Introduction
Peter Drucker the world famous marketing authority has bee quoted as saying that the purpose of any business to create customers. In times of rising globalization and competition, the customer has become more important than ever before. Managing customers is never an easy task since they are comprised of people who have diverse needs and beliefs. But this concept has grown in importance to such an extent that academics even have courses related to customer relationship management or CRM. The increasing popularity of e-business or e-commerce has given a new dimension to the area of CRM mainly because the customers are practically invisible to the company. In most cases the only contact is through web portal of a company. This paper will focus on the customer relations in an e-business setting, the details of which are given in the objectives section.
Background
As mentioned earlier customer relationship and its management is a hot topic in business today. Customer relationship management (CRM) can be defined as “the strategic use of information, processes, technology and people to manage the customer’s relationship with your company (marketing, sales, services and support) across the whole customer life cycle.” (Kincaid). Though the concept of CRM is fairly universal across all areas, strategies adopted for this purpose will vary from company to company and also from business to business. This is mainly because customers are dynamic and a strategy that fits all situations is not possible. A graphical representation of the process is provided below to get a clear picture.
It can be seen that the three components of acquiring, retaining, and extending is a continuous process and hence shown as a loop that never ends. Through each of these processes, the company will experience growth and also increase value for the shareholder. Information technology and the marketing orientation of the company are also important factors in CRM. The strategies followed by each company and business will be different for attaining the above objectives.
E-business is the concept of enhancing the overall value for the customer and increase business through the use of information technology. E-business can be defined as “The transformation of an organization’s processes to deliver additional customer value through the application of technologies, philosophies, and computing paradigm of the new economy.” (Andam).
Objectives
This paper is an attempt at studying how e-business changes the relationships between organisations and their customers. The paper will focus on the case of study of CompUsa on how they managed customers better through certain changes in their marketing portal.
Literature review
CompUsa is a twenty year company in the United States that specialises in the sales of computers, peripherals and other electronic items. Their product categories are differentiated into computers, peripherals, electronic goods, games and gaming equipment, accessories and upgrades. The company is mainly an online supplier of these items to individuals and other businesses. In fact the company has a special department and staff to handle its B2B EC (electronic commerce) customers. The company has a very sound customer relations policy. Its website says that the company policy is to treat every customer as if they are a part of the family of the staff and management.
There are two main differences between traditional and e-business with regard to customer relations. The first thing is that the customers are often invisible to the company (staff) and vice versa. Customers cannot physically see or feel the goods that they are about to buy which is an important concept in marketing. Communication is most often through the internet (e-mail, discussion board, shopping cart etc) or at best through the telephone. Customer relations in such a setting are more challenging. Moreover, such customers who are familiar with online shopping have the option of choosing the many other websites that offer the same product or services, sitting at home. This is especially true for a company that utilizes only online sales to do business. The best option for a company in that uses e-business as a strategy is to make the website as friendly and pleasing to the customers as possible. There are certain important factors that should be present in a website like the one used by CompUsa. They are design, usability, content, and level of interactivity.
- Design: Any website is primarily a visual medium and hence should be attractive and pleasing to the eye of the beholder. Factors like font, colour, layout, pictures, and graphics etc should form a harmonious whole. The website of CompUsa is quite attractive in that sense with a feeling that a lot of products and variety are available. The first impression is that it is a computer seller which is true to a large extent. As mentioned in the case study, the things that are portrayed prominently are top sellers and promotional offers. More than one brand can be seen on the screen. The one drawback that is felt is that the screens have a cluttered look with very little space free of text or graphics.
- Content: There is a cliché that is commonly used in business and arts and that is ‘content is king’. Unless, the site has content that matches with its products and services, no amount of attractiveness in design will make up for it. Content wise, the website is very rich. The left side of the page shows detailed product listing which will direct the customers to a new page. The most important feature is the search engine used by the company. As mentioned in the case study, the Endeca InFront application is very quick, accurate, and effective. A sample search for printers quickly provided a list of printers manufactured by reputed companies with all the details including price given alongside. More information on a particular product can be had from the ‘more info’ button shown beside the product. Other essential components of an online shopping site like add to cart, tracking orders, account login, news subscription, free catalogue, and help are also available. It also has a store locater in case a customer needs to physically see the product before buying. It can be said that a purchase decision can be made from the website itself. There is a separate detailed section for B2B customer that is quite identical in design to B2C customers. The only difference is that there is a detailed write up of corporate services that are offered by the CompUsa like customised extranet, custom pricing, quote management and messaging, customised landing page, and proxy system.
- Usability: Usability refers to the ease or friendliness in navigating the website. It can be said that Compsa.com is very user friendly and uncomplicated. All components like products and services offered are clearly laid out and easily understood, especially for a person familiar with online shopping. There are no innovative and confusing terms which will be a relief for most customers.
- Interactivity: Interactivity is limited mainly to ordering of products in the case of B2C customers. The commonly used “Contact Us” icon is not apparently present in the site. There is also no option for suggestions and complaints. B2B customers have more options for interaction as mentioned earlier in the section on B2B customers.
Findings and analysis
A study of the e-business model of CompUsa with reference to customer relations has been done here. It can be seen that the company has managed to sort out the problem of product search very effectively though the use of Endeca InFront software application. It can be said that the company has done its best to manage customer relations in such a setting. The four components of a good e-commerce site have been incorporated well, even though the site looks a little cluttered. The company also has a sound customer relationship policy. Despatch is done the same day the order is made and facility for tracking the order is available.
Conclusion
E-business and e-commerce activities are increasing as time goes by and it is inevitable that companies set up their own e-business strategies and websites. This has changed customer relations and CRM to a large extent by making it impersonal and distant. But the upside is that it saves the customer time and money since shopping can be completed from the privacy of the home or office. A wider choice of products and vendors are also possible since the store is not bound by geographical limitations. CompUsa has a very effective site that is quite easy to use and informative. It has eliminated the problems it faced with regard to searching the 15,000 odd products that is sold by the company. It can be concluded that CompUsa is an ideal example of an e-business and its website CompUsa.com is an ideal example of an online shopping portal for both B2C and B2B customers.
Works Cited
Kincaid, Judith W. Customer Relationship Management. Prentice Hall PTR. 2003.
Business Strategy and CRM. Marketing Teacher. 2000.
Andam, Zorayda Ruth. e-Commerce and e-Business. e-asean Task Force. UNDP. 2003.