SVKMs NMIMS

NMIMS Global Access

School for Continuing Education Course: e-Commerce and Cyber Laws SEM - I Programme : CDM

Assignment Marks : 30

Instructions:

All Questions are Compulsory & carry equal marks. All answers to be explained in not more than 1000 words. Use examples as far as possible. All answers to be written individually. Discussion and group work is not advisable. Copying from websites or e-books will carry negative marks.

Case Study (30 marks)

E-Commerce:Electronic commerce, commonly known as e-commerce or eCommerce, is a type of industry where the buying and selling of products or services is conducted over electronic systems such as the Internet and other computer networks. Electronic commerce draws on technologies such as mobile commerce, electronic funds transfer, supply chain management, Internet marketing, online transaction processing, electronic data interchange (EDI), inventory management systems, and automated data collection systems. Modern electronic commerce typically uses the World Wide Web at least at one point in the transaction's life-cycle, although it may encompass a wider range of technologies such as email, mobile devices social media, and telephones as well. The potential of e-commerce has been harnessed by many organizations worldwide to reap its benefits and make its presence global. e-Commerce is considered as the major tool of sale. e-shopping is becoming more and more widespread with the ease of shopping at ones convenience, so the sales volume of online stores becomes much higher when compared to brick-and-mortar stores. Company profile:-

Pantaloon Retail (India) Limited, is Indias leading retailer that operates multiple retail for m a t s i n b o t h t h e v a l u e a n d l i f e s t y l e s e g m e n t o f t h e I n d i a n c o n s u m e r m a r k e t . Headquartered in Mumbai (Bombay), the company operates over 5 million square feet of retail space, has over 450 stores across 40 cities in India and employs over 18,000 people. The companys leading formats include Pantaloons, a chain of fashion outlets, BigBazaar, a uniquely Indian hypermarket chain, Food Bazaar, a supermarket chain, blends the look, touch and feel of Indian bazaars with aspects of modern retail like choice, convenience and quality and Central, a chain of seamless destination malls. Some of its other formats include, Depot, Shoe Factory, Brand Factory, Blue Sky, Fashion Station, aLL, Top 10, mBazaar and Star & Sitara. The company also operates an online portal, futurebazaar.com. T h e i r s u b s i d i a r y c o m p a n y , H o m e S o l u t i o n s R e t a i l ( I n d i a ) L i m i t e d , o p e r a t e s H o m e Town, a large-format home solutions store, Collection i, selling home furniture products and E-Zone focused on catering to the consumer electronics segment. Pantaloon Retail is the flagship company of Future Group, a business group catering to the entire Indian consumption space and has been awarded the International Retailer of the year 2007. E-Commerce Initiatives:Future Groups e-business initiative www.futurebazar.com has been touted by itself and others as a quintessential Internet company. The Internet has given future bazaar a means for extending the reach and scope of its direct sales business model at a relatively low marginal cost. It has done so in part by automating functions such as product configuration, order entry, and technical support, enabling the company to grow revenues without a corresponding increase in customer service costs. Also, it has used the Internet to coordinate a network of suppliers and business partners who carry out many of the processes involved in building, distributing and supporting personal computers. Future bazaar refers to this network of partners as a virtual company linked electronically by the Internet. Another name for this type of industrial organization is the value web. Future bazaar was an early and enthusiastic convert to the Internet, creating its first website in 1994 and moving many of its business activities to the Internet ahead of its competitors. The company saw that its direct model Big Bazaar gave it an advantage in selling online. It did not have to worry about channel conflict with resellers and distributors when it began selling online Futurebazaar.com offers the widest range of products at lowest prices everyday!Having pioneered the retailing business in India, PRIL has now decided to revolutionize t h e c o n s u m e r e c o m m e r c e b u s i n e s s i n I n d i a . I t i n t e n d s t o p r o v i d e c u s t o m e r s w i t h a streamlined, efficient and world class personalized shopping experience, which will be supported with the best technology platform. Buying products is a 3 step simple process. All one has to do is Search, Register and Buy. Here you can expect a shopping experience akin to shopping at an actual bazaar but with added simplicity & everyday low prices and an assurance of 'your product' will be delivered within 7 days of purchase. F u t u r e B a z a a r h a s b e e n n a m e d a s t h e B e s t I n d i a n Website 2007 in the Shopping category by PC World. F u t u r e B a z a a r w o n t h e t o p s p o t a f t e r b e a t i n g o t h e r established players like Rediff, Indiatimes, Sify, eBay, Indiaplaza, Chennai B a z a a r a n d I n d i a M a l l . T h e a w a r d w a s presented to Future Bazaar for its "decent, nononsense approach, while providing a good shopping experience".FutureBazaar.com is owned and operated by Future Bazaar India Ltd. (FBIL). FBIL is a part of the Future Group, Indias largest retail conglomerate. FBIL is the e-commerce arm of the future group. Future Bazaars assurances:1. Manufacturers warranties on all products 2. Guaranteed Delivery 3. Secure Payments

4. 15-day return policy Keeping the target audience in mind and the need to capitalize the market by position, Future baazar fulfills its promises on the above claims.

Infrastructure and Application: Future bazaar makes use of electronic data interchange (EDI) technology with all its business partners to send and receive standard transactions such as purchase orders, invoices and shipping schedules etc. It makes use of both intranet applications (inventory management systems, supply chain management systems etc.) and extranet applications (Payment systems, sales management system etc.) to sell a wide variety of consumers and electronic goods. It provides fast assistance to customers through email and Toll free telephone lines. It has a very appealing and user friendly portal which lists all available goods in smooth lists which can be sorted according to prices, brands etc. It also has strategic alliance with banking companies to facilitate secure payment system It is the efficient and profitable relationship it builds with the consumer and their favorite brands. Undoubtedly, consumer behavior is an important factor in the current e-Commerce boom. However, popular e-Commerce brands have realized that consumer behavior is not the only ingredient in the online retail formula. Retailers will have to seek to improve e-Commerce capabilities by aligning several strategies. Bearing the following points in mind suggest how Future Bazaar can shape the future of e-Commerce to achieve competitive advantage:1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Online Store Upgradation Re-Marketing Personalization M-commerce Cross-Channel Integration Interactive Product Display Will Replace Images Shipping Differentiation Adding a Human Element That Sells Online Loyalty Integration with ERP systems