Table of Contents

Importance & Requirements Needed to Setup an E-Business...................................................1

Overview....................................................................................................................................1
Marketing Activities...................................................................................................................2
CRM.......................................................................................................................................2
Branding.................................................................................................................................3
Optimization for the Multi-Channels.....................................................................................3
E-mail (Electronic-mail) Marketing.......................................................................................4
Banner Advertisement............................................................................................................5
E-Supply Chain..........................................................................................................................7
Security Threats........................................................................................................................10
References................................................................................................................................12
Appendices...............................................................................................................................14
Appendix..............................................................................................................................14

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Importance & Requirements Needed to Setup an E-Business

Globalisation in todays world has been one of the biggest reasons why businesses have
moved onto e-business. Most businesses use the internet as a method of doing business in
order to extend their range of customers and as the use of internet has become more
affordable and simpler to operate (Cunningham, 2002). The internet acts like a mode of
transportation of information for customers worldwide, and promotes businesses faster than
the speed of light. The concept of electronic business has evolved in time with major
improvements in technology today.
For a business to adopt an e-business strategy there are a few requirements that have to be
met. First, they must be able to identify their competition, understand the necessary
distribution channels, have trained personnel to run operations, find suitable technology and
software, and find ways to reduce costs. They must also make sure to abide with the relevant
regulations and laws to protect their customers and their business (Amor, 2000).
E-business can be divided into three main sections, namely; Intranet, Extranet and Internet
(Amor, 2000) (refer to Appendix 1). Those sections able to helps organisations to keep in
close contact with partners. The internet is where businesses are able to connect to their
customers. All company websites are included in this category.
Businesses prefer to grow online for reasons such as, to expand their market, to provide better
services, and to reduce cost (Amor, 2000). By adapting to electronic business strategies,
businesses will be able to access customers and suppliers globally and reach new markets.
Companies will also be able to reduce office space and number of employees as the online
services will be handled only by a few number of experts. Customer loyalty would also be
enhanced. It will also be faster for organisations to market their products or services through
their website (Amor, 2000).

Overview
Establishing, running, and maintaining e-business are needs many measurements in order to
make its business success or sustain. For instance, it is very essential for Bicycle For You to
set marketing activities. Marketing activities can consist of CRM, branding, optimization for
the multi-channels, e-mail marketing, and banner advertisement. For instance, CRM

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recommend well-designed Web site in order to attract customer and using database marketing
to ask customers permission from using their information (e.g. amazon), also, branding the
product with unique logos design, superior quality in purpose to gain benefits from
competitive advantage as the starter. Maximizing search engine ability by putting some
unique keyword or marketed them in many ways such as through banner advertisement in
social media, e-mail marketing which e-mail known as low cost and time savings media.
To maintain e-business sustainability, supply chain needs to optimize material flows along
with information flows. It is suggested that Bicycle For You applying pull type of supply
chain and implement RFID to record all the transactions that occur, in order to prevent
confusion from its process and helping company to personalized mechanizing opportunities,
with RFID companies able to improve both process and product, reduce inventory costs,
wastes and out-of-stock condition. In the other hand, Bicycle For You will need to consider
EDI for enhancing supply chain.
Other elements that Bicycle For You should consider is the security issues. Malicious
software, staff misuses system, attacks from outside (hackers/crackers), theft/fraud of data,
and system failure/data corruption are very dangerous for the online presence and public
image of Bicycle For You. Care should be taken when setting up an e-business to overcome
these security issues.

Marketing Activities
CRM
Customer Relationship Management or CRM is an approach that perceives that clients are the
center of the business and that the organization's prosperity relies on upon adequately
overseeing associations with them (Fiore, 2002). CRM perceives clients as an imperative
resource of the association and keeping up client relationship is the center methodology of a
business. A business that succeeded in holding its clients is five times more profitable on
average. A few procedures for keeping up great association with clients are suggested such
as:
A good website design is one of the easy way to attract customers attention. However,
customers are easily getting frustrated with the unfriendly websites when they insisted to visit

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a particular website which is directed by the search engines or led by links from other
websites. Once they disappointed with the service provided, there will be high possibility for
them not to visit the page again in the future. The criteria of a user friendly website must be
included before creating a website for a company. In relation with Bicycle for You case
study, a good website must be designed with minimal useless information and only
information related to the company, in this case, Bicycle.
Besides, a database marketing is also somehow can be related to the CRM. It is a human
nature to be respected and valued by others. Same goes to an organization, a good
relationship with the customers can be reached in e-business by database marketing. In
database marketing, the company will ask for a permission from customer to get their
personal information. This method is actually good to create a good bond with the clients and
highly recommended for Bicycle for You company. Another good action taken by the
Amazon.com which they use their customer profile to recommend books that are considered
suitable for them. In the other word, the organization is customizing their customers based on
their personal interest and information.

Branding
"If this business were split up, I would give you the land and bricks and mortar, and I would
take the brands and trademarks, and I would fare better than you." John Stuart, Chairman
of Quaker (Fiore, 2002). To brand the products or services is something that really counted in
order to start up a new business and enter the competitive market. There is a way, for Bicycle
for You to become instantly recognizable to the industry market and to gain the trust from
their customers. From the name itself, the tone, the colors, the font, the logo and the motto,
the brand plays a big role. It's a discriminating business variable for an organization's
prosperity, the more the brand is related to appointed esteem by the business group more it
will become, enhancing the chances to gain more customers.
Branding your products is one of the crucial elements in marketing strategy, as it conveys a
strong message of what is offered and allows customers to create a bond with the product
provider. In order for Bicycle for You to stay competitive, the products must have a unique
touch. Such as the design, the prices, and also the superior quality.

Optimization for the Multi-Channels

Bicycle for You can enhance their brand awareness to the public through Search Engine
Optimization (SEO) and it boosts applicable online activity to deliver more deals for your
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business. Customers are attracted to good website through its content and performance, and
the feedback of other users. However, websites with keyword stuffing, purchase links and
poor user experiences will definitely shatter the image of the organization (Chaffey, 2004).
Also, an optimization for the multi-channels also can be done in Bicycle for You marketing
strategy whereby the SEO implementation is not only on site, but it can be extended to other
platforms. The multi-channel optimization can group together social networks such as
Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and offline site can be radio and also television advertisements.
Throughout this effective marketing strategy, the products in Bicycle for You can be marketed
in different ways and reach majority of public. Through this platform, customers and
potential customers are comparing the business to the competition and telling stories about
the company that have visited according to their experiences (Fiore, 2002).

E-mail (Electronic-mail) Marketing

Figure 1: E-mail Marketing Example

The earliest marketing tools of e-business have been across in the use of e-mail. It is a
versatile medium that provides communication facility electronically to reach the whole
world. It is the basic medium of creating account for everyone to be able to use any todays
online facilities such as social media websites. E-mail Marketing is a marketing activity, it is
also a marketing tool, to targeting customer through e-mail. It helps marketers to reach a lot
of customers in order to attract them and end with purchasing their products. Subsequently,
Bicycle for You is recommended to use e-mail marketing as a promotional tool. The email
marketing can cause a spam in each customers email. However, the issue can be settled up

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by not sending the email too often or maybe the notifications only updated once per week.
Besides, it is also found attractive, as in its a real-time campaign, compare to direct
marketing tool. There are some reasons that e-mail marketing could be beneficial for Bicycle
for You:
-

Less cost

In comparison of other direct marketing tools, e-mail marketing is considered inexpensive.

Once established, an organization doesnt need a many employees. It is also environmentally
friendly, because it is reducing the quantity of trees chopped for printing. Thus, it is cutting
off the printing and postage cost.
-

Reduced time and efforts

By using e-mail marketing, an organization can turn out lots of works into pieces of
campaign messages. Direct marketing tools might spend days or weeks to create, which is not
efficient. E-mail marketing could use templates or graphics that have designed and simply
copy and send to the customers list database. Thus, employees who used to spend days or
weeks in doing such promotional activity could change it into few ours.
For example, faster delivery and responds. Due to e-mail speed, it can arrive in a few
seconds, as well as its responds. Thus, a campaign could be demonstrated much faster
compare to direct marketing tools. A frequent communication could be tied between
marketers and customers. So, it eases them to understand, analyze and categorized the
customers.

Figure 2: Customers List Database

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Banner Advertisement
Banner advertisement is defined as commercial messages placed on third party web sites,
including search engines and directories available through Internet access (Reynold, 2010).
It is displayed on a website that encloses hyperlinks that links to alternative webpage or
website that typically used for promoting products or services. Based on the creativity,
design, attractiveness and content, it is effective in helping an organization to reach targeted
customers. There are classifications of banner advertisement:
- Standard image/text link
Categorized as advertisements that are many components contained, specialized in
either animated or static image, or text beneath the image that direct clickers to the
same URL. Format based of its image are GIF and JPEG.

Figure 3: Standard Image of the banner advertisement

Flash
Its a vector- based macromedia that produce interactive elements as its output.
Requires a plug-in to access the URL.

Figure 4: Flash Banner

In the line with the case, it is recommended for Bicycle for You to apply banner
advertisement in order to develop e-business strategy. It can measure the effectiveness of
campaigns. It engages customers in more sophisticated strategies that lead to increasing

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repetition content through clicking rates. Its advantages, clarity, relevance, content and
intention should be in consideration of applying banner advertisements. As an example, the

advertisements and the users reason for being on a particular website should be related to
each other. However, there is some issue about the banner for example the pop-ups while
browsing. Therefore, they dont need to leave the webpage or website. And most important
key is the intention. Making sure that it is not blind. It should indicate that what would
happen if it were clicked on. Does it really provide customer wants or not. Refer to Figure 5
for an example banner for Bicycle For You.
Figure 5: The example of Bicycle For You banner Advertisement

E-Supply Chain
Supply chain is defined as essential of optimization of material flows and together with
information flows that is related in businesss operations (Chaffey, 2009). E-supply chain is
when supply chain is being enhanced by IT. E-supply chain is related with reducing time
consuming in information flows. There are two types of supply chain which are pull supply
chain and push supply chain. Bicycle for You is suggested to use a pull supply chain.
IT

Customer

Retailer

IT

IT

Distributor

Manufacturer

Supplier

IT

Figure 6

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Source: (Chaffey, 2009, p.348)

From the above diagram, the flow of information is started from customer, to retailer where
customer purchase the products, and ended in supplier that will supply manufacturer to
produce the product in the specific amount. When the customer purchased, Bicycle for You is
needs to have point-of-sale or the record of the transactions. Radio Frequency Identification
(RFID) is an electronic tag that can be one solution for a company to have an easier way to
access the point-of-sale. A study that is done by Advanced Practices Council of the Society
for Information Management showed that RFID provided the improvement process because
RFID can represent a common standard for data storage and retrieval that could improve the
collaboration and data sharing. In other ways, RFID can reduce the inventory cost, waste, and
out-of-stock condition. In line with that, through the history that RFID has recorded, it will
allow the company to offer locational and personalized merchandizing opportunities
(Reynolds, 2010).
In contrast with RFID, other technologies that are used to enhance the supply chain such as
Electronic Data Interchange (EDI). EDI integrates activities across the company. EDI is the
communication between computers that connects two or more companies such as suppliers,
or entities that record the transaction, generate bill, or pay invoice (Poirer & Bauer, 2011).
The benefit of using EDI is also to reduce the cost of documenting process and shortening
process cycle time. The process of EDI will be shown in figure 7.

Figure 7

Source: (Tun et.al, 2007)

Basically, both companies needed to install EDI interface (middleware server) that will
translate the outgoing and incoming data into the appropriate standard that moves the data
across a proprietary network. EDI is also used to connect or link Electronic Resource
Planning (ERP) system. ERP is used as planning system in production. ERP can be used by a
business to enhance the supply chain by have a better control of material delivery system and

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minimizing variability by sharing the information about the requirements from customers and
suppliers. Beside of that, EDI also enhancing the e-commerce application in real life.
According to Jhanson and Whang (2002) that is written in Reynolds (2010),E-Commerce is
helping networks of supply chain partners identify and respond quickly to changing customer
demand. ERP consists of e-ordering and e-invoicing which both are allowing customer to
place orders then will be notified electronically of order and shipment status and for
payments (Reynold, 2011). The process of information exchange is done through EDI. In
manufacturing, the result will be a shorter supply chain. It can be seen from Figure 8.

Customer

Retailer

Distributor

Customer

Manufacturer

Supplier

Manufacturer

Supplier

Figure 8

Other thing that can be considered is a website that allows Bicycle for You find an easier way
to find supplier such as www.Alibaba.com. Alibaba provide business-to-consumer, consumerto-consumer and business-to-business via internet.

Figure 9

Source: (Alibaba, 2014)

To sum up, it is highly recommended for Bicycle For You to implement EDI to build a good
connection in terms of data transferring to suppliers or customers. The data will be is
recorded by RFID that may save time and reduce the cost. Beside of that, by using
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Alibaba.com is also good because it save time and cost for searching the right supplier that
sometimes may involve another expenses.

Security Threats
There are many security threats that could endanger the online presence and public image of
Bicycle For You. It is of the utmost importance that these threats be identified and avoided
before a security breach occurs in any e-business system that will be established. According
to Chaffey (2009) the most recurrent security issues faced by e-businesses are malicious
software, staff misuse of the system, attacks from outside (hackers/crackers), theft/fraud of
data, and system failure/data corruption.
Malicious software is created to gain partial or full access to the affected system. Malicious
software or Malware can be categorized into Trojans, viruses, backdoors, worms, spyware,
adware, and root kits. Viruses can be extremely dangerous as it can erase data on a system as
well as hijack a system to send out spam (UMass Amherst, 2012). Spyware can collect
private information from a system and relay it to others as well as install Trojans onto
systems and adware can make systems display unnecessary advertisements (UMass Amherst,
2012). Malware can have a detrimental effect on system health unless it is quickly dealt with.
Staff misuse of information systems are an increasing problem for organizations. Staff misuse
of information systems can be a major threat to organizations as it can lead to employee time
wasting, confidential data being compromised as well as illegal activities taking place on
company systems (Computer Economics, 2009). Time wasting is a high occurrence as staff
are able to connect to the internet unrestricted as well as download pirated media, this can
lead to lawsuits being filed against the company in addition to the loss of productivity
(Chaffey, 2009). Confidential data can be leaked as staff can copy files onto portable storage
devices, enabling remote access to systems, using personal devices instead of company
devices, etc (Computer Economics, 2009).
Hacking and cracking are similar activities where they gain unauthorized access to a system.
The objectives of anyone seeking to gain unauthorized access to a system may be to steal
information or data, such as rival companies seeking insider information, or persons seeking
monetary gain, or seeking to destroy or cripple a system causing system failure and data

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corruption (Chaffey, 2009). Important information such as customers personal details as well
as their credit card information can be stolen by hackers/crackers if it is left unsecured.
There are numerous options available to combat these threats. Common options used for
security are anti-virus software, monitoring internet, limiting user access, frequently updating
system software, encryption, and firewalls (Ghosh, 1998).
Purchasing an anti-virus software plan for a system can help it remain free from malicious
software, however it would require regular updates due to the rapid release of new viruses on
the internet (Chaffey, 2009). Monitoring the internet can help reduce staff misuse of
information as well as blocking access to networking websites and file sharing programs can
reduce the number of pirated media being downloaded (Chaffey, 2009). Limiting user access
can reduce system breaches from employee side as well as customer side, care should be
taken to ensure employees and customers only have access to necessary features only.
Enabling updates to the operating system and software can reduce the number of
vulnerabilities in the system. To avoid hacking, companies can use encryption software
(digital signatures) to encrypt sensitive information as well as using firewalls to prevent
unauthorized access to the system (Chaffey, 2009).

[Word Count: 3000*]

*Excluding headings, figures, references, appendices and in-text citations.

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References
Alibaba.com. (2014). Alibaba.com Global Trade Starts here. [Online]. Avaiable at:
http://www.alibaba.com/trade/search?
fsb=y&IndexArea=product_en&CatId=&SearchText=bicycle [Accessed: 29th October 2014].
Amor, D. (2000). The E-Business Revolution. United States of America: Prentice-Hall Inc.
Chaffey, D. (2009). E-BUSINESS AND E-COMMERCE MANAGEMENT. 4th Ed. Harlow,
England: FT Prentice Hall.
Computer Economics, (2009). Security Threats in Employee Misuse of IT Resources.
[Online]. 2009. Available from: http://www.computereconomics.com/article.cfm?id=1436
[Accessed: 1 November 2014].
Cunningham, M. (2002). Smart Things to Know About E-business. United Kingdom:
Capstone Publishing Limited.
Edwards, V. (2013). SEO Basics: 8 Essentials When Optimizing Your Site. [Online]. Search
Engine Watch. Available at: http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2259693/SEO-Basics-8Essentials-When-Optimizing-Your-Site [Accessed 13 Nov. 2014].
Evans, M. (2014). 12 E-Commerce Strategies To Grow Your Business This Year. [Online].
Forbes. Available at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/allbusiness/2014/01/16/12-e-commercestrategies-to-grow-your-business-this-year/ [Accessed 13 Nov. 2014].
Fiore, F. (2001). E-marketing strategies. Indianapolis: Que.
Fogco, F. (2014). Inbound Marketing Case Study | Mainstreethost. [Online]. Mainstreethost.
Available at: http://www.mainstreethost.com/case-studies/fogco.html [Accessed 13 Nov.
2014].
Gao,

K.

(2014).

Top

10

E-mail

Benefits.

[Online].

Available

at:

http://emailmarketing.comm100.com/email-marketing-ebook/email-marketing-benefits.aspx
[Accessed: 10/11/2014].
Ghosh, A. (1998). E-Commerce Security. New York: John Wiley.
Muller, I. (2014). Brand, branding, E-Business Consulting. [Online]. E-businessconsulting.it.
Available at: http://www.e-businessconsulting.it/en/mkt/branding/ [Accessed 13 Nov. 2014].

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Poireir, C. & Bauer, M. (2011). E-Supply chain: Using the internet to Revolutionize Your
Business. 1st ed. United States: Michael Bass.
Reynolds, J. (2010). E-Business: A Management Perspective. 1st Ed. Oxford: OUP.
Salim, L. (2008). What is CRM? How can it affect on e-business?. [Online]. All About EBusiness. Available at: http://electronicbizniz.wordpress.com/2008/04/30/what-is-crm-howcan-it-affect-on-e-business/ [Accessed 13 Nov. 2014].
Tun, E., Jaen, J., Martinez,R., Beltran, A.(2007) BENEFITS OF ELECTRONIC DATA
INTERCHANGE (EDI) FOR SUPPLY CHAIN(SC). Primer Condreso de Logostoc y
Gestion de la Cadena de Suminstro Zaragoza, 13th September. [Online]. Available at:
http://www.cnc-logistica.org/congreso-cnc/documentos/62.pdf[Accessed: 30th October 2014].
UMass Amherst, (2012). Malware: Viruses, Spyware, Adware & Other Malicious Software.
[Online]. Available at: https://www.oit.umass.edu/security/malware-viruses-spyware-adwareother-malicious-software [Accessed: 1 November 2014].

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Appendices
Appendix 1
The Intranet basically refers to an internal system which is within an organisation and anyone
from outside the organisation will be unable to reach private information. For example, Apple
has a system where employees can buy older systems and accessories online through their
intranet service (Amor, 2000). Extranet is an area which deals with business-to-business type
of deals whereby two organisations are able to see confidential information of each other.

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