Page 53 - Introduction to Electronic Commerce and Social Commerce

30 1 Overview of Electronic Commerce and Social Commerce

11. Visit bluenile.com, diamond.com, and jewelryex- (c) What is the first mover advantage discussed in the
change.com. Compare the sites. Comment on the simi- video?
larities and the differences. (d) Amazon.com and other companies that lost money
12. Visit tickets-online.com, ticketmaster.com, stubhub. during the time the video was made are making a lot
com, and other sites that sell event tickets online. Assess of money today; find out why.
the competition in online ticket sales. What services do (e) Identify all the EC business models discussed in the
the different sites provide? video.
13. Enter timberland.com and design a pair of boots. (f) How can one conduct an EC business from home?
Compare it to building your own sneakers at nike.com. (g) EC is considered a disruptor. In what ways?
Compare these sites to zappos.com/shoes. 4. Conduct a search on “social business.” Start at eweek.
14. Examine two or three of the following sites: prosper. com. Divide the work between several teams, each team
com, paperbackswap.com, bigvine.net, etc. Compare covers one topic and each team writes a report.
their business and revenue models. 5. Research the status of self-driven cars. Start by reading
Neil (2012). Outline the pro and con points. Why this is
considered EC? Give a presentation.
6. Research the impact of e-commerce on the auto industry,
TEAM ASSIGNMENTS AND PROJECTS including self-driven cars. (Read Gao et al. 2016). Write
a report. Compare Net-a-Porter with Myhabit from
1. Read the opening case and answer the following questions: Amazon and other sites that discount designer items. In
(a) In what ways you think Starbucks increases its brand addition, see what Groupon offers in this area. Analyze
recognition with its EC initiatives? the competitive advantage of each. Write a report.
(b) Some criticize My Starbucks Idea as an ineffective
“show off.” Find information about the pros and cons of
the program. (See the Starbucks Ideas in Action Blog). CLOSING CASE: E-COMMERCE AT THE
(c) Starbucks initiates discussions on Facebook about NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE (NFL)
non-business topics such as the marriage equality
bill. Why? Professional sports are multibillion-dollar businesses in the
(d) Discuss how customers are being kept involved and United States and they are growing rapidly in many other
engaged in the various EC initiatives. countries. The National Football League (NFL), which con-
(e) Starbucks believes that its digital and social initia- sists of 32 teams, is a premier brand of the most popular sport
tives are “highly innovative and cause dramatic in the United States—football. The NFL uses e-commerce
changes in consumer behavior.” Discuss. and other information technologies extensively to run its
(f) Watch the video available on Stelzner (2010) (8 min) business efficiently. The following are some examples of
and answer the following: e-commerce activities the NFL conducts both at the corpo-
i. How does Starbucks use video marketing in rate level and the individual team level.
social media?
ii. How does the company listen to their customers?
iii. What are some tips for success and for things to Selling Online
avoid?
iv. Enter facebook.com/Starbucks. Summarize your In addition to the official store (nflshop.com) and the indi-
impressions of the site. vidual team stores (e.g., the Atlanta Falcons), there are doz-
2. Each team will research two EC success stories. Members ens of independent stores that sell authentic, as well as
of the group should examine companies that operate replicas, of jerseys, hats, shirts, and other team merchandise.
solely online and some that extensively utilize a click- Most of these sales are done online, which enables you to
and- mortar strategy. Each team should identify the criti- buy your favorite team’s items from anywhere; you can also
cal success factors for their companies and present a save with coupons. It is basically a multibillion-dollar B2C
report to the other teams. business, supported by search and shopping tools (see
3. Watch the video E-Commerce Part 1 (10.3 min) at you- Chapter 2), including price comparisons (e.g., compare
tube.com/watch?v=gOVh-r03zxQ. prices at bizrate.com/electronics-cases-bags).
(a) Update all the data shown in the video. Several online stores sell tickets for NFL events, including
(b) What fundamental change is introduced by EC? resale tickets. For example, see ticketsnow.com/nfl-tickets.