Introduction
Please read through this document as it forms a part of the course and homework. Go through it carefully and understand each section. There are three sections and we expect you to complete all sections over the summer break. Remember YOU MUST keep a BIBLIOGRAPHY for each section and if you use any images you must save the actual image file in a folder (you will be able to use this later).
Start by creating a folder and naming it Unit 2. Create another folder inside this and name it Images. Create 3 other folders. Save everything in the correct folder.
The folder structure is as follows:
Strand A: Investigating a Transactional Website
Objective: To meet Assessment Criteria (a). To be able to describe and evaluate a transactional Website.
You should choose a suitable transactional Website that you want to investigate. You will need to describe and evaluate this Website.
Use the attached help sheet for guidance.
The work you completed in tasks 1-3 will help you to complete this task.
You should examine: -
· How the site is set up for customers
· The processes a customer is taken through on the lead up to an online purchase
· The chain of events triggered behind the scenes by an online sale
· The different functions of the organisation involved in the fulfilment of the role
Tips:
Describe: Provide characteristics and features (E.g. The home page of the Website had a picture of the Head Office, links to all pages and an introduction to the business. Text was approximately size 14pt Arial, in black, etc.)
Evaluation: Make a judgement on features and whether it meets the given criteria (E.g. The home page is very well laid out and is easy to read, although it is difficult to find any contact details. This would be better if this information was included on the Home page. )
Strengths: What are the good features?
Weaknesses: What are the features that need improving?
Comparisons: How does the Website compare to its competitors?
Conclusion: Is the Website successful?
The different Mark Bands are as follows (you should be aiming for Mark Band 3!): -
Mark Band 1 / Mark Band 2 / Mark Band 3The learner:
• uses the internet to find and
investigate a suitable transactional
website, but needs extensive
prompting
• gives a brief description of the main features of the site’s design, but with some inaccuracies or omissions
• makes some evaluative comments, but not sufficient to give a clear picture of the overall effectiveness of the site’s design. / The learner:
• uses the internet to find and
investigate a suitable transactional
website, needing only limited
prompting
• gives a detailed description —
supported by examples — of the main features of the site’s design
• makes some evaluative comments, which give a clear picture of the overall effectiveness of the site’s design. / The learner:
• uses the internet to find and
investigate a suitable transactional
website, independently
• gives a comprehensive description — supported by a range of well chosen examples — of the main features of the site’s design
• provides a considered evaluation,
which gives a clear and balanced
Picture of the overall effectiveness of the site’s design, suggesting areas for improvement.
Disclaimer
This document is an outline of what you need to do for the first task of Unit 2 – Transactional Websites. The questions are prompts only – do not simply answer them straight. Your report should flow smoothly and contain plenty of examples from your chosen transactional website.
Section 1 – Introduction
1.1 Transactional Websites
Ø What is a transactional website? (Hint: talk a bit about history – when did these things first appear? Who were the pioneers? When and why did they become popular?)
Ø What are the advantages of a transactional website to the customer?
Ø What are the advantages of a transactional website to the company?
Ø Are there any disadvantages? (hint: security)
1.2 Example of a Transactional Website
Ø What site have you chosen?
Ø Why have you chosen this site?
Ø What does the company do?
Ø What products do they sell?
Ø What is the purpose of the site?
Ø Who are their target customers?
Section 2 – Features of the Transactional Website
2.1 General Features
Ø What does the site look like? (hint: describe appearance in terms of colour, layout, contents, structure – lots of annotated screen dumps to illustrate specific examples)
Ø What information is included (catalogue, advertisements, company info etc...)
Ø How do visitors navigate through the site?
Ø Is there a “log-on” or a secure area? How is this accessed?
Ø Can you get to the site from other sites? (If so – where?)
Ø For each feature give a rating out of 10 and then explain why you gave that rating and how each feature could be improved.
2.2 Goods/Services
Ø What goods/services does the site offer customers? (hint: lots of examples)
Ø What does the site include to attract customers to buy goods/services?
Ø What product information is provided? Why?
2.3 The Transaction
Ø What transactions is it possible to perform?
Ø How does the customer perform these transactions (hint: step-by step with lots of screen dumps)
Ø What information does the customer need to provide? Why does the company want this (see section 2.4 below)
Ø What security features are in place to protect the customer?
Ø What happens after the transaction is complete?
Ø Explain how SET is used by the website.
Ø Explain how the Distance selling Act protects the customers.
2.4 Data Capture
Ø How does the site capture data overtly? (Forms, questionnaires, loyalty schemes etc..)
Ø What data is captured in this way?
Ø How does the site capture data covertly? (Cookies, spyware etc..)
Ø What data is captured in this way?
Ø What will the company do with all the data? (hint: 2 main things – process the order and build a customer profile)
Ø What are the company’s legal responsibilities? What rights does the customer have?
Ø How could the data capture benefit the customer (other than by allowing the order to be fulfilled)? (hint: personalized service)
Section 3 – Evaluation of Transactional Website
3.1 Strengths
Ø What are the good features of the website? (Hint: break down into different areas, e.g. appearance, clarity, products, ease of use etc.. It can be useful to score or rate the website in different areas)
Ø How do the good features help the website achieve its goals? (Good service, sell more products etc..)
3.2 Weaknesses
Ø What are the features of the website that need improvement (hint: as above, break down into different categories – include examples)
Ø How do the weaker features obstruct the website in achieving its goals?
Ø What improvements could be made and how? (Hint: very important section!! Lots of detail and specific ideas not just “make it look nicer etc..”)
3.3 Comparison
Ø How does this website compare to its competitors? (hint: look for common features between similar websites and also for things done differently)
3.4 Conclusion
Ø Is this website successful? Why/why not? (refer to points above as necessary)
Appendix
Annotated printouts or screen dumps of the website highlighting key features
S. Gundecha 2012
Purpose of website and how well it meets its objectives
Market goods and services
Conduct Transactions
Manage Customer Relations
Optimise just-in-time purchasing of stock
Distribute goods
Present and exchange information
Capture and process data
Growth of customer base
Low setup and running costs
Extension of product range (internet only goods and services)
Global 24x7 availability
Real time sales information
Customer expectation
How it is structured
Site structure
Page structure
Links / Menus
Browsing
Shopping Cart
Customer Help
Goods and services it offers
Types of goods
Save/previous shopping lists
Repeat orders
Advance purchases?
The product information provided
Text, images, price, sizes, colours, no in stock etc.
Customer reviews
The types of transactions that can be made and how easy it is to do so
Ordering goods
Returning goods
Reserving goods
Paying for goods – methods
Methods used to capture customer information (covert and overt) and authenticate the identity of users
User information
Cookies
Loyalty Schemes
Surveys
Techniques used to engage, retain and entice customers
Special offers by email
Personalised shopping
Up-to-date selection of goods
Rewards / Loyalty Schemes
Usability and accessibility
Use of colours
Ability to enlarge text
The customer experience it offers
24/7
Weather
Petrol
Queues
No car needed
S. Gundecha 2012
Browsing
Shopping lists/repeat orders
Special offers
Price comparison
Delivery charges/times
Goods return
Out-stock-goods
Real-store feeling?
Buying goods
How is the customer information protected?
SET
DATA PROTECTION ACT
PRIVACY POLICY
DISTANCE SELLING ACT
LESS OBVIOUS FEATURES OF WEBSITES
RSS FEEDS
MULTIMEDIA
PICK OF THE WEEK
DEAL OF THE WEEK
ANY OTHER
Strand B Diagrams.
For Strand B of Unit 2 you must create a series of diagrams to show how information moves around the transactional website you wrote your report on for Strand A. These can seem quite tricky but are relatively simple once you get the hang of it. Below are a range of resources and activities that will help you create some useful diagrams.
The specification states:
"There is a lot happening behind the scenes of a transactional website. You need to know about the information processing which is going on the background before, during and after a transaction occurs, including:
· maintenance of the virtual shopping basket
· identification and authentication routines
· real-time tracking of customers' actions
· payment processing
· stock control
· despatch and delivery
You must be able to draw diagrams to illustrate:
the chain of events leading up to an online purchase
· the chain of events that an online purchase triggers
· The information that flows into and out of the organisation and between areas/ departments as a result."
These diagrams should show all the "back-office processes", such as:
Registering and logging in / Searching for products / Tracking customers' actions / Maintaining the virtual shopping basket / Abandoned basketsThe checkout process / Stock control / Authorising Payment / Confirming and tracking an order / Despatch and delivery
The diagram below gives an overview of the processes that take place when making a purchase through a transactional website. Notice how information often flows in 2 directions.
Information Flow Diagrams (IFDs)
Objective: To be able to draw IFDs to illustrate the chain of events leading up to an online purchase, the chain of events that an online purchase triggers and the information that flows into and out of the organisation and between areas/departments as a result.
Entity / / An entity (e.g. customer, supplier, sales department, etc.) that acts as a source or destination of informationInformation Flow / / An Information flow. For example, the order details given by the customer to the sales department. This must be the name of the information being communicated, not a process. It should be a noun, not a verb.
A Process / / A Process. For example, process 1, the process of taking an order, which is performed by the sales department. The process should be named with an active verb and an object, e.g. Take Order
A Data Store / D1 / Stock
/ A data store, e.g. a stock table
The diagram below shows how a potential customer can use the search facility provided on the eBuyer site to find specific products.TIPnotice how the diagram references the database, try and do this in your own diagrams. Also the use of colour makes it easier to understand which processes happen across the web and which happen on the company's internal systems.
You will also need to include more complex diagrams to show some "deeper" level processes. This diagram shows how customers' actions are tracked by the transactional website. Notice this uses different symbols to represent the steps in the process. This is a flow diagram and they are used to demonstrate the logical flow of decisions through a process.
You will also need to include more complex diagrams to show some "deeper" level processes. This diagram shows how customers' actions are tracked by the transactional website. Notice this uses different symbols to represent the steps in the process. This is a flow diagram and they are used to demonstrate the logical flow of decisions through a process.
Flow Diagrams
Objective: To be able to show the flow of data through an information processing system.
They are used to reveal the order within processes, repetitive sub-processes and decisions made within processes in a way that an information flow diagram (IFD) does not.
Essential elements of a flow diagram. For shapes, select AutoShapes, Flowchart.
Start Symbol / / The start of the data flow. The same as the end symbol.Decision Symbol / / This has one route in (the top) and two (or occasionally three) routes out for the different decision made in response to a question. This is usually a yes or a no.
A Process Box / / A basic step in the system. Should include an active verb to denote the process.
End Symbol/Terminator / / End of data flow (same as the start symbol).
Direction of the flow / / An arrow showing the direction of the flow through the system. Can be in any direction.
Task