Benefits of an online business presence Essay Example for Free

Benefits of an online business presence Essay In this task I am going to explain the developments in internet technology, describe the benefits of an online presence and give examples of businesses that enjoy these benefits and finally explain the advantages of to businesses of having an online presence rather than having a purely offline presence. Broadband and other developments Nowadays, broadband connections enable data to be transferred much faster than narrowband. The connection does not tie up a normal phone line. The user can choose get online by an ADSL connection, a cable line, wireless or via satellite dish. Also the internet is low cost and is increasing in speed which benefits the commerce online. The new portable devices such as PDA offer the user easy internet access at any time. 80% of the UK can get broadband by ADSL and cable. Most of people use internet every day which enables a great share of data. Secure payments The increase of security enables the use of credit/debit card facilities. But the newspapers and magazine headlines about fraud and hackers quite obviously put people off. To be secured, all the online payments need to be private and confidential between the buyer and the seller, conveyed intact and without any changes during transmission and erased from the system after the process has been completed. The banks are increasing the security of the debit/credit cards of the user. To purchase an item online the user need to key in the password and the date of birth. Secure Electronic Transaction (SET) is a standard protocol for securing credit card transactions over insecure networks, the Internet. SET is not itself a payment system, but rather a set of security protocols and formats that enables users to employ the existing credit card payment infrastructure on an open network in a secure fashion. When the cardholder buys online the credit card company authenticates the card via digital signature. This proves that the cardholder is genuine. Web authoring tools Nowadays there are a number of web authoring tools such as the Microsoft FrontPage program which enables the user to create a website without any specialist knowledge. There are other programs such as the Dreamweaver, Fireworks and Flash technology used to create the effects and designs in a website. Businesses can easily build their website, which enables them to create a service online. Benefits of an online presence A web business presence have global round visibility which means they never close and are available from any location in the world at 24 hours 7 days a week. This benefit can increase the opportunity of trading of the website. Some examples of websites that enjoy this benefit are www.sainsburys. co. uk, www. amazon. co. uk and www. argos. co. uk. Some businesses operating online have opportunity of expansion to access to a wide range of customers especially from abroad. If the business offers an excellent service the opportunity is maximised. But there are worries for example the tariff barriers, quotas and environmental regulations. This is not a problem in the European Community as the goods can be freely traded between member states. Some websites that enjoy this benefit are www. ebay. com, www. hp. com, www. dell. com. A Small business with a good service and well designed can compete with larger businesses. There is an equality of presence regardless of size of business. The costumer never looks on the size of the business only on the service and product provided. Therefore a small business can compete with a larger one. Some websites that enjoy this benefit are www. zonepoint. co. uk and www. computeradvicecentre. com. A web business presence has the benefit of a rapid response to customer interest. But some firms dont take advantage of this benefit. A web can provide several opportunities for customer contact for example the email messages. The speed of response is very important. A response over the internet is faster than the response by phone or letter. An online business presence enjoying this benefit is www. ebuyer. com. A web business presence has the opportunity to analyse online competition. It is quicker and easier to compare competitor activities online than by visiting their stores or obtaining information offline. Also the internet enables businesses to check new competitors and their market share. Businesses operating online have opportunity to keep up with customers. Businesses can check competitors status and then they can improve the product or service offered, speed of the delivery or the design of the website. The internet has made the life much easier. Achieving a responsive integrated supply chain A supply chain contains every single business that is involved in the eventual supply of a product or service. But there are problems associated with the supply chain. If the chain is long the price to the customer may be high and the chain is usually slow to respond to a rapid change. To combat these problems businesses tried to change the supply chain to shorten it, this is done by cutting out or by passing as many intermediaries, and to integrate it, to speed the things by changing the information in one stage to another. An example of business that has a simple and short supply chain is Dell. Dell manufactures computers and sells them online directly to the buyers. This means there are no wholesales and no need for retail shops. This speeds things up and reduces the final price to the customer. If the businesses improve their supply chain there many benefits that follows. Businesses can offer punctual delivery as a sales feature. The seller will have more control over delivery if the supply chain is short and integrated. One example of a business operating online that has this benefit is Dell. co. uk Other benefit is the opportunity for buying the products online. Businesses can improve the product delivery and reduce the time between the order and supply. Customers can check stocks online. If an item is currently out of stock many businesses put a note on the site and email the customer when stocks are replenished. One example of a business that has this benefit is ebuyer. com. Ebuyer is a business like Dell. It sells directly to the buyer; there is no need for retail shops. Online order tracking is another benefit. It enables the customers to check every stage of their order from the suppliers website. The system sends automatically email to customer informing about tracking order. In other systems customers can check at any time the progress of the order. Ebuyer. com is a business operating online that enjoys this benefit. Businesses can reduce overheads and labour costs. A business that has a short and an integrated supply chain has more possibilities to process the orders more cheaply. This is because there is likely to be fewer staff required to process paperwork relating to customer orders, fewer shops required if the business deals directly to the customer, fewer intermediaries required and fewer staff needed to deal with the customer. Ebuyer and Dell are two examples of businesses that enjoy this benefit. Reduced stockholding Businesses can improve cash flow through fewer bad debts. Cash flow improves if the customer is paying as they make a purchase. The transactions over the internet are done by credit or debit card. The card payment is always checked and authorised before the goods are dispatched. Ebuyer. com can choose where to locate. Ebuyer only trades over the internet. It has more freedom in choosing the location than other types of businesses. A business can save money with affiliations with ISPs and portals. This works as the following: a business wants to show the location of the company, the business can do an affiliation using multimap to show it. One example is the BT website. Other benefit is the accessibility to different users. Disabled and housebound people have more advantages to shop at home over the internet. Also people who live in rural and remote areas dont need to worry to go a shopping trip. Only one click can save money and time. Nowadays is increasing availability of public web access points. The internet kiosks and cybercafi s are a common feature in all large towns and cities. They enable anyone without a pc, or away from home, to access the internet easily. Also the pocked Pcs and the portable computers, laptops, enable the access to internet at any time. Advantages of to businesses of having an online presence rather than having a purely offline presence Tesco are ale to sell a lot more groceries as they have both their stores and the home delivery service than Primark which only sells its product to customers who came into their stores. Tesco website would operate globally as well as locally for relatively little extra cost. Tesco can get a wide range of customers because they can buy online at any time. People dont need to worry to go for shopping. Only by one click people can shop online. Also disabled people would prefer to shop online. Primark website only offers the information about the products and where to find retail outlets. In my point of view an online presence has more advantages than a purely offline presence. An online presence can get more customers selling online than an offline presence. The customers are very important for a business because without them a business can close. In conclusion, I mentioned the benefits of an online presence and the advantages of an online presence rather than a purely offline presence. BTEC First in Business Unit 8: Business Online.

Death Penalty Essay -- essays research papers fc

To Kill or Not To Kill   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Man has always depended on punishment to enforce the laws necessary for the survival of both himself and his species. But how can man justify committing murder as a punishment for just that, murder. This is an argument that our modern society has wrestled with for decades. This essay will attempt to shed some light on this highly controversial subject and at the same time, try and put to rest the age old argument of what human morality should allow.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  According to a study conducted at the University of Iowa in 1998, states that have the death penalty had the same or higher murder rates as those that don’t. However, some of the lowest crime rates on the planet belong to China, a country to which the death penalty is hardly a stranger. This suggests that if given enough time and stiffer enforcement the death penalty could eventually have significant effects on the crime rate here in North America.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Another good argument against the death penalty is the simple fact that it relies on a justice system that is far from perfect and that unlike other sentences, it cannot be overturned. Statistically, two out of every three death row inmates will later be found innocent and with the introduction of new evidence, such as DNA, this number will only increase. North America’s prison system however, runs on the principle of rehabilitation and since it is believed that for certa...

Fahrenheit 451 Allusion to Machiavelli Essay

Quote from Fahrenheit 451: â€Å"We are all bits and pieces of history and literature and international law. Byron, Tom Paine, Machiavelli, or Christ, it’s here† (Bradbury 152). Bradbury, Ray. â€Å"Part 3.† Fahrenheit 451. New York: Del Rey Book, 1991. 152. Print. Original Source or Context: Niccolo Machiavelli was an Italian historian, politician, diplomat, and philosopher during the late 1400s early 1500s. Machiavelli is considered the father of modern political theory; and his theories are most prominent in his short book, â€Å"The Prince†. Machiavelli’s â€Å"The Prince† is main purpose is to tell rulers how to remain in power once they have gained it. The best way to go about ruling according to Machiavelli is to simply rule well. However if this does not work Machiavelli recommends several different strategies such as the use of violence. During Machiavelli’s time his theories were not widely accepted and because of this he died in shame. Machiavelli acted on his thoughts and beliefs despite what society taught and believed. However once time passed Machiavelli’s philosophies were better understood and accepted. Other philosophers began take portions of his philosophy to add to their own. This brought upon a new respected look to Machiavelli rather than the shameful look he died with. Citation’s from Original Source: Nederman, Cary. â€Å"Niccolà ² Machiavelli.† Stanford University. Stanford University, 13 Sept. 2005. Web. 25 Mar. 2014. . â€Å"Niccolo Machiavelli, 1469-1527.† Niccolo Machiavelli, 1469-1527. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2014. . Mansfield, Harvey. â€Å"Niccolo Machiavelli (Italian Statesman and Writer).† Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2014. . Effect/Insight: The effect of the allusion to Niccolo Machiavelli in â€Å"Fahrenheit 451† is it connects Guy Montag to Machiavelli. Montag acted on his thoughts and what he believed in rather than what society believed in. Montag believed books were necessary to society and that the information in books had to be memorized  by someone in order to create a better future. The act of reading books was not accepted by society but in the future Montag would be remembered as a hero for doing so. In the same sense Machiavelli’s philosophies were not accepted by society but were created in order to make life better in the Italian city states. Machiavelli’s died in shame from his peers but was later on remembered for doing great things for society. Bradbury’s purpose of alluding to Machiavelli in â€Å"Fahrenheit 451† was to give a real life example of what his main character Guy Montag was doing. This allusion is effective if the reader has an understanding of who Machi avelli is and what he contributed to society. Without knowing what Machiavelli did for society the allusion would not be effective.

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