Roles Of E Commerce To Support Business

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

Abstract

This report determines the roles of e-commerce to support business strategies.

We had an interview with Dixons group international. From our information we have collected, the use of e-commerce is divided in too many parts: online transaction in Dixons groups international and electronic fund transfer. Historical uses of e-commerce in these in company, the organization’s structures (e.g. Dixons group international) and their successes are introduced with their competitive; risk taken  in these company before implementing e-commerce. Also, this report explains how e-commerce can bring great advantages for their competitors. It is suggested that the implementation of e-commerce in these company can help them to enhance their online transactions as well as data interchange. The last part of this report introduces the future strategies of Dixons group international. 

Introduction

This report is about the research that we carried out on DSG International plc, a leading electrical retailer in Europe about "The use of E-Commerce as a means of Business Strategy" and how it has helped the company to be competitive in the market. The research included an interview with a strategic manager from the company and our aims and objectives were to get information on the cost, implementation, strategic intentions, intended goals and outcomes that the company has derived from introducing E-Commerce as a means for Business Strategy to their Business. Upon concluding the interview, we gathered enough information about the benefits of introducing E-Commerce to a Business and how it is very important to use it as a tool for competitive advantage.

Methodology/Methods:

The work has been done in three parts. First, by researching a range of books, articles, websites, and reports, the theoretical framework has been built up. Also, books or articles are related to the implementations of e-commerce in supporting the company’s business strategy have been researched. Secondly, by examining and exploring their websites, more information about their partners, and solutions have been collected. Finally, semi-structured interviews by telephone and face to face have been done to get more details about companies, their current strategies, uses of e-commerce in supporting their business strategy and their future vision. Interviews have been recorded by recorders and have been listened to make the analysis.

Section 1

1.1 E-Commerce Overview

E-commerce (electronic commerce) is the buying and selling of goods and services on the Internet. In practice, this term and e-business are often used interchangeably. E-commerce or electronic commerce is the conduct of a financial transactions by electronic means With the huge success of commerce on the Internet, ecommerce usually refers to shopping at online stores on the World Wide Web, also known as ecommerce Web sites. Ecommerce can be business to business (B to B) or business to consumer (B to C).  For online retail selling, the term e-tailing is sometimes used, is also considered to be the sales aspect of e-business that consists of the exchange of data to facilitate the financing and payment aspects of the business transactions. Electronic commerce meant the facilitation of commercial transactions electronically, using technology such as Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT), allowing businesses to send commercial documents like purchase orders or invoices electronically , Contemporary electronic commerce involves everything from ordering "digital" content for immediate online consumption, to ordering conventional goods and services, to "meta" services to facilitate other types of electronic commerce.

"On the consumer level, electronic commerce is mostly conducted on the World Wide Web. An individual can go online to purchase anything from books or groceries, to expensive items like real estate. Another example would be online banking, i.e. online bill payments, buying stocks, transferring funds from one account to another, and initiating wire payment to another country. All of these activities can be done with a few strokes of the keyboard.

On the institutional level, big corporations and financial institutions use the internet to exchange financial data to facilitate domestic and international business. Data integrity and security are very hot and pressing issues for electronic commerce today." ^ Kevin Kelly: We Are the Web Wired magazine, Issue 13.08, August 2005

1.2 Aspects of e-commerce include:

E-tailing on websites with online catalogs.

The gathering and use of demographic data through Web contacts.

Electronic Data Interchange, the business-to-business exchange of data, instant messaging and social networking as media for reaching prospects and established customers.

Business-to-business buying and selling.

The security of business transactions.

1.3 Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)

This is the exchange of information from one company to another using a computer network, such as the Internet. It involves computer-to-computer exchanges of invoices, orders, and other business documents and therefore effects cost savings and improve efficiency because it minimizes the errors that can occur if the same information has to be typed into computers more than once. At the same time, EDI provides an easily accessible mechanism for companies to buy, sell, and trade information. In the business-to-business market, major corporations have embraced EDI systems, and in order to reduce costs and improve efficiency and competitiveness, many corporate giants are now demanding that their suppliers convert their sales and purchasing operations into EDI systems as well. In the retail market, the use of EDI systems allows the retailer to implement quick response strategies that can reduce the time they must hold merchandise in inventory, which can result in substantial cost savings for the retailer. In other word (EDI) is the exchange of business data using an understood data format. It predates today's Internet. It involves data exchange among parties that know each other well and make arrangements for point-to-point connection, usually dial-up.

1.4 Email, social networking and instant messaging

E-commerce is also conducted through email, instant messaging and social networking sites such as Facebook, Hi5, and Zoosk etc. To avoid the perception of spam, opt-in e-mail  is an option in which Web users voluntarily sign up to receive email, usually sponsored or containing ads, about product categories or other subjects they are interested in.

1.5 Business-to-Business Buying and Selling

Thousands of companies that sell products to other companies have discovered that the Web provides not only a 24-hour-a-day showcase for their products but a quick way to reach the right people in a company for more information.

1.6 The Security of Business Transactions

Security includes authenticating business transactions, controlling access to resources such as Web pages for registered or selected users, encrypting communications, and, in general, ensuring the privacy and effectiveness of transactions. Among the most widely-used security technologies is the Secure Sockets Layer, which is built into Web browsers.

1.7 ONLINE TRANSACTION PROCESSING

Online transaction processing, or OLTP, refers to a class of systems that facilitate and manage transaction-oriented applications, typically for data entry and retrieval transaction processing., define it in terms of business  OLTP has also been used to refer to processing in which the system responds immediately to user requests. An automatic teller machine (ATM) for a bank is an example of a commercial transaction processing application.

Online transaction processing increasingly requires support for transactions that span a network and may include more than one company. For this reason, new OLTP software uses client/server processing and brokering software that allows transactions to run on different computer platforms in a network.

This technology is used in a number of industries, including banking, airlines, mail-order, supermarkets, and manufacturing. Applications include electronic banking, order processing, employee time clock systems, e-commerce, and e-trading. The most widely used OLTP system is probably IBM.

Online Transaction Processing has two key benefits: simplicity and efficiency. Reduced paper trails and the faster, more accurate forecasts for revenues and expenses are both examples of how OLTP makes things simpler for businesses.

As with any information processing system, security and reliability are considerations. Online transaction systems are generally more susceptible to direct attack and abuse than their offline counterparts. When organizations choose to rely on OLTP, operations can be severely impacted if the transaction system or database is unavailable due to data corruption, systems failure, or network availability issues. Additionally, like many modern online information technology solutions, some systems require offline maintenance which further affects the cost-benefit analysis.

1.8 TRANSACTION PROCESSING CYCLE

1. Customer makes a selection on Self-Service Vending Machine.

2. Self-Service Vending Machine requests authorization through the Agent Transaction Manager Central Host Computer. PIN numbers for bank debit (ATM) cards are managed using secure PIN pads on the Self-Service Vending Machine. Sometimes in larger configurations, an intermediate step is included as station or regional computers running the Agent Transaction Manager manage communications traffic between point-of-sale sites and the Central Host Computer, and process transactions as part of a distributed processing system.

3. After receiving the credit/debit authorization request, the Central Host Computer performs several anti-fraud measures ("velocity controls"). Velocity controls (see above) allow merchants to set card transaction limits based upon total number of purchases, dollar value of purchases, or types of purchases for a card. Merchants use velocity controls to limit losses from card sales by identifying purchasing patterns that indicate possible fraud or card abuse. A sales transaction is only sent to the bank or financial institution for processing if it passes all local tests defined in the velocity controls.

4. Central Host Computer routes authorization request to proper Bank/Processor.

5. Response is routed by Central Host Computer to Self-Service Vending Machine. The average elapsed time for a credit/debit card authorization is between 3 to 5 seconds. The design of the Agent Transaction Manager permits this response time to be maintained even under peak system usage periods.

6. Record of authorization and transaction is maintained at Central Host Computer. Redundant records are maintained of all transactions and archived according to the contractual requirements with each bank or processor. Administrators are able to inquire on any sale or attempted sale. In this way, customer complaints of denied sales or non-delivery of product can be answered immediately using the on-line inquiry facilities of the Agent Transaction Manager.

The Agent Transaction Manager automatically processes the credit and debit card transaction for deposit, and also provides the merchant with audit and tracking reports for all electronic funds transfer

1.9 ELECTRONIC FUND TRANSFER

Electronic funds transfers (EFT) are the various ways that individuals and businesses may use to move notational money from one account to another in the same or different financial institution.  These are payments that serve in various ways to improve the convenience and timeliness of the payment process by taking advantage of the capability of automated systems and communications networks.  They are electronic in form and either fully or semiautomatic in their function.  Electronic payments range from the traditional such as account transfers, direct credits, direct debits, domestic funds transfers and international funds transfers, to the more innovative such as person to person payments and electronic bill presentment. The basic requirement is that the payer and beneficiaries have a relationship with their respective institutions.  In the developed economies, from 10 to 40% of retail payment transactions are processed through electronic funds transfer channels.

http://www.paymentsystemadvisors.com/L0_Brf_ClassElec.jpg

Electronic payments can be broadly divided into three main categories: Intra-bank funds transfers; interbank electronic funds transfer (EFT) and Internet-based payment systems. Each of these groups includes several different payment mechanisms.

Intra-bank electronic funds transfers consist of account to account transfer services offered to account holders to facilitate cash management, to effect payments for bank services; or to move money among customers of the same institution.  These may be one-time or recurring transfers. The infrastructure supporting these transfers is within the domain of the institution.

Interbank electronic funds transfers consist primarily of routine transfers of funds between accounts at different financial institutions.  The main use of these transfers involves high volume repetitive payments such as direct credits for the transfer of wages and direct debits for recurring bill payments, as well as specialized applications such as electronic checks or card-less POS debits.  They are processed as bulk transfers over automated clearing houses (ACH) on a transaction by transaction basis over EFTPOS networks.  Also included in this category are time-dependent transfers sent through domestic or international wire transfer networks.  In most countries, the infrastructure to support these transfers is well established, reliable, secure and, while perhaps more costly than desired, cost-effective.  The networks are providing banks and non-banks financial service firms companies with the platform for developing creative new ways to process payments

Internet-based electronic payments are those that leverage the unique capabilities of public networks as the infrastructure for the movement of payments between payers and payees. The worldwide adaptation of e-commerce stimulated by advances in networked information technology, more computing power and lower computing costs is driving considerable innovation in retail payments, particularly through the use of the Internet to move money and make payments. Some are derivations of existing payment systems using virtual accounts or automatic EFT with real accounts in order to bypass some of the legal/regulatory constraints that are placed on the function of deposit taking in most countries.  Many of these incorporate security mechanisms intended to address the issues of privacy and risk inherent in using public networks, such as encryption, digital signatures, public key infrastructure, etc.  

Over the past few years hundreds of new electronic payment systems have been introduced only to quickly fail. The main reason for their failure was a lack of enthusiasm on the part of the consumer. A new EFT product requires a network of payers and payees who hold deposit accounts at licensed financial institutions willing to participate in the system and clear transactions between the participating institutions. A scheme that is predicated on both payers and payees maintaining account relationships with the same organization can not possibly succeed over time.  Likewise a payment product that involves significant amounts of money being held in unregulated non-bank accounts is also not sustainable. An example of a successful electronic payment system introduction is PayPal.  The users of PayPal operate essentially inside a single market, the eBay auction market.  They use existing bank account relationships for the domicile of funds and simply operate as a mechanism for moving instructions between the parties.  

As technology moves forward, the range of devices and processes available to transact electronically continues to increase.  Many of the newer forms of electronic payments are simply traditional payment instruments delivered in unique ways over specialized device or communications channels.  The electronic payments with the greatest promise are those that combine information about the transaction along with standardized payment instructions.  These forms of payments will enhance the buyer and seller value chains and improve the productivity of the payment transaction.

REFERENCE

Moline R. Part 4 Research and Statistics: Library Research and Statistics: Library Budget Dollars Shrinking in Real Terms -- Are We Eating Our Seed Corn? 2009. p. 415-419. [Cited March 3, 2010]. Available from: Education Research Complete.

Milliot J. Barnes & Noble Sees Its Future As E-Commerce Retailer. Publishers Weekly [serial on the Internet]. (2010 Mar), [cited March 3, 2010]; 257(9): 4-5. Available from: Education Research Complete.

Jacobs, Bill. 2008. "Database Replication: Solving Real-Time Movement of OLTP Data." Business Intelligence Journal 13, no. 4: 33-37. Computer Source, EBSCOhost (accessed march 3, 2010).

Jacobs B. Database Replication: Solving Real-Time Movement of OLTP Data. Business Intelligence Journal [serial online]. December 2008; 13(4):33-37. Available from: Computer Source, Ipswich, MA. Accessed March 15, 2010

06 Dec 2009 Mark van Ketel and Tim D. Nelson

2.1 Company overview: (Dixons Store Group international):

Dixons Store Group international (DSGi) is an international retailing Company that is based on the sale of consumer electronics. DSGi was established and registered since 1930 by Charles Kalms, it started as a photographic studio that was based on the sale of advertising space. Charles Kalms met Michel Mindel for join venture who was also running a small photographic studio and they became the first Board of Directors of the company.

In 1950 DIXONS started selling cameras and accessories. Dixons had a deal with the Currys Group in 1984 together with some other Companies like Mastercare who where base on servicing electrical appliances with over 41 deports Nationwide, and also bridgers was part of the deal which is the current Curry’s store.

In 1993 the group bought a company (Vision Technology Group Ltd) which operated four PCWorld superstores, a group of company that was selling mail orders PCs, Peripherals, Softwares and accessories to companies, educational institutions and private individuals.

Dixons Select was launched in October 1999 as the first integrated digital television shopping services, Dixons Group changed its name to DSG International Plc in 2000, and also it was named company of the year. The companies Ecommerce was developed by developing a new website for Currys and improving some functionalities to PCWorld and Dixons sites.

Sir John Allan became the Chairman of the group in 2009 after John Collins who took over from Stanley the son of Charles Kalm who was the first Chairman of the group.

http://www.dsgiplc.com/Images/articles/%7b9e0d6ca3-0ae3-4686-a528-475f6b8da102%7d/structure%202009%20ver%204.jpg

(www.dsgiplc.com)

(http://www.dsgiplc.com/layout.aspx?ID=9e0d6ca3-0ae3-4686-a528-475f6b8da102&CatID=95aa4925-eb4c-496b-a814-ac5040cee9df)

E Commerce is the exchange of business information via electronic machines. E commerce is also described as online business where buying and selling of goods and services are been made via electronic machines. Ecommerce is basically running a business on the internet to capture more customers and to provide better services like online checkout and home delivery.

The role of Ecommerce in a business is to help in communicating with the customers. Some customers may find it hard to go to a particular store for shopping or even visit a store just to check the price of a particular item, with the internet business customers can visit any store at any time to check the price of a particular item from time to time. This will enable the customer to have update from at any time.

"Every era of business yields new strategies and new ways of doing business. With the advent of radio and television came the first mass-market advertising. Now, the Internet has so radically changed business that the rules for corporate strategy that held for the last 50 years (since the dawn of television) have begun to crumble."(http://www.businesstown.com/internet/ecomm-definition.asp)

In the present world most businesses are been improved by developing a website which is the key to any online business or online marketing. In those days, every business is known to have a store, or sometimes a catalog where customers can buy product or services of a company, but in the modern business (Ecommerce) websites are been developed to sell goods and services. Most business now have their stores, what they do is to create a website to enhance their business.

In any business there is need to find a way of attracting customer to buy either your goods or services, and also have a medium by which orders and payments are to be processed. All these are now done with the use of Ecommerce.

DSGi has Ecommerce division which they use to run their business "This division comprises PIXmania and Dixons.co.uk. Total sales for the e-commerce division were £324.4 million (2009/09 £275.5). Underlying operating profit was £2.7 million (2008/09 £1.0 million).

PIXmania continues to trade well in its core Euro markets reflecting its unique Pan-European operating model which enables it to focus on profitable markets. PIXmania has made good progress in all categories and is now the fourth most visited consumer electronic e-tailer in the world with 25 million unique visitors. The markets leading PIXmania e-merchant platform will provide the base for the Group’s e-tail operations."(www.dsgiplc.com) In three years of operation Dixons.co.uk has grown their shares and also double the number of sales

Section 3

Being that industries, companies and business in whole nowadays have to be online to stay in the lead and earn more profit , different online strategies are designed and implemented by the respective organizations. Dixons store group is no exception to this development, the company has so much emphasis on the e-commerce aspect of their business, and so new strategies and additional services were added to better off their market, retain loyal customers and also to stay ahead of their competitors and also has a couple of new strategies aimed at retaining faithful customers and also to attract new customers.

3.1 Multilingual transaction software- this is an early implemented achievement that is still yet to be discovered by a lot, this software is aimed at simplifying online transaction for their costumer by translating media messages, news and entire online transaction for the customer being that the group has branches scattered all over Europe, different languages i.e. English, French, German, Portuguese, Italian, Arabic, Afrikaans are used according to the nationality for online transaction.

3.2 Cash back- this was also implemented to both online and offline transaction to retain loyal customers and also to attract new customers, the company made a collaboration with the ‘top cash back on genuine’’ basically the idea is to keep record of each and every customers transaction and keep record of the transaction, after a couple of purchase has been made by the customer certain points are reached where the customer gets a super discount on a purchase and certain fund is transferred back to the customer.

3.3 Online charity donation- Dixons group is also very much involved in the local community and also created a way to give back to the community online, the group is affiliated with ‘’Collects Children’s Home’’ which is basically a motherless baby home, where certain percentage of funds is sent to the organisation by the company and the company derived a way for the instore customers the option to donate and also the online customer is provided with a choice of donating to the organisation at will. This is a strategic idea to send message back to the public that the company is not only bent on making profit but also to help the lower arms of the society.

3.4 New Technology- in the past seven years a lot of time was taken by an organised team from the company, to research, analyse the state of technology and the internet of the new age and it was decided that the company has to infiltrate into the new internet age through applications like the Web 2.0, social media such as, facebook, twitter, jumbo, stumbleupon , flicker, meta cafe, dig, technorati, reddit, word press, Slashdot, delicious and YouTube, by creating a comprehensive web where all of those are inter-related and connected so as information is being pushed out and the customer can find it wherever they are comfortable working.

The company also upgraded the data base of some of its sub companies data base in a way that more than a thousand transactions online can take place consecutively so there is need for the safety of the customers transaction and also their fund do the company decided to make collaboration with more antivirus companies and agents.

3.5 Improved customer service- it hugely important to provide the best care to the clients, by pushing information out to the customer, the company also plans to improve the status of their E-commerce by improving the online services, with the help of a recent survey, it was observed that ‘’ between ten to twelve days goes by where people are seeking data and also trying to get information on the market before they contact the store or make a purchase’’

This tells the strategic professional that there is need to push information about the companies discounts, the companies rules and regulations, also information about short sale, companies collaborations or relationship with banks and also information about investment opportunities so the customer can be educated while at home, at their convenient time,

recently P.C world a sub company of Dixons store group introduced the eprocurement websites that is basically a breakdown of the whole online transaction and also the idea of ordering online by delegating a person order a product online and a totally different person paying for the same product also online.

‘’By using the new eProcurement system from PCWB, there’s no need to waste time chasing quotes, and no raising of purchase orders. You just select, click, and that’s it. The cost-efficiencies of eProcurement, along with pre-negotiated pricing, you can help drive down the cost of procurement and enable greater levels of standardisation and efficiency.

Pcwb.com can enable you to corral multiple purchase order proposals from across your business into one basket, click to authorise or decline each sale and generate one consolidated order with one invoice.

PC World Business is also leading the IT market in partnering with each of the leading e-procurement solution providers - Ariba, Oracle, Biomni, Elcom etc. - ensuring that our customers can select their provider, confident that PC World can integrate with their choice.

3.6 Advantages of eprocurement

• Real-time price and stock information

• Bespoke order approval hierarchy

• Order and parcel tracking online

• Proof of delivery online

• Invoices and VAT information online

• Electronic invoicing

• Less paperwork and administration’’

[email protected].

The company also restructured, revalued it’s brand to increase presence online and to capture different markets also to be more competitive, by deciding to close down all Dixons stores on high streets and more warehouses were developed , and the Dixons brand was decided to be strictly online . the strategy aim was achieved by giving the costumers choice and also made the company more price competitive and improving the companys brand awareness.

Since ecommerce was introduced to the business the number of staff was reduced and were replaced by the internet and other Online transaction methods this development drove Dixons store group cost down by 10% also helped to improve its market share i.e. the internet gave costumers opportunity and convenience to shop by logging in to the companies website from home , select the product they wish to purchase or make a reservation and have it delivered to their doorstep or go down to the store or warehouse to pay or collect the product at a given time.

Section 4

4.1 Strategic Intentions and Outcomes of DSG International Plc use of E-Commerce as a Means of Business Strategy (Interview)

DSG International Plc introduced online trading to their company’s business ten years ago and their intentions was to drive the companies cost down and help the company to be more competitive and also to improve its market share. As a leading electrical retailer in the UK, they introduced online trading for the company to have more opportunity and convenient way of shopping for every customer in the UK. E.g. ; customers can use the internet and log in the company website from home and choose the product they want to buy and reserve the product and go collect it in the within minutes. It’s easier to shop with one click. The internet has given more choice of product to customers and customers can buy their products and extract all the information from anywhere in the world and its safe.

4.2 Outcome

As a company three years ago the company had to restructure, and revalue the company brands and decided to increase its presence online to capture different market and be more competitive, decision was taken to re-brand every Dixons in the High street and use Dixons brand only online, this strategy paid off cause it did offer more consumer choice and be more price competitive and also improved the company Brand awareness, because of this strategy to re-brand and shift part of the company online has improved the company market position and helped the company to increase its sales and improve its product margin because it was possible to reduce the overhead, as a result of this shift the company had closed some of High street branches and outsources some of the IT operation like the support centre to India, and re-focus on capturing the competitors market. After rebranding, the company introduced Curry’s, PC world and PIXmania and decided to launch some sites on e-merchant platform also for these brands. They also own leading brands all over Europe which are specialised in electrical, communications and computing also. These brands include; HELKO, P.C city, ELECTRO WORLD, Dixons.co.uk, Unieuro, Partmaster, lEFDAL, EL GIGANTEN, GIGANTTI and PIXMANIA. These brands are located in Nordics, Ireland, Hungary, Sweden, Advent, Italy, Poland, France, Iceland, Denmark, Greece, Spain, Norway, Czech Republic, Finland, Slovakia and Turkey. Eleven percent of the brands operate on E-Commerce platform with good customer service, low cost operation, increased sale densities, multichannel opportunity, excellent brand recognition and even been profitable in recession. All these brands operate three divisions namely; Electricals, Communications and Computing.

4.3 DSG International Brands/ Retail Groups

Brands

Divisions

Sales

Stores

Employees

Selling Space

Currys(www.currys.co.uk)

UK’s biggest chain of electrical superstores.

£ 1,983m

357

9,204

Sq ft 4,387,000

Dixions (www.dixions.co.uk)

UKs first new technology and low web prices

£580m

211

3,306

Sq ft

619,000

UniEuro (www.unieuro.com)

No. 2 retailer in Italy

£633

110

2,507

Sq ft 2,111,000

ElectroWorld (www.electroworld.com)

Award-winning electrical stores in Hungary, the Czech Republic and Poland

£119m

16

1,089

Sq ft

578,000

PCWorld (www.pcworld.co.uk)

UK’s biggest store of computing superstores

£1,369m

151

5,872

Sq ft 2,421,000

PC City

Specialist computing superstores in Spain, France, Italy and Sweden.

£288m

51

1,673

Sq ft

875,000

PC World Business (www.pcwb.com)

Market beating deals for UK businesses and the public sector

£377m

896

TheLink (www.thelink.co.uk)

Specialist retailer of communication product in the UK

£331m

294

2,257

Sq ft

278,000

Genesis communications (www.genesis-communications.com)

Direct sales of mobile phones and services to UK businesses

£88m

403

Helkjop (www.elkjøp.no , www.gigantti.fi,

www.elgiganten.se, www.lefdal.com,

www.elgiganten.dk, www.markantalo.fi,

www.elko.is)

The leading Nordic electrical trader

£1,155m

221

5,105

Sq ft 1,181,000

*In April 2006, the Dixons brand was relaunched as a pure-play online retailer and its 190 High Street stores were converted to the Currys brand, creating a 550-strong chain with more than 12,000 employees. Dixons Tax Free remains with 21 stores and 380 employees. ’’Reference, DSG international Plc Annual Report and Accounts 2005/06 International Group Overview’’ (Brands).

4.4 UK sites that were launched on E-Merchant Platform

Reference ‘’DSG International Plc Strategy Update 10th March 2009’’

These sites contain information about the goods and services that the company render to consumers. They also have easy navigations, key deals and deal by category, popular brands, package deals and attachments. Customers can also have customised profiles which they can log on to with user names and passwords, and add goods to their lists or baskets and purchase them or keep them on their profile for future purchases. Payments can be made with credit, Visa, Master cards or any form of electronic payment (online fund transfer). All these processes seems quite easier than going to a supermarket and start roaming around to find the exact product that you want to purchase. It is easier to shop by clicking which avoids the stress of locating or going to a store to for shopping. Goods can be also delivered (home delivery) for a little sum of money or sometimes free if you buy certain amount of goods. Some companies do after sales services or follow me home services which helps to impress customers and make them feel confident with the company where they shop.

After introducing online trading the company’s cost reduced by 10% and increase sales up to 20% per anum. Presently the company has gotten up to 1.4 billion sales online and keeps improving rapidly. Winning on the internet market by growing pure play business and becoming the masters of multi-channel retailing was two of the company’s five point plan for the renewal and transformation of the business which was introduced on the 15th of may 2008.’’DSG International Plc Annual Reports and Accounts 2005/06, Group Overview’’.

4.5 DSG International’s Internet/Online presence

Reference: DSG International Strategic update, 19th March 2010

The company had a breaking record in December 2009 in the UK by selling a Computer and a TV every 2 seconds and all their mega stores saw over a million each in the first week of the sale. The customer response and sale on Christmas was even better than what the company was expecting with strong demand in all categories in the UK. However, the company still expects to continue benefiting from their Transformation and renewal strategy and continue to introduce more foundation for the future. Reference ’’PR 03/10, 7.00am. 14 January 2010 DSG INTERNATIONAL PLC TRADING AHEAD OF EXPECTATIONS IN ALL MARKETS.RENEWAL & TRANSFORMATION PLAN DELIVERING BENEFITS’’

4.6 DSG International Plc Market

During the year, the Group operated in 14 countries. Our acquisition of Fotovista on 3rd July added operations in a further 13 countries. Our expansion into new markets creates the opportunity to leverage the benefits of our international scale through buying initiatives and cross-border integration of distribution and systems. We have set ourselves the target of entering at least one new country each year either through acquisition or start up. ‘’Reference Annual Report and Accounts 2005/2006 DSG International Group Overview’’.

4.7 Groups and Different Locations

Country

Group

Denmark

El Giganten

Ireland

Currys, Dixons and PC World

Czech Republic

Electro World

Finland

Giganti and Markantalo

France

PC City

Greece

Kotsovolos

Hungary

Electro World

Iceland

Elko

Italy

UniEuro and PC City

Norway

Elkjop and Lefdal Lavpris

Poland

Electro World

Spain

PC City

Sweden

UK

El Giganten and PC City

PC World and PC Business, Currys, Dixons.co.uk, The Link and Genesis

Upon completing the interview with one of the company’s strategic and research also carried out on the company, we discovered how the use of E-Commerce helps businesses to be competitive when used as a strategy. We also noticed that it is one of the key instruments use by many successful companies today. It is also a wide topic which consists of online funds transfer, Business to Business transaction, Business to consumer etc. Even banks also now operate with e-commerce using applications such as internet banking which allows customers to manipulate their bank accounts by printing their own bank statements, transfer money other accounts within a bank and also between different banks. So with such applications, businesses get less cost and great turnover which is the primary aim of any business. One can even setup an automated business and employ less staffs and be more efficient than other businesses with plenty of workers. An example of companies that operates solely on e-commerce is Amazon and eBay. Goods can be bought from their sites and be delivered to your doorstep without any stress or going to a store to find what you want. They also keep records of customer’s purchases and suggest substitute’s goods.

Section 5

5.1 Research and Findings

The primary purpose of this project report is to identify the key roles of a strategic manger and it also describes how a strategic manager uses his or her strategy to benefit the organisation. It also involves in the study of strategic management and how they are applied in real life. It includes a brief study on how a strategic plan is formulated and explains how these formulated plans are implemented in a given scenario. Evaluation of strategy is also described in detail which is relevant to the topic and the company that we have selected for our studies. Some of the general approaches that are used to form a strategic plan which is used by strategic managers are included in this project report. No matter how strong the strategic plan is, it will surely fail if the plan doesn’t have the ability to overcome a given situation, therefore considering the above condition some of the reasons why strategic plans fail are include in the report. Strategic management has it own disadvantages and limitations which also described in this report.

Apart from the study of strategic management it also includes information about ecommerce and its use with strategic management. Initially this report includes detailed information about ecommerce which is related to the organisation that we have selected for our studies. This report also includes a brief introduction about the company and its history which is about diversification and improvements in technology. It also includes the strategic plans that have been implemented by them and identifies which were successful which were not. Reason why some of the plans failed and why most of them succeeded are also given in this report. The strategic plans which will be used in the future and its relevance to ecommerce are given in detail in this report.

Strategic Management is the analysis, decisions, and action an organization undertakes in order to create and sustain competitive advantages. It is the process of stating the company’s mission, vision and objectives, developing policies and plans, often in terms of projects and programs, which are designed to achieve these objectives and then allocating resources to implement the policies and plans, projects and programs. The subject of strategic management originated in the 1950’s and 60’s. There were many contributors to the theory of strategic management, but the most important were Alfred D. Chandler, Philip Selznick, Igor Ansoff, and Peter Drucker.

Recently Microsoft Encarta Encyclopaedia discontinued their product due to high demands for other lost cost encyclopaedias. Encarta’s reign was speculated to be short-lived, dominated by joint encyclopaedias like Wikipedia that can operate at very low marginal costs. Encarta's service was subsequently turned into an on-line service and dropped at the end of 2009. These are real life scenarios which occur as a result from excellent strategic plans formulated by the rival markets. Therefore it is necessary to take the competing market into consideration when formulating a strategic plan.

Dixons International plc uses a tool called the Balanced score card to keep track of their execution of strategic plans. Balanced scorecard is a performance measurement tool used to capture a summary of the key performance indicators (KPIs)/metrics of a company. By maintaining this scorecard the strategic mangers at Dixons can identify whether the strategy is working or not. This system helps senior managers systematically link current action with tomorrow’s goals. They also communicate their strategy up and down the organisation and link it to departmental and individual objectives. Strategic managers typically deal with unpredictable situations so they strategize in flexible, dynamic, and implicit ways.

Information technology is widening the divide between senior managers (who typically make strategic decisions) and operational level managers (who typically make routine decisions). Prior to the widespread use of computer systems, managers, even at the most senior level, engaged in both strategic decisions and routine administration, but as computers facilitated routine processes, these activities were moved further down the hierarchy, leaving senior management free for strategic decision making.

DSG plc takes the maximum out of the internet technology to implement ecommerce. Internet is a powerful marketing tool which can be used to solve various business problems. Through internet various online services such as online purchasing, e-customer relationship, advertising and many other services can be implemented through the internet. They have their own website which has many ecommerce facilities to customers and suppliers as well. Only if an organisation has a website, ecommerce would be made possible. They have a dynamic website which is frequently updated so that the customers and suppliers are well informed about their products and services. For a commercial website, dynamic webpage’s would be more suitable so that the information like the products and its prices can be updated frequently. It also brings many other advantages like advertising, increasing the sales, worldwide customer relationships and to build a better business relationship. These advantages automatically solve business problems like poor business image, less sales targets and poor customer relationships.

Customer care is another vital service that is required by many businesses. Customers make inquires through email, phone or any other mode of communication and these inquires are processed within hours or days depending on organisations activities. Normally this kind of inquiry is less popular because it takes time for the response to be delivered to the customer. Also there will be a page in the organisations websites customer services section called FAQ’s (frequently asked questions) which will also help in solving general customer inquiries. DGS plc has its unique kind of customer service called the "Tech-Guys". The TechGuys are the people to call for expert technical advice, installation and repair on technology new and old. The teams include 3,000 experienced and accredited technicians, both male and female, supported by state-of-the-art repair centres, technical databases, a spare parts vault of more than 2 million components, and a telephone team who handle millions of calls each year and who fixed 80% of callers' IT problems over the phone.

According to our studies about DSG plc they implement ecommerce in many ways that it benefits most of the stakeholder of the company. They mainly conduct two types of ecommerce which are business to business and business to consumer. Business to business means that the activities performed online between the company and their suppliers. Supply chain management is performed online where purchasing and payments are done online. They use credit cards and other online payment methods to perform the transaction and online shopping cart is also available for DSG plc to purchase their stocks. Employees and staffs to benefit from this ecommerce. They use it to receive their payments and track their work schedule. Ecommerce is being widely used within the business to boost up their sales. The other type of ecommerce conducted by DSG plc is business to consumer. This type of ecommerce deals with the consumers of the organisation. Consumers are benefited from purchasing products online without the hassle of travel to the shop itself. DSG plc has the system called the shopping cart where the consumers are able to buy as many products as they want. The customer goes on to the internet and searches for the product that they want. Once they find the necessary product the order is placed. After the order is placed the payment takes place where information the consumer has given to the website is encrypted. After this, the order moves to the payment department where the information goes to the bank and they either deny or accept the deal. There are a number of payment systems and they differ from each other. They maybe named as pay pal, credit card, online banking, etc. But some of the consumer has the fear that online transaction is more vulnerable to frauds, and thereby some of them don’t use it. This is the point where the company should have a trusted and an encrypted mode of ecommerce between the consumers. Dixons International plc has a secured mode of transaction processing system where the consumer is able to do purchasing without any fear. Their http connection is encrypted and secured so that information exchanged between the business and the consumer hidden from the public.

5.2 Conclusion

This whole report is based on the researches made and the interview with the strategic manager of Dixon Store Group International (DSGi). The main goal of this report is to understand how the use of Ecommerce supports business strategy in DSGi. Research was made about the company and Ecommerce, this help to understand more about the company and also the influence of Ecommerce to the company (DSGi). Most the information about the company (DSGi) were obtained from the company’s website, very few were gotten from the strategic manager because most of the company’s information were on the website.

The aim of this report has been achieved because all the information needed about the company were found and the little questions were answered by the strategic manager.