THE PRODUCT INFORMATION PROVIDED unit 2

The Product Information Provided

The more information a customer has of a product the more likely they are to buy it. It is especially essential for a website based company to give as much information and show as many pictures possible about a certain item as a customer cannot go to the shop and quickly try it on or see what it looks like.

Although the returns policy is good, if the website does not give enough information and picture sit can certainly put a customer off of buying a product. I think that this website gives a lot of information about the product and gives many different angled pictures of an item to make me want to buy it as i am a regular customer on this website.

Having clicked on an item I like, a new web page loads with more information about that item. The screenshot above is a dress, which I saw a small picture of and liked so therefore clicked on the picture to find out more information.

At the side of the picture of the item, there are a few bullet points detailing information about the item. It also tells you the price and what sizes the item is available in.

At the bottom of the page there is an information box that tells the customer what the item is made out of, how to wash the item, what size the item is (the item shown in the picture, if a different size is chosen then obviously these measurements will change). There is also there is are two other tabs on the information box, one describing the returns policy of this item and the other describing the different types of delivery that can come with this item.

THE GOODS THAT ASOS.COM OFFERS - unit 2

The Goods That ASOS.com Offers

ASOS.com is a fashion store for both women and men. However, it is unclear from the URL or the website name what the website sells (ASOS stands for As Seen On Screen, so therefore could mean anything). This website sells everything from bangles and dresses to shirts and ties. However a list of items available is on the side menu in both the men and women’s sections. By clicking on one of the categories it may show more areas within that category of items the website sells.

They have a wide range of items available in different sizes and colours and this is one of the many reasons why it is a popular website.
I think the homepage could be improved a little as it is not quite obvious what their main products that they sell are (clothes) as it is disguised within the word Collection in the menu bar at the side of the page.

There is a link at the bottom of the homepage that takes the customer to a page that lists everything that the website sells and the designers that they sell clothes for.This can be found by clicking on this link ‘ Store Search’ in the bottom toolbar.

HOW IT IS STRUCTURED - unit 2

How is ASOS.com Structured?

ASOS is a very well structured transactional website. It uses a frame to ensure that the customers that visit the website do not get lost. The designers have kept the pages simple and uncluttered to make sure they are easy on the eye.


The homepage consists of their logo on the left hand side corner. There is an advertisement at the top of the page and then a shopping basket with options on the top right hand corner. The main toolbar options then start. There is an option of choosing between Women’s and Men’s, there is a search box and then there are hyperlinks to pages that offer the reader help such as, How to Shop, Track your Order, Help and Contact etc.
There is a menu down the left hand side of the homepage. This is where the items the website sells are listed. There are categories of items and if a category is clicked on then it produces another list of areas within that category. The main picture is advertising new Christmas stock and items that are the most popular. There is a blog at the side of the main picture which updates customers on fashion, celebrities and new items.Below the main picture and blog is two pictures that portray items on offer, these pictures are directly linked to the pages where the items on offer can be found. This is to make it easier for the user to find the items on offer and entice the reader to buy them, as they haven’t had to search through all the items to find those that are on offer. Below this is a dialogue box where a customer can type in their email address to hear about new items on sale and fashion news. This is a way to entice the readers back onto the website and share information with them. At the very bottom of the page there are links that may interest the reader such as Terms and Conditions, About Us and Returns.




















Once having clicked on one of the options down the side menu, it opens the homepage of the link that you have just clicked but also creates a drop down menu with the main areas in that category.


















I clicked onto Collection, and then Dresses to see how the layout changed and what new options and information was available to the customer when they were browsing further into the website.

This is the new window that appears after having clicked on Dresses. We can see that the top of the pages layout has stayed the same and the bottom has too however, the side options have changed.

Also, part of the layout is a shopping bag feature. This allows the customer to choose many different items and store them in a virtual shopping bag. When finishing shopping, the customer can go to the shopping bag and purchase all the things they have chosen. ASOS.com also has a drop down menu feature where the customer, depending on the currency of their country, can change the currency so that they understand how much the items are in their money.

A search facility is essential on a big website such as ASOS.com as it allows the customer to quickly browse what they want without the hassle of searching through all the different menus and pages where their desired item could be.

PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES. unit 2

What Purpose Does This Website Have and Does It Meet Its Objectives?

We can see straight away that this website sells fashion items as beneath the website’s logo it states that it is an ‘online fashion store’.

Having first clicked onto this website, I could tell that it was an online clothing store as there were many pictures of new items available and there were many offers on the homepage portraying pictures of trousers, tops, dresses etc.
My first impression of the website was that it’s main target audience was women, as there were many female items available. However, when looking further, I could see that they also had a men’s section as well.

I thought the website must have been popular and created by a company that had high aims and expectations as their layout is very clear and aesthetically pleasing and also, they have their own blog - which portrays to me that they are a big company that does not just use pictures to sell their products they also use ways which involve ICT to tell their customers about new products and information available.

The objective of the website is the online sales of women and men’s fashion. Especially as this is a website based company and does not have any stores throughout the UK.
I think that people that search through this website will be enticed to look further as there are many large boxes of information with offers and special deals etc.

This news clipping from the BBC website proves that ASOS’s objectives of selling their products was definitely met this year as their sales were very profitable and the number of people visiting the website each month (two million) proved that the whole website was aesthetically pleasing and you could easily navigate yourself around the website as their customers would not keep coming back if they found it difficult and confusing.

The pictures that portray the products are on a person, so that the customer can see what the product will look like in contrast to the product being laid flat on a table etc. There are also different views to the pictures available so the customer can see what the top for example really looks like. This is another way that they meet their objective of selling as much as possible through an online method as the more a customer can see an item, the more they will be enticed to buy it. Online based companies are very aware that a customer cannot ‘try’ the items on or see what they are like until it turns up at their house so they have to ensure that they give the customer better than satisfactory ways of seeing the items available.
On my first impression, the fact that this website has a logo, has their own blog and gives the customer many ways of contacting them, it proved to me that it was a trustable website.

WHAT IS E-COMMERCE? unit 2

What is E-Commerce

Electronic Commerce is often referred to as E-Commerce or eCommerce.
E-Commerce entails a person buying or selling products and/or services over an electronic system such as the Internet. It specifically refers to the buying and selling of goods by transferring funds from one account to another. With the rapid growth and spread of the Internet, E-Commerce has become a part of many people’s everyday lives.

There are many advantages to purchasing goods and products online;

· Someone that is housebound can get their food shopping delivered to their house via the Internet.
· Someone that is time-poor can order Christmas presents, birthday presents, food shopping etc. off of the Internet and get it delivered the next day etc.
· Someone that does not have the sufficient money to pay for petrol to pick up a product that is only stored in a certain area of the country can buy it online and get it delivered to their house.

However, there are also some disadvantages of the evolvement of the Internet leading us to be able to purchase products online;

> When a person purchases something via the Internet, they have to give a series of details about themselves and their credit card account. There have now been many unfortunate events where people’s details have been ‘taken’ and used against them. There are different forms of this crime such as phishing and identity theft.

> There have been websites that have been created which look like a website that you can purchase goods off however they have been created to scam people out of their money. They are like normal websites but instead of giving you a product after you have given the money, they take your money and do not give you your purchase. A way to determine between which websites are safe and which are whether there is an ‘S’ within the URL (https) and there should be a padlock that appears on the toolbar which states that it is a safe website.

> When purchasing products online, you may be given dimensions or sizes, but you can’t look at the actual product of try it on to see whether you really like it. This may cause more hassle if you receive it and do not like it and have to return it via post than driving to your nearest store and looking at the product yourself.

In conclusion, E-Commerce has made our lives easier as we are now able to purchase things in a method that we were never able to before. It enables us to pick exactly what we want; get it delivered when we want and it saves us the hassle of going to the shops and buying it ourselves. However, it has brought about new risks and could make your life harder if your credit card details are stolen and you need to replace your card etc.

This website is http://www.tesco.com/. It allows you to purchase anything from groceries to TV’s online. As there are many different products you can buy they have broken in down into sections and then drop down boxes whilst hovering over your preferred topic. This makes it easier for the customer to look for a specific product they need and is useful for someone that does not have a lot of time.
You have to create an account to buy a product but this is easy and not time consuming. Tesco also gives you different options of what day you wish your product/s be delivered and give time zones in which they can be delivered in between (for example 7pm-9pm). This is very useful as you can set a date a time that suits your calendar.

This website is www.jewellerycatalogue.co.uk . They sell different types of jewellery in gold and silver. The website homepage has a lot of information and links which could be confusing and found hard to navigate through. This website enables the user to click on items they wish to purchase and the website stores it in a ‘shopping basket’ for them. When finishing shopping, the customer can then click on their shopping basket and purchase their items by giving their details and credit card details. This website gives different delivery options and they each cost a different price, for example ‘for a guaranteed delivery before 9am the day after shipping is £5.95’ and ‘for shipping outside the UK it is £10’.

However the website that I have chosen to evaluate is http://www.asos.com/. This website is a clothing website for men and women. It also sells accessories and shoes. This website is very well laid out and has an easy navigation. Also purchasing a product is easy and there are step by step guides on how to do so if you are a beginner at E-Commerce.

PLAN FOR UNIT TWO

What Is E-Commerce?

• Describe what e-commerce is and how it has become. Talk about different commercial websites. i.e. food shopping, clothes shopping, games/toys/other things shopping. Talk about ASOS.com (the website i have chosen) briefly. What are the advantages and disadvantages there are of having e-commerce. Has it made life easier for us or more harder? Has it brought about new risks?

Introduction - pg 114

What Purpose Does It Have And Does It Meet It's Objectives

• Describe the purpose of the website; is it obvious what type of website it is as soon as it loads? Does is successfully meet its objectives; Is it a popular website? Have they had any financial problems where they haven't had many customers? Does their beginning layout (the homepage) make the user feel they are browsing a professional and trustable website?

The purpose of the site and how successful it meets this objective - pg 132

How Is The Website Structured?

• Is the homepage clear and easy to use? Can you navigate your way through the website easily from the homepage? Are their interesting and relevant pictures on the homepage? Can you read the writing easily? Is the information relevant? SCREEN PRINTS!! Have they used a frame so that it doesn't confuse the user going from page to page? Is the page cluttered with information and pictures that its too much? Does it have a search facility? As these are essential.
• Does it give an option of the price range you are looking at to spend?
• Does it give the option of picking a brand (or person) to look at their range of products or do you have to search through all of the products in that topic to find it?
• (sort by option) Does it give you an option to view the products in a certain topic that is new or acsending or descending price?

How It is structured - pg 133

The Goods And Services

• What types of goods does it offer? Is it easy to see what they offer straight away? Are the goods broken down into sections in the menu or just one big list of what they sell? Are there topics within genres? Is it easy to go from one genre to a topic or does it get confusing?
• Are they branching out into any new areas? Has there been any recent developments?

The goods and/or services it offers - pg 134
Extentions of product range - pg 129

The Product Information Provided

• What type of information do they give about the products? Are there detailed descriptions? Is there a picture? Are there different views of the picture available? By law the information has to be honest and not make false claims, has the website done this?
• Do they give other products that could go well with the product you are enquiring about? Are these other products relevant and would they interest the user? Does it tell you what other customers have bought with that product?
• Does it give information about returns policy? And delivery information specific to that product?
• Does it give any more options of colours? sizes etc?

The Prodcut Informaiton Provied - 135
Distributing Goods - 124

Types Of Transactions That Can Be Made

• Describe the two different types of transactions, where a user creates an account and then purchases their product and then where a customer already has an existing account and purchases a product. Screen shots of both and all stages.
• Is there a virtual shopping basket that lists the things you want? Is it easily accessible?
• Does the store enable you to track an item that you have purchased?
• Does it use PayPal?

Types of transactions that can be made - 135
transaction websites - 115
types of information required by businesses - 119

The Methods Used To Capture Customer Information

• Talk about overt methods. How the customer knows that the information is being taken and what is being taken.
• Talk about covert methods. How the customer does not know that a website is taking information about them without them knowing like their computer IP address .
• Talk about cookies (small text files

Transactional Websites

Transactional Websites

The Purpose of the Site and How Successfully it meets this Objective

· What is the purpose of the website?
· Is it selling goods or services?
· Look at the website thoroughly to see the range of goods or services it sells.
· First impressions of the website? Is it good (considering first impressions can help to bring customers back to the website. Things like poor navigation can make them think they cannot be bothered etc.)

Case Study
Dell is a very large computer company. Objective is online sales of computers. Allows customers to buy a range of products i.e. small home computers to large file servers suitable for big businesses.
This website only operates online and telephone sales. Computers aren’t sold in retail stores. Can make a computer with different features that you have picked. The website has the necessary pages to guide you through the process and pages that can help you with the options.

There’s also an order page which summarises your final specification.

































It gives different options as to whether you want to purchase a computer for your home, small business, large business etc.



























Dell website gives information on how to buy a computer. There is also a quick step by step overview which breaks the process down for the buyers. It says how buying a computer entails,

1. Defining your category usage.
2. Choosing your system.
3. Customising your system.
4. Paying for your system.
5. Then Dell will deliver your computer.

(dell choosing a computer – picture)




This picture shows how there are buttons that can lead you to going to pick different options for your computer.
There is also a whole page that comes up where you pick different features for your computer. There is a button available if you need help about picking something your not quite sure what to pick.