E-Commerce Assignment: Website Evaluation of Al-Sahaba Store

Question

Task: Requirement:
In this E-commerce assignment, you are required to evaluate one of the websites below based on what you learn from this course and your perspective. The evaluation will cover the different aspects of E-Commerce such as business idea, website design, marketing, security … etc.

You will need to analyze the business and provide suggestions to improve the current business situation.

Current e-commerce businesses: (choose one)
1. www.karazlinen.com/
2. www.ekuep.com
3. www.sorrah.sa/
4. www.eyewa.com/sa-ar
5. www.nv.sa/
6. www.darzan.sa/
7. www.rewayah.store/
8. www.etarstore.com/
9. www.sahaba.store/
10. www.notahstore.com/
11. www.natureland.net/ksa_ar/
12. www.aratopia.sa

Answer

Know the Business
Business Details
The e-commerce business that has been selected herein e-commerce assignment is the Al-Sahaba store based in Saudi Arabia. The business has set up its cloud-based portal that provides the ability to carry out e-shopping. There is a wide range of products that are offered by the business firm and these include furniture sets, home and kitchen products, sport machines, paintings, and a lot more (Sahaba, 2020).

Business Idea
Introduction
The business idea is an electronic commerce, e-commerce business idea that provides the customers with the ability to make purchases of the offered products from their respective homes or other remote location. The business is based in Al Riyadh and aims to provide the customers with the ease of purchase.

Products and Services
There is a wide range of products and services that are provided by the Sahaba store. These products are listed as classified in the different categories by the organization.

• Furniture sets: These include a number of furniture sets, such as food tables, TV tables, etc. that are offered by the business.
• Bed room: The bed room models are available on the store and the customers can select the desired model that may be implemented at their space.
• Sport Machines: These include the gymnastics apparatus, massage belt, and other sports equipment and accessories(Chourey, 2015).
• Paintings and Views: There are wall paintings and sets that are available on the store that the customers can purchase.
• Home and Kitchen: A number of home and kitchen appliances are included in this category, such as container sets, electric grill device, etc.
• Furniture and Tables: The section includes the options as cabinets and organizers, coffee corner, table coffee, and a lot more. There are also various services offered by the store. The customers can select the desired products and can place the online orders on the website of the store. There is easy returns policy that is followed and the return services can be availed by the customer. The online payment services are also included on the online portal of the Sahaba store. The customers also get the exchange services on the products as per the applicable terms and conditions.

Business Statement
The business, Sahaba store is the e-commerce business firm that deals in the home & kitchen, furniture, tables, and other products to allow customers to easily make online purchases.

Business Vision
The organization has the vision of emerging as the leading online store in Saudi Arabia and expanding the operations to international destinations(Giurgiu &Gligorea, 2017).

Business Objective(s)
The objective of the business organization is to provide the customers with the ease of order placement and the increased customer satisfaction. The organization has the objective of improving the revenues and market shares that it earns through the online platform.

Organization Models
Business Models
The business model that is followed and implemented for Sahaba store is the Business to Consumer (B2C) model. As per this model, the functionalities are implemented on the online store which can be utilized by the customer. The business provides the customers with the ability to select the products and make the purchase as per the requirements(Goceri&Goceri, 2020).

Revenue Model
The markup revenue model is followed by the organization. The selling price of the products available on the store includes the profits along with the overhead charges to the cost price. When the customer place online orders on the Sahaba store website, the profits are earned on each of the item that is included. There are also additional taxes that the customers have to pay for their orders. All of these add to the revenues that are earned by the organization(Goceri&Goceri, 2020).

Target Audience
The target audience of the business organization includes the people of Saudi Arabia and it primarily includes the young and middle-aged people from all the genders.

These people prefer the online modes of shopping in the place of traditional shopping practices. The items are included on the store so that these customers can get the suitable product and the purchases are made. The age group that the organization primarily targets is the working population in the range of 25 to 55 years.

Marketplace
• Size: The e-commerce market involves 12.94 million users in Saudi Arabia that make up for approximately 50% of the internet population.
• Growth: The e-commerce market experiences a steady growth of approximately 11% annually. The market revenue recorded from the market in 2017 was USD 6.13 billion and is expected to grow up to 9.41 billion by 2021(Jones et al., 2015).
• Demographics: The market is dominated by the fashion segments and industries followed by the electronics and computing equipment. The furniture, home appliances, and kitchen appliances closely follow.
• Structure: There is distribution and competition in the market with the absence of monopoly.
• Competition: Some of the major competitors of the organization include Emmar Group, Homecentre, Amazon, etc.

Business Website – Content
The home page of the business website showcases the various options and products that are offered by the store. The cart, login registration, and search options are present at the top. It is followed by a menu that includes the different categories of the products that the organization offers to the customers(Kim, 2015). These include:

• Furniture sets
• Bed room
• Sport Machines
• Paintings and Views
• Home and Kitchen
• Furniture and Tables

These options are also included in the main section of the home page wherein the users can browse through the desired department and can then make the purchases. The top of the screen also highlights the services provided as return products, fast & free shipping, and pay on receipt. The details of the offers & discounts, shipping & delivery details, privacy policy, etc. are specified in the footer section of the website.

SWOT Analysis

The e-commerce market experiences a steady growth of approximately 11% annually. The market revenue recorded from the market in 2017 was USD 6.13 billion and is expected to grow up to 9.41 billion by 2021. There is a wide range of products and services that are provided by the Sahaba store. Furniture sets include a number of options, such as food tables, TV tables, etc. that are offered by the business. The bed room models are available on the store and the customers can select the desired model that may be implemented at their space. Sport Machines include the gymnastics apparatus, massage belt, and other sports equipment and accessories(Klug, 2017). There are wall paintings and sets that are available on the store that the customers can purchase. A number of home and kitchen appliances are included in this category, such as container sets, electric grill device, etc. The e-commerce market involves 12.94 million users in Saudi Arabia that make up for approximately 50% of the internet population.

There are certain issues on the business website in terms of the user interface that has been used. There are issues around the layout and consistency that are determined and these may negatively impact the user satisfaction levels. There are aspects around information security and privacy that may lead to the resistance among some of the user groups to prefer e-commerce portals to make purchases. There is lack of the use of innovative practices that has also been observed on the site.

There are opportunities that the organization may include. There is further expansion of the product categories that can be done by the organization(Kyrnin, 2015). The market shares and the customer satisfaction levels can also be improved with proper innovation and expansion of the product categories. There are certain threats that are also identified that the organization must manage properly. There can be various forms of information security and privacy issues that can impact the business. There are threats of competitors that are also present. The changes in the market conditions can lead to the excessive fluctuations which can have an impact on the organization profits and the overall economic cycle that is followed.

E-commerce Presence Map
The organization has a website that provides the customers with the ability to purchase the products from the online shop. The website of the organization also provides social media integration with the platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, etc. The customers can make use of these social media platforms to make the purchases.

Design of the System

Improvements
There are certain improvements that can be made in the system design. There are various instances on the website wherein a UI element overlaps the other. One of such examples is shown in the screenshot below which has been captured from the Paintings and View web page(Leon, 2016).

There is also lack of information security measures on the website. For example, the user login is based on the email and password combination. Additionally, there shall be on-time password that must be used. The social media platforms shall also be integrated on the login screen so that the users may wish to log in to the website using the desired account.

Current Features
Current Website Features
The home page of the business website showcases the various options and products that are offered by the store. The cart, login registration, and search options are present at the top. It is followed by a menu that includes the different categories of the products that the organization offers to the customers(Nowakowski, 2016). The details of the offers & discounts, shipping & delivery details, privacy policy, etc. are specified in the footer section of the website. The customers can select the desired products and can place the online orders on the website of the store. There is easy returns policy that is followed and the return services can be availed by the customer. The online payment services are also included on the online portal of the Sahaba store. The customers also get the exchange services on the products as per the applicable terms and conditions. Social media integration has also been done on the website.

Negative Features and Improvements
There are certain website features that may be annoying to the customers. The overlapping on the filter and search option can lead to negative customer experience(Ratna et al., 2018).

The three options that are included at the top of the home page appear as links but are only the text fields that have been put up. These can be annoying as the user may be misguided on the appearance of these options.

There is information that is repeated across the website as the furniture sets and furniture and tables nearly includes the same options. The content on the home page of the website also include the same information.

E-Commerce Process & Improvements
There is simplified process that is followed on the website which is implemented as per the B2C model. The user can browse through the products available, add the products to the cart, and make purchases. The shipment of the products is done as per the items present in the order and the address details provided(Sutton, 2018).

There are improvements that can be done on the aspect of the security of the existing e-commerce process. The encryption of the information, improved authorization, and advanced access control can be integrated in the existing e-commerce process.

Site Design – Evaluation
1. Layout: The website follows a simple layout wherein the flow as header, menu, body, and footer is followed. The layout of the site is fine.
2. Consistency: There is consistency that has been determined on the site in terms of the use of font style, size, color scheme, etc.
3. Interaction: There are improvements that can be made on the site in terms of the interaction. There is minimal use of acknowledgements and dialog boxes done which can be improved.
4. Customization and Personalization: The site has limited responsiveness in terms of customization and personalization. It can be translated to the desired language but does not adjust the screen elements and text as per the language selected. The color scheme cannot be changes.
5. Information flow: The information flow that is followed on the website is the step by step flow that is based on the usually business flow(Waseem&Abdelaziz, 2016).
6. Ease of Use: The website is easy to use. However, there are a few design issues that are present in terms of the text overlaps, unwanted whitespaces, etc. These can be easily avoided.
7. Ease of Purchase: The customers can add the product to their carts and can purchase the products with much ease.
8. Security: The website needs significant improvements in security and it shall begin with the improvements in the authentication and access control measures that are implemented.

Business Software
The e-commerce software is used on the website to develop and implement the e-commerce model. The customers can interact with the organization through the Call Us features wherein the WhatsApp application is integrated. The WhatsApp call can be placed by entering the number registered on the app.

The social media integration has also been done. The form software is also done on the call us, registration, and other screens.

There could have been inclusion of the Chatbot software that could have been done on the site. The software is helpdesk software that is developed using the Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology. It would have enabled the customers to interact with the bots to discuss the usual queries. The chatbot would have redirected the same to the human customer support executive to make sure that the discussion on the specific customer issues could have been done(Waseem&Abdelaziz, 2016).

Payment & Security
The payment gateway is implemented on the site that allows the users to purchase via PayPal, MasterCard, Visa, or select the cash option. There are additional methods that can be added as the use of e-wallets. The use of security certificate and encryption is done to make sure that the information present on the site is secure. The certificate has been issued by Let’s Encrypt Authority.

There are security improvements that can be made on the site. These primarily include the improvements in the authentication and access control measures.

The privacy policy is also included on the site that includes the information on security measures, cloud access, and source details. The policy should have also include the cloud location, payment security options, and network security techniques.

Marketing & Advertising Strategy and Method
The marketing of the e-commerce business is done using the social media channels as the social media integration has been done on the website as well. The customers should also be provided with the ability to log in using the social media accounts. It will enable them to easily share information on the social media platforms.

Competitor Details
The competitor that is selected for Sahaba store is Amazon which is a globe e-commerce retailer. The website of Amazon is better as compared to Sahaba. It is because of the rich UI that the Amazon site comes with (Amazon, 2019).

There is secure Sign-in option that is also available on the site which is one of the essential aspects from the security point of view.

There is also easy customization that is available on the website. The customer can easily choose from the various language options that are present.

There are learnings obtained in terms of the improvements that can be made on the Sahaba store site. These include the security improvements, enhancements in the visual appeal, and a lot more.

Conclusion
The Sahaba store website includes all the essential functionalities. However, there are a few gaps that are also determined on the site. The improvements must be made on the site in terms of the security, visual appeal, product inclusion & representation, and customer assistance. The chatbot shall be added on the site along with the secure login options on the site. The customization shall be easy on the site along with the inclusion of new product categories for improved user experience.

References
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Giurgiu, L., &Gligorea, I. (2017).Responsive Web Design Techniques.International Conference KNOWLEDGE-BASED ORGANIZATION, 23(3), 37–42. https://doi.org/10.1515/kbo-2017-0153 Goceri, M., &Goceri, T. (2020). Website Usability Measurement: A Case of Fatih University / Website Usability Measurement: A Case of Fatih University. Brazilian Journal of Business, 2(3), 2948–2957. https://doi.org/10.34140/bjbv2n3-072

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