ItoE five

Engagement/ Participation: Respond to two of your classmates.x

Distinguished - Contributes to classroom conversations with at least the minimum number of replies, all of which were thoughtful, relevant, and contributed meaningfully to the conversation. Fully engages in the conversation with appropriate topic-based responses.

Proficient - Contributes to classroom conversations with the minimum number of replies that are somewhat thoughtful, relevant, and contributed meaningfully to the conversation. Attempts to fully engage in the conversation with appropriate topic-based responses.

Week 5 - Discussion 1

D. Reed: Peer # 1

One main reason as to why a consumer my not shop online is due to believing that their credit card and personal information will be stolen.  An action that the entrepreneur can take to overcome this factor is to ensure safeguards to secure credit card and personal information.  An entrepreneur must gain the trust of the consumer by creating policies and procedures for protecting personal information and have this information on their website.  “”Privacy does matter on the Web, and businesses that respect and protect their customers’ privacy win their customers’ trust” (Scarborough, 2013).

Consumers may not shop online due to not believing that the website is not a real store or is fraudulent.  Entrepreneurs must ensure that the site is credible with a toll free phone number and address on their website.  Others ways to ensure to the consumer that the business website is creditable is to use well known brands, customer testimonials, include a “about us” tab, or by joining an online seal program. 

Some consumers may not shop online due to long registration procedures; check out procedures and not having a website with easy navigation.  To resolve this, the entrepreneur must take action to ensure that the website is easy to navigate around and that the registration and check out procedures are easy.  “To be successful, entrepreneurs must pay careful attention to the look, feel, efficiency, and navigability of their websites and the impression their sites create with shoppers” (Scarborough, 2013).

Another reason why a consumer may not shop online is because they do are not sure what the product really looks like.  Consumers may feel that are not sure they will get what they see or not sure how it may look once the receive it.  To take action on this the entrepreneur should make sure that there are different views of the product available on their website so that the consumer is able to see it better.  “Clear images of products with alternative views that allow customers to zoom in for detail, rotate them 360 degrees, and see color changes” (Scarborough, 2013).

Resource

Scarborough, N.M. (2013).  Essentials of entrepreneurship and small business management (7th ed).  Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education

D. Hutchinson: Peer # 2

Privacy / Security:

     It’s not surprising that a consumer would be concerned with his or her credit card / personal information being shared or mishandled throughout a transaction online.  With online fraud consistently being a problem, protecting your information is key to ensuring it remains your information alone.  One way an entrepreneur may mitigate this risk is to ensure the safety of consumers’ information efficiently.  This means taking the steps to understand potential weaknesses in your website.  Educate yourself, or hire a professional IT person to ensure data remains secure.  Lastly, make the consumer aware of your efforts to protect them and build their trust.  The more security measures you take on a website, the better the customer will feel.

Cost of Shipping:

     The cost of shipping is sometimes an agreeable price to consider the “convenience” of not having to leave your home or device.  That being said, it still inherently means that you are paying more for the product than the product is worth.  Though it still costs money to go to a store and buy the product (gas, time, etc), it is not immediately felt or noticed by a hard number like shipping costs are.  This factor can be overcome by offering deals on bulk purchases or purchases over a certain price resulting in cheaper or even free shipping.  As well, perhaps offering free shipping to a first time customer may build a relationship that results in return business. 

Waiting for product, vice immediate gratification:

     Human beings quite often tend to prefer immediate gratification as opposed to waiting 2 to 4 weeks for a product to be shipped to your home.  This is just our nature.  I have often found something cheaper online but decided to drive to a store and buy it for the larger price, just so that I would have it in my hands immediately.  This one would be very difficult to combat from an entrepreneur’s perspective, because shipping products is inherently slower than purchasing from a store.  Perhaps offering not only discounted prices, but maybe adding incentives like “bonus gifts” to ship with the purchase.  This makes it somewhat of a surprise for the consumer potentially making a game of it.  I know of companies that do this (and though I cannot confirm exact motive) and it seems effective to get business and return customers.

Lack of “personal touch”:

     Though some consumers would argue that the biggest benefit of online shopping is that they do not have to deal with people, I would liken this factor to calling a company and having to deal with an automated answering service.  I know for fact that this commonly annoys consumers and they push hard to speak to a real person.  Though it is over the phone and not in person, sometimes that personal touch of a human being is a welcomed convenience especially when assistance is required or further information is needed prior to making a purchase.  One way to combat this is to use an instant messaging interface in order to allow shoppers (consumers) to ask questions about certain products.  As well, ensure that as much information about your product or service is readily available on your website. 

Week 5 - Discussion 2

E. Nichols: Peer # 1-

Entrepreneurs need to save money on overhead; however, much as could reasonably save. One of the ways this ought to be conceivable is by picking a sensible business zone. In any case, the best places to start a business are not by and large the minimum costly. Besides, where to start a business can finally impact general advantages. This is a champion among the most basic decisions a business person will make, so it requires correct organizing and research. It incorporates looking, studying your store arrange, checking the resistance, staying on spending arrangement, understanding state laws and costs, and considerably more. Some key credits to finding the right territory for your private wander would be closeness to suppliers, envisions future advancement and movement stream and security.

Associations will save money on transportation and passing on if their suppliers are in short nearness, dispensing with this cost would be slack for them since they will have the ability to cut down the cost of things. Will there be space for expansion when necessary? If you expected to become inside the building or to neighboring urban zones would you have the ability to? Potential augmentation would be something to consider as well. When you are arranged in more zones locally you can pull in more customers. In conclusion the prosperity of your staff and customers should be another need. You ought to verify that your business is arranged in a range that has low wrongdoing rate and a place that will pull in more customers.

 

M Joseph :Peer # 2-

“Entrepreneurs who choose their locations wisely—with their customers’ preferences and their companies’ needs in mind—establish an important competitive advantage over rivals who choose their locations haphazardly.” (Scarborough, 2013). Business owners need a strategy when choosing a business location. Some key attributes of a good business location are places where communication and transportation are easily accessible. A place where people most likely go and a place where your product and services can easily be accessed by the consumers would also be a good business location. “It means that there should be a convenient, fast or easy and available means of transportation for the consumers to reach your business” (business-strategy-competition-knoji.com). The location should also be suitable for growth or expansion. The product demand should be also considered and the availability of power, fuel as well as water supply should also be considered. “One study concluded that the factors that make an area most suitable for starting and growing small companies included access to dynamic universities, an ample supply of skilled workers, a nearby airport, a temperate climate, and a high quality of life.” (Scarborough, 2013). Accessibility is probably important for a retail location in gaining a competitive advantage because businesses thrive if they are easy to get to, if there is good parking, if their product or service is good, and if they are in a location where there are new businesses opening all of the time.