Describe Key Features of a Simple Online Business Operation

I have gained employment in gamestation as a stockroom assistant, because I have recently completed my BTEC 1st Diploma. The manager of the stockroom is thinking of selling online but has no experience of the market. Therefore, I have been asked by my manager to examine an organization that provides goods/service online. My findings will be presented to the unit manager who will then go on to make a decision based on my findings if gamestation should go online.

Organization name: Currys

Web address:
http://www.currys.co.uk/

Brief history:

Currys is an electrical retailer in the UK and Republic of Ireland, and is owned by DSG International plc. It specializes in home electronics and household appliances, with 295 superstores and 73 high street stores.

Currys was founded in 1884 by Henry Curry (born 1850) when he started to build bicycles full time in a shed at the back of his garden at 40 Painter Street, Leicester, England. He opened his first shop in 1888 at 271 Belgrave Gate, Leicester. Currys was taken over by DSG International plc (owners of the Dixons electrical products retail chain) in 1984 but maintained its separate brand identity.

Currys nowadays sells solar panels. They have also sold videogames, but eventually they left that to Comet. Henry Curry

Currys belong to the tertiary sectors because they sell goods to the customers and provide other services.

Currys is a public limited company. Public limited companies usually end their names in “plc”. The shares are exchanged by the Stock Exchange and can either be owned by members of the public or people such as institutionalized investors: like large banks or insurance companies.

Main types of presence for online businesses:

Passive brochureware:

These sorts of websites are intended to provide information about a particular site which helps to improve brand name recognition either locally, nationally or internationally. This online presence was criticized because originally it was the same format of web presence as having a brochure put up on the web. There were two vital flaws, the first one was that online readers read information differently that off line i.e. they are impatient towards reading quite a large amount of text. The second flaw is that with this presence the readers will find it quite hard to interact with the presence.

Complementing off line services:

In this online presence the website is either used as an extensive catalogue e.g. IKEA or daily news or information e.g. BBC. As long as a business or an organization do not introduce online transaction but can offer information with interaction and understandable web language then it can be classified as a complementing off line services.

Inviting online transactions:

This presence can range from a rather tiny brick and mortar shop to a quite large one. In every case key features of the web must include ordering system and the facility for receiving and processing payments securely.

• Basic sites should at least have a product/service list with spaces for order details
• Amazon has an extensive catalogue of products with a search engine. You can simply click on an item and can transfer it to the shopping basket.

Interactive customization:

Interactive site changes to suit the needs of a buyer, this can be done by registering a username and adjusting the site in terms of your preference.

• On E-bay you can change how you view your products by brand name, pricing (lowest-highest and vice versa) and date posted
• On search engines like Yahoo and Google you can change the preference to filter adult material via the search engines. .

Currys online business presence is to invite online transactions this is because Currys encourage consumers to buy online and have “add to shopping basket

Website design

Currys has changed its design from Autumn to a more Christmassy design, this reaps many benefits, one benefit is that it looks as if the company is active.

Product search/ Promotion code

You can browse for a specific product or you can enter a promotional code so you can obtain discounts..

Filter search

This enables the customer to change the preference of their search depending on budget, model make or other features.

Navigation bar

Makes it easier to browse through different products.

Product info

Gives information of the product i.e. its conditions, features or price.

Product picture

shows the product in a photo.

Add to basket

invites customers to online transactions.

You can easily see product status: Out of Stock or Sold Out.

Customer service enables customers to find out details on transactions, deliveries and useful contacts. Contacts that are found are telephone numbers, an in store address or an e-mail.

Contact us contacts that are found are telephone numbers, an in store address or an e-mail.