The Bidway.com Entering New Foreign Markets - Essay Example

Differences in culture and language barriers are significant issues requiring scrutiny, as virtually every foreign nation has a different value and belief system while making the process of relating to these customers more difficult due to the use of a different language. IS systems must be built with these factors in mind, including the appropriate usage of the foreign language on the international auction website.

Political barriers are the most complicated, as many foreign countries block the free access of information to their society, therefore these factors must be considered prior to build the appropriate international auction website. Will the people in this type of nation be able to help build profitability? These are questions that must be considered prior to go international.

I have located three commercial sites in different markets which offer affiliate programs: PowerWebsites.com, Office Depot.com, and Barnes&Noble booksellers. Power websites is a marketing entity that utilizes its technological expertise to help companies build higher customer volumes through affiliate marketing. The online version of Office Depot provides office-related products, including papers, printers, desks and more. Barnes & Noble is a leading bookstore with bricks-and-mortar locations across the country.

Power websites provide FREE sign-up for the affiliate program, with a 20% commission on all sales generated by the program. Payouts are promised at a minimum of $25 in return for placing a company's web link on their site. Power websites pay their commission on a pay-per-sale basis, meaning that the customer must not only click on the link but also must make a purchase at the partner website.

OfficeDepot.com provides an affiliate program that is also a pay-per-sale, meaning that customers must actually click this link AND make a purchase at the site. Their affiliate program promises a 20% commission on these sales.

Barnes & Noble is classified as a pay-per-click affiliate program, which offers minimal compensation to the hosting partner when customers merely click on the link. Commissions are quite low, however, I believe that there is a better chance of making larger commissions under this program due to the higher amounts of customers who merely browse the affiliate site.

For this question, I chose Google, Yahoo! Shopping, and Bizrate.com. My search involved locating information on polar bear statues. Google provided nearly instantaneous results, however, the search engine offered much irrelevant information as part of the search parameter. Adult entertainment sites were listed as well as other obscure blog site entries. Google's search engine placed quite a few cookies on my computer, which I quickly removed. Overall, Google made it quite difficult to find my specific information, based on the multitudes of irrelevant information which came up in the search. On a 1-10 basis, I would offer Google a 4.

Yahoo Shopping! was simply excellent both in how it presented the information, the lack of irrelevant search items, and fonts that were easy to read. No obtrusive cookies or other spyware-related items were placed on my computer either. Yahoo! Shopping provided pricing, ranking of each site based on customer feedback, as well as illustrating the different shipping methods and options available. Yahoo! Shopping gave me everything I needed without the additional "web trash" which I found on Google. On the same 1-10 scale, Yahoo! Shopping receives a strong 9.

Bizrate.com was simply awful, as it was extremely slow (even on a broadband connection) and the information provided was totally irrelevant to my search parameters. Bizrate provided me with children's games, including Hungry Hungry Hippos and some card games with garden vegetables. The listing generated, too, was out of order, showing some statues at a price of $25, while others on the same page were listed in the hundreds of dollars. I found it very difficult to browse through the site due to its bad readability and its poor search results. I also located several cookies and spyware after exiting this site. The same 1-10 scale provides Bizrate with a weak 3.