Read the case aboutEnergitex before answering the questions that follow.

(theEnergitex case)

Energitexis a firm that sells Healthy food, supplements and vitamins in a Canadian metropolitan since 2010. The business model is a large traditional brick-and-mortar (physical store) but in 2016Energitex decided to launch the online business to widen the scope of its operations and join the e-commerce trend.

The CEO ofEnergitex expressed this intention of the board of management perfectly"We need to join the e-commerce wagon and take advantage of what digital marketing has to offer. We need to widen our market beyond the city and access all cities in Canada and may be north America. For this we must develop an e-commerce website that allows more interaction with our customers and offer a user-friendly and safe way of buying online. This online presence will allow us to take advantage of the major e-business technologies such as CRM, ERP, Web Analytics which will provide the company with valuable information about customer's needs and wants so we can establish a more personal relationship that will be beneficial Our message will be more effective considering the wealth of medium that internet has to offer and that we can take advantage of. We will continue to operate our brick-and-mortar business but will complement it with an e-business model. A change of culture must take place and a training period must follow. Our staff, working from all locations should learn about all our different touchpoints' offers. The information should not be limited to the store or to the 24 hours phone-line. The customer should be able to be informed, take advantage of all the specials offered by the company, and served consistently from whatever touchpoint he or she wishes to be using. Moreover, our sales staff should be knowledgeable in nutrition and health products so they could act as health advisors whether when communicating in person or through the chat.

We have decided in the board of management that the goal of the online business is to increase sales and achieve more visibility in new Canadian and north American markets but we must start prudently, we will not display online all of our line of products right away, we will focus on the multivitamins and the main vitamins (A, B, C. D, K and Omega 3) but will inform the public about the exhaustive list of health food and supplements that will be offered online soon. We will see how things will evolve before adding the rest of our products. Another decision by the board, and since we will expect increased demand, was to develop our supply base and to rent warehouses adapted to natural and pharmaceutical products for quality preservation in strategic locations to better serve our customers. We should also develop our finance department for more invoices' processes. We will request from our accountants and financial managers to determine properly the costs related to the logistics and the different tax systems to be able to communicate an accurate information of fees to our potential customers. Moreover, in the same logic of better informing the customer, logistics' managers should determine a good approximation of delivery times and develop a convenient return policy in case of undesirable delivery. I trust that this move is not only essential to be competitive, but also very beneficial to our image if the planning is done correctly.

To complete those first steps, and to boost the visibility of our website, we will invest in Google ads hoping that eventually, we will rely on organic search once our online popularity will be established. We will count on our IT department to manage, update and improve the content of our website on regular basis in order to make it more attractive but also to improve traffic. To elaborate on this topic, let me invite our IT manager to explain the steps they will take to optimize the performance of the website.The IT manager spoke:"with the purpose of being proactive, we have decided to use a scalable platform ready to support more advanced applications and more attractive visuals in the future, this decision is essential since we plan on integrating a forum for chatting and a testimonials section after a while. Forums and testimonials will become relevant only when enough interaction with the customers will allow the creation of a virtual community where relevant information could be shared and exchanged. We also implemented a technology that made surfing of our website very user-friendly when using a mobile device since many are using mobile devices nowadays. In that respect, we adapted the content to mobile platforms by condensing the visuals for faster downloading and simplified the text to just the essential. We did advise to pay for Google ads at first, but we complemented this by improving the content to generate more traffic. We will for instance optimize the Titles, include relevant links to health and sports websites and attractive videos, include nice pictures and make the paragraphs short to cut the monotony. In term of security, we will install all the relevant applications such as Firewalls anti-virus and anti-malware software. We also implemented a secure payment method and added the appropriate logo. Regular training of our staff on cybersecurity and safe practices in the workplace will take place periodically. To complete, I will let our legal expert talk about the company's policies regarding privacy and security.The legal expert said: It is important to know that trust is not only the result of efficient protective technologies but also of sound policies. With this in mind, and since many of the technologies adopted will generate a big volume of information, we advised to include a page that describes the company's privacy policy and explains how the information could be used after requesting consent from the customer. Moreover, we advised that the information requested from the customers should be limited to what is needed only. This should be the case of the checking-out process where the forms should be simple, user-friendly, and transparent. The company should also make sure that the privacy policy articulated is respected. Gaining the trust and loyalty of our customers is essential".

Questions withshortanswers

1. What advantages of digital marketingEnergitex was seeking when deciding to move online?

After reading the case ofEnergitex above, and referring to the course notes from presentations 5 to 11, answer the following questions.

All answers should refer to theEnergitex case:

1. When starting your e-business Avoid needless risks,why is that? AND how didEnergitex applied this tip?
2. What is meant by the tip: "Offer convenience, not headaches"?How isEnergitex planning for this?
3. You should Please get ready. for business to handle increased sales. WhyANDhow was this done byEnergitex?

1. On your online business, you must communicate your shipping policyto customers; give examples from the case ofthosepolicies.

1. Think growth! How is this advice applied in the case AND for what purpose?

1. WHY is it advised online, to convey an image oftrust! AND HOW didEnergitex planned on conveying an image of trust?

1. One of the new e-commerce tips for online business is "useomni-channel marketing". Explain the concept anditsimportance after referring to it in the case.

1. When starting your e-business, you are advised to make it mobile friendly,WHY is it important? AND howEnergitex applied this tip (cr3.8, 3.9)

1. "Plan your logistics"give 2 examplesof logistics' tips used byEnergitex.

1. When appropriate, get more sophisticated. How isEnergitex planning to do that?

1. "Always optimize your site to improve its visibility"? Why is online visibility essential for the success of an online business? What were the steps undertaken byEnergitex to establish visibility?

(cr 2.4,3.9)

1. What is SEO and WHY is it important? Name two SEO tips that were adopted byEnergitexAND explain their purpose. (cr 2.4,3.9)

1. "PRIVACY, SECURITY AND LEGAL ISSUES IN E-BUSINESS"are becoming essential to run a successful online business. What kind of decisions didEnergitex take to make sure that the privacy and security of information of the customers are protected and respected? Give 2 examples from the case to illustrate that. (cr. 3.8)

1. What were the recommendations regarding the Checking-out process? What was the objective of those recommendations?

1. Short case scenarios

1. You are an e-commerce consultant and were approached by the following parties to advise them on what type of website they should construct in order to meet the objectives of their business. For each case,suggest the ideal type of website and justify your advice by explaining the characteristics of the suggested websites. (cr.3.9)(2 points each= 8 points)

1. A sports' amateur who wants to share stories about the most popular sports in north America with historical references of major events, statistics and a way to get communicate and share stories with interested surfers.

1. A painter who would like to display his achievements and offer the opportunity to sell his paintings online.

1. A plastic surgeon working in the Montreal area and wishing to inform the public about the different procedures he performs with emphasis on before and after photos.

1. The Chinese community of Montreal wishing to inform the citizens about the list of all Chinese restaurants in Montreal, with addresses, phone numbers and reviews.

Webanalytics generates periodic reports of important indicators or metrics for two competing e-commerce businesses in the retail sector. (cr 5.5)

1. Explain what the following metrics measure?
2. Traffic
3. Bounce rate
4. Traffic from organic search
5. Visits from referrals
6. Click through rate
7. Conversion rate.