e-Business Fundamentals and Systems Assignment -

Assessment Description - Consider the financial accounting services market in Australia.

Select one e-commerce model

1. B2C - Retail supply of financial accounting services such as financial advice and income tax returns.

2. B2B - Business to business in terms of firms or individuals who provide accounting services to businesses such small business book keeping to major accounting firms providing consulting and audit services.

3. P2P - The collaborative economy whereby consumers supply each other for example financial advice or accounting services.

Choose TWO competing services (websites) in your chosen e-commerce model segment.

Your assignment is to compare and contrast your two chosen businesses and websites.

Number of words is 1500 to 2500.

Tasks -

A. Clearly state which e-commerce business model you have chosen. For each chosen website report the business name, the homepage URL, and include a screenshot of the homepage.

B. For each chosen website, in 1-2 paragraphs, explain why the website belongs to that particular e-commerce business model.

C. For each chosen website, in 1-2 paragraphs, identify what you think is/are the principal business goal(s) of the website.

D. For each website, consider the following attributes and assess them on the following five-point semantic differential scale and, for each attribute,

Use a TABLE with each Attribute (1 to 22), Your Rating (1 to 5) and a brief Comment.

1. How does the website URL relate to the business name?

2. How easily is the website found using general internet search engines (e.g. Google, Ask, AltaVista, Bing, Yahoo!)?

3. Does the website give me all the organisational information a user could reasonably require?

4. Are requirements to provide a user's (personal or sensitive) information appropriate?

5. How well does the website reassure users about the security and use of their information?

6. How well does the website foster user trust in the organisation?

7. How well does the website address legal issues associated with use of the website or engagement in transactions?

8. How well does the website provide for the accessibility needs of users?

9. How well does the website address the language or cultural needs of users?

10. Does the website contain all the product information that a user could reasonably require?

11. Does the website allow all the customisation (user-managed features) that a user could reasonably expect?

12. How well does the website personalise the experience for users?

13. Does the website identify sufficient channels for user service/support?

14. How easy is it to find any information on the website about the organisation, their products or services?

15. How easy is the information on the website to read (i.e. is provided information in appropriate language and with sufficient detail for most users)?

16. Is the website easy to navigate (i.e. move through the website to find information, products, or services, and engage in transactions with the organisation)?

17. How appropriate are the website aesthetics (e.g. use of layout, colours, imagery, fonts, etc) for the target audience?

18. How well does the website foster community among users?

19. How quickly does the website load into your browser and do all website features, links and embedded objects (eg: media files or applets) work as intended?

20. How well does the website support different web-browsers or platforms (e.g. mobile devices)?

21. Does the website provide a sufficient range of payment options as could be reasonably expected?

22. Does the website provide a sufficient range of delivery options as could be reasonably expected?

F. Compare and contrast your chosen websites: which website is more likely to be successful than the other, and why?