Introduction to Digital Marketing Assignment: E-Commerce and Website Design

INSTRUCTIONS: Imagine that you have decided to start up a new business in Fairfield, CT. As part of your marketing strategy, you want to develop a website for your new business that is well-structured, visually-appealing, and user-friendly.

Options -

1. A barber shop that, in addition to advertising their services online, sells branded merchandise such as t-shirts, key chains, coffee mugs, etc. Also, customers can sign up to the site so they can receive appointment reminders via email or text messages and promotions/deals (via email) when they become frequent customers (3 visits or more in a 6-month period).

2. A fitness center that, in addition to advertising their services online, sells branded merchandise such as t-shirts, key chains, coffee mugs, etc. Also, customers can subscribe and pay their monthly fees online. Customers can also receive alerts via email or text messages when payment days are approaching and friendly reminders (via email) when they do not visit the gym for 5 consecutive days.

3. An Italian-food restaurant that, in addition to advertising their services online and offering customers to place orders and make reservations, sells branded merchandise such as t-shirts, key chains, beer glasses, coffee mugs, etc. Also, customers can subscribe and receive promotions via email or text messages and friendly reminders (via email) when they do not visit the restaurant in a month.

4. An event planning company that specializes in weddings that, in addition to advertising their services online, sells branded merchandise such as t-shirts, key chains, coffee mugs, etc. Also, customers can sign up for a first appointment with the wedding planner and receive reminders via email or text messages for future appointments and wedding planning updates.

Pick ONE of the business options above (this will be your new business) and do the following activities:

1. Define the name, target market(s) and positioning statement for your new company.

2. Explain the main objective(s) for your company's website.

3. Define the main and secondary conversions that you are expecting to achieve from your new website.

4. Website Competitive Analysis. Do a Google search and visit the websites of two competitors: one in the area (Fairfield and nearby cities in CT) and one the Boston, MA, area. These competitors must be companies that are similar to your business in terms of the services they offer. Then, evaluate the websites in terms of content relevance, website structure (i.e. how well organized is the information on the site, including homepage and other pages), aesthetics of the site, balance between the text and graphics, and navigation. Explain your findings.

5. Website Design (Layout). Based on the information you now have about your two competitors, make a draft of the website structure (i.e. SiteMap) for your new business including categories up to 3 levels. You may do this on PowerPoint (and export it to your Word document) or use a free online tool such as SlickPlan.

6. Website Differentiation. As marketers, we know that a critical element of a marketing strategy is differentiation, which also applies to a company's website. In a short paragraph, explain what will make your website better than those of your competitors. In other words, what will your website's competitive advantage be?

7. Website Usability Analysis and Testing of Competitors' Websites a) Evaluate the usability (ease of use) of your two competitors' websites (i.e. the ones defined in part 4). How would you describe your experience in terms of the usability of these websites? Report your findings and provide TWO recommendations to improve the usability of EACH website.

b) Pick ONE of the two competitors and do an analysis of its website using Nibbler. Analyze the report generated by Nibbler and, in one page, summarize the main problems and recommendations for improvement.

Attachment:- Assignment File.rar