Wal Mart _ Look inside the Web Part 4

What makes this a static website or a Dynamic website and why?

Their own styles of each company that create the differences to remind customers or whoever that click in the website. Also the performances of the websites to reach the objectives of the customers.

What type of hosting, server and other technologies are need to launch this site?

- E-commerce hosting differs from standard Web hosting in that a number of features and functionality. Features and functionality are required to manage and run a commercial website. This includes SSL, database support, shopping cart software, payment processing services, and additional E-commerce software and security initiatives. E-commerce hosting is designed to basically provide entrepreneurs and businesses with all the tools and services required for them to set-up, manage and conduct an E-commerce business. E-commerce hosting is an option offered by many Web hosting service providers. In addition to supplying E-commerce functionality, they will also provide Web space (a Web server) to host your website, an email server or email support, technical support and other standard Web hosting features for businesses.

Include references for your research

- http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/84250

- Source: http://EzineArticles.com/

- http://econsultancy.com/us/blog/63161-31-things-i-need-to-see-on-your-ecommerce-product-page

- http://www.diffily.com/book/website_maintenance.pdf

- http://webstyleguide.com/wsg3/1-process/7-development-process.html

- http://www.contentedwriter.com/describe-the-technologies-required-for-e-commerce/

Wal Mart _ Look inside the Web Part 3

Examples of this type of site (Images) and Company names.

There are many web sites that are the same type of Wal Mart. The e-commerce web sites have a lot of competition for each other. They have to have the highlight and good point of their web to present to the customer to click and use their services. This following are the example of the website that similar to WalMart.


BestBuy 

Amazon

 

Nordstorm

Zappos

Bed Bath and Beyond

 

Wal Mart_Look inside the web Part 2

      What would the pages include for this site?

Product title 

Images

Add to cart button

Price

Availability

Payment methods

Shipping (delivered to / carrier options / fees / offers)

Returns policy

Product detail (materials used / dimensions / weight / cleaning / washing)

Sizing / size guide

Colour options

User generated content

Item ratings

Item reviews (and / or comments)

Tools for rating reviews

Sorting options for reviews

Add to wishlist 

360 views of products

Tools to zoom in on products

International pricing / currency converter (e.g. £99, EU110, $165)

Trustmarks (security signs, testimonials)

Product code

Highlight special offers

Stats (views / fans / item follows / sales

Social proof

Social sharing buttons

Merchandising

People who liked this also liked...

Cross-selling 

Up-selling (buy with X and save £££)

  

What type of maintenance is involved and needed for this website?

 

Maintainable code

Most businesses or departments in larger enterprises will contract with a web development group to create the initial site design and to build all the pages in the first version of the web site. They then assume responsibility for the site, doing some or all of the daily maintenance and updating content as needed to keep the site current.
Often not until the practicalities of site maintenance arise do customers realize the importance of understanding the details of how the web developer generated the html and other code that makes up the web site. Although all html and css markup is much the same to web browsing software, how the html and css is formatted and what web authoring tool the developer used can make a huge difference in how the code looks to a human reader.

 What software and coding method will be used and needed to develop this site?

 

- You can start from scratch and code everything by hand, but this requires solid knowledge of HTML, CSS, PHP, MySQL, and other programming languages. To shorten the learning curve, you might want to invest in web design software like Adobe Dreamweaver or Microsoft Expression Web

What type of customer/client/individual/company uses this site and why?
  

- Most people who use this site are people who have not enough time to go out and window shopping  because this site give their customer more chances to see and buy the products at their houses.Eventhough the customer not satisfy with the product , they can return back to the web easily by doing online.

Wal Mart _ Look inside the web Part 1

After we knew about Wal Mart and what make Wal Mart Successful. I will talk about the important and new way to make Wal Mart more successful and reach more target easily. I will bring you to the Wal Mart Web site and explore their Web "www.walmart.com".

Explain the type of website

 www.walmart.com  is the e-commerce website includes their information out to the public and to sell a product online. This kind of website we can tell and announce information about their business and  products so they can start to get your advertising out. Plus it would also have the ability to accept credit card or other types of payment online in real time. To get this, we would need a merchant account, a security certificate which is commonly referred to in the industry as an SSL certificate, and depending on how many items you're selling, a shopping cart. Why this disparity? The argument is that there are better anti-fraud laws in the US that can deal with cybercrime. In fact merchants from some countries are not allowed to buy SSL certificates at all. 

 

Advantages of Ecommerce website

• Faster buying/selling procedure, as well as easy to find products.
• Buying/selling 24/7.
• More reach to customers, there is no theoretical geographic limitations.
• Low operational costs and better quality of services.
• No need of physical company set-ups.
• Easy to start and manage a business.
• Customers can easily select products from different providers without moving around physically.

Disadvantages of Ecommerce website

• Any one, good or bad, can easily start a business. And there are many bad sites which eat up customers’ money.
• There is no guarantee of product quality.
• Mechanical failures can cause unpredictable effects on the total processes.
• As there is minimum chance of direct customer to company interactions, customer loyalty is always on a check.
• There are many hackers who look for opportunities, and thus an ecommerce site, service, payment gateways, all are always prone to attack.
• E-commerce websites are expensive for international merchants but very affordable for US-based merchants.

       What is needed to set-up the site?
 

- A good Domain Name 

but it will not have much influence over the customers purchase decision. 

-Shopping Cart 

that  interacts with our customer as they make a decision to buy

- An internet merchant account 

from our bank, allowing us to accept credit card payments online.

- A payment gateway account 

which is an online processor that hooks into both your customer's credit card account and your internet merchant account.

 

International Wal-mart

Nowaday, From our humble beginnings as a small discount retailer in Rogers, Arkansas, Walmart has opened thousands of stores in the United States and expanded internationally. Walmart operates more than 11,000 retail units under 69 different banners in 27 countries. 

 

They have more than 2 million hard-working associates who serve 200 million customers and members every week.(“Our story”) Their associates do in delivering on our mission and in growing their business. Growth is a remarkable achievement that can be the signature of their success.

 Reference

Treacy,M.,Wiersema,F.(January-February1993).Customer Intimacy and other value disciplines. Harvard Business Review.

Work cite

“Our story”Wal-Mart. Walmart.com 2012. Web.  12 Jan 2013

“Sam Walton” Wal-Mart. Walmart.com 2012. Web.  12 Jan 2013

“Wal-Mart Annual Report” Wal-Mart. Walmart.com 2012. Web.  12 Jan 2013

What made Wal-Mart successful

Massive buying power

There are many reasons why Wal-Mart is successful . The first one is Wal-Mart has massive buying power. Wal-Mart is providing its customers with everyday low prices hence giving them value for their money. Wal-Mart is able to provide low prices as it has massive buying power. Furthermore, there are tough negotiations with buyers helping it drive down costs, but Wal-Mart can. Wal-Mart has more power to negotiate because they buy from the producers from the factory wholesale prices. The huge amount of variety products makes the vendors  into squeezing their costs and keeping their profit margins low.

Excellent Operation

The second reasons that make Wal-Mart successful is operational excellence.  The operational excellence is high expectations. The high expectations lead to high productivity that means lower costs. The focus on low cost also had the effect of forcing Wal-Mart to look inward and find innovative ways to take costs out of the supply chain These lower costs mean more profits and savings which enable it to open more stores making it more financially stable and enabling it to achieve economies of scale. Greater scale in turn means lower prices which are then passed on to the consumers.

Strong logistics and distribution network

Besides the low prices, the products are made available to consumers with minimal inconvenience. Wal-Mart has developed a strong logistics and distribution network and following the hurricane Katrina it was able to supply its stores with products quickly when other stores were out of stock for many items. It uses an inventory management technique called cross-docking of products in its distribution centers which helps in reducing the inventory costs as the time inventory is piled up in warehouses is reduced. Wal-Mart has its own tractors and trailers which enables it to keep its shelves full and drive sales. Out of stock can mean havoc for Wal-Mart.

 

Cutting costs and saving expenses

Another reason why Wal-Mart is successful is they tries to cut costs out of their operations such as distribution centers, home office, fleet .When the sales are not high, expenses are also controlled and managers are not hesitant to even cut their own hours. The culture is driven from the top and the top management sets example for others to follow. The philosophy of saving expenses is very much embedded in employees and they realize that a dollar foolishly spent drives the money out of the customer’s pocket. Operations are handled in a way to save every possible penny which leads to saving dollars and ultimately results in providing items at low cost to consumers. 

 

Excellent customer service

It has developed a culture where employees are expected to think out of the box and provide customers with excellent service. Therefore it is just not following operational excellence but building relations with customers which today is the key to any organization’s success.

 

Walmart’s Method of Managing the Supply Chain

Walmart has been able to assume market leadership position primarily due to its efficient integration of suppliers, manufacturing, warehousing, and distribution to stores. Its supply chain strategy has four key components: vendor partnerships, cross docking and distribution management, technology, and integration.
Walmart’s supply chain begins with strategic sourcing to find products at the best price from suppliers who are in a position to ensure they can meet demand. Walmart establishes strategic partnerships with most of their vendors, offering them the potential for long-term and high volume purchases in exchange for the lowest possible prices.
Suppliers then ship product to Walmart’s distribution centers where the product is cross docked and then delivered to Walmart stores. Cross docking, distribution management, and transportation management keep inventory and transportation costs down, reducing transportation time and eliminating inefficiencies.
Technology plays a key role in Walmart’s supply chain, serving as the foundation of their supply chain. Walmart has the largest information technology infrastructure of any private company in the world. Its state-of-the-art technology and network design allow Walmart to accurately forecast demand, track and predict inventory levels, create highly efficient transportation routes, and manage customer relationships and service response logistics.

 

Benefits of Efficient Supply Chain Management

Wal-Mart’s supply chain management strategy has provided the company with several sustainable competitive advantages, including lower product costs, reduced inventory carrying costs, improved in-store variety and selection, and highly competitive pricing for the consumer. This strategy has helped Walmart become a dominant force in a competitive global market. As technology evolves, Walmart continues to focus on innovative processes and systems to improve its supply chain and achieve greater efficiency.

Wal Mart and History Part2

 

In 1950, the Waltons left Newport for Bentonville, where Sam opened Walton’s 5&10 on the downtown square. They chose Bentonville because Helen wanted small-town living, and Sam could take advantage of the different hunting seasons that living at the corner of four states had to offer. Inspired by the early success of his dime store, and driven to bring even greater opportunity and value to his customers, Sam opened the first Walmart in 1962 at the age of 44 in Rogers, Arkansas. Sam's competitors thought his idea that a successful business could be built around offering lower prices and great service would never work. As it turned out, the company's success exceeded even Sam's expectations. The company went public in 1970, and the proceeds financed a steady expansion of the business. (“Sam Walton”)

Since the first Walmart store opened in 1962 in Rogers, Arkansas, They have  been dedicated to making a difference in the lives of their customers. Their business is the result of Sam Walton's visionary leadership, along with generations of associates focused on helping customers and communities save money and live better. From Sam Walton’s own life experience, he transferred his personal practice to his business. With the company core practices, Wal-Mart has become successful and is a multi

billion dollar company due to the following keys:

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. was incorporated on Oct. 31, 1969, Last year, Wal-Mart delivered a strong financial performance. Net sales increased by 5.9 percent to $443.9 billion, and consolidated operating income grew by 4 percent to $26.6 billion. Their diluted earnings per share from continuing operations attributable to Wal-Mart were $4.54 per share, up from $4.18 the previous year. They leveraged operating expenses for two consecutive years. Our strong financial position is best illustrated by their ability to grow. They added 52.2 million square feet through 1,160 additional units, including acquisitions in the U.K. and South Africa.(“Wal-Mart Annual Report”)

 First Wal-Mart in Arkansas