Digital design

1. In two paragraphs explain why a customer centric Web site design is so important, yet so difficult to accomplish

Business strive to get a customer centric website because such a website can be most beneficial to their turnover and hence profitability. A customer centric website is one that is aimed at fulfilling all the requirements that clients can have from such a site, whilst offering them the best possible navigation experience. It is widely believed that such a website is a key to promoting sales, profitability, and market value and even be the basis of becoming a popular trademark.

Despite all the potential benefits that such a type of website can provide, its setting up and its maintenance are big barriers to its existence. The main challenges that are derived from the website include the following:

There is a conflict of interest when a website has to offer the maximum amount of information while it should remain easy to navigate through.

Every client is a different individual and in order to cater for the needs of all of them, the website will need to be huge. Since this is not possible for it to remain customer centric, this concept is hard to materialize.

Such a website needs heavy maintenance due to the ever changing nature of business and demand from clients and potential clients. Thus in order to build such a type of web, the logistic support will have to be immense.

2. Define the term 'presence'. Write an additional paragraph that describes why firms that do business on the Web should be more concerned about presence than firms that operate in the physical world.

The term presence can be defined as ‘a theoretical concept describing the effect that people experience when they interact with a computer-mediated or computer-generated environment.’ (Sheridan, 1994) This implies that with presence, businesses on the World Wide Web are known to the users of the internet and that these users are able to access their website and transact accordingly. Presence in the virtual world is ever so important since an e-business with no presence is as good as one that does not exist since no trade activities can take place if there are no clients accessing it. This presence concept would be more crucial than that of a business in the real world since the physical setting of a business, i.e. its building and shops enable people to actually see it if they go in front of it. On the internet, this is not the case, if a user does not get the right address or the right keywords in their search, they might never access a business. Furthermore, with a website, a customer can leave even more easily than for a real world business because entering or leaving a website is only one click.

Sheridan, T. B. (1994). Further musings on the psychophysics of presence, 5, 241-246

3. Write three paragraphs to briefly describe the things that Real Estate Agents can best accomplish through (1) their web sites (2) Mass media advertising (3) Personal contact

In the real estate market, the products that are for sale are a basic necessity for everyone, which is housing. The real estate business is involved in two segments of the housing markets which are namely the sale of properties or their rental. This is a very active and busy industry due to the lucrative nature of the business which has led to a high level of competition. For this reason, real estate agents attempt to reach their customers by a maximum range of means possible and the internet is one way to do so.

With the use of websites, the real estate agents are able to advertise their products, update them and extend their reach to the customers’ house, office or even portable devices. Thus the opportunities that a website offers to real estate agents are diverse and if implemented properly, they can be very effective. The use of website can allow customers to get involved very actively by allowing them to book their own appointments and even view the location and it’s surrounding on maps for instance. 

Mass media channels are other very good options that real estate agents can use to attract clients. Mass media channels include the radio, television and newspapers that can be use to show their products to the customers. By using these means, the real estate agents can portray the product like any other company would advertise its product. It must be noted however in today’s world, the only mass media channel commonly used by real estate agents are newspapers where they advertise substantially.

Another popular option available to real estate agents is the use of personal contact to reach potential clients. By this method, the real estate agent directly approaches the client and is able to get a first hand idea of what is required by the client. This approach is a very tedious one for the agents, however, due to the personal touch given to the service; this is a very common one. This is why many real estate businesses attempt to create appointments with clients and rely on the personal contact with them to sell their products. The direct approach is one that is deemed to have the most probability to convert into a sale.