E-Commerce Case Studies

Presented by Oliver Dempsey

Case Study Practical Points• Updating Products• Sourcing product information• Updating products• Special Offers• Delivery Rates & VAT• Payment methods• Delivery Method• Packaging• Order Notification• Customer loyalty• Marketing & Advertising• Using the Website as Catalogue• Educating the Customer• Visitor Tracking• Automating Accounts and Ordering

Websites used in case Studies

• www.Diskovery.ie (Educational Software)

• www.nowafflecomputers.ie (Computers and Consumer Electronics)

Updating Products

Sourcing product information

• Suppliers websites• Catalogues on CD and Hard copy• CD Cover Sleeves• Publisher copy and copy written by

Diskovery

Updating products

• Products bought in foreign currency

• Prices inputted in foreign currency

• Website converts price to Euros

Special Offers

• Special offers changed on the homepage

• Also sent by newsletter

Delivery Rates

• Courier company charges a fixed rate per delivery and that is what is passed on to the customer

VAT

• Schools in Ireland are obliged to pay VAT so all prices include VAT

Payment methods

• Schools don’t tend to use credit cards so the product is sent with an invoice

• Home users can make payment by credit card

Order Notification

• Order notification is by Email

• Email is checked the same way you would check your post in the morning

• Log into administration area, print out and process the order

Customer Loyalty

• Customers opting to receive newsletters• Website has facility to create and send

bulk newsletters to subscribers• Facility to choose who to send to• Newsletters are designed to sell products

Marketing & Advertising

• Traditional advertising expensive• Hard to track where customers come from• With email you can measure the response• Advertising on search engines, cost

effective

Marketing & Advertising

• Didn’t find banner advertising to be successful

• Told by an advertising agency that TV or banner advertising is for branding but that wasn’t for us

Using the Website as Catalogue

• Use the website to look up the products

• Saves time

• Use to describe the product

• Can recommend related products

Educating the Customer

• Show how to find products

• Show how to download trial software

• Almost like knocking on their door and giving them a trial piece of software to try out for 15 days

Visitor Tracking

• Changing products on offer

• Changing special offers

• Newsletters

• Tracking results is essential

Automating Accounts and Ordering

“That would get me closer to my dream, sitting on a warm sunny beach somewhere

with a Pina Colada in my hand and all I would need to do…”

End of Diskovery Case Study

No Waffle Computers.ie

Updating Products

Sourcing product information

• Products are updated automatically each night

Updating products

• Products are purchased in foreign currency

• Website works out the markup on different categories of products and converts price to Euros

Special Offers

• Special offers changed on the homepage

• Deal of the week

• Price shocks etc.

Product Availability

• Source from an alternative supplier

• Put on back order

Delivery Rates

• Delivery is based on weight

• Limits up to 30 kg and 50 kgs and a pallet price

VAT

Price is displayed inclusive and exclusive of VAT

Payment methods

• All payment methods are accepted

• Preferred method is purchase order from an account customer and

• Laser from a non-account customer

Delivery Method

• Courier• Or collection• During the checkout process asked for collection only or

delivery • Emailed when ready for collection• By shipping method, tracking number, courier’s website

address

Packaging

• A lot of packing filling comes from Faulkner

• A lot of packaging can be recycled

WEEE Directive

• Return products on a one for one basis

• During the order process you indicate if you are returning goods under WEEE

• A Return label is sent with the courier

Order Notification

Customer Loyalty

• Email trade price list

• Special offers

Marketing & Advertising

• Newspapers, magazines, search engines• Traditional advertising expensive• Hard to track where customers come from• With email you can measure the response• Advertising on search engines, cost effective

Using the Website as Catalogue

• Use the website to look up the products• Saves time• Use to describe the product• Can recommend related products• Click comparison button

Educating the Customer

• Categories have made it easier for the 23,000 + products to be searched

Visitor Tracking

• Changing products on offer

• Changing special offers

• Newsletters

• Tracking results is essential

Automating Accounts and Ordering

Automated Order to Accounts

Automated Order to supplier

End of Case Study 2

Case Study Summary Points

• Updating Products• Sourcing product information• Updating products• Special Offers• Delivery Rates & VAT• Payment methods• Delivery Method (cartoon)

Case Study Summary Points

• Packaging• Order Notification• Customer loyalty• Marketing & Advertising• Using the Website as Catalogue• Educating the Customer• Visitor Tracking• Automating Accounts and Ordering

Getting in to the top 20%

• Doing things a little bit better than your competition every single day

• The 80:20 rule

Top 20% of top 20% = Top 4%

• That’s where we want to be

• To be among the most successful in our Industry

• Following slide shows man in the top 4%

You only have to be better by a nose

• A study of two horses in the states

• Next slide shows the winning horse

It is worth persevering!

• Some may have tried the Internet in the past• Some might be about to try it• It is worth perservering• Story• Following slide shows man who didn’t

perservere! (invented drinks that didn’t take on)

E-Commerce Case Studies

Presented by Oliver Dempsey