Exercises
7 The opportunity for new commercial arrangements for transactions includes negoti-
ated deals, brokered deals, auctions, fixed-price sales, and pure spot markets; and
barters should also be considered.
8 Customer analysis is an important part of situation analysis. It involves assessing
demand for online services, characteristics of existing online customers and the
multi-channel behaviour of customers as they select and purchase products.
9 Regular competitive benchmarking should be conducted to compare services.
10 The role of intermediaries in promoting an organisation’s services should also be
carefully assessed.
Self-assessment exercises
1 Why is environmental scanning necessary?
2 Summarise how each of the micro-environment factors may directly drive the content and
services provided by a web site.
3 What are the main aspects of customer adoption of the Internet that managers should be
aware of?
4 What are the main changes to channel structures that are facilitated through the Internet?
5 What are the different elements and different types of business model?
6 How should a marketing manager benchmark the online performance of competitors?
7 Describe two different models of online buyer behaviour.
8 How can the Internet be used to support the different stages of the buying process?
Essay and discussion questions
1 Discuss, using examples, how the Internet may change the five competitive forces of Michael
Porter.
2 ‘Internet access levels will never exceed 50% in most countries.’ Discuss.
3 What are the options, for an existing organisation, for using new business models through the
Internet?
4 Perform a demand analysis for e-commerce services for a product sector and geographical
market of your choice.
5 Perform competitor benchmarking for online services for an organisation of your choice.
6 What are the alternatives for modified channel structures for the Internet? Illustrate through
different organisations in different sectors.
EXERCISES
