E-Commerce

E-commerce is the transaction of buying and selling products online, where a financial gain and product gain is available for both sets of potential people.

Features of e-commerce:

·         Payment is done online

·         Help pages are available

·         Store finder

·         Navigation controls

·         Reviews for the product

·         24/7, 365 days a year

·         Price comparison

·         Delivery options

·         Secure, with login and password needed

Amazon

    I’m going to investigate into what makes Amazon a successful e-commerce site, in comparison to a general retail shop. Its simplistic design and secure experience provide customers with a convenient customer service that makes them want to return, and enjoy shopping in near future.

    The start up homepage lays out a white background design, which demonstrates who exactly their buying from with a hyperlinked logo located at the top of the page, acting a link straight back to the homepage wherever you are in the website.

This simplistic design is something that you may not find in street shops, and something that can attract people to wanting to buy online rather than go to the cluttered lifestyle of street shopping. Its uses a smart font that can be read and interpreted easily, being shown in a descent size for all to see.

    

Its split into 3 main sections on the homepage, with the main navigation parts being located on the left hand side. This is used as a general search that splits merchandise into their respected categories, ranging from books to DIY tools.

The middle focuses mainly on you the buyer, with it succumb with recommendations, what you may like to buy (which would be in conjunction with recent buys) right through to what other customers are browsing right now.

The right hand side is defined with advertisement, showing various shops for books, jewellery and bags. This brings in extra income to Amazon, as well as helping these businesses with potential buyers.

The idea of a homepage in comparison to a retail store, is that online shopping provides you with all relative information with the click of the button. Amazon provides you with this for a number of products, with a store involving constant looking and in a number of cases having to ask a staff member. However, though Amazon does provide this offer, retail shopping doesn’t mind this. A number of shops ranging from Next to River Island, picture their store in a design that interacts customers with the entire store. They believe that if customers were to trail through counters looking for something, they’d have a higher chance of seeing something they like, and be inclined to buy it. This you wouldn’t happen online, with people generally shopping for something specific and planned to buy. E.g. - pair of jeans.

    Navigation is set out in a straightforward way, with a search bar located at the top of the screen and controls down the left side, helping for wide/broader searches. In comparison to in store retail, online provides quick and easy access to products, (like I mentioned above) rather than crawling through shops. For clothes, Amazon can be available to search for just sizes, so anything you find that you like; you know your size is available for dispatch, which isn’t always the case when general retail shopping.

    Customer information can also be accessed through the homepage, with a navigation button located at the top of the page called ‘your account’, from this you can track deliveries and change primary form of payment, something that you certainly cant do in a general store.

    Advertisement can play a massive part in E-commerce websites, with it this being the main form of product showing. For Amazon, this is shown with a constant array of products interactively portrayed over the middle of the homepage. This provides customers with a firsthand look at a product, and the site doesn’t have to stop at 2 or 3, it can go on for as many products as it desires. At the moment, the main advertisement for Amazon is the ‘kindle’. In comparison to general retail shopping, advertisement can yes be shown, but nowhere near in the vast amount of product quantity than e-commerce sites can reveal.

   Amazon is a massive worldwide e-commerce site, and provides millions of people over the world with products on a daily basis. Its simplistic but detailed design brings attributes that no retail shop can compete with, however, it does have points that general retail shopping may overcome, but at the end of the day e-commerce shopping overcomes all.

Real Time Information

Real time information is information that is accurate at the time of production, but when viewed will be inaccurate, especially for an upcoming event.

An example would be when booking a holiday online, and you are presented with an up to date form for seats of the plane, or indeed the number of rooms left in a certain hotel. This may be up to date when it’s sent for you to view, but once you’ve received it, may be inaccurate.

This is shown below with map indicating the flight path and destination of planes in middle east. If we were to search a certain plane, and see its regarded as ‘on time’ this may be true when its sent, however when we read it may be inaccurate and regarded as ‘delayed’, showing that real time information can change at any time.

Real time information could be used to plan a journey online, with like I said planes being just one way it’s used for. This could range from buses, trains to the underground service.

Here’s an example of me planning a route from my home to Tottenham court road, using real time information to track buses, trains and coaches.

1. You’d start walking to Henwood green road in Pembury. Depart 8:03

2. Take autocar bus service to Judd School, Tonbridge. Leave at 8:25

3. Walk to brook street, opposite Judd School, and take a new enterprise coach towards trench road. Leave at 8:31

4. Arrive at Tonbridge town centre and walk to Tonbridge rail station. Arriving at rail station for the 8:44 departure.

5.Take south-eastern towards London Cannon Street, 38 min journey. Arrive there at 9:22.

6. Walk to London bridge underground station, taking 7 minutes and therefore arriving at 9:29

7.  Take the underground to jubilee’s station, in 1 4 minute journey. Arrive at 9:33.

8. Do a 6 minute walk to Waterloo Station, Arriving at 9:39.

9. Take a northern line tube journey  tube journey to Tottenham Court Road. Arrive at 9:54

 Journey time = 1h 51 minutes.

Communication

1.
Facebook tests out new feature




Facebook has announced it's trying out a new feature.


Called 'subscribe to' it lets users follow their Facebook friends more closely.


But in a statement Facebook said: "[Subscribe to] lets [users] subscribe to friends and pages to receive notifications whenever the person they've subscribed to updates their status or posts new content, such as videos photos or links."


For more info: http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/11201418


‘Facebook has always been in the news for its lack lustre privacy. The idea of being able to access others peoples so called ‘networking lives’ has raised questions in the past over the general safety of the client. The chance to preview you and your general interests to the world, as well as conversations has been described by some as a ‘paedophile paradise’, with easy techniques to find and talk to anyone.
With the new subscribe button looming; this privacy will be thrown into even more question, with a client having information shared to certain people, about everything they do. This idea of social networking will go from individuality, to complete and utter openness.'






2.
Instant messaging: ‘This conversation is terminated’
OMG. Instant messaging (IM), once the mainstay of teenage gossips, techie know-it-alls and office time-wasters everywhere, looks as though it is in trouble.


Just a few years ago, it was meant to be the future.


More immediate than e-mail, less fiddly than texting, sending an IM was widely expected by many technology pundits to become our preferred mode of online communication, whether socially or in the office - or socially in the office, for that matter.


But how times change.


For more info: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8698174.stm


'Instant messaging has always been a major part of communication amongst people for a number of years now. Its innovative immediate use allows people to communicate with people anywhere in the world in a matter of seconds. Unfortunately, it rapid decline has raised question marks, and for me whatever they do will never be the same. The growth of social networking sites has really made an impact on the world today, and has overtaken the idea of just instant messaging. Its elaborate way of communicating in a number of ways (not just messaging!) has just crushed the idea and allows people to talk to each other through people status’, various comment as well as IM.
Skype has also blown past it, with its use to talk to people essentially face to face, for hours on end for free. This just overpowers the idea of talking to people on a computer and has been its main fault in the 18% decline in instant messaging sice 2003.Therefore for me, the application is dead and buried.’




3.
‘Phone texting helps pupils to spell'


Children who regularly use the abbreviated language of text messages are actually improving their ability to spell correctly, research suggests.


A study of eight- to 12-year-olds found that rather than damaging reading and writing, "text speak" is associated with strong literacy skills.


Researchers say text language uses word play and requires an awareness of how sounds relate to written English.


This link between texting and literacy has proved a surprise.


For more info: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/8468351.stm


‘Texting has always been in the news; either for its latest gadgets or for stories similar to this. The idea to text someone has been mind-blowingly successful, and has allowed millions of people to gain and give out information on a daily basis. Nonetheless, the way in which people are texting has overshadowed the general application and its developments. This especially for young people. Many people feel that ‘short texting’, which is the idea of abbreviations for words, for example homework would be ‘hwk’, has destroyed the English language and the way young people treat it. However, this has shown not to be the case, and has surprisingly turned the other way and is suggested that it will improve young peoples’ literacy. It is thought that the use of abbreviations will provide a mental note for the actual spelling and its use in a sentence. For me I agree, I feel that the common use of abbreviations is understood by everyone now days, and provides an outlet for longer words, to be cut down but at the same time known properly. So as long as literacy results are increasing, there should be known one complaining.’

Email and its various uses

Email is an ever growing empire of technological intellect, currently holding attributes that allows you to communicate in a number of different ways, linking from work to comical jokes. The idea of this is what intrigues people, and demonstrates that email isn’t just used for one specific task of general communication, but for various things.

The use of email is defined depending on the age and generation of set client. For the younger generation, email is starting to become a way of signing up to various social networking sites, i.e Facebook. From here it will be used to sign in and out, checking of various activities, making it personal to you and you alone. As well as signing in and out, emails will be sent to you directly explaining of various activities, with you being able to access and respond anywhere with a WIFI. However, this idea of easy general social networking is only lucky enough for people available to do it. The stereotype of everyone having access to networking, not to mention internet, shows a complete disregard for people and their financial situation. This idea would come to affect in the continent of Africa, where computers are not as highly regarded as a necessity like they are in general Europe.

With the way of email growing and growing in the world, it’s starting to be used as a primary source of communication. This can be for various reasons and displays a much quicker network connection than a handheld phone. One reason could be the costs displayed from a phone, with credit and contract commitments costing money, on a regular basis, whereas emailing is a free source that can be used on any basic computer for your specific needs.


This form of communication is justified in the general workplace as again the primary and most efficient one. With businessmen needing to communicate to people all around the world, the quick, free and easy way allows them to talk to clients and workers wherever they are completely free. This immediately destroys any competition from any other communication advice, just purely for the fact that its costs nothing.

Personally I think the older generation don’t appreciate email not because they don’t bother with it, just because they grew it up in a time consumed with the letter as a form of communication. The idea of going out to buy a computer and trying to adapt to email has, to be fair, not court on.

In conclusion, email has shown to be a revolutionary idea and has key parts that allows it to do more than one set task. I believe as time goes on, will open up to older generations and its uses will increase at a rapid rate.