The Benefits of Businesses that use the Internet
Almost all national retail organizations today have an Internet site where anyone can place an order. Most are even able to accept credit card payment for instant processing of your order. In fact, there are some companies that accept orders solely from the Internet.
Office Depot has gone one step further than the competition; they have included perks for their contract customers also. Specifically, they have linked the Web-site to their ES9000 mainframe enabling customers to get their own specific contract pricing. The closest any competitors have come is storing a customer’s shipping information. The result was $67 Million in sales last year. That doesn’t come close to an Internet only retailer like Amazon.com, but it is a phenomenal success for Depot’s first year in the Internet market. Increased sales revenue is not the only benefit that this marketing plan has reaped. A new level of efficiency has also been reached.
The leading benefit that has created such efficiency is the number of customer orders that Depot does not have to:
1. Take up more of a salesperson’s time on the phone.
2. Take up an order-entry clerk.
3. Waste time trying to understand precisely what the customer needs. (The customer can browse though our entire catalog of merchandise)
Instead, the company’s time can be spent on more important customer service issues. A salesperson can get out in the field to meet one-on-one with their customers. Order-entry clerks can spend more time making sure they key exactly what the customer wants. That covers the benefits to the company, but how about the customer. Are they benefiting as well?
Customer feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. This is mainly true because Internet ordering is an additional service, not a replacement of service. Some customers in the past would complain that they couldn’t speak to a Real Person when they needed to most. Now when they need to place an order, there is no need to speak to someone unless more clarification is required, and when it is, there are more Real People available to speak with.
Company Email
Though some people think that the Email account that their company supplies them is private and confidential, it is actually neither. Most companies explain their Email policy in great detail, but one would have to look for it in their Employee Manual on their own. One of the main reasons why companies do this is to protect themselves legally.
Availability of online ordering facility presents the franchise with a competitive edge over its rivals.
Corporation has is to increase profits for its stockholders. Through a utilitarian perspective, we can see that Wal-Mart is acts in a way to product the greatest possible balance of good over dissatisfaction for their stockholders. Wal-Mart upholds the fiduciary duties to their stockholders by not increasing wages of their employees, instead they take the sum of money and return it back to their stockholders and shareholders such as customers and suppliers. Wal-Mart creates the happiness for the amount of people who invest in the company. Ethics is about the consequences of an action and the consequence of Wal-Mart’s actions creates the greatest amount of good for the people who are the primary stockholders of the corporation.
These days having a robust online stream of communication with your shoppers is extremely vital for marketing. And who knows maybe someday Amazon will have their own line in grocery stores as well.
Wal-Mart is now operating globally, and its main vision is for additional global expansion of operation and "promotion of ownership of ethical culture" to all of its stakeholders worldwide (www.walmartstores.com). The idea of Wal-Mart’s vision on ethical culture is key in globalization. Wal-Mart has had good reputation and competitive advantage worldwide because it has been able to embrace culture and diversity in its operations across nations. In promoting ethical culture, Wal-Mart helps its customers and stakeholders to take the right decisions and to do the right thing.
Secondly, there are definitely benefits in treating your employees better than your customers. Your employees are the face your customers are going to see when they interact with the company. Whether the interaction is daily, weekly, or monthly you want the
On to Walmart one of the biggest supply retail chains in the world and their social responsibility takes a radical turn. Under all that ‘save money, live better’ is a world that not many people see or experience. Walmart uses differesnt tactics to hide, manipulate, and operate under the scrutiny of the public. With such things as the environment, giving back to the community, responsible resourcing the wrongs have succeeded in being in the forefront of what consumers, employees, and the world sees. By setting up a smoke screen Walmart portrays themselves as a great company however, evidence shows the opposite.
The term Corporate Social Responsibility refers to a company’s responsibility to provide a benefit to the society the company affects. Corporate social responsibility incorporates dimensions of corporate responsibility, and corporate policy which include a company’s policy to hire minority or disabled workers, or taking a stance on social and political issues that benefit the community. The social portion of corporate social responsibility includes corporate charitable business contributions and expands on this common social business practice by invoking corporate social initiatives. For example, as a policy, Wal-Mart grocery store managers purchase as much produce and goods from local farmers and distributors they can as opposed to relying on national food distributors. This example of a corporate social initiative provides a greater benefit to the economy of the society surrounding Wal-Mart stores than if Wal-Mart made only charitable contributions to a food bank within the local area. Environmental responsibility is a business’s responsibility to decrease its carbon footprint and produce green products. The trend to produce green products has come into effect since global warming has become a greater concern in the world over the past decade. Reducing the carbon footprint and making green products may increase a company’s cost, but the company can charge more for its products and services to offset the increased cost. Nickels, J. McHugh, and S. McHugh give an example of the Ciba Specialty Chemicals Company, a Swiss textile dye manufacturer who charges more for its dyes than other dye companies because Ciba’s dyes “require less salt than traditional dyes”, and are therefore more expensive to produce (Nickels, J McHugh, S...
The corporate social responsibility is a commitment by a business to contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life for employees and their families’ as-well as contributing to the society. Walmart is a well-known company that offers customers the items they want and need at a low cost, with nearly 4,000 stores in the United States. According to the Fortune 500, Walmart was ranked number 1 in 2015. Just like any other superstore Walmart needs to continue the use of social responsibility by recreating a relationship between business and the community especially if they want to dominate the competition in 2016. The use of sustainability, strategic philanthropy, causing market, shared values, stakeholders and global perspective will help readers understand the purpose of social responsibilities in the corporate world.
b. Does it make a significant contribution to the perceived customer benefits of the end product?
When they are many companies shipping like products to like destinations, consolidation reduces shipping and handling costs. When there is consolidation, cost effective shipments can be made more frequently. When shipments are made more frequently customer service improves, cost per pound declines, and less inventory is needed in the supply chain. When there are many companies supporting basic ecommerce web services to the same group of distributors or carriers, a common gateway reduces technical complexity and simplifies operation and maintenance. When many companies share a warehouse, common areas and support staff are shared, shared front line distribution specialists better accommodate peaks and valleys, and investments in high fixed cost technologies such as WMS, ASRS, conveyance, timekeeping, voice directed activity, and engineered standards becomes
6. Due to availability of all products under one roof and near by their house helps customers to shop weekly and shop fresh every time.
Decreasing administrative costs by increasing the speed of order fulfillment, reducing the need for staff involvement and and ensuring that information only needs to be entered once
Shoppers were not always able to purchase items with just a few clicks of a mouse and have them shipped right to their front door. In the sixties and seventies, consumers would shop at local bakers, butchers, and corner markets, which later big chain supermarkets such as Wal-Mart eventually replaced. In addition, home shopping catalogs were also a popular way to shop, especially for families that lived in remote locations. It was not until the nineties when the World Wide Web revolutionized online shopping. Shopping over the web is great for everyone especially for people with busy schedules that do not have the time to go to the actual store or that work during the day and the stores have closed by the time he or she gets off work. Some e-stores
Every minutes saved means less time waiting and more satisfaction to the customers. This would also encourage a first time buyer to become repeat customers.
Do you remember a time where you overheard a family member or friend complain about receiving the wrong package or not getting one at all after purchasing an item on an online store? Well, I sure have and the process isn 't so easy-going. Some people enjoy the idea of shopping while others may hate the process of buying things. More than often, people try finding the easy route of having to go buy items they need with online shopping. Some may say that online shopping is convenient and less time consuming but they have never taken the time to try it out for themselves because they know the side effects of ordering online. Three main problems that people encounter with online shopping would be receiving the wrong item, dealing with