DIGITAL MARKETS

QUESTION 1

A. What experiences have you had with shopping online? 

I use online shopping often. I have purchased many things from different website such as eBay, dell, catchoftheday etc. I have purchased laptop from dell.com.au and mobile accessories from ebay.com.au. Sometimes I also buy airline ticket from online.

B. Describe a good experience.

I bought a Dell laptop from dell.com.au and it was so great experience. They allow customers to customize their computers, laptops while adding more features or removing unwanted items with very attractive price. That is much cheaper than in retail shop and express delivery which I really loved about Dell. Website is easy to navigate and to find products. While doing check out I can review all my items and paying for the items is also very simple process.

C.What did you like about the online store you used?

While using dell and eBay the most important things I like that it is easy to navigate and find products in website. Price is cheaper than in retail shop and simple process of payment.

D. Describe a bad experience.

Once I bought some clothes from eBay and first of all it was delivered three days late and one of the items is different as shown in website.

E. What problems did you have with the online store?

Sometimes there is not much information about products description which customer needs.Some websites have lengthy payment process.

F. What features make an online store more appealing?

Easy navigation and attractive layout for the website, clear pictures and descriptions of the products, attractive prices compared to others , very clear return policy, safe transactions and receiving the goods on time are the features that makes online store more appealing.

G. What features make an online store less appealing?
Unattractive layout, difficult to navigate, high price, too many process to complete the transaction makes online store less appealing.

H. Should we expect to see the prices of goods and services rise or fall due to the migration of consumers online?
A movement of consumers’ online means competition will rise in markets. Therefore the prices will sooner or later need to fall down if business wants to make sales.


QUESTION 2

A.The dispersion of prices (that is, the spread between the lowest and highest price for a particular product) will narrow.

Customers are always looking for a bargain to purchase products. Brand awareness and the products in general still have different value and quality so prices dispersion will be there. For the particular product in physical and online market the price dispersion will narrow.

B. The importance of brand names will decrease.

The brand names are very important for customers when they purchase products online. Brand name shows quality of product. Because of the brand name customers feel the quality of products and satisfaction.  So that in my view the importance of brand name will not decrease.

C. Price competition will make all products cheaper.

This depends on the products and brand names but in general price competition will make all products cheaper.

D. Digital markets will become dominated by a handful of mega-sites, like Amazon.com.

Customers are always looking for different websites to find new products before purchasing goods. Many stores are starting online business because of market demand and easy to maintain. Therefore it will be difficult to be dominated by a handful of mega sites, like Amazon.com in digital markets.

E. How do you think the balance of power between buyer’s and seller’s will change?

The balance of power is more in support of the buyer. Customers have a wide range of place and products to choose. They have the possibility to compare the price and quality and the other hand seller are more exposed to strong competitions. They have to adapt their marketing and pricing strategies according to market demand to satisfy customers.

F. Prices are clustered online.

I disagree that prices are clustered online because prices are determined by the supply, demand and quality of the products.

G. Online prices are elastic. (I.e. immune to change up and down with demand)

I agree that online prices are elastic. If demand is high prices will be up and price will be down if demand is low.

H. Online prices are generally transparent (the extent to which prices for a given product or service are known by buyers in the marketplace.).

It is true that online prices are transparent because the customers are able to view and compare the prices of different products in different websites to decide before buying products.

QUESTION 3

A. What types of m-commerce services does your cell phone provider offer?

Services that my cell phone provider offer are: mobile bill payment, banking, games and entertainment, location based services.

B. Which of these services do you use?

I use all of those services which I have mentioned.

C. What types of transactions do you perform through your cell phone or other wireless device?

Transactions that I perform through my cell phone are bill payment, buying plane tickets, internet banking.

D. What types of transactions would you like to perform, but are currently unable to?

There is not any transaction that I would like to perform.

E. What is your opinion of wireless advertising/mobile marketing?

In today’s wireless world, mobile advertising is now essential to the foundation of any successful marketing. Customers can visit website at anytime and from anywhere using their mobile phones. Mobile advertising will be useful for making influence over consumer decisions.