E-commerce Initiatives

E-commerce Initiatives

Introduction

E-commerce initiatives refer to various strategies that are utilized by an organization to achieve expansion of operations on the internet. When an organization opens a new official website that will be used for purposes of marketing and selling goods, the website opening is an example of an e-commerce initiative. Other examples of such initiatives include using social media platforms to connect with customers and potential clients and using online advertisements to improve business operations through the internet. In the management of a business organization, it is important that competitive business models are used. Businesses need to create value for their customers so as to collect revenue from goods and services offered. The internet is one of the best avenues for marketing products, creating awareness, and conducting business operations such as selling and processing payments. E-commerce has gained popularity in recent years with technological development and the ability to provide customer service online. Various articles on e-commerce initiatives used by organizations are reviewed in this paper to better understand the topic.

E-commerce Initiatives

An article by Cornillie (2018) discusses a number of e-commerce initiatives by the General Services Administration (GSA) to ensure that the government is able to buy goods and services online. The move by the GSA aims to benefit government officials by enabling them to access products sold by online marketplaces such as Walmart and Amazon. The article discusses how various e-commerce marketplace providers will be involved in the initiative to ensure that the government can purchase goods online with a purchase threshold of $10,000 (Cornillie, 2018). This will be accomplished by the establishment of an e-commerce portal by the end of 2019. The initiative will involve many online marketplace providers to ensure competitiveness and to ensure fairness in the selection of a goods provider. An experimental e-commerce program was conducted with Amazon, which offered a simple purchasing process, competitive pricing, and quality value-based information.

An article by Gesenhues (2019) reports on a recent e-commerce initiative by Pinterest. According to the author, “Pinterest continues to push e-commerce initiatives, introducing a personalized “shopping hub” …that displays at the top of users’ feeds with product recommendations pulled from retailers’ organic Product Pins and Catalog feeds” (Gesenhues, 2019). The initiative by the company is meant to enable online users of the platform to upload Pins of their products, which can then be distributed across the platform to enable other users to shop directly through the platform. The company aims to provide retailers with an opportunity to market their products to the millions of people using Pinterest, improving business operations online while attracting retailers. Sandler (2018) discusses plans by Captain Blankenship to improve its e-commerce business in 2019. The brand, which was launched in 2009, has established relations or partnerships with retailers and distributors such as Sephora, Anthropologie, Target, Sailor, and Urban Outfitters. The planned e-commerce initiative seeks to expand distribution and business through its website by 2019 and to achieve an e-commerce business growth of at least 20 percent by the year 2020 (Sandler, 2018).

The e-commerce platform by Captain Blankenship provides more menu choices and more video content for product promotion. Captain Blankenship plans on increasing capital allocation towards online advertising in 2019, increasing influencer subsidiary promotions on the web, Facebook, and Instagram. A marketing director was hired to assist the brand in influencer outreach to improve its e-commerce operations. The author reports that the brand had been working with unpaid influencers, simply offering them product gifts (Sandler, 2018). The planned initiative involves taking a more formal approach that will involve working with macro-influencers who will be paid for their efforts and services. According to Sandler (2018), Captain Blankenship plans to have promotional giveaways on social media platforms such as Instagram throughout 2019. Plans to expand the Sailor unisex line are also underway, with additional items such as cleansing oil and acne treatment and hair gel being planned for sale in 2019. The organization hopes that by expanding its online business operations through the e-commerce initiative, it will increase awareness of its products and utilize existing opportunities for business expansion.

Conclusion

In conclusion, electronic commerce initiatives are important in ensuring that business organizations take advantage of the wide market reach of the internet. Through e-commerce initiatives, business organizations are able to achieve competitive advantage by marketing their products and services online. With increased competitiveness and globalization of business operations, it is imperative that companies find marketing strategies that will ensure the realization of competitive advantage. E-commerce initiatives enable businesses to reach consumers from across the world via the internet. These initiatives involve businesses utilizing different strategies to expand operations online, including the incorporation of online payments, the use of social media platforms for advertising and creating brand awareness, and using websites to provide customer service and other business services. E-commerce strategies are strategic in nature, as they are used by business organizations to improve their competitiveness and expand their operations.

References

Cornillie, C. (2018). GSA Forges Ahead With Commercial E-Commerce Plan, New York: Bloomberg. Retrieved October 22, 2019, from https://about.bgov.com/blog/gsa-commercial-e-commerceplan/

Gesenhues, A. (2019, August 6). Pinterest adds new e-commerce layer with personalized ‘shopping hub’ atop user feed. Retrieved October 22, 2019, from https://marketingland.com/pinterest-adds-new-e-commerce-layer-with-personalized-shopping-hub-atop-user-feed-265048.

Sandler, E. (2018). How indie beauty brand Captain Blankenship plans to grow its e-commerce business, London: Digiday Media. Retrieved October 22, 2019, from https://www.glossy.co/new-face-of-beauty/how-indie-beauty-brand-captain-blankenship-plans-to-grow-its-e-commerce-business