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Case Analysis : Electronic Payment System

Metrodeal.com

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for

GEEC381 E-Business

2011-2012

Submitted to

Dr. Maria DP Ishii

Submitted by:

Ruby Rose Parani (Maggie)

January 07, 2012

Synopsis:

Metrodeal.com is the undisputed market leader in the Philippines’ group buying industry since it was launched early in 2011(www.metrodeal.com) where the best deals on the best things to do, see, eat and buy across the Philippines can be purchased online. Group buying also known as social buying or collective online buying or crowd buying is an online web site that provides great deals and discounts through the power of bulk buying. Big discounts can go up as high as 90% off the original price, which as compared to is way better than any mall sale promotion. Typically, these websites feature a deal of the day, with the deal kicking in once a set number of people agree to buy the product or service. Buyers then print off a voucher to claim their discount at the retailer.

To get started, a buyer must register and open an account at www.metrodeal.com. Choose from the list of today’s deal and click “buy now” before the countdown ends. A buyer will have the option to pay for his purchase either through credit card, PayPal, bank deposit, Gcash or Smartmoney. After the successful payment, the buyer can access and print the voucher(s) when they log on to their Metrodeal account or they have the option to write down the voucher code and security code on a piece of paper and then show it to the participating merchant.

Instruction #1: Create a comprehensive SWOT (Strength, Weakness, Opportunities, Threats) analysis for Metrodeal as an online retailer company

Metrodeal as a group buying has its distinctive Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. After reading the case below are my assessments:

Strengths:

Metrodeal can offer huge discount which can go up to 90% off the regular price which I believe you cannot find in any local mall sales. Metrodeal can do such by using or employing the power of bulk buying which will only work once a target number of online shoppers agree to buy a particular product or service.

Metrodeal do have a huge number of followers, millions as the case states. Having the numbers, there’s an assumption that the minimum number of buyers needed per particular deal is achievable.

Metrodeal and merchant partnership promises a seamless transaction. This holds true because only when the minimum buys are reached and the deal is on, Metrodeal will take a portion of the sales and send the rest of the money to the merchant. Risk, stress, and headache free – a promise from Metrodeal for the merchants.

Once a buyer confirms to buy a particular product or services, they have the option to pay either through Credit Card, PayPal, Bank Deposit, Gcash, Smart Money or through LBC. Such variety of option to pay provides convenience to Metrodeal subscribers which can be identified as another strength for Metrodeal.

Weaknesses:

One weakness for Metrodeal is that they don’t earn if the deal does not meet its required number of buyers. The merchant would benefit from the free advertising but since arrangement with Metrodeal is to complete minimum number of buyers, Metrodeal can only charge fee once this is met. In short, there’s no guaranteed profit for Metrodeal.

Web based application or internet sites are prone to bogus buyers. There may be instances of posers claiming to be clients but in reality their intention is to pose harm or breach their security.

One weakness also for web based retailer or online seller is the lack of human touch to promote the products or services. A customer may still put importance to human factor when buying products or services rather than choose from a catalogue and decide on your own. At times, we still put importance on the ability of the salesperson to highlight the benefits and advantages of buying a product or service since directly questions and inquiries are answered.

Opportunities:

One great opportunity for Metrodeal is that there can be unlimited number of merchants and even more potential online buyers or subscribers. Since application is web based and we all know how popular online purchases are during this era, we cannot put boundary or limit as to what Metrodeal can offer and even perhaps we cannot also place limit on the potential number of subscribers and customers online.

Another opportunity for Metrodeal apart from being a web based or online entity is to enter tri-media marketing. Though this maybe expensive as compared to being an online based however print, radio and TV can definitely increase the popularity of Metrodeal as compared to being exclusive for internet only.

Threats

Once a particular business model turns to be successful, you can expect competitors to copy or imitate the same. As such, there are a number of competitors giving the best offers and giving Metrodeal a good deal of competition.

Merchants themselves can pose a big threat as they may find it feasible to offer the deal directly rather than employ the services of Metrodeal.

Instruction #2: If you’re a buyer, which do you think is the best payment method in Metrodeal? Justify your answer by giving some advantages and disadvantages.

Currently, as found on www.metrodeal.com a buyer has the option to pay either through Credit Card, Paypal, SmartMoney, Globe Cash, direct bank deposits (major banks) and through LBC. Payment via Credit Card provides one the comfort of not leaving your house and yet be able to make the purchase for your chosen product or service. Paypal on the other hand provides the same and yet would guarantee a different level of protection and anonymity as compared to Credit Card purchases. GlobeCash, Smartmoney and direct bank deposits provides security however one must leave their house and endure the queue particularly if you will go to Malls or Banks. Given the choice, I would go for PayPal. You can use PayPal particularly for all web based shopping sites not just for Metrodeal without sharing your financial information or the security code of your credit card. PayPal uses the latest anti-fraud technology ensuring all transactions are controlled and secured. I think what is important here is the comfort without sacrificing security which I think PayPal both offers.