E-commerce Business Plan

Introduction

E-commerce has now become a key component of many organizations in the daily running of their business. Simply defined, electronic commerce is a system of online shopping and information retrieval accessed through networks of personal computers. E-commerce challenges traditional organizational practices, and opens ups a vast array of issues that the organizations must address. By focusing on the varying levels of an organization, it soon become apparent the effects that E-commerce can have. An understanding of the implication E-commerce has on such organizational divisions can help businesses gain understanding hence plan for it's inevitable continuing evolution. In terms of marketing, the modern organization must be critically aware of the development of E-commerce, and the implications that it entails. Marketers develop their own recipe of promotional tactics to fit the product lines or industries in which they compete. Now electronic communications tools are and will continue to be an important ingredient in the promotional mix In assessing the implications of E-commerce in terms of marketing, it is important to understand its impact in respect to marketing strategy formulation. As the Internet, and in turn E-commerce has developed, and continues to evolve and grow, it is vital that any organization, in any particular industry, must base it's strategic planning around such a rapidly growing medium. The growth of the Internet is an environmental influence that must be embraced and understood so to successfully plan for future marketing implementation. In order to successful realise the impact that E-commerce has in terms of marketing, it is important to break the area of interest into some key areas. As most of the issues that arise in terms of E-commerce represent organizations entering the environment, it seems natural to base discussion around this.

By focusing on tools such as the competitive strategy framework we can gain a better understanding of strategy formulation. By now it is easy to link E-commerce ideals directly into the strategic planning sequence, and hence understand its impact to the marketer. By reviewing these traditional marketing theories and practices, it's possible to see where, if at all E-commerce fit into current frameworks. This will provide relevant conclusions that can be made based on the strategic implications of E-commerce, and it's attributes in the marketing process. In doing so, this adds a vital dimension to the marketer in an ever-growing technology based society, of which must be clearly understood. Strategic analysis Understanding the Environment In order to gain an understanding of E-commerce's impact to the modern organization it is imperative that the environmental issues are analysed and understood. The understanding of the environment in which an organization is involved is a fundamental element of its strategic plan. In order to be successful in any industry the organization must have a sound understanding of influences that effect its product or service offer. When conducting an environmental analysis in regards to the Internet, it may seem that many of its attributes are present in traditional consumer markets. However, E-commerce provides organizations with a unique ...