Electronic Commerce

Electronic Commerce

Electronic Commerce

Delta Team delivers an overview of three retail businesses hosting web sites to conduct electronic commerce (e-commerce). In this presentation, retail businesses described as Wal-Mart, Target, and Moris Fashions reveal startling contrast and keen comparisons in The Second Wave coverage in key business and technology elements of e-commerce. Web sites wal-mart.com, target.com, and morisfashions.com have a “look and feel” similar in some respects, yet dissimilar in others. This presentation begins with an evaluation of the ease of navigating each web site, continuing with an outlook of each businesses supply chain and how the chain is modified from a “brick and mortar” to a web site retail resource. In the transition from a brick and mortar to an internet highway resource, marketing tools selected by each retail business are described, followed by legal, ethical, and regulatory issues encountered in conducting electronic business (e-business).

Business-to-Consumer (B2C) commerce is the fastest growing industry sector. The development of the internet provides the catalyst for the surge of innovation in the area of e-business. The online retail environment is the chosen business industry for Delta Team. The chosen web sites Delta Team will use to describe how the “look and feel” of each site differs among each site, target.com, wal-mart.com, and morisfashions.com, to include an evaluation of the navigational ease of each web site.

Target Website Perspective

Target, a retail leader began in the late 1800s. Just like Target’s bulls eye logo, its history comes full circle. Target’s department store roots evolved into discount store shrewdness with leading first in retail industry innovations bringing a retail revolution (Target Corporation, 2007). Target continues to lead the retail industry through one of the most dynamic websites. The e-commerce website markets for Business-to-Consumer (B2C) and Business-to-Business (B2B) categories superbly.

Target’s website offers a range of features to include e-mail contact, catalogs, and product search features, to credit applications, customer login, weekly advertisement, and product information for safety considerations. Furthermore, gift registrations for weddings, special events, to include free shipping in many cases merely tap the dynamic features offered through Target.com. In summary, Target offers an excellent revenue model as described in Chapter 3 of the Fifth Annual Edition titled, “Electronic Commerce the Second Wave”.

When comparing the Target website to Wal-Mart, a slight contrast reveals Wal-Mart offering not only a consumer credit card, but offers a business credit card for small businesses as well as community credit for nonprofit organizations. However, Wal-Mart does not offer gift registration for special occasions or e-mail contact as Target’s website extends. Based upon the massive presence Wal-Mart has throughout the world, the last two website features of Target is not likely to influence dramatically Wal-Mart’s share of the retail market. Both Websites provide a presence that lends them to a pleasant, attractive look, while providing easy access to common website users, which offers a feel good presence.

When comparing the Target website to Moris Fashions, a feeling of emptiness emerges. Moris Fashions lends the site to be mundane, and boring when comparing dynamic features between Target and Moris. Moris boldly introduces sticker shock while Target provides a means of navigating through the pleasantries before handing the user a package price. As a retail outlet for no more than two years, the Moris website simply does not appeal to common consumer web users, nor does the site not offer features such as credit, business sales opportunities. This revenue model may likely have a poor return for “The Second Wave” of e-commerce.

Wal-Mart Website Perspective

Wal-Mart is the leader in the discount retail industry. Established in Arkansas during the 1960s, Wal-Mart continues to grow on a global scale. The store’s founder, Sam Walton, had the idea of bringing discount prices to rural towns across the country. Sam’s philosophy was “if a town could support a shoe store, it could support a Wal-Mart” (Nussman, 2007). As the chain grew, the stores emerged in larger cities across the United States of America (USA) bringing the company’s brand of quality products and reduced prices to the consumers of the USA. As the business grew, so did the buying power. Today no company can match the volume of Wal-Mart. The natural progression of the retail giant is expansion to the e-business marketplace as the services of the internet grow to meet the needs of the consumer.

In comparison, Target Stores and Moris Fashion are two businesses that meet different needs. Target is a competitive retail outlet, and Moris Fashion is a designer clothing store. Both stores began retail trade on the e-business channel of the internet during “The Second Wave” of e-commerce. Target’s business roots date back to the late 1800’s, while Moris Fashion is a relatively new business endeavor beginning in 2005. Both Wal-Mart and Target have a large following of dedicated shoppers who can navigate through the respective websites, both as a business-to-business (B2B) and B2C commerce. Moris Fashion appears to be a B2C website only seeking out a niche market of designer clothing consumers.

Wal-Mart’s website offers everything from tires to tube socks with ease of shopping for customers on a secure and private site. Target offers similar items to Wal-Mart with the exception of automotive items and pharmacy. Both stores offer credit card applications for customer account establishment. Moris Fashion, being a smaller retail establishment, must depend on consumer loyalty and desire to purchase from the designer collection of clothing offered to customers for sales generation, which is not a bad approach, but limits the commerce activity of the enterprise. In summary, Wal-Mart and Target market to a large-scale audience with web features created to pull the customer into the site for multiple purchases of numerous products. Moris Fashion is an alcove of specialized products designed to attract a smaller market of discriminating buyers. Wal-Mart and Target will survive with or without e-commerce trade, while Moris’