Week 8 – Reading Questions

Here are your questions!

1. Ashika:
   1) When you are shopping online, what are the things that normally catch your attention and make you click on a link?
   2) How often do you shop online? For what sort of items?
   3) Do you believe that shopping online is better than shopping at the mall, if so why? If not, why not?
2. Bilkay (also EC)1. How can companies and marketing firms control this new frontier without making significant chances in their advertisement models?2. How has the internet changed your customer services experiences? Have they improved or gotten worse?

   3. Why do you think the internet is shaping advertisement models shared by many companies around the world? In addition, whom does this shift affect the most?

3. Candice (also EC)1. If you have or haven’t purchased online, what are the reasons?2. When you think about shopping online, what are the sites you think of and why?

   3. What are the things you are most concerned about when shopping online?

4. Chad:1. What is the most important thing an online business can do to win your loyalty?2. Why have the repeated attempts at online grocery delivery been unsuccessful?

   3. How has e-commerce changed the amount of shopping you do?

5. Chadrose:1. When dealing with electronic commerce, exlpain a time when a transaction went bad that caused you not to return to that site or switch to a different company. How do these companies get you hooked on their sites?2. When you need information quickly, what are the different sources you look through and does the quality of service differ with your choices?

   3. How do think e-commerce will look like in 10 years? Will everything be done on-line?

6. Cindy
   Describe what Clutrain calles the “Anti-Conversation”. Do you agree? Why or why not?
   Why do you think Amazon.com is mentioned in both articles?
   One of the six clues that a company is having an identity crisis was, “Is the company able to admit a mistake? Can employees admit they disagree with management decisions or the latest marketing mantra? Or must they always explain why everything is perfect in this, the best of all possible companies? “ How does this tie into our current economic situation?
7. Corey:
   1. In terms of online customer service, what are some ways that online retailers can improve the user experience?
   2. How important is speed in regards to customer service? How do speed and functionality relate?
   3. What concepts can the smaller companies learn from the big guys and what can the big guys learn from the little guys?
8. Glenn
   1) How can we move away from purchasing products solely based on their brand as a society? Do you think this is positive or negative?
   2) How can brick and mortar retailers compete with online retailers or e-tailers in the future so that they don’t become the next CompUSA or Circuit City?
   3) How can e-commerce take the place of face-to-face shopping interactions and hands-on product demos in the future?
9. Gulya – no questions
10. JR
    1. What drawbacks have you experienced with electronic commerce?
    2. How do you see commerce evolving in the future, more online, or more face-to-face commerce?
    3. Why is it important to give customers what they want?
11. Jamie:
    1. How have auction sites like EBay changed our concept of what a product is worth and how much we’re willing to pay?
    2. What sort of things do you look for on a retailer’s website to make sure that the site is “legitimate”?
    3. What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of using an online retailer instead of shopping in a traditional retail outlet?
12. John (also EC)
    Q1 – how are companies failing to maintain business online since the advent of the digital age, here to make our lives “easier”?

    Q2 – How will the opportunity of entering the online social networking realm as a means of engaging their customers, encourage or discourage prospective business owners/board members/managers?

    Q3 – What can a small business do to achieve the same online sales success as large corporations without nearly the same capital investment?

13. Katarina:
    (1) How does online retailing entail products or concepts that have little to do with product quality and efficiency?

    (2) What does the “brand community” have that geographical communities don’t?

    (3) How can trust of brands be misused in online commerce?

14. Madeline:
    1. What are your favorite e-commerce sites?
    2. What are your least favorite e-commerce sites?
    3. When you’re conducting business, when do you want to speak to a real person and when is just sending an e-mail okay?
15. Mandy:
    1. What are some negative aspects of e-commerce?
    2. How do you use e-commerce in your daily life?
    3. In what ways would you improve upon e-commerce?
16. Mark:
    Maybe this way of thinking by banks is why we have a banking crisis today!
    What ways can a small business utilize “Branding” as a tool for success?
    What forms of feedback for customers can be best utilized by small business?
    How does a well designed user-friendly website level the playing field for small businesses versus big businesses?
17. Megan
    – How credible is a store that only has an on-line store front, as compared to one that has both an actual location plus an on-line shop?
    – What type of customer service do you expect from an on-line store as opposed to a physical shop?
    –How has the ability to research products on-line before buying them hehlped to make you a more informed consumer?
18. Michael L
    1) How effective or ineffective are consumer feedback or ratings online on certain products?

    2) In what ways has shopping online changed the way shoppers (as a whole) are “more educated” shoppers?

    3) What is the benefit to actually going to the store and “testing” out a product compared to looking at a picture and reading reviews online?

19. Mike
    1. Why has the telephone book, i.e. Yellow Pages, fallen out of favor?
    2. The closing line of Digital Branding asserts there’s a continuing importance to personal contact i.e. a hand-written thank you note. How do you feel when you receive a personal thank you note?
    3. Circuit City “was an early adopter of product reviews and ratings” and tried to use social networking to their advantage. What happened to such a forward looking company?
20. Quoc:
    1. What are the some of issues you have face before with online shopping?
    2. In what was you would chance online shopping to make it more like shopping in real life?
    3. How has e-commerce effected the way you have purchased things?
21. Rob –
    * How will the customer service experience change as more and more companies move over to fully online vs. telephone/real life customer service?
    * What are your personal experiences either positive or negative of online shopping?
    * What do you prefer about shopping online vs. shopping in real life and vice versa?
22. Robert – no questions
23. Rylan:1) If you watch podcasts or online video, what type of advertising do you prefer? Commercials, host read/hosted ads, none?2) If advertising were completely rejected online, what would you see as a viable way of making money online without it?

    3) Of the ads you are currently bombarded with, which ones work on you and why? “Work on you” is intentionally ambiguous. I want to know why you like them and under what circumstances. Pretty please?

24. Sarah:1. What sorts of problems do you run into while online shopping?2. How does a site’s userbility influence your decision to purchase from it?

    3. What kinds of online advertising are the most annoying?

25. Shane – also EC
    1. Why are box stores will around? If people can buy almost everything online, why are box stores still effective?
    2. How will the economic downturn hurt on line retailers more than local retailers? (or vice versa)
    3. How do you think social networking will combine with commerce aside from recommendation engines?
26. Stephen – also EC
    What does it take to get your name, address, phone number, SSN, or compromising pictures out of you when navigating a website?
    How much effort are you willing to go through in order to limit your exposure to nefarious elements of the online community up to and including such things as clicking an extra button, verifying settings, and turning the thing off and throwing it in the sink?
    What would it take to get you to stop transacting business on the internets?
27. Ted
    Q1. What do you feel are the greatest drawbacks to online shopping?
    Q2. How would you improve the e-commerce process for the sites you purchase from?
    Q3. What draws you to purchase from certain site rather than others?
28. Tressa
    1. What strategies would you suggest to improve customer service on website with e-commerce?
    2. How has e-commerce changed your everyday life?
    3. What is the importance to human intereractions compared to online commerence?
29. Tyler:
    1. Would you rather browse a mall or Amazon when shopping? Why?
    2. Do your purchasing decisions still usually come down to price? If not, what other major factors decide where you shop?
    3. Are the reasons you are loyal to a certain store different for online stores vs. brick and mortar retail