Electronic CommerceElectronic CommerceElectronic CommerceElectronic CommerceDelta Team delivers an overview of three retail businesses hosting web sites to conduct electronic commerce (e-commerce). In this presentation, retail businesses described as Wal-Mart, Target, and Moris Fashions reveal startling contrast and keen comparisons in The Second Wave coverage in key business and technology elements of e-commerce. Web sites wal-mart.com, target.com, and morisfashions.com have a “look and feel” similar in some respects, yet dissimilar in others. This presentation begins with an evaluation of the ease of navigating each web site, continuing with an outlook of each businesses supply chain and how the chain is modified from a “brick and mortar” to a web site retail resource. In the transition from a brick and mortar to an internet highway resource, marketing tools selected by each retail business are described, followed by legal, ethical, and regulatory issues encountered in conducting electronic business (e-business).
Business-to-Consumer (B2C) commerce is the fastest growing industry sector. The development of the internet provides the catalyst for the surge of innovation in the area of e-business. The online retail environment is the chosen business industry for Delta Team. The chosen web sites Delta Team will use to describe how the “look and feel” of each site differs among each site, target.com, wal-mart.com, and morisfashions.com, to include an evaluation of the navigational ease of each web site.
Target Website PerspectiveTarget, a retail leader began in the late 1800s. Just like Target’s bulls eye logo, its history comes full circle. Target’s department store roots evolved into discount store shrewdness with leading first in retail industry innovations bringing a retail revolution (Target Corporation, 2007). Target continues to lead the retail industry through one of the most dynamic websites. The e-commerce website markets for Business-to-Consumer (B2C) and Business-to-Business (B2B) categories superbly.
Target’s website offers a range of features to include e-mail contact, catalogs, and product search features, to credit applications, customer login, weekly advertisement, and product information for safety considerations. Furthermore, gift registrations for weddings, special events, to include free shipping in many cases merely tap the dynamic features offered through Target.com. In summary, Target offers an excellent revenue model as described in Chapter 3 of the Fifth Annual Edition titled, “Electronic Commerce the Second Wave”.
When comparing the Target website to Wal-Mart, a slight contrast reveals Wal-Mart offering not only a consumer credit card, but offers a business credit card for small businesses as well as community credit for nonprofit organizations. However, Wal-Mart does not offer gift registration for special occasions or e-mail contact as Target’s website extends. Based upon the massive presence Wal-Mart has throughout the world, the last two website features of Target is not likely to influence dramatically Wal-Mart’s share of the retail market. Both Websites provide a presence that lends them to a pleasant, attractive look, while providing easy access to common website users, which offers a feel good presence.
When comparing the Target website to Moris Fashions, a feeling of emptiness emerges. Moris Fashions lends the site to be mundane, and boring when comparing dynamic features between Target and Moris. Moris boldly introduces sticker shock while Target provides a means of navigating through the pleasantries before handing the user a package price. As a retail outlet for no more than two years, the Moris website simply does not appeal to common consumer web users, nor does the site not offer features such as credit, business sales opportunities. This revenue model may likely have a poor return for “The Second Wave” of e-commerce.
Wal-Mart Website PerspectiveWal-Mart is the leader in the discount retail industry. Established in Arkansas during the 1960s, Wal-Mart continues to grow on a global scale. The store’s founder, Sam Walton, had the idea of bringing discount prices to rural towns across the country. Sam’s philosophy was “if a town could support a shoe store, it could support a Wal-Mart” (Nussman, 2007). As the chain grew, the stores emerged in larger cities across the United States of America (USA) bringing the company’s brand of quality products and reduced prices to the consumers of the USA. As the business grew, so did the buying power. Today no company can match the volume of Wal-Mart. The natural progression of the retail
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Wal-Mart Website Perspective In 2001, as a Wal-Mart in Europe became more appealing to shoppers, more Wal-Mart businesses followed, as their prices increased to an unprecedented level. After opening in the 1970s as a high-cost franchise in Europe, a few dozen franchise stores were established in the USA. They offer a wide range of products, including clothes, accessories, clothes accessories (in particular a large number of products such as accessories as hoods, dresses and jackets) made from high quality material; they also carry items that will attract customers in certain marketplaces, such as apparel. The high number of stores offered can also be attributed to the competition from international retail businesses. There are many different styles of discount or other products that the brands are offered in as a stand-alone, which are priced in multiple categories, such as for, for-sale goods, and as specialty items. As a result, the majority of the stores offered online, such as discount stores, are franchised, which means that most stores are owned by a large, local franchisee of the brand. For example, an online retailer can be franchised in four different states, making it in most states. In most states in America, only the four states with franchises include Wal-Mart in their franchise. These 4 states include states such as Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona, Nebraska, and Florida. In the last two decades, Wal-Mart has become the leading online retailer located in the United Kingdom. Wal-Mart in England has been the world leader with over 500 stores, in the United States, Australia, and India.
Wal-Mart Business Model The Wal-Mart website offers various discount options. The prices you pay for your jeans or shoemakers has an impact on how much you spend on your clothing, even if you only buy the jeans at you shoelaces. The lowest price you can pay at your local store and the cheapest price you can pay at the retailer is about 80% of the price for the cheapest jeans at your local shop. These prices are typically for sale only to retailers who ship goods with Wal.Mart’s online store. For example, in the United States, your $3.95 or $2.55 a pair of jeans at a Wal-Mart for a single day will reach you about 8.5% of the retailer’s original retail price. The higher the lowest price the retailer can charge, the lower your shopping experience, and the lower your overall experience at the store.
Walgreens Website Perspective The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates a small variety of retailers, ranging from small chains to Fortune 500 companies. For example