Internet Technology and Business
Internet Technology and Business
Introduction
The internet technology has had a tremendous effect on businesses for the past decades. The internet technology has transformed businesses in the world. It has changed small and large businesses in the world. Small and large businesses have integrated internet technology in their operations so as to realize the benefits of the internet technology. The internet technology has changed various aspects of businesses including marketing, communication and provision of services and goods. Businesses have implemented interne marketing strategies to increase their sales and reach many audiences. They have used the internet to facilitate buying and selling of products and services. More businesses will continue to integrate the internet in their operations as the internet continues to grow and new technologies emerge.
Thesis: The internet has change, continues to change and will change various aspects of businesses including marketing, communication, and customer relationship, buying and selling. Companies have integrated internet in their activities regardless of their size in order to increase sales, profit and remain competitive. Companies will continue to benefit from internet technology as more technologies like cloud computing emerge.
Discussion
The internet technology has improved customer reach in many organizations. Small and big businesses are able to reach a wide range of customers globally. The internet technology has improved provision of services and goods to customer and facilitated business growth. The internet technology does not improve performance and promote growth in big businesses, but also small businesses. The internet technology has had a profound impact on small and medium sized businesses and start ups. This is according to a study conducted by Manyika and Roxburgh (2011) in more than 12 countries.
The researchers surveyed over 4800 small and medium sized businesses in 12 countries. They noted that businesses that utilized web technology grew faster compared to those which did not use the web technology often. In addition, the internet has transformed small and medium sized businesses to global companies. It has given small and medium sized businesses the reach and capabilities that only big companies had. The internet technology has improved customer reach in small and medium sized firms as they can reach diverse customers around the world like large companies. Additionally, small businesses can find suppliers from various parts of the world and tap talent (George 2003).
This has in turn enabled small and medium firms to compete with big businesses. Before the development of the internet technology, most small and medium businesses relied on local customers, and this affected their growth and made them less competitive in their industries. Small and medium sized businesses did not have the capability to access the resources used by large companies to grow and become competitive. However, the internet has resulted to the emergence of micro multinationals (Rajshekhar, Patricia, Wesley & et al 2012). The businesses have expanded into multiple nations instead of operating in a single country. Small businesses and medium sized businesses only expanded to other countries when they reached a large scale. This has contributed a lot to economic growth in various countries including US, Sweden, UK etc.
Further, the internet technology has transformed buying and selling of products and services in businesses. Businesses can sell their products and services to a large audience over the internet regardless of their size. The internet has facilitated e-commerce in organizations. Many organizations have integrated e-commerce in their selling and buying process to satisfy customer needs. The electronic commerce has been characterized by buying of simple products through pick and pay. In this case, customers browse a product catalog, select product and put it in a shopping cart and then pay.
This method has been effective in selling simple products like books, software etc. Many companies have benefited from the internet technology and electronic commerce such as Amazon and eToys. The companies have sold various products to different customers over the internet for the past years. The internet has given customers a chance to evaluate various products and compare process before buying the products. Customers search for product information and price information online. Selling complex products on the internet is not easy and companies face various challenges when selling products over the internet. The complexity of a product affects selling on the internet.
Customers are not able to evaluate the product quality and feel it, and this affects their decisions to purchase the product. Many companies have invested heavily on interne selling systems to simply the buying of complex products over the internet. For instance, Dell and Cisco have invested in custom built systems to improve buying of complex goods and remain competitive. The company has increased their sales by selling a large number of products through the internet. Several companies have implemented internet selling systems to improve selling of products. For instance, BMW, Fujitsu and 3 com use internet selling systems to sell their products. The internet selling systems have improved the efficiency of the selling process and helped in opening new e- sales channels.
An internet selling system uses the internet protocol to connect a server to a client using a browser. The internet selling system helps manage product complexity and needs complexity via the sales cycle instead of sales force automation software. The internet selling system helps in buying complex products and services by providing assistance at each step of the selling process. The system takes the sales person and the product managers’ experience and knowledge and uses it to guide the consumer when buying the product. The internet selling system increases sales, reduces sales cost and enhances customer satisfaction. It improves customer experience when buying complex products and hence their satisfaction (Basil, A., & Sherah 2010).
Further, the internet has changed marketing of products and communication in the organization. The internet has transformed the marketing of goods and services in both big and small firms. Businesses have embraced internet marketing instead of conventional marketing techniques. The internet has enabled large, and small businesses to reach a wide range of audiences when marketing their products and services. Before, the emergency of the internet technology, businesses used traditional marketing methods and only reached local audiences. This affected their businesses negatively including sales and profitability (Paul, Andreas, Israr & et al 2011).
The internet technology has enabled small businesses to compete with large businesses by selling at a national and global scale. The businesses reach their niche without spending a large section of their budget on marketing. Traditional marketing methods have proved expensive as companies utilize a big percentage of their budget on marketing. This has increased costs and affected their profitability. Therefore, the internet has increased customer base and improved profitability (Javadian, Samin, Mehrdad & et al 2012).
The internet has improved customer relationships in organizations. It has improved the bond between suppliers and customers by balancing the power in the relationship. Traditionally, businesses have controlled the flow of information and affected customers negatively as they do not have sufficient information to make purchasing decisions. The internet has improved information flow by ensuring customers access adequate information to make ethical decisions. The number of people who had access to internet at home in 1997 was low. The number has increased greatly for the past years. The internet usage has increased as many people have internet aces at home (Mark & Brock 2005).
The internet has shifted power to customers as customers buy products online have sufficient information than customers buying using traditional methods. They have enough information to make appropriate choices when purchasing products. In addition to that, customers have a means to express their dissatisfaction if they get poor quality products and services. Most companies offering products and services online have enabled customers to provide feedback about products and services.
The companies have used the information provide to improve products and services and hence satisfy their customers. This has in turn increase their client base and made them competitive. Companies like Dell use the internet to change supplier- buyer relationships by enabling customers to post their feedback. The Dell idea storm. Com enables customers to post their ideas and then customers vote for them. Most businesses are taking advantage of the social media by utilizing customer blogs, third party forums and websites to facilitate customer experience feed back and improve communication between them and customers (Jon, Nichola & Banwari 2003).
Businesses will continue to integrate internet in their operations in the future and benefit from internet usage. Despite the widespread use of the internet, the internet is still growing. The growth in internet technology will lead to development of new technologies that will assist businesses in the future. In addition, businesses will continue to use the internet technology to improve innovation, market products, reach customers and remain competitive. They will also use the internet in the future to reduce costs and increase profits. Technologies like cloud computing will transform businesses in the future by improving management of information systems like customer relationship management systems. Businesses will reduce the cost of managing software and hardware through cloud computing (Ahmed 2011).
Conclusion
In conclusion, the internet has changed all aspects of businesses including marketing, customer relationships, selling, buying and communication. It has improved marketing of products in organizations, and it will continue to do so in the future as more internet marketing strategies will be developed. It has also changed relationship between buyers and suppliers by giving customers more power by improving information flow. Customers access a lot of information about products and services and make the right choices. The internet growth will shift power to customers in the future by ensuring companies do not control the information. Buying and selling will change as more firms implement internet selling systems. Thus, the internet is vital for business performance, growth and competitive advantage in the future. It will enable small and medium sized businesses compete with big companies by investing in various countries and targeting diverse customers.
Reference
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