E-commerce for The Enterprise Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

E-commerce for The Enterprise - Essay Example Thus, the website will have features which will enable it to address the weaknesses in its daily operations, enhance its processes, and pursue its long-term goals. Currently, The Enterprise has twenty outlets all over United Kingdom which operates the same system but lack the integration needed by retailing operations. Thus, the first issue which should be addressed by the business organization is the integration of its outlets through the use of internet technology. Thus, the website will feature an intranet which allows staff to log-on, access, and use information which is specific to the business organization (De Wit and Meyer 2002). In the e-commerce technology proposed, each outlet will be linked together through an intranet which will be shared by the entire business organization. Through this intranet, communication among staff will be facilitated (Duyne et al 2003). Discussions on promotional activities like sales and discounts will be organized through this intranet. Also, recording of sales and other administrative matters will be rationalized by providing a single template which will be used by each of the outlet. Calendars will also be shared and the database of sales for a particular period will also be made available for decision makers. This intranet will allow The Enterprise to immediately and conveniently compare performance, tailor strategies specific to each store, and retrieve important information in each store(Duyne et al 2003). Because of these functions and features, the intranet is expected to cut administrative cost and paper works done by the headquarters. 2. Business to Business Capabilities The integration of the business organization should allow the company to carry out functions which will enable them to reap economies of scale. Acting as an integrated unit, the retailer can gain advantages in unifying its ordering and delivery processes. In its move of harnessing the full power of e-commerce, business to business model should also be adopted. The Entreprise website then should allow other players in its value chain to take a more active part in the company's operations (Kotler 2005). Included here are its various suppliers and logistics partners. In the current setting, each of the retail outlets of The Enterprise conducts their separate ordering and logistics functions with the supplier that they prefer. The ordering system is manual and each outlet reaches an average of three days for placing orders, receiving, verifying, and replenishment of stocks (Kotler and Armstrong 2002). Being in the retailing industry, the availability of products in each of the outlet is a very important concern. Stock-out costs are costs associated with a retailer which runs out of stock when a customer intends to purchase them. These costs are not only seen to be in terms of the foregone opportunity to sell to the buyer but also in their loyalty and the image that the retailer will have to a customer. Thus, relationship with suppliers will be an integral part of the e-commerce system which will be installed. In order to save a significant amount of cost, The