...the website in order to obtain a competitive advantage in an industry with many competitors that already have an established customer base. 2. How to increase the customer base to prevent wineries from thinking twice about the value of signing up with Cork’d. 3. How to determine a pricing model in order to increase revenues, keep the business afloat, and maintain current clients. 4. How to determine which target audience the business should appeal to in order to effectively market and gain new customers. Analysis Cork’d is a social networking website that has attracted a niche market of wine enthusiasts through the use of its celebrity owner, Gary Vaynerchuk. As shown in the SWOT analysis (Exhibit 1.0), Cork’d has been able to use the success of Gary’s YouTube page and “Wine Library” website to leverage itself and attract to individual wine enthusiasts. However, there have been concerns from the wineries that they are unable to determine the value they are receiving from signing up with Cork’d for the $999 annual fee. Although many individuals are happy with the services they have available, the main revenue stream comes from the wineries. Cork’d has used an ad-free system for their website in order to maintain their customers. This system hasn’t been working because of their inability to keep customers; their user stickiness dropping from 49% in September 2009 to 43% in December 2009. There is the possibility that user’s may have trouble navigating through the website, as...
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...Topic: Yelp and Bad Reviews Section One: Problems/ Issues Identification: Central Facts: A lady, Jane Perez, from Virginia is being sued for $750, 000 in defamation charges by a contractor, Christopher Dietz, after posting negative reviews about work that his company did on her house. Since she was unhappy with the work that Dietz’s Company, Dietz’s Development LLC did on her house; Perez allegedly took to the web and stated that the company did damage to her house and that jewelry that was in her home had disappeared. A judge in Fairfax Country Virginia ruled in the preliminary injunction that certain accusations made by Perez about Dietz’s company be deleted. Perez’s comments, according to abcnews.go.com are no longer viewable on Yelp’s page for Dietz’s company. Actual online review websites, such as Yelp, Tripadvisor, Angie’s list, etc. are protected from lawsuits by the Communication Decency Act of 1996. Section 230 of the law, according to abcnews.go.com, protects online service providers from liability based on actions of third parties (also known as, users). However claims made by the reviewer can be subject to defamation charges, which varies based on state laws. In Virginia, where Dietz is bring the lawsuit, the state says that someone can be found guilty of defamation charges if he or she makes or implies statements that are not factual and that harm a person or businesses’ reputation. In 2011, a study done by Harvard Business School found a link between an...
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...the ultimate customer service experience. Current Status Strengths Established customers and position in market. Descriptive and easy to follow FAQ page on website. Weaknesses Narrow market Poor telephone navigation Higher shipping costs Opportunities Improve current customer service navigation and experience. Threats Competitors (Constellation Brands, Brown-Forman Corporation, etc) Accumulated negative reviews on various websites. Although Anabella Wine could use improvements, there are still strengths that can give the company a boost. While a huge weakness at Anabella Wine is the review on the customer service, there is an opportunity for redemption. Anabella Wine is a well-known brand in the U.S. and they can improve our customer service in various ways. Our opportunities make us believe that there will be increased chance for us to expand globally. There are a few threats that may hinder our success, including competitors such as Constellation Brands and Brown-Forman Corporation. Strengths Anabella Wine can promote two important strengths: Established business. Anabella Wine is a well-known business that has been in operation for a long time. In addition to our stores we have various benefits for frequent buyers. The loyalty and credit card rewards that are offered help get customers more involved and give them a reason to come back. Organized FAQ. The Anabella Wine website has various...
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...Analysis……………………………………………………………………………..7 4. Marketing Strategy…………………………………………………………………………...7 5. Operations Strategy…………………………………………………………………………..8 6. Forecast and Financials……………………………………………………………………..10 7. Stages of Development………………………………………………………………………14 8. Funding Estimates…………………………………………………………………………..15 9. Website Prototype…………………………………………………………………………...16 10. Future Plans…………………………………………………………………………………20 1. Overview: Foodplaza.com is a web site which will be first of its kind in the Indian market. The website offers customers a common platform to order food online and avail other services from a wide range of restaurants. It provides a better interface to the customers to know more about the range of restaurants where they can order from with a list of variety of food items along with the description and cost. It also provides an opportunity for small and medium restaurants to increase their visibility and customer base. 1.1 Basic Model: Our web site will include search features based on the following criteria – Location: (City, Local Area), Cuisine (Indian, Chinese, Vegetarian, Non-vegetarian, etc.), Restaurants and Price range. The customer will have an option to create an account with our site where in his details like address, bank details and preferences will be stored so that he does not have to submit those details every...
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...Development 13 Project Summary 15 References 16 Appendix 1: Competency Matrix 17 Appendix 2: Website Screen Shots 19 Appendix 3: Site Structure Map 24 Capstone Proposal Summary My Capstone project is to develop a website for a startup company that was recently formed by my family. This company is just starting out and will have a wide, diverse range of products and services. Some of these will include website design, remote network support, graphic design, photography sessions, and technical support. The web presence is an initial step to introduce the company. Following this, prospective customers will be able to access the website for information about the company and the services offered. Future updates will include the addition of available products made by the company. The site will need to provide information about the company’s qualifications and certifications of the staff, contact information, and information request forms. In anticipation of future growth of the services and products offered, a site template page will need to allow for the creation of additional pages and information. The project is forecast to be completed in three basic phases. The first phase will be to define the content to be initially included on the site by researching other company websites of a similar nature. This will produce a rough draft of the content and page layout for the website. It will also provide a basic template constructed from observations of similar sites...
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...The Internet Business Review Issue 1 – October 2004 THE IMPACT OF E-COMMERCE INDUSTRY TURMOIL ON AMAZON.COM: A STRATEGIC PERSPECTIVE Russell Casey - Clayton State University, USA William Carroll - University of Phoenix, USA Edited by Faith W. Smalls Abstract Internet retailers face intense competition in their quest to gain market share due to the large number of competitors, ease of entry, low switching costs and the strength of existing multi-channel retailers. To survive, it is critical that online retailers create a sustainable competitive advantage in their e-commerce strategy and plan for long-term strategic positioning. The article uses a case study analysis of Amazon.com's strategy to develop an understanding of the e-commerce competitive environment and the importance of building a sustainable competitive environment to create value for the firm, its customers, and its shareholders. © 2004 The Internet Business Review The Internet Business Review Issue 1 – October 2004 Introduction Is the Internet a leech that sucks a company’s assets dry? Many investors, entrepreneurs, and managers pondered this billion-dollar question as hundreds of dotcoms collapsed over the last two years. Companies, such as Boo.com, Etoys, Onsale, @home, and Webvan, are extinct and many more cling to existence. The dreams of consumers, shareholders and other stakeholders have been shattered. From their inception, these dotcoms were going to revolutionize the world and...
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...grooming business that travels to customers home and provides business-to-consumer grooming services, they are located in Saint Cloud, Florida and serve majority of the cities in the surrounding area. Mobile grooming is a personalized service and typically charges $10-$20 higher than salon grooming and by keeping their cost low U Dirty Dawg can offer their services at a competitive price. The benefits of mobile grooming are that it saves the drop off and pick up time, avoids the dog hair mess in the car, and it is beneficial for pets that are sensitive and anxious around other animals. Estimated that 68% of all U.S. households own a pet, which equates to 82.5 million homes and in 2013 the pet industry represented $55.33 billion dollars (American Pet Products Association, Inc., 2014). The pet industry is a very lucrative industry and it is important that this company take ahold of their target market and expands their business. At the present the company does not have a strong online strategy; it has a web page with their contact information, price list, about us, benefits of grooming, and pictures. All sales are done over the phone or in person and their email are used to provide additional information to potential customers. The local market is starting to get saturated with competition and the company is aware of the importance to have competitive advantage over their competitors and position them in a way that distinguishes from others. The company understands that they need to...
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...consuming information on the web have been radically transformed in the recent times. Today, there are so many websites to offer anyone to create their own blogs to write and publish without needing an effort of writing and getting accepted by anyone. We have other websites which offer anyone to upload video, audio such as “You tube” to get the information to the world in no time. The power of communication has increased rapidly with the advancement of these sites using web technology. The content sharing websites like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Yelp are commonly referred as “Web 2.0”, where the communication of using these sites have increased and people have extensive knowledge of important information very fast and also communicate to these website user community in no time. We can very well get information of any new products into the market, new movies information (reviews about good or bad), we can also very well get recommendations, we can also ask in the websites for people to recommend a product and its pros and cons of getting it. Due to these in-depth changes in the web usage by people and the power the consumers have in determining any product or service, the companies are making every effort to get connected with the community by creating customer facing websites. On top of having just the online selling or servicing of products and service the companies are constantly allowing more and more...
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...supporting the many Department of Energy projects in the Hanford area. The dinner crowd is always smaller and consists mostly of loyal local customers. Suzuki’s Teriyaki also sells several of their homemade sauces at the restaurant front desk. Currently, the only online presence for Suzuki’s Teriyaki is a facebook page and some reviews on Yelp.com. The reasons for Suzuki’s Teriyaki to increase its online presence are to expand, to control the cost of growth, to create awareness and to drive traffic. Expansion by creating a custom website will allow Suzuki’s Teriyaki to have another channel by which to sell its products and generate more dinner time restaurant traffic. The goal of increasing profit and revenue can be increased with a website that allows customers to place menu orders, browse menu item specials, buy custom sauces and make reservations for small and large groups. Creating a website can be much less expensive than opening another physical location. The online presence also reaches a national and international base. Many clients come to the Richland area from other parts of the country and from other nations and they research local areas to eat. Suzuki’s Teriyaki does not advertise and relies solely on word of mouth and loyal customers. The website would become a main part of the marketing effort and create awareness for prospective customers. Finally, foot...
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...the reputation of a company flourish online. High reputation have many tangible and intangible benefits such as, if reputation is very high for a company then company will receive more customers who subsequently lead to more revenues earned, customers will prefer companies’ product and services over competitors, company will have ability to charge premium for products, stakeholders will standby company’s side in bad times and companies value in financial market will be boosted. However if reputation of a company is low then the business could greatly loose especially if there is any negative sentiment attached to the company’s name. Online corporate reputation management is the solution or precaution for the loss company face due to bad reputation. Online corporate reputation management can reverse these negative sentiments and comments by employing SEO (Search Engine Optimization) practices, such as posting positive comments to bring your company's reviews to the top of search engine search pages. Online reputation management is a process of using strategic SEO and various other methods to reverse damage done to an individual's or a business's reputation (defendmyname, (n.d)). Online reputation management is a practice of monitoring, developing and controlling a company’s online reputation(defendmyname, (n.d)). Taking example of Toyota, which suffered a big setback, February 2010 recorded more than eight million Toyota cars that were recalled by the company. Due to sticky floor...
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...Company Website: It is imperative that our business has a website in addition to the social networking features. A website is the first place customers will go to when searching for our company. A website is a place where we can control the information posted and the format of the data. It gives us the opportunity to provide an excellent shopping experience while being efficient and of value to our customers. a. Promoting Our Accessible Website i. Write Articles for Websites: Writing articles about fitness, cycling, bicycles, and reviews allows us to distribute our expertise to other editors to use as free content for their websites and newsletters. This exposure on other sites can produces hundreds of links to Bicycle Pro’s website. EzineArticles.com offers great tips and information on how to use this as successful marketing. ii. Request Reciprocal Links: Bicycle Pro will use other bicycle related websites to increase our sites traffic. We will include a section on our site that contains links to other sites that have Bicycle Pro’s link on their page. We will work with related companies to keep customers on our connected network of sites. Zeus and IBP Link Builder will help get us started. This takes time and effort, but it has no cost. iii. List Products with Shopping Comparison Bots and Auction Sites: A good shopping comparison website allows visitors to compare prices, features, reviews, and merchants side by side. Shopping bots compare a company’s products...
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...Shoppers can find fashion goods for men and women, along with top name work wear, shoes, and boots. The bargain hunter can find quality items for the home like rugs, candles and curtains. Connor’s best-selling product is the handmade, dried floral arrangements that are produced by the Connor family themselves. Recently, the company has made the decision to retire the older family members in the next six months and replace them with the younger family members whose ages range from 22 to 40 years of age to run the company. With that being said, the new store operators are looking to expand the store's customer base for online shopping as well as promotion of their brick and mortar stores. At the present time, the company has a basic web page referring customers to the different locations of the various stores located in Alabama and Ohio. All sales include mostly local shoppers, but also serve customers from all over the country who are traveling on vacation near the store's location sites. Although sales in the local markets are strong, the new owners are relatively young, eager, and aware of the potential growth of business sales. The success of the company has been proven by its ability of opening a new store approximately every 7 years since its conception. There is an enormous opportunity to grow their sales by expanding beyond the Ohio and Alabama regions. The decision has been made by the new owner’s of this resilient and highly profitable...
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...created and validated by key IT Solution Professionals personnel; to include IT and business staff. The Aim of this Plan IT Solution Professionals’ aim is to start and become the leading development company in the information security sector. Our Mission IT Solution Professionals mission is to be recognized for its innovative, dynamic, and professional services for companies in the mid to high end markets. Core Organisational Competencies On behalf of our customers/clients IT Solution Professionals will: • Provide access control. • Assess, harden, and protect network assets. • Provide physical security. • Understand and implement sound risk management. • Provide a sound business continuity/backup plan. Organizational Values • We value our role in the mission of the company. • We value a collaborative work environment. • We value outstanding customer service. • We value professional expertise and development. • We value leadership throughout the organization. • We value accountability on a personal level. • We value a healthy work environment. Performance Objectives Performance Area Performance Measures Financial Performance Enhance cost control Increase rate competitiveness Increase net income Customer and Market Performance Improve customer satisfaction Improve public confidence Internal Efficiency and Effectiveness Improve marketing Improve budget efficiencies...
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...PHH Mortgage originates, sells, and services residential mortgage loans to retail customers. It’s a subsidiary of PHH Corporation, which provides mortgage services to real estate brokers and financial institutions. The company has been in business since 1977, and it’s headquartered in Mount Laurel, NJ. PHH Mortgage closed approximately $41 billion in mortgage loans, and serviced a portfolio of 1.1 million loans in 2015. PHH Mortgage is one of the largest mortgage companies in the country as it ranks 5th in the nation for originating residential loans and 9th in the nation for mortgage servicing. Reviews of PHH Mortgage on the BBB and Consumer Affairs websites are not favorable. PHH Mortgage is not accredited with the BBB, but the company...
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... Impact of online sales to the company 6 The requirements for a successful online marketing campaign 6 Recommendations………………………………..…………………………………………………………………………………………………7 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….…8 References 9 Executive Summary Sherry Ward appointed to research the possibility of adding online sales to the Ward Sock Company. The purpose of this report is to determine if moving to an online sales department will increase our customer base and ultimately increase our sales. This report will review the advantages and disadvantages of adding online sales to the company, how online sales will influence our company and lastly how best to implement the recommendations. Ward Sock Company methodical and calculated work ethic has proved to be key to the company’s long-term success therefore thorough research and analysis is imperative to the success of the online sales project. The research shows that there are many advantages to progressing to an online sales division, by going out on the world wide web the store will be open 24/7 not only will this our existing customers additional access for easy repeat purchases it has the potential of adding new customers. The company will need to be careful with online transactions making security a top priority. Offering reviews and posting feedback will aid potential customers in purchase decisions. The impact of online sales will give Ward Sock Company, a brick-and-mortar store, an opportunity...
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