Online Auctions
Technology is rapidly changing and has been transforming the lives of almost all people around the world. Communicating and doing business became easier with the use of the latest technology. The growth of the Internet over the last decade has changed the way individuals and organisation performs their activities. One of the most popular modes of business using technology is through online auctions. It is a business model wherein the participants or the consumers bid for services and products on the Internet (2006).
In Midland University, one of the biggest problems is the shortage of parking spaces within the campus and every member of the university community should have the top priority for parking spaces. As a member of the task force assigned to analyse the situation, the team have decided to have an annual auction for parking spaces that will be conducted on the intranet of the University.
As mentioned earlier online auction is business model wherein a person or a group sells goods and services while another bids to buy them over the internet. In the case of University, an annual online auction for parking spaces in the university will be held.
A massive information drive regarding an online auction on parking spaces will be made. Stakeholders such as the faculty, students, administrators, visitors, gardeners, maintenance workers and janitors that use cars when going to the University will be invited to bid in a specific date for all the parking spaces in the premises of the University. The bidding will be held only in one day and only in the University’s intranet in order to be fair to all participants. The system of online auction will be an online marketplace for parking spaces in the University after the participants are able to purchase the parking space for the whole year through bidding on the announced date, the owners will now have the freedom to post on the in-house site the information regarding the parking space, the time when it will be available. And then they could also auction the available time of the parking space to the other participants who were not able to get a parking space. And in order to be fair a designated time will only be given to all members of the University community which is 4:00 pm every Saturday to bid to ensure that employees who do not have regular access to computers could bid. And through mobile phones the participants will be notified by the owner of the parking space. (2007) discussed that online auctions has a number of advantages and these are:
No geographical limitations- although in the case of Midland University, the in-house site is confined to the premises of the University in order to ensure that the employees that have no regular access to computers could fairly bid.
No time constraints- the sellers of the parking space could post anytime of the day, and since the parking space is listed for up to 7 days the bidders could have a lot of time to think about whether the location is good enough or not.
Many bidders- through online auctions the bidders could find parking spaces at lower prices.
Many sellers- the sellers of the available parking spaces could sell it to higher prices than what they bid for.
Joy of winning- part of online auction is the joy of winning because many bidders are attracted to auctions for the purpose of winning.
Online Auction
Internet is now one of the most powerful tools for conducting business nowadays. With the current trend in globalisation more and more businesses are utilising this trend because of the benefits that they could gain from it. According to (2007) a professionally designed website are beneficial to businesses in four ways and these are:
Raise company profile- usually the first thing a potential customer do upon seeing the products and services of an organisation is to search the company on the internet. If an organisation does not have a website or has a poorly designed one will leave a negative impression to the consumers.
Cheap, Effective Marketing- having a website could be a cheaper and more efficient means of marketing since most of the people nowadays have access to the internet.
Enhanced customer service- the customer service of an organisation would be improved because the websites could give a detailed account and information regarding the products and services of the company.
Sell online- through websites an organisation could decrease the expenditures on traditional retail and even enhance the number of the consumers because they could buy their products at anytime of the day.
Oyster Bay Inc. is an organisation that deals in-ocean going yachts with main offices in the major ports of the United States East Coast. And over the past months the sales people of Oyster Bay Inc. have noticed that most of heir consumers are starting to be aware on the World Wide Web. In order for the organisation to keep up, they proposed to the management to have a portal on the web. As an electronic commerce consultant for the company the following proposal is made which includes the features of the proposed web site:
Information: one of the most important parts of the website is the company profile or information. According to (2007) it must include the company history, achievements, business qualifications and contact details of the company. In the case of Oyster Bay, Inc. the organisation must display the different branches of their offices with the address, telephone numbers and emails of every office. Detailed information of their history as well as their achievements must be displayed in order to assure the customers on the quality of the products.
Project Overview: the project is to build a web portal for Oyster Bay, Inc. dealer of on-going yachts with various branches in major ports on the US East Coast. The company builds various types of yachts and provides maintenance for the products. The target markets of the company are the high-income business executives, rich retirees, and individuals that have inherited a great amount of wealth. The main goal of this website is to give details on the different products and services of the company to the customers and potential customers. Moreover, the company wants to reach customers outside of the United States through the website.
Special Considerations: since one of the objectives of the company is to reach out to many consumers outside the United States as possible, a translation of the website to the native tongue of the consumers will also be created such as Spanish, French, Chinese and German.
Features of the Website: the style of the website is an e-commerce site, which according to (2007) stands for Electronic commerce, it is a site that sells products and services on-line wherein it allows the consumers to view and buy the products of the company anytime of the day. The following are the features of the website for Oyster Bay Inc:
Catalogue and Categories- in this section the products and services of the company will be organised by category and sub-category wherein the descriptions of the categories will be shown upon selection of the consumers and will be published in a friendly format search engine.
Product Fields- in this section product options such as size, model and condition will be added to match the needs of the consumers, multiple images of the product will also be displayed and the files of the product will be linked to PDF documents to view other information.
Inventory- the website will automatically manage the inventory of the products and services as it approach the minimum or maximum levels wherein it shows items that are already out of stock.
Shipping- the website will also have shipping options wherein it will calculate the prices of the products and services. It also lists shippers such as the UPS and Fed-Ex and any other shippers.
Checkout- in this feature the customers are allowed to easily re-order from previous orders from the company.
Accept credit card payment/processing online- in this section the customers will have the option of paying through credit cards or pay pal. Through this feature the consumers will be assured that their cards will be protected through address verification and 3 digit codes.
Tax Calculations- if there are changes on the tax laws of any state or nation the website will automatically calculate it.
Search- in this feature the consumers could search various information regarding the products, company or any other information that the consumers need.
Order Management- through this option the management could sort and view the orders of the companies while the consumers will be automatically informed through e-mail.
E-mail status notification- the customers will automatically receive an invoice of their transaction upon purchasing from the website. And the managers or salespeople of the organisation could update the order and could notify the customers regarding the shipment tracking number of the item through e-mail in this way the consumers will feel more secure dealing with the company.
Powerful Marketing Tools- the website also has powerful marketing tools such as mass e-mail to past consumers coupled with newsletters to inform the latest offers, discounts and products of the company. In this section the website also provides suggested items by the consumers or the individuals who specialises this type of product. And a wish list will be displayed in order to determine what products and services to be put on sale.
Development of the Timeline: in creating a website a timeline is important in this section a description of every stage of development will discussed, as well as the estimated date of completion. In this project the proposed timeline is the following:
June 10- the request for qualifications for possible developers and builders of the website will be sent out.
June 20- the due date for the companies wishing to qualify as possible website makers.
June 22- the short list of possible makers will be selected by the management and these companies will be sent out to bid.
June 30- the request for proposal of the project will be sent out to the short-listed participants or bidders.
July 15- the due date for the response of the bidders to the request for proposal.
July 20- the successful bidder will be informed by the management of the Oyster Bay Inc.
July 22- the purchase order for the planned website will be issued to the chosen organisation.
July 24- the initial meeting for the range and scope of the website will be held.
August 30- the development of the site begins.
October 30- the website of Oyster Bay Inc. will be launched.
Terms and Conditions- in this section the clients knows what to expect from the company, it also gives information regarding what will happen if they do not give the appropriate information requested in the website, details on payment and services and the outcomes if they did not comply with it, at the same time, the company must be clear regarding their services.
In Oyster Bay Inc. the terms and conditions are the following:
Oyster Bay Inc. Terms of Use
The website is owned by Oyster Bay Inc. and the utilisation of the site is governed by the terms of use.
Ownership- no part of this site may be copied reproduced and transmitted for commercial use unless permitted by the organisation. Oyster Bay Inc. will enforce its intellectual property rights and will seek damages if needed.
Content- the management of Oyster Bay Inc. cannot ensure the consumers that the content of the website is accurate and complete and it is the responsibility of the consumer to determine the accuracy and completeness of the information indicated in the website.
Unauthorised use of the website- the users of the website are not allowed to copy, access, and distribute any content of the website through various programs, tools, applications and devices to copy or alter the content of the web pages. Unauthorised use of the website will be subjected to termination of use.
Access to members-only areas- authorised individuals are allowed to access members-only areas of the website and the members of the website should not share passwords to non-members of the website.
Limited License- the visitors of the website are granted limited access to the site provided that they will not interfere or damage the business of Oyster Bay Inc. does not violate the terms of use if the website, does not copy, remove, modify and transmit trademark and copyrighted materials and does not violate the rules and regulations of the website.
Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com
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