at the earliest opportunity.
4: What is strategic analysis?
Strategic analysis Collection and review of information about an organization‘s internal
processes and resources and external marketplace factors in order to inform strategy definition.
Process involved several common factors:

1. Identifying and evaluating data relevant to the company‘s strategy

2. Defining the internal and external environments to be analyzed
3. Using several analytic methods such as Porter‘s five forces analysis, SWOT analysis,
and value chain analysis

Strategic Analysis Process

The following info graphic demonstrates the strategic analysis process:

5: What are the eight e-business strategic decisions?

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Strategy Definition of the future direction and actions of a company defined as approaches to
achieve specific objectives.
E-business strategy Definition of the approach by which applications of internal and external
electronic communications can support and influence corporate strategy.
Eight key e-business strategic decisions
 Decision 1: E-business channel priorities
 Decision 2: Market and product development
 Decision 3: Positioning and differentiation strategies
 Decision 4: Business and revenue models
 Decision 5: Marketplace restructuring
 Decision 6: Supply-chain management capabilities
 Decision 7: Internal knowledge management capabilities
 Decision 8: Organizational resourcing and capabilities
6: Outline and explain the stages a strategic e-marketing plan?
E-marketing plan A plan to achieve the marketing objectives of the e-business strategy.
 Situation – where are we now?
 Goal performance (5 Ss)
 Customer insight
 E-marketplace SWOT
 Brand perception
 Internal capabilities and resources
 Objectives – where do we want to be?
5 Ss objectives:
 Sell – customer acquisition and retention targets
 Serve – customer satisfaction targets
 Sizzle – site stickiness, visit duration
 Speak – trialogue; number of engaged customers
 Save – quantified efficiency gains
 Strategy – how do we get there?
 Segmentation, targeting and positioning
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 OVP (online value proposition)

 Sequence (credibility before visibility)
 Integration (consistent OVP) and database
 Tools (web functionality, e-mail, IPTV etc.)
 Tactics – how exactly do we get there?
 E-marketing mix, including: the communications mix, social networking, what happens
when?
 Details of contact strategy
 E-campaign initiative schedule

 Action – what is our plan?

 Responsibilities and structures
 Internal resources and skills
 External agencies
 Control – did we get there?
 5 Ss + web analytics – KPIs
 Usability testing/mystery shopper
 Customer satisfaction surveys
 Site visitor profiling
 Frequency of reporting
 Process of reporting and actions
What opportunities may there be to vary the price and place components of
the marketing mix when delivering services through internet?
 Increased price transparency and its implications on differential pricing
 Downward pressure on price (including commoditization)
 New pricing approaches (including dynamic pricing and auctions)
 Alternative pricing structure or policies
 Place of purchase
 New channel structures
 Channel conflicts
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 Virtual organizations
 Auto responders these automatically generate a response when a company e-mails an
organization, or submits an online form.
 E-mail notification automatically generated by a company‘s systems to update customers
on the status of their order, for example, order received, item now in stock, order
dispatched.
 Callback facility Customers fill in their phone number on a form and specify a convenient
time to be contacted. Dialing from a representative in the call center occurs automatically
at the appointed time and the company pays, which is popular.
 Frequently asked questions (FAQs) for these, the art is in compiling and categorizing the
questions so customers can easily find (a) the question and (b) a helpful answer.
 On-site search engines these help customers find what they are looking for quickly and
are popular when available. Site maps are a related feature.
 Virtual assistants come in varying degrees of sophistication and usually help to guide the
customer through a maze of choices.
7: Approaches of managing e-business change?
Identify the process for innovation these are the major business processes from the
organization‘s value chain which add most to the value for the customer or achieve the largest
efficiency benefits for the company. Examples include customer relationship management,
logistics and procurement.
Identify the change levers these can encourage and help achieve change. The main change
levers are innovative technology and, as we have seen, the organization‘s culture and structure.
Develop the process vision this involves communication of the reasons for changes and what
can be achieved in order to help achieve buy-in throughout the organization.
Understand the existing processes current business processes are documented. This allows the
performance of existing business processes to be benchmarked and so provides a means for
measuring the extent to which a re-engineered process has improved business performance.
Design and prototype the new process the vision is translated into practical new processes
which the organization is able to operate. Prototyping the new process operates on two levels.
First, simulation and modeling tools can be used to check the logical operation of the process.
Second, assuming that the simulation model shows no significant problems, the new process can
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be given a full operational trial. Needless to say, the implementation must be handled sensitively
if it is to be accepted by all parties.
The overall form of the transition curve will take different forms – individual stages may be
longer or shorter and the degree of mood change at each stage can vary considerably.
There will often be a time lag between the announcement of a change and a reaction to it. It is
possible to mistake initial shock and denial for acceptance of the change.
Different people and different parts of the organization will pass through the change cycle at
different rates and in different ways.
Change managers will typically be out of step with other staff since they are involved earlier and
deeper.
The cycle cannot be avoided, but there is much that change managers can do to facilitate
people‘s progress through it.
Workflow management (WFM) Workflow management is the automation of information flows
and provides tools for processing the information according to a set of procedural rules.
Total outsourcing is contracting of functional tasks to a third party.
8: Distinguish between process analysis and data analysis?
Process or Resource analysis Review of the technological, financial and human resources of an
organization and how they are utilized in business processes.
Data analysis of e-business and e-commerce systems uses well-established techniques such as
normalization that are used for relational database analysis and design. As a consequence, this
section is brief in comparison with that on process modeling which introduces some novel
techniques.
Workflow management (WFM) Workflow management is the automation of information flows
and provides tools for processing the information according to a set of procedural rules.
Workflow analysis systems automate e-business processes by providing a structured framework
to support a process.

9: Difference between Buy-side and sell-side e-procurement?

Sell-side e-commerce E-commerce transactions between a supplier organization and its
customers.
Advantage:
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Searching
Onus of maintaining data on supplier
Buy-side e-commerce E-commerce transactions between a purchasing organization, its suppliers
and partners.
Advantage:
Simplicity – single interface
Wider choice than sell-side
Integration with ERP/procurement systems
Good purchase control
10: What opportunities available through e-marketing for the business
organization?
 Convenience and quick service
 Low cost for operations and a wider reach
 Measure and track results
 Global marketing
 Ability to multitask
 Demographic targeting
 24/7 Marketing
 Automated, tech-savvy marketing
 Data collection for personalization
 Diversified marketing and advertising
 Easy tweaking to your marketing and advertising campaigns
 Instant transaction service
 Better sales relationships
 Time-effective marketing

 Continued marketing campaign

Difference between traditional marketing-VS-digital marketing?

Traditional Marketing refers to the conventional methods of marketing used ever since the
concepts of advertisements or marketing came into existence. This advertising focuses on
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reaching out to the target audience through Newspapers, Magazines, Radio, Television,
Billboard advertising along roads and highways etc.

For better understanding, traditional marketing is mainly categorized into two categories:

 ATL (Above the Line) including mass media like Radio, Television and newspapers etc.
 BTL (Below the Line) including the use of direct channels like telemarketing, catalogues,
magazines, sponsorships etc.

Digital or online marketing is the marketing mode of global village which in this era of the
internet will have its influence in every realm of life. The world of digital marketing continues to
evolve as long as the technology continues to advance. Digital Marketing is a form of inbound
marketing whose goal is to let your customers reach you. The business puts contents or ads to let
the individuals find them. And this promotion can be achieved by organic online search, paid
search etc. The more they see your content, the more they become familiar with your brand or
business and eventually a trust will be building up with your brand.

Digital marketing includes platforms like:

 Social media like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn

 Promotional Ads via emails
 Paid pop-ups
 Blogs
 Click bait links for viral contents.
11: Draw a diagram and shows the main stages and peoples involved in
traditional and e-procurement both?
Electronic procurement (e-procurement) The electronic integration and management of all
procurement activities including purchase request, authorization, ordering, delivery and payment
between a purchaser and a supplier.
Electronic procurement system (EPS) An electronic system used to automate all or part of the
procurement function by enabling the scanning, storage and retrieval of invoices and other
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documents; management of approvals; routing of authorization requests; interfaces to other

finance systems; and matching of documents to validate transactions.
Which are sourcing items?
1 at the right price
2 delivered at the right time
3 of the right quality
4 of the right quantity
5 from the right source.
Process flow of e-procurement in the organization:

Process flow analysis for traditional procurement:

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Process flow analysis for new procurement:

12: Outline the two main methods by which companies purchase supplies and
the two broad divisions of supplies needed?
Part A: There are two broad categories of procurement:
 Production-related procurement
 Operating or nonproduction-related procurement
Two methods:
Systematic sourcing – negotiated contracts with regular suppliers, typically in long-term
relationships.
Spot sourcing – fulfillment of an immediate need, typically of a commoditized item for which it
is less important to know the credibility of the supplier.
Part B: With the B2B example of Water Engineering & Management Services (PVT) LTD.
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A water treatment plant is combination of local and imported components which are assembled
to manufacture a complete water treatment unit.
The local purchases includes piping material, mechanical structure, metallic sheets, paints and
varnishes, and filtration medias which are manufactured and supplies in local market. Most of
the instruments and equipment‘s which are installed on a water treatment plant are imported
from many countries, many companies in Europe and USA are supplying state of the art
instruments and equipment‘s like : pumps, membranes , and meters.
13: Outline the main reasons for e-procurement?
Some of the main dimensions of value highlighted by the approach include:
Planning – this shows the potential for an e-procurement system to increase the quality and
dissemination of management information about e-procurement.

Development – e-procurement systems can potentially be incorporated early in new product

development to identify manufacturing costs; this can help accelerate development.

Inbound – this is the main focus of e-procurement with efficiency gains from paperless
transactions and more cost-effective sourcing possible through hubs or marketplace.

Production – the integration of systems managing manufacture with the procurement systems
used to ensure that manufacturing is not limited by poor availability of parts.

Outbound – this is management of fulfillment of products to customers.

Benefits of e-procurement as follows:

 Reduced purchasing cycle time and cost
 Enhanced budgetary control (achieved through rules to limit spending and improved
reporting facilities)
 Elimination of administrative errors (correcting errors is traditionally a major part of a
buyer‘s workload)
 Increasing buyers ‗productivity (enabling them to concentrate on strategic purchasing
issues)
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 Lowering prices through product standardization and consolidation of buys

 Improving information management (better access to prices from alternative suppliers
and summaries of spending)
 Improving the payment process (this does not often occur currently since payment is not
always integrated into e-procurement systems).
14: What is maverick purchasing? What safeguards needs to be introduced
into e-procurement to avoid this?
Maverick purchasing occurs when items are ordered that are unnecessary or too expensive.
This is where purchasing is poorly controlled and users within departments may order products
that are not from a favoured supplier, do not meet company standards (e.g. of software) or are
uneccessary. E-procurement ensures checks such as limits on purchasing or from preferred
sources.
How can you stop maverick Buying?

The procurement game plan: Winning strategies and techniques for supply management
professionals, ―maverick buying‖ happens when a purchasing department ―establishes an
enterprise-wide contract, yet many users within the organization still buy from other supplier‖.
Eliminating maverick buying requires a plan with multiple components, includes.
1. Identify maverick spends
2. Determine why maverick spends occurs
3. Prohibit maverick buying as a company policy
4. Establish clear processes
5. Review the entire procurement process
6. Educate potential offenders
7. Hold people accountable for their expense
8. Close the gap in your procurement process
9. Use technology
15: What is the difference between buy-side, sell-side and market place option
for procurement?
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Buy-side e-commerce E-commerce transactions between an organization and its suppliers and
other partners.

Sell-side e-commerce E-commerce transactions between an organization and its customers.

Electronic marketplace A virtual marketplace such as the Internet in which no direct contact
occurs between buyers and sellers.

Marketplace See B2B electronic marketplace.

16: what are the types of e-procurement?
Electronic procurement (e-procurement) The electronic integration and management of all
procurement activities including purchase request, authorization, ordering, delivery and payment
between a purchaser and a supplier.
Types of e-procurement:
Systematic sourcing – negotiated contracts with regular suppliers, typically in long-term
relationships.
Spot sourcing – fulfilment of an immediate need, typically of a commoditized item for which it
is less important to know the credibility of the supplier.
17: What are the organizational implications of introducing e-procurement?
 Less staff time involved with procurement requires making staff redundant or
reskilling
 Education and training needed to sell-system to the staff using it
 Better control of purchasing (reduce maverick purchasing)
 Training/change management
 Supplier relationship management
 Catalogue management
 Project management
18: What do the concepts of reintermediation imply for the tactics a company
employs for the distribution of the product and how it different from
conventional distribution of product?
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The manner in which goods move from the manufacturer to the outlet where the consumer
purchases them; in some marketplaces, it's a very complex channel, including distributors,
wholesaler, jobbers and brokers.
When deciding how to distribute your product, use the traditional distribution model as a starting
point. The conventional distribution model has three levels: the producer, the wholesaler and the
retailer. This is a time-tested system with many well-established members at all levels.
The conventional distribution model, however, calls for all parties in the channel to protect their
own best interests. Thus, retailers are pitted against wholesalers, and wholesalers try to best
producers. This web of conflicting interests sometimes works to the detriment of the entire
system. For instance, a producer may try to bypass the wholesaler and go straight to retailers,
prompting the wholesaler to retaliate by dropping the producer's products.
The primary alternative distribution channel is direct distribution. This is the model Dell, Avon
and many other successful companies use. It calls for you to sell and deliver your product
yourself, using your own salespeople and warehouses. Going direct can cut significant costs
from the system because you don't have to provide a profit for intermediaries such as wholesalers
and retailers. But slicing two steps from the traditional distribution channel tends to alienate
wholesalers and retailers. Before you decide to go direct, make sure you don't need these other
channels of distribution--because if you decide to use them later, they may not be available to
you.
There are many ways to modify traditional distribution. For instance, as in the above example, a
producer could use a two-level distribution framework by selling direct to retailers and cutting
out only the wholesalers. A retailer could do the same thing by going directly to manufacturers--
this is one of the strategies Wal-Mart has used so effectively. Look around at the many ways
your competitors and people in other industries set up their distribution channels. One of these
models may well be right, with some modification, for you.
Often, your choice of a distribution plan will be dictated--or at least strongly influenced--by
various factors relating to your product, your customers and the way they'll use it. For instance, if
your product--or the new one on which you hope to build your growth plan--is perishable, then
the need to provide refrigerated storage and transport will significantly restrict your choices of
distribution methods. Size is another issue. If your product takes up a lot of display space, this
consideration will weigh heavily when you're selecting ways to transport and display it. That's
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why automotive dealerships are usually located outside central business and shopping districts,
where costs for display space for cars and trucks would eat up profits.
19: What makes SWOT analysis different from PESTL analysis? Dose nature
of business affects the choice of analysis?
PEST is used before SWOT Analysis - not generally vice-versa - PEST definitely helps to
identify SWOT factors. PEST Analysis is often linked with SWOT Analysis; however, the two
tools have different areas of focus. There is overlap between PEST and SWOT, in that similar
factors would appear in each. That said, PEST and SWOT are certainly two different
perspectives:
 PEST Analysis looks at "big picture" factors that might influence a decision, a market, or
a potential new business.
 PEST assesses a market, including competitors, from the standpoint of a particular
proposition or a business.
 SWOT is an assessment of a business or a proposition, whether your own or a
competitor's. At a business, product-line level.
(Source: Visual Paradigm) Other Related Analysis:

 What is SWOT?
 What is PEST Analysis?
 What is Value Chain Analysis?
 What is Five Forces Analysis?
 What is Four Corners Analysis?
 Utilizing the Various Strategic Analysis Tools
Both PEST and SWOT analysis are required for Strategy Planning for a startup, small, medium
and large sized company.
PEST is - Political Economic Society Technology and as the name says you analyze on these
factors.
SWOT is - Strengths Weakness Opportunities Threats and as the name says you analyze on these
factors
PEST is more of managerial oriented where as SWOT can be done by any level of employee is
an organization.
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Let's take an example of AMUL Company and their analysis on PEST and SWOT.
AMUL's PEST analysis is that as follows,
1) It is Government aided and hence no major issues on the Government policies and taxation.
2) The population is rapidly increasing and the economy is quite stable in 2105 and hence let‘s
opens more outlets of AMUL from the money saved from tax benefits.
3) Let's bring out stores online too. Digital India will influence a lot of people to shop online and
hence e-commerce will have a big boom. We have good technical team if not lets hire it
(Liquidity is high for us)
4) Milk is needed for all communities and religions and hence let's make our advertisement
strategy is a way that it reaches out to maximum people in India (No social problems)
AMUL's SWOT analysis is that as follows,
1) Our Strengths are milk and milk based products are accepted by everyone and consumed by
all and hence economics of scale.
2) Our Opportunities are major and minor festivals in India as sweets and milk are given to God.
Summer weather is our strength as people tend to drink cool stuffs. Let's advertise more during
March, April, May months.
3) Our Threats are Nestle, Aavin (Competitors in the market)
4) Our Weaknesses are winter months and ongoing fitness awareness that less consumption of
milk and milk products will help you stay fit.

Nature of Business and Choice of Analysis:

Yes, nature of business affects the choice of analysis. Not only business nature but size and
market (where the business is competing) also affect the choice of analysis. For a business which
have no competitors or minimum competition. Owners may less considered competitor analysis.
Where the nature of business is dynamic like most IT related business then technological aspect
may considered all the time and becomes critical. Similarly for perishable and FMCG nature of
business demand analysis is critical. In short nature of business must be considered for the choice
of analysis.
20: What is situation analysis? Is a separate e-marketing plan always
required?
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Situation analysis Collection and review of information about an organization‘s external

environment and internal processes and resources in order to inform its strategies.
Before developing a marketing strategy, it is important to conduct a situation analysis to
determine the health of your business. This analysis serves as a useful tool for determining your
business's strengths and weaknesses, and any opportunities and threats (SWOT) that can affect
its health. The results can be eye-opening to what‘s really going on within your business and
help determine your business's strategy within the marketplace.

Definition of situation analysis

Situation analysis is defined as an analysis of the internal and external factors of a business. It
clearly identifies a business's capabilities, customers, potential customers and business
environment, and their impact on the company. A situation analysis is an essential part of any
business plan and should be reviewed periodically to ensure that it is current.

Factors to consider in situation analysis:

When considering performing a situation analysis of your business, it is important to look at
several factors:
Product situation. Determine your current product. You may want to view this definition in parts
such as the core product and any secondary or supporting services or products that you sell.
Viewing your products and services separately helps determine how each relates to your core
clients' needs.
Competitive situation. Analyze your main competitors and determine how they compare to your
business such as competitive advantages.
Distribution situation. Review your distribution situation in terms of how you get your products
to market, such as through distributors or other intermediaries.
Environmental factors. Determine the external and internal environmental factors, which can
include economic or sociological factors that impact your business's performance.
Opportunity and issue analysis. Conduct a SWOT analysis to determine any strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities, and threats that may affect your business and its performance.
While this information may be obvious to most business owners, it can be beneficial to review
the core fundamentals.
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Determine if you’re situation analysis is useful:

To determine if your situation analysis is functional and provides value, it should:
Be simple and practical to use
Be clearly understandable to an outsider
Focus on key factors impacting your business, both internally and externally
Clearly identify future goals for your business
Spark even further analysis
If your analysis falls short of these items, it should be reworked.

Common challenges in situation analysis:

You also may encounter one or more of these common challenges:
You've listed an excessive amount of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, so that
the information appears confusing and makes it difficult to get a strong picture of your business
at a glance.
You are lacking prioritization within your analysis.
You are too broad going through the factors, so it's difficult to really focus on them.
The factors you have listed are opinion, not fact.
Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats lack distinguishing factors.
If performed properly, situation analysis can be a useful tool for determining the health of your
business. Once you know how your business is doing, you can set proper strategies to ensure its
success in the future.

Type of plan Purpose Scope and content

Annual to three-yearly
Define strategies for
- New product development
Business growing profitability over
- Revenue sources and cost
a long-term period
management

Define strategies to engage

Marketing audiences to achieve Typically annual
business objectives
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Define audience
Brand marketing engagement to achieve Typically annual
brand sales

Typically annual
Transformation plans may be
Digital marketing longer
Define how to compete
plan or - Review digital capabilities
more effectively with
transformation - Define digital marketing
digital marketing
plan technology
- Define resource
requirements for digital

Annual plan
A long-term integrated
- Engaging audiences
communications plan for
Multichannel - Content marketing
using different digital
marketing - Integrated media schedule
media to hit lead or sales
of always-on and campaign
targets
activities

A shorter-term integrated
Shorter-term plan
communications plan for
Marketing - Engaging audiences
using different digital
campaign plan - Content marketing
media to hit lead or sales
- Integrated media schedule
targets

A short-term plan of
Review of actions
90-day marketing activities to review and
- Covers always-on and
management plan optimize activities need to
campaign activity
hit targets for other plans

Depending on the type and scale of business there may be even more plans for individual
channels where different people are responsible for each. For example:

 Advertising plan
 Customer acquisition plan
 Email marketing plan
 A retention plan
 A social media marketing plan
 Conversion optimization plan
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21: For each of the following boxes provide at least two examples along with
justification. You can provide real time examples or made up scenarios,
justifying your answer with logical arguments is compulsory.

22: Define push and pull strategies? Explain which strategy is suitable for
online business model?
Push supply chain A supply chain that emphasizes distribution of a product to passive
customers.
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Pull supply chain An emphasis on using the supply chain to deliver value to customers who are
actively involved in product and service specification.
Key differences between Push and Pull strategy:
The differences between push and pull strategy, is provided in the points given below:
 The type of marketing strategy which involves direction of marketing efforts to
intermediaries is called push strategy. On the other hand, the marketing strategy
involving the promotion of marketing efforts to the end user is called pull strategy.
 In pull strategy, communication of products or information is demanded by the buyer,
while in push strategy, no such communication is demanded.
 Push strategy aims at making customer aware of the product or brand. As against this,
pull strategy encourages the customer to seek the product or brand.
 Push strategy uses sales force, trade promotion, money, etc. to induce channel partners, to
promote and distribute the product to the final customer. Conversely, pull strategy uses
advertising, promotion and any other form of communication to instigate customer to
demand product from channel partners.
 Push strategy focuses on resource allocation whereas pull strategy is concerned with
responsiveness.
 There is a long lead time in push strategy. However, it is just opposite in the case of pull
strategy.
 Push strategy is best suited when there is low brand loyalty in a category. Unlike pull
strategy, is appropriate for the products with high brand loyalty, where the consumers are
well known about the differences in various brands, and they opt for a particular brand
before they go shopping.
Top multinational companies like Coca-Cola, Intel, Nike and many others employ both push and
pull strategies effectively. When push strategy is implemented with a well-designed and
executed pull strategy, the result is phenomenal, as it generates consumer demand.
A good Push-Pull marketing strategy for online business:
A good marketing strategy that incorporates both push marketing and pull marketing typically
includes the following 10 strategies:
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 Your website. The number one pull marketing tool that you have is your website. This is
where you have the ability to really show off what you‘re all about. You can highlight certain
products to create a demand for them among your customers.
 Your blog. The blog should extend the purpose of the website. It should provide useful
information in a way that encourages readers to build loyalty for your business.
 The use of social media. Proper social media development isn‘t about aggressively
advertising your product or business. It‘s about creating a buzz around your product and
getting others talking about. Targeted social media use as well as general use of social media
is a great combination push pull strategy.
 Establish active forums. Having forums on your site is a terrific way to get people talking
about your products, your service and your brand. You can use third party forums to start this
conversation as well but launching and growing your own forums is more effective for
marketing.
 Email newsletters. This is a direct way to advertise what you‘re doing and what your
business is proud of to customers that have already shown an interest in your work.
 Press releases. This is another great way to directly advertise your business. Use online press
releases (also known as social media press releases) to include useful links to your products
in your press releases.
 Sales announcements. However you choose to present them, sales announcements are
always an enticing marketing option that goes direct to the customer to create a demand for
your product.
 Paid advertising. Many online businesses use some form of paid advertising to raise
awareness of their brand. Paid advertising is a smart push marketing strategy.
 Collaborate with others in your industry. If you can get quoted as an expert in your
industry by credible bloggers and journalists then you can raise awareness of your online
business. If you guest post on other sites and syndicate your content in your field then you
grow your own credibility in the field. Collaborating with others in the field that way is a
great marketing tool that can be used to pull others towards your brand.
 Surveys and polls. Pull marketing is all about learning what your customers want and
delivering what they want to them. The use of surveys is a great way to get that information.
This is a tool you can use to enhance your online marketing strategy.
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23: How efficient and responsive supply chain strategy relates to push/Pull
concept?
A company's supply chain stretches from the factory where its products are made to the point the
products are in customer hands. Supply chain strategy determines when product should be
fabricated, delivered to distribution centers and made available in the retail channel. Under a pull
supply chain, actual customer demand drives the process, while push strategies are driven by
long-term projections of customer demand.
Supply chains:
Push and pull strategies both works within the supply chain. A typical supply chain has five
different steps. Products start out as raw materials. In the second step, the manufacturer takes raw
materials and turns them into products.
The third step occurs when the finished products get shipped to the distribution facility. In step
four, the distribution facility uses the products to stock a retail store or, in the case of an e-
commerce business, a fulfillment center. In the final step, the products get delivered to the hands
of the consumer.
Push supply chain strategies:
A push-model supply chain is one where projected demand determines what enters the process.
For example, warm jackets get pushed to clothing retailers as summer ends and the fall and
winter seasons start. Under a push system, companies have predictability in their supply chains
since they know what will come when – long before it actually arrives. This also allows them to
plan production to meet their needs and gives them time to prepare a place to store the stock they
receive.
Pull supply chain strategies:
A pull strategy is related to the just-in-time school of inventory management that minimizes
stock on hand, focusing on last-second deliveries. Under these strategies, products enter the
supply chain when customer demand justifies it. One example of an industry that operates under
this strategy is a direct computer seller that waits until it receives an order to actually build a
custom computer for the consumer.
With a pull strategy, companies avoid the cost of carrying inventory that may not sell. The risk is
that they might not have enough inventories to meet demand if they cannot ramp up production
quickly enough.
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Push/Pull strategies:
Technically, every supply chain strategy is a hybrid between the two. A fully-push based system
still stops at the retail store where it has to wait for a customer to "pull" a product off of the
shelves. However, a chain that is designed to be a hybrid flips between push and pull somewhere
in the middle of the process.
For instance, a company may choose to stockpile finished product at its distribution centers to
wait for orders that pull them to stores. Manufacturers might choose to build up inventories of
raw materials – especially those that go up in price – knowing that they will be able to use them
for future production.
24: Interwood furniture has recently launched its website. You are supply
chain manager of interwood and a task is given to you to make your supply
chain fully efficient and fully responsive both at a time. Is it possible?
E-SCM is the effective utilization of internet and business processes that help in delivering
goods, services and information from the supplier to the consumer in an organized and efficient
way. As Interwood Furniture has recently launched its website so it may create some initial
issues which may overcome by passage of time and continuously up gradation and improvement
of E-SCM system as per best practices in the world. Yes, it is possible to make supply chain
management system fully efficient and responsive even being both Efficient and Responsive is in
fact one of the goals/aims of Supply Chain. It can be done by:
Good co-ordination and real time flow of information among different departments linked with
supply chain.
Coordinating all the online and offline order processing activities that originate at the customer
level, such as the process of order generation, order acceptance, entry into order processing
system, prioritization, production, and material forecast in real time.
Efficient control on material related activities such as scheduling, production, distribution,
fulfillment and delivery and
Good co-ordination with Finance Department in order to smooth financial activities such as
invoicing, billing, fund transfer and accounting.
Real time posting of order and delivery status in E-SCM system.

25: How e-procurement can reduce cost of e-business?

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Using the Internet to purchase goods and services isn‘t new, but the concept of ―e-procurement‖
has matured to the point where automated procurement is seen as a cost- and time-saver for
many organizations. In Save Time, Money, And Improve Supply Chain Management with E-
Procurement, author Karl Schmieder defines e-procurement as a process that allows buyers and
sellers to connect electronically via the Internet and through information networking systems
such as electronic data interchange (EDI).

E-procurement systems are available on-demand or as Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and can be

used in every stage of the buying process, allowing agents to direct spending via purchase orders
to preferred suppliers, manage catalogs from multiple vendors, and contract prices quickly and
accurately with a seamless user experience. According to Schmieder, features of e-procurement
systems can include purchase orders, purchase order template management for easy reordering,
purchase order confirmations with tracking links, advanced ship notices, and comprehensive
order management, along with user access across the organization.

1. Hold suppliers accountable with structured templates. Use e-procurement templates and
your suppliers will have to answer specific questions and input information into your
firm‘s preferred format. ―They‘ll have to dot their i‘s and put the numbers in the right
place or their bids won‘t go through the right way,‖ says Michels. This, in turn, saves
time for buyers and allows them to conduct quick, accurate bid analyses.
2. Remove the ―wiggle room‖ of more traditional bidding. With e-procurement, your RFPs
can be structured in a way that removes any wiggle room or doubt on the suppliers‘ end.
―When using e-procurement systems, vendors have to be more disciplined about the data
and information that they provide,‖ says Michels. By including prompts that ask suppliers
to select terms (30-, 60-, 90-days) before moving onto the next form field, for example,
buyers can assess their options and select the vendor that not only offers the right price,
but also the most agreeable terms.
3. Consolidate the supply base. Michels recently worked with a chemical company that
purchased more than 4,500 SKUs from 900 different suppliers. ―Judging the quality and
performance of that many suppliers was very difficult,‖ says Michels. Using an e-
procurement system, the company was able to quickly cull through its options (using
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various purchase scenarios, for example) and come up with a ―top 10‖ vendor list for
specific parts and equipment.
4. Tap into the e-auction trend. E-auctions aren‘t exactly at their peak of popularity, but
―they still have a time and a place,‖ says Michels, who recently helped a company use an
e-auction—where suppliers go online and bid against one another in real-time—and save
$1.1 million on office supplies. Especially useful for commodity items, e-auctions tend to
work best in situations where supply has outpaced demand. ―Used for the right items,‖
says Michels, ―e-auctions can save companies a lot of money.‖
5. Leverage global scenario planning. Using data generated by their e-procurement systems,
electronics buyers can develop effective ―what if?‖ scenarios that, in turn, can be used to
make more efficient purchasing decisions. Many e-procurement programs also have
multilingual and multiple currency capabilities that enable and support global purchasing.
―These programs translate the information, present it in the desirable, useable format,‖
says Michels, ―and wind up saving buyers both time and energy.‖

26: Why vendor managed inventory is gaining larger interest from the
business?

Vendor Managed Inventory or VMI is a business relationship where a manufacturer or

distribution business takes over management of inventory for a retail or wholesaler.
Using Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) or other electronic methods for communication, the
vendor of the product will manage orders and fulfillment for those further down the distribution
chain.

 Increased Customer Service:

 Better Planning:
 Strategic Business Alliances:
 Advanced Forecasting:
 Variation from Franchising:
 JIT Inventory:
 Reduction of Sales Costs:
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Core Benefits of the Evolved Vendor Managed Inventory with Technology Application:
 Data entry errors are greatly reduced due to computer to computer communications. The
speed of the processing is also improved.
 Both parties are interested in giving better service levels to the end customer. Having the
correct item in stock when the end customer needs it, benefits all parties involved.
 A true partnership is formed between the Manufacturer and the Distributor. They work
closer together and strengthen their ties. This benefit of a stronger partnership goes
beyond VMI.
 Stabilize the timing of Purchase Orders – PO‘s are now generated on a predefined basis.
Example: A once/twice Weekly purchase order cycle.
Distributor Benefits in Vendor Managed Inventory:
 The goal is to have an improvement in Fill Rates from the manufacturer and to the end
customer. Also, a decrease in stock outs and a decrease in overall inventory levels
 Planning and ordering cost will decrease due to the responsibility being shifted to the
Manufacturer.
 The overall service level is improved by having the right product at the right time.
 The manufacturer is more focused than ever in providing great service to the distributor
and the end customer.
27: What are the major barriers and risks associated with implementing e-
procurement in Pakistan?
Common Issues and Questions Considerations for implementation have included:
 Will the government endorse, empower and resource a lead agency to implement e-
Procurement? This should be considered in terms of the Institutional arrangements for
procurement in the government.
 What expertise / professional development is required and from where will this come,
and how will this be maintained?
 Does e-Procurement mean centralization of procurement?
 Does e-Procurement belong as part of the Financial Management Information System?
 Should the e-Procurement system be acquired as an off-the-shelf system?
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 What will the system cost to install and maintain and can this be justified? See Business
Case for e-Procurement.
 Should a paper-based system be maintained in parallel to the e-Procurement system?
 Should the e-Procurement system interoperate with the tax system and other such systems
in government?
 Who should arrange for training for e-Procurement and what does this involve?
 Is new legislation required?
 What are the security risks?
These questions will be addressed in the course of this strategy and implementation plan.
Problematic factors:
 Lack of knowledge regarding original business case
 Poor legacy of data and system
 Inappropriate training requirement
 Change management
 Re-defined job‘s (Tasks and Roles of employees)
 Unclear about what the technology could deliver
 Unachievable targets set initially
 Different standards (Accounting/Auditing/ Reporting)
Obstacles to the adoption of E-Business in SMEs in Pakistan:
 Lack of awareness among SMEs about E-Business Technologies
 Lack of ICTs Infrastructure
 Lack of power Supply
 Lack of Finance
 Lack of training and Trained Manpower
 Security issues online payment through visa card
28: How does Facebook play role for young entrepreneur to establish their
brands? What are some of the key benefit s to Facebook for soft launch of new
business?
Facebook is a popular social media network that launched in 2004. In a 2011 report presented by
market-research firm Opinion Research LLP and small business insurance provider Hiscox,
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small business owners noted Facebook as the most effective social media network for business
growth. Small business owners use Facebook to promote brands to their target audiences.
Businesses that opt to make Facebook a part of their business strategies take advantage of a host
of benefits. Facebook can play very important role for young entrepreneurs to establish their
brands as Facebook is still the most popular social networking site for marketers and it continues
to drive the largest share of social media referral traffic. Following are some of key benefits of
Facebook for soft launch of new business and promoting business through Facebook:
 It‘s a low-cost marketing strategy
 Share basic information about business
 Share pictures and videos from business
 Talk to existing and potential customers
 Provide customer support
 Facebook can steer traffic to website
 Targeted advertising
 Facebook dominates social sales
 Consumer can Share Posts
 Feedback is easy to obtain

29: What is balance scorecard approach to objective setting?

The Balanced Scorecard provides a framework for understanding e-marketing metrics.
The Balanced Scorecard provides 4 perspectives.
 Customer perspective
 Internal perspective
 Learning and growth perspective
 Financial perspective
The Customer perspective scorecard includes ways to measure goals such as customer loyalty
and retention, engagement, satisfaction, etc.
 Loyalty and satisfaction measures may include percentage of visitors who return
to site, time between visits, and shopping cart abandonment.
 Customer engagement could include the number of comments, photos or videos
posted.
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The Internal perspective scorecard includes ways to measure goals related to the quality of
online services and measures for the entire supply chain.
 Number of customers who use service
 Number of complaints in social media
 Amount of time to answer customer e-mail
 Number of website updates per day
The Learning and growth perspective scorecard includes human resources, product innovation
and continuous improvement of marketing processes.
 Number of new products and features
 Number of customer complaints and fixes
 Conversions from online leads
The Financial perspective scorecard includes ways to measure financial goals such as sales,
profit and return on investment.
 Sales growth and market share
 Return on invested capital
 Average order value
 Individual customer profit
30: Describe in detail the particular stages in a strategic E- marketing
planning process of any E- business, for each stage highlight two aspects that
are of particular importance for e- marketing?
E-marketing plan A plan to achieve the marketing objectives of the e-business strategy.
We will use a similar strategy process model for e-marketing planning. We use the SOSTAC
framework developed by Paul Smith (1999) and this summarizes the different stages that should
be involved in a marketing strategy from strategy development to implementation. The stages
involved can be summarized as:
 Situation – where are we now?
 Objectives – where do we want to be?
 Strategy – how do we get there?
 Tactics – how exactly do we get there?
 Action – what is our plan?
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 Control – did we get there?

Measurement of the effectiveness of e-marketing is an integral part of the strategy process in
order to assess whether objectives have been achieved. The loop is closed by using the analysis
of web analytics data metrics collected as part of the control stage to continuously improve e-
marketing through making enhancements to the web site and associated marketing
communications. We will now review the six elements of the SOSTA approach to e-marketing
planning
1 Processes transcend the boundaries of a single firm and are not controlled by a single
organizational hierarchy.
2 Production processes are flexible with different parties involved at different times.
3 Parties involved in the production of a single product are often geographically dispersed.
4 Given this dispersion, coordination is heavily dependent on telecommunications and data
networks
Two Aspects:
Vertical integration:
The extent to which supply chain activities are undertaken and controlled within the
organization.
Virtual integration:
The majority of supply chain activities are undertaken and controlled outside the organization by
third parties.
31: What are the main types of change that need to be managed during the
introducing of e-business?
Main types of change that need to be managed during introduction of e-business:
 Business level change – new business processes
 Technological change – new systems
 Organizational structure change
 Organizational culture change
 Organizational strategy change
 People change – new roles and working practices.
Approaches must managers take to achieve change management successfully:
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 Support from senior management

 Education – explain why the system is required by the business and its impact on staff
 Involvement – involve employees in specification and testing
 Training – explain new procedures and operation of software
 Risk management – assessing problems and putting solutions in place.
Different types of change
 Incremental – relatively small adjustment
 Discontinuous – major transformation
 Organizational – includes both incremental and discontinuous
 Anticipatory – initiate change
 Reactive – direct response to change
Business process management
 An approach supported by software tools intended to increase process efficiency by
improving information flows between people as they perform business tasks
 Continuous, incremental change
Discontinuous Process Change
 Hammer and Champy (1993) defined BPR as:
The fundamental rethinking and radical redesign of business processes to achieve dramatic
improvements in critical, contemporary measures of performance, such as cost, quality, service,
and speed.
 Fundamental rethinking – re-engineering usually refers to changing of significant
business processes such as customer service, sales order processing or manufacturing.
 Radical redesign – re-engineering is not involved with minor, incremental change or
automation of existing ways of working. It involves a complete rethinking about the way
business processes operate.
 Dramatic improvements – the aim of BPR is to achieve improvements measured in tens
or hundreds of percent. With automation of existing processes only single-figure
improvements may be possible.
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 Critical contemporary measures of performance – this point refers to the importance of

measuring how well the processes operate in terms of the four important measures of
cost, quality, service and speed.
 Business Process Improvement: Optimizing existing processes
 Business Process Automation: Automating existing ways of working manually through
information technology
Approaches to managing change
 Collaborative – widespread participation of employees
 Consultative – management take final decisions
 Directive – the management team takes the decisions
 Coercive – the management team takes the decision with very limited recourse to
employees
Risk management
 Identify risks, including their probabilities and impacts.
 Identify possible solutions to these risks.
 Implement the solutions targeting the highest impact, most likely risks.
 Monitor the risks to learn for future risk assessment.
32: Differentiate between data analysis and process analysis? What are the
four requirements of a secure e-commerce site, explain it with reference to
security management framework?
Security Requirements and Testing:
a) The FI(s) shall establish a comprehensive testing program to validate the effectiveness of its
IT environment on a regular basis. The results of the testing program shall be used by the FI(s) to
support the improvement of their IS/cyber security. Where applicable, these tests shall include
both internal and external stakeholders such as business line management, incident & crisis
response teams and players of relevant entities in the ecosystem. Further, the FI(s) shall also
ensure that the production data is properly masked in the test environment.
b) Keeping in view the complexities of operations, the FI(s) shall, at least, employ any or
combination of following testing methodologies on periodical basis, while periodicity of testing
shall be defined in the policy:-
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i) Vulnerability assessment (VA). FI(s) shall perform vulnerability assessments to identify and
assess security vulnerabilities in their systems and processes. The FIs shall also perform
subsequent validation test to assess that the gaps identified during VA have been properly filled
in.
ii) Scenario-based testing. FI‘s response, resumption and recovery plans shall be subject to
periodic review and testing. Tests shall address an appropriately broad scope of scenarios,
including simulation of extreme but plausible cyber-attacks. Further, the tests shall be designed
to challenge the assumptions of response, resumption and recovery practices, including
governance arrangements and communication plans. FIs shall also conduct exercises to test the
ability of their staff and processes to respond to unfamiliar scenarios, with a view to achieving
strong operational resilience.
iii) Penetration tests. FI(s) shall carry out penetration tests to identify vulnerabilities that may
affect their systems, networks, people or processes. To provide an in-depth evaluation of the
security of FIs‘ systems, these tests shall simulate actual attacks on the systems. Penetration tests
on internet-facing systems shall also be conducted at the time of update and deployment of
systems. Where applicable, the tests may include other internal and external stakeholders, such
as those involved in business continuity, incident and crisis response teams as well as third
parties service providers.
iv) Quality Assurance (QA). FI(s) shall ensure that a proper and independent QA function
exists and operate to testify in-house developments for any vulnerability that may pose a risk.

Information/Cyber Security Management Framework:

An information/cyber security management framework shall be developed to manage IT risks in
a systematic and consistent manner. The framework, at minimum, shall include:-
a) Identification and prioritization of information system assets;
b) Risk Management Process including risk assessment, risk identification, and risk treatment
c) Security Control Implementation
d) Cyber security action plan in order to anticipate, withstand, detect, and respond to cyber-
attacks in line with international standards and best practices.
e) Incident Reporting
f) Security Requirement & Testing
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g) Risk Monitoring & Reporting

h) Threat Intelligence & Industry Collaboration
33: Describe the consumer and business adoption level in Pakistan?
According to you what are the main barriers to adoption of e-business?
Consumer and Business adoption levels in Pakistan:
E-Business has promising future in Pakistan as this market is getting pace with the rest of the
world with budding online shopping is growing while e-commerce giants like Alibaba taking
interest in investing in the country by takeover Pakistan‘s famous online shopping brand
Daraz.pk. The trend to use internet has been growing fast in Pakistan for the last one decade. As
the trend grows faster, traditional business is being converted into internet business where all
transactions are done online, from selection of product to payment of bills. The business on the
internet is less costly and more beneficial. It is becoming very popular mode of trading around
the world particularly in the West.
The Pakistani ecommerce market is alluring the interest of international investors. Daraz.pk and
olx.pk are some of the most successful and popular Pakistani ecommerce websites developed.
Pakistan e-commerce sales set to cross $1 billion by 2020. Pakistan has one of the highest rates
of mobile and internet penetrations in South Asia with 40 million Internet subscribers and 20
million Facebook users. E-business market is experiencing an annual growth of 72 percent. This
visible growth has encouraged many retailers to operate their own websites or use online
marketplaces to sell products. The number of registered e-commerce merchants rose more than
2.6 times in the last couple of years amid advent of 3G/4G services and availability of cheaper
smartphones. Some of the factors that have served as a catalyst to e-commerce growth include
ease of purchasing while sitting at home, availability of cash on delivery option in which you
only pay when you get a product, variety of products to choose from and customer reviews and
feedback on social media. Cash on delivery is a popular payment method, accounting for 90
percent of all transactions. An interesting trend to note is that around 35 percent of the monthly
70,000 shipments are delivered outside Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad. This shows that despite
online shoppers are largely from the urban areas, rural shoppers are also willing to go online to
make purchases for goods they cannot find in local markets, High growth in terms of sales and
consumer preference has encouraged brands to rethink their strategy with regards to conventional
retail channels and try alternate e-commerce methodologies.
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The e-commerce industry has high growth prospects in Pakistan. The industry is set to flourish at
a faster pace if the government takes serious measures to remove barriers hindering its growth
and expansion. Presently, customer satisfaction is gradually gaining trust amongst customers.
Pakistan needs to place ICT on its priority list to keep pace with the advancement in technology
and minimize digital divide. The government needs to take measures for creating a conducive
environment for technological innovation and its effective use in trade and commerce.
Barriers to adoption of E-Business:
Though Pakistan has a lot of scope for growth of e-commerce, yet it still faces enormous
challenges and barriers to adoption of E-business. These barriers are as follows:
Pakistan has a low literacy rate, and hence many do not know how to use Internet, yet.
There is still a majority of people who lack access to technology. There is a low percentage of
entire population having access to the Internet. The Internet penetration in Pakistan is quite low
in comparison to the West. There is about 28 percent of the population having access and using
the Internet in the country.
The local businessmen still believe in traditional mode of doing business and show a lack of trust
in e-commerce. There is a lack of trust because there is absence of any laws or rules. Merely the
trust element poses threat to industry in long run. There is also a dire need to remove the
misconception of e-commerce in business circles in Pakistan.
There is lack of proper infrastructure like telephone line and frequent power breakdown in cities
and towns across the country.
Absence of any e-commerce policy framework has been a big hurdle because of what many
companies have held their plans to start e-business in Pakistan.
Security of online transactions, high bandwidth rates and monopolistic role of the Pakistan
Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) are the issues hampering the growth of e-
commerce in Pakistan.
Most of the Pakistani firms give low priority to e-commerce due to lack of knowledge.
34: Does conventional marketing can be integrated with e-marketing?
(Explain), and now in the world of social networking sites, how the business
can differentiate promotional campaign, give three real life examples with
explanation.
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Conventional & E-marketing Integration:

Yes, conventional marketing can be integrated with e-marketing in following ways:
The easiest and commonest approach to bringing these two strategies together is by adding your
digital accounts on the printed ads. For instance, we have all seen advertisers including their
website address, social media accounts and any other online address on a billboard. As people
become intrigued by the colors, images and writing on the printed ad, they also see a Facebook
or Twitter page address written below. This is effective because people can always search the
addresses the next time they go online using their smartphones or PCs.
Using TV ads to draw people to the appropriate landing page of your website is becoming
common. We all know that TV ads are expensive and run only for a short time. However, they
are highly effective and fast. According to reports, over 20 percent of the viewers may become
interested in watching a TV advertisement. Therefore, it is crucial to quickly highlight the
appropriate page or website they can visit to view more information. This has worked perfectly,
and it is predicted to be an effective marketing trend now and in the near future.
Another popular trend in print media advertisements is the inclusion of a barcode or QR code
that leads to your appropriate web page or social media page. People still read newspapers and
printed magazines. They are sold all over or placed in barber shops and beauty parlors for people
to read as they receive services. If you read the ads section today, you are likely to find a barcode
or QR code that you can scan with your phone and be directed to a specific page without having
to type any address. This is an effective way of bringing traffic to a webpage for more sales.
Businesses can also run digital newsletter and magazine campaigns using direct emails. After
collecting such contact details from various sources, why not have a newsletter, digital brochure
or flyer sent directly to their inbox? Today, most organizations are working hard so that they can
convert their printed media into digital media and send the digital media to people‘s email
addresses. Others are shared on social media pages and websites effectively.
Lastly, word of mouth, which is an effective traditional marketing method, can be used to inform
people of the existence of social media pages or a website. In most cases, this happens at the
point of sale where the sales agents make all the efforts to ensure that the customers know this. It
is also at this point that people can be informed that the business has an online buying platform,
which is convenient.
Campaign Differentiation by using Social Networking sites:
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Social media marketing can help to differentiate promotional campaign in following ways:
 Increasing website traffic
 Building conversions
 Raising brand awareness
 Creating a brand identity and positive brand association
 Improving communication and interaction with key audiences
 Decreased Marketing Costs
 More Opportunities to convert referrals
 Richer Customer Experiences
Three Real Times Examples:
Dacia:
Platform Used
Facebook
About the Company
Dacia (a subsidiary of Renault) is one of Europe‘s fastest growing car brands. Best known for
their functional cars that offer amazing price-to-value ratios, the customer market grew by
60,000 cars in the last three years.
Goal
To generate leads and create brand awareness.
Solution
By using Facebook's boosted posts, Dacia placed ads related to their Sandero, Logan, and Step
way models. They focused on both desktop and mobile users. By incorporating data from past
activity, the company ensured that a wide variety of ad testing was done, essentially optimizing
the advertisement‘s impact based on where their customers were in the buying cycle.
Results
45% reduction in the costs per lead, compared to standard display ads
27-point increase in ad recall
6-point uplift in brand favorability
6-point uplift in purchase intent
TVibes:
Platform Used
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Facebook
About the Company
TVibes is a unique company that allows customers to create their own TV channels using their
own mobile videos (stored in the cloud). They‘ve come a long way since their humble
beginnings back in 2014 (they launched a successful IOS app in 2015) and are best known for
allowing users to choose their own audiences to view the channels.
Goal
To establish loyal and engaged app users.
The goal of the TVibes campaign was to encourage customers to use their app for mobile video
storage. Since Facebook is an intuitive platform for lead generation, the founders of the company
used the social media giant to try and gain more sign-ups and get more followers.
Solution
Uri and Gilad - the founders of TVibes - instinctively knew they should integrate a social site
like Facebook into their social app. This made it easy for followers to create accounts, log in and
explore channels created by their acquaintances, all done conveniently from their Facebook
home pages. To help encourage signups based on targeted audience groups, the founders made
use of mobile app install ads. By sorting their audiences based on reactions to video ads and with
the clever use of lookalike audiences, they had a brilliant strategy of optimizing their campaign.
Results
50% of new app installs driven by Facebook
10% higher loyalty and conversion from those Facebook-driven installs
20% higher engagement rates from Facebook user
Red Bull:
Platform Used
Instagram
About the Company
Consumers have been ―given wings‖ for well over 28 years by Red Bull, and they ranked #76 on
the Forbes Most Powerful Brand List in 2015. Their original energy drink can be found in over
170 countries, so it comes as no surprise that the company has sold over 60 billion cans of their
famous drink. Since their humble beginnings back in 1987, the brand has since released 4 new
flavors of energy drinks to cater to individual tastes and preferences.
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Goal
To drive awareness of the extension of the brand.
The goal of their Instagram campaign was based on boosting awareness and sales of their
tropical flavored ―Summer Edition‖ energy drink for the Australian market.
Solution
With a firm focus on simplicity and brand building, Red Bull paved the way for their actual
campaign with a promotional teaser just before the summer hit. To get audiences focused on the
new look of the cans, they incorporated yellow filters across a range of images and videos
portraying typical summer days. The brand was twice as likely to be associated with the #this
summer hash tag trend as any of its nearest competitors.
Results
10-point lift in top-of-mind awareness
9-point lift in favorability
7-point drop in the unconvinced market
1.2 million Consumers reached
35: Draw and explain the SOSTAC framework?
The ‗SOSTAC‘ digital marketing plan
A good place to start is the SOSTAC model, which provides a framework for digital marketing
strategy and planning. It was originally devised by PR Smith in the 1990s, and has subsequently
been enhanced for digital marketing.

There‘s an entire book on the SOSTAC plan as each stage can involve a substantial amount of
research, analysis and reflection. As an introduction, however, we‘ll take a look at some of the
essential questions to consider at each stage.
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Situation analysis
This first stage is all about looking at your current situation. In other words: Where are you now?
Some questions to consider include:
Who are your digital customers right now?
Which digital channels are they using?
Who are your competitors and what are their key differentiators?
Objectives
Your plan might have different objectives for different stages of the online customer lifecycle.
So, for example, you could have objectives relating to brand awareness, lead generation,
acquisition, conversion, engagement and retention.
However, for your objectives to be successful, they need to be ‗SMART:‘ specific, measurable,
actionable, relevant and time-bound.
An example of a SMART objective is ‗to increase the number of website visitors who request
more information by 3% over the next six months.
Strategy
Strategy involves analyzing the information you gathered during ‗situation analysis‘ in order to
determine how you‘ll meet the ‗objectives‘. Questions to consider include:
Which segments are you going to target?
What activities are your competitors engaged in that relate to your objectives?
What is your online value proposition? In other words, how are you going to differentiate
yourself online? This applies whether a sale is online, offline, or you don‘t make sales at all – if
you‘re a charity, for example.
Tactics
This stage goes into the ‗nitty-gritty‘ of which digital tools are right for your target audience and
how you are going to use them.
However, without the foundation of the earlier stages, you stand a very good chance of wasting
time and money here. And this is where a lot of folks go wrong. By jumping straight into tactics,
the selection tends to be based on ‗gut feel‘ rather than tangible research and strategy.
Some questions include:
How will your choice of tools allow you to target the intended audience?
How will you convey your online value proposition?
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What content do you need to develop (emails, posts, ads, landing pages, etc.)
Action
The ‗action‘ stage involves drawing up a schedule to implement the ‗tactics‘. In other words,
what needs to be done, who will do it, and when will they do it? Also, does anything need to be
outsourced, or do you have the skills in-house?
Control
The last stage is to plan how you are going to monitor and measure whether you‘re meeting your
strategy‘s ‗objectives‘. What are the KPI‘s and which monitoring and reporting tools will you
use?
36: Define and explain the online value proposition with example?
Online value proposition is just like a product‘s unique selling point (USP), but is incorporated
into a website‘s design to show customers why they are different, better and worth purchasing
from. As Dave Chaffey states it is ―Why customers should do business with you online rather
than through another channel, or with a competitor‖. It is about why a customer should visit, stay
and revisit your site.
To have an effective online value proposition it should start when a customer searches for your
site in Google, so make sure your message is clear at that point. Your proposition then should be
prominent all throughout your website not just on the home page. Lastly the proposition should
be fulfilled online and offline.
When constructing your online value proposition you should consider the 6 C‘s that every e-
customer demands:
 Content – in-depth information about the product, its usage and buying process, may also
include interactive content (visual).
 Customization – personalization of content according to each customer or segment of
individuals.
 Community – other customers reviews of the product.
 Convenience – how easy is it to find, select, purchase and use products from where you
are.
 Choice – showing the customer the wide choice of products and services available.
 Cost reduction – simply buying online is cheaper in many aspects.
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Example of a more visual online value proposition is Luxy Hair. Once you click into their site
you are drawn to this women‘s gorgeous, volumised, shiny locks. The envy of most women I
must add!

Yummy Tummy is an example of where online value proposition has failed. What is their
message or what even are they selling?

37: What are the critical success factors for analysis and design of e-business
system?
Critical success factors for developing an e-business strategy. E-Business is the new, leading
edge of electronic commerce. Organizations are using e-business applications such as enterprise
resource planning, customer relationship management and e-procurement to transform
traditional businesses into e-businesses.
The Six Critical Success Factors of e-Business Strategy:
Create a consumer-centric strategy: An e-business recognizes that power is shifting to the
consumer. In the one-to-many hierarchical information flow that characterized the Industrial
Age, information flowed one way, from the producer to the consumers. The Internet has changed
this in three important ways. First the Internet allows consumers to talk to consumers. The
Internet allows many-to-many communication flows. Consumer information sites such as The
Consumer Democracy (www.consumerdemocracy.com) "is for information on products: quality,
praise, complaints, ratings, features, descriptions, reviews, comparisons, discussion, problem
reports, information, statistics, rankings, prices, rip-offs, bargains and shady affairs". E-
Complaints.com and planetfeedback.com offer similar forums and services. Second, consumers
can find and access information much easier than before. For the first time businesses must deal
with a basic tenet of pure competition, a totally informed consumer. In a world where
information is power, this can make sellers uncomfortable. Imagine the poor automobile
salesperson who is greeted on the lot by a customer with a dealer invoice that shows the price the
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dealer paid for the car, easily available from automobile infomediaries such as Auto-by-Tel.
These buyers won't let dealers make big markups anymore. Third, and most significantly, the
Internet enables the information flow to be reversed so customer-centric companies can pull
information from consumers to improve and customize products. Compare this with the product-
centric company that pushes products to consumers. Companies that recognize this power shift to
the customer will create a customer-centric strategy.
Embrace outsourcing to improve business performance: For some time companies have
outsourced secondary support functions such as payroll, network support and the company
cafeteria. However, organizations have traditionally viewed core competencies (e.g.,
management, marketing, research and development) and primary support functions (e.g.,
distribution, manufacturing, and human resources) as too important to outsource. While core
competencies remain resistant to outsourcing (appropriately so), inter-organizational information
systems linked by the Internet are enabling companies to outsource primary support services.
Reasons for the increasing use of outsourcing include:
• Outsourcing reduces costs and improves services because a firm that specializes in the service
and/or engages in bulk buying can achieve cost efficiencies and service delivery that the
outsourcing organization cannot.
• Outsourcing enables a company to scale production up and down quickly and cheaply, thus
being more responsive to the ever-changing marketplace.
• Intangible benefits from outsourcing include: a beneficial change in corporate culture, access to
premium resources and expertise the company could not afford on its own and the ability to
implement world-class capabilities and technologies.
• Most significantly for e-business, outsourcing enables and organization to create the virtual
enterprise, a key organizational form (see mini case study below).
Act like a new entrant: In the e-business marketplace new entrants have distinct advantages
over existing businesses. Established companies tend to rely on simple formulas – lower costs,
increase production, open new offices – to deal with impending change. These companies carry
legacy systems, they refuse to cannibalize existing product lines and they don't take risks that
innovate the marketplace. New entrants don't face these barriers and they are usually best at
identifying where new value can be found in existing products and services (see case study
below), Transformational thinking is required. Companies will need to act like new entrants,
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continuously creating fundamental change. Senior management must nurture a healthy

discomfort with the status quo, develop the ability to detect trends earlier than the competition,
make rapid decisions and be agile enough to create or adopt new business models.
Use information management to differentiate your product:
The Information Age changes things. In 2020 Vision Davis and Davidson (1991) suggest that
economic life cycles are similar to human life cycles, moving through gestation, growth,
maturity and aging stages. In 2000 the Information Age is in the first decade of the maturity
stage. In this stage the patriarch of the Information Age – information – reigns supreme. The
businesses that represent the "info structure" of the Information Age – computers,
telecommunications, network suppliers – are already well into the maturity stage. All other
businesses – retail, media, financial services, government – are now following. The Information
Age Life Cycle Information management will be a key definer of success in the Information
Age. As Bill Gates (1999) argues: "The most meaningful way to differentiate your company
from your competition is to do an outstanding job with information. How you gather, manage,
and use information will determine whether you win or lose." From now and into the future that
we can plan for, value will be found in information-based products such as branding, customer
relationships, supplier integration and the use of key information assets. Businesses must develop
information-centric business strategies to participate in the Information Age economy.
Information alone is not enough, information technology is required to innovate, entertain and
enhance the entire experience surrounding the product, from selection and ordering to receiving
and service.
Be a part of an e-business community:
An e-business community links businesses, customers and suppliers to create a unique business
organization. These e-business communities form as part of business alliances, cooperative
networks or outsourcing arrangements in forming or implementing the e-business strategy. The
key to success in the new Internet world order lies in being able to share rich information, form
dynamic partnerships and make deals in real time (Anonymous, 2000). At the extreme,
sometimes the formation of an e-business community is the e-business strategy.
Executive leadership is essential:
An e-business strategy doesn't happen without the leadership and commitment of the senior
executives of the e-business. This would seem to be obvious, but too often the strategy is vaguely
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defined by executive management and left to the information systems or marketing department
to implement. Technologists have the in-depth knowledge about specific technologies to meet
the identified needs, but strategies come first and for this leadership at the top are required.
"Senior executives who rely on IT managers to relate technology to overall business strategy do
so at their own peril. Executives must take responsibility for understanding the implications of
up-and-coming technologies and anticipating when they'll affect business strategy.
38: What type of testing required for an e-commerce site. Give description of
each testing type?

Testing Aims to identify non-conformance in the requirements specification and errors.

Test specification A description of the testing process and tests to be performed.

39: Explain e-business strategy implementation success factors for SME’s?

6 Success Factors of E-commerce Business Strategy:

 Have a business strategy before starting out

 Stay ahead of the competition

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 Always optimize for mobile visitors

 Focus on quality over quantity

 Customer satisfaction should be a top priority

 Staying on top of the business

E-business strategy implementation success factors for SME’s

Of course, government statistics show that a high proportion of new businesses fail within 2 to 3
years of start-up regardless of whether they are online or offline and good planning practice and
financial risk management are important in both. An assessment of success factors for e-business
strategy implementation in SMEs has been produced by Jeffcoate et al. (2002). They suggest
these 11 critical success factors, which can also be usefully applied to larger organizations:

1 Content. The effective presentation of a products or services.

2 Convenience. The usability of the web site.

3 Controls. The extent to which organizations have defined processes that they can manage.

4 Interactions. The means of relationship building with individual customers.

5 Community. The means of relationship building with groups of like-minded individuals or

organizations.

6 Price sensitivity. The sensitivity of a product or service to price competition on the Internet.

7 Brand image. The ability to build up a credible brand name for e-commerce.

8 Commitment. A strong motivation for using the Internet and the will to innovate.

9 Partnership. The extent to which an e-commerce venture uses partnerships (value chain
relationships) to leverage Internet presence and expand its business.
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10 Process improvements. The extent to which companies can change and automate business
processes.

11 Integration. The provision of links between underlying IT systems in support of partnership

and process improvement.