• Make one reply tothe threestudents below
• Replies should be at least one paragraph in length,and should:
  • Provide a polite,substantive reaction(agree or disagree)to your classmates' posts.
  • Advance the discussion by providing another strength,weakness,opportunity,or threat that you think they should focus on,and why.

- in the end, Summarize what you learned from reading others' posts.

Student #1

The e-commerce solution I have selected is the MyPark mobile application, designed for drivers to easily locate and reserve available parking spaces. Working in reverse order in this S.W.O.T. analysis, I begin with a potential threat. A direct competitor to the MyPark application is the established SpotAngels Parking & Gas app, which at its core will share similar features. Therefore, one of the inherent goals of MyPark will be to compete for market share. To accomplish this, we find that applications achieve significant advantages when they possess characteristics akin to a monopoly. This implies that the application can offer a unique and exclusive good or service that sets it apart from competitors. According to our class textbook, creating a near-monopoly situation becomes the ideal approach when facing competition and the need to distinguish one's services becomes imperative (Laudon and Traver, page 93). After all, threats include competitors that could develop similar capabilities. Therefore, SpotAngels is one such threat to MyPark which, if the appropriate conditions are met, could take steps toward mimicking a unique feature of the start-up, discussed below.

"Spotter Assist" is a distinct strength of the MyPark application which intends to capture live, fast, and accurate measurements of parking spaces along the sides of a driver as their vehicle traverses through roadways. The feature is termed "spotter" because audio and visual queues will guide drivers to a digitally identified space as captured by smartphone cameras while factoring in parking regulations and vehicle size. By definition of our text, this is a strength because "current sites do not address [this potential] market need" (Laudon and Traver, page 93).

Of all the major quality-of-life improvements to features offered by MyPark over SpotAngels, the "Spotter Assist" feature is meant to be the icing on the cake. If successful, MyPark will possess the "ability to address [a potentially] large market with unmet needs", here defined as the opportunity in this S.W.O.T. analysis (Laudon and Traver, page 93). Because smartphone cameras trade lengthier processing speeds for clarity in the nighttime and do not have this processing available for video imaging, users will likely want to carry through this feature to when it matters most after sunset. MyPark will leverage this need with a proprietary infrared camera that is meant to bring the "Spotter Assist" feature to night-time driving.

Lastly, if MyPark cannot acquire sufficient funding to develop a proof-of-concept or, if it has the technology but interests through funding websites/venture capitalists are not sufficient, it stands to reason that "limited financial resources" would cease the start-up's potential to see the light of day (Laudon and Traver, page 93). I have chosen funding as a weakness of MyPark due to the night-time camera being a critical component towards realizing distinction against competitors. Without it, this would just be another parking app with enhancements that could, with some effort, be patched into existing competitive services. Beyond daytime "Spotter Assist", remaining enhancements include improved accessibility and location saving, as well as enhancements to map queries.