Internet retail marketing Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Internet retail marketing - Coursework Example The paper has been written by Cathy Hart, Neil Doherty and Ellis-Chadwick. The two main aims of the paper are: To investigate the role of internet in the retailing business in UK and the different services that can be offered via the internet. To investigate the current size and scale of online retailing, along with the potential growth in the future. 2. Critical Analysis The research paper includes an extensive research study on the respective topic. The authors provide the readers with relevant research findings from available literature and the results of their own research regarding numerous UK retailers’ websites. The authors have based the success of online retailing on a diverse range of factors that shall be evaluated individually in the paper. They have also repeatedly compared the online retailing trends with those present in US; such comparisons seem futile due to the differences of culture and market segments. The concern about different demographics between both t he regions has also been mentioned by the authors but it doesn’t cease the continuous comparisons with the respective region. In the beginning of the paper, the authors include useful research findings about the views of other researchers regarding the acceptance level of internet in the domain of online retailing. ... This notion by Ernst and Young shows that customers tend to prefer the traditional modes of retailing over the newer ones. This research finding is interesting but cannot be used to portray the current trends of consumer behaviour since it reflects the patterns which are more than a decade old. Hart, Doherty and Chadwick (2000) quoted the research findings of Nua Ltd., (1997) who stated that there exists a lack of techniques for the measurement of online customers, functions and services offered through retailers on the internet. The authors of the chosen paper agreed with the lack of availability of such techniques and proposed a ‘pro forma website assessment document’. With the help of this document, the internet functions were categorized into the three following categories; Registration: The availability of a â€Å"uniform resource location† (URL) is considered to be a sign of online activity and presence of the retailer on the web. Information Provision: refe rs to the type of information that is provided on the websites by the retailers for their customers. The types of information had been divided into three categories; products, financial and other information. Products information contained prices, descriptions, product comparisons etc. Financial information contained company reports, annual reports etc. Other information may include store locators, environmental information, press releases etc. Interactivity: refers to the level of functionality that is present on the website; it may be present in various forms like online ordering and payment solutions. These classifications formed the basis of evaluation of the retailer websites for the survey that was conducted by the authors of the research paper. The pro