A multi-perspective integrated framework of critical success factors for supporting on-line shopping
Summary (4 min read)
Introduction
- Online shops to compete within a global market scenario.
- E-commerce is a sophisticated tool for opening new business opportunities with a considerable competitive advantage over local markets [4].
- There has been a considerable amount of work carried out to identify, to measure and to evaluate critical success factors in e-commerce in recent years.
- Some authors have suggested that website design, fulfilment/ reliability, privacy/security and customer services are the determinants of customer judgments of quality and satisfaction, customer loyalty and attitudes towards a company’s online business [15].
- No matter to which category should trust belong, the basic meanings of trust in the e-commerce context are almost the same, i.e. about practicing privacy policies, describing products and services online objectively and honestly, and maintain transparency of the online business operations [19].
A. Social Networks
- Social networks have changed the way people communicate; it was like reinventing something the authors did naturally, with a slower speed.
- The initial idea was aimed at friends to join on a virtual network where they could communicate about everyday’s life.
- This phenomenon has exceeded expectations and inevitably began to move towards the business world.
- Nowadays, all major brands present themselves within this environment, trying to reach a huge market with a multiplying growing effect [25].
- Applying the phenomenon of social networks to e-commerce, has the additional advantage of reaching people that are already regular users of the Internet, and to capture their attention to new products and services requires a good communication and marketing strategies to be implemented.
B. Web-marketing
- The Web- Marketing deserves special mention, for conceiving a fantastic store, in terms of design and image, may seem to be good enough for becoming very successful.
- Imagine how disastrous it would be if no one would pass on the street where the shop is located and the same may happen regarding online stores (http://www.acepi.pt).
- Search engines provide the initial dialogue between consumers and online stores; therefore a good positioning or ranking of a website is of utmost importance.
- There are several ways for enabling good rankings of websites within searching engines, which turns out to be even more important when a website includes sponsored links.
- The best way to attract potential customers is to accurately know the market where it operates, so that the whole effort is focused in favour of the business [25].
C. Design Usability
- In an on-line shop the customer interface occurs via the website, therefore, their expectations have to be met as they easily may move away to the competition.
- These definitions relate directly with 3 questions:.
- Besides the economical costs (i.e. a system that is hard to understand is also hard to sell, and may involve many expensive problems in its life cycle), the lack of care about users needs can lead to solutions that tend to cause errors or that provide users with inadequate information.
- Usability has multiple components and is traditionally associated with five usability attributes: learnability, efficiency, memorability, errors, and satisfaction [27].
D. Marketing
- Using an appropriate marketing strategy along with an improved business offered and other non-technological areas are crucial multidisciplinary requirements for the success of ecommerce.
- A wellstructured marketing plan, with a well-defined line and an innovative and credible image are essential success factors for promoting any brand or product [1].
- From videos and images up to workshops and international conferences, it is worth using all channels of communication to solidify the brand on the market.
F. Market
- Knowing their business can help to know, "where the authors are" and "where they want to go" [1].
- Measuring performance at each step of business allows adjusting measures to consider and values to obtain, through a sustained growth.
- This measurement is only possible if there are predefined and measurable goals for market trends.
- The more information available the better their position will be to support good decision making strategies.
- Understanding the marketplace is the first step, setting goals is the second one and nothing serves the former if there is no continuous analysis of results obtained.
G. Communication Support
- When buying on an online store, its success is only possible if there is a satisfactory level of communication support along the entire supply chain, which must be synchronized and integrated [29].
- Imagine how disastrous it would be having a well-designed online store, with a powerful marketing and numerous customers and the delivery due dates of the products were constantly being violated [31].
- Only the skilled ones can be a part of the successful communication and supply chain, for each one, on its "core business", to provide its best possible contribution, always focused on reaching integration and common objectives and customer satisfaction.
- Moreover, in a medium like the internet, additional concerns about the fact that many users still do not feel comfortable buying products they cannot physically see, have to be kept on mind.
- One central concern of a consumer is about knowing if the website provides support to clarify questions about products or services; and, in particular, issues related to product returns or simply about how to get more direct information about the provided products and/or services.
H. Credibility
- Regarding marketing strategies to incentivize anyone to buy through an online store, there are still many entrepreneurs targeting cost reduction instead of investing on that direction to enrich online stores’ credibility.
- A shop with an “amateur” aspect easily distracts consumers that are more already suspicious about online shopping.
- A good call centre, setting up a company with physical office, a registered trademark and the overall design and functionality of the website should not be jeopardized due to a low budget.
- Moreover, being professional and combining all these details will help strengthen the credibility of the store.
- Another key factor consists on joining forces and partnering with credible companies [29].
I. Quality Data Processing
- The features of the website should be working perfectly; no bugs or links that do not work are allowable.
- When usability is jeopardized and something stops working and confuses the user this may compromise the quality of the whole website and the underlying information system project, along with the correct functioning of the communication channels and the underlying operation of the supply chain, which is essential to gain the users confidence.
- Moreover, the quality of the delivered product and/or service can be compromised while lacking quality data processing, therefore, it is of upmost importance to ensure quality data processing [32].
K. Website
- The website is a showcase of the online store, which has to take into account to whom it should attract attention, as its mere existence does not mean its success.
- The whole construction of the website must be developed by a multidisciplinary team because there are several areas that will be involved for achieving the final product with the intended image and functionality.
- Without any bugs or technical problems, but if the designer does not provide an efficient interface it probably will fail [33].
- Therefore, all those multidisciplinary areas should be taken in consideration on the creation of any website, so that each area can provide an important contribution to the final result of the website.
- Any successful e-commerce website must be robust, complete, appealing and balanced to ensure passing an image of a serious and credible company, without any tendentious reflection just about a particular area or concern.
L. Convert Consumer
- Once achieved the complete flow of the market to the online shop, there is still another important but less explored subject, which consists on being able to convert a visitor into a customer [34].
- From the time each user wastes browsing, up to the number of visitors per day, broken down by country and other indicators, many different kind of analysis are possible.
- When the number of visits to a website is big and the sales have not risen, something must be done to reverse potential customer’s bad attention.
- Building an online shop based on a fully integrated model regarding the most important critical success factors, will enable a successful on-line business and transmit confidence to potential on-line clients.
- Often those aspects are under estimated due to lack of analysis and investigation regarding a set of proposed success factors described through this work.
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Citations
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Cites background from "A multi-perspective integrated fram..."
...Authors of [17] believed that all the success factors for supporting on-line shopping should be considered from multiple perspectives (technological perspective such as web design usability, social perspective such as social networks, etc....
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3 citations
Cites background from "A multi-perspective integrated fram..."
...Next, a summarized view of over an aggregated set of 8 main critical success factors, based on the detailed list of critical success factors described in (Varela et al, 2016) is presented....
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References
21,693 citations
"A multi-perspective integrated fram..." refers background in this paper
...The mainstream on this research classified success factors into five main categories, i.e. technology acceptance factors, social factors, cognitive factors, ethical factors and environmental factors....
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11,929 citations
"A multi-perspective integrated fram..." refers background in this paper
...It is easy to prove this observation by searching online stores which, for instance, simply do not allow the understanding of how one can buy a product when being faced with a confusing website that encourages the user to immediately close the web page, even before watching its contents....
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Frequently Asked Questions (11)
Q2. What are the key success factors for promoting any brand or product?
A wellstructured marketing plan, with a well-defined line and an innovative and credible image are essential success factors for promoting any brand or product [1].
Q3. What are the key requirements for the success of ecommerce?
Using an appropriate marketing strategy along with an improved business offered and other non-technological areas are crucial multidisciplinary requirements for the success of ecommerce.
Q4. What are the key success factors of the MPCSF model?
The proposed critical success factors incorporated in the MPCSF model in this paper are not only related to the website, its design and usability, but also with: the brand; the marketing and web-marketing strategies; social networks reaching;concerns about the whole supply chain integration; concerns regarding consumers conversion, communication and support; looking at quality data processing and secure payment methods; and enabling a favourable image for reaching on-line shop credibility.
Q5. What is the importance of using all channels of communication to solidify the brand on the market?
From videos and images up to workshops and international conferences, it is worth using all channels of communication to solidify the brand on the market.
Q6. What are the key elements of the MPCSF model?
If defines new critical success factors such as converting customers and credibility; (b) the MPCSF model intends to include stages beyond the existing online shopping life cycle, i.e. it considers not only the information phase, agreement phase, transaction phase and delivery phase, but also the pre- and aftersale phases; (c) as the model name suggests, the model incorporates the critical success factors from multiple perspectives – technology, social and ethical perspective; (d) the model integrates knowledge from multiple disciplines such as Engineering, Science and Technology, and Business Management.
Q7. What is the main concern of a consumer?
One central concern of a consumer is about knowing if the website provides support to clarify questions about products or services; and, in particular, issues related to product returns or simply about how to get more direct information about the provided products and/or services.
Q8. What is the main advantage of using social networks to sell products and services?
Applying the phenomenon of social networks to e-commerce, has the additional advantage of reaching people that are already regular users of the Internet, and to capture their attention to new products and services requires a good communication and marketing strategies to be implemented.
Q9. What is the importance of a secure website?
Although the world is aware that issues about security breaches continue to rise on data computing and Internet transactions, and as even the most protected systems are transposable, the authors must maintain the dedication to guarantee purchases as much secure as possible.
Q10. What is the main topic of this paper?
Issues related to websites usability, communication and marketing problems must be completely revised to ensure e-commerce success.V. CONCLUSIONKnowing the necessary ingredients for success in ecommerce, is crucial to build a highly profitable and consistent e-commerce business.
Q11. What is the main reason why the Web Marketing is important?
Although a segment of the Marketing, the Web- Marketing deserves special mention, for conceiving a fantastic store, in terms of design and image, may seem to be good enough for becoming very successful.