Introduction
With the growing use of the Internet, improvements in networking communications and the emergence of cloud computing and software that enables collaborative working, there has been a major increase in the number of individuals now working from home. Such workers may be self-employed, or may be employed by organisations that are seeking to reduce the costs associated with leasing or renting city centre offices, and/or travel and subsistence expenses. One of the results of this move to home working has been the requirement to set up an office environment within residential dwellings. As a consequence there has been a growing demand for office furniture that can be used in a study or spare room. You are an e-commerce consultant and have been approached by a local entrepreneur who wishes to exploit this increased demand for home office furniture. He wishes to offer the following range of furniture:
• Chairs
• Desks
• Cupboards
• Drawer units and pedestals
• Bookcases
• Filing cabinets
He currently has no premises from which to sell the furniture. However he plans to rent warehouse space in which he can store the full range of stock that he will be offering. He does not intend to purchase or rent a shop from which to sell the furniture directly. Instead he proposes to establish a web-only business that will rely entirely on e-commerce sales. He has asked you to carry out a feasibility study that will examine some of the key issues associated with establishing and running his proposed e-commerce business.
The Assignment:
The entrepreneur has asked you to prepare the following outputs from your feasibility study:
1. A briefing document that describes the most appropriate marketing approach which he could use for attracting and retaining customers. He has also asked you to provide him with an understanding of the importance of brand management in an e-commerce environment.
2. A brief explanation of specific security issues about which he is unclear.
3. A short presentation of no more than 15 minutes which will address some of the key issues to consider as part of the planning process prior to moving ahead with the development and launch of the e-commerce site.
4. A note that discusses some of the ways in which new technologies can help to streamline the delivery processes of purchased furniture items, and which includes a suggested returns policy.
Below are the guidelines of the assignment for each task;
Full Assignment question
Statement of Own Work
statement of own work (sample)
Sample of complete assignment
Assignment Submission to Lecturer
Task 1
Task 2 (Report)
Task 2 (microsoft project file)
Task 3
Task 4
Task 5
Task 6 (report)
Task 6 (Power point file)
Task 7
Example of softcopy (CD) submission
