2nd Weekly Task - eCommerce Website Analysis.

1) For this weekly task our group decided to choose two eCommerce websites – the Amazon.com and the bookdepository.co.uk. In our opinion these two projects allowed us to analyze good and bad in the eCommerce websites.

2) As an example of bad eCommerce site we have chosen bookdepository.co.uk. The first and, as we think the most important reason of it’s’ badness is narrow specialization. This site is known only for selling books and nothing more. This is the problem when it comes to entering new markets. Also this site has a little bit complicated interface, so it’s a quite hard to start working with it. Moreover this site doesn’t have some payment methods and the prices are shown just in few currencies (USD, EUR, and GBP). Besides that, we have found some technical problems in the website. Order tracking is not quite easy to use, since you need to enter the order number and your name every time when checking the order status. And even more, sometimes the name is not recognized when entered, and one way to solve it is to copy-paste the name from the order confirmation e-mail.

Amazon.com is a good example of a successful eBusiness website. Every day this web-site is visited by thousands of people. One of its main features is usability and intuitive intelligibility. On the main page the visitor can see the segments of the products that help to search the concrete item and a list of the most popular or most relevant to the concrete user items. Sophisticated users will be satisfied with the fact that every search can be tuned to the minutest details like different types of sorting etc.

A visual simplicity of pages is also a good feature of the site. The user does not get the feeling of congestion; due to soft color eyes do not get tired. Besides, visitors can take part in optimization of the web-site. In order to optimize the search procedure of the goods in addition to the standard system on Amazon (left menu) acts function «Search Suggestion» (Search Tip). It allows users themselves to participate in the process of creating connections between brands and determining keyword.

Mobile version of the website looks good as well, which allows ordering products and tracking your orders anytime with your smart phone, which is quite important today.

3) We will start off with bookdepository.co.uk. The website could be improved in few different areas. First of all, since it has free worldwide delivery it could be really good to add some other currencies to display the prices (RUR, JPY, CNY). As well the design and the interface should be completely reviewed. The design of the website should attract the user and make him or her to remember the company and come back again in the future. But in this case the website has some problems. It doesn’t look appealing: dark colors take the focus away from white zones, where customers’ eyes should be. The interface is really confusing not just for a first-time user, but also for a person who was on the website before. It has so much text everywhere - you can’t really get away from it!

In our view the picture below expresses our emotions when working with this kind of design/interface.

Adding a mobile version would be a good advantage as well. All major online stores provide their customers with mobile versions because mobile browsing is really common nowadays and many people use their smart phones to order different products online. The last, but not the least – the technical stability. Order tracking page needs a fix in the blank fields for entering the order number and the customer’s name.

Talking about Amazon.com we came up with a though that the website doesn’t really need to improve anything. It is built by professionals. It is built for customers. When you are on the website you feel yourself comfortable and you feel that there is someone who cares about your pleasant shopping experience!

First Weekly Task

How can file sharing networks make money if they do not sell music?

Basically, file sharing networks make money off different kinds of premium accounts. These accounts allow users to download faster, share and store bigger files. Some file sharing networks, like RapidShare even provide data protection with premium accounts. So the main source of profit is premium accounts for these networks. But some file sharing networks (like ThePirateBay.org) sell different kinds of T-shirts and small stuff like that, which allows them to get some money for financing their activities.

In which type of eCommerse do file sharing networks belong to?

There are several types of eСommerce. File sharing companies can be divided into two different groups. First one is Torrent and it is “peer-to- peer” type, and the second one is other file sharing companies and they are usually mixed type, Business-to-Consumer and Consumer-To-Consumers.

Is the record industry justified in attempting to shut file sharing networks down? Why or why not?

In our vision this question has both sides.
On one side, record industry is trying to stop illegal downloading of their files. And it is justified because record companies have copy right for their files. Recently, record companies have started new campaign against illegal downloading. The biggest of rerecording companies, such as Universal Music, Warner Music, Sony Music, BMG and EMI, are financing new programs which will shut the computer off or will block your account if you are downloading some files illegally. This ain't right. Every person have a right to download whatever he wants.
File sharing networks get some percent from downloading. But as we think, this kind of sharing files is profitable for both record industry and file sharing network. Record industry, of course, is losing money because of this resource. But in some countries you haven't got access to all music or films you want to buy. And through the internet you can find everything you need.
So we think that companies should stop judging with file sharing networks. They should build a new business which will be profitable for everyone.

Do you think that illegal downloading will disappear over time?

It is difficult to answer the question, whether the problem of illegal downloading through the Internet will be solved in the future, unequivocally. We agreed that it depends mostly on legislative and regulatory authorities. They should take a clear position with regard to action in the case of detection of piracy.

In our opinion in the next few years the problem would be partially solved and in the longer term the piracy in the Internet will be almost completely eradicate. Clearly defined laws and demonstration trials of distributors of pirated content will help achieve the goal.