Entry 4

E-COMMERCE: 

This week we learnt about E-commerce and why people venture to the web to start businesses. E-commerce to begin, involves digitally enabled commercial transactions between and among organizations and individuals. These digitally enabled transactions include all transactions mediated by digital technology and commercial transactions involve the exchange of value across organizational or individual boundaries in return for products or services.

There are different types of E-commerce as well and are classified into 2 groups:
1. Nature of market relationship:

• Business - to - Consumer (B2C)
• Business - to - Business (B2B)
• Consumer - to - Consumer (C2C)

2. Classified by type of technology used:

• Peer - to - Peer (P2P)
• Mobile Commerce (M-commerce)

Though they are being categorized into specific groups, these businesses all have one thing in mind and that is to hope to gain success and recognition after setting up their businesses. There are many successful  E-commerce businesses in the market today and they have strived hard to be where they are at today. Want to know how exactly these businesses do it? Well, you are in luck if you want to find out the tricks of the trade that successful businesses utilize to gain success. I am going to present to you just 5 simple tips to become a global E-commerce success!

Adapted from Forbes , these were 5 steps that they adviced for E-commerce to pick up in order for their business to be successful not just locally, but GLOBALLY. As people venture into the web to start businesses, ideally it would be good to have a reputation locally but why people use the web? That is also because not only do they want to be successful locally, they would also want to uphold a reputation globally. To bring awareness to foreign investors and potential shareholders. Hence, without further a do, these are the 5 tips for global E-commerce success:

1. Flexible Pricing:

Note that we not only want to be successful locally, but the keyword in this is GLOBAL. Thus, the wider you sell your products, the wider the market is and you have to constantly be aware about changes. For example, if you were to sell your product at RM50 in Malaysia, converting that to Singapore dollar comes up to about $25 SGD. However, competitors in Singapore might price their product at $25, so even though you are priced in the local currency, you are not pricing it competitively and price conscious shoppers will abandon your site for a competitor's. 

2. Currencies Are Confusing!

Have you ever chance upon an item online but when you looked at the price it was in a total difference currency, having you to go through the hassle to convert it yourself? Having unfamiliar currencies on your E-commerce website can be rather confusing to a lot of people and can end up leaving abandonment of online shopping carts. In order to curb this situation from occurring, set prices in every relevant currencies to ease the hassle for your customers. 

3. Price Presentation:

If you are aware of the famous Japanese brand Daiso, you would probably understand that every single item be it big or small are all priced at just $2. Believe it or not, rounding numbers up can make a psychological difference to consumers and exchange rates can cause friendly-looking price figures to be less rounded, awkward-looking numbers. For example, if you were to tell a person the price of the item is $2387 rather than a more friendly-looking price of $2300, just by doing so, you are already increasing your E-commerce friction. In order to help your customers have ease of purchasing an item, always place prices in clean, round numbers to further simplify their purchase decision-making process.

4. Local Payment:

Allowing your customers to pay in a method that they are aware and familiar about increases revenue and decrease friction. This is because by asking your customers to pay in a way that they are not accustomed to will cause suspicion and draws them away from purchasing your products. You should always work in a way that you know works best for them. Remember, your customers always come first, they are your money makers!

5. Taxes:

By showing taxes on your website that is familiar with your customers, helps them create less suspicion about your business and helps increase credibility as well. However, because some countries vary in their taxes, it creates legal points. For example, in the U.S, sales tax is added to the marketed price and varies globally as well as within their individual states. However in Europe, the (VAT) also known as Value Added Tax, is a tax on the perceived value of a product, so it is marketed as a component of the final price. 

After reading through the 5 steps, it did not seem as complicated as it was initially wasn't it! These are ideally the top five important steps that Forbes recommended for all businesses that is thinking to about setting up E-commerce to pay attention to. With these five steps adhered to, the success of your business should be escalating in no time. 

Thus, in conclusion, I leave you my friends with a note to drive you and even myself to strive to succeed. If Steve Jobs can do it... SO CAN WE!!!

Entry 3

Its week 3 of COM 125 and this week we learnt about what SOCIAL NETWORKING was all about and how it became an asset in our lives. As time passed, social networking sites evolved, overtaking one another (For eg; Facebook took over Friendster) and coming out with all sorts of ideas to put themselves in the "social networking" market.

Ever wondered which are the Top 15 most popular networking sites?! According to Top 15 Most Popular Networking Site , the results are as follows:

After chancing upon this website, I was enlightened that Facebook was Number 1! All these while I have always thought that Google would be the Number 1 social networking site due to Google+ and all the functions of what Google+ has to offer in hopes of bringing people from different geographical areas closer.

Indeed, social networking sites has brought us many positive effects in our lives, but the question is, what are the cons about social networking? Many would believe that social networking sites would probably not cause any harm because well, social networking is technically socialising which is a positive thing right? However, upon searching on the negative effects of social networking, it has been brought to light that it sometimes isn't quite ideal as it seems.

Adapted from this website, Social Networking Pros&Cons , it displays the downside of social media and how people should be aware about. Here are a few cons about social media:

Shocking? The list goes on to say more about how people who spend time networking on social media tend to commit more crime and how it leads to social ISOLATION instead! I must admit it was really interesting to find out these issues that the social media causes to one's life and some of which are happening right now to people whom I know. Thus, it is happening in our society today and somehow, in my opinion, though social media can be a positive asset in networking, it can be a detriment to our lives and people should have the discipline to know when to draw the line. Being an addict to social media is not ideally a good thing and one must be able to understand on what is merely "surfing" social networking sites and what is "obsessed".

Upon reading this website, I have also learnt something new! Have you ever wondered why your test grades do not improve no matter how much effort, revision and time you put into studying for it According to the website above, it is said that "Students who used social networking sites while studying scored 20% lower on tests and students who used social media had an average GPA of 3.06 versus non-users who had an average GPA of 3.82." SO..... now we know what is the core problem do we my fellow friends? In all honesty, I have to admit that I am 100% guilty of this action. Personally, I usually have to work on my laptop and when I get a little bored and tired from studying, I would just click on the tab and go to Facebook/Tumblr/Pinterest etc. to "de-stress". Conversely, if I am working on a report on paper, my phone is beside me and the thought of having to "update" myself with Instagram/ Whatsapp/ Twitter is undeniable an inevitable action. Thus, after reading the article, I understand clearly that I do not have to change the way I study, instead, try kicking the habit of constantly checking my social networking sites every other second. Let's all try this and see if it will reflect positive results! :D

Hence, I would like to enlighten all of you that social media is sometimes not what we think they are and though it is a good thing to have, we must be aware of the dangers it pose and how we should maintain a healthy social media relationship. I end here with a video on these couple explaining the different types of photos people take on Instagram. Enjoy!

Entry 2

SOCIAL MEDIA!

I cannot deny, I am officially married to my iPhone because of the various social media that is lurking in my phone. Social media has evolved into something so powerful that it has literally taken over our lives. No doubt, it may sound like a bad thing that we are losing touch with reality but in fact, it is actually a good thing. People argue that it is a bad thing because with social media, privacy is being minimised and the public is aware about your every move. However, on the contrary, it has helped built businesses as well as fame for some! 

Social media platforms has helped people in their everyday lives, businesses as well as a form of entertainment for people. In this day and age, people are constantly on social media because it has become a routine to "tweet", "instagram" and "foursquare" about their locations, food they eat and the location in which they are doing their current activity. I must admit I am guilty for doing these various actions because it has somehow moulded into my daily "activity" that I do. In addition, it has become a hobby to some to do things like this on social media.

(My very own Instagram account in which I post activities that I do)

Another social media platform that has taken over the lives of people is none other than Facebook. Facebook has now become not only a page whereby people post their activities and photos and update their profile about themselves, but it has become a social network site where people gain fans,popularity as well as building branding for their companies. Amazing isn't it! Because of its user-friendliness in creating pages and events on Facebook, it has been the most convenient platform to market yourself or a product. Small business such as blogshops has utilised Facebook event pages and fan pages to increase their branding and popularity. 

(The Tinsel Rack is a local blogshop in which utilised Facebook to gain customer as well as brand awareness)

Blogshops like The Tinsel Rack has successfully gained the brand awareness they needed and are now doing extremely well thanks to Facebook. As you can see from the image above, they manage to gain a total of 48,012 likes for their page and definitely counting. Thus, social media has helped people be more open to business opportunities because they are aware that with a powerful networking site like Facebook, they would probably be able to succeed just like any businesses with pages on Facebook.

Also, social media has also increase communication. For example, what I am doing now (Blogging) is a perfect example of how people communicate through social media. Whatever I post on my blog, the public is allowed to comment back and I reciprocate by replying their comment under the comment box. As simple as it is. Blogs, Tumblr, Formspring, Ask.fm etc are all various sources in which people engage to communicate/network with one another. Another example could be if I am interested in a particular actor and everyday I read his blog, and one day I decide to comment on his entry and he replies me. This example portrays to us how social media helps us to connect with people we may/may not have relational ties with and this helps us to be closer to them in a way. 

Social media has also help in building a community! Usually, organizations tend to use social medias to build community for people in that organization to join. Hence, the organization does not have to go through the hassle of mass sending letters to the people about a Homecoming event, but instead, could access Facebook for example, and post about a Homecoming event happening at the end of the day. For example, I joined a community in Facebook and it was the University at Buffalo. I got updates on the events that were happening on their campus and recently, President Obama paid a visit to the campus at Buffalo!

Thus, this sums up about how social media has been a powerful source in helping us to not only be entertained but also bringing us closer to one another as well as aiding in business growth.

Entry 1

In the first lesson, we were introduced to what the Internet was all about. Initially, internet to me was just a platform whereby I have to be hooked onto my wireless modem and be connected in order to surf the internet,period. However, after going through the first lesson, I was amazed by how much process and how long it took for the Internet to finally evolve!

Indeed, the Internet has been a global village whereby people market products, produce and even make a living out of it. In all honesty, I believe majority of human beings with access to the Internet (which is probably 3/4 of the world!) cannot go through a day without surfing on it. Yes, the Internet has become an addiction in today's context as well. A perfect example would be how kids these days would be glued to their iPhones/Blackberry 24/7, to the extent that parents in this century have to create a new rule which is "No using of phones during meals". Sound familiar?

The Internet has also become a one-stop centre for information seeking. Take for example, if we were having a discussion on a project and we had to research for a particular text, the first thing that will pop into our minds would be "Google it". Google is by far the most used and biggest search engine utilised by people these days, taking over other search engines such as Yahoo!, Bing etc. The term "Google" has been so commonly used that people are "Googling" information that they wish to seek clarity. Recently, hollywood produced a movie called "The Internship" and it is based on two interns who applied for an internship at Google. This movie not only allowed the public to see how Google operates but the gist of the movie was the work-life balance and incentives employees received whilst working at the company. 

Internet has also provided us with the use of "E-mail". E-mail works just like a normal mail but instead of physically delivering the mail which may take a couple of days and the cost of postage, E-mails are efficient, fuss-free and best of all, QUICK! It has been the most commonly mode of service used by the Internet and a medium whereby people ranging from different ages to professionalism use. E-mails are being used as a mode of communication due to its efficiency. It is best utilise especially so when people from different geographical areas need to connect with one another. E-mails used to only be able to send and receive text messages, however, with the vast technology in this century, it has now been able to insert images, video clips and even animations. These helps to enhance the content of the message being sent and pictures also sometimes help to increase credibility in messages being sent.

(Example of an E-mail that has an image attached to it to enhance its content)

Thus, it has been rather interesting to know how all these came about and how the Internet has now been incorporated into our lives that it is definitely, without a doubt, difficult to live without. The Internet is so incorporated into our lives that it has become like our "brain" in which helps us to function. It is truly a wonder how it has been such a brilliant invention and how it has really been a huge asset to be able to have access to the Internet today.