How Introduction of E-Commerce Changed the Business World - Research Paper Example

Executive Summary The past years saw how the internet changed the way firms do business. After the commercialization of the internet, new business models are introduced requiring the use of innovative technology and new approaches. This report sought to give light to the important changes brought about by e-commerce. Report highlights are as follows: The commercialization of the internet was brought about by the NSF's lifting of internet access restriction, wars on browser and the entry of firms in the World Wide Web. The HTML was created by Tim Berners Lee when he created the internet with HTML as the publishing language. HTML and XML are both markup languages created for different purposes. This give rise to their similarities and differences. Instead of treating XML as a substitute for HTML, it should be noted that XML was designed to complement HTML. The creation of a customer centric website is a daunting task for business organizations. The main challenge is knowing the information needed by the customer and presenting them in a user-friendly way. McDonald exhibits a touchpoint consistency; offering high quality service to customers in its online and offline channels. The creation of internet created a host of opportunities in marketing a firm's products and services. Table of Contents Executive Summary 1 Introduction: Commercialization of Internet 3 Brief History of HTML 3 HTML & XML: A Comparison 4 The Challenges of Creating a Customer Centric Website 6 McDonald: A Test for Touchpoint Consistency 7 Marketing Online 8 Conclusions 9 Works Cited 10 Introduction: Commercialization of the Internet The commercialization of the internet began with the National Science Foundation's (NSF) removal of internet access restrictions for commercial purposes. It should be noted that before 1991, usage of internet became exclusively limited to academics and researchers. However, the lifting of the restriction proved to be a major catalyst as entrepreneurs learned that internet access business is commercially feasible. Another factor which contributed to the commercialization of the internet is the browser wars commenced by the launching of the Netscape. This was further fueled by the entry of a host of firms into commercial ventures utilizing advanced technologies which use the TCP/IP standards (Greenstein 1). This paper will look at different concepts and issues in e-commerce. The next section will be followed by a brief history of HTML and comparison between XML and HTML. This report will also discuss the challenges of creating a customer centric website, test the touchpoint consistency of McDonalds, and explore two famous types of online marketing. Brief History of HTML HyperText Markup Language's (HTML) history can be regarded to "have had a life span of seven years," starting from its introduction as a simple language in the with only a small number of tags to the recently more complex forms which enables various animations, images, sounds, and other amazing tricks. The origin of the HTML is often associated with the inventor of the web Tim Berners-Lee who created the web using HTML as the publishing language (Raggett 22). As the main creator of the HTML, he was the first one to use this innovation and a great factor in the encouragement of other people to "build upon" his idea and work on developing further software for displaying HTML and setting up HTML documents for access. Together with Dave Raggett, Tim also worked on developing the HTML for mass consumption, identifying and creating the features which are preferred by users. HTML operates through the use of tags which are codes typed into a text file by the site author. Markups are essentially what the tags do to the text inside them. Basically, there are three markup element types commonly used in HTML. These are structural markup which describes the purpose of the text; presentational markup which describes the appearance of the text; and hypertext markup which links part of the document to other documents. What happens when a site is accessed is that the browser reads the HTML text and translates it into a visible form through the information contained in the tags (Shannon 3-4). HTML & XML: A Comparison Traditionally, the World Wide Web is accessed through HyperText Markup Language (HTML). We have seen that HTML has worked for years due to its features namely linking, simplicity, and portability. However, it can also be seen that the creation of the Extensive Markup Language is due to the fact the HTML markup is fixed. Furthermore, web pages marked up in HTML often lack structure and content. Problems in the limitation of HTML in intelligence, adaptation, and maintenance began to surface necessitating the introduction of a markup language which "allows specific markup to be created for specific data (Mordkovich 2)." This commenced the introduction of the XML as a complement of HTML. The main similarity between XML and HTML is that they both represent markup languages which are important in publishing a web page. Like HTML, XML also makes use of tags and attributes. Both mark-up languages also use document type definition to describe the data. It is also worth mentioning that XML is not a substitute for HTML. In fact, XML is regarded as an HTML complement. As XML and HTML are designed for different goals, they greatly differ from each other. XML was primarily designed to describe data and focus on what data is while HTML is created to display data and focus on how data looks. Putting it simply, HTML is essentially concern on displaying data while XML is focuses more on describing information. Another factor which substantially differentiates XML to HTML is that it is "free and extensible." As opposed to predefined tags which markups HTML documents, XML allows its authors to define his own tags and his own document structure. XML as described by Mordkovich "uses one way link, which embraces all way to link." HTML can do only one way links while XML enables the linkage of two or more points inside or outside the data. As XML is not a replacement for HTML, these mark-up languages can be used in different situations. HTML is better utilized when information in use is transient, static or unreferenced, short, simple, and unlikely to be updated. HTML is used best in when entering the error message in the 404 error customization editor and when creating FAQs. On the other hand, use XML in structuring data. Practical uses of XML include the creation of structured data like spreadsheets, address books, configuration parameters, financial transactions and technical drawings. Creating a Customer-Centric Website As internet commercialization grows, it becomes somehow imperative that business organizations complement their traditional business activities with online presence. New business models also evolved which necessitated the creation of websites in order to pursue the goals of individual firms. It is also a noticeable trend that there has been a shift in perception from product centric to customer or client centric. As businesses are becoming more and more market driven and customer focused, it is also necessary to create websites which primarily caters to the interest of the customers as the main stakeholders. Maximizing customer value through the provision of services which exceeds customer expectations now become the key to success of almost all companies. However, it is also worth mentioning that creation of a customer centric website is not as easy as it seems. Establishment an online presence which serves the needs of each customer visiting the website has become a challenge for firms. One of the primary reasons for this is the information asymmetry or limited knowledge of business organizations on their customers who will visit their websites. This limited knowledge on customers translates to the difficulty of determining their interests which therefore raises the hardship of pinpointing what specific information to include in the website as well as the way that it should be presented. The main challenge in creating a customer centric website is knowing what information are required by different audiences. It is a common knowledge that websites aim to attract new customers and serve current customers. However, we also know that the informational needs of these two groups are unlikely to be the same. Potential customers are individuals who don't have information about the company and aims to search for different suppliers. On the other hand, current customers may want to know new product offerings or track on order. Companies may find it hard to provide a website focused on these two groups with different needs. McDonald: Test for Touchpoint Consistency All companies have the goal of touchpoint consistency that is providing the similar levels and quality of service in online and offline customer contact points. McDonalds, as a multinational corporation operating in different points in the globe is known to offer more or less standardized products in each retail stores. Product consistency is apparent as the taste of McDonald Big Mac in the United States is pretty much the same like the Big Mac served in a third world country like the Philippines. My experience as McDonald diner and a customer who surfs the web to find information about the company's products and corporate information shows touchpoint consistency. As with a visit in any McDonald restaurant, customers are provided with the information they need to know regarding the products, prices, and nutritional content of each serving. The website of the fast food chain is a mirror of the company's mission of extending quality service to their customers without any racial discrimination. As with any outlet, products for Blacks, Asians, Whites, and even Kids are displayed in the website. Overall, the website is user friendly allowing easy access of needed information. It is also worth mentioning that surfing the website as with dining in McDonald proves to be a fun experience as it is very colorful, humorous and interactive. Marketing Online The entry of entrepreneurs online also necessitated an innovative form of advertising which makes use of the World Wide Web to promote and introduce products as well as attract potential and inform current customers. Internet marketing has become a prevalent form of promotion. Included in these form of marketing options is what are widely known as search engine marketing and pay for placement marketing. Search engine marketing is set of marketing methods to increase the visibility of a website in search engine results page. The three main methods used in search engine marketing are search engine optimization, search engine advertising, and paid inclusion. Search engine optimization involves "improving rankings for relevant keywords in search results by rectifying the website structure, and content such that they could be easily read and understood by the search engine's software programs." Another form of online advertising is called pay for placement which is a strategy that involves hiring a placement broker to fix the going keyword bid rate. This is in direct contrast with the case of the aforementioned search engine marketing which depends on keywords. There are a lot identified advantages of pay for placement marketing. First, pay for placement offers ease in optimizing a company's ad copy and texts while it also providing hassle-free campaign launch and management. Others are ability to launch new campaigns at the click of the mouse, more flexible visibility, and convenience a wider and more affluent audience (What You Need to Know 2). Due to the aforementioned advantages, more advertisers are seeking the help of ad placement brokers rather than directly going into search engine companies like Google and Yahoo. It is apparent that pay for placement is a better choice as it produces more positive and measurable results than entrusting it in the search engine. Also, paid services like employing placement brokers assures that the advertisement will be placed in the proper categories. Since search engines do not really understand the items being searched for, they sometimes put websites in inaccurate categories. Employing placement broker will eliminate this problem. Conclusions The commercialization of internet has opened various areas for business organizations to efficient market their products. We have seen the creation of new online business models which dominate the e-commerce industry. As this report discussed, a lot of considerations should be taken into account when going online. Foremost is understanding your consumers and their informational needs. Next is designing a website with the aid of accurate markup languages. Firms should then try to assure touchpoint efficiency in its online and offline channels. Marketing online is also an important decision faced by business organizations. Works Cited Greenstein, Shane. Commercialization of the Internet: The Interaction of Public Policy and Private Choices or Why Introducing the Market Worked so Well. 2000. The Center for the Study of Industrial Organization. 20 April 2006 Mordkovich, Boris. XML-An Introduction. 2001. 20 April 2006 < http://www.sitepoint.com/article/xml-introduction> Raggett, Dave, Jenny Lam, Ian Alexander, and Michael Kmiec. Raggett on HTML 4. England: Addisson Wesley Longman, 1998 Shannon, Ross. What is HTML 2006. Ross Shannon. 20 April 2006 What You Need to Know about Pay for Placement. 2004. Rank for Sales. 20 April 2006 < http://www.rankforsales.com/search-engine-marketing/pay-for-placement.html> Read More