Ecommerce And Marketing Strategy

Marketing Strategy and E-Commerce Introduction With the rapidly advancing technologies that are occurring in modern business, organisations are required to be ready, and able to adapt within their ever-changing environment. It is true across all diverse industries that in order to stay competitive, organisations must be able to utilise the various tools that technology has to offer. Technological factors have been of growing importance, particularly in recent years. A major factor involved in these technology issues is the use of the Internet as a major issue to modern organisations. The Internet has been rapidly growing since it's inception and is now commonly used in all sectors of societies, in all corners of the globe. The Internet has quickly become one of the most valuable assets in modern technology, and as such, is developing as an integral part of modern commerce. As with past technologies, the Internet will have future technological advances develop from its own growth. The task the organisations of in the new century? Realise future opportunities and threats, and base a strategy accordingly. "Is it clichй to say that 'the Internet changes everything': the challenge now is to say what, how and how quickly". (When Companies Connect, 1999, p.19) The Internet has lead to the birth and evolution of electronic commerce or E-commerce. E-commerce has now become a key component of many organisations in the daily running of their business. Simply defined, "electronic commerce is a system of online shopping and information retrieval accessed through networks of personal computers". (Reedy, J. Schullo, S. Zimmerman, K. 2000, pg. 29) E-commerce challenges traditional organisational practices, and opens ups a vast array of issues that the organisations must address. By focusing on the varying levels of an organisation, it soon become apparent the effects that E-commerce can have. An understanding of the implication E-commerce has on such organisational divisions can help businesses gain understanding hence plan for it's inevitable continuing evolution. In terms of marketing, the modern organisation must be critically aware of the development of E-commerce, and the implications that it entails. "Marketers develop their own recipe of promotional tactics to fit the product lines or industries in which they compete. Now electronic communications tools are and will continue to be an important ingredient in the promotional mix" (Reedy, J. Schullo, S. Zimmerman, K. 2000, pg. 29) In assessing the implications of E-commerce in terms of marketing, it is important to understand its impact in respect to marketing strategy formulation. As the Internet, and in turn E-commerce has developed, and continues to evolve and grow, it is vital that any organisation, in any particular industry, must base it's strategic planning around such a rapidly growing medium. The growth of the Internet is an environmental influence that must be embraced and understood so to successfully plan for future marketing implementation. In order to successful realise the impact that E-commerce has in terms of marketing, it is important to break the area of interest into some key areas. As most of the issues that arise in terms of E-commerce represent organisations entering the environment, it seems natural to base discussion around this. Therefore, the bulk of the literature review relates existing organisations entering into the E-commerce market environment. In successfully identifying the relationship between E-commerce and strategy, the issues are categorised as follows: 1. Strategic analysis * Understanding the environment 2. Identifying the strategic options/SWOT analysis * Strategic Advantages/Disadvantages * Advertising * Electronic cost cutting/publishing/Process 3. Corporate level, Business level, d Marketing level 4. Retailing in E-commerce * Implementation Issues * Financial * Performance monitoring 5. Conclusion * Based on current knowledge state To gain a clearer understanding of the implication of E-Commerce in the formulation of marketing strategy, it is imperative to gain a clear understanding of the environment and it's relevant effects. This helps in understanding the rationale in a developing marketing strategy, particularly the influences of E-Commerce on its make-up. The next crucial element is to gain an understanding of E-commerce itself, as well as the current and possible future developments. In understanding E-commerce's impact on strategic foundations, an organisation's strategies can be more clearly focused. Once the organisation and E-commerce's respective environments are clear it is then possible to understand E-commerce's implications in regards to fundamental marketing strategies. By focusing on tools such as the competitive strategy framework we can gain a better understanding of strategy formulation. By now it is easy to link E-commerce ideals directly into the strategic planning sequence, and hence understand its impact to the marketer. (Brown, 1997) By reviewing these traditional marketing theories and practices, it's possible to see where, if at all E-commerce fit into current frameworks. This will provide relevant conclusions that can be made based on the strategic implications of E-commerce, and it's attributes in the marketing process. In doing so, this adds a vital dimension to the marketer in an ever-growing technology based society, of which must be clearly understood. Strategic analysis Understanding the Environment In order to gain an understanding of E-commerce's impact to the modern organisation it is imperative that the environmental issues are analysed and understood. The understanding of the environment in which an organisation is involved is a fundamental element of its strategic plan. In order to be successful in any industry the organisation must have a sound understanding of influences that effect its product or service offer. When conducting an environmental analysis in regards to the Internet, it may seem that many of its attributes are present in traditional consumer markets. However, E-commerce provides organisations with a unique medium to analyse, requiring information relating specifically to it's environment. (Strauss, J. Frost, R., 1999). E-commerce ideals place particular emphasis on environmental factors, due to the high rate of change and development it constantly undergoes. An understanding of both environmental influence on the Internet and E-commerce, and that of a particular organisation is imperative basing any strategic formulation. Strauss, J. Frost, R. (1999) includes these macro and micro environmental factor as key issues, and they are extremely useful in constructing a basic for strategic planning. Macro Environment Technology Obviously technology is a key environmental issues that must be addressed when analysing and understand E-commerce.