Wednesday, October 13, 2010
WEB 2.0
Select five applications that you have not heard of before from Popular URL's Web 2.0 awards or the webware awards and describe on your blog page how they could be useful to a business.
Digg:
The Digg application is a social news website which allows people to vote on the popularity of stories on the news. Its interface allows people to vote and rate a story on the news. The Digg phenomenon has lead to the constructions of other such social networks that attempt to rate the news.
Google calendar:
It is a web application that allows user to have a time management device in order to plan their activities or just remember important dates. It works the same way as an agenda or electronic diary would. The advantage of this application is that it allows you to manage your diary on the go since it is online and can be accessed from any computer or mobile device with internet access. In addition with its online interface, information can be shared, uploaded or downloaded.
Reddit:
Reddit is another social news application that allows its users to submit news stories whether by copying links from other websites, copying stories or even writing their own creation. Then these stories can be read by other users and they can be voted for or against by users and users can also have forums about the topics and they can also interact with the writers. It creates a sort of community interaction among its users.
Safari:
Safari is an application developed by Apple in order to browse the web on its different products such as the Mac, the iPhone or the iPad. The program has been developed in order to allow the user to access the internet and navigate with the greatest ease possible. Its popularity is ranked fourth in the world and since 2007; it has been modified to be adapted to Microsoft operating systems for Windows.
Adobe flash player:
The adobe flash player application is one that allows the user of any internet browser to view any piece of animation or even video that may be available for streaming on a website. This has been developed by Adobe based on the concepts of Macromedia which have been taken over by Adobe. The program is becoming ever so popular as the internet is now used more and more for video streamlining.
Trust
Questions
1) What does this meant by the following statements?
Trust is not associative (non-symmetric)
A description of trust being not associative implies that it does not apply to the same extent to two sides of a relationship. For instance, in a trade, the buyer can have greater trust in the seller, than the seller has in the buyer and vice versa. The disequilibrium of trust between two parties can imply that one of the parties can abuse the lack of trust.
Trust is not transitive
Trust is not transitive implies that trust cannot be transferred from one party to another then further on like in a chain. This is because if party A trust party B while party B trust party C, this cannot necessarily imply that party A will trust party C. Trust cannot be moved down the line as such.
Trust is always between exactly 2 parties
In most cases of human interaction, trust will be shared among two parties only. However, in the complex world we live in, such trust can be extended to groups of members in communities we share. Thus trust can exists among more than two parties, however, the level of trust will certainly not be the same.
Trust will involve either direct trust or recommender trust
Trust can be depicted as either direct trust or recommender trust. Direct trust implies that the trust emerges from a direct relationship or experience whereas a recommender trust relates to trust built around the experience of someone else’s word on a relationship or experience.
2a) Have a look at the following websites. What are some of the elements that have been incorporated to increase your trust in the sites? If there are also some aspects which decrease your level of trust describe them as well.
http://www.eBay.com.au
The website eBay has presented me with various features that increases my trust in it as a website and as a service and these include:
1) PayPal insurance
2) Sellers rating
3) Members recommendation
4) Advice services given by eBay
http://www.anz.com.au
Being a bank, the website of ANZ bank offers the maximum possible level of trust. Its use of various information protection procedures as well as extensive encryption to ensure that security is at its highest level during any visit on the website. This is why I would always use such a website without of any fear of abuse of trust.
http://www.thinkgeek.com
Thinkgeek is a website that looks fairly unorganized as compared to many other website. It does include many security features such as contact details and extensive description of its product. However, the design of the website makes me doubt if my details would receive extensive protection from any hacking if I were to transact there.
http://www.paypal.com.au
PayPal is according to me on of the safest website that is available on the web. Due to its extensive privacy features along with its insurance guarantee, any user of this website can transact over the website with absolute peace of mind. I trust it and would never hesitate to use it for any of my transactions.
2b) Find a web site yourself that you think looks untrustworthy.
http://www.bidrivals.com/au due to its lack of privacy information and security options.
1) What does this meant by the following statements?
Trust is not associative (non-symmetric)
A description of trust being not associative implies that it does not apply to the same extent to two sides of a relationship. For instance, in a trade, the buyer can have greater trust in the seller, than the seller has in the buyer and vice versa. The disequilibrium of trust between two parties can imply that one of the parties can abuse the lack of trust.
Trust is not transitive
Trust is not transitive implies that trust cannot be transferred from one party to another then further on like in a chain. This is because if party A trust party B while party B trust party C, this cannot necessarily imply that party A will trust party C. Trust cannot be moved down the line as such.
Trust is always between exactly 2 parties
In most cases of human interaction, trust will be shared among two parties only. However, in the complex world we live in, such trust can be extended to groups of members in communities we share. Thus trust can exists among more than two parties, however, the level of trust will certainly not be the same.
Trust will involve either direct trust or recommender trust
Trust can be depicted as either direct trust or recommender trust. Direct trust implies that the trust emerges from a direct relationship or experience whereas a recommender trust relates to trust built around the experience of someone else’s word on a relationship or experience.
2a) Have a look at the following websites. What are some of the elements that have been incorporated to increase your trust in the sites? If there are also some aspects which decrease your level of trust describe them as well.
http://www.eBay.com.au
The website eBay has presented me with various features that increases my trust in it as a website and as a service and these include:
1) PayPal insurance
2) Sellers rating
3) Members recommendation
4) Advice services given by eBay
http://www.anz.com.au
Being a bank, the website of ANZ bank offers the maximum possible level of trust. Its use of various information protection procedures as well as extensive encryption to ensure that security is at its highest level during any visit on the website. This is why I would always use such a website without of any fear of abuse of trust.
http://www.thinkgeek.com
Thinkgeek is a website that looks fairly unorganized as compared to many other website. It does include many security features such as contact details and extensive description of its product. However, the design of the website makes me doubt if my details would receive extensive protection from any hacking if I were to transact there.
http://www.paypal.com.au
PayPal is according to me on of the safest website that is available on the web. Due to its extensive privacy features along with its insurance guarantee, any user of this website can transact over the website with absolute peace of mind. I trust it and would never hesitate to use it for any of my transactions.
2b) Find a web site yourself that you think looks untrustworthy.
http://www.bidrivals.com/au due to its lack of privacy information and security options.
Online Auctions
Q1: eBay is one of the only major Internet "pure plays" to consistently make a profit from its inception. What is eBay's business model? Why has it been so successful?
Ebay’s model is a revolutionary one that allows buyers and sellers around the world to interact with each other in order to transact in various goods and services. It has emerged with an auction format which allows users to sell and bid for products they wish to trade and nowadays, it also allows straightforward selling also. It follows what is theoretically known as a broker method and it allows buyers and sellers to interact on its platform and charge a commission on usage. The popularity of ebay stems from its ease of use, its international reach, its user interaction which captivates many through its bidding system and also due to the fact that it allows people to make money off it.
Q2: Other major web sites, like Amazon.com and Yahoo!, have entered the auction marketplace with far less success than eBay. How has eBay been able to maintain its dominant position?
EBay’s dominance stems from the fact that it has been a pioneer for years in the field of online auctioning. In contrast, other sites like Amazon and yahoo have only entered the marketplace on a more experimental basis trying to copy a model set up by eBay. The reason for their lower success is that they do not have the expertise to compete with eBay and have not been totally engaged to follow the model completely. If you look at Amazon for instance, it is more involved in direct selling, hence necessitating an extensive infrastructure for procurement, storage and delivery which is a high cost. With eBay, the only cost is the website and anything else is done by the users who are both buyers and sellers and hence have to incur all other costs. Its auctioning system which allows the goods to be sold based purely on the forces of demand and supply allows the users to remain very interested. This is why eBay remains at the top.
Q3: What method does eBay use to reduce the potential for fraud among traders on its site? What kinds of fraud, if any, are eBay users most susceptible?
Ebay’s popularity is mainly based on the fact that all the users that interact on its website place great trust in the service it offers. They feel safe transacting on the website and a breach of such trust could be fatal to ebay. This is why the website always strive to offer the users maximum protection. This is done via the use of user accounts, whereby all users must identify themselves to a certain extent. They also use password and encryptions in order to ensure that user’s privacy is not breached. The addition of paypal and the protection it offers has greatly helped to boost security on the website. Finally, in order to help identify any fraudulent sellers or members, ebay has a system of feedback which allows everyone to rate sellers on the site. The risk inherent to ebay users is privacy breach, fraud and identity theft.
Q4: eBay makes every effort to conceptualize its users as a community (as opposed to, say "customers" or "clients"). What is the purpose of this conceptual twist and does eBay gain something by doing it?
EBay has always attempted to give its client of it being a community to its users due to the fact that it believes that its service brings users together in a way more meaningful than just a pure buyer seller relationship. This idea gives the users a better sense of belonging which means that they will tend to integrate eBay as an integral part of their lives. The fact that eBay has now innovated with more member interactions on its website; the idea of community is a major part of its functioning and this allows its business to keep flourishing.
Q5: eBay has long been a marketplace for used goods and collectibles. Today, it is increasingly a place where major businesses come to auction their wares. Why would a brand name vendor set-up shop on eBay?
EBay’s popularity has been ever increasing and its number of users keeps on rising, making it as a business with a very solid customer base. Having a presence on eBay is like enjoying all the advantages of having an internet presence but this time, due to the potential number of buyers on the site, it offers even more possibility of boosting sales for these businesses. This is why they are now booming on EBay.
Q6. I have a few businesses, and I have used eBay for about 12 years on and off. Currently I have about 600 books listed on eBay (seller name ozrural). I stopped selling on eBay for a few years but they changed the rules this July and it is viable again (for me). What do you think changed?
EBay has adopted new rules regarding its payments options since July 2010. These extended payment options has aimed to increase the security of transacting on the website and promoted sales on the platform.
Ebay’s model is a revolutionary one that allows buyers and sellers around the world to interact with each other in order to transact in various goods and services. It has emerged with an auction format which allows users to sell and bid for products they wish to trade and nowadays, it also allows straightforward selling also. It follows what is theoretically known as a broker method and it allows buyers and sellers to interact on its platform and charge a commission on usage. The popularity of ebay stems from its ease of use, its international reach, its user interaction which captivates many through its bidding system and also due to the fact that it allows people to make money off it.
Q2: Other major web sites, like Amazon.com and Yahoo!, have entered the auction marketplace with far less success than eBay. How has eBay been able to maintain its dominant position?
EBay’s dominance stems from the fact that it has been a pioneer for years in the field of online auctioning. In contrast, other sites like Amazon and yahoo have only entered the marketplace on a more experimental basis trying to copy a model set up by eBay. The reason for their lower success is that they do not have the expertise to compete with eBay and have not been totally engaged to follow the model completely. If you look at Amazon for instance, it is more involved in direct selling, hence necessitating an extensive infrastructure for procurement, storage and delivery which is a high cost. With eBay, the only cost is the website and anything else is done by the users who are both buyers and sellers and hence have to incur all other costs. Its auctioning system which allows the goods to be sold based purely on the forces of demand and supply allows the users to remain very interested. This is why eBay remains at the top.
Q3: What method does eBay use to reduce the potential for fraud among traders on its site? What kinds of fraud, if any, are eBay users most susceptible?
Ebay’s popularity is mainly based on the fact that all the users that interact on its website place great trust in the service it offers. They feel safe transacting on the website and a breach of such trust could be fatal to ebay. This is why the website always strive to offer the users maximum protection. This is done via the use of user accounts, whereby all users must identify themselves to a certain extent. They also use password and encryptions in order to ensure that user’s privacy is not breached. The addition of paypal and the protection it offers has greatly helped to boost security on the website. Finally, in order to help identify any fraudulent sellers or members, ebay has a system of feedback which allows everyone to rate sellers on the site. The risk inherent to ebay users is privacy breach, fraud and identity theft.
Q4: eBay makes every effort to conceptualize its users as a community (as opposed to, say "customers" or "clients"). What is the purpose of this conceptual twist and does eBay gain something by doing it?
EBay has always attempted to give its client of it being a community to its users due to the fact that it believes that its service brings users together in a way more meaningful than just a pure buyer seller relationship. This idea gives the users a better sense of belonging which means that they will tend to integrate eBay as an integral part of their lives. The fact that eBay has now innovated with more member interactions on its website; the idea of community is a major part of its functioning and this allows its business to keep flourishing.
Q5: eBay has long been a marketplace for used goods and collectibles. Today, it is increasingly a place where major businesses come to auction their wares. Why would a brand name vendor set-up shop on eBay?
EBay’s popularity has been ever increasing and its number of users keeps on rising, making it as a business with a very solid customer base. Having a presence on eBay is like enjoying all the advantages of having an internet presence but this time, due to the potential number of buyers on the site, it offers even more possibility of boosting sales for these businesses. This is why they are now booming on EBay.
Q6. I have a few businesses, and I have used eBay for about 12 years on and off. Currently I have about 600 books listed on eBay (seller name ozrural). I stopped selling on eBay for a few years but they changed the rules this July and it is viable again (for me). What do you think changed?
EBay has adopted new rules regarding its payments options since July 2010. These extended payment options has aimed to increase the security of transacting on the website and promoted sales on the platform.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Introduction to Digital Automata
1) Check this link to my ‘intelligent’ cybertwin which I also mentioned in the Powerpoint. You may like to create your own cybertwin as well. The more you 'train' your twin, the better the responses will be. While it is just a fun exercise, think of the opportunities. Imagine if we had a cybertwin that could answer your questions about the course. Or perhaps a shopping assistant?
Having a cyber twin is just amazing. Seeing that has made me realize how fast the electronic world is progressing and that perhaps the things that we see in science fiction movies are not totally false at all. It was astonishing to see how much a machine can replicate the patterns of a real human being. It is scary to think of it, especially if you think of movies where machines take over the world.
2) Write a one paragraph describing the Turing test and another paragraph describing an argument against the Turing Test, known as the about the Chinese room.
According to Wikipedia, the Turing test is a test has been developed as one of the major concepts in the philosophy of artificial intelligence as proposed by Alan Turing (1950). The test originates from a paper he published called "Computing Machinery and Intelligence" and its goal was to determine whether or not computers are able to demonstrate show intelligence. The test comprises a discussion by a human subject with both a computer and a human being and it attempts to discern signs of intelligence in the computer by analyzing its communication patterns.
A counter argument to the Turing test is the Chinese room theory which has been developed by John Searle in his paper “Minds, Brains and Programs" published in the 1980s. It states that even if the computers creates responses that attempts to replicate the thinking pattern of a human being, it cannot fully adopt a self conscious mind which allows it to think. Therefore, due to such a limitation, the computers will never be made equal to the human brain.
3) Can virtual agents succeed in delivering high-quality customer service over the Web? Think of examples which support or disprove the question or just offer an opinion based on your personal experience.
Virtual agents are automated programs adopted by websites with the purpose of offering the customer a service that is rapid, accurate and of consistent standards. This implies that by using the agent, the customer is given the impression that they are being looked after personally and have their queries answered in a satisfactory manner. This allows the provider of such agents to save on costs of employing agents while maintaining a consistent level of service as well as eliminating any lags in the service. However, being a human being, the customer will always have new questions or more personal issues and this is something that I believe is outside the capabilities of the virtual agents. Therefore, they need human support in order to be complete.
Reference:
1. Wikipedia (2010) Turing Test retreieved on 26th September 2010 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turing_test
2. Wikipedia (2010) Chinese Room retrieved on 26th September 2010 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_room
Having a cyber twin is just amazing. Seeing that has made me realize how fast the electronic world is progressing and that perhaps the things that we see in science fiction movies are not totally false at all. It was astonishing to see how much a machine can replicate the patterns of a real human being. It is scary to think of it, especially if you think of movies where machines take over the world.
2) Write a one paragraph describing the Turing test and another paragraph describing an argument against the Turing Test, known as the about the Chinese room.
According to Wikipedia, the Turing test is a test has been developed as one of the major concepts in the philosophy of artificial intelligence as proposed by Alan Turing (1950). The test originates from a paper he published called "Computing Machinery and Intelligence" and its goal was to determine whether or not computers are able to demonstrate show intelligence. The test comprises a discussion by a human subject with both a computer and a human being and it attempts to discern signs of intelligence in the computer by analyzing its communication patterns.
A counter argument to the Turing test is the Chinese room theory which has been developed by John Searle in his paper “Minds, Brains and Programs" published in the 1980s. It states that even if the computers creates responses that attempts to replicate the thinking pattern of a human being, it cannot fully adopt a self conscious mind which allows it to think. Therefore, due to such a limitation, the computers will never be made equal to the human brain.
3) Can virtual agents succeed in delivering high-quality customer service over the Web? Think of examples which support or disprove the question or just offer an opinion based on your personal experience.
Virtual agents are automated programs adopted by websites with the purpose of offering the customer a service that is rapid, accurate and of consistent standards. This implies that by using the agent, the customer is given the impression that they are being looked after personally and have their queries answered in a satisfactory manner. This allows the provider of such agents to save on costs of employing agents while maintaining a consistent level of service as well as eliminating any lags in the service. However, being a human being, the customer will always have new questions or more personal issues and this is something that I believe is outside the capabilities of the virtual agents. Therefore, they need human support in order to be complete.
Reference:
1. Wikipedia (2010) Turing Test retreieved on 26th September 2010 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turing_test
2. Wikipedia (2010) Chinese Room retrieved on 26th September 2010 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_room
Digital markets
Question 1
a) What experiences have you had with shopping online?
I have never been involved with much online shopping but in the rare instances that I have done so, it was mainly to book flight tickets and also to buy some stuff from e-bay. I was not too keen on using this method due to the risk of having my details hacked into. However, I must admit that the comfort that it offers is worth it when shopping otherwise is time consuming.
b) Describe a good experience.
I have had a lot of good experiences while doing my shopping online. However one that stands out from all others is when I went to purchase my last trip around Australia online. The website that I have visited had all kinds of holiday experiences that could do with various price range, offering me great inconvenience.
c) What did you like about the online store you used?
The online store offered a great deal of convenience and a huge variety both in terms of product, quality and price. This is a true model of a one stop shop. In addition the payment method was completely safe with the website having the recognition from online payment protection agencies.
d) Describe a bad experience.
There was that one time when I wanted to buy some cheap household equipments on a website, they wanted me to register to their website and give my email address before completing the purchase. This was not even an option and after selecting my products and being ready for payment, it told me that my email was invalid, although I use it everyday. Eventually, it did not accept my purchase and I could not buy the goods, leaving me frustrated.
e) What problems did you have with the online store?
It was too rigid, putting barriers in the purchasing process that prevents the customer to complete the transaction. In addition to that, forcing the customer to give such details feels like an invasion of privacy.
f) What features make an online store more appealing?
The ease of access to it, its lower prices and its facilities for navigation
g) What features make an online store less appealing?
Bugs, lack of safety over the payment, difficult to navigate and too many processes in order to complete the transaction.
h) Should we expect to see the prices of goods and services rise or fall due to the migration of consumers online?
A movement to consumers online implies a far better product reach for consumers and competition will rise in all markets. Therefore, in order to remain profitable, the prices will eventually need to fall if stores still want to make sales.
Question 2
a) The dispersion of prices (that is, the spread between the lowest and highest price for a particular product) will narrow.
The advent of online stores means that customers will get a far better reach to all kinds of products and are better able to judge prices and will always buy at the cheapest prices. This implies that the prices for similar products will have to converge as customers become more informed.
b) The importance of brand names will decrease.
Brand names are a major factor in differentiating products in the eyes of the customer. Even if the web allows us to buy the same type of products at lower prices, loyalty to brand name will always remain a drive for customers to purchase. For instance, no matter how many type of shoes there are in the market, the brand Nike will always remain a high value brand with a devoted section of the market always purchasing the brand.
c) Price competition will make all products cheaper.
As customers can get better reach of many products around the planet, price competition will eventually be driving prices for all types of goods and services down. However, it price competition is not the only factor that matters in determining prices. Customers are also motivated by quality, brands and non price competition, thus although some goods may get cheaper with price competition. It would be wrong to think that all products will change this way.
d) Digital markets will become dominated by a handful of mega-sites, like Amazon.com.
Digital markets will of course be dominated by a few giants like Amazon.com due to the popularity of those giants. These sites have mastered the market really well and have developed all the criteria necessary to give the customers the best possible shopping experience. In addition to that, their status and resources at their disposal enable them to react to the dynamism of the market, hence making their chances of survival better. However, this does not mean that small sites cannot flourish, new ideas come everyday, and I see no reason to see why this should end.
e) How do you think the balance of power between buyer’s and seller’s will change?
With the digital markets empowering the customers with greater reach to various suppliers and being better informed about price, quality and market development. This I believe will shift the balance of power in favour of the buyer, however, how far is still to be determined.
f) Prices are clustered online.
Prices will tend to get clustered online due to the high level of price competition. This is because all sellers will try to match the best available price in order to sell. However, this will not be the case in all markets because product differentiation.
g) Online prices are elastic. ( i.e. immune to change up and down with demand)
Due to the fact that customers can access a far greater amount of products than in the real physical world, the customers will buy at the cheaper price, if the products are identical. Therefore demand will be very responsive to price changes hence making the statement that online prices are elastic a true one.
h) Online prices are generally transparent (the extent to which prices for a given product or service are known by buyers in the marketplace.).
Online prices are transparent because the markets are accessible by the click of the mouse. Hence customers are fully aware of the different prices charged by different sellers. The only products that this might not apply might be highly specialized products where clients might need passwords to access the product.
Question 3
a) What types of m-commerce services does your cell phone provider offer?
My cell phone provider is Optus. It offers a wide range of m-commerce services through its Optus Zoo portal. It allows me to manage my options on my mobile and it offers me products like mobile TV, news and sport updates, social networking, games and programs.
b) Which of these services do you use?
My favourite services will have to be between news updates and the social networking facilities. With social networking facilities I can stay in touch with my family and friends on the go.
c) What types of transactions do you perform through your cell phone or other wireless device?
The only transaction that I do on my mobile phone besides communicating is to buy games for my mobile phone against my mobile phone credit. Although it offers great convenience, I am still not comfortable to give my credit card details or my bank details on my mobile phone internet due to risk of hacking.
d) What types of transactions would you like to perform, but are currently unable to?
I would like to get more possibilities to use my phone to use platforms like eBay and bidding programs. However, with the development of the iphones with its extensive range of applications, this is becoming a reality. It allows people to have countless applications each giving more options than the last.
e) What is your opinion of wireless advertising/mobile marketing?
With the development of the Iphone by Apple, the mobile technology has taken new proportions. The Iphone has the possibility of offering a variety of applications that use the internet to operate and lots of the applications that are free are very popular with its users and some sellers use it as a platform to promote their products. In contrast, text message advertising has a lot of progress to make to obtain the desired effects.
a) What experiences have you had with shopping online?
I have never been involved with much online shopping but in the rare instances that I have done so, it was mainly to book flight tickets and also to buy some stuff from e-bay. I was not too keen on using this method due to the risk of having my details hacked into. However, I must admit that the comfort that it offers is worth it when shopping otherwise is time consuming.
b) Describe a good experience.
I have had a lot of good experiences while doing my shopping online. However one that stands out from all others is when I went to purchase my last trip around Australia online. The website that I have visited had all kinds of holiday experiences that could do with various price range, offering me great inconvenience.
c) What did you like about the online store you used?
The online store offered a great deal of convenience and a huge variety both in terms of product, quality and price. This is a true model of a one stop shop. In addition the payment method was completely safe with the website having the recognition from online payment protection agencies.
d) Describe a bad experience.
There was that one time when I wanted to buy some cheap household equipments on a website, they wanted me to register to their website and give my email address before completing the purchase. This was not even an option and after selecting my products and being ready for payment, it told me that my email was invalid, although I use it everyday. Eventually, it did not accept my purchase and I could not buy the goods, leaving me frustrated.
e) What problems did you have with the online store?
It was too rigid, putting barriers in the purchasing process that prevents the customer to complete the transaction. In addition to that, forcing the customer to give such details feels like an invasion of privacy.
f) What features make an online store more appealing?
The ease of access to it, its lower prices and its facilities for navigation
g) What features make an online store less appealing?
Bugs, lack of safety over the payment, difficult to navigate and too many processes in order to complete the transaction.
h) Should we expect to see the prices of goods and services rise or fall due to the migration of consumers online?
A movement to consumers online implies a far better product reach for consumers and competition will rise in all markets. Therefore, in order to remain profitable, the prices will eventually need to fall if stores still want to make sales.
Question 2
a) The dispersion of prices (that is, the spread between the lowest and highest price for a particular product) will narrow.
The advent of online stores means that customers will get a far better reach to all kinds of products and are better able to judge prices and will always buy at the cheapest prices. This implies that the prices for similar products will have to converge as customers become more informed.
b) The importance of brand names will decrease.
Brand names are a major factor in differentiating products in the eyes of the customer. Even if the web allows us to buy the same type of products at lower prices, loyalty to brand name will always remain a drive for customers to purchase. For instance, no matter how many type of shoes there are in the market, the brand Nike will always remain a high value brand with a devoted section of the market always purchasing the brand.
c) Price competition will make all products cheaper.
As customers can get better reach of many products around the planet, price competition will eventually be driving prices for all types of goods and services down. However, it price competition is not the only factor that matters in determining prices. Customers are also motivated by quality, brands and non price competition, thus although some goods may get cheaper with price competition. It would be wrong to think that all products will change this way.
d) Digital markets will become dominated by a handful of mega-sites, like Amazon.com.
Digital markets will of course be dominated by a few giants like Amazon.com due to the popularity of those giants. These sites have mastered the market really well and have developed all the criteria necessary to give the customers the best possible shopping experience. In addition to that, their status and resources at their disposal enable them to react to the dynamism of the market, hence making their chances of survival better. However, this does not mean that small sites cannot flourish, new ideas come everyday, and I see no reason to see why this should end.
e) How do you think the balance of power between buyer’s and seller’s will change?
With the digital markets empowering the customers with greater reach to various suppliers and being better informed about price, quality and market development. This I believe will shift the balance of power in favour of the buyer, however, how far is still to be determined.
f) Prices are clustered online.
Prices will tend to get clustered online due to the high level of price competition. This is because all sellers will try to match the best available price in order to sell. However, this will not be the case in all markets because product differentiation.
g) Online prices are elastic. ( i.e. immune to change up and down with demand)
Due to the fact that customers can access a far greater amount of products than in the real physical world, the customers will buy at the cheaper price, if the products are identical. Therefore demand will be very responsive to price changes hence making the statement that online prices are elastic a true one.
h) Online prices are generally transparent (the extent to which prices for a given product or service are known by buyers in the marketplace.).
Online prices are transparent because the markets are accessible by the click of the mouse. Hence customers are fully aware of the different prices charged by different sellers. The only products that this might not apply might be highly specialized products where clients might need passwords to access the product.
Question 3
a) What types of m-commerce services does your cell phone provider offer?
My cell phone provider is Optus. It offers a wide range of m-commerce services through its Optus Zoo portal. It allows me to manage my options on my mobile and it offers me products like mobile TV, news and sport updates, social networking, games and programs.
b) Which of these services do you use?
My favourite services will have to be between news updates and the social networking facilities. With social networking facilities I can stay in touch with my family and friends on the go.
c) What types of transactions do you perform through your cell phone or other wireless device?
The only transaction that I do on my mobile phone besides communicating is to buy games for my mobile phone against my mobile phone credit. Although it offers great convenience, I am still not comfortable to give my credit card details or my bank details on my mobile phone internet due to risk of hacking.
d) What types of transactions would you like to perform, but are currently unable to?
I would like to get more possibilities to use my phone to use platforms like eBay and bidding programs. However, with the development of the iphones with its extensive range of applications, this is becoming a reality. It allows people to have countless applications each giving more options than the last.
e) What is your opinion of wireless advertising/mobile marketing?
With the development of the Iphone by Apple, the mobile technology has taken new proportions. The Iphone has the possibility of offering a variety of applications that use the internet to operate and lots of the applications that are free are very popular with its users and some sellers use it as a platform to promote their products. In contrast, text message advertising has a lot of progress to make to obtain the desired effects.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Business models:
Question 1
Brokerage
A brokerage business model is one where the broker’s role is to allow buyers and sellers to meet and transact. This business model will allow both parties to get what they want with some ease and in return, they will charge a commission which is called a brokerage fee. In the e-business world, the various type of brokerage model that exists includes marketplace exchange, buy/sell fulfillment, demand collection system, auction broker, transaction broker, distributor search agent and/or virtual marketplace. A very good example of a real world brokerage model is Betfair 365 which allows gamblers to bet or lay bets.
Advertising
The advertising model is one where businesses advertise on some website to target a maximum number of customers who use those websites. The website thus generates revenue by charging fees to these businesses who advertise. The advertising normally takes place as banner ads or pop-ups that accompany some website. These advertising will aim to reach the maximum number of potential clients and thus will be more common on very popular websites that have high traffic. Real world examples include Google or yahoo.
Infomediary
Data about consumers and their consumption habits are valuable, especially when that information is carefully analyzed and used to target marketing campaigns. Independently collected data about producers and their products are useful to consumers when considering a purchase. Some firms function as infomediaries (information intermediaries) assisting buyers and/or sellers understand a given market. These websites attempt to get customers to subscribe and give information about their tastes and preferences and later on will have matching advertisement. A good example is scribd.com.
Merchant
The merchant model relates to websites that are involved in the wholesaling and retailing business selling to the customers directly. Therefore, in the e-business context, this relates to websites that serve the only purpose of selling goods and services directly to the customer. An example includes the site a1supplement.com.au.
Manufacturer (Direct)
This business model is one that allows the manufacturer to sell its products directly to customers, therefore bypassing all middlemen in the process. This website allows for substantial cost reduction for both buyers and sellers. A good example is Dell computers.
Affiliate
The affiliate model provides purchase opportunities wherever people may be surfing. It does this by offering financial incentives (in the form of a percentage of revenue) to affiliated partner sites. The affiliates provide purchase-point click-through to the merchant. It is a pay-for-performance model -- if an affiliate does not generate sales, it represents no cost to the merchant. The affiliate model is inherently well-suited to the web, which explains its popularity. Variations include banner exchange, pay-per-click, and revenue sharing programs. Example of such a website is Amazon.com.
Community
The viability of the community model is based on user loyalty. Users have a high investment in both time and emotion. Revenue can be based on the sale of ancillary products and services or voluntary contributions; or revenue may be tied to contextual advertising and subscriptions for premium services. This model is nowadays very popular with websites such as facebook which has networks from all kind of communities who get together. In the meantime, businesses seize the opportunity to advertise and boost their sales on such platforms.
Subscription
The subscription model is one where the customers join the website by paying subscription in order to use the content of the website. Real world examples of such websites include many electronic academic research websites or download websites such as rapidshare.com.
Utility
The utility method is one business model that generates its funds from the client’s usage of the website. It is just like a utility (water, gas, electricity or internet) company would charge a customer. A good example of such website would be those that offer pay per view of sports coverage.
Question 2
What is the business model for TWITTER?
Twitter is a global social network that gathers millions of people around the globe and allows them to interact with each other. This website is so popular that it has been a platform for its inventors to make lots of money due to the amount of potential customers that are on the website each day. This is why the site can fit several business models at the same time; however the business model that stands out for Twitter is the advertising model. Being a website that gathers so many potential customers, Twitter is an immense marketing platform for any business and thus advertising on Twitter is worth paying for. This is how Twitter generates a major part of its revenue.
Question 3:
1) What is the Mobile phone use /100 population - compare Australia, USA, China, India, Your Country
USA: 86.79/100
Australia: 104.96/100
China: 47.95/100
India: 29.36/100
Saudi Arabia: 142.85/100
2) Internet use / 100 population - compare Australia, USA, China, India, Your Country
USA: 74/100
Australia: 71.98/100
China: 22.28/100
India: 4.38/100
Saudi Arabia: 30.8/100
3) Compare main strengths and weaknesses of Australia or your home country in the survey
The strengths of Australia include:
Level of competition, e-Participation, time required to start a business, number of procedures required to start a business, effectiveness of law-making bodies, secure internet servers (hard data), government online service index (hard data), laws relating to ICT, venture capital availability
The strengths of Saudi Arabia include:
Level of competition, computer, total tax rate, education expenditure, and time required to start a business
The weaknesses of Australia include:
Business monthly telephone subscription, total tax rate, fixed telephone tariffs, mobile cellular tariffs, residential monthly telephone subscription, extent and effect of taxation, burden of government regulation, availability of new telephone line, high tech exports, computers.
The weaknesses of Saudi Arabia include:
High-tech exports, freedom of the press, e-participation index, time to enforce a contract, number of procedures to enforce a contract
4) What does the survey suggest to you about the Information Technology readiness of Australian business compared to Australian consumers?
According the survey, Australia’s business readiness is 21st globally. In contrast, the individual’s readiness is ranked in 31st place, meaning that in comparison to other countries Australia’s businesses are more technologically ready than the customers. This would be good news if the country is to move towards computerizing its economy.
Brokerage
A brokerage business model is one where the broker’s role is to allow buyers and sellers to meet and transact. This business model will allow both parties to get what they want with some ease and in return, they will charge a commission which is called a brokerage fee. In the e-business world, the various type of brokerage model that exists includes marketplace exchange, buy/sell fulfillment, demand collection system, auction broker, transaction broker, distributor search agent and/or virtual marketplace. A very good example of a real world brokerage model is Betfair 365 which allows gamblers to bet or lay bets.
Advertising
The advertising model is one where businesses advertise on some website to target a maximum number of customers who use those websites. The website thus generates revenue by charging fees to these businesses who advertise. The advertising normally takes place as banner ads or pop-ups that accompany some website. These advertising will aim to reach the maximum number of potential clients and thus will be more common on very popular websites that have high traffic. Real world examples include Google or yahoo.
Infomediary
Data about consumers and their consumption habits are valuable, especially when that information is carefully analyzed and used to target marketing campaigns. Independently collected data about producers and their products are useful to consumers when considering a purchase. Some firms function as infomediaries (information intermediaries) assisting buyers and/or sellers understand a given market. These websites attempt to get customers to subscribe and give information about their tastes and preferences and later on will have matching advertisement. A good example is scribd.com.
Merchant
The merchant model relates to websites that are involved in the wholesaling and retailing business selling to the customers directly. Therefore, in the e-business context, this relates to websites that serve the only purpose of selling goods and services directly to the customer. An example includes the site a1supplement.com.au.
Manufacturer (Direct)
This business model is one that allows the manufacturer to sell its products directly to customers, therefore bypassing all middlemen in the process. This website allows for substantial cost reduction for both buyers and sellers. A good example is Dell computers.
Affiliate
The affiliate model provides purchase opportunities wherever people may be surfing. It does this by offering financial incentives (in the form of a percentage of revenue) to affiliated partner sites. The affiliates provide purchase-point click-through to the merchant. It is a pay-for-performance model -- if an affiliate does not generate sales, it represents no cost to the merchant. The affiliate model is inherently well-suited to the web, which explains its popularity. Variations include banner exchange, pay-per-click, and revenue sharing programs. Example of such a website is Amazon.com.
Community
The viability of the community model is based on user loyalty. Users have a high investment in both time and emotion. Revenue can be based on the sale of ancillary products and services or voluntary contributions; or revenue may be tied to contextual advertising and subscriptions for premium services. This model is nowadays very popular with websites such as facebook which has networks from all kind of communities who get together. In the meantime, businesses seize the opportunity to advertise and boost their sales on such platforms.
Subscription
The subscription model is one where the customers join the website by paying subscription in order to use the content of the website. Real world examples of such websites include many electronic academic research websites or download websites such as rapidshare.com.
Utility
The utility method is one business model that generates its funds from the client’s usage of the website. It is just like a utility (water, gas, electricity or internet) company would charge a customer. A good example of such website would be those that offer pay per view of sports coverage.
Question 2
What is the business model for TWITTER?
Twitter is a global social network that gathers millions of people around the globe and allows them to interact with each other. This website is so popular that it has been a platform for its inventors to make lots of money due to the amount of potential customers that are on the website each day. This is why the site can fit several business models at the same time; however the business model that stands out for Twitter is the advertising model. Being a website that gathers so many potential customers, Twitter is an immense marketing platform for any business and thus advertising on Twitter is worth paying for. This is how Twitter generates a major part of its revenue.
Question 3:
1) What is the Mobile phone use /100 population - compare Australia, USA, China, India, Your Country
USA: 86.79/100
Australia: 104.96/100
China: 47.95/100
India: 29.36/100
Saudi Arabia: 142.85/100
2) Internet use / 100 population - compare Australia, USA, China, India, Your Country
USA: 74/100
Australia: 71.98/100
China: 22.28/100
India: 4.38/100
Saudi Arabia: 30.8/100
3) Compare main strengths and weaknesses of Australia or your home country in the survey
The strengths of Australia include:
Level of competition, e-Participation, time required to start a business, number of procedures required to start a business, effectiveness of law-making bodies, secure internet servers (hard data), government online service index (hard data), laws relating to ICT, venture capital availability
The strengths of Saudi Arabia include:
Level of competition, computer, total tax rate, education expenditure, and time required to start a business
The weaknesses of Australia include:
Business monthly telephone subscription, total tax rate, fixed telephone tariffs, mobile cellular tariffs, residential monthly telephone subscription, extent and effect of taxation, burden of government regulation, availability of new telephone line, high tech exports, computers.
The weaknesses of Saudi Arabia include:
High-tech exports, freedom of the press, e-participation index, time to enforce a contract, number of procedures to enforce a contract
4) What does the survey suggest to you about the Information Technology readiness of Australian business compared to Australian consumers?
According the survey, Australia’s business readiness is 21st globally. In contrast, the individual’s readiness is ranked in 31st place, meaning that in comparison to other countries Australia’s businesses are more technologically ready than the customers. This would be good news if the country is to move towards computerizing its economy.
Web Analytics
1) Looking at the site usage, what do the terms visits, page views and pages/visit mean? What does the bounce rate mean and does it vary
much from day to day?
Visits:
The term visit refers to when someone enters a website to view its contents. A visit may consist of viewing several pages or a single one. Within a visit, a person can opt to view a single page or multiple pages, however within a single visit; there must not be any 30 minute gap between different pages.
Page views:
A page view happens when someone visits a page which is found on a website. A page view can concern any page that is found on the website and can be accessed by clicking on a link and the page itself can have other links as part of its contents.
Pages/Visit:
This is the statistics that describes the number of pages that are being viewed for each visit.
Bounce rate:
The bounce rate refers to the proportion of users that exit the website to go to different ones rather than continue browsing the same one. It varies fairly because it is a statistic affected by each visit made on the website.
2) Now look at the traffic sources report. What are the three sources of traffic and where has most of the traffic come from?
The three sources of traffic as at 04.09.10 are as follows:
1) Search engine 42.51%
2) Direct traffic 39.27%
3) Referring sites 18.21%
The most popular source of traffic is search engine with 42.51%
3) What was the most popular web browser used to access the site?
The most popular web browser used to access the site is Internet explorer with 46.51%
4) How many countries did visitors to Foliospaces come from and what were the top four countries?
The visitors to folio space came from 55 countries and the top four countries are Australia, United States, United Kingdom and Phillipine.
5) Having clicked every possible link on my analytics, make a few comments on (a) What you can track, (b) What you can track over time and (c) What you can’t track.
a) The items that can be tracked can be subdivided into five categories namely statistics for visitors, traffic source, content, site search, event tracking and goals. The table below shows the statistics that can be tracked.
Visitors: Benchmarking, Map Overlay, New vs. Returning, Languages, Visitor Trending, Visitor Loyalty, Browser Capabilities, Network Properties
Traffic: Direct Traffic, Referring Sites, Search Engines, All Traffic Sources, Keywords, AdWords
Content: Top Content,Content by Title, Content Drilldown,Top Landing Pages, Top Exit Pages, Site Overlay
Site search: Usage, Search Terms, Start Pages, Destination Pages, Categories, Trending
Event Tracking: Categories, Actions, Labels, Trending, Hostnames
Goals: Total Conversions, Conversion Rate, Goal Abandoned Funnels, Goal Value, Funnel Visualization
b) In relation to the statistics measuring the statistics over time, almost all of the above offer these facilities.
c) We cannot track the actual goal of the customers visiting the website and the demography of the users going on the website.
6) What do the following terms mean? These are just a few, you may like to add some more and perhaps include them on the Moodle glossary.
High bounce rate
This refers to a high proportion of people navigating away from the website without going to visit any additional pages on the website.
Key words
Key words are the words used on search engine that are helpful for accessing a website.
Average Page Depth
It is an analytics statistic which denotes how far internet users go in a certain website.
Click through rate
This refers to the statistic that shows the rate of users that have accessed the website by clicking through links from other website.
Click
A click refers to the act of using the mouse in order to follow a link that is found on a website. With a click, someone can navigate through the different options that are given to him/her on a website.
Cookie
Cookie refers to the data from a website that is kept in the computer’s memory via the web browser so that it can be used later on to access the website.
Impression
It is a statistics measuring the views of the advertising pop ups that are included on a particular website.
Hyperlink
A hyperlink refers to ‘a link from a hypertext file to another location or file; typically activated by clicking on a highlighted word or icon at a particular location on the screen’ (http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=hyperlink)
Navigation
It refers to the process of browsing among websites on the internet. It can also refer to a single site only.
Pageview
A Pageview refers to ‘accessing or merely seeing a Web page as opposed to other methods that count many elements per page’. (www.wnd.com/mediakit/glossary.asp)
Session
The term session refers to the time someone spends on a website to view its contents. A session may consist of viewing several pages or a single one up to the time that the person decides to end his visit by exiting the website, stop using the internet or computer or inactivity lasting more than half an hour.
Unique Visitors (or Absolute Unique Visitors)
It is a statistic that is used to provide an identity to a user that visits the website over a certain specific time period. Each visitor will have one of these during a certain time period.
URL
URL which stands for Uniform Resource Locator refers to the address for a website or any other item on the internet.
Visitor
A visitor refers to the user that enters and browses through a website. This is the term that identifies each website user from each other.
Visitor Session
It refers to the ‘interaction by a site visitor. The session ends when the visitor leaves the site’. (www.formicmedia.com/sem-glossary.htm)
Comparison shopping
It refers to the act of comparing different product or service according to their price and quality before purchasing the latter.
much from day to day?
Visits:
The term visit refers to when someone enters a website to view its contents. A visit may consist of viewing several pages or a single one. Within a visit, a person can opt to view a single page or multiple pages, however within a single visit; there must not be any 30 minute gap between different pages.
Page views:
A page view happens when someone visits a page which is found on a website. A page view can concern any page that is found on the website and can be accessed by clicking on a link and the page itself can have other links as part of its contents.
Pages/Visit:
This is the statistics that describes the number of pages that are being viewed for each visit.
Bounce rate:
The bounce rate refers to the proportion of users that exit the website to go to different ones rather than continue browsing the same one. It varies fairly because it is a statistic affected by each visit made on the website.
2) Now look at the traffic sources report. What are the three sources of traffic and where has most of the traffic come from?
The three sources of traffic as at 04.09.10 are as follows:
1) Search engine 42.51%
2) Direct traffic 39.27%
3) Referring sites 18.21%
The most popular source of traffic is search engine with 42.51%
3) What was the most popular web browser used to access the site?
The most popular web browser used to access the site is Internet explorer with 46.51%
4) How many countries did visitors to Foliospaces come from and what were the top four countries?
The visitors to folio space came from 55 countries and the top four countries are Australia, United States, United Kingdom and Phillipine.
5) Having clicked every possible link on my analytics, make a few comments on (a) What you can track, (b) What you can track over time and (c) What you can’t track.
a) The items that can be tracked can be subdivided into five categories namely statistics for visitors, traffic source, content, site search, event tracking and goals. The table below shows the statistics that can be tracked.
Visitors: Benchmarking, Map Overlay, New vs. Returning, Languages, Visitor Trending, Visitor Loyalty, Browser Capabilities, Network Properties
Traffic: Direct Traffic, Referring Sites, Search Engines, All Traffic Sources, Keywords, AdWords
Content: Top Content,Content by Title, Content Drilldown,Top Landing Pages, Top Exit Pages, Site Overlay
Site search: Usage, Search Terms, Start Pages, Destination Pages, Categories, Trending
Event Tracking: Categories, Actions, Labels, Trending, Hostnames
Goals: Total Conversions, Conversion Rate, Goal Abandoned Funnels, Goal Value, Funnel Visualization
b) In relation to the statistics measuring the statistics over time, almost all of the above offer these facilities.
c) We cannot track the actual goal of the customers visiting the website and the demography of the users going on the website.
6) What do the following terms mean? These are just a few, you may like to add some more and perhaps include them on the Moodle glossary.
High bounce rate
This refers to a high proportion of people navigating away from the website without going to visit any additional pages on the website.
Key words
Key words are the words used on search engine that are helpful for accessing a website.
Average Page Depth
It is an analytics statistic which denotes how far internet users go in a certain website.
Click through rate
This refers to the statistic that shows the rate of users that have accessed the website by clicking through links from other website.
Click
A click refers to the act of using the mouse in order to follow a link that is found on a website. With a click, someone can navigate through the different options that are given to him/her on a website.
Cookie
Cookie refers to the data from a website that is kept in the computer’s memory via the web browser so that it can be used later on to access the website.
Impression
It is a statistics measuring the views of the advertising pop ups that are included on a particular website.
Hyperlink
A hyperlink refers to ‘a link from a hypertext file to another location or file; typically activated by clicking on a highlighted word or icon at a particular location on the screen’ (http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=hyperlink)
Navigation
It refers to the process of browsing among websites on the internet. It can also refer to a single site only.
Pageview
A Pageview refers to ‘accessing or merely seeing a Web page as opposed to other methods that count many elements per page’. (www.wnd.com/mediakit/glossary.asp)
Session
The term session refers to the time someone spends on a website to view its contents. A session may consist of viewing several pages or a single one up to the time that the person decides to end his visit by exiting the website, stop using the internet or computer or inactivity lasting more than half an hour.
Unique Visitors (or Absolute Unique Visitors)
It is a statistic that is used to provide an identity to a user that visits the website over a certain specific time period. Each visitor will have one of these during a certain time period.
URL
URL which stands for Uniform Resource Locator refers to the address for a website or any other item on the internet.
Visitor
A visitor refers to the user that enters and browses through a website. This is the term that identifies each website user from each other.
Visitor Session
It refers to the ‘interaction by a site visitor. The session ends when the visitor leaves the site’. (www.formicmedia.com/sem-glossary.htm)
Comparison shopping
It refers to the act of comparing different product or service according to their price and quality before purchasing the latter.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)