Data communications

Project Proposal Summary

University of Phoenix

SUBJ: Implementing an E-Commerce Solution: Developing a Business to Customer Website

There is no doubt that the recent development in information technology has significantly changed the way businesses are done globally (Arnott et al, 2017). The advent of information technology and high prevalence of the internet has resulted to e-commerce, a concept that has been rapidly adapted by business organizations and consumers alike. E-commerce in its simplest term refers to doing business transactions online. This project proposes to implement a B-2-C information technology for the company.

Description of the Proposed IT Project

There is no doubt that business organizations are embracing the use of information technology to enhance their business competitiveness in different industries. In this regard, this project is aimed at developing and implementing an e-commerce solution that will enhance e-commerce between the business organization and the consumers (Malić et al, 2016). The project will implement a business to customer website for the company to enhance transactions.

A Description of the Business Reason for the Project

As technology continues to grow and penetrate into different industries, it is becoming inevitable for the business organization to avoid the implementation of technological systems to help them achieve their competitive advantage (Malić et al, 2016). There are several reasons why this project is important to the company. One, it will enhance company presence online and enhance its competitive in the retail industry. Secondly, implementing this project will increase the number of company market share by approximately 9% for the first 2 years.

Impacts of Execute the Project

Businesses are swiftly adapting to the use of technology to do their businesses all over the world. Our company works in a very competitive retail industry with business organizations in the industry developing strategies to become more competitive. Ecommerce is growing at a very rapid growth with estimated 23% growth every year (Berman, 2012). Experts predict that retail industry is likely to hit $27 trillion by 2020 which is a huge amount of money. In this regard, the company remains to gain a lot if it develops a business-to-customer platform that will enhance its online transactions and increase company profitability in the next 1 year.

How Competition Has Contributed To the Project Implementation Capability

Retail industry is one of the most competitive industries in the world because of the several organizations that are able to enter into the industry because of little or no barriers to entry (Arnott et al, 2017). Competition has been the main reason why most of the business organizations in the retail industry are adapting to e-commerce to maintain their competitive advantage. The increased use of online transactions has increased the effectiveness and ease of shopping by customers and retail businesses with online websites are becoming more competitive as they increase their national and global presence (Berman, 2012). Online transactions are also a competitive strategy as it is one way of reaching to the customers that are spread all over the world.

Consequences If the Project Is Not Performed

There are several consequences that the business will face if the business-to-customer project is not implemented in the light of increasing internet activities (Arnott et al, 2017). One, the company will lose its customers who are interested in shopping through online platforms and this will reduce its market share. Secondly, the company will lose its online presence which in turn will give its competitors with online presence to tap into the customers that shop online and become more competitive.

Approximate Budget, Return on Investment (ROI), and Schedule

Since the company already has a well-developed information technology system that is well structured to support communications, the company will require little input to design the website. The project will cost the company around $50,000. This will include development and implementation costs, labor and inputs inform of hardware and software. The company will also have to hire 3 additional information technology experts as employees to manage the project which will cost the company additional $9000 per month. The project is estimated to increase the company sales by $15,000 in the first 6 months after its implementation and approximately $30,000 in the next half year.

The returns on the project in one year will amount to (15,000*6) + (30,000*6) = $270000 less the projects initial cost and recurrent costs. Initial cost $50,000+ salaries for 3 employees amounting to $108000 annually. ROI for the first year is estimated to be (270,000-158,000) = $112,000. The possible risks to the project are that the project may not be implemented within the scheduled time of 2 months which may increase labor costs (Arnott et al, 2017). Secondly, the project may not be adapted to by the customers as estimated which may reduce return on the investment in the initial stages.

References

Arnott, D., Lizama, F., & Song, Y. (2017). Patterns of business intelligence systems use in organizations. Decision Support Systems, 97, 58-68.

Berman, S. J. (2012). Digital transformation: opportunities to create new business models. Strategy & Leadership, 40(2), 16-24.

Malić, M., Makitan, V., & Petrov, I. (2016). Change control in project of web application development in e-commerce environment.