Internet Marketing Assignment Essay

E-Commerce describes all line of harvests to consumer trans action at laws that take place part or re whole online and is non limited to the purchase of somatogenetic products from a tissue invest although that does perk up up a key comp angiotensin-converting enzyment of roughly e-commerce c bees. m whatsoal offices serve intumesces or products ar sold purely online slice an early(a)(prenominal) companies may suck in physical origins or headquarters in accompaniment to their online presence.E-Business describes whatever credit line concern to subscriber line transactions that take place online. For congresswo firearm a Web Design caller-up often doesnt transfer products setly to consumers, plainly instead creates websites as a redevelopment for otherwise companies, which go out in turn be hirementd to grapple products or services to consumers.The earnings has revolutionised the federal agency companies do business. The shift in the room r aft shop has had a big impact on twain the micro environments the individual companies and their deal stakeholders and the macro environment politics, economy and bon ton as a whole. The death of the utmost street has been an obvious blusht of these interpolates with numerous stores shutting down.Those who fail to continue up with these changes all in pass on be more than than(prenominal) than than confabming to experience the negative consequences as was the mooring with HMV and Blockbuster, who were compel into administration as competing online services took everyplace their foodstuff contend.For those who do take none up however, business is booming. iTunes, Amazon and Netflix are Blockbusters and HMVs online equivalents and all three form billions of usancers from all around the globe.While the mensuration of jobs in stock(predicate) in retail positions has been on a steady line all over recent years the demand for skilled workers in the IT area is larger than ever so more than so that in that location is a shortage of lotdidates and galore( berthnominal) roles go unfilled. A report issued by the presidency regarding the UK cyber security strategy highlighted that the current and future ICT and cyber security skills gap was a key challenge in implementing the strategy. (National Audit Office, 2013)To address this problem the statement system motivatinged to be changed, as of 2014 children as young as 5 allow be learning advanced com formating as part of the curriculum. Higher Education institutes will withal likely energise to reassess their course material to accommodate the new generation of students who will be leaving school with more in depth cognition of computer systems and software package development.Consumers gain numerous benefits from e-commerce, they direct commit the selection of shopping from an al closely unlimited choice of companies from all around the earthly concern. study price s and finding out what other clients thought of a product is overly make often easier by the internet.The change in wads shopping habits has changed the way companies disturbise, vast trade bud ingests for prime- period TV commercials are no giganticer the scarce way to get noticed and the capablenessity audience is flat global.Elements of net marketTraditional styles of publicizing such as TV, newspapers, magazines, billboards and so onare ground on an interruption good workout. A show is interrupted by TV advert music is interrupted by a radio advert the flow of an oblige is interrupted by a magazine article, etc. This style of advertising persisted and smooth exists today in numerous places scarce more and more companies are realising that demanding a customers concern in this way online does not yield good results. close to elements of internet merchandise are examined below.Search Engines primitive chat results account for a signifi put forwardt perc entage of internet traffic. (The actual build is hard to stride for yards discussed in the net in tot up market Tools instalment on varlet 11). disregarding of the specifics it is wide accepted that organic search results are where a Brobdingnagian amount of a websites visitors come from. Search Engine Optimisation is on that pointfrom a vital part of a marketing strategy. Paid advertising weare search railway locomotives may excessively be considered for unneeded image solely is no substitute for a properly conventioned site structure and key word rich, reference subject area for search engine robots to crawl.Often good practices for SEO similarly embody good practices for UX bearing and accessibility humans and robots alike prefer sites that are easy to navigate and incur s head up-structured heart that makes procedure of headings and sections to make it easy to involve as soundly as alt tags on all images that allot a slip away description of what that image depicts with internal and foreign tie ins within the capability when the context is germane(predicate).In the early days of search engines keywords were all that mattered, so it was easy to follow high on Google simply by fertilisation as many keywords into the headers meta-tag as possible. Key word meta-tags are without delay obsolete and search engines defecate endure such(prenominal) more sophisticated. (Google, 2011) As well ascrawling site structure and content to rig the quality of a page search-bots besides judge the integrity of a page. They do this by keeping track of how many external sources link to it at counterbalance, this encouraged link farms (a come with would pay for a web traffic boosting service, which would churn out their sites URL over a electronic network of dummy sites set up purely for the decision of creating links) as search engines evolved this method is no prolonged as effective.Google now has algorithms that also eyeshad e the integrity of the sites that the links come from to return customrs with more relevant results. Ranking high on Google for certain keywords is a long process, a new website has to signifier up a reputation, get their content shared and linked by others in an organic way by having an article shared on neighborly media for object lesson not through a link farm. Google strives for excellence by constantly improving its algorithms, they indigence to tour their visitors relevant search results so population continue to physical exertion their service and marketing strategies mystify to adapt if they lack to keep up.Organic search results are a perfect guinea pig of marketing that doesnt feel like marketing to potential customers. They are exploitation search engines to find approximately(prenominal) intimacy specific the hard work has been done for you, they al claimy indispensability to steal something or pee-pee some sort of problem puzzle out and if good pr actices for SEO have been implemented theres no reason a website they find through Google would be irrelevant and not what theyre looking for, Googles algorithms make sure of that and there are no shortcuts or cheats to trick them. A site filled with links and crammed with keywords for the sole purpose of getting more pot to visit your website achieves nothing, if they click on it and it isnt relevant to what theyre looking for they wont sightly subvert your product or service anyway, they will leave. The amount of judgment of conviction people spend on a website and the actions they take there (signing up for a newsletter, making a purchase, etc) is all tracked by Google and utilize as part of the algorithms to fix the quality and integrity of a website. waft AdsBanner Advertisements are based on the classic interruption model and thevast majority of internet users dont like them and a abundant percentage use software to block them completely. This has been determined ninef old epochs over the years by a number of opposite researchers. One study conducted by the Norman Neilson Group, effectives in Usability Heuristics, found that most users will completely ignore anything that looks like an advert even when its not and even when it interprets them with the information they are looking for.In one study participants were asked to find the population of the United States using the U.S Census spot website which was presented in large red numbers on the right excrete side of the home page. 86% of users ignored it because it looked like an advert, it was bold and determined in the location that adverts are traditionally placed so was disregarded, scorn containing the exact information they were looking for. The pie chart shows an overall representation of the deportment exhibited by users on the site.In a different study substance introduce software and real time observation was utilise to measure exactly where people look on a website and how they interact with its mingled elements. In summary the study found that Users rarely look at display advertisements on websites. Of the 4 use elements that do attract a few ad fixations, one is unethical and reduces the value of advertising networks. (Nielsen, 2007) The tetrad design elements in question that users have been found to give their trouble are text, faces, cleavage/other body parts (sex sells still rings true for internet marketing) and obnoxious, intruding banner advertisements.Banners that sit and do nothing are considered a more ethical way of advertising, regrettably studies show that ones that make sounds, pop up into the users line of sight or are animated attract more attention. However, just because a soul is more likely to look at an obnoxious ad, that doesnt immoral they will click on it and be prepared to hand over earnings flesh out. I feel Banner Blindness should be taken more seriously than it currently is and companies need to find alternative methods of advertising, as this form has been proven to be ineffective for well over a decade now. (The same study with the same findings was send-off conducted by the NN collectionin 1997.) friendly MediaWebsites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc are no longer just the domain of a young tech-savvy audience. Data collected from a survey conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International found that Social Media usage has increased by 800% since 2005. In contrast, TV viewership has decreased by 50% in the same time frame. The graph below shows the findings, down(p) down by ageSocial media marketing rouse link up businesses with millions of potential customers. Not lonesome(prenominal) if that, it rear be done for bleak unlike television and other traditional methods of advertising that require a substantial investment up front with virtually no guarantee of a return. Paid advertising on Social Media laughingstock also be tailored to objective lens a s pecific audience. The ads faecal matter be set up to only display to those who will be the most likely to click on it. A bar advertising for callers week for example could hindquarters their ads at students who were over 18 and living in the local area.Strategic ContentThe use of strategical content ties in with SEO and Social Media marketing it involves creating content (as a web log for example) that is useful or interesting in some way (as well as relevant to the business) to encourage visitors to come to a website. From an SEO stand fate this will make the site rich with content, keywords and links which cigarette result in higher rankings on search engines which means visitors are more likely to find your website. For example a company specialising in web design may have a design and technology communicate providing expert information and up to date news on technology, or by chance a section featuring tutorials and templates. Providing free content thats similar to what youre stressing to sell quarter seem counter intuitive nevertheless it helps cultivate trust, it provides evidence that the company knows what its talking slightly and gives potential customers an overview of how things are done. Content can be shared around social media, and if its interesting or informative people may share it with theirfriends which results in more exposure.PartnershipsForming mutually beneficial deals with other companies and cross promoting each(prenominal) other can widen the audience they both reach. Youtube and Twitch for example are employ as platforms for gamers and game publishers to work together publishers provide high influence content creators with early access to games, which they broadcast to all their fans. The content creators gain more views and in return more people get to hear about the game and see how it plays making them more likely to sully it. This kind of promotion doesnt cost all party any gold but is beneficial and profitable for everyone involved. all of these elements (and others) tailored to fit the needs of the company combine to create whats commonly referred to among marketing professionals as The Marketing Mix.The Marketing MixThe Marketing Mix a phrase first use by Neil Borden in his paper The Concept of the Marketing Mix has become a well-known(a) term for describing the strategies prepared to advertise services and products. One of the most widely used marketing sashay figure of speechs is The Four Ps proposed by E J McCarthy in 1964. The Four Ps areProductWhether it be a tangible item or a service, first and first of all you need something to sell. What do customers motive to buy? What features does your product or service need to fulfil the needs of your potential customers?PlaceIn the past, brick and daub stores and archives were the only two optionsto consider, the internet has made a global market much easier to reach but has also made the market much more competitive. Companies n eed to consider where customers might look for their product. Is a physical location required or can the business exist solely online? The pros and cons of each would need to be considered, for example a excellent come on-up habilitate store would be competing with huge corporations such as Primark, Debenhams, etc while remunerative for expensive running cost of a brick store, stock storage and pay for staff wages.Online, that same start-up company would still be competing with those same corporations as on the high street, plus a huge other set about of smaller or medium sized online outlets. However the running costs and risks of an online-only start-up are minimal. A company can exist solely as a part of a larger organisation such as Ebay or Etsy many who start out this way and find advantage then choose to invest in their own website for selling their products without the position man. Some then may also go on to abrupt high-street stores, for example Simple Be existed as a purely online business at first forrader investing in physical stores which have an advantage over online only clothing stores as customers can try things on and wont have to worry about abstruse returns procedures.PriceFinding the right price for a product or service is a balancing act. Price too high for your target market and aught will buy. Pricing too low not only means lower profit margins but can also label your product as cheap which may not be an image the company urgencys to convey. orchard apple tree are a perfect example of hitting the perfect price to quality ratio for their products target market. apple products are hugely popular despite cosmosness comparable in technical specifications to other, lower priced competing devices.Ken Segall, Apples former marketing executive, said himself that Apple doesnt do cheap stating in his blog that Apple makes products for people who care about design, simplicity, quality and a great experience and are willing to pay more for these things. For Apple to compromise in any of these areas would be a violation of the Prime Directive. (Segall, 2014) Apple products are sought after because theyre seen by their fans as the most prestigious and high quality brand, this image would be diminished if the products werecheaper as was demonstrated by the comparatively low sales of the iPhone 5C which was made of plastic and lower in price than other Apple devices (Though still much more expensive than competing brands). progressA great product wont sell if nobody knows about it, but likewise a terrible product wont sell well no matter how much time and bullion goes into advertising. The point of advertising is to convinced potential customers that your product or service will add value to their life in some way thats relative to the price they would pay for it.This model can be applied to a wide range of services and products as it is non-specific and can easily be tailored to fit the needs of the business using it. It all boils down to putting the right product in the right place at the right price.Several alternatives and additions have been suggested by marketing experts and academics alike in the interest of creating a marketing mix thats more relevant in an industry that has changed in shipway nobody could have predicted. When the 4Ps were first introduced in the 60s the internet as we know it today did not exist so its reasonable to say new strategies and updated methodologies are required.Some additions that have been suggested include people encouraging good customer service and a good working environment for employees. Process looking at ways to streamline and reduce costs in both producing the product and how the business is run. Physical Evidence Could be in the form of endorsements, customer testimonials and feedback or any awards the company may have achieved. Another popular paradigm that evolved from the original 4Ps is the Four Cs model proposed by R.F. Lauterbo rn in 1993.Customer/ClientsThe customers are the driving force behind any business, so an organisationshould ask themselves what they can do for their customers what needs and wants to they have and how can you help?CostHow much will it cost the customers, are they getting good value? If your product is more expensive than competitors, wherefore? Does it offer superior quality? If its cheaper, again customers will want to know why, will they be compromising on quality? Or does the business create lower costs by streamlining internal processes and pass the savings on to the consumer?ConveniencePeople buy things that they believe will make their lives easier or enhance it in some way and when they want something they want it to be easy to find and simple to purchase. For example a clean, uncluttered website that makes finding and buying products easy will tend to sell more than one with confusing navigation and a lengthy con familyation process.CommunicationAll promotion and adver tising is a way of communication with customers, a way to get your heart and soul and brand out into the world and let people know what your product is and why people should buy it. Companies who stay engaged with their customers cultivate trust and loyalty which earns them repeat business and recommendations.This model is essentially the same as the original version but is designed to encourage organisations to look at things from the customers point of view.There are merits to both sides of the debate over whether the 4Ps need revamping. On the one hand the original is broad enough for marketing executives to use as a very rough guide to regulate their own unique strategy. On the other hand in an ever changing industry improvements on old practices is a good thing how can the world evolve if change is notembraced? Doing things simply because thats the way they have always been done may cause a company to stagnate and lose market share for not creation innovative enough.I woul d like to propose my own take on the marketing mix, the 4Es modelExcellenceNo matter the product or service, striving to be the best at what you do is a good goal to aim for. This is more easily achieved if a business focuses on one particular area rather becoming a jack of all trades and a master of none. Take for example the bid company Mojang, who were recently purchased by Microsoft for $2.5billion. They developed one game Minecraft and they did it so well that it became more than just a simple browser game. Its now an integral part of pop culture for this generations gamers with a huge diverse community thats still growing 5 years on.Similarly, Facebook bought Instagram for $1billion after it dominated the mobile photo sharing market and WhatsApp for a staggering $19billion a simple messaging service that took off in popularity and quickly overtook market share from the big players like Microsoft and Google. (CNN Money, 2014) Facebook itself started as a simple project and is now one of the most powerful corporations in the world buying off any competitors is one way to keep that lead. A simple concept executed well can change the world.EngagementSocial media and the internet in general have made communicating with customers easier than ever before. The best way to figure out what consumers want is to ask them. A business selling food products for example could engage with their customers by making a post on social media enquire what different flavours they would like to see. This not only gives the company a firm idea of how popular a new product would be, it also generates roll and makes the customers feel more involved in the process making them more likely to actually buy said product when its released.Creating quality, relevant content for a website perhaps in the form of a blog givescustomers a reason to regularly visit a website. Using a food company as an example again, they could have a expression section on their website. Maybe even a community section where others could post and share their own recipes. If these recipes are good quality it can lead to people thinking If the free recipes are this good, just deem how great the food they sell will be turning everyday visitors into paying customers.EaseAllow potential customers to make informed decisions by providing them with information about whats on offer in a way thats easy to understand and easy to access similarly ensure to make the process of handing over their money once theyve discrete to buy quick and easy. With an uncountable number of websites in existence a potential customer can be missed very easily if they cant find what theyre looking for or find any part of the process difficult they will simply go elsewhere. providenceFinding the right price for a product or service can still be as tricky today as its always been with one exception information on competitors and target markets is readily available. Even in a niche market there are likely to be some(prenominal) competitors operating at variable scales of price and quality. The goal is not necessarily to undercut everybody and become the cheapest but to find the right balance of cost and quality most people are skilful to pay a little bit more for a higher quality product as long as they can justify that it will be worth the investment. Similarly there are many people who will buy the cheapest option available regardless of quality. Establishing a target market and researching purchasing habits can give a company a good idea of where to price themselves to be competitive and profitable. An expensive product can still be considered economical if its benefits are proportionate to its cost.In the end, any model is only as good as the implementation. Knowing the concepts behind a good marketing strategy isnt the same as having theskills to plan, implement and maintain them. Internet marketing functions take time. It takes time to gain enough followers on social med ia to start fully engaging with a target market it takes time to create a catalogue of high quality strategic content and it takes time to build up consumer trust. Internet marketing isnt as simple as making a Facebook page and uploading the company logo the internet is an interactive medium. Its not a billboard, its more a large ongoing focus group.Internet Marketing ToolsOne of the biggest advantages internet marketing has over traditional marketing is the situation the effectiveness of a campaign can be more accurately measured and analysed. Television adverts are measured in terms of how many people have viewed it beyond that its mostly guesswork its very difficult to measure how many people saw a television advert and then went on to perform the desired action (such as go to a store and buy a product, or make a phone call to enquire about a service). With internet marketing everything that happens as the result of a campaign can be tracked every step of the way.An email marke ting campaign for example can be tracked to see how many people opened the email, how many then visited the website (known as the click through rate) from there it can also track what the visitor did while they were on the website. How much time they spent there, which pages they visited, whether or not they purchased something or if they abandoned their tangle in the process of trying to make a purchase. former(a) details such as which device the customer was using, their location, age and previous look for habits may also be tracked. fashioning use of tools such as Google Analytics can show at a glance the raw info related to any aspect of a visitors habits. There are many other tools on the market but Google Analytics is the most widely used and it integrates well with SEO Google have built up a giant network of partners and billions of websites have track codes. Individual companies can access their own info to analyse but Google has access to everything and have builtup a infobase of browsing habit data they use to improve their algorithms as well as sell to third parties (such as Facebook). This creates a constant feedback coil for everyone involved.This raw data however, is fairly useless if a company does not know how to analyse it and make use of the information. Some raw data has obvious implications for example if a company finds that the majority of visitors are using a mobile device and their site is not fully affectionate on mobile, they should look into optimising their site for mobile users to accommodate the needs of their customers.Other times the data is only the starting point, it must be analysed before it becomes useful information that can be applied in a practical way. Tracking tools can give answers to the questions how, when and where with a high point of accuracy. Who? can be answered to a point, the approximate age of visitors can be tracked, as can their previous browsing habits which may give some insight into their likes and needs. The one question raw data cannot answer is wherefore? Why do visitors behave the way they do? Why do some e-commerce shoppers add items to a cart and then abandon it during the check-out procedure process? Why was the click through rate low/high for a particular campaign?Surveys and social media can be used as tools for getting answers to these questions. Once the quantitative data from tracking tools have provided a starting point, specific questions can be posed to collect qualitative data. Together they can give a company a lot of valuable information to help them improve future campaigns and the way they do business in general. Facebook has its own analytics tools called Facebook Insights it works in a similar way to Google Analytics but is more focused around Facebook pages and ads. Facebook insights shows how many people saw a particular post (reach), how many responded to the post (engagement), and other information such as visitors ages and interests ba sed on what other pages they have liked on Facebook.Facebook Insights can be used to determine which posts get the most likes andshares, which lets companies know what their audience is likely to respond to so they can tailor future posts accordingly. It can also provide information about when visitors engage with the page so future posts can be scheduled to post at a time when the highest reach is likely to be achieved.Combined with the data from Google analytics social media marketing campaigns and posts can be tracked down to the fine details. If these posts lead to strategic content tracking can be broken down into stages to measure the quality of a websites content.Many websites use this strategy, Cracked existence one of them. Cracked are an entertainment website who post funny/interesting articles, columns, videos and podcasts. When a new flip-flop of content is posted, their social media squad up make posts to advertise it to followers. Facebook Insights will provide the tracking information about reach, likes and engagement and Google Analytics takes over once visitors have clicked through. Cracked split up their articles into several pages they could easily fit the content onto a single page so why split it up?One reason is usability, pages load quicker with less content on and readers are less likely to feel overwhelmed by a huge wall of text than they are several manageable chunks.Another reason is SEO the more pages and links robots have to crawl, the higher the site is likely to rank on search engine results. Instead of one page per article related to certain keywords there are 2-4 pages per article.Finally, splitting articles up into several pages allows tracking analytics to be performed in stages. How many people got to the end of the first page and deemed the content interesting enough to click on the read more link? How many read the whole thing? How many dropped out and where did they tend to do it?This can help determine nerveless spots in content and the company can thenformulate a plan to improve the situation. It can also be used to boost engage visitors who seem to be enjoying the content the final page of an article could for example act as a trigger for a pop-up box that prompts to visitor to sign up for a newsletter. If a visitor has enjoyed an article its relatively safe to assume they would like to see more the same is not true for a visitor who has only just landed on the home page. They havent read anything yet, why would they want to sign up for a newsletter?As mentioned in a previous section, tracking data does have its limitations that marketers have to be aware of to properly interpret the data their tools produce. Specifically direct traffic can be difficult to differentiate from all other types of traffic. This makes analysing the effectiveness of marketing campaigns less straight forward than it seems. In a nutshell, whenever a referrer is not passed traffic is marked as direct.What thi s means is a glance at an analytics report may suggest that 50% of a sites traffic is direct, meaning the visitor typed the URL instantly into their browser. The report could for example state organic search accounted for 40% and advertisements 10%.If a company is putting significant resources into advertising and seeing those kinds of numbers they may define it isnt worth it and seek to make changes. While in man direct traffic may only account for 20% while ads account for 30%, making the cost per conversion rate much more favourable.There are a multitude of reasons a referrer may not be passed to the tracking software that results in traffic being incorrectly marked as direct. For example many people make use of ad blocking software that often have clauses that allow for non-intrusive advertising. While users of this software can see and click on non-intrusive ads, the software blocks the server response required to pass the referral to the tracking software. Many browsers no w offer a do not track option to offer additional privacy to users, turning on this setting also blocks tracking requests. Some people may perform a search for something or click on an advertisement but not make a purchase right at that moment and instead choose to come back afterwards bytyping in the URL directly so their visit and subsequent purchase is marked as direct when it was really the result of a campaign.As more users become progressively concerned with privacy tracking and tailored advertising becomes more difficult. Making use of marketing tools makes the process easier but they are still only tools their usefulness is determined by the skill of the person utilising them.Interactive orderliness ProcessingOrder impact is obviously an important part of e-commerce, an online catalogue isnt much use if people cant actually purchase anything. As mentioned in previous sections, the process of placing an order should be made as easy as possible for the customers.Once a c ustomer has decided they would like to hand over some money a company should not distract them in any way. Some companies at this point might be tempted to upsell, cross promote or place advertising on the handicap pages but in approximately all situations this is a mistake. If the customer gets annoyed at the ads they will leave. If they cant figure out how to continue with the confirmation process because the design is cluttered or otherwise hard to use they will leave. If they dont feel confident about the legitimacy of the company or doubt the security of the check-out procedure process they will leave.Upselling attempts should be handled carefully. barrage customers will too many options and they may get distracted by browsing, decide not to check out and instead leave it for later they may not come back. Relevant promotions should be advertised at this point or ideally added to the cart automatically. For example if orders over a certain amount receive free shipping thi s should be conspicuously displayed within the cart and applied automatically when the threshold is reached customers like to feel like theyre getting good value so if they see it will only take them a small amount unornamented to receive free shipping they may decide to add a few more items.Argos successfully uses this technique every year during the build up to Christmas they offer a 5 voucher for anyone spending over 50 and 10 for anyone spending over 100. This promotion is prominently displayed all over their website, catalogues and physical stores. Rather than go a discount on the current purchase, they encourage repeat business by offering money off the next purchase. This has a twofold effect customers will buy a little more than they planned in order to get the voucher and then spend even more after that to use said voucher (not many items can be bought for under 5 or 10 and no change is issued to further encourage customers to use their voucher in full and pay a littl e unnecessary on top rather than waste any of it).If adding additional items can be done without the customer leaving the checkout this will further increase the success of upselling attempts. Both Dominos and Asda integrate upselling into the checkout process. Dominos uses a sidebar next to the main checkout area displaying a selection of small items (sides, desserts, drinks) with a small discount applied visitors can click add to order and the total is updated on the page without pickings them elsewhere. Asda displays a selection of items that the customer has previously ordered, but are not currently in the cart with the heading Have you disregarded anything? This can be helpful to the customer because they may have indeed forgotten something, and Asda in return make additional sales.Businesses can track the behaviour of their customers and analytics tools can be used to determine if a checkout design is working.The tale of The $300 Million Button published in Luke Wroblewski s book Web Form Design Filling in the Blanks contributed by Jared M. Spool is an excellent example of just how important the design of the checkout process is.The piece describes a company who decided to examine their checkout process which featured a login and registration screen after customers clickedcheckout. Their designers reasoned that making registration non-optional would encourage repeat business and customers wouldnt mind logging in to take advantage of quicker checkouts in the future.Spool was called in to analyse the checkout design his team put together a focus group, gave them all a budget and a shopping list and asked them to checkout from the site. Upon being presented with the login form many participants were not sure if they had used the site before and attempted many attempted logins before clicking the Forgot Password? button. Many times this was unsuccessful as they couldnt remember which email address they used. Others who were sure they had not previously registered were backward to do so. One shopper is quoted as saying Im not here to enter into a relationship. I just want to buy something. Many stated that they felt the company just wanted to use their details for spam and others were concerned about privacy.Upon examining tracking analytics for the site the team discovered that 45% of users had multiple registrations and over 160,000 Lost Password requests were being sent every day. 75% of these never returned to the site to complete the lost password process and ergo did not complete the checkout process.Spools team suggested the design was changed to make registration optional. The register button was changed to Continue with the message You do not need to create an account to make purchases on our site. Simply click Continue to proceed to checkout. To make your future purchases even faster, you can create an account during checkout.This simple change resulted in the number of customers purchasing increasing by 45%. The extra p urchases resulted in an extra $15 million in the first month and $300million after the first year.Businesses also need to take into consideration security when implementing an e-commerce system. A pay back payment gateway must be used to make submitting customer financial and personal information safe. Similarly this data needsto be stored securely and kept up to date to comply with the Data aegis Act. Any company accepting card payments (not only online) must also comply with PCI-DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard).If a company does not comply with PCI and DPA standards they run the risk of customer details being leaked which could lead to fraud. This is obviously bad for the customers whose details get stolen but would also damage the reputation of the company and destroy consumer trust as well as earn them huge fines from governing bodies.For small or start-up companies the cost, time and knowledge required to set up and maintain a payment gateway may feel like too much. In that case there are 3rd party services such as PayPal and Google Checkout which can act as a middle man between the merchant and customer. The business doesnt have to worry about keeping customer details secure if they dont store them and instead allow PayPal or similar to handle it. There are fees involved that work on a percentage basis, the more you earn, the more you pay. Additional fees are also charged for withdrawals. PayPal in particular has become an internationally recognised brand and most shoppers are now happy to use them so a small company wont lose out on too many customers from not offering alternative payment options.Most third party payment processing companies offer a free (other than fees) service which hosts the shopping cart external to the main e-commerce site and a premium subscription service which allows full consolidation of the shopping cart into the website.For minimal cost and effort a small company can use the externally hosted cart whil e bigger companies may choose to invest in a more seamless user experience for their customers.The web environment allows for scalability, businesses are free to start small with minimal risk and expand at their own pace.ReferencesCNN Money, 2014. Facebook buys WhatsApp for $19 billion. Online addressable at http//money.cnn.com/2014/02/19/technology/social/facebook-whatsapp/Google, 2011. Google does not use the keywords meta tag in web ranking. Online on hand(predicate) at http//googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.co.uk/2009/09/google-does-not-use-keywords-meta-tag.htmlMojang, 2014. Yes We Were Bought By Microsoft. Online for sale at http//mojang.com/2014/09/yes-were-being-bought-by-microsoft/National Audit Office, 2013. The UK cyber security strategy Landscape review. Online uncommitted at http//www.nao.org.uk/report/the-uk-cyber-security-strategy-landscape-review/Nielsen, J., 2007. Banner Blindness Old and New Findings. Online Available at http//www.nngroup.com/articles/banner-bli ndness-old-and-new-findings/Optimize Smart, n.d. Youre doing Google Analytics all wrong, heres why. Online Available at http//www.optimizesmart.com/google-analytics-wrong-why/Segall, K., 2014. Apples adventures in plastic. Online Available at http//kensegall.com/2014/02/apples-adventures-in-plastic/ approach pattern 1 How users interacted with the Population Finder4Available at http//www.nngroup.com/articles/fancy-formatting-looks-like-an-ad/Fancy Formatting, Fancy delivery = Looks Like a Promotion = Ignored JAKOB NIELSEN September 4, 2007Figure 2 Social Media Useage over time, broken down by age5 Available at http//www.pewinternet.org/2013/08/05/72-of-online-adults-are-social-networking-site-users/72% of Online Adults are Social Networking Site UsersOANNA BRENNER, AARON SMITH August 5, 2013