Question 1
a) What experiences have you had with shopping online?
I have used the internet to purchase tickets, book hotel rooms, buy a digital camera and to recharge my pre paid internet.
b) Describe a good experience.
When I brought my camera from the Ted’s Camera House website, I found it really easy to navigate around the site, to compare different camera features and prices and also the different mailing/ payment options were easy to understand and follow. There were no problems with the order or product and I will defiantly consider using the same process next time.
c) What did you like about the online store you used?
Again that it was easy to follow, it allowed me to compare the different camera styles, features and prices. The site was very clear in the procedures I needed to follow when purchasing the camera.
d) Describe a bad experience.
I once used a Best Western motel website to book a room for a night. Although the process seemed simple enough, when I called the next morning to double check my booking had been received they had no records of my booking.
e) What problems did you have with the online store?
The problems I had with this site where that the booking did not actually reach the motel that I intended to make the booking in. I had to leave my credit card details on that site and it made me feel very unsafe about who exactly got those details from that site.
f) What features make an online store more appealing?
· Instructions are easy to follow
· Store is easy to operate
· Well known/ recommended by friends/ family/ media source
· Multiple delivery options
· Multiple payment options
· Wide variety of products
· Detailed images/ features of items
· Refund or exchange for items
g) What features make an online store less appealing?
· No images of products being purchases
· Little known stores
· No refund or exchange on items
· Instructions are difficult to understand
h) Should we expect to see the prices of goods and services rise or fall due to the migration of consumers online?
As more and more consumers migrate to online shopping, the prices of goods and services should fall as the market becomes more competitive.
Question 2
a) The dispersion of prices (that is, the spread between the lowest and highest price for a particular product) will narrow.
I agree. Consumers look for products and compare the prices in general. Consumers look at products from different stores not only in store but online too, and then decide which to buy through the price. If an online store has a product cheaper than a physical store then the consumer will be more likely to buy from the online store to save money.
b) The importance of brand names will decrease.
The importance of brand names in my opinion will not decrease. Due mainly to brand loyalty. People often go with what they know works regardless of the costs.
c) Price competition will make all products cheaper.
I agree that when stores compete on price that the product becomes cheaper. Such items as iPods when people purchase them they look around at the price since the product is the same in each store.
d) Digital markets will become dominated by a handful of mega-sites, like Amazon.com.
I agree. Sites such as Amazon, eBay and other sites dominate since are well known so consumers turn to them first.
e) How do you think the balance of power between buyers and sellers will change?I think that the balance of power will change between buyers and sellers are that people will be looking online for things. The buyers have to make sure that their prices are competing with other stores. If other stores are cheaper than consumers are more incline to go elsewhere. Sellers have more opportunity now since they can go online and see where they can get a product for a cheaper price.
f) Prices are cluster online.I think that the prices online vary.
If products can be purchased online this does not mean that the prices are all the same.
g) Online prices are elastic. (I.e. immune to change up and down with demand).
Most prices would most likely stay the same due to demand always varies. Such items go through waves of popularity. If the items continually change through demand then the prices will change throughout the seasons. The price for a product might reduce for a certain amount of time but I do not think that prices online are elastic.
h) Online prices are generally transparent (the extent to which prices for a given product or service are known by buyers in the marketplace.).
I agree. Online prices would be close to the marketplace prices. Certain products are known for their value so if the online price is more expensive than other prices then consumers would purchase elsewhere.
http://moodle.ballarat.edu.au/file.php/24/Digital_Markets/MIT_price_paper.pdf
Question 3
a) What types of m-commerce services does your cell phone provider offer?My mobile provider which is Optus provides such m-commerce as:· paying bills online,· emailing· Bluetooth· Games· Internet
b) Which of these services do you use?
Bluetooth
Games
c) What types of transactions do you perform through your cell phone or other wireless device?
I only use my phone for calls and messages.
d) What types of transactions would you like to perform, but are currently unable to?
My phone allows many transactions however I’m not really interested in making any transactions on my phone.
e) What is your opinion of wireless advertising/mobile marketing?
Wireless advertising is a good idea as more people have a mobile then internet access. People are always on their phones it makes sense that marketers would tap into this trend. By making it easier for people to make transactions using their phone this helps people do things faster. With the introduction of iphones people have seen this as the latest craze since it allows consumers to go onto the internet to do normal things they would do on their computer. The iphone is bigger and easier to take anywhere.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Week 5- Business Models
Look at the list of business models below and describe the features of each of these business models, on your blog page, giving an example of each.
Brokerage Model- Brokers are essentially market makers. They bring buyers and sellers together to facilitate a transaction. What makes the brokerage model work is that brokers charge a fee or a commission for each transaction that they enable. An interesting note about the brokerage model is that relationship between the broker and the buyer and seller can vary across a wide range of formulas, in terms of how a fee is structured. The real beauty about most broker models is simply that the broker is focused on one thing and only one thing. And that is bringing the buyer and seller together to consummate a successful transaction. And to the extent that that occurs, the broker walks away with a commission and very little overhead. (Rappa, 2005)
Source- http://digitalenterprise.org/transcripts/business_models_tr.html
Brokerage Models include:
Marketplace Exchange -- offers a full range of services covering the transaction process, from market assessment to negotiation and fulfillment. Exchanges operate independently or are backed by an industry consortium. [Orbitz, ChemConnect]
Buy/Sell Fulfillment -- takes customer orders to buy or sell a product or service, including terms like price and delivery. [CarsDirect, Respond.com]
Demand Collection System -- the patented "name-your-price" model pioneered by Priceline.com. Prospective buyer makes a final (binding) bid for a specified good or service, and the broker arranges fulfillment. [Priceline.com]
Auction Broker -- conducts auctions for sellers (individuals or merchants). Broker charges the seller a listing fee and commission scaled with the value of the transaction. Auctions vary widely in terms of the offering and bidding rules. [eBay]
Transaction Broker -- provides a third-party payment mechanism for buyers and sellers to settle a transaction. [PayPal, Escrow.com]
Distributor -- is a catalog operation that connects a large number of product manufacturers with volume and retail buyers. Broker facilitates business transactions between franchised distributors and their trading partners.
Search Agent -- a software agent or "robot" used to search-out the price and availability for a good or service specified by the buyer, or to locate hard to find information.
Virtual Marketplace -- or virtual mall, a hosting service for online merchants that charges setup, monthly listing, and/or transaction fees. May also provide automated transaction and relationship marketing services. [zShops and Merchant Services at Amazon.com]
Source- http://digitalenterprise.org/models/models.html#Brokerage
Advertising Model- The web advertising model is an extension of the traditional media broadcast model. It works by someone producing content that it thinks people will find interesting to listen to or watch, ( e.g newspaper/ magazines/ websites) usually for free, and then making money off of that content by charging people who wish to advertisements somewhere within it. The advertising model works best when the volume of viewer traffic is large or highly specialised.
Sources-http://digitalenterprise.org/transcripts/business_models_tr.html
http://digitalenterprise.org/models/models.html#Advertising
The adversing model includes:
Portal -- usually a search engine that may include varied content or services. A high volume of user traffic makes advertising profitable and permits further diversification of site services. A personalized portal allows customization of the interface and content to the user. A niche portal cultivates a well-defined user demographic. [Yahoo!]
Classifieds -- list items for sale or wanted for purchase. Listing fees are common, but there also may be a membership fee. [Monster.com, Craigslist]
User Registration -- content-based sites that are free to access but require users to register and provide demographic data. Registration allows inter-session tracking of user surfing habits and thereby generates data of potential value in targeted advertising campaigns. [NYTimes]
Query-based Paid Placement -- sells favorable link positioning (i.e., sponsored links) or advertising keyed to particular search terms in a user query, such as Overture's trademark "pay-for-performance" model. [Google, Overture]
Contextual Advertising / Behavioral Marketing -- freeware developers who bundle adware with their product. For example, a browser extension that automates authentication and form fill-ins, also delivers advertising links or pop-ups as the user surfs the web. Contextual advertisers can sell targeted advertising based on an individual user's surfing activity.
Content-Targeted Advertising -- pioneered by Google, it extends the precision of search advertising to the rest of the web. Google identifies the meaning of a web page and then automatically delivers relevant ads when a user visits that page. [Google]
Intromercials -- animated full-screen ads placed at the entry of a site before a user reaches the intended content. [CBS MarketWatch]
Ultramercials -- interactive online ads that require the user to respond intermittently in order to wade through the message before reaching the intended content. [Salon in cooperation with Mercedes-Benz]
Source- http://digitalenterprise.org/models/models.html#Advertising
Infomediary Model-Data about consumers and their consumption habits are valuable, especially when that information is carefully analyzed and used to target marketing campaigns. Independently collected data about producers and their products are useful to consumers when considering a purchase. Some firms function as infomediaries (information intermediaries) assisting buyers and/or sellers understand a given market.
Advertising Networks -- feed banner ads to a network of member sites, thereby enabling advertisers to deploy large marketing campaigns. Ad networks collect data about web users that can be used to analyze marketing effectiveness. [DoubleClick]
Audience Measurement Services -- online audience market research agencies. [Nielsen//Netratings]
Incentive Marketing -- customer loyalty program that provides incentives to customers such as redeemable points or coupons for making purchases from associated retailers. Data collected about users is sold for targeted advertising. [Coolsavings]
Metamediary -- facilitates transactions between buyer and sellers by providing comprehensive information and ancillary services, without being involved in the actual exchange of goods or services between the parties. [Edmunds]
source- http://digitalenterprise.org/models/models.html#Infomediary
Merchant Model- Wholesalers and retailers of goods and services. Sales may be made based on list prices or through auction.
Virtual Merchant --or e-tailer, is a retail merchant that operates solely over the web. [Amazon.com]
Catalog Merchant -- mail-order business with a web-based catalog. Combines mail, telephone and online ordering. [Lands' End]
Click and Mortar -- traditional brick-and-mortar retail establishment with web storefront. [Barnes & Noble]
Bit Vendor -- a merchant that deals strictly in digital products and services and, in its purest form, conducts both sales and distribution over the web. [Apple iTunes Music Store]
source- http://digitalenterprise.org/models/models.html#Merchant
Manufacturer (Direct) Model-The manufacturer or "direct model", it is predicated on the power of the web to allow a manufacturer (i.e., a company that creates a product or service) to reach buyers directly and thereby compress the distribution channel. The manufacturer model can be based on efficiency, improved customer service, and a better understanding of customer preferences. [Dell Computer]
Purchase -- the sale of a product in which the right of ownership is transferred to the buyer.
Lease -- in exchange for a rental fee, the buyer receives the right to use the product under a “terms of use” agreement. The product is returned to the seller upon expiration or default of the lease agreement. One type of agreement may include a right of purchase upon expiration of the lease.
License -- the sale of a product that involves only the transfer of usage rights to the buyer, in accordance with a “terms of use” agreement. Ownership rights remain with the manufacturer (e.g., with software licensing).
Brand Integrated Content -- in contrast to the sponsored-content approach (i.e., the advertising model), brand-integrated content is created by the manufacturer itself for the sole basis of product placement.
source- http://digitalenterprise.org/models/models.html#Manufacturer
Affiliate Model- In contrast to the generalized portal, which seeks to drive a high volume of traffic to one site, the affiliate model, provides purchase opportunities wherever people may be surfing. It does this by offering financial incentives (in the form of a percentage of revenue) to affiliated partner sites. The affiliates provide purchase-point click-through to the merchant. It is a pay-for-performance model -- if an affiliate does not generate sales, it represents no cost to the merchant. The affiliate model is inherently well-suited to the web, which explains its popularity. Variations include, banner exchange, pay-per-click, and revenue sharing programs. [Barnes & Noble, Amazon.com]
Banner Exchange -- trades banner placement among a network of affiliated sites.
Pay-per-click -- site that pays affiliates for a user click-through.
Revenue Sharing -- offers a percent-of-sale commission based on a user click-through in which the user subsequently purchases a product.
source-http://digitalenterprise.org/models/models.html#Affiliate
Community Model- The viability of the community model is based on user loyalty. Users have a high investment in both time and emotion. Revenue can be based on the sale of ancillary products and services or voluntary contributions; or revenue may be tied to contextual advertising and subscriptions for premium services. The Internet is inherently suited to community business models and today this is one of the more fertile areas of development, as seen in rise of social networking.
Open Source -- software developed collaboratively by a global community of programmers who share code openly. Instead of licensing code for a fee, open source relies on revenue generated from related services like systems integration, product support, tutorials and user documentation. [Red Hat]
Open Content -- openly accessible content developed collaboratively by a global community of contributors who work voluntarily. [Wikipedia]
Public Broadcasting -- user-supported model used by not-for-profit radio and television broadcasting extended to the web. A community of users support the site through voluntary donations. [The Classical Station (WCPE.org)]
Social Networking Services -- sites that provide individuals with the ability to connect to other individuals along a defined common interest (professional, hobby, romance). Social networking services can provide opportunities for contextual advertising and subscriptions for premium services. [Flickr, Friendster, Orkut]
source- http://digitalenterprise.org/models/models.html#Community
Subscription Model- Users are charged a periodic -- daily, monthly or annual -- fee to subscribe to a service. It is not uncommon for sites to combine free content with "premium" (i.e., subscriber- or member-only) content. Subscription fees are incurred irrespective of actual usage rates. Subscription and advertising models are frequently combined.
Content Services -- provide text, audio, or video content to users who subscribe for a fee to gain access to the service. [Listen.com, Netflix]
Person-to-Person Networking Services -- are conduits for the distribution of user-submitted information, such as individuals searching for former schoolmates. [Classmates]
Trust Services -- come in the form of membership associations that abide by an explicit code of conduct, and in which members pay a subscription fee. [Truste]
Internet Services Providers -- offer network connectivity and related services on a monthly subscription. [America Online]
source- http://digitalenterprise.org/models/models.html#Subcription
Utility Model- The utility or "on-demand" model is based on metering usage, or a "pay as you go" approach. Unlike subscriber services, metered services are based on actual usage rates. Traditionally, metering has been used for essential services (e.g., electricity water, long-distance telephone services). Internet service providers (ISPs) in some parts of the world operate as utilities, charging customers for connection minutes, as opposed to the subscriber model common in the U.S.
Metered Usage -- measures and bills users based on actual usage of a service.
Metered Subscriptions -- allows subscribers to purchase access to content in metered portions (e.g., numbers of pages viewed). [Slashdot]
source- http://digitalenterprise.org/models/models.html#Utility
Looking at the Technology report, particularly the country profiles and rankings. Use some of the tools to answer the following
1) What is the Mobile phone use /100 population - compare Australia, USA, China, India, Your Country
Australia is ranked number 38 with a score of 102.49
The US is ranked number 61 with a score of 83.51
China is ranked number 94 with a score of 41.19
India is ranked number 120 wiht a score of 19.98
2) Internet use / 100 population - compare Australia, USA, China, India, Your Country
The US is ranked in 8th position with a score of 71.94
Australia is ranked in 25th position with a score of 54.19
Chine is ranked in 78th position with a score of 15.81
India is ranked in 99th positon with a score of 6.93
4) What does the survey suggest to you about the Information Technology readiness of Australian business compared to Australian consumers?
The survey would suggest that Australian consumers are more ready for information Technoloy changes/ updates that Australian business. Business is ranked 22 out of 134 nations where as consumers have a much higher ranking of 13.
Brokerage Model- Brokers are essentially market makers. They bring buyers and sellers together to facilitate a transaction. What makes the brokerage model work is that brokers charge a fee or a commission for each transaction that they enable. An interesting note about the brokerage model is that relationship between the broker and the buyer and seller can vary across a wide range of formulas, in terms of how a fee is structured. The real beauty about most broker models is simply that the broker is focused on one thing and only one thing. And that is bringing the buyer and seller together to consummate a successful transaction. And to the extent that that occurs, the broker walks away with a commission and very little overhead. (Rappa, 2005)
Source- http://digitalenterprise.org/transcripts/business_models_tr.html
Brokerage Models include:
Marketplace Exchange -- offers a full range of services covering the transaction process, from market assessment to negotiation and fulfillment. Exchanges operate independently or are backed by an industry consortium. [Orbitz, ChemConnect]
Buy/Sell Fulfillment -- takes customer orders to buy or sell a product or service, including terms like price and delivery. [CarsDirect, Respond.com]
Demand Collection System -- the patented "name-your-price" model pioneered by Priceline.com. Prospective buyer makes a final (binding) bid for a specified good or service, and the broker arranges fulfillment. [Priceline.com]
Auction Broker -- conducts auctions for sellers (individuals or merchants). Broker charges the seller a listing fee and commission scaled with the value of the transaction. Auctions vary widely in terms of the offering and bidding rules. [eBay]
Transaction Broker -- provides a third-party payment mechanism for buyers and sellers to settle a transaction. [PayPal, Escrow.com]
Distributor -- is a catalog operation that connects a large number of product manufacturers with volume and retail buyers. Broker facilitates business transactions between franchised distributors and their trading partners.
Search Agent -- a software agent or "robot" used to search-out the price and availability for a good or service specified by the buyer, or to locate hard to find information.
Virtual Marketplace -- or virtual mall, a hosting service for online merchants that charges setup, monthly listing, and/or transaction fees. May also provide automated transaction and relationship marketing services. [zShops and Merchant Services at Amazon.com]
Source- http://digitalenterprise.org/models/models.html#Brokerage
Advertising Model- The web advertising model is an extension of the traditional media broadcast model. It works by someone producing content that it thinks people will find interesting to listen to or watch, ( e.g newspaper/ magazines/ websites) usually for free, and then making money off of that content by charging people who wish to advertisements somewhere within it. The advertising model works best when the volume of viewer traffic is large or highly specialised.
Sources-http://digitalenterprise.org/transcripts/business_models_tr.html
http://digitalenterprise.org/models/models.html#Advertising
The adversing model includes:
Portal -- usually a search engine that may include varied content or services. A high volume of user traffic makes advertising profitable and permits further diversification of site services. A personalized portal allows customization of the interface and content to the user. A niche portal cultivates a well-defined user demographic. [Yahoo!]
Classifieds -- list items for sale or wanted for purchase. Listing fees are common, but there also may be a membership fee. [Monster.com, Craigslist]
User Registration -- content-based sites that are free to access but require users to register and provide demographic data. Registration allows inter-session tracking of user surfing habits and thereby generates data of potential value in targeted advertising campaigns. [NYTimes]
Query-based Paid Placement -- sells favorable link positioning (i.e., sponsored links) or advertising keyed to particular search terms in a user query, such as Overture's trademark "pay-for-performance" model. [Google, Overture]
Contextual Advertising / Behavioral Marketing -- freeware developers who bundle adware with their product. For example, a browser extension that automates authentication and form fill-ins, also delivers advertising links or pop-ups as the user surfs the web. Contextual advertisers can sell targeted advertising based on an individual user's surfing activity.
Content-Targeted Advertising -- pioneered by Google, it extends the precision of search advertising to the rest of the web. Google identifies the meaning of a web page and then automatically delivers relevant ads when a user visits that page. [Google]
Intromercials -- animated full-screen ads placed at the entry of a site before a user reaches the intended content. [CBS MarketWatch]
Ultramercials -- interactive online ads that require the user to respond intermittently in order to wade through the message before reaching the intended content. [Salon in cooperation with Mercedes-Benz]
Source- http://digitalenterprise.org/models/models.html#Advertising
Infomediary Model-Data about consumers and their consumption habits are valuable, especially when that information is carefully analyzed and used to target marketing campaigns. Independently collected data about producers and their products are useful to consumers when considering a purchase. Some firms function as infomediaries (information intermediaries) assisting buyers and/or sellers understand a given market.
Advertising Networks -- feed banner ads to a network of member sites, thereby enabling advertisers to deploy large marketing campaigns. Ad networks collect data about web users that can be used to analyze marketing effectiveness. [DoubleClick]
Audience Measurement Services -- online audience market research agencies. [Nielsen//Netratings]
Incentive Marketing -- customer loyalty program that provides incentives to customers such as redeemable points or coupons for making purchases from associated retailers. Data collected about users is sold for targeted advertising. [Coolsavings]
Metamediary -- facilitates transactions between buyer and sellers by providing comprehensive information and ancillary services, without being involved in the actual exchange of goods or services between the parties. [Edmunds]
source- http://digitalenterprise.org/models/models.html#Infomediary
Merchant Model- Wholesalers and retailers of goods and services. Sales may be made based on list prices or through auction.
Virtual Merchant --or e-tailer, is a retail merchant that operates solely over the web. [Amazon.com]
Catalog Merchant -- mail-order business with a web-based catalog. Combines mail, telephone and online ordering. [Lands' End]
Click and Mortar -- traditional brick-and-mortar retail establishment with web storefront. [Barnes & Noble]
Bit Vendor -- a merchant that deals strictly in digital products and services and, in its purest form, conducts both sales and distribution over the web. [Apple iTunes Music Store]
source- http://digitalenterprise.org/models/models.html#Merchant
Manufacturer (Direct) Model-The manufacturer or "direct model", it is predicated on the power of the web to allow a manufacturer (i.e., a company that creates a product or service) to reach buyers directly and thereby compress the distribution channel. The manufacturer model can be based on efficiency, improved customer service, and a better understanding of customer preferences. [Dell Computer]
Purchase -- the sale of a product in which the right of ownership is transferred to the buyer.
Lease -- in exchange for a rental fee, the buyer receives the right to use the product under a “terms of use” agreement. The product is returned to the seller upon expiration or default of the lease agreement. One type of agreement may include a right of purchase upon expiration of the lease.
License -- the sale of a product that involves only the transfer of usage rights to the buyer, in accordance with a “terms of use” agreement. Ownership rights remain with the manufacturer (e.g., with software licensing).
Brand Integrated Content -- in contrast to the sponsored-content approach (i.e., the advertising model), brand-integrated content is created by the manufacturer itself for the sole basis of product placement.
source- http://digitalenterprise.org/models/models.html#Manufacturer
Affiliate Model- In contrast to the generalized portal, which seeks to drive a high volume of traffic to one site, the affiliate model, provides purchase opportunities wherever people may be surfing. It does this by offering financial incentives (in the form of a percentage of revenue) to affiliated partner sites. The affiliates provide purchase-point click-through to the merchant. It is a pay-for-performance model -- if an affiliate does not generate sales, it represents no cost to the merchant. The affiliate model is inherently well-suited to the web, which explains its popularity. Variations include, banner exchange, pay-per-click, and revenue sharing programs. [Barnes & Noble, Amazon.com]
Banner Exchange -- trades banner placement among a network of affiliated sites.
Pay-per-click -- site that pays affiliates for a user click-through.
Revenue Sharing -- offers a percent-of-sale commission based on a user click-through in which the user subsequently purchases a product.
source-http://digitalenterprise.org/models/models.html#Affiliate
Community Model- The viability of the community model is based on user loyalty. Users have a high investment in both time and emotion. Revenue can be based on the sale of ancillary products and services or voluntary contributions; or revenue may be tied to contextual advertising and subscriptions for premium services. The Internet is inherently suited to community business models and today this is one of the more fertile areas of development, as seen in rise of social networking.
Open Source -- software developed collaboratively by a global community of programmers who share code openly. Instead of licensing code for a fee, open source relies on revenue generated from related services like systems integration, product support, tutorials and user documentation. [Red Hat]
Open Content -- openly accessible content developed collaboratively by a global community of contributors who work voluntarily. [Wikipedia]
Public Broadcasting -- user-supported model used by not-for-profit radio and television broadcasting extended to the web. A community of users support the site through voluntary donations. [The Classical Station (WCPE.org)]
Social Networking Services -- sites that provide individuals with the ability to connect to other individuals along a defined common interest (professional, hobby, romance). Social networking services can provide opportunities for contextual advertising and subscriptions for premium services. [Flickr, Friendster, Orkut]
source- http://digitalenterprise.org/models/models.html#Community
Subscription Model- Users are charged a periodic -- daily, monthly or annual -- fee to subscribe to a service. It is not uncommon for sites to combine free content with "premium" (i.e., subscriber- or member-only) content. Subscription fees are incurred irrespective of actual usage rates. Subscription and advertising models are frequently combined.
Content Services -- provide text, audio, or video content to users who subscribe for a fee to gain access to the service. [Listen.com, Netflix]
Person-to-Person Networking Services -- are conduits for the distribution of user-submitted information, such as individuals searching for former schoolmates. [Classmates]
Trust Services -- come in the form of membership associations that abide by an explicit code of conduct, and in which members pay a subscription fee. [Truste]
Internet Services Providers -- offer network connectivity and related services on a monthly subscription. [America Online]
source- http://digitalenterprise.org/models/models.html#Subcription
Utility Model- The utility or "on-demand" model is based on metering usage, or a "pay as you go" approach. Unlike subscriber services, metered services are based on actual usage rates. Traditionally, metering has been used for essential services (e.g., electricity water, long-distance telephone services). Internet service providers (ISPs) in some parts of the world operate as utilities, charging customers for connection minutes, as opposed to the subscriber model common in the U.S.
Metered Usage -- measures and bills users based on actual usage of a service.
Metered Subscriptions -- allows subscribers to purchase access to content in metered portions (e.g., numbers of pages viewed). [Slashdot]
source- http://digitalenterprise.org/models/models.html#Utility
Looking at the Technology report, particularly the country profiles and rankings. Use some of the tools to answer the following
1) What is the Mobile phone use /100 population - compare Australia, USA, China, India, Your Country
Australia is ranked number 38 with a score of 102.49
The US is ranked number 61 with a score of 83.51
China is ranked number 94 with a score of 41.19
India is ranked number 120 wiht a score of 19.98
2) Internet use / 100 population - compare Australia, USA, China, India, Your Country
The US is ranked in 8th position with a score of 71.94
Australia is ranked in 25th position with a score of 54.19
Chine is ranked in 78th position with a score of 15.81
India is ranked in 99th positon with a score of 6.93
4) What does the survey suggest to you about the Information Technology readiness of Australian business compared to Australian consumers?
The survey would suggest that Australian consumers are more ready for information Technoloy changes/ updates that Australian business. Business is ranked 22 out of 134 nations where as consumers have a much higher ranking of 13.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Week 4- Web Analytics
1) Looking at the site usage, what doe the terms visits, page views and pages/visit mean? What does the bounce rate mean and does it vary much from day to day?
Visit – A period of interaction between a visitor's browser and a particular website, ending when the browser is closed or shut down, or when the user has been inactive on that site for a specified period of time. For the purpose of Google Analytics reports, a session is considered to have ended if the user has been inactive on the site for 30minutes.
source-http://www.google.com/support/analytics/bin/answer.py?answer=33073
Page views – The number of requests to view a specific web page in a specific time frame.
source-http://totheweb.com/learning_center/seo_glossary.htmlPages/
visit – The number of pages the average visit generates. This is an average number.
Bounce rate - Bounce rate is the percentage of single-page visits or visits in which the person left your site from the entrance (landing) page.
source-http://www.google.com/support/analytics/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=139826
The Bounce rate for this particular site does vary a great deal from day to day. It ranges from 33.33% to 100%, with an average of 70.57%. There is no pattern consistency in the percentage of bounces from day to day.
2) Now look at the traffic sources report. What are the three sources of traffic and where has most of the traffic come from?
The three sources of traffic for the 350 visits are: Search Engines – 288 (76.57%)Direct Traffic – 68 (19.43%)Referring Sites – 14 (4.00%) The most amount of traffic has come from the search engines. For smaller or less known sites most people go straight to search engines to assist them in finding the particular website they are wanting to visit. It is easy to use and a fast process.
3) What was the most popular web browser used to access the site?
The most popular browser used to access the site is Internet Explorer. Accounting for 239 visits (68.29%).
4) How many countries did visitors to OZRURAL come from and what were the top three countries?
The 350 visits to Ozrural came from 24 Countries/Territories. The highest three visiting Countries/Territories were Australia (240 visits), United States (52) and United Kingdom (18).
5) Having clicked every possible link on my analytics, make a few comments on:
a) What you can track ?
Google Analytics gives you the ability to track most things you would require in order to understand the visitors to your site. Although it does not say what you are necessarily doing right or wrong in blatant terms. It does give you the stats you require in order to improve your webpage. Over time it will show you in specific areas what works and what does not. Some of these stats include:
Visitor Trends – number of visitors, bounce rate, time spent on website, number of absolute unique visitors, pageviews, and average pageviews.
Browser Capabilities – browser type, operating system, browser and OS, java support, flash version, screen resolution, screen colors.
Visitor Loyalty – depth of visit, length of visit, recency, loyalty.
Network Properties – hostnames, connection speeds, network locations.
b) What you can track over time?
You can track most of the items listed by constructing a 12 month average stats graph or through more specific time related charts and graphs.
c) What you can’t track?
It can’t directly track user satisfaction. Although this can be indirectly viewed from loyalty, although you may be the only site providing the service. It fails to track which visits were converted into sales. Finally it is unable to show any difficulty the users had in finding your website, for examply users may have had to use multiple search engines to find your website oor use multiple combinations of keywords until your site becomes visable through a search engine.
6) What do the following terms mean? These are just a few, you may like to add some more and perhaps include them on the Moodle glossary.
High bounce rate - A high bounce rate generally indicates that site entrance pages aren't relevant to your visitors.
source- http://www.google.com/support/analytics/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=81986
Key words - A significant word or phrase, relevant to the web page or document in question. Keyword searching is the most common form of text search on the internet.
source-http://www.google.com/support/analytics/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=33035
Average Page Depth - The average number of pages on a site that visitors view during a single session.
source-http://www.google.com/support/analytics/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=32974
Clickthrough rate - The number of times an ad is clicked on, divided by the number of impressions it receives. For example, if an ad is shown 20 times and receives 3 clicks, the clickthrough rate is 3/20, or 15%.
source-http://www.google.com/support/analytics/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=32982
Click - 'Click' refers to a single instance of a user following a hyperlink from one page in a site to another. For example, the 'Clicks' display in the Site Overlay report shows how many times a user clicked a hyperlink on the selected page to travel to another page.
source-http://www.google.com/support/analytics/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=32981
Cookie - A small amount of text data given to a web browser by a web server. The data is stored on a user's hard drive and is returned to the specific web server each time the browser requests a page from that server.Cookies are used to remember information from page to page and visit to visit, and can contain information such as user preferences or shopping cart contents, and can note whether a user has logged in so that they do not need to authenticate again as they navigate through the site.
source-http://www.google.com/support/analytics/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=32989
Impression - A display of a referral link or advertisement on a web page.
source-http://www.google.com/support/googleanalytics/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=33030
Hyperlink - A text reference in a web page that, when clicked, directs the user's browser to another page or document. Hyperlinks are integral to the World Wide Web, allowing every page to be linked to any other page.
source-http://www.google.com/support/googleanalytics/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=33347
Navigation - Describes the movement of a user through a website or other application interface. This term also indicates the system of available links and buttons that the user can use to navigate through the website.
source- http://www.google.com/support/analytics/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=33042
Pageview - A pageview is an instance of a page being loaded by a browser.
source-http://www.google.com/support/analytics/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=33050
Session - A period of interaction between a visitor's browser and a particular website, ending when the browser is closed or shut down, or when the user has been inactive on that site for a specified period of time.
source-http://www.google.com/support/analytics/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=33073
Unique Visitors ( Absolute Unique Visitors) - Unique Visitors represents the number of unduplicated (counted only once) visitors to your website over the course of a specified time period. A Unique Visitor is determined using cookies.
source-http://www.google.com/support/analytics/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=33087
URL - is a means of identifying an exact location on the Internet. RLs typically have four parts: protocol type (HTTP), host domain name (www.google.com), directory path (/analytics/), and file name (conversionuniversity.html).
source- http://www.google.com/support/analytics/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=33084
Visitor - A Visitor is a construct designed to come as close as possible to defining the number of actual, distinct people who visited a website. There is of course no way to know if two people are sharing a computer from the website's perspective, but a good visitor-tracking system can come close to the actual number. The most accurate visitor-tracking systems generally employ cookies to maintain tallies of distinct visitors.
source- http://www.google.com/support/analytics/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=33094
Visitor Session - A Visitor Session is a defined period of interaction between a Visitor (both unique and untrackable visitor types) and a website.
source- http://www.google.com/support/analytics/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=33095
Comparison shopping – Where the purchaser will compare on the basis of price and quality before a purchase is made.
source- http://www.eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk/written_statement-glossary
Visit – A period of interaction between a visitor's browser and a particular website, ending when the browser is closed or shut down, or when the user has been inactive on that site for a specified period of time. For the purpose of Google Analytics reports, a session is considered to have ended if the user has been inactive on the site for 30minutes.
source-http://www.google.com/support/analytics/bin/answer.py?answer=33073
Page views – The number of requests to view a specific web page in a specific time frame.
source-http://totheweb.com/learning_center/seo_glossary.htmlPages/
visit – The number of pages the average visit generates. This is an average number.
Bounce rate - Bounce rate is the percentage of single-page visits or visits in which the person left your site from the entrance (landing) page.
source-http://www.google.com/support/analytics/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=139826
The Bounce rate for this particular site does vary a great deal from day to day. It ranges from 33.33% to 100%, with an average of 70.57%. There is no pattern consistency in the percentage of bounces from day to day.
2) Now look at the traffic sources report. What are the three sources of traffic and where has most of the traffic come from?
The three sources of traffic for the 350 visits are: Search Engines – 288 (76.57%)Direct Traffic – 68 (19.43%)Referring Sites – 14 (4.00%) The most amount of traffic has come from the search engines. For smaller or less known sites most people go straight to search engines to assist them in finding the particular website they are wanting to visit. It is easy to use and a fast process.
3) What was the most popular web browser used to access the site?
The most popular browser used to access the site is Internet Explorer. Accounting for 239 visits (68.29%).
4) How many countries did visitors to OZRURAL come from and what were the top three countries?
The 350 visits to Ozrural came from 24 Countries/Territories. The highest three visiting Countries/Territories were Australia (240 visits), United States (52) and United Kingdom (18).
5) Having clicked every possible link on my analytics, make a few comments on:
a) What you can track ?
Google Analytics gives you the ability to track most things you would require in order to understand the visitors to your site. Although it does not say what you are necessarily doing right or wrong in blatant terms. It does give you the stats you require in order to improve your webpage. Over time it will show you in specific areas what works and what does not. Some of these stats include:
Visitor Trends – number of visitors, bounce rate, time spent on website, number of absolute unique visitors, pageviews, and average pageviews.
Browser Capabilities – browser type, operating system, browser and OS, java support, flash version, screen resolution, screen colors.
Visitor Loyalty – depth of visit, length of visit, recency, loyalty.
Network Properties – hostnames, connection speeds, network locations.
b) What you can track over time?
You can track most of the items listed by constructing a 12 month average stats graph or through more specific time related charts and graphs.
c) What you can’t track?
It can’t directly track user satisfaction. Although this can be indirectly viewed from loyalty, although you may be the only site providing the service. It fails to track which visits were converted into sales. Finally it is unable to show any difficulty the users had in finding your website, for examply users may have had to use multiple search engines to find your website oor use multiple combinations of keywords until your site becomes visable through a search engine.
6) What do the following terms mean? These are just a few, you may like to add some more and perhaps include them on the Moodle glossary.
High bounce rate - A high bounce rate generally indicates that site entrance pages aren't relevant to your visitors.
source- http://www.google.com/support/analytics/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=81986
Key words - A significant word or phrase, relevant to the web page or document in question. Keyword searching is the most common form of text search on the internet.
source-http://www.google.com/support/analytics/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=33035
Average Page Depth - The average number of pages on a site that visitors view during a single session.
source-http://www.google.com/support/analytics/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=32974
Clickthrough rate - The number of times an ad is clicked on, divided by the number of impressions it receives. For example, if an ad is shown 20 times and receives 3 clicks, the clickthrough rate is 3/20, or 15%.
source-http://www.google.com/support/analytics/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=32982
Click - 'Click' refers to a single instance of a user following a hyperlink from one page in a site to another. For example, the 'Clicks' display in the Site Overlay report shows how many times a user clicked a hyperlink on the selected page to travel to another page.
source-http://www.google.com/support/analytics/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=32981
Cookie - A small amount of text data given to a web browser by a web server. The data is stored on a user's hard drive and is returned to the specific web server each time the browser requests a page from that server.Cookies are used to remember information from page to page and visit to visit, and can contain information such as user preferences or shopping cart contents, and can note whether a user has logged in so that they do not need to authenticate again as they navigate through the site.
source-http://www.google.com/support/analytics/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=32989
Impression - A display of a referral link or advertisement on a web page.
source-http://www.google.com/support/googleanalytics/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=33030
Hyperlink - A text reference in a web page that, when clicked, directs the user's browser to another page or document. Hyperlinks are integral to the World Wide Web, allowing every page to be linked to any other page.
source-http://www.google.com/support/googleanalytics/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=33347
Navigation - Describes the movement of a user through a website or other application interface. This term also indicates the system of available links and buttons that the user can use to navigate through the website.
source- http://www.google.com/support/analytics/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=33042
Pageview - A pageview is an instance of a page being loaded by a browser.
source-http://www.google.com/support/analytics/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=33050
Session - A period of interaction between a visitor's browser and a particular website, ending when the browser is closed or shut down, or when the user has been inactive on that site for a specified period of time.
source-http://www.google.com/support/analytics/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=33073
Unique Visitors ( Absolute Unique Visitors) - Unique Visitors represents the number of unduplicated (counted only once) visitors to your website over the course of a specified time period. A Unique Visitor is determined using cookies.
source-http://www.google.com/support/analytics/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=33087
URL - is a means of identifying an exact location on the Internet. RLs typically have four parts: protocol type (HTTP), host domain name (www.google.com), directory path (/analytics/), and file name (conversionuniversity.html).
source- http://www.google.com/support/analytics/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=33084
Visitor - A Visitor is a construct designed to come as close as possible to defining the number of actual, distinct people who visited a website. There is of course no way to know if two people are sharing a computer from the website's perspective, but a good visitor-tracking system can come close to the actual number. The most accurate visitor-tracking systems generally employ cookies to maintain tallies of distinct visitors.
source- http://www.google.com/support/analytics/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=33094
Visitor Session - A Visitor Session is a defined period of interaction between a Visitor (both unique and untrackable visitor types) and a website.
source- http://www.google.com/support/analytics/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=33095
Comparison shopping – Where the purchaser will compare on the basis of price and quality before a purchase is made.
source- http://www.eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk/written_statement-glossary
Week 3- Digital Design
In two paragraphs explain why a customer centric Web site design is so important, yet so difficult to accomplish?
Website design is becoming more user-centric day by day. Most of the websites have some products or services to sell, so they want high conversion rates. High conversion rates mean more sales. To convert visitors into sales you need a simple design which is user centric. In reality a user centric website sounds easy enough, although truly understanding the demands of the customer and converting this to a simple easy to use website is hard. Less is better in website design. The more information, links and products you have on the one page the harder it is to find what you are after. Because most users only scan the information, you want them to be able to find what they are after with minimal clicking and time involved.
2. Define the term 'presence'. Write an additional paragraph that describes why firms that do business on the Web should be more concerned about presence than firms that operate in the physical world.
Presence is defined as “a theoretical concept describing the effect that people experience when they interact with a computer-mediated or computer-generated environment” (Sheridan, 1994). Having a web presence you have the ability to let others know what it is you can do for them. A website presence can mean anything from a website or a blog. Both are very good ways to get known (Miller, 2008). Web presence relates to website design, accessibility from search engines and links, effectiveness of information and how easy it is to find what the user is looking for. Word of mouth can be both a negative and positive for a website. If a user has a bad experience in most cases they will not visit that site again, they may also tell others not to bother with the website either.Firms that operate through the web should be more concerned about ‘presence’ than those firms that operate in the physical world because it is there only form of contact and means of satisfying the potential customer. Online firms are competing for the consumer the same as the firms in the physical world, although there is a lot more competition for sales online, because of the fact there are tens of thousands of firms in each particular industry in operation. Online firms need that extra something to catch the eye of the consumer. Firms in the physical world have the options of outlets, employees, face to face sales, customer service, Physical presentation and presence in the community. Although online firms have these features to some extent, in the end all they really have is a webpage, a webpage that will bring success to the firm through ‘presence’.
3. Write three paragraphs to briefly describe the things that Real Estate Agents can best accomplish through (1) their web sites (2) Mass media advertising (3) Personal contact
Real Estate agents have the opportunity through there websites to reach a higher percentage of the population. Newspapers generally are targeted at a local area, whereas a website is global. Through a website agencies can display a greater number of listings as appose to a newspaper. It also offers an almost endless amount of space to display everything and anything about the listing, photos, videos and virtual tours just to name a few. A search option will give the users a quick and targeted way of searching for properties that suit there needs and not have them searching through endless amounts of properties that don’t suit what they are looking for. “Internet marketing for real estate agents is one of the most efficient and cost-effective ways to find new clients and advertise real estate listings” (Brandon, 2009). A Real Estate Agent will use mass media advertising to show that they are advertising to a large scale market and that they are quick and efficient in doing so. The agency would not use mass media advertising for a particular listing, but for the agency itself, in displaying information about the business. Personal contact for a Real Estate Agent is very important in that it builds a relationship between agent and seller, and agent and buyer. It shows that the agent is willing to deal with the customer on a one to one basis to help with any problems, questions or misunderstandings they may have. A Real Estate Agent nurtures both the buyer and seller through the biggest transaction they will make in there lifetime, and this is why personal contact is so important.
sources- cheers toddy for your help :) -http://toddyjames.blogspot.com/
Website design is becoming more user-centric day by day. Most of the websites have some products or services to sell, so they want high conversion rates. High conversion rates mean more sales. To convert visitors into sales you need a simple design which is user centric. In reality a user centric website sounds easy enough, although truly understanding the demands of the customer and converting this to a simple easy to use website is hard. Less is better in website design. The more information, links and products you have on the one page the harder it is to find what you are after. Because most users only scan the information, you want them to be able to find what they are after with minimal clicking and time involved.
2. Define the term 'presence'. Write an additional paragraph that describes why firms that do business on the Web should be more concerned about presence than firms that operate in the physical world.
Presence is defined as “a theoretical concept describing the effect that people experience when they interact with a computer-mediated or computer-generated environment” (Sheridan, 1994). Having a web presence you have the ability to let others know what it is you can do for them. A website presence can mean anything from a website or a blog. Both are very good ways to get known (Miller, 2008). Web presence relates to website design, accessibility from search engines and links, effectiveness of information and how easy it is to find what the user is looking for. Word of mouth can be both a negative and positive for a website. If a user has a bad experience in most cases they will not visit that site again, they may also tell others not to bother with the website either.Firms that operate through the web should be more concerned about ‘presence’ than those firms that operate in the physical world because it is there only form of contact and means of satisfying the potential customer. Online firms are competing for the consumer the same as the firms in the physical world, although there is a lot more competition for sales online, because of the fact there are tens of thousands of firms in each particular industry in operation. Online firms need that extra something to catch the eye of the consumer. Firms in the physical world have the options of outlets, employees, face to face sales, customer service, Physical presentation and presence in the community. Although online firms have these features to some extent, in the end all they really have is a webpage, a webpage that will bring success to the firm through ‘presence’.
3. Write three paragraphs to briefly describe the things that Real Estate Agents can best accomplish through (1) their web sites (2) Mass media advertising (3) Personal contact
Real Estate agents have the opportunity through there websites to reach a higher percentage of the population. Newspapers generally are targeted at a local area, whereas a website is global. Through a website agencies can display a greater number of listings as appose to a newspaper. It also offers an almost endless amount of space to display everything and anything about the listing, photos, videos and virtual tours just to name a few. A search option will give the users a quick and targeted way of searching for properties that suit there needs and not have them searching through endless amounts of properties that don’t suit what they are looking for. “Internet marketing for real estate agents is one of the most efficient and cost-effective ways to find new clients and advertise real estate listings” (Brandon, 2009). A Real Estate Agent will use mass media advertising to show that they are advertising to a large scale market and that they are quick and efficient in doing so. The agency would not use mass media advertising for a particular listing, but for the agency itself, in displaying information about the business. Personal contact for a Real Estate Agent is very important in that it builds a relationship between agent and seller, and agent and buyer. It shows that the agent is willing to deal with the customer on a one to one basis to help with any problems, questions or misunderstandings they may have. A Real Estate Agent nurtures both the buyer and seller through the biggest transaction they will make in there lifetime, and this is why personal contact is so important.
sources- cheers toddy for your help :) -http://toddyjames.blogspot.com/
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