Assignment: 1) Create a website biz proposal 2. create a website for the biz. It would be due in 3.5 hours at 6:35pm est. The biz proposal is for loanoply.com which will offer fix and flip and rental loans for investors.
You are required to establish your own E-Commerce business. E-commerce is electronically buying or selling products on online services or over the Internet using computers or mobile devices. Please find a business that is very suitable for online thru the Internet. The textbook covers all the essential concepts of E-Commerce. Please see the attached instruction for detailed requirements. The attached example will help you to understand how this assignment should be written (
E-Commerce_proposal_Example.docx
). The organization and structure of your proposal must be almost identical to the example. Please assume that you really want to convince various investors by utilizing the proposal.
Your proposal MUST include the following guidelines:
• Company name (i.e., Amazon, Inc., Ebay, Inc, esystems21, Inc…)
• Company Internet address (URL) by your free website builder, such as www.wix.com: your free website builder will provide a free Internet address.
• Industry analysis using the 5 Competitive Forces Model (see chap 1 for detail or Google it!): please make sure that your industry analysis is accurate and thorough
• Company’s mission
• Business description
a) What will you be selling? Products, Services, or Both?
b) Is it Business to Business, Business to Consumer, or both?
c) Where will you be located, and why? Will locate the business on a major Internet backbone such as San Jose or other big cities? – if not – please explain why.
d) What will be your primary source of revenue? - If the site sells products and services, the revenue stream is observable and is considered “straightforward.” If the revenue is produced in another manner, the revenue stream must be clearly presented. It is assumed the website is a “pro-profit” entity.
e) How will you attain distribution?
f) How can you make sure that your company exists? If no one knows your website exists, your company can be out of business sooner or later.
g) What will be your competitive advantage? – cost leadership, differentiation, focus, or something else
This is the second part of Electronic Commerce. Your job is building a website based on the business proposal you developed for the first part of Electronic Commerce. Upon completing the website development,
please include your electronic commerce website address in the proposal (the first cover page).
Your assignment must be almost identical to the example document.
Please use one of the free website builders, such as wix.com, to develop and publish your E-Commerce company website. Please make sure to use ONLY FREE features.You can build and publish your E-Commerce website using ONLY FREE FEATURES!
Here are a few free website builders with tutorials:
• www.wix.com - Wix Tutorial 2021(Full Tutorial For Beginners) - Create A Professional Website
• squareup.com/us/en - How to Set up a Free Online Store using Square [Tutorial]
• www.weebly.com - Weebly Tutorial for Beginners - How to Use Weebly in 2021
• There are more free website builders and tutorials available thru Google and YouTube!
The following essential web pages must be included in your E-Commerce website. Please do not list and post everything on the same page, such as the “Home” page. Create an individual page below each category. Otherwise, a severe penalty will be applied.
1) Company home page (brief introduction of company and management people)
2) Product or service information page (just a few samples! not a complete list)
3) Product or service order page
4) FAQ (frequently asked question) page
5) Contact page (e.g., company address, email, phone number….)
6) Product returns policy or service quality guarantee policy page
7) Customer feedback page
8) Link to other companies' site as an extra service to customers
9) Other relevant pages for your website (e.g., security policy, order tracking page by a delivery company such as FedEx or UPS…)
E-Commerce Project Example Your Company Name Here Your Name Here Contents Executive Summary2 Industry Analysis3 Five Competitive Forces Model3 Threat of New Entrants (Moderate)4 Threats of Substitute Products or Services (Low)4 Bargaining Power of Suppliers (High)4 Bargaining Power of Buyers (Moderate)5 Competitive Rivalry (Moderate)5 Mission and Vision7 Our Mission Statement7 Our Vision Statement7 Business Description7 Products7 Services7 Our Location8 Sources of Revenue9 Product Distribution11 Ensure Our Existence11 Competitive Advantage12 References13 Executive Summary It has been said that we as individuals need to travel in order to experience the fullest meaning of life. American author, Jack Kerouac, once said, “live, travel, adventure, bless and don't be sorry.” However, in today’s forever changing society many of us are busier than ever before, and rarely do we take time to enjoy life. We find yourself not living, but stuck in the monotonous day-to-day responsiblites of our life’s dull drama. For others, we find ourselves unable to afford the often overlooked need to travel and discover new horizons. Creating the time and opportunities to travel is of paramount importance, and Travel Light makes it possible for everyone. If you have limited time, we have you covered; if you have limited funds, we have you covered. We firmly believe that everyone, regardless of their other commitments should be afforded the right to travel and see the world anew. Travel Light is a San Francisco based online travel specialist agency helping individuals, couples, family, and friends find the right getaway for them. Although we are more than happy to assist business in their travel needs, Travel Light identifies as an e-commerce business to consumer company (B2C). Travel Light enables travelers book their vacations and getaways from the comfort of their own home. Unlike other leading competitors, Travel Light updates prices multiple times a day to ensure the best price possible. Our vast network of partners enables us to guarantee the best package pricing - we are so confident, that we will refund you the difference plus 10% if you find the same package at a lower rate. Travel Light is able to achieve all of these advantages and more, in large part, because of our patented travel search engine that compares prices not only from US competitors, but forigen competitors and non-third party travel agencies. Our partoned system implements Meta Descriptions of other sites, Unbranded Searches, and Keyword Phrases to deliver the best prices possible. Our webpage is easy to navigate both for the experienced and inexperienced internet user. With an optimal search feature, Graphical User Interface (GUI), easy checkout, and instant email confirmation, Travel Light is sure to please everyone. Industry Analysis It is of critical importance to assess the nature of the travel industry to determine the competitive advantages and weaknesses of Travel Light. Perhaps one of the most useful tools to render a proper assessment is Porter’s Five Forces Model. Five Competitive Forces Model Michael Porter has created a model that aids companies in evaluating five forces that assess the competitive structure of a given industry. Figure 1.0 illustrates the different components of Porter’s model. In this section, we will use Porter's Model to assess the competitiveness of Travel Light. Figure 1. Michael Porter’s Five Competitive Forces Model Threat of New Entrants (Moderate) As with many internet-based companies, the requirement for capital is largely reduced; however, that is not the only barrier for entry into the travel agency market. Currently Online travel agency include, Gate1 Travel, Expeadia, Orbiz, Hotwire, and others. It is important to note that while companies like Expidea do compete with Travel Light, the services do not match up one hundred percent. Travel Light not only coordinates flights and hotels, but excursions and other all-inclusive packages. Perhaps the most prominent barrier to entry is the need to create partnerships with hotels, airlines, execution companies, and other major tourist driven companies. Of course this can be achieved, but the time commitment and established customer base is needed in order to create commercial relationships strong enough to create an appeal for partnerships to form. For this reason the threat of new entry is moderate. Threat of Substitute Products or Services (Low) As mentioned, Travel Light competes with all-inclusive online travel agency which are more comparable to Gate1 Travel than Expedia or Orbitz. There are few well established companies that are the size of Travel Light that can help you travel to anywhere in the world. With few competitors, and with guaranteed low prices, we feel confident in stating that the threat of substitution is rather low. Bargaining Power of Suppliers (High-Moderate) The travel industry as a whole is very reactive to wants and desires of the consumers. This is greatly attributed to the fact that travel is viewed as an unnecessary commodity. However, in terms of the bargaining power that our partners will hold will be reactive to the size of our customer base, as with any other business, the larger the company great power the company holds. At the outset, we anticipate that our partners will hold much of the barning power; however, Travel Light is quickly gaining notoriety, not just locally, but nationally. As we move closer to our target customer base size, the bargaining power will shift from high to moderate. The timing of this shift is projected to occur within the first 30 months of full operation. Bargaining Power of Buyers (High-Moderate) As mentioned above, the travel industry is very reactive to the desires of the consumers; therefore, like the power of the suppliers (travel partners), we anticipate that as the number of Travel Light users grows, their respective bargaining power will grow as well. As a case in point, when Priceline first launched, their prices were not nearly as competitive as, the then leader, Hotwire. At the time Hotwire prices we on average between 15% and 20% lower. In the case of Priceline, they elected to use celebrity advertisement in order to boost sales and thereby increase the power of their customers. As a result, today, Hotwire and Priceline often times have identical prices across the board - from hotels, flights, and there travel packages. Competitive Rivalry (Low-Moderate) As mentioned, there are a few number of companies who are true competitors of Travel Light. As presently constituted, Travel Light does not have all of the partnerships that competitors such as Gate1 Travel have acquired. The e-commerce field of travel agency is not new, it has been operating for some time. In fact, the first major online travel agency, Get There started in 1995. Since that time the industry has expanded, grown, and changed drastically. What started as a way to find a hotel room or a flight has become a way of planning an entire trip. Gate1 Travel is a prime example of companies who have capitalized on this change. They provide trips in the US, Canda, Asai, Europe, Cape Cod, Astruaila, and anywhere else one may wish to venture. They have built a website that is easy to navigate, but feels somewhat dated; however, for most users, this is offset by the amazing deals that they provide for travelers (see figure 2 for Gate1 Travel package). Gate1 Travel is able to provide such deals because of the network they have created with hotels, airlines, and other tourist companies. In addition to Gate1 Travel, there are other online travel agency companies that exist; however, their market share generally tends to be fairly low when compared to the market as a whole. In our estimations, Gate1 Travel is the main competitor of Travel Light and for this reason we conclude that the competitive rivalry is low to moderate. Figure 2. Gate1 Travel trip to Italy Mission and Vision Our Mission Statement Travel Light is determined to create partnerships with all travel-related companies. At Travel Light our mission is to create a positive impact on the world and families by providing a way for everyone to discover the world anew. Our Vision Statement Our vision is to become the leading travel agency for all people - we hope and strive to be the best service that renders the best and most memorable vacations by helping individuals, families, and friends discover new horizons. Business Description Products Given the very nature of Travel Light, there are few products that we offer. Nevertheless, in an effort to make travel more convenient, the following items are offered and categorized as products of Travel Light. Our products include: · Backpacks · Suitcases · Travel Medication (Motion Sickness medication i.e.) · Online Currency Exchange (partnership with major bank TBD) · Postcards · Water bottles Services Travel Light’s services are extensive. In addition to the myriad of travel packages, we also offer rewards programs. Our services include: · Locates include (not an exhaustive list) · 7 day Alaskan Cruise · 4 Day All-Inclusive San Lucas Trip · Romantic Weekend Getaways · Paris Trips - with excursions · Travel Light Reward Program · In an effort to establish customer loyalty, Travel Light offers a rewards program so that customers can earn points to reduce the cost of future trips or reduced cost on Travel Light products. · One a month rewards members may enter for a chance to win a free weekend getaway to a select city of their choice. · Customers who refer friends to Travel Light will receive special discounts on future trips. Our Location and Founders Travel Light is a newly established and based online operating outside of San Francisco. Currently, our target customer base is not extremely related to our location. Rather, our chief indicator is income. The founds of Travel Light are Gader Wren, ALP and his wife, Krystal Wren, CPA. Gader and Krystal founded Travel Light because they become frustrated with traveling expenses and believe that everyone regardless of their income should be able to travel to some extent in order to fulfill the human need for adventures and new discoveries. In a recent poll, 70 percent of people stated that their travels had something to do with discovering new horizons or becoming acquainted with something new or different (see figure 3). With that knowledge, Gader and Krystal knew that something needed to be done. Knowing that people often decided to forgo traveling because of time and money, Gader and Krystal wanted their website to not only be affordable, but offer weekend getaway trips for those whose time is too precious to waste. Based on the income, Gader and Krystal designed packages that are attainable for people in every state regardless of income - some trips are as little as $249 (see figure 4 for income levels). Figure 3. Why People Travel Figure 4. 2017 median incomes by state Sources of Revenue Travel Light’s income stream will largely be based on services as opposed to products. It is anticipated that income levels will vary throughout the year with the summer producing the greatest revenue streams. Low revenue streams are anticipated to occur in February, March, October, and November. See list of products and services for detailed sources of revenue. Product Distribution We believe Travel will become the preferred site for customers to book their travel plans of all sorts - from big to small. Furthermore, we believe that this preference will grow exponentially. In addition to using our patent search system to identify top travel locations and created packages to fill the respective demand, Travel Light plans to launch a low-budget facebook company to create customer awareness of the newly developed website. Using the emails and phone number of existing customers and references, we will also create awareness by sending weekly promotions and other specials. As revenue begins to increase, Travel Light plans to launch a commercial campaign in order to reach customers who do not use Facebook, email, and text messaging frequently. Our commercial campaign will target news segments and afternoon talk shows to focus on retired individuals and business people who view business news. Furthermore, as the need to expand our customer base continues, we will, as priceline did before, use celebrity campaigning. Ensure Our Existence In this time when the internet is forever growing and developing, our main strategy is to remain present on social media platforms. · We will have Facebook boosted post on a weekly basis to target those who search for key phrases. · We will use mass emailing to expand our customer base. Emails will also serve as a constant reminder for current customers. · Our rewards program will promote word of mouth promotion. · We will partner with coffee shops to promote our business - coffee shops service a wide array of customers, may of which enjoy travel. · We will target area in which billboard may be used to increase customer base. · As our partners expand, so will our advertising opportunities. Competitive Advantage Travel Light will establish a competitive advantage primary by being a cost leader. The number one reason why people do not travel is because of money. Thus, it is imperative that we create deals that are affordable, and not just affordable, but better than other competitors. Again, this will become more feasible as time continues. However, we have already established great relations with San Francisco businesses which has enabled us to create San Francisco packages that are