Unit 34
Website Design Strategy
P1
Unit 34: Business Studies @ TSS
Commercial Relationships – B2C
 A B2C website offers to sell or provide a service to
private consumers rather than other businesses; B2C
businesses respond to consumer demand.
 In the past you were restricted when shopping based on
opening times, availability of products at the shops and
travel. By contrast an internet retailer (or e-tailer) has
no closing times, no need to travel and an unlimited field
in what it can sell.
 Most of the growth in e-business is due to physical
businesses adopting an e-strategy, as there is a big
difference in adding an online sale channel to an existing
business and trying to setup a completely new online
business.
Unit 34: Business Studies @ TSS
Commercial Relationships – B2C
 Amazon.co.uk is one of the most successful online
businesses and a model for every online firm.
 Amazon.co.uk started off as a bookseller and today
offers nearly 5 million books, together with information
about them all, as well as personalised
recommendations and feedback from other customers.
 Amazon.co.uk has diversified its product range to
become a multi-product online business; as well as
books it now sells CDs, DVDs, toys, electronic items and
sports equipment to name a few.
 The internet not only allows e-tailers the chance to offer
a wider range of choices, but also allows them to offer
more backup services to consumers.
Unit 34: Business Studies @ TSS
Commercial Relationships – B2C
 However, the problem of the abandoned shopping cart is
a major issue for the e-tailer.
 Slow internet connections and download times, fears
about intrusion and fears about security will often drive
even the most enthusiastic consumers away from
internet shopping.
 Online shoppers often drop out at the cart stage because
of lack of speed. Despite this, online shopping continues
to increase.
 Faster broadband speeds and safer, more reliable
websites may be the solution, but online suppliers still
have to make a real internet offer to gain sales.
Unit 34: Business Studies @ TSS
Commercial Relationships – B2B
 In the online world B2B is reported to be bigger than B2C.
Transactions between businesses may be less frequent over
the internet, but they account for more in terms of money
value.
 The B2B business is buying either for its own internal
maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) purposes, or for
items used as part of what is sold to another business in a
supply chain.
 A report by eMarketer predicted that these kinds of
transactions would soon amount to almost 90% of total ecommerce.
 The reason for this is that there is many more opportunities
for ‘big-deal’ transactions between businesses than there
are for transactions with private customers.
 Online marketplaces for components are becoming more
common. Ford and GM moved their billion $ sales online.
Unit 34: Business Studies @ TSS
B2C and B2B interaction compared
Other Intermediates
Suppliers
Suppliers
Suppliers
Unit 34: Business Studies @ TSS
Organisation
Consumer
Purposes of Commercial Websites
 The basic purpose of a commercial website is, of course, to
generate revenue from sales. There are a number of
business models achieving this online.
 This is done mainly by developing online stores from
already existing business of offline stores (ASDA, Argos
etc..) However, there are businesses online that have
created a purely online presence. You have yet to see an
Amazon.co.uk or eBay.co.uk physical store.
 The internet offers the ability to have ‘Direct Online Sales’
thus bypassing other intermediaries, such as wholesales.
 One company that built its business solely on this model is
comupter manufacturer Dell. The model stated that Dell
would have no physical stores and that customers would
browse, build, and buy their product and Dell would only
then build and deliver the machine.
Unit 34: Business Studies @ TSS
Purposes of Commercial Websites
 Music downloads are now a must for many, if not all,
teenagers. The Apple iTunes application and others such as
Amazon.co.uk allow for peer-to-peer file sharing and music
purchases directly online.
 Retail stores such as Tesco, ASDA, Next, M&S and B&Q have
opened up online sales channels, adding to their physical
stores. Clearly the goods they sell are incapable of direct
delivery over the web, so they have to be physically
delivered. Sometimes a third party service is used. This is
known as ‘Online Sales with Physical Delivery’.
 In the case of PC World, a slight twist on this strategy was
introduced with the use of bigger online promotions but
with the offline collection. This is a helpful sales strategy
combining the convenience of the web with the practicality
of physical collection.
Unit 34: Business Studies @ TSS
Purposes of Commercial Websites
 Another purpose of commercial websites is the ‘Pre-sales’
model. This model makes excellent use of the web because
of its suitability to carry detailed information about
products.
 Internet shoppers can get as much information as they
require before making a decision to buy. This means that
brochures and online catalogues are very suitable vehicles
for product promotion.
 Businesses seeking to generate sales from a website can
embark on email campaigns too, however, it is important for
any businesses looking for sales via an email campaign to
recognise that unrequested emails are a source of great
irritation to many people. Spam is a nuisance. Research
shows that where permission has been sought and agreed,
this type of campaign can be very fruitful.
Unit 34: Business Studies @ TSS
Purposes of Commercial Websites
 ‘Post-sales’ models make the web extremely useful for
communications between customers and the selling
business. The customer is in a stronger position to give
feedback once a sale has been made. As businesses adopt
an online model some feel that automated responses in
customer services can be a help.
 Software applications are now available to manage the
entire relationship with customers. This means two
businesses that work closely together in partnership (e.g.
Fence Manufacturer and Wood Producer) can be digitally
bound together. There are databases of, for example: Staff,
product codes, technical support staff, technical information
and sales staff.
 In a B2B context the use of customer relationship
management software can be used. These help manage
the interactions to make sure each one is satisfied.
Unit 34: Business Studies @ TSS
Purposes of Commercial Websites
 Although the web is a proven vehicle for generating
sales, there is also a use for the medium in supporting
other activities of the core business.
 Most websites include pages that are intended purely for
corporate communications or ‘websites not related to
sales’. Some websites, such as Bells Fish & Chip shop,
have no intention of generating sales because of the
nature of the business. Instead it uses its website for
PR work. It is worth remembering that the web is a
vehicle for carrying information.
 Another example is the CNET website at
www.computers.com which only contains reviews and
price comparisons.
Unit 34: Business Studies @ TSS
Non-commercial business relationships
 Whereas commercial websites set out to generate consumer interest
and sales, non-commercial websites set out to do something else.
This depends on whether they are:
 Local Government
 National Government
 Voluntary Sector Bodies
 Campaigning Groups
 Local Government is delivered through local councils. Local councils
are demographically elected bodies that have the responsibility to
offer local services according to the wishes of parliament . Services
such as education, social services planning, trading standards and
rubbish clearance are all carried out by your local council because
they are required to do so by parliament.
 These days most local councils have a website. The purpose is to
provide information about physical services, online services, and
promote the work they do as tax payers like to see where their
money goes.
Unit 34: Business Studies @ TSS
Non-commercial business relationships
 National government offers services and deals with
concerns that affect us all. The internet is a great way
to offer certain services across the country in an efficient
and cost effective way.
 Because national government covers so many issues and
concerns, many government departments have their
own websites:
 www.berr.gov.uk (Department for business, enterprise and
regulatory reform)
 www.dcsf.gov.uk (Department for children, schools and families)
 www.defra.gov.uk (Department for environment, food and rural
affairs)
Unit 34: Business Studies @ TSS
Non-commercial business relationships
 Voluntary sector groups also use the web to great effect.
Voluntary bodies rely on the public for support for their
particular cause. These bodies do not have the pursuit of
profit as their main aim.
 They exist to further a particular cause and hopefully gain
public sympathy for it, for example, to help artistic talent
within inner cities or to inform people about the work of the
youth hostels association (www.yha.org.uk)
 Some groups come together to raise a specific issue, by
bringing it to the attention of the government and the
public. There are many issues that are of national and
indeed global importance. These are known as campaigning
groups and their use of the web can be vital. It is vital that
the attention of these issues is brought to everyone and
what better way to do that then though the web.
Unit 34: Business Studies @ TSS
Purpose of non-commercial websites
 Non-commercial websites are intended to carry
information.
 Is the website intended to inform, persuade, influence or
all of the above??
 Is the website designed to collect data from people and
organisations??
 Website designers need to spend a great deal of time
with the people seeking to go online to discover the
purpose(s) of the website. It is vital that these
intentions are known. The whole look and feel of a
website, its design, layout and content are governed by
its intention.
Unit 34: Business Studies @ TSS
Websites in the Marketing Mix
 In many ways the business website becomes the
product. If the website is selling items then the website
becomes the shop window. No matter how it does it the
technology available lets businesses modify the
marketing mix in a number of ways.
 Products – are displayed and described in detail but also
through technology can be personlaised for the
customer. An example of this is to log into Amazon,
browse and shop and then a few days later log in and
see that Amazon has selected a shopping list of
recommendations based on your last shop. Products can
also be given additional offers / other enhancements. In
internet terms this is known as bundling products
together.
Unit 34: Business Studies @ TSS
Websites in the Marketing Mix
 Prices – are visible, and often lower because they have
lower running costs compared to a high street shop.
 Place – is affected because people can often download what
they have bought there and then (e.g. Music, software, and
movies). In some cases it involves direct sales and
therefore cuts out the middle men.
 Promotion – can be placed on all websites. Businesses can
carry banner adverts and affiliate links to other business
sites. They can have strong PR stories on their sites and
they can make special offers. Promotions is very strong
online, if used well.
 People – are behind every website. However, they are
never seen. If a problem occurs in a transaction there
needs to be back up staff available to support. Very often
this is done through call centres. The website will,
therefore, contain a ‘contact us’ / ‘FAQ’ screen.
Unit 34: Business Studies @ TSS
Websites in the Marketing Mix
 Physical environment – is only represented by the look
and feel of a website, which in effect becomes the
replacement for the environment a service is delivered
in. Customers have to feel comfortable in the site and
know their way round.
 Process – refers to how easy it is to receive a service or
product. If a site advisor decides to take advantage of
an available product, how easy is it to get what they
want? Easyjet has a famous three-click process for
ordering a flight ticket. This can be a major selling point
and again can be done on a personalised basis
Unit 34: Business Studies @ TSS
Websites in the Promotion Mix
 Modern businesses use their websites to offer lots of
promotional material, both for themselves and, through
affiliate programmes, for other businesses.
 Promotional activities in the marketing mix can take
several forms; this is referred to as the promotional mix.
 Websites can:
 Carry advertisements
 Have sales promotions
 Assist in personal selling
 Carry PR materials
 Help in direct marketing
Unit 34: Business Studies @ TSS
Current & Future Developments
 Broadband in homes
 Fibre optic lines being installed across the UK
 Access via phone / tablet apps to stores anywhere and
anytime
 Call centre support (80% of customer communication is
still by voice)
 Website scalability (Planning for the current market but
also being aware of future features that will have to be
incorporated throughout the years ahead – basically
designing a website now that is able to adjust and
develop for the future without having to be re-designed)
Unit 34: Business Studies @ TSS
Task P1

You work for the local councils economic development unit, which is keen
to encourage new e-business into the area. You have been asked to do a
preliminary investigation and prepare a short presentation about how
different businesses can use the internet.

Describe how three contrasting organisations use their websites for
business purposes (P1)
In order to achieve even a PASS you need to:
 Show the name, URL and homepage of the organisation
 Consider why the organisation has a website
 Go in detail to discuss their need for the website and how the website features
support this
 What does the website offer users
 Say how you think the online presence helps the organisation achieve its goals
 Explain how the future of web design strategy will influence the organisations
website
 Explain how marketing strategies affect the website
Unit 34: Business Studies @ TSS