E-Shop Concept for Merchandizing Products of the School

Transcription

Prof. Dr. Axel Keller 22 August 2008 3‐W‐1131DA/ 08‐PA Bachelor Thesis E‐shop Concept for Merchandizing Products of the School of Business FHNW By Florian Kofmel International Management 3.3 1 E‐shop concept for merchandizing products Executive Summary The School of Business FHNW wants to introduce Merchandize products by selling them via an e‐shop. In addition, the client attaches great importance to Fair Trade. Certain giveaways already exist and those products will now be extended by the suggested product range in this paper. The assortment was composed by inputs of an evaluation of what other schools of business sell and according to the defined four target groups – students, alumni, staff and business contacts. The product range consists of 22 products divided into three categories – clothing (casual, business), accessories (casual, business) and commodities (food, non‐food). The supply chain was divided into three categories: Procurement, Inventory Management and e‐
commerce supply chain. First, procurement states the three suppliers: A clothing company with its printing partner which stands for fair traded products – Switcher AG / Magic Print (Solothurn). Streuartikel.ch (Oensingen), a company specialized in corporate promotion and Läckerli Huus AG, producer of the famous Basler Läckerli. Second, products can be stored in‐house or at supplier’s place. In case of Streuartikel.ch, details need to be negotiated. Third, the e‐commerce supply chain addresses the five important transaction phases which occur in online selling. Moreover, three e‐shop solutions were evaluated: Get Paid, which can be implemented in Plone, the content management system used for the FHNW‐website. OsCommerce, a widely used e‐shop solution and 1&1 Business Shop Pro, a third‐
party application. Furthermore, the e‐shop can be operated by students or staff. Outsourcing is only partly possible. Two budgets were set up and include product range, promotion activities, e‐shop solution and operational costs. Moreover, a schedule to put this concept into action is provided. Finally, the e‐shop concept for merchandizing products has shown that several other aspects have to be included rather than just thinking about the e‐shop itself. Therefore, it is recommended to start off with only staff members in the project team. The team has to clearly define the printings and choose the supplier accordingly. Get Paid should be evaluated by one of the FHNW Plone specialists as well. Alternatively, osCommerce is recommended. Moreover, the Switcher partner Max Havelaar should be contacted as they are interested in a partnership with the FHNW apart from this e‐shop concept. Kofmel 22 August 2008 2 / 95 2 E‐shop concept for merchandizing products Introduction “Add to cart”, is an expression that cannot be associated with the School of Business FHNW so far. This should be changed in the very near future: An e‐shop with merchandize articles to be sold is planned for the school. The scope of this paper includes an evaluation of e‐shops and merchandizing articles of other schools of business / universities, target group definition, 4P‐Marketing Mix including process analyses, an evaluation of e‐shop software solutions, operational management, budget and schedule. It proposes solutions how the e‐shop and merchandize articles could be realized. However, the implementation in real life is not part of this paper. Thus, before one can “checkout” many aspects have to be considered. The aim of this paper is to address these points, draw some conclusions and give recommendations for the further procedure. Kofmel 22 August 2008 3 / 95 E‐shop concept for merchandizing products Table of Contents 1 Executive Summary .............................................................................................. 2 2 Introduction ......................................................................................................... 3 3 E‐Shop Evaluation of Schools of Business / Universities ....................................... 6 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Mason School of Business (MSB) .............................................................................. 6 London Business School (LBS) .................................................................................. 7 Edinburgh Business School (EBS) .............................................................................. 7 University of St. Gallen (HSG) ................................................................................... 8 4 Target Groups ...................................................................................................... 9 4.1 Target Group 1: Students ......................................................................................... 9 4.2 Target Group 2: Alumni .......................................................................................... 10 4.3 Target Group 3: Staff.............................................................................................. 11 4.4 Target Group 4: Business contacts ......................................................................... 12 5 Marketing Mix ................................................................................................... 13 5.1 Product .................................................................................................................. 13 5.1.1 Brand Name ................................................................................................................. 13 5.1.2 Material / Design .......................................................................................................... 13 5.1.3 Fair Trade ..................................................................................................................... 13 5.1.4 Product Categories ....................................................................................................... 14 5.1.5 Product Range .............................................................................................................. 15 5.1.5.1 Clothing (casual) .......................................................................................................... 15 5.1.5.2 Clothing (business) ....................................................................................................... 16 5.1.5.3 Accessories (casual) ..................................................................................................... 17 5.1.5.4 Accessories (business) ................................................................................................. 17 5.1.5.5 Commodities (food) ..................................................................................................... 18 5.1.5.6 Commodities (non‐food) .............................................................................................. 18 5.2 Price ...................................................................................................................... 19 5.3 Place ...................................................................................................................... 23 5.3.1 Process Analysis ............................................................................................................ 23 5.3.1.1 Procurement ................................................................................................................ 23 5.3.1.1.1 Information gathering / Suppliers ........................................................................... 24 5.3.1.1.2 Supplier contact ....................................................................................................... 26 5.3.1.1.3 Background review .................................................................................................. 26 5.3.1.1.4 Negotiation .............................................................................................................. 26 5.3.1.1.5 Fulfillment................................................................................................................ 26 5.3.1.1.6 Consumption, Maintenance and Disposal ............................................................... 27 5.3.1.1.7 Renewal ................................................................................................................... 27 5.3.1.2 Inventory Management ............................................................................................... 27 5.3.1.3 E‐Commerce Supply Chain ........................................................................................... 28 5.3.1.3.1 Motivation Phase ..................................................................................................... 28 5.3.1.3.2 Information Phase ................................................................................................... 28 5.3.1.3.3 Negotiation Phase ................................................................................................... 28 5.3.1.3.4 Fulfillment Phase ..................................................................................................... 29 5.3.1.3.5 After‐sales phase ..................................................................................................... 31 5.4 Promotion ............................................................................................................. 32 5.4.1 Use of traditional advertising methods to communicate the URL ................................... 32 5.4.1.1 On‐campus promotion ................................................................................................. 32 5.4.2 Optimization of findability (“URL guessing”) .................................................................. 33 5.4.3 Use of newsletters and emails ...................................................................................... 34 5.4.4 Advertising in the World Wide Web .............................................................................. 35 Kofmel 22 August 2008 4 / 95 E‐shop concept for merchandizing products 6 Technical and Software Requirements ............................................................... 36 6.1 6.2 Description of Website Hosting at FHNW ............................................................... 36 Concept evaluation regarding FHNW‐website ........................................................ 36 6.2.1 Integrated e‐shop ......................................................................................................... 37 6.2.2 Stand‐alone E‐shop ....................................................................................................... 38 6.2.3 Open‐source software .................................................................................................. 39 6.2.4 Proprietary software ..................................................................................................... 40 6.3 E‐Shop Software Evaluation ................................................................................... 40 6.3.1 Get Paid ........................................................................................................................ 41 6.3.2 OsCommerce ................................................................................................................ 42 6.3.3 1&1 Business Shop Pro.................................................................................................. 44 7 Realization ......................................................................................................... 45 7.1 Operational Management ...................................................................................... 45 7.1.1 Students ....................................................................................................................... 45 7.1.2 Staff ............................................................................................................................. 46 7.1.3 Outsourcing .................................................................................................................. 46 7.2 Budget ................................................................................................................... 47 7.3 Schedule ................................................................................................................ 49 7.4 Extended Development Potential .......................................................................... 50 7.4.1 Including other FHNW‐Schools ...................................................................................... 50 7.4.2 Extensions .................................................................................................................... 50 7.4.3 Physical store ............................................................................................................... 50 7.4.4 Strengthening Corporate Identity .................................................................................. 51 7.4.4.1 Corporate Clothing ....................................................................................................... 51 7.4.4.2 Using synergies ............................................................................................................ 51 8 Summary ........................................................................................................... 52 9 Conclusions ........................................................................................................ 54 10 Recommendations ............................................................................................. 57 11 Bibliography ...................................................................................................... 58 11.1 Book Sections ....................................................................................................... 58 11.2 Reports ................................................................................................................ 59 11.3 Emails .................................................................................................................. 59 11.4 Websites .............................................................................................................. 59 12 Figures .............................................................................................................. 64 13 Established Contacts ......................................................................................... 65 14 Appendices ....................................................................................................... 66 Kofmel 22 August 2008 5 / 95 3 E‐shop concept for merchandizing products E‐Shop Evaluation of Schools of Business / Universities Firstly, several schools of business / universities were observed to gain insight in what merchandizing articles are sold at other schools and how they have organized the sales. Four were picked out and summarized according to criteria: Product assortment, e‐shop layout, payment methods, security, delivery zones and after‐sales services. Furthermore, the universities / schools of business were asked to mention their top‐three‐selling products. 3.1 Mason School of Business (MSB) The Mason School of Business, located in Williamsburg, Virginia (USA) is part of the second oldest university, founded 1693, in the United States1. The business school enjoys a very good reputation and has been ranked well by several magazines and newspapers2. Criteria Product assortment3 Findings Large, with around 20 categories. Ranges from furniture to jewelry. School of Business itself has 15 articles: Tie ($35), Attaché ($17), Computer Case Bag, ($38), Key Chain ($8), Scarf ($69), Travel Alarm ($24), Polo ($40), Pen Set ($25), Clock ($38), Baseball Cap ($16), T‐Shirt ($17), Sweat Shirt ($40), Windshirt ($52), Swivel Box ($65), Rosewood Box ($42), Photo Frame ($24) Top‐selling products No answer received
E‐Shop layout According to universities’ colors. Products can be sorted by category, newest items or price. E‐shop is directly accessible via own domain name www.alumnigiftshop.com. Customer must create own account and will have access to support center with order history. The William & Mary Alumni Association is responsible for the e‐shop. Payment methods PayPal/Credit Card; Pay order with coupon
Security Yes, AES‐ 256 256‐bit encryption when asking for credit card details. Delivery Zones USA After‐sales services Customer reply online form, short help section Figure 1. Findings of Mason School of Business. Florian Kofmel, 2008. 1
(Mason School of Business, Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) (Mason School Rankings) 3
(The William & Mary Alumni Association) 2
Kofmel 22 August 2008 6 / 95 3.2 E‐shop concept for merchandizing products London Business School (LBS) The London Business School was founded 1965 and is ranked second4 in the global MBA‐rankings 2008 according to Financial Times. Criteria Product assortment5 Findings Product categories: Scarves & Clothing, Stationary & Gifts, Accessories, Graduation Frames, Crystal Collection. 15 articles available online: T‐shirt (£12), sweatshirt (£19), hooded sweatshirt (£22), scarves (£29/30), cufflinks (£25), pens (£45‐80), key ring (£12), filofax slim‐line organizer (£57), mascot bear (£20), tie (£25), photograph frame (£37), crystal glassware (£30‐80). Top‐selling products6 1. Baseball caps (not online), 2. T‐Shirts, 3. Teddy Bears
E‐Shop layout E‐shop is out‐sourced and run by the merchandize product supplier Ede & Ravenscroft
and only lists its products. Articles of other suppliers can only be bought on campus. The e‐shop is outdated and has a confusing shop organization: Some products are allocated to a wrong category. Ordering procedure is rather complicated. Colors not related to LBS. E‐Shop will be replaced by a new one after Christmas. Payment methods Credit Card (Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, Solo)
Security Yes, RC4 128‐bit encryption when asking for credit card details. Delivery Zones worldwide
After‐sales services FAQ section about ordering, payment, delivery, guarantee & returns Figure 2. Findings of London Business School. Florian Kofmel, 2008. 3.3 Edinburgh Business School (EBS) The Edinburgh Business School is a partner of the FHNW, which offers the esteemed MBA Master of Business Administration Edinburgh Business School in Basel7. Criteria Product assortment Findings 9 clothing products, 2 accessories: T‐Shirt (£10), t‐shirt (lady, £11), polo shirt (£19), sweatshirt (£22), hooded sweatshirt (£24), full zip hooded sweatshirt (£26), full zip fleece (lady, £30), fleece gilet (£28), rugby shirt (£25), bag (£18), umbrella (£22). Top‐selling products No answer received
E‐Shop layout E‐shop is run by the merchandize product supplier Image Scotland. EBS’ colors are used. Clear structure, ease of use, straight‐forward e‐shop instructions. Orders can be placed without having an account. Payment methods Credit Card (Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, American Express)
Security Yes, RC4 128‐bit encryption when asking for credit card details. Delivery Zones UK, European Union, rest of the world
After‐sales services Terms and conditions section about delivery, exchanges, refunds and other issues regarding products and e‐shop. Figure 3. Findings of Edinburgh Business School. Florian Kofmel, 2008. 4
(The Financial Times Ltd) (Ede & Ravenscroft ‐ London Business School ‐ Gifts and accessories store) 6
(Akimoto) 7
(FHNW) 5
Kofmel 22 August 2008 7 / 95 3.4 E‐shop concept for merchandizing products University of St. Gallen (HSG) According to the Financial Times Ranking of European Business Schools in 2007, HSG is ranked 25th and it is the leading university in the German‐speaking part of Europe8. The University of St. Gallen, founded 1898, is a rather small university in Switzerland, but has the largest faculty of business9. Criteria Product assortment10 Findings 4 Product categories: New articles, men, women, accessories. 5 sub‐categories: Special edition, classic, sport, winter, caps. 33 articles available online: Rugby shirt (69 CHF), several t‐shirts (29 CHF), polo shirt (42 CHF), hoody (75 CHF), sweater (59 CHF), jogging pants (CHF 49), sweatband (8 CHF), baseball caps (25 CHF), college jacket (60 CHF), fleece jacket (94 CHF), long‐sleeve shirt (35 CHF), umbrella (25 CHF), pin (11 CHF), white‐gold pin (340 CHF), pastries heart (9 CHF), post‐it (2 CHF), beer jug (15 CHF), cuff‐
links (69 CHF), golf balls (16/23 CHF), Swiss army knife (29 CHF), mug (11 CHF), pen (4/8 CHF), sticker (1/3 CHF) One of the e‐shops also selling more trendy products (with HSG‐logo variation, pastries heart) 11
Top‐selling products 1. Hoody (gray), 2. Hoody (navy), 3. T‐shirts
E‐Shop layout E‐shop is run by the German company 1&1. However, distribution is organized by HSG Shop GmbH. Minimum order is 7 CHF. The E‐shop was neither adapted to HSG’s website layout nor to its colors. Directly accessible via own domain name www.hsgshop.ch. Customer must create an account to place orders. Navigation is not always clear. Payment methods Credit Card (Visa, MasterCard, American Express)
Security Yes, AES‐256 256‐bit encryption on all e‐shop web pages.
Delivery Zones worldwide
After‐sales services Terms & conditions section with information about delivery, guarantee and returns.
Figure 4. Findings of University of St. Gallen. Florian Kofmel, 2008. 8
(The Financial Times Ltd) (Universität St. Gallen ‐ Wikipedia) 10
(Ede & Ravenscroft ‐ London Business School ‐ Gifts and accessories store) 11
(Kahn) 9
Kofmel 22 August 2008 8 / 95 4 E‐shop concept for merchandizing products Target Groups Who will be the customers of School of Business FHNW merchandize products? To determine the offering later on in the marketing mix, it is important to describe as precisely as possible those people who are most likely to buy the products12. The customers could be divided into four target groups: 4.1 Target Group 1: Students Demographic Variables • Age: between 20 and 47 years old • Gender: male and female • Income: none to low Geographic Variables • German‐speaking part of Switzerland • Size of area: cities and agglomerations (e.g. Olten, Solothurn, Berne, Basel, Zurich) • Population density: urban Psychographic Variables • Activities: traveling abroad • Interests: studying, receiving good education, sports, partying • Values &Attitudes: diverse, tolerant, open‐minded, trying out new things Behavioral Variables • Benefits sought: cheap, trendy and long‐lasting products • Use products to identify themselves with FHNW • Product usage rate: often several times, depending on the merchandizing article • Readiness to buy: low to high Figure 5. Target Group 1: Students. Florian Kofmel, 2008. Merchandize products will be targeted to female or male students aged 20 between 47 years13 old who are either enrolled in the Business Administration, International Management or Business Information Technology degree program at FHNW Olten. All three programs are only offered as full‐time programs; therefore students cannot work and earn a lot beside the study. Thus, merchandize products need to have a certain quality at a preferably low price. The readiness to buy merchandize is influenced by their perception of FHNW and how they identify themselves with the university. 12
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(Guille) (Weis) Kofmel 22 August 2008 9 / 95 E‐shop concept for merchandizing products Most students are from the German‐speaking part of Switzerland and live near Olten. Every year, FHNW also takes up visiting students mainly from the Erasmus exchange program, which contributes to a diverse and intercultural study environment. In addition, International Management students have to spend at least one semester abroad. Beside academic skills, they will also improve their intercultural knowledge, try out new things and tend to come back as more communicative and open‐minded14. 4.2 Target Group 2: Alumni This second target group is slightly different to first one. Once a student has been graduated, he or she becomes an alumnus. Alumni could be former students who were enrolled in one of the School of Business FHNW degree programs. In addition, this target group also includes former visiting students. Hence, they make it very diverse and international. Alumni might buy merchandize articles as souvenirs for their time studying at the FHNW. Their readiness to buy is various, depending on how they have perceived their study time at FHNW. Demographic Variables • Age: between 23 and 47 years old • Gender: male and female • Income: middle Geographic Variables • Switzerland, worldwide • Size of area: cities and agglomerations • Population density: urban Psychographic Variables • Activities: working, discovering the world • Interests: being a good employee, networking, starting a family • Values &Attitudes: diverse, ambitious, open‐minded, trying out new things Behavioral Variables • Benefits sought: cheap and long‐lasting products • Use products to identify themselves with FHNW • Product usage rate: often several times, depending on the merchandizing article • Readiness to buy: low to high Figure 6. Target Group 2: Alumni. Florian Kofmel, 2008. 14
(Schibli, Müller and Kofmel) Kofmel 22 August 2008 10 / 95 4.3 E‐shop concept for merchandizing products Target Group 3: Staff To the third target group belong all people working for School of Business FHNW, aged between 17 and 6615. These are board of directors, lecturers, management and research assistants, library employees, cafeteria personnel and cleaners. They guarantee that the school is in good working order in exchange for wages, and social securities. The diverse student body or international business visits require them to adapt appropriately. Their motivation to use merchandize articles is high in order to represent the school well. In addition, corporate clothing could also help to make the School of Business FHNW more visible. Thus, merchandize products could add value to the identity of FHNW. Demographic Variables • Age: between 17 and 66 years old • Gender: male and female • Income: low to high Geographic Variables • German‐speaking part of Switzerland • Size of area: cities and agglomerations (e.g. Olten, Solothurn, Berne, Basel, Zurich) • Population density: urban Psychographic Variables • Activities: administration, teaching, networking, researching, cleaning • Interests: intercultural exchange, good employer • Values & Attitudes: diverse, tolerant, open‐minded, literate Behavioral Variables • Benefits sought: quality products • Use products to represent FHNW • Product usage rate: often several times, depending on the merchandizing article • Readiness to buy: high Figure 7. Target Group 3: Staff. Florian Kofmel, 2008. 15
(Weis) Kofmel 22 August 2008 11 / 95 4.4 E‐shop concept for merchandizing products Target Group 4: Business contacts The School of Business FHNW maintains several business contacts within Switzerland and other countries as well through official events (e.g. panel discussions, Ringveranstaltung, FH forum, Award Corporate Communications) and receptions (e.g. delegations). Intercultural exchange and business contacts are also encouraged by the student projects, Insight China, Focus India and Networking New York. The project teams establish contacts to sponsors for fundraising. In addition, often external lecturers are needed for the preparatory seminars. The readiness of business contacts to buy merchandize articles on the e‐shop is rather low. However, merchandize articles are used as gifts to appreciate business contacts instead. Demographic Variables • Age: between 23 and 70 years old • Gender: male and female • Income: medium to high Geographic Variables • Switzerland, worldwide • Size of area: cities and agglomerations • Population density: urban Psychographic Variables • Activities: working, networking • Interests: business exchange, sponsoring • Values & Attitudes: diverse, intercultural exchange, competitive, supportive Behavioral Variables • Benefits sought: appreciation • Use giveaway according to its purpose • Product usage rate: low to average, depending on the merchandizing article • Readiness to buy: very low Figure 8. Target Group 4: Business contacts. Florian Kofmel, 2008. Kofmel 22 August 2008 12 / 95 5 E‐shop concept for merchandizing products Marketing Mix In the marketing mix, strategies are turned into concrete actions regarding four dimensions: product, price, place, and promotion. What is important in the marketing mix is that actions taken in one dimension are in line with those of the other three dimensions16. Only if the actions out of all four dimensions are integrated into a holistic marketing mix, the product can be successfully sold. 5.1 Product 5.1.1 Brand Name All merchandizing articles will be sold under the School of Business FHNW brand. This brand is valid for the faculties of Basel, Brugg and Olten. 5.1.2 Material / Design All products are expected to have a good quality. According to the client, it is planned to start with designs only including the FHNW logo with School of Business underneath (one print). Katharina Stalder, Marketing & Communications FHNW, said that all design issues regarding the products should be coordinated with the Marketing & Communications FHNW department and/or the bureau of communications design. No matter, whoever will run the e‐shop at the end of the day. 5.1.3 Fair Trade Fair trade is an increasing issue and the School of Business FHNW also looks for fair traded goods. Fair trade strives for equity, transparency and better international trade conditions to secure the rights of producers and workers17. Prices of these goods are generally higher, compared to goods without fair trade information. 16
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(Kotler and Keller) (European FairTrade Association) Kofmel 22 August 2008 13 / 95 E‐shop concept for merchandizing products The following product range will consider certain merchandizing articles in respect to fair trade and are marked as follows: Fully fair traded Partly fair traded No fair trade information More information about suppliers and procurement can be found in the place‐section of the marketing‐ mix. 5.1.4 Product Categories The product variety should be in line with the target groups. Merchandize articles will be divided into three main categories: Clothing, Accessories and Commodities. Certain products can be sold or given as presents (giveaways). Giveaways are goods primarily given to business contacts. In addition, special circumstances (e.g. study start, graduation, promotion) could also include students and/or staff. Category Sub‐Category / Description
Target group(s) Clothing Casual Priority 1: Students, Alumni Priority 2: Staff Casual Casual clothes are worn in leisure time or in certain working conditions (staff: e.g. IT‐
worker). Business clothes could be mainly worn for formal events. Students or Alumni might prefer more formal to casual clothes as well. Casual accessories are used in leisure time Business For formal events only Food Goods, to be used for a short time or only once: Food Goods, to be used for a short time or only once: office supplies Business Accessories Commodities Non‐food Priority 1: Staff Priority 2: Students, Alumni Priority 1: Students, Alumni Priority 2: Staff Priority 1: Staff, Business Contacts Priority 2: Students, Alumni Priority 1: Business contacts Priority 2: Students, Staff Priority 1: Business contacts Priority 2: Students, Staff Figure 9. Product Categories. Florian Kofmel, 2008. Kofmel 22 August 2008 14 / 95 E‐shop concept for merchandizing products 5.1.5 Product Range The following products are suggestions to be sold in the e‐shop and/or dispensed as giveaways. The final decisions will be made by the client or the future project team. In addition, the School of Business FHNW has already produced certain giveaways. However, it did not give sufficient insight into supplier information or order quantity. 5.1.5.1 Clothing (casual) Product type Features / Supplier
(Brand/Type, Material, Color, Print, Quantity, Size)
Streuartikel.ch
Switcher
Green Concept – Organic T‐shirt
2 100% organic cotton, 150g/m
Black FHNW‐Front print Sizes S, M, L Time for delivery: ca. 4 weeks Switcher ‐ 2607 Brad 2 100% organic cotton, 145g/m
Max Havelaar certified, Black FHN W‐Front print Sizes S, M, L Time for delivery: ca. 1‐2 weeks US Basic – Heavy Super Club 2
T‐Shirt, 100% cotton, 155g/m , Black, Front print, S/M/L, Time for delivery: ca. 4 weeks Whale by Switcher – 2004, 2
100% cotton, 145g/m , Black, Front print, S/M/L Time for delivery: ca. 1‐2 weeks Switcher ‐ 2637 Angie 2 100% organic cotton, 145g/m
Max Havelaar certified, Black Front print Sizes S, M, L Time for delivery: ca. 1‐2 weeks US Basic – Hawaii Women Top, 100% 2
cotton, 200g/m , Black, Front print, Sizes S/M/L, Time for delivery: ca. 4 weeks US Basic – Atlanta Hooded Sweater
2
60% cotton, 40% polyester 260g/m , Black Front print Sizes S, M, L Time for delivery: ca. 4 weeks Whale by Switcher – 2144, 2
100% cotton, 145 g/m , Black, Front print, Sizes S/M/L, Time for delivery: ca. 1‐2 weeks Switcher – 1022 Ohio 65% cotton, 35% polyester 2
300g/m Black Front print Sizes S, M, L Time for delivery: ca. 1‐2 weeks US Basic – Atlanta Classic Sweater
2
60% cotton, 40% polyester 260g/m , Black Front print Sizes S, M, L Time for delivery: ca. 4 weeks Switcher – 1500 London 65% cotton, 35% polyester 2
300g/m Black Front print Sizes S, M, L Time for delivery: ca. 1‐2 weeks Option 1: T‐ Shirt (fair Trade) Option 2: T‐ Shirt (valueweight) Option 1: T‐Shirt (lady, fair Trade) Option 2: T‐Shirt(lady, valueweight) Hooded Sweatshirt Sweatshirt Figure 10. Product Range – Clothing (casual). Florian Kofmel, 2008. Kofmel 22 August 2008 15 / 95 E‐shop concept for merchandizing products 5.1.5.2 Clothing (business) Product type Features / Supplier
Streuartikel.ch
Switcher
Green Concept – Organic Polo
Black FHNW‐Front print Sizes S, M, L Time for delivery: ca. 4 weeks Switcher ‐ 4607 Bono 2 100% organic cotton, 220g/m
Max Havelaar certified, Black FHN W‐Front print Sizes S, M, L Time for delivery: ca. 1‐2 weeks US Basic – Boston Polo Basic, 85% 2
cotton, 15% viscose, 180g/m , Black, Front print, Sizes S/M/L, Time for delivery: ca. 4 weeks Green Concept – Organic Polo Damen
Black FHNW‐Front print Sizes S, M, L Time for delivery: ca. 4 weeks Whale by Switcher – 4004, 2
100% cotton, 180g/m , Black, Front print, Sizes S/M/L, Time for delivery: ca. 1‐2 weeks US Basic – Boston Damen Polo Basic,
2
100% combed cotton, 180g/m , Black, Front print, Sizes S/M/L, Time for delivery: ca. 4 weeks US Basic – Dallas Twill Hemd
2
100% cotton, 150g/m Off‐White Front print Sizes S, M, L, Time for delivery: ca. 4 weeks Whale by Switcher – 4014, 2
100% cotton, 180 g/m , Black, Front print, Sizes S/M/L, Time for delivery: ca. 1‐2 weeks Switcher – 6780 Logan 2
100% cotton, n/a g/m White Front print Sizes S, M, L, Time for delivery: ca. 1‐2 weeks US Basic – Damen twill blouse
2
100% cotton, 150g/m , Off‐White Front print Sizes S, M, L, Time for delivery: ca. 4 weeks Switcher – 6786 Midway 2
100% cotton, n/a g/m White Front print Sizes S, M, L, Time for delivery: ca. 1‐2 weeks Option 1: Polo Shirt (fair Trade) Option 2: Polo Shirt (valueweight) Option 1: Polo Shirt (lady, fair Trade) Option 2: Polo Shirt (valueweight) Business Shirt Business Blouse Figure 11. Product Range – Clothing (business). Florian Kofmel, 2008. Kofmel 22 August 2008 16 / 95 E‐shop concept for merchandizing products 5.1.5.3 Accessories (casual) Product type Features / Supplier
Baseball Cap Bag Key chain with bottle opener Streuartikel.ch
Switcher
US Basic – Detroit 6 Panel Cotton Cap
100% cotton
Yellow, FHNW‐embroidery (front) One size, Time for delivery: ca. 4 weeks Centrixx ‐ Dokumententasche
600D (Nylon), 40x11x34cm, front flap with Velcro closure, 2 inside compartments, 2 inside pockets, 1 inside zipper pocket 4 pen loops, phone pouch inside, adjustable shoulder strap. Black (Yellow not available) FHNW‐
Front print on closure, one size, Time for delivery: ca. 6 weeks Switcher ‐ 662 Kennedy 100% cotton,
Yellow, FHN W‐Screen print (front) One size, Time for delivery: ca. 1‐2 weeks Switcher – 547 Cityhorn 100% polyester, 32x36cm Front flap with Velcro closure, Yellow, 2 inside pockets, 1 outside zipper pocket. FHNW‐Front print on closure One size, Time for delivery: ca. 1‐2 weeks Key chain with bottle opener
Aluminum, 1.5x8x0.5cm Pad printing (3.5cm) on bottle opener, one size. Time for delivery: ca. 4‐5 weeks Figure 12. Product Range – Accessories (casual). Florian Kofmel, 2008. 5.1.5.4 Accessories (business) Product type Features / Supplier
Streuartikel.ch
Business Card Holder Business Card Holder in gift box No name – Visitenkartenbox
Aluminum, 9.5x6.5x0.5cm, with battery Laser print (engraved), 6x2cm on closure One size Minimum order: 100 units Time for delivery: ca. 4‐5 weeks No name – Visitenkartenbox
silver‐plated, 14x9.9x2.5cm Laser print (engraving) One size Minimum order: 100 units Time for delivery: ca. 4‐5 weeks No name – n|w Pin
Pin with clasp, ca. 25 x 15mm, metal & enamel, Minimum order: 100 units Time for delivery: 8 weeks Pin Balmain – 27’’ Balmain Golfschirm
Umbrella with wooden handle in pouch, screen print 12x25cm possible, FHNW‐Front print on one segment, one size Minimum order: 100 units Time for delivery: ca. 4‐5 weeks Umbrella Swiss Pocket Knife Wenger – Evolution 10
Swiss Pocket Knife, 8.5 cm, one‐side print Skin color is red (could be chosen also yellow) Large blade, nail file, can opener, screwdriver/bottle opener, awl, corkscrew, tweezers, toothpick Minimum order: 80 units Time for delivery: ca. 4‐5 weeks Figure 13. Product Range – Accessories (business). Florian Kofmel, 2008. Kofmel 22 August 2008 17 / 95 E‐shop concept for merchandizing products 5.1.5.5 Commodities (food) Product type Features / Supplier
Original Baselbieter Rahmtäfeli (supplied by Läckerli Huus AG) 100g Rahmtäfeli in paper bag (standard product)
FHNW‐card with text and/or best wishes (business card size): Business card is designed and attached by School of Business FHNW. Can be printed 2
in‐house or professionally (e.g. 250 units business cards, 400 g/m , color, with 18
standard text/design on front, back with space for individual messages) Shelf life: 12 months Minimum order: 1 unit (Rahmtäfeli) / 250 units (business cards) Time for delivery: ca. 10‐15 working days Baselbieter Rahmtäfeli Basler Läckerli Original Basler Läckerli (supplied by Läckerli Huus AG)
100g Basler Läckerli in carton box (standard product) FHNW‐Flyer (color) is designed / printed at and delivered by School of Business FHNW, 162mm x 78 mm, can have text/images on both sides. Cellophane packaged by Läckerli Huus). Shelf life: 12 months Minimum order: 1 unit (Läckerli) Time for delivery: ca. 10‐15 working days No name ‐ myCompany Box (supplied by streuartikel.ch)
7.5 x 2.5 cm (box can be refilled) White, FHNW‐Print on box, 65g candies can be chosen in FHNW colors: White: cool apple, Japanese mint, Yellow: cool lemon Shelf life: 24 months (cool and dry storage) Packed in cartons of 100 units. Minimum order: 500 units Time for delivery: ca. 4‐5 weeks Bonbons Box Figure 14. Product Range – Commodities (food). Florian Kofmel, 2008. 5.1.5.6 Commodities (non‐food) Product type Features / Supplier
Streuartikel.ch
No name ‐ Lipbalm stick transparent
1.8 x 7 cm
Yellow FHNW‐Front print (e.g. “… für ein gepflegtes Mundwerk.”) Minimum order: 250 units Time for delivery: ca. 4‐5 weeks Lipbalm No name ‐ Triangle 3 in 1 Textmarker
1.8 x 7 cm
White FHNW‐Front print Time for delivery: ca. 4‐5 weeks Textmarker 3 in 1 No name ‐ Thermo‐Trinkbecher
8x18cm, 0.35l content Outside: stainless steel Inside: plastic Pad printing, 4x2cm Time for delivery: ca. 4‐5 weeks Thermo beaker Figure 15. Product Range – Commodities (non‐food). Florian Kofmel, 2008. 18
(Maxiprint Licensing International AG) Kofmel 22 August 2008 18 / 95 5.2 E‐shop concept for merchandizing products Price In this section, the purchase und selling price of a single merchandizing article will be calculated. The purchase price is depending on the material, order quantity, number of printings, printing method used and delivery. VAT is already included in the supplier price. It is assumed that all merchandize articles are stored at the School of Business FHNW. According to one supplier, delivery costs for Switcher products to School of Business FHNW are CHF 35 per packet (approx. 70 units, T‐shirts) which gives 0.5 CHF/unit. To simplify calculations, it is further assumed that any other product type is using this unit cost for delivery. However, delivery costs to consumers are not included as these costs are depending on the payment method in the e‐shop. Moreover, selling prices are assumed to be the same as for University of St. Gallen (HSG) products (cf. Figure 4). If a product is not listed, the selling price will be estimated. Product type Clothing (casual) Price calculation
Option 1: T‐Shirt (fair Trade) 60 units * All Switcher prints are based on an initial order of 500 printing units Supplier Price
+ Printing + Delivery to FHNW Purchase Price + Mark‐up Selling Price (HSG) Supplier Price
+ Printing + Delivery to FHNW Purchase Price + Mark‐up Selling Price (HSG) Option 2: T‐ Shirt (valueweight) 60 units Option 1: T‐Shirt (lady, fair Trade) 45 units Option 2: T‐Shirt (lady, valueweight) 45 units Hooded Sweatshirt 60 units Sweatshirt 30 units Figure 16. Price calculations – Clothing (casual). Florian Kofmel, 2008.
Kofmel Streuartikel.ch 24.50 Incl. 0.50 25.00 4.00 29.00 14.75 incl. 0.50 15.25 13.75 29.00 19.50 incl. 0.50 20.00 9.00 29.00 30.95 Incl. 0.50 31.45 43.55 75.00 26.85 Incl. 0.50 27.35 31.65 59.00 Switcher 21.30
*4.00
0.50 25.80 3.20 29.00 8.00
4.00
0.50 12.50 16.50 29.00 21.30
4.00
0.50 25.80 3.20 29.00 8.00
4.00
0.50 12.50 16.50 29.00 40.20
4.00
0.50 44.70 30.30 75.00 32.00
4.00
0.50 36.50 22.50 59.00 22 August 2008 19 / 95 E‐shop concept for merchandizing products Product type Clothing (business) Price calculation
Option 1: Polo Shirt (fair Trade) 60 units Supplier Price
+ Printing + Delivery to FHNW Purchase Price + Mark‐up Selling Price (HSG) Option 2: Polo Shirt (valueweight) 60 units Option 1: Polo Shirt (lady, fair Trade) 60 units Option 2: Polo Shirt (lady, valueweight) 60 units Business Shirt 30 units Business Blouse 30 units Streuartikel.ch 42.65 Incl. 0.50 43.15 ‐1.15 42.00 22.20 incl. 0.50 22.70 19.30 42.00 42.65 Incl. 0.50 43.15 ‐1.15 42.00 22.20 incl. 0.50 22.70 19.30 42.00 44.80 incl. 0.50 45.30 3.70 49.00 44.80 incl. 0.50 45.30 3.70 49.00 Switcher 36.10
4.00
0.50 40.60 1.40 42.00 15.50
4.00
0.50 20.00 12.00 42.00 15.55
4.00
0.50 20.00 12.00 42.00 40.20
4.00
0.50 44.70 4.30 49.00 40.20
4.00
0.50 44.70 4.30 49.00 Figure 17. Price calculations – Clothing (business). Florian Kofmel, 2008. Kofmel 22 August 2008 20 / 95 E‐shop concept for merchandizing products Product type Accessories (casual) Price calculation
Baseball Cap 60 units Supplier Price
+ Printing + Delivery to FHNW Purchase Price + Mark‐up Selling Price (est.) Supplier Price
+ Printing + Delivery to FHNW Purchase Price + Mark‐up Selling Price (est.) 15.35 incl. 0.50 15.85 9.15 25.00 44.10 incl. 0.50 44.60 4.40 49.00 6.25 incl. 0.50 6.75 0.25 7.00 Supplier Price
+ Printing + Delivery to FHNW Purchase Price + Mark‐up Selling Price (est.) Supplier Price
+ Printing + Delivery to FHNW Purchase Price + Mark‐up Selling Price Supplier Price
+ Printing + Delivery to FHNW Purchase Price + Mark‐up Selling Price (est.) Supplier Price + Printing + Delivery to FHNW Purchase Price + Mark‐up Selling Price (est.) Supplier Price
+ Printing + Delivery to FHNW Purchase Price + Mark‐up Selling Price (HSG) 4.85 incl. 0.50 5.35 9.65 15.00 32.20 incl. 0.50 32.70 only used as giveaway Option 1: 6.85 incl. 0.50 7.35 only used as giveaway Option 2: 4.10 incl. 0.50 4.60 only used as giveaway 24.65 incl. 0.50 25.15 ‐ 0.15 25.00 23.95 incl. 0.50 24.45 4.55 29.00 Bag (The bags of the two suppliers are different) 15 units Key chain with bottle opener 60 units Streuartikel.ch Switcher 4.95
4.00
0.50 9.45 15.55 25.00 9.95
4.00
0.50 14.45 10.55 25.00 Accessories (business) Business Card Holder 100 units (minimum order) Business Card Holder in gift box 100 units (minimum order) n|w Pin Option 1: 100 units Option 2: 200 units Umbrella 100 units Swiss Pocket Knife 80 units (minimum order) Figure 18. Price calculations – Accessories (casual & business). Florian Kofmel, 2008. Kofmel 22 August 2008 21 / 95 Product type E‐shop concept for merchandizing products Price calculation
Streuartikel.ch Läckerli Huus
Commodities (food) Baselbieter Rahmtäfeli (bag) 25 units * Business cards, print by Maxiprint.ch, minimum order 250 units = CHF 71.35, incl. delivery ** attaching business cards with yellow polyband, estimated costs per unit (polyband, payroll costs): CHF 0.50 *** Delivery up to CHF 200: CHF 8.00/delivery (economy), free delivered from CHF 200. Basler Läckerli (box) 25 units * Flyer is designed, printed and delivered by School of Business FHNW, cost estimation per unit (incl. paper, print, paper cutting, payroll costs, delivery costs to Läckerli Huus): CHF 1.50 ** Delivery up to CHF 200: CHF 8.00/delivery (economy), free delivered from CHF 200. Bonbons Box 500 units (minimum order) Supplier Price
+ Printing + Attachment + Delivery to FHNW Purchase Price + Mark‐up Selling Price 3.60
*0.30
**0.50
***0.35
4.75 only used as giveaway Supplier Price
+ Printing + Delivery to FHNW Purchase Price + Mark‐up Selling Price 5.90
*1.50
**0.35
7.75 only used as giveaway Supplier Price
+ Printing + Delivery to FHNW Purchase Price + Mark‐up Selling Price (est.) 3.00 incl. 0.50 3.50 only used as giveaway Supplier Price
+ Printing + Delivery to FHNW Purchase Price + Mark‐up Selling Price (est.) Option 1: 3.15 incl. 0.50 3.65 only used as giveaway Option 2: 2.60 incl. 0.50 3.10 only used as giveaway Option 1: 3.05 incl. 0.50 3.55 only used as giveaway Option 2: 2.55 incl. 0.50 3.05 only used as giveaway 10.60 incl. 0.50 11.10 3.90 15.00 Commodities (non‐food) Lipbalm Option 1: 250 units (minimum order) Option 2: 500 units Textmarker 3 in 1 Option 1: 300 units Option 2: 500 units Thermo Beaker 60 units Figure 19. Price calculations – Commodities (food & non‐food). Florian Kofmel, 2008. Kofmel 22 August 2008 22 / 95 5.3 E‐shop concept for merchandizing products Place The third “P” in the marketing‐mix includes all tasks of the distribution to deliver a product from the place of production to the customer19: A company needs to determine the location, where goods are produced, stored or sold. In addition, distribution channels and physical distribution to customers (marketing logistics) need to be determined. 5.3.1 Process Analysis The supply chain of a company can be divided into three broad areas: procurement, production and sales. Supplier
Company
Customer
Figure 20. Supply Chain. Uwe Leimstoll, 2001‐2007. Procurement deals with the Supplier Relationship Management (SRM). In our case, how merchandize goods can be acquired by the School of Business FHNW from its suppliers. Afterwards, inventory management of the products is important to keep costs at minimum. This needs to be done physically as goods have to be stored somewhere. The use of an e‐shop also demands electronic inventory management. Finally, the e‐commerce supply chain and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) play a crucial role in the electronic selling from the School of Business FHNW to its customers. All three stages of the supply chain are described consecutively. 5.3.1.1 Procurement The procurement life cycle consists of seven steps20. However, only four could be addressed at this stage of the project. The client has to make the final decisions in order to complete all steps. For the sake of completeness, all steps are mentioned. 19
20
(Ramme) (Procurement ‐ Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) Kofmel 22 August 2008 23 / 95 5.3.1.1.1 E‐shop concept for merchandizing products Information gathering / Suppliers Potential suppliers were spotted according to the specified product range. It was important to locate only suppliers which were able to supply most of the desired products to keep the procurement process as simple as possible. Moreover, suppliers should also be able to deliver fair traded goods. The client suggested the English producer Indigo Clothing Ltd. as well. These fair‐trade‐textiles are slightly cheaper than those of the Swiss clothing company Switcher. However, according to Mr. Gfeller, Oberzolldirektion Bern, an import is only paying off at large quantities. Additional costs will occur for delivery, declaration and tariffs. Therefore, the following three suppliers were selected: 5.3.1.1.1.1 Streuartikel.ch (De Rivo & Hilgevoord GmbH) Streuartikel.ch is a supplier located in Oensingen and specialized in corporate promotion. The product range includes more than 7’000 articles such as promotional gifts, giveaways, textiles, candies or office supplies. The company operates as an agency and offers additional services such as assistance in design or branding issues as well. Streuartikel.ch uses synergies in its worldwide partner network and also offers support in procurement and development of merchandizing articles. In addition, the showroom in Zurich incorporates all articles of the main catalogue. According to the managing director, Sofia Hilgevoord, the company knows the processes of production and pays attention to ethnical, social and environmental issues as good as possible. However, it would be sometimes difficult to control everything, especially if several producers and agents are involved. Hence, the company works together with renowned testing laboratories according to “Social and Environmental Compliance Audits” (e.g. SA 8000, ISO 14001)21. The use and processing of materials have been chosen in respect of the environment and people. Most clothing products used in proposed product range come from the manufacturer US‐Basic, which provides good quality at a fair price. Certain products are labeled as Green Concept, meaning that textiles were manufactured out of environmentally friendly materials such as organic cotton or bamboo fiber. 21
(streuartikel.ch) Kofmel 22 August 2008 24 / 95 E‐shop concept for merchandizing products 5.3.1.1.1.2 Switcher AG / Magic Print Robin Cornelius, a student of the University Lausanne founded Switcher in 1981. Today, he is still the CEO of the company. Since 1991, Switcher has continually improved production under social and ecological aspects22. According to the Swiss charity Max Havelaar23, Switcher is the only clothing company in Switzerland which is able to deliver fully fair‐ traded products. These products have received the Max‐Havelaar‐Certificate which guarantees environmentally friendly production as well as good working conditions and fair payment for all involved people in production process. Roman Wittwer from Max Havelaar also confirmed that all other Switcher textiles consider Fair Trade to a certain extent: No child labor, fair and good payments and social benefits for foreign weaver and sever. In addition, the production process of every single product can be monitored online24. According to Daniele Buonocore, Manager Compliance & Integrity of Switcher AG, small farmers in India or South Africa produce cotton which will be woven and sewed to clothes in India and/or Portugal, China, Romania. The textiles are then imported to Switzerland. Finally, the textile printing company Magic Print, located in Solothurn, will imprint the FHNW logo on all textiles. 5.3.1.1.1.3 Läckerli Huus AG Since over 100 years, the company has been producing the well‐known Basler Läckerli according to a secret recipe25. This is a typical specialty of Basel and a perfect gift as the School of Business FHNW is also located in Basel. Läckerli Huus AG produces other delicacies such as Baselbieter Rahmtäfeli as well. All products can be packaged or imprinted individually. 22
(Switcher) (Max Havelaar‐Stiftung (Schweiz)) 24
(*respect‐inside) 25
(Läckerli Huus AG) 23
Kofmel 22 August 2008 25 / 95 5.3.1.1.2 E‐shop concept for merchandizing products Supplier contact After pointing out the suppliers, all suppliers were contacted by telephone to order product catalogs. Requests for quotes were sent out by email and further details were discussed in meetings. The quotes were the basis for price calculations and setting up the budget. 5.3.1.1.3 Background review The product quality of Switcher textiles and the imprint technology of Magic Print have been discussed and examined in the meeting with Mario Brönnimann, Managing Director of Magic Print. He also mentioned that the Swiss national soccer team and BSC Young Boys belong to his clients. Product samples of Streuartikel.ch were examined in the meeting with Sofia Hilgevoord. References include Raiffeisen and Eurolotto. 5.3.1.1.4 Negotiation Some negotiations were undertaken. According to Brönnimann, product customization is possible at a quantity of 250. One can then define the pattern (e.g. Business shirt without breast pocket, FHNW tag instead of Switcher tag). Clothing at Streuartikel.ch can be customized as well (from 100 units). The product line is called Customized Corporate Clothing (C3‐Tex) and has almost unlimited possibilities. According to Hilgevoord, these textiles would not be more expensive compared to other articles of clothing. Delivery schedule is given by the suppliers: Streuartikel.ch mentions 4‐5 weeks. Switcher AG delivers within 1‐2 weeks. 5.3.1.1.5 Fulfillment Once the client and suppliers have agreed on contract terms, the suppliers produce and deliver the merchandizing products after the payment was made by FHNW. Certain changes are subject to definition of inventory management. Kofmel 22 August 2008 26 / 95 5.3.1.1.6 E‐shop concept for merchandizing products Consumption, Maintenance and Disposal Basically, merchandizing products will be sold through the e‐shop. Special circumstances (e.g. graduation, business contacts) include no selling. Possible product feedbacks from customers will be collected (e.g. survey). 5.3.1.1.7 Renewal Depending on product satisfaction, merchandizing articles will be reordered from suppliers or new suppliers will be considered. Unsuccessful products will be discontinued and not ordered again. 5.3.1.2 Inventory Management The inventory management of merchandizing products can be done in two ways – physically or electronically. One option for physical inventory management is to store the ordered merchandize articles in the premises of the FHNW. According to Rolf Lauber, Facility Manager FHNW Olten, it is possible to store products in the Riggenbachstrasse building. Suggested storage space is 9 m2 at the beginning. He mentioned that no fee is involved for storage place. According to Peter Melzl, Läckerli Huus AG, delivery to School of Business FHNW is CHF 8 (economy) per packet only up to an order value of CHF 200. For clothing products, Brönnimann mentioned CHF 35 per packet. Another option is to physically store merchandize articles at the location of the supplier. According to Brönnimann and Hilgevoord, this would be possible at Magic Print (service, no additional costs) and Streuartikel.ch (costs are subject to expenditure, ordering quantity). It is also possible to combine both storage options. For price calculations, it is assumed that all merchandize articles will be delivered and stored at School of Business FHNW. Beside physical inventory management, merchandizing products need to be managed electronically as well. All observed software solutions support inventory management. For example, every sold article will decrease the amount of stock in the database. Within the administration panel, a good overview of those products which need to be reordered by the e‐shop operators is provided. Kofmel 22 August 2008 27 / 95 E‐shop concept for merchandizing products 5.3.1.3 E‐Commerce Supply Chain The final phase in the supply chain deals with merchandizing articles to be sold to customers. The e‐shop will be the only sales channel at the moment. Therefore, it is important to have a look at the five transaction phases26 of the e‐commerce supply chain. 5.3.1.3.1 Motivation Phase In the first phase, it is crucial that the e‐shop can be found online and potential customers get to know the offering of merchandizing articles. Several promotion activities are needed, which will be described in the last section of the marketing mix – Promotion. 5.3.1.3.2 Information Phase Once potential customers have reached the e‐shop, effective presentation of the merchandizing articles is absolutely essential. It has a heavy impact on the time a potential customer remains on the website depending on how content is arranged. A typical user only remains shortly on a webpage27. Therefore, keep it straightforward with meaningful messages at the beginning, which invites the user to explore the e‐shop in more detail. Such messages could be a catchy verbal introduction or attractive pictures (e.g. students wearing merchandize products). In addition, all products need to be fully described. It would be wise to support all merchandizing articles with 1‐3 pictures. One could be a close‐up view. It is important that customers find all information for their buying decisions in the e‐shop28. This also includes general terms and conditions such as different costs for delivery (domestic / foreign countries) and that the website content needs to be translated into other languages. According to the target groups, German and English is compulsory. 5.3.1.3.3 Negotiation Phase After the decision was made what to order, a customer adds the merchandize product(s) to the basket. Afterwards, the customer types in the delivery address. The next step is to select a payment method. 26
(Leimstoll, Grundlagen des E‐Commerce: E‐Shops, Transaktionsphasen) (Puscher) 28
(Leimstoll, Grundlagen des E‐Commerce: E‐Shops, Transaktionsphasen) 27
Kofmel 22 August 2008 28 / 95 E‐shop concept for merchandizing products Finally, the customer receives an e‐mail as an automated order confirmation which is the contract formation in e‐commerce. In this phase, the customer enters his or her personal data including payment details. Therefore, it is important that the customer can trust the website especially during the order process. One means is to secure the data transfer in the internet from eavesdropping with an encryption protocol called Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)29. As servers are hosted by the FHNW, it can secure the e‐shop with SSL. Although the connection is secure, web browsers cannot recognize the certificate and display a security warning. Third‐party certificates, e.g. from PSW Group, will verify and guarantee the identity of the School of Business FHNW e‐shop. Such certificates are available from 15 Euro a year30. 5.3.1.3.4 Fulfillment Phase In this phase, the contract has to be fulfilled in two ways – Payment and Logistics31. First, the customer has to pay according to the choice of payment in the e‐shop. Second, the School of Business FHNW has to give or send the article to the customer. Payment options can be cash payment (at the Customer Care Center), payment slip, or credit card. The latter demands secure payment. PayPal is an e‐business company specialized in e‐payments. It is supported by all three e‐shop solutions which will be described later. Compared to other credit card processors such as authorize.net or ipayment, no set‐up/monthly fee is required. Costs only incur for transactions (1.9% to 3.4% + 0.55 CHF)32. In addition, the PayPal integration in the e‐shop solution can be tested with the Sandbox33. This is a full test environment that works like the real PayPal: It is very helpful to simulate several test purchases with credit cards in an e‐shop. Products can be delivered out of the stock at Riggenbach building or supplier’s place. No delivery costs occur if the products are picked up at the Customer Care Center. If products need to be sent a delivery fee has to be added on the selling price. 29
(Leimstoll, Grundlagen des E‐Commerce: E‐Shops, Transaktionsphasen) (PSW Group) 31
(Leimstoll, Grundlagen des E‐Commerce: E‐Shops und Transaktionsphasen) 32
(PayPal) 33
(PayPal) 30
Kofmel 22 August 2008 29 / 95 E‐shop concept for merchandizing products On the other hand, Magic Print and Streuartikel.ch can deliver merchandize articles directly to School of Business FHNW customers, including using FHNW letter paper. In this case, delivery costs need to be added to the selling price. The supplier will then regularly balance these costs. Therefore, the following process scenario could occur regarding the three payment methods: Inventory at School of Business FHNW 1 School of Business FHNW
2 Customer 3 School of Business FHNW
1 2 Customer 1 School of Business FHNW
2 Customer 3 Cash Payment (only pick‐up) 1. Order online 2. Payment at CCC (no delivery cost) 3. Delivery at CCC Credit Card Payment (only delivery) 1. Order & Payment online 2. Product delivery Payment Slip (only delivery) 1. Order online 2. Product delivery (incl. Payment slip) 3. Payment Inventory at supplier’s place Supplier 4 2
3 School of Business FHNW
1 Customer Supplier 5 2
4 School of Business FHNW
1 Customer Credit Card Payment
1. Order & Payment (incl. delivery cost) 2. Product delivery 3. Delivery cost settlement 4. Delivery cost payment Payment Slip 1. Order 2. Product delivery (incl. Payment slip) 3. Payment 4. Delivery cost settlement 5. Delivery cost payment Cash Payment Not recommended 3 Figure 21. Processes of Order‐Payment‐Delivery. Florian Kofmel, 2008. Tracking & Tracing is part of the fulfillment phase as well. Logistic services such as DHL, UPS or FedEx record the current and past locations and other status of property in transit. This information can be retrieved on their websites34. In addition, e‐shop solutions (e.g. osCommerce) have certain functions to inform customers about the order and delivery status. 34
(DHL International GmbH) Kofmel 22 August 2008 30 / 95 E‐shop concept for merchandizing products Finally transfer of ownership and warranties & returns need to be defined. Normally this information can be found in the terms and conditions section of the e‐shop. According to all suppliers, warranties and returns are part of their service in case they would deliver the merchandize articles to School of Business FHNW customers. In all circumstances, merchandize articles with product failures or printing errors will be replaced by suppliers. 5.3.1.3.5 After‐sales phase After‐sales service in e‐Commerce is often additionally handled by a Frequently‐Asked‐Questions (FAQ) section which customer can find in the e‐shop. Common issues and problems are mentioned and answered there. This could prevent customers to call up and ask the same questions again and again. If a problem is not tackled in FAQ, a customer still has the possibility to call the after‐sales service. All things considered, less time on customer care is spent which also saves expenses. Moreover, the collected customer data in the ordering process can be used to inform him or her about new merchandize products or special discounts. A good idea is also to look for their participation (e.g. feedbacks, surveys). The Martin‐Luther‐University in Halle‐Wittenberg for example, extends or adapts its product range according to a customer survey35. Such means can improve customer satisfaction and retention. 35
(Dr. Hempel) Kofmel 22 August 2008 31 / 95 5.4 E‐shop concept for merchandizing products Promotion Promotion activities can strengthen the position and brand of a company. Promotion is basically needed to create initial contacts between the offering of a vendor and its potential customers36. In addition, promotion is important in the Motivation Phase of the e‐commerce supply chain. How can potential customers be pulled on the e‐shop? Promotion activities can be divided into offline‐ and online‐concepts: •
Use of traditional advertising methods to communicate the URL •
Optimization of findability (“URL guessing”) •
Advertising in the World Wide Web •
Use of newsletters and emails Figure 22. Offline‐/online concepts. Markus Stolpmann, 2001. 5.4.1 Use of traditional advertising methods to communicate the URL The internet is a great promotion platform. However, one should not forget that the majority of potential customers are not always using the World Wide Web37. References to the e‐shop by using classical communication channels can be an inexpensive way to generate new contacts. Such channels could be business documents. Especially letter paper of the School of Business FHNW could be used to advertise the e‐shop, e.g. with a small “yellow cloud” with text at the bottom. Concretely, the target group students could be reached with the letter of semester confirmation or the performance report. Staff usually gets a letter by the end of the year to appreciate merits. 5.4.1.1 On‐campus promotion According to Kotler and Keller, many studies have shown that around 70 percent of buying decisions are made in stores38. Moreover, Point‐of‐Purchase Promotions can create new needs, release emotions, and encourage spontaneous purchases39. Well, a campus store does not exist at the moment. However, it 36
(Stolpmann, Interessenten finden: Promotion‐Massnahmen) (Stolpmann, Cross‐Media‐Marketing: Einbindung in die traditionelle Werbung) 38
Es ist eine ungültige Quelle angegeben. 39
Kofmel 22 August 2008 32 / 95 E‐shop concept for merchandizing products would make sense to exceptionally sell merchandize articles along with the on‐campus book selling at the beginning of every semester. Staff could also take advantage of this offer. In addition, short print ads on pin boards at FHNW locations Basel, Brugg and Olten help to create awareness as well. Such ads can be produced at very low cost. More costly, but effective are display cases. The office supplies specialist Schäfer Shop in Oensingen sells a display case model, 1.5 meter height with 4 shelves for 789 CHF40. 5.4.2 Optimization of findability (“URL guessing”) It might be difficult to reach the e‐shop without having the domain name handy. Therefore, most potential customers would consider a search engine to “guess” the URL. A prerequisite is that the website is submitted to a search engines like Google, Yahoo or MSN. The website will not be entered automatically in the search engine41. A Google search with “university”, “merchandize” and “online shop” currently provides 15’700 results displayed on 61 pages. This listing of different websites according to the search string is called organic listing42. Organic
Listing
Google AdWords 22 August 2008 33 / 95 Figure 23. Search Engine Results. Florian Kofmel, 2008. 40
(Schäfer Shop) (Stolpmann, Verkehrssteuerung im Web) 42
(Erdmeier) 41
Kofmel E‐shop concept for merchandizing products Although such a search string is also appropriate for the School of Business FHNW e‐shop, a customer might not be able to enter the shop. The reason is that the e‐shop might be displayed not on the first couple of pages but for example on page 30. It is likely that someone will rather give up or try another search than working oneself through all the results. In this case, search engine marketing need to be optimized in order to improve the ranking. It is important that the e‐shop is supported by Meta Tags43 which are embedded in the source code. These tags are needed for a website to be better “crawled” by a search engine. “Those who do not know what customers are looking for will not be able to find them”44. The following example illustrates a possible source code: <Meta name="description" content="FHNW School of Business E‐Shop." />
<Meta name="keywords" content="FHNW, school of business, fachhochschule, university, online shop, merchandize, giveaways, t‐shirt, hoody, olten, brugg, basel” /> Figure 24. Meta Tag Source Code. Florian Kofmel, 2008. 5.4.3 Use of newsletters and emails Once the e‐shop has been installed, an email should be sent out to all School of Business FHNW students and staff with information about the e‐shop. Currently the FHNW does not have an official Alumni network. However, the FHNW website mentions seven45 associations which maintain such a network as they were former School of Business FHNW students. Contact details can be obtained on all websites to inform the different associations about the e‐shop. As far as is known, newsletters have not been sent out yet. Once the e‐shop is set‐up, customers can be informed about new products or discounts. Software solutions (e.g. osCommerce) have inbuilt‐functions to send out newsletters. 43
(Wikipedia) (Dalla Vecchia) 45
(FHNW) 44
Kofmel 22 August 2008 34 / 95 E‐shop concept for merchandizing products 5.4.4 Advertising in the World Wide Web As shown in Figure 23, Google AdWords46 can be displayed in search results. It is a powerful online promotion tool. How does Google AdWords work? First, advertisers need to specify all relevant words that should trigger ads of their products on the search engine Google. As soon as someone enters one of these words in the search box, ads are displayed as sponsored links above or on the right‐hand side of main search results. Promotion with AdWords in not expensive: Every time someone clicks on the corresponding advertisement, you get charged a minimum fee per click of 1 Swiss Rappen47 (pay‐per‐
click advertisements)48. To control costs, advertisers can predetermine a certain budget per day, week or, month. Once the budget limit has been reached, AdWords simply does not show the paid link anymore for the rest of the period. Beside Google AdWords, other online marketing instruments49 such as banner ads, online competitions or online public relations exist which might be appropriate for the e‐shop. A banner ad could be created and published on the main page of the FHNW website to attract interested parties. Depending on the banner technology, clicks can be monitored and evaluated. Merchandize articles could also be given as prices to survey participants. Furthermore, the launch of the e‐shop or new products could be published in the School of Business FHNW intranet or news section to raise the interest of the reader. 46
Es ist eine ungültige Quelle angegeben. Es ist eine ungültige Quelle angegeben. 48
(Dalla Vecchia) 47
Kofmel 22 August 2008 35 / 95 E‐shop concept for merchandizing products 6 Technical and Software Requirements 6.1 Description of Website Hosting at FHNW The FHNW website uses Plone, an open‐source content management system which is connected to Zope, a web application server50. The content of website is divided into nine parts (Zope entities) to enable that each school has its own database. In addition, the FHNW uses two types of server systems for their applications51. Firstly, SuSE Linux Enterprise Servers are supporting a broad range of internet applications. Apache is the installed web server, which interprets programming languages like HTML, Perl, CGI, PHP as well as the Zope Server for Plone applications. Also supported is MySQL, often needed for database management. Websites are normally administered via FTP. Secondly, Microsoft Windows Servers deal with special applications. 6.2 Concept evaluation regarding FHNW‐website The e‐shop could be set‐up in two ways, either as an integrated solution in the FHNW‐website or as a stand‐alone product, not technically connected to the FHNW‐website. Both, an integrated and a stand‐
alone e‐shop could either use open‐source or proprietary software. According to Urban Meier, Business Applications department, the e‐shop would be operated as a web service. There are three web services52 options to be considered: 1. Layout Support FHNW, 2. Layout Relation FHNW, 3. Layout Partner FHNW. As the e‐shop is connected closely to the FHNW website, he recommended using the Layout Relation FHNW (cf. Appendix 2). Moreover, Meier said that the Business Applications department only has limited resources to adapt the e‐shop layout to the overall FHNW layout. 50
(Plone Foundation) (Lang) 52
(Lang) 51
Kofmel 22 August 2008 36 / 95 E‐shop concept for merchandizing products 6.2.1 Integrated e‐shop The integrated e‐shop is embedded in the FHNW website. As the website is set‐up with Plone, the e‐
Shop would technically be connected to Plone as well. In addition, maintenance and administration is done via Plone. Therefore, the e‐shop would be an add‐on product. On the Plone website, several add‐
ons are offered related to e‐commerce including EasyShop, PloneMall or GetPaid. According to a chat session53 with other Plone users/developers, EasyShop is very straightforward, but has not an official release version so far. PloneMall uses old coding and has not been updated yet. GetPaid is more complex. However, it is updated and was recommended by several users. According to Meier, the FHNW currently uses Plone 2.5. However, there will be an update to Plone 3.0 that should be made by the End of October 2008. Therefore, the add‐on has to be compatible to Plone 3.0 as well. A helpful overview about current e‐Commerce add‐ons on Plone can be found online54. Advantages Firstly, an integrated e‐shop would fit well into the FHNW website, as another component. The administration and maintenance of the e‐shop could centrally be done in the Plone configuration panel. Moreover, the layout of the e‐shop could be easily adapted. Secondly, the FHNW has experienced staff available, as currently around 180 editors55 are working with Plone. Moreover, the Business Applications department knows the Plone environment from a technical point of view and can give certain support. Thirdly, all add‐ons offered on the Plone website are free of charge. Disadvantages Firstly, as this e‐shop is planned to be operated only by the School of Business, it would be necessary to place it within the School of Business section on the FHNW website. This circumstance makes it difficult for users to find the e‐shop on the FHNW website. Secondly, if FHNW plans to switch to another content management system, it would then be necessary to adapt the e‐shop as well, either to the new CMS if possible or to a stand‐alone shop solution. Thirdly, according to the Plone community, e‐commerce 53
(Plone Foundation) (Johnson, Plone Commerce Background ‐ GetPaid for Plone) 55
(Pöllinger and Schär) 54
Kofmel 22 August 2008 37 / 95 E‐shop concept for merchandizing products solutions are in great demand and the add‐ons are under heavy development. However, some lack certain functions. 6.2.2 Stand‐alone E‐shop A stand‐alone E‐shop can be operated without having Plone as a content management system installed. Technical requirement is a server environment, which is able to interpret HTML, PHP and MySQL. Basically, a stand‐alone e‐shop can use the same layout and colors of the FHNW website as the presentation of the e‐shop is not dependent on the structure (coding)56. However, Meier also recommends using the Layout Relation FHNW for a stand‐alone e‐shop. He said that the main goal is to “strengthen the umbrella brand FHNW”. Advantages Firstly, a stand‐alone e‐shop fully operates without any other software. This means also fewer restrictions and dependences compared to integrated e‐shops. Secondly, stand‐alone solutions are highly customizable and can have a variety of add‐on products. Today, the e‐shop solution osCommerce has over 4’800 add‐ons available57. Disadvantages Firstly, stand‐alone e‐shops are more time‐consuming than integrated e‐shops. Time needs to be allocated to staff to get used to the e‐shop solution, which might not be similar to the Plone environment. Meier also mentioned that the Business Applications department would install the stand‐
alone solution. However, only limited support could be given. 56
57
(The CSS advantage: PHP MySQL Blog) (osCommerce) Kofmel 22 August 2008 38 / 95 E‐shop concept for merchandizing products 6.2.3 Open‐source software The Open Source Initiative (OSI) gave out a certification standard which says that the source code is available to the public for free58. It is “open” for use and can be modified by anyone. Often such programs are supported by large communities with the intention to share thoughts and to improve the source code and therefore the software with its functions. The use and redistribution of open‐source software as well as community support is basically free of charge. However, some vendors have started to provide closer support, which is fee required. Beside the advantage that open‐source software is free, code failures (bugs) are generally eliminated much quicker compared to proprietary software as the code will be reviewed by many peers59. In addition, one can talk directly to developers or other software users and get immediate response to individual requests or problems. Another great advantage is its modularity60. Especially open‐source software projects which support a large community provide many add‐ons to the basic functions. Thus, software can be tailored to one’s specific needs. Moreover, open source software enjoys excellent reputation and is to be told as reliable, robust and secure61. In contrast, new open source software sometimes lacks usability as the main goal is to have functionality at the beginning62. In addition, it is hard to keep track of the different program solutions. This could be a result of disagreements under developers. As it is free to use the code, new programs with similar functionality arise. Moreover, quality is not guaranteed at all and open source software can have fatal errors or other problems63. This is especially true if the software is new or only supported by a small community. 58
(Webopedia) (M. Asay) 60
(Gök) 61
(Gunton) 62
(GISWiki) 63
(Kerr) 59
Kofmel 22 August 2008 39 / 95 E‐shop concept for merchandizing products 6.2.4 Proprietary software Proprietary software is not free and has to be bought from the software producer. In addition, the source code is not available to the public and normally kept secret. The use of proprietary software requires you to ask for permission, as well as its redistribution or modification64. What proprietary software excels is that it is reliable as users get updates regularly65. Updates are easier to handle and require less user experience. Moreover, the software has usually a high performance right from the beginning66. In addition, the payment of proprietary software sometimes also includes certain services like software installation or training. In addition, users become officially “customers” and thus, the company has an intrinsic interested to serve its customers well. Hence, customers can expect professional support. In contrast, proprietary software is often rather expensive67 and the use of proprietary software is frequently bundled to service payments. If you cancel support, you will lose the right to use the software68. Thus, especially smaller firms need to bring up a lot of money to finance a seemingly more convenient product. Another downside is the dependency on the vendor. In case of a standardized solution, the software companies decide on the content and functionality of the program. As a result, further development is at slower pace. 6.3 E‐Shop Software Evaluation According to Richard Pöllinger, responsible for the school of business website, it would be appreciated if the e‐shop could be integrated in the Plone environment as well. Therefore, one software option will be based on Plone. The second one is an open source solution which also works stand‐alone. Finally, the third solution is commercial software, which is externally hosted by a third‐party provider. Certain criteria were used for comparison. In addition, points (0‐5) were allocated to benchmark all three solutions. 64
(Free Software Foundation Inc.) (Peters) 66
(Gök) 67
(Peters) 68
(Peters) 65
Kofmel 22 August 2008 40 / 95 E‐shop concept for merchandizing products 6.3.1 Get Paid E‐Commerce solutions for Plone are to some extent under heavy development. One of the youngest solutions, but according to users with most future potential, is Get Paid. The first release was on July 24, 2007. Current version is 0.6.1 of June 2, 2008. Criteria Software Type Requirements69 Findings Features70 •
•
•
•
•
•
•
Payment methods Add‐ons Price Support PayPal, Ogone and other non‐European payment methods, offline payment Cost 5 Installation 3 Open Source Plone 2.5 with Zope 2.9.4 or Plone 3.0 with Zope 2.10, elementree, Python 2.4, simplejson, m2crypto (for authorize.net), user need to have JavaScript enabled during checkout process Simple store architecture Checkouts without having account can be enabled/disables Warehouse, Shipping and Fulfillment management Secure page configuration Order management Payment configuration and processing German translation Multiple currency support, PloneFormGen (generic form generator) free irc.freenode.net IM channel (Chat Æ #getpaid), RSS feed, forum on plone.org Maintenance
4 Flexibility
3
Usability
‐
Support 2 Score
17
Figure 25. Findings of GetPaid. Florian Kofmel, 2008. Technical difficulties and an elusive installation guide made it impossible to test GetPaid locally. As a result, no evaluations of the shop administration could be made. However, the New Zealand website of Healthy Food Media Limited is using GetPaid on its website to sell magazines71. This website was taken to evaluate GetPaid from a customer point of view. GetPaid perfectly fits into the rest of the website as layout has been adapted. This e‐shop supports basic features like different categories; shopping cart and check‐out can be done in five straight‐forward steps. Entering customer data is not secured. However, credit card details are encrypted and processed by paymentexpress. Emails are sent out to the store owner when a transaction was made. In addition, the customer receives an order confirmation. 69
(Johnson, What are the dependencies for the product? Plone CMS: Open Source Content Management) (Johnson, Overview ‐ GetPaid for Plone) 71
(Healthy Food Media Limited) 70
Kofmel 22 August 2008 41 / 95 E‐shop concept for merchandizing products 6.3.2 OsCommerce OsCommerce is one of the most widely used72 e‐commerce solutions und claims to have over 185’500 store operators and developers73. Very impressive is also that there are over 4’900 add‐ons which extend the basic functionality of the e‐shop solution. The current and stable version is 2.2 RC 2a released on January 30, 2008. However, according to the project leader Harald Ponce de Leon, there is currently version 3.0 to be tested and should be released anytime soon. This will be a major change as most of the code has been rewritten. Basically, as most of the users would like then to update to the newest version, some sort of upgrade tools will be included. Nevertheless, these could not upgrade all add‐ons automatically and would only include the core shop functions, delivered with version 2.2 RC 2a. Other add‐ons have to be upgraded by the corresponding developers. Figure 26. OsCommerce Administration Panel. Florian Kofmel, 2008. OsCommerce is uploaded on the web server: It is ready to be used after a guided installation in within 15 minutes. It comes with a fictive product range, sorted in categories. This gives a new user the opportunity to play with it a bit and understand the shop mechanism. The administration panel is easy to use. Some admin features are category and product management; use of different currencies, taxes, discounts; customer and order management. Navigation and checkout procedure is straight‐forward. The basic installation also allows user to generate content by rating and commenting products. 72
73
(Netsolution Consulting Group GmbH) (osCommerce) Kofmel 22 August 2008 42 / 95 E‐shop concept for merchandizing products On the other hand, knowledge in web design (HTML, PHP, CSS) is preferred for layout changes as these need to be made in template files. This can be simplified with the add‐on Simple Template System; Changes in the layout will then require only one HTML‐file. In addition, anonymous checkout is not possible at the beginning but the feature can be included by the add‐on Purchase without Account. Add‐ons are generally uploaded to a specific directory and are installed within the administration panel. Some add‐ons, however, need changes in the source files according to respective supplied documentation. Criteria Software Type Requirements Features74 Findings Open Source No additional software required. Technical requirements: PHP, mySQL •
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Payment methods Add‐ons Price Support Cost 5 Multilingual (English, German, Spanish as default) Support for physical and virtual (downloadable) goods Statistics for products and customers Support for multiple currency Order history/status can be reviewed by customer Product reviews/recommendations (collaborative and content‐based filtering) Inventory management Shipping & Tax functions Offline payment, PayPal, Authorize.net, iPayment, paynova, to name a few. More are available on the add‐on site. Payment without Account; PayPal IPN Module: Administration Access Level Accounts; 4’923 add‐ons in total available. free 75
English forum with 185’739 members, over one million posts . 76
German forum with 28’330 members, nearly 300’000 posts . 114‐page manual supplied with program files. Installation 3 Maintenance
4 Flexibility
4
Usability
3
Support 4 Score
23
Figure 27. Findings of OsCommerce. Florian Kofmel, 2008 74
(osCommerce) (osCommerce) 76
(osCommerce) 75
Kofmel 22 August 2008 43 / 95 E‐shop concept for merchandizing products 6.3.3 1&1 Business Shop Pro This e‐shop of 1&1 is a partly outsourced version, meaning that installation and technical maintenance of the shop is done by the third‐party provider 1&1. Three packages are on offer, however, only the Business Shop Pro is suitable. Perfect Shop and Business Shop lack cross‐selling options, different discounts and support only one delivery zone (e.g. Switzerland). Therefore, a former visiting student could not be charged with the appropriate delivery costs. In addition, included iPayment transactions (100 per month) and additional benefits (no installation and monthly fee for iPayment) are only available in the Business Shop Pro model77. An advantage is that the e‐shop owner only needs to upload product details, set up categories and define price as well as the shop layout. No knowledge in programming is required for all three 1&1‐solutions78. Moreover, 1&1 e‐shops are secured by a trusted SSL‐certificate. In addition, the premium version allows different access permissions for the administration panel. On the other side, it is costly to operate an e‐shop with minimal effort and such convenient features. The monthly fee for the Business Shop Pro solution is 70 Euro (term of six months) plus one‐time installation costs of 15 Euro79. Moreover, the e‐shop only supports add‐ons provided by 1&1. The expandability is therefore limited. Criteria Software Type Requirements Features Payment methods Add‐ons Price Findings Support Email support, 24x7 Hotline (0,14 Euro/Min) Optional: personal support by phone (10 Euro/month) Cost 0 Installation 5 Proprietary Software None Features available according to three different pricing models. Offline payment, iPayment what is offered by the service provider, no support for external add‐ons installation costs 15 Euro, monthly fee 70 euro Maintenance
5 Flexibility
2
Usability
4
Support 2 Score
18
Figure 28. Findings of 1&1 Business Shop Pro. Florian Kofmel, 2008. 77
(1&1 Hosting) (1&1 Internet AG) 79
(1&1 Internet AG) 78
Kofmel 22 August 2008 44 / 95 7 Realization 7.1 Operational Management E‐shop concept for merchandizing products According to the Customer Care Centers in Olten, Brugg and Basel 1’564 students are enrolled in School of Business FHNW degree programs. To estimate the weekly workload of the e‐shop, information of e‐shop operators at the University of St. Gallen are considered. According to Jennifer Kahn, a team of three students weekly spend around a day each (or 25.5 hours in total)80 and receive CHF 25 payment per hour. Furthermore, their work includes order management (receiving and processing), inventory management (ordering and re‐ordering from suppliers), supplier visits, new product development, marketing, updating of the e‐shop in general and some offline selling. Finally, the university has 5’367 enrolled students from which 4’301 are studying business81. Although the workload for the e‐shop in St. Gallen is higher, as more students are enrolled, it is assumed that the School of Business FHNW e‐shop needs to be operated by the same amount of resources. Basically, because of more work at the beginning as processes will not run smoothly in early stages yet. Moreover, it is assumed that all merchandize products are stored in Olten. 7.1.1 Students One option would be to run the e‐shop by students. A Business Information Technology student (8.5 hours/week, 25 CHF/hour) is responsible for technical maintenance of the e‐shop on the web such as defining/adapting product categories, uploading product pictures and mailings. A Business Administration student (8.5 hours/week, 25 CHF/hour) is mainly responsible for order and inventory management, supplier contacts and accounting. However, other people are also involved. One technician has to install the e‐shop and adapt the layout (service, no costs incurred). One FHNW‐staff member, preferably from the Marketing & Communications FHNW department, is needed to supervise the operations (approx. 3 hours/week, CHF 30/hour). In addition, design suggestions by the students need to be arranged with the Marketing & 80
81
(Kahn) (Universität St. Gallen) Kofmel 22 August 2008 45 / 95 E‐shop concept for merchandizing products Communications FHNW department and/or the bureau of communications design (service, no costs incurred). Moreover, one employee is also involved for pick‐up orders at CCC (give out product / receive cash payment; 1 hour/week, 25 CHF/hour). According to Corinne Lanz82, wage management FHNW, an CCC‐employee, aged 20, without any further education earns net salary of 3’850 CHF (100% workload = 170 hours/month; 8.5 hours/day). In addition, an apprentice at the Customer Care Center nets 620 CHF in the first year, 810 CHF in the second year and 1’110 CHF in the third year. Therefore, total weekly operating costs for personnel are CHF 540. 7.1.2 Staff In this case, the e‐shop of the school would be operated by School of Business FHNW staff members, located in Olten. Three CCC‐employees share the following responsibilities (4.25 hours/week each, CHF 25/hour): Maintenance of the e‐shop on the web such as defining/adapting product categories, uploading product pictures, order and inventory management, mailings, supplier contacts and accounting. In addition, one FHNW‐staff member, preferably from the Marketing & Communications FHNW department, supervises the operations (approx. 1.5 hours/week, CHF 30/hour). Total weekly operating costs for personnel are CHF 364. 7.1.3 Outsourcing Partly outsourcing of the e‐shop operation exists in two ways: First, electronically, as discussed with the 1&1 Business Shop Pro software solution. Second, physically, as products can be stored at supplier’s place. In addition, suppliers can also deliver products directly to customers as already mentioned in the process analysis. 82
(Lanz) Kofmel 22 August 2008 46 / 95 7.2 E‐shop concept for merchandizing products Budget Basically, the product range can be arranged as you like: Only the cheapest product will be considered, all products from the same supplier, those products with the best quality and so on. To simplify, two product ranges were calculated. One will include all products by Streuartikel.ch. The other considers Switcher clothing (cf. Appendix 1). Business card holder in gift box, n|w pin, commodities (food), lip balm and text marker are only used as giveaways and not sold in the e‐shop. Hence, these costs need to be considered in a total budget of the School of Business FHNW. Further, it is assumed that all other products will be sold (no giveaways!); Products are stored at School of Business FHNW; GetPaid or osCommerce will be used as software solution and the e‐shop is operated by staff. Product Range Clothing (casual) Expenses
Option 2: T‐ Shirt (valueweight), 60 units Purchase Price CHF 15.25 Selling Price CHF 29.00 Option 2: T‐Shirt (lady, valueweight), 45 units Purchase Price CHF 20.00 Selling Price CHF 29.00 Hooded Sweatshirt, 60 units Purchase Price CHF 31.45 Selling Price CHF 75.00 Sweatshirt, 30 units Purchase Price CHF 27.35 Selling Price CHF 59.00 Revenues 915.00 900.00 1’887.00 820.50 1’740.00 1’305.00 4’500.00 1’770.00 Clothing (business) Option 2: Polo Shirt (valueweight), 60 units Purchase Price CHF 22.70 Selling Price CHF 42.00 Option 2: Polo Shirt (lady, valueweight), 60 units
Purchase Price CHF 22.70 Selling Price CHF 42.00 Business Shirt, 30 units Purchase Price CHF 45.30 Selling Price CHF 49.00 Business Blouse, 30 units Purchase Price CHF 45.30 Selling Price CHF 49.00 1’362.00 1’362.00 1’359.00 1’359.00 2’520.00 2’520.00 1’470.00 1’470.00 Accessories (casual) Baseball Cap, 60 units Purchase Price CHF 15.85 Selling Price CHF 25.00 Bag, 15 units Purchase Price CHF 44.60 Selling Price CHF 49.00 Key chain with bottle opener, 60 units Purchase Price CHF 6.75 Selling Price CHF 7.00 BROUGHT FORWARD 951.00 669.00 405.00 11’989.50 1’500.00 735.00 420.00 19’950.00
Kofmel 22 August 2008 47 / 95 E‐shop concept for merchandizing products Expenses
PREVIOUS PAGE Business Card Holder, 100 units Purchase Price CHF 5.35 Selling Price CHF 15.00 Umbrella, 100 units Purchase Price CHF 25.15 Selling Price CHF 25.00 Swiss Pocket Knife, 80 units Purchase Price CHF 24.45 Selling Price CHF 29.00 Revenues 11’989.50 535.00 2’515.00 1’956.00 19’950.00
1’500.00 2’500.00 2’320.00 Commodities (non‐food) Thermo Beaker, 60 units Purchase Price CHF 11.10 Selling Price CHF 15.00 666.00 900.00 Promotion Promotion activities Budget (self‐made posters, flyers) Display case 200.00 789.00 E‐Shop solution GetPaid or osCommerce Open Source CHF 0.00 0.00 Operational Management st
Staff (23 weeks, to clear 1 order) Weekly costs CHF 364.00 EARNINGS 8’372.00 27’022.50 147.50 27’170.00 27’170.00
27’170.00
Figure 29. Budget 1 (with Streuartikel.ch). Florian Kofmel, 2008. Kofmel 22 August 2008 48 / 95 7.3 E‐shop concept for merchandizing products Schedule The e‐shop realization schedule will start on 27th August 2007 (Final Presentation Day) and end on 16th February 2009 (Start Spring Semester). The Gantt‐Chart of this schedule can be found in the Appendix 2. The numbers mentioned below correspond with those in the Gantt‐Chart. Nr Description Duration Start End Responsible 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 E‐Shop Realization Schedule Initiation Phase Deliver e‐shop concept to board of directors
Approval by board of directors for realization
Approval received at the latest Planning Phase Form Project Team Kickoff Meeting Define designs (color, size, layout) 123 days
18 days
8 days
10 days
Milestone
50 days
7 days
Milestone
17 days
27.08.08
27.08.08
27.08.08
08.09.08
19.09.08
22.09.08
22.09.08
01.10.08
02.10.08
13.02.09 19.09.08 05.09.08 19.09.08 19.09.08 28.11.08 30.09.08 01.10.08 24.10.08 10 24 days
27.10.08
27.11.08 24 days
4 days
27.10.08
24.11.08
27.11.08 27.11.08 13 Contact/meet suppliers to discuss & negotiate designs, product range, inventory method Plan promotion activities Contact/meet facility manager FHNW to discuss inventory management Install & evaluate e‐shop software GetPaid
15 days
03.11.08
21.11.08 14 Report about Feasibility of GetPaid to Project Team
1 day
24.11.08
24.11.08 15 Meeting: Decide which supplier(s) will be considered / what will be produced / how inventory management is organized / GetPaid or osCommerce to be used Execution Phase Producing merchandize articles Realize promotion activities Install e‐shop solution & adapt layout to FHNW design
Milestone
28.11.08
28.11.08 Brigitte Sprenger
Board of Directors
Board of Directors
Brigitte Sprenger
Project Team Project Team, Marketing & Communication Department, Bureau of Communication Design Project Team, Suppliers Project Team Project Team, Facility Manager Business Applications Department Business Applications Department Project Team 55 days
55 days
23 days
23 days
01.12.08
01.12.08
01.12.08
01.12.08
13.02.09 13.02.09 31.12.08 31.12.08 Configure e‐shop (product categories, descriptions, upload pictures) E‐shop beta‐testing
(ordering, credit card payments with PayPal Sandbox) 22 days
01.01.09
30.01.09 10 days
02.02.09
13.02.09 Start Spring Semester 2009 Milestone
16.02.09
16.02.09 11 12 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Suppliers Project Team Business Applications Department Project Team Project Team, Business Applications Department Figure 30. E‐Shop concept Schedule. Florian Kofmel, 2008. Kofmel 22 August 2008 49 / 95 7.4 E‐shop concept for merchandizing products Extended Development Potential 7.4.1 Including other FHNW‐Schools This e‐shop concept is only covering the School of Business FHNW at the moment. All products are labeled with the FHNW logo with School of Business underneath. Depending on the demand of the e‐shop, it could be extended up to the other eight remaining schools of the FHNW. Other schools could be easily electronically integrated in the e‐shop. However, certain issues will arise: Products have to be adapted as the existing collection is only branded to the School of Business FHNW. If it will be decided to have unique merchandize articles for all schools, the School of Business could discontinue their lines by selling them only to School of Business students. Meanwhile, new articles will be produced with the unique FHNW logo. The e‐shop link could be directly published at the front page because it is now valid for all nine schools. In addition, processes need to be observed (e.g. inventory management, capacity of resources) as a result of the increasing target group and workload. 7.4.2 Extensions If the e‐shop will be a success, the assortment could be extended. Two kinds of extensions will be distinguished83: A brand extension adds new articles from a different product category to the assortment (e.g. FHNW wine). A line extension is the variation within a product category (T‐Shirt “Class of 2008” will be produced now). 7.4.3 Physical store Many of the observed schools of business / universities also sell merchandize articles in a real store. Depending on the new campus size in Olten and more expected student enrollments84, this could be an alternative as well. In addition, the store could be used to sell study books and other office supplies. 83
84
(Kotler and Keller, Devising a Branding Strategy) (mzbern.ch) Kofmel 22 August 2008 50 / 95 E‐shop concept for merchandizing products 7.4.4 Strengthening Corporate Identity This is a broader approach to create awareness under the FHNW stakeholder rather than only considering the e‐shop. 7.4.4.1 Corporate Clothing Staff belongs to one of the target groups mentioned in this paper. It is intended that business shirts, business blouses and T‐shirts could be worn during work or special events: CCC‐Employees at the front desk, cashiers in the cafeteria or staff members during formal events such as Podumsdiskussion or Ringveranstaltung. Corporate Clothing is nothing else than nonverbal communication and belongs to Corporate Behavior85. The latter is one of the three elements which make up the Corporate Identity. In addition, a Customer Care Center carries great weight with Corporate Identity and Corporate Image and hence, deserves special attention86. It is often the first impression students, visitors or business contacts receive from the School. 7.4.4.2 Using synergies During research for this paper, new and interesting contacts could be established. Firstly, Streuartikel.ch has such a wide product range with many products that could be branded. However, not all of them are suitable in an e‐shop. Nevertheless, these products can be used in another context. Giveaways dispensed with a catchy message at special occasions (e.g. study start, graduation, promotion or appreciation) can strengthen the Corporate Identity (cf. Appendix 4). Secondly, School of Business FHNW students have subjects such as “Corporate Social Responsibility” and “Sustainable Management” which both address Fair Trade. Max Havelaar, partner of Switcher, is interested in setting up a partnership with the FHNW. The company is willing to give class presentations or could be even included in “Ringveranstaltungen”. In addition, Max Havelaar sells coffee under Fair Trade. Why not selling it in the cafeterias in Basel, Brugg and Olten as well? Certainly, such measures would increase the school’s image. 85
86
(Göldi, Teil I: Kommunikation im Dienste der Unternehmensidentität) (Göldi, Teil III: Elemente im Kommunikationsprozess) Kofmel 22 August 2008 51 / 95 8 E‐shop concept for merchandizing products Summary To understand what other schools of business do regarding merchandize, around 15 institutes have been observed. Out of these, findings of the Mason School of Business, London Business School, Edinburgh Business School and the University of St. Gallen were summarized in the paper. Afterwards, four target groups were spotted out: Students, Alumni, Staff and Business contacts and described according to demographic, geographic, psychographic and behavioral variables. The gained information about merchandize articles and target group were the basis for setting up the product range of this e‐shop concept. The classic marketing mix consists of 4Ps: Product, Price, Place and Promotion. Firstly, suitable product categories and the merchandize assortment were compiled. Certain remarks about the School of Business FHNW brand, design aspects and Fair Trade were given. Secondly, purchasing prices were then calculated according to obtained quotes. Thirdly, the supply chain was analyzed and divided into three stages. Procurement which contained information about possible suppliers: The Fair Trade‐conscious clothing company Switcher, the promotion supplier specialist Streuartikel.ch and Läckerli Huus AG. Inventory Management included concepts on how to store merchandize articles physically – either in‐
house or at supplier’s place – and electronically in the e‐shop software administration. The third stage dealt with the e‐commerce supply chain, an important concept because merchandize articles will be sold online. Finally, the forth P of the marketing mix – Promotion – suggested promotion activities with online‐ and offline measures such as traditional advertising methods, optimization of the e‐shop findability or newsletter and emails. The technical and software analysis has shown that the FHNW maintains its own servers and the main website is using the content management system Plone. GetPaid is a young, but promising e‐commerce add‐on to run the e‐shop as an integrated solution in the Plone environment. In contrast, the very widely used OsCommerce, is a stand‐alone e‐shop not connected to Plone, but offers great flexibility and Kofmel 22 August 2008 52 / 95 E‐shop concept for merchandizing products is quickly installed. The only proprietary software solution provided is called 1&1 Business Shop Pro with e‐shop hosting by a third‐party provider. It is costly but does not require any technical skills. The e‐shop could be operated by a core team of School of Business FHNW students and/or staff members. However, certain other people are also involved. Time and cost budget was influenced by information about the University of St. Gallen e‐shop and FHNW wages. Certain fields could be outsourced as well such as physical inventory management or technical e‐shop maintenance. Two overall budgets (one with Streuartikel.ch clothing, the other with Switcher clothing) were calculated and include product range (excluding giveaways), promotion activities, e‐shop and operational costs. A schedule and Gantt‐Chart have been set to put the e‐shop concept into action. It is planned to start selling merchandize articles with the start of the Spring Semester 2009 at the School of Business FHNW. Extended development potential addressed future prospects. The e‐shop could be extended up to all nine FHNW schools. Moreover, brand and/or line extensions could provide a greater product variety. Additionally, one could also think about setting up a physical store. Finally, Corporate Clothing and benefits through established contacts could be used to strengthen the Corporate Identity.
Kofmel 22 August 2008 53 / 95 9 E‐shop concept for merchandizing products Conclusions The evaluation has shown that all observed schools of business and universities sell branded clothing like t‐shirts and sweatshirts. Some variations are seen like hooded sweatshirts or special long‐sleeve shirts. In addition, many do also sell accessories with a wide range of branded products. Some online shops offer merchandize articles like cufflinks, pins or ties specially targeted to business people. Moreover, it is noticeable that especially German universities (e.g. Universities of Cologne87, Heidelberg88) and also the observed University of St. Gallen tend to offer merchandize articles with logo variations in addition to the basic offering. The logos differ in form as well as color and look trendy. Furthermore, the e‐shops vary in their set‐up. Some are run by the university (e.g. staff89, student unions90) or in responsibility of alumni associations (Mason School of Business, University of St. Gallen). In addition, some schools have partly outsourced e‐shops (London Business School, Edinburgh School of Business). The definition of the four target groups has revealed that each target group seeks different benefits in merchandizing articles. Students basically want cheap and cool‐looking products. Visiting students might be more tolerant in buying a “neutral” merchandize article as they see it as a souvenir. Official Alumni networks do not exist yet and probably Alumni bear not much upon its former university. The planned School of Business FHNW Alumni network is a step forward in the right direction which would also make merchandize more interesting to this group. The image of the School might be important as well: One can identify oneself better with the School if the perception of FHNW tends to be good. In addition, staff is probably unwilling to buy much merchandize articles for their own consumption. However, its readiness to use the products is high as it can be assumed that employees want to represent the School well. Business contacts belong to the last target group and are mainly interested in a relationship with the School of Business FHNW. Most likely, they will not buy any merchandize products at all, but appreciate these goods as giveaways. Such giveaways need to have a unique value as a sign of esteem. 87
(campussportswear) (campussportswear) 89
(Martin‐Luther‐Universität Halle‐Wittenberg) 90
(LSE Student Union Shop) 88
Kofmel 22 August 2008 54 / 95 E‐shop concept for merchandizing products The product range was set up according to inputs of the schools of business evaluation and the definition of the target group. The existing School of Business FHNW giveaways could not be considered. The school did not release sufficient information (supplier, order quantity) and hence it was not possible to look for synergies under suppliers or assess purchase prices. On the other hand, fair trade has been considered for clothing products. However, one should take into account that prices of fair traded goods are generally higher. In addition, students have no or very low income and are price‐conscious. One also has to question whether one design (School of Business FHNW logo) is sufficient. Students like trendy products as well. Hence, an exorbitant price or no eye‐catching designs might cause sales to be absent. Clearly, the focus has to be on the needs of target groups and not on what vendors most like.91 Purchase price calculations were challenging, especially because many factors had to be considered: Order quantity, product quality, number of printings, printing method and inventory management (delivery). It matters a lot, whether one is ordering e.g. 15, 30 or 60 units. Design issues need to be clarified in advance to get most accurate quotes. Furthermore, the mark‐up was calculated by the difference of selling and purchase price. Regarding Place, all suppliers have made a good impression. Switcher / Magic Print impressed with commendable fair trade and transparent supply chain information. It is also good to know that Magic Print would store products and deliver them to School of Business FHNW customers without any additional fee. On the other hand, Streuartikel.ch has a tremendous product assortment to choose from and is very competent and helpful. Especially the willingness of Sofia Hilgevoord to go through every product suggestion again with the prospective project team sounds promising. Despite Läckerli Huus’ standard products can be ordered at very low quantities they could be individually branded. Basically, inventory and delivery management at Streuartikel.ch is possible. However, it will not be cost‐free as labor costs will be offset. On the other side, products can also be stored at the School of Business FHNW in Olten. Regarding e‐shop solutions, all three options are feasible and have their pros and cons. However, Pöllinger and Meier said that personal resources are limited available to give e‐shop support. Therefore, it is important to choose a software solution, which is ideally not much time‐consuming and 91
(Kotler and Friedhelm, Bedüfnisse, Wünsche, Nachfrage) Kofmel 22 August 2008 55 / 95 E‐shop concept for merchandizing products easy to use. 1&1 Business Shop Pro would be best in this case as a third‐party provider is responsible for these services. However, it is too costly. GetPaid is not easy to understand for beginners but should not take up much time as the technicians also have experience with Plone used for the FHNW website. Due to technical difficulties the usability could not be tested. In contrast, the basic features of osCommerce can be installed very quickly; adaptations to layout might be more challenging as certain website development skills are needed. However, this gets compensated by the huge add‐on database and support community. Furthermore, payment processors can be integrated in all three software solutions. PayPal is the most attractive payment system because neither installation nor monthly fees occur and all transactions can be tested with PayPal Sandbox. According to the benchmark comparison, osCommerce scored highest with 23 points. 1&1 Business Shop got 18 points which is one more than GetPaid. Among several promotion activities, it is basically important to inform about the new offering and that merchandize products can be bought online. Certainly, email and offline selling (together with the book sale) are effective. In conclusion, the e‐shop concept for merchandizing products of the School of Business FHNW involves several other aspects than just thinking about the e‐shop itself. As one also can see, the time scale for setting everything up is tight and on should stay on schedule to meet the Spring Semester 2009 deadline. However, it is worthwhile as the e‐shop concept with merchandizing articles has some promising future prospects as well and the School of Business FHNW or even the FHNW as a whole can profit. Kofmel 22 August 2008 56 / 95 10 E‐shop concept for merchandizing products Recommendations Firstly, as the e‐shop concept is challenging and can have an impact on the image of the School of Business FHNW, the project team should consist of staff members at the beginning. They know the processes within the three locations Basel, Brugg and Olten best and get at information easier than students. It is conceivable that students could be involved in certain project stages (e.g. Business Administration students in promotion activities) or once everything has been set up. Secondly, it is highly recommended to carefully think about designs and what should be printed on merchandize products. Especially clothing products are expected to be fashionable in a way. Therefore, it would be wise to include also certain products featuring the School of Business FHNW Brand in the popular American University Style (cf. Appendix 6). In addition, even the School of Business FHNW Logo has certain margin (cf. Appendix 5). Such variations should not be seen as putting the umbrella brand at risk. On the contrary, the School could be perceived as innovative, dynamic, modern and flexible. Thirdly, once designs are clear, the project team should contact Magic Print (Switcher clothing) and Streuartikel.ch to check the feasibility and ultimately decide which products will make up the product range. One should also examine whether in this case the production of individual clothing for ultimate branding would be possible and affordable. The customization opportunities of C3‐Tex clothing are just amazing. In addition, existing giveaways and their suppliers should be compared with those ones in this paper. Further negotiations will eventually show whether either Switcher/Magic Print or Streuartikel.ch or both will be considered. Finally, regarding the e‐shop solution it is recommended to install GetPaid on a FHNW‐server to check the functionality as this could not have evaluated in detail yet. Alternatively, osCommerce in combination with PayPal is recommended to be used. Kofmel 22 August 2008 57 / 95 11 E‐shop concept for merchandizing products Bibliography 11.1 Book Sections Dalla Vecchia, Martina. "Instrumente des Online‐Marketing." Dalla Vecchia, Martina. E‐Commerce und Online‐Marketing. Basel: Fachhochschule Nordwestschweiz, 2007. 17. Göldi, Susan. "Teil I: Kommunikation im Dienste der Unternehmensidentität." Grundlagen der Unternehmenskommunikation. Bern: h.e.p. verlag ag, 2005. 18. Göldi, Susan. "Teil III: Elemente im Kommunikationsprozess." Grundlagen der Unternehmenskommunikation. Bern: h.e.p. verlag ag, 2005. 77. Kotler, Philip and Bliemel Friedhelm. "Bedüfnisse, Wünsche, Nachfrage." Marketing‐Management. München: Pearson Studium, 2006. 13. Kotler, Philip and Kevin Lane Keller. 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Kofmel 22 August 2008 63 / 95 12 E‐shop concept for merchandizing products Figures Figure 1. Findings of Mason School of Business. Florian Kofmel, 2008. ....................................................... 6 Figure 2. Findings of London Business School. Florian Kofmel, 2008. .......................................................... 7 Figure 3. Findings of Edinburgh Business School. Florian Kofmel, 2008. ..................................................... 7 Figure 4. Findings of University of St. Gallen. Florian Kofmel, 2008. ............................................................ 8 Figure 5. Target Group 1: Students. Florian Kofmel, 2008. .......................................................................... 9 Figure 6. Target Group 2: Alumni. Florian Kofmel, 2008. ........................................................................... 10 Figure 7. Target Group 3: Staff. Florian Kofmel, 2008. ............................................................................... 11 Figure 8. Target Group 4: Business contacts. Florian Kofmel, 2008. .......................................................... 12 Figure 9. Product Categories. Florian Kofmel, 2008. .................................................................................. 14 Figure 10. Product Range – Clothing (casual). Florian Kofmel, 2008. ......................................................... 15 Figure 11. Product Range – Clothing (business). Florian Kofmel, 2008. ..................................................... 16 Figure 12. Product Range – Accessories (casual). Florian Kofmel, 2008. ................................................... 17 Figure 13. Product Range – Accessories (business). Florian Kofmel, 2008. ................................................ 17 Figure 14. Product Range – Commodities (food). Florian Kofmel, 2008. ................................................... 18 Figure 15. Product Range – Commodities (non‐food). Florian Kofmel, 2008. ............................................ 18 Figure 16. Price calculations – Clothing (casual). Florian Kofmel, 2008. .................................................... 19 Figure 17. Price calculations – Clothing (business). Florian Kofmel, 2008. ................................................ 20 Figure 18. Price calculations – Accessories (casual & business). Florian Kofmel, 2008. ............................. 21 Figure 19. Price calculations – Commodities (food & non‐food). Florian Kofmel, 2008. ........................... 22 Figure 20. Supply Chain. Uwe Leimstoll, 2001‐2007. ................................................................................. 23 Figure 21. Processes of Order‐Payment‐Delivery. Florian Kofmel, 2008. .................................................. 30 Figure 22. Offline‐/online concepts. Markus Stolpmann, 2001. ................................................................ 32 Figure 23. Search Engine Results. Florian Kofmel, 2008. ............................................................................ 33 Figure 24. Meta Tag Source Code. Florian Kofmel, 2008. .......................................................................... 34 Figure 25. Findings of GetPaid. Florian Kofmel, 2008. ............................................................................... 41 Figure 26. OsCommerce Administration Panel. Florian Kofmel, 2008. ...................................................... 42 Figure 27. Findings of OsCommerce. Florian Kofmel, 2008 ....................................................................... 43 Figure 28. Findings of 1&1 Business Shop Pro. Florian Kofmel, 2008. ....................................................... 44 Figure 29. Budget 1 (with Streuartikel.ch). Florian Kofmel, 2008. ............................................................. 48 Figure 30. E‐Shop concept Schedule. Florian Kofmel, 2008. ...................................................................... 49 Kofmel 22 August 2008 64 / 95 13 E‐shop concept for merchandizing products Established Contacts Streuartikel.ch De Rivo & Hilgevoord GmbH Sofia Hilgevoord P.O. Box 322 CH‐4702 Oensingen Phone +41 (0)62 396 36 36 Email hilgevoord@dr‐hv.ch Magic Print (for Switcher Clothing) Mario Brönnimann Hauptgasse 14 CH‐4500 Solothurn Phone +41 (0)32 623 23 52 Mobile +41 (0)79 214 49 49 Email [email protected] Läckerli Huus AG Peter Melzl Teichweg 9 CH‐4142 Münchenstein Phone +41 (0)61 264 23 66 Email peter.melzl@laeckerli‐huus.ch Max Havelaar‐Stiftung (Schweiz) Roman Witwer Malzgasse 25 4052 Basel Tel. +41 61 271 75 00 Email: [email protected] Kofmel 22 August 2008 65 / 95 14 E‐shop concept for merchandizing products Appendices Appendix 1: Budget (with Switcher Clothing). Florian Kofmel, 2008. Product Range Clothing (casual) Option 2: T‐ Shirt (valueweight), 60 units Purchase Price CHF 12.50 Selling Price CHF 29.00 Option 2: T‐Shirt (lady, valueweight), 45 units Purchase Price CHF 12.50 Selling Price CHF 29.00 Hooded Sweatshirt, 60 units Purchase Price CHF 44.70 Selling Price CHF 75.00 Sweatshirt, 30 units Purchase Price CHF 36.50 Selling Price CHF 59.00 Clothing (business) Option 2: Polo Shirt (valueweight), 60 units Purchase Price CHF 20.00 Selling Price CHF 42.00 Option 2: Polo Shirt (lady, valueweight), 60 units
Purchase Price CHF 20.00 Selling Price CHF 42.00 Business Shirt, 30 units Purchase Price CHF 44.70 Selling Price CHF 49.00 Business Blouse, 30 units Purchase Price CHF 44.70 Selling Price CHF 49.00 Accessories (casual) Baseball Cap, 60 units Purchase Price CHF 9.45 Selling Price CHF 25.00 Bag, 15 units Purchase Price CHF 14.45 Selling Price CHF 25.00 Key chain with bottle opener, 60 units Purchase Price CHF 6.75 Selling Price CHF 7.00 Business Card Holder, 100 units Purchase Price CHF 5.35 Selling Price CHF 15.00 Umbrella, 100 units Purchase Price CHF 25.15 Selling Price CHF 25.00 Swiss Pocket Knife, 80 units Purchase Price CHF 24.45 Selling Price CHF 29.00 Commodities (non‐food) Thermo Beaker, 60 units Purchase Price CHF 11.10 Selling Price CHF 15.00 Promotion Promotion activities Budget (self‐made posters, flyers)
Display case E‐Shop solution GetPaid or osCommerce Open Source CHF 0.00
Operational Management
Staff (24 weeks) Weekly costs CHF 364.00
EARNINGS (remaining amount) Kofmel 22 August 2008 Expenses
Revenues 750.00 562.50 2’682.00 1’095.00 1’200.00 1’200.00 1’341.00 1’341.00 567.00 216.75 405.00 535.00 2’515.00 1’956.00 666.00 1’740.00 1’305.00 4’500.00 1’770.00 2’520.00 2’520.00 1’470.00 1’470.00 1’500.00 375.00 420.00 1’500.00 2’500.00 2’320.00 900.00 200.00 789.00 0.00 8’736.00 26’757.25 52.75 26’810.00 26’810.00
26’810.00
66 / 95 E‐shop concept for merchandizing products Appendix 2: E‐Shop Concept Schedule (Gantt‐Chart). Florian Kofmel, 2008. Kofmel 22 August 2008 67 / 95 E‐shop concept for merchandizing products Kofmel 22 August 2008 68 / 95 E‐shop concept for merchandizing products Appendix 3: Layout Relation FHNW. Niklaus Lay, 2007. Appendix 4: Marker – ...damit Wichtiges nicht unverborgen bleibt. Florian Kofmel, 2008. Kofmel 22 August 2008 69 / 95 E‐shop concept for merchandizing products Appendix 5: Compromise T‐Shirt (neutral/trendy). Florian Kofmel, 2008. Appendix 6: School of Business FHNW (American Style). Florian Kofmel, 2008. Kofmel 22 August 2008 70 / 95 E‐shop concept for merchandizing products Appendix 7: Product quotes. Streuartikel.ch, 2008. Kofmel 22 August 2008 71 / 95 Kofmel E‐shop concept for merchandizing products 22 August 2008 72 / 95 E‐shop concept for merchandizing products Kofmel 22 August 2008 73 / 95 E‐shop concept for merchandizing products Kofmel 22 August 2008 74 / 95 E‐shop concept for merchandizing products Kofmel 22 August 2008 75 / 95 E‐shop concept for merchandizing products Kofmel 22 August 2008 76 / 95 E‐shop concept for merchandizing products Kofmel 22 August 2008 77 / 95 Kofmel E‐shop concept for merchandizing products 22 August 2008 78 / 95 Kofmel E‐shop concept for merchandizing products 22 August 2008 79 / 95 Kofmel E‐shop concept for merchandizing products 22 August 2008 80 / 95 Kofmel E‐shop concept for merchandizing products 22 August 2008 81 / 95 E‐shop concept for merchandizing products Kofmel 22 August 2008 82 / 95 E‐shop concept for merchandizing products Kofmel 22 August 2008 83 / 95 E‐shop concept for merchandizing products Kofmel 22 August 2008 84 / 95 E‐shop concept for merchandizing products Kofmel 22 August 2008 85 / 95 E‐shop concept for merchandizing products Kofmel 22 August 2008 86 / 95 E‐shop concept for merchandizing products Kofmel 22 August 2008 87 / 95 E‐shop concept for merchandizing products Appendix 8: Product quotes. Switcher AG / Magic Print, 2008. Kofmel 22 August 2008 88 / 95 Kofmel E‐shop concept for merchandizing products 22 August 2008 89 / 95 E‐shop concept for merchandizing products Appendix 9: Product quotes. Läckerli Huus AG, 2008. Kofmel 22 August 2008 90 / 95 E‐shop concept for merchandizing products Kofmel 22 August 2008 91 / 95 Kofmel E‐shop concept for merchandizing products 22 August 2008 92 / 95 E‐shop concept for merchandizing products Kofmel 22 August 2008 93 / 95 E‐shop concept for merchandizing products Appendix 10: Information about Merchandizing Strategy. Martin‐Luther‐University, 2008.
Kofmel 22 August 2008 94 / 95 E‐shop concept for merchandizing products Kofmel 22 August 2008 95 / 95

E-Shop Concept for Merchandizing Products of the School

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