BACHELOR OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION WITH HONOURS

MAY / 2020

BBED4103

E-COMMERCE

MATRICULATION NO : 730301016466001

IDENTITY CARD NO. : 730301016466

TELEPHONE NO. : 017-719 9532

E-MAIL : fairos@kulim.com.my

LEARNING CENTRE : Johor Learning Centre

 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Item Page

THE ANALYSIS ON PRESTOMALL E-COMMERCE WEBSITE

1.0 Introduction 1

2.0 7Cs of Website Development 2

3.0 Analysis of PetroMall 10

4.0 Conclusion 15

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REFERENCE

THE ANALYSIS ON PRESTOMALL E-COMMERCE WEBSITE

Report by: Fairos Binti Idris

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1.0 Introduction

Firstly, what is e-commerce? According to Khurana (2019), e-commerce is a business

transaction that takes place online, and this includes any form of business that is done electronically.
Commonly, e-commerce involves B2C models. B2C is business to consumer, where it is a type of
transaction of selling and buying between the business and the consumer (B2C, or business to, 2020).

For an e-commerce website to be a great website, it should consider seven design elements.
The elements are context, community, connection, communication, Commerce, content, and
customization. This report will also touch on the practical application, deployment, and skills for
professional practice on each of the elements. As this report focuses on the end product of the
website, the report will not be focusing on the skills to develop the website, but rather, to maintain it,
if any.

In this report, the subject matter that will be focused on is the e-commerce website
PrestoMall, where in my opinion that PrestoMall fulfills and fully utilize the 7Cs elements in its e-
commerce website. PrestoMall is previously known as 11street Malaysia is the largest Malaysian
originated shopping platform, operated by Celcom Planet Sdn Bhd. The e-commerce website was
launched in April 2015 and was the number 2 online marketplace behind Lazada Malaysia. I will
first explain detail the elements and application of the elements before relating the elements to my
chosen e-commerce website (in this case, PrestoMall). At the end of this report, I will conclude
whether my hypotheses on PrestoMall is correct or incorrect.

2.0 7Cs of Website Development

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 The design elements were introduced by Rayport and Jaworski, where these design elements
are used as a basis of evaluation (Singh, 2003). The elements and brief explanation of each of them
are set out in the table as follows: -

Elements Explanation
Context The overall look of the design and layout of the website. It should be
uncluttered, easy to read with an appropriate color scheme.
Commerce The promise of the business to consumer, on the safety, the delivery and any
complaints made
Connection The website should be able to put everything on the product on one page and
lessen the need to navigate away from the page unless it is to encourage the
user to install mobile apps.
Communication The customer service and relation of the company should be able to handle
the customer and keep them updated, like a newsletter or contest. The
availability of social media also a big plus.
Content The products or explanation made must be clear and precise, without
confusing the seller, including the information, and shipping and weight.
Community Customers can interact with the business via live chat or other means
Customization The ability of the product to be altered according to the customer's whims.
Such as the ability to pick colors and length of a skirt.

As mentioned in the first part, this part will deal with each of the elements in depth, together
with examples of the element used in e-commerce website.

Context

Context, in a simple definition is how the website is presented. Whether the color should be
all in red, or should it be all in light green. The element concerned with how the layout of the website
looks like, with the placing of information and the product pictures for the user to see. A proper
context will be one that fulfills the objective of the website. This also includes the promotion pictures
to attract the consumer to go into the website, such as an example, in a university website, to attract
new students, often there will be a header of students with graduation attire on the front, showing
that the students can be like that too.
Illust. 1: Example of Website Context for an International University to attract new students

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 Source: https://www.limkokwing.net/malaysia/

The purpose of a good context is to encourage the consumer to buy things from the business,
and to be attracted to the website, hence, remembering the identity of the website. Context involves a
great and memorable domain name and server to host the website. There are a lot of servers
nowadays providing services at nominal fees such as wix.com of WordPress. User experience design
is the most important part of a website, and it is a continuing process; thus, the team should be
proficient in coding and HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, PHP, jQuery, UI/UX design. This needs the skill
of team members to build the website and to prepare to maintain it if anything went wrong, usually,
it is either will be outsourced to a web developer team or an in house technical worker will build and
maintain the website.

Commerce
An e-commerce website needed to have the ability to enable a commercial transaction. This
includes the ability for the user to sign up and log into their account to store information safely, to
have their preference in shopping and cart to hold items. This also includes safety measures on the
website like secure payment via online banking or credit card, order tracking, and the option for
delivery. A good website will be able to ensure the customers on multiple things, especially on the
security of the transaction and the delivery of the product, since the purchase is made online. The
server should be protected from malicious attempts to corrupt the software or to steal the data by
ensuring that the data kept by the consumer is encrypted and anti-virus is installed and updated daily

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to prevent new threats. This work of safeguarding the information and maintaining this element can
also be outsourced to an experienced company, or the in-house website developer can also maintain
and build an intrusion detection system to regularly monitor potentially harmful viruses.

Another way to keep the transaction secured is by having a payment gateway to handle the
transaction, such as ipay88 or fpx by Paynet. This payment gateway allows safe and real-time
payment to the business, without any hassle on the business side. E-commerce company such as
Zalora and Shopee has utilized this gateway for an easy and trustworthy transaction which includes
payment via debit, credit card and PayPal.

Illust. 2: Among the most famous payment gateway in Malaysia is ipay88

Source: https://www.ipay88.com/services/online_payment_for_corporate.html

Connection

A website will have links that will transfer the user to another address once clicked or called
a site-to-site linkage. Such as, when the company has social media, there will be Hyperlinks for the
customer to click to connect with social media like Instagram or Twitter. There is also affiliate link
or Metadata, which connects the consumer to the website via an ambassador. Affiliate links mean

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that the ambassador will be able to offer the consumer some benefits if they go to the site using the
link. Connection involves any type of transfer per click, which should be minimized if unnecessary.

Illust. 3: eBay linking their social media on their website also their other country's site.

Source: https://www.ebay.com.my/

The web developer or the team that maintains the website can change the URLs and
determine where the clicks will bring the customers to. However, it is important to know that the
website should not need too many clicks for the customers to arrive at the products they wanted. It is
better to be less than three clicks for the customers to view the product, or else it will be too lengthy.
The same goes for links that bring the customers to another website. If it is unnecessary, it should not
be placed on the site.

Communication

This element is defined as how the website communicates with the customers. Simply put, it
is the site to user communication, mostly done by way of providing chat windows or chatbots. Other
than connecting with the users using social media and email, the websites itself can become a

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platform for the user to contact the business. It depends on the business, whether they want to invest
in a chatbot or live chat, which is more costly. There are many ways this can be done other than
chatbots and live chat. The users can use emails, phone calls, forms on the website, and contact the
website through social media.

The specific skills needed for this element is the hard skill of customer relation and customer
service. The response must be timely and accurately answers the feedback from the users. The agent
answering the complaint or queries must have a good people skill and are able to assist the users
without having to ask the users to be on hold or to wait until the business contact them back. The
usual maintenance team should also ensure that the coding and the links are working for the
customers. Some big companies outsourced their customer services to other countries with lower
wages such as India or Indonesia.

Illust 4: customer service page – online tracking in Ikea Malaysia's website is faulty and
needed to wait for Ikea to contact user first to get the tracking number.

Source: https://www.ikea.com/my/en/customer-service/track-manage-order/

Content

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 The so-called ingredient of the website is called contents, where it shows what the website
owner wanted to place for their customers to browse through and buy. It depends on what the e-
commerce website is selling, but a good website should have product categorization, offers, and sale
on the main page for easy navigation. This includes a good mixture of video, graphics, links, and
texts. Content featured in the main page is the first thing that the user will look at, and the web
developer should place a reminder software to track what the users have been looking at for the past
few visits and place the item on the main page as if the articles are featured for the day. Content must
appeal, offer and persuade the users in a way that is easier for the users to navigate, as an example,
category panels, or tab. The web designer should be able to put an auto-scroll banner, which can be
updated with new pictures and sales every time needed. Then, according to the business plan, the
marketing executives can promote sales on the header on the main page to attract users to join the
sale.

Illust. 5: Zalora website with easy to access category header and scrollable sale banner

Source: https://www.zalora.com.my/women/?from=header

Community

The element community means user-to-user interaction, where users who have used the
service of the business are able to leave their comment for another user to look at and therefore
giving other users who are looking into purchasing the service the sense of security. Although this
does not entirely mean that it is in 'forum' like form, it is enough for a user to leave their feedback
publicly and for others to see how they felt about the items or service provided on the website.

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 Illust 6: Review by a user of a random product in Shopee website with the star rating system

Source: https://shopee.com.my/realme-Buds-Air-(1-Year-Warranty)-Wireless-Charging-Super-Low-Latency-
Wear-Detection-i.96670954.6714490960

It is also to be noted that once the business opens the opportunity for the users to leave
comments and discuss the service, there will sometimes be negative responses and comments left by
the users who might have problems with the service. Thus, the best thing a business can do is to
reply to the user professionally to resolve the matter and not to delete the comments. This can show
that the business is making amends to any wrong and is responsible for its business. The customer
relations officer or responder should be able to handle the matter professionally and not take the
complaint personally, also to inform the related departments of the complaints.

Customization

Customization is the ability of the website to be personalized for the use of the user, such as
language setting or currency setting. This also includes the ability for the products to be tailored
specifically to the need of the users and also the filter of what criteria of items interests them. As an
example, in Shopee, the users have an array of filters available to choose a product such as the
locality of the item, the courier services, and the rating of the item. For product, on the other hand, it
is up to the business whether they have selections of colors, types, or available for custom made.
Illust 7.1: Shopee shop filter with brand and courier service provided (among others)

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 Source: https://shopee.com.my/search?category=131&keyword=earbuds&subcategory=2294

Illust 7.2: AirAsia with language and currency customization

Source: https://www.airasia.com/

3.0 Analysis of PrestoMall

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 In this part of the report, the PrestoMall e-commerce website will be analyzed according to
the 7Cs elements and, in turn, strengthen or defeat the hypotheses that PrestoMall fulfills and fully
utilize the 7Cs elements in its e-commerce website. This part will also be comparing PrestoMall to
another e-commerce website, which might have utilized the elements better.

Illust 8: Home page of PrestoMall

Source: https://www.prestomall.com/

Context wise, the homepage of PrestoMall is very neat, and the font used is clear. The use of
light blue and white ensures that the website is comfortable to look at and gives a sense of
exclusivity to the users. The element of Commerce is also utilized here as we can see that there are a
lot of events going on, with scrollable banner and sales, collaboration with Standard Chartered Bank,
and Boost pay app. Although the color scheme and font of the website are pleasing to the eyes, it can
be seen that there is no identity or trademark in this display, unlike Airasia's website with its red-
colored trademark or Shopee with its orange color. The website looks dull in comparison to the two
websites.
Illust 9.1: Product display

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 Illust 9.2: Product page

The content of the website is fairly standard, where the items are classified according to their
brand, types, and ranking. PrestoMall sets out types of products, colors, and shipping detail for the
user to browse through. There is also a badge system where PrestoMall gives sellers the verified
badge to show that the seller is trustworthy. This kind of product display is common in e-tailing
website.

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 Illust 10: PrestoMall Partners

On the main page, PrestoMall displayed links to its partners; among them are Boost, Nestle,
and Gintell. The element of connection took part here where the hyperlink contained in the logo will
bring the user to another website. PrestoMall also placed hyperlink for Mobile App download and
social media links. It would be better if PrestoMall placed the affiliates links on another part of the
website, although it is understandable that maybe the partners contributed to the website. Thus,
connection wise, PrestoMall should lessen the unnecessary links on the main page.

Illust 11: Payment method

Other than guaranteeing the seller by giving the 'verified' badge, PrestoMall also supports a
wide selection of payment gateway, from e-wallet to international e-wallet like Alipay. This shows
that the business covers all type of users, and make it convenient for the users to transact online.
Compared to Shopee, which can only accept either ShopeePay, online banking, credit card, or Cash
Deposit, PrestoMall is better in Commerce element.

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 The next element is the element of communication, where PrestoMall, unfortunately, did not
have a live chat or chatbot to take care of users' queries on the spot. They prepared a list of Q&As
and provides a phone number and email for the user to contact them, should the Q&A did not answer
the user's queries. The list of Q&As are adequately long and might be able to answer basic questions
as chatbot does. By having only two methods to communicate, which are by phone calls and emails,
it is most likely that the user will not be able to get the answers they wanted, and this will surely
inconvenience them.

Illust 12: PrestoMall's Customer Service page

PrestoMall's website displays the elements of the community the same as other competitors,
by having feedback from users who have bought the products from the seller. PrestoMall also uses a
ranking system, although there are only 3 ranks, satisfies, average and dissatisfied, unlike Lazada and
Shopee, which has 5 ranks. The element of community is fulfilled like any other e-tailer, but no
direct conversation can be made between users.

Illust 13: Review and Feedback on product/seller

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 Unfortunately, PrestoMall's website did not provide detailed customization as Shopee or
Airasia did. There is no option to filter the results, and there is also no option to change the language
of the website to other languages apart from English. AirAsia's website not only caters to
customization to change the language to Malay or Mandarin, but it also gives the user the choice of
currency, unlike PrestoMall. Thus, this element is lacking on the website.

Illust 14: No possibility to filter or to customize language/currency

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4.0 Conclusion

It was said that the cost of annual maintenance is equivalent to the cost of the site itself, due
to the need for constant change and improvement (Siti Hadijah, 2007). Work needed to be done to
debug codes, responding to an emergency situation, reports, links to back-end databases, and general
administration. Thus, the professional team needs to be always vigilant and monitor the website 24
hours a day.

The 7Cs element in the e-commerce website development are guidelines that should be
followed by a website developer. Based on the 7Cs, we can see that the hypotheses are incorrect, and
PrestoMall did not fulfill all 7 elements; rather, it needs to improve in some elements. The table
below simplifies the finding of this report.

PrestoMall compliances with 7Cs

Context Need to improve on colors
Commerce Wide payment gateways option
Connection Need to discard unnecessary links
Communication Need to have a better platform other than emails
Content Similar to competitors
Community Similar to competitors, lack ranking option
Customization None

In conclusion, PrestoMall is not one of the best e-commerce websites in Malaysia, with so
much more to improve and revise. However, it is on the right path, with almost all of the elements
are already included on the website. With further adjustment, PrestoMall will be able to compete
with other e-commerce websites such as Lazada and Shopee.

Total word count: 3000 words

REFERENCE

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