Overview

In conclusion, there are many benefits to the different aspects of internet marketing with the main points being that it should be easy for customers to use as well as not taking up much of the customers time. It is extremely important for companies to meet the standards and expectations of customers as, even though the competition with brick organisations or physical shops is low, they still have to compete against them. There is then the addition of all the other online stores on the vast internet meaning the competition is increased.

Responsive Transactions

Within this modern day, transactions are needed to be made quickly especially as many people count the level of responsiveness in with the service provided by the company. What this means is that when a customer is buying a good online, they don't want to have to go through a long process every time they make a purchase. Most companies nowadays have a 'sign up' system on their online store, which enables their customers to be able to give their personal details which are required in the process of making a purchase. An example of one of these sign up systems can be seen through this link: https://www.dorothyperkins.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/LogonForm?catalogId=33053&catalogId=33053&langId=-1&storeId=12552&krypto=bw2BpuZQvDIRSMcapRzCKaWwf9SE8axDf5gpFadKXxCKV0XCrslBPy45tX48BFSUoZle0W1EX9o8%0ADO%2F4DR8U3G8v0EVgPM2DKQgecqmgNDkfd6JBkNaBI%2FxsT%2FMsifHyHORXNhGMpLk%3D which is demonstrated by company of Dorothy Perkins. The personal details needed are usually; name, address and contact details then the customer will also need to set a username and password to increase the level of security.

Benefits
There is only really one main benefit of responsive transactions which is to save customer time. This is because the main objective for companies is to keep customers interactive with the website and to be happy with the speed of service which can't really be achieved if the transaction process is slow and not up to a good standard. An additional benefit of this sign up system is that, like the example link above with the company of Dorothy Perkins, the email address of the customer needs to be given. This gives the company an opportunity, with the customer's consent, to be able to email and inform them of new goods and what promotional offers they can have which forms an additional type of promotional marketing for the company.

Comprehensive and Up To Date Information

Comprehensive and up to date information is when the information that is given about a product or service is a true reflection of what it is and informs the potential new buyer of the features etc. This is a very important thing to do by companies as it is what is going to entice the potential new buyers. All companies make sure any of the information given and displayed is comprehensive and up to date, and a focus example for this is Tesco (http://www.tesco.com/). The reason for this choice of example is because, similarly to other companies, Tesco have a lot of competition meaning the more sales made and a higher profit received, is better. Therefore, even the smallest of changes to a product being sold, such as the price, has to be noted by the customers. Another example, which was mentioned in a previous post, is the availability of a product in terms of how much stock the company have of it. The reasoning for this is because if a customer wants to buy something via Tesco Direct (http://www.tesco.com/direct/), which is the online Tesco store, and go through the long process of buying it, then they will become disappointed and possibly angry if they reach the online till and find out it's out of stock or unavailable to buy.

Benefits
The main benefits of comprehensive and up to date information is that it allows customers to be able to know exactly what they are buying before money is transferred. In addition to this, it decreases the chance of disappointment and any anger for customers of the business or company as they will have all the information in which they need to know about of the product, service or good that they are buying.

Customer Service

Customer service is how well the company deals with the customers in terms of how they deal with the normal service given and then how they help with customers when they face problems which need the company to seek a solution. Within this section of customer service, it includes digital complaints, chat and customer to customer communication. Digital complaints are how customers display their negative feelings and thoughts of a company, possibly to do with the service in which they provide and how it doesn't meet their expectations. When a customer does experience a scenario like this which is for a mainstream company, such as Asda, concerning the levels of customer service, for example, then the customer can go through the process of delivering a digital complaint. This process consists of either completing the form provided on the Asda website (https://mobile.asda.com/complaints/new) or writing to the company directly in full detail as to why they are unhappy with the service provided. Asda will then acknowledge the complaint within fourteen days which a third party may sometimes become involved to assist in resolving the issue. The complaints will be resolved  within eight weeks of being received and the customer should then get a response from the company within thirty days via email or post to notify the action being taken to resolve the complaint noted. 

Chat is a way for people to be able to talk to one another relating to certain topics to be discussed which are of interest that can be possibly be related to. These topics featured within the chat can be in two example formats of chat rooms and forums which are both on the internet. The difference between these, are that chat rooms are usually in the format of normal conversations unlike a forum which will have a topic heading that will allow people to post their comments, views and opinions concerning the subject. 

C2C is a shortened version of the words 'customer to customer' which is when a customer sells products, services and goods to another customer. This is different to the normal types of businesses as they usually sell business to business, B2B, or business to customer, which is B2C. An example of a company that allows people to complete customer to customer selling is eBay (http://www.ebay.co.uk/) and the reasoning for this is because they are an e-commerce meaning that people can sell their goods online or over the internet making it more accessible for other people to buy them.

Benefits
The benefits which come with digital complaints, chat and customer to customer communication is that they all link into how the customer service of a company is truly projected by its customers. What this means is that, by having these three forms of communication, it allows the company to be able to manage the thoughts of customers especially if they concern the levels of customer service which are shown in a negative light. Once they have been highlighted, the company will then be able to make amends and solve the problems or queries of customers.

Dynamic Pricing

Dynamic pricing is a technique used by businesses and companies when pricing the things in which they sell, such as a product, in relation to the time of year, for example.  What this means is that some companies will change their prices according to the time of year and possibly to the weather as another example. The reasoning as to why they would want to do this is because  the company will want to get the best price possible to charge their customers but at the same time making enough profit and ensuring the demand is high. As a general and basic example of this, would be that if a business were selling umbrellas, the may sell them at a lower cost on a sunny day but then on a day when it's raining, they may change the price dynamically so their customers have to pay a higher price but the business can afford for this to happen as the demand will be high. 


This simple example can be taken and put in to terms with another real world company example like an airplane company such as EasyJet. (http://www.easyjet.com/en/) The reasoning for this is because during the time of year when children of families are in school, such as during term time,  the prices for flights will be cheap because the demand levels for the company will be lower. This is in comparison of when schools have broken up for the holidays which is when the prices increase massively especially because the demand levels have increased also. 


Benefits
If the customer is aware of the dynamic pricing  strategy used by businesses, the customers can benefit from it especially when they know the time in which the prices decrease and become cheaper. This can become massively beneficial for them especially when using the example of finding the right prices for airline flights abroad because holidays can be expensive on their own and even more so when the price for flights have been added into the equation.

Comparing and Selecting Providers

People use the internet to compare and select providers which suit them the best with various businesses and companies being the provider. The way in which the price transparency comes in to this topic is by customers being able to have the access to important information. Normally the information will show how much stock is available to buy and, if it’s possible to bid for the good, what the bidding price levels are. (http://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/pricetransparency.asp)


The reasoning as to why people go through the process of comparing then selecting providers is so that they don't reach the conclusion where they haven't done enough research and then they realise that there is a better provider to the one in which they have selected. This can often be the case especially in the likes of e-commerce sites, like eBay, because there can be the option to bid for the good but only if the seller has opted for it. In other words, when a customer is looking for a good via a type of site like eBay, it can be very important for the customer to be able to see what the price transparency is, such as what prices people are wanting to spend, which enables the person to only pay what they want to spend rather than a fixed price. This link

(http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BLUETOOTH-WIRELESS-MINI-PORTABLE-SPEAKER-SPEAKERS-FOR-IPHONE-IPAD-MP3-Rechargble-/300939455562?pt=UK_MP3_Player_Accessories_AudioDocks_Speakers&hash=item461163ac4a)

shows the e-commerce site of eBay with the biddings for a product of a wireless Bluetooth speaker. From the information from the price transparency of this particular product, it is known that eighteen have been sold within the last hour, there are more than ten available to buy, the quality is new and 10,506 have already been bought.

Benefits
In addition to the factor that by comparing and selecting providers with the use of price transparency, people are able to choose the right provider for themselves as well as only really paying the amount they want to spend which can be achieved by searching the different providers and options available to them. Another benefit for customers is that by comparing products, they are able to see the various prices of what they are looking for by the different providers which gives them the opportunity to see which would be the best value for money.

Introduction

The aim of the next five or so posts are to discuss the terms of; comparing and selecting providers such as price transparency, comprehensive and up to date information, dynamic pricing, responsive transactions and customer service including digital complaints, chat and customer to customer communication. These will link into the task focus of explaining the benefits to customers of a business using internet marketing. I will complete this by explaining these terms through the use of real world examples which will also include screenshots demonstrating the points made.