Comments on: An Ecommerce business failure example

By: Profeseor

Profeseor — Mon, 28 Sep 2015 05:44:44 +0000

Ecommerce business have a challenge too. We must think about pricing strategy if we want to give a discount.

It is sad too read that CEO is killed himself because of this. We must prepare ourself when starting a business.

By: Lokhi Raj

Lokhi Raj — Thu, 18 Sep 2014 05:35:00 +0000

hi every one .
i wanr website name that has misused ratings and/or manipulated customers’ recommendations.
can some one help me soon please?:(

By: Do Lien Thi

Do Lien Thi — Mon, 13 May 2013 00:35:00 +0000

Hi, sr for not really relate to the topic but I’m reading ur book which called: e-busi and e-commerce management. There r 3 topics i’m not very sure:
1. difference between buy-side and sell-side e-commerce. Basically, I only can find the definition of those 2, then is there anything else i can write in order to explain it more carefully. Or should i use an example?

2. Creating objectives and measure them for an e-business. Here, should i use SMART objective model? but then how can i measure them?

3. Internal changes a company may need to make when introducing e-busi 7’s framework? I read the McKinsey model but then i’m not sure how to apply it into this question.

I’m so so sorry for asking these stupid questions but I have an e-business exam tomorrow and really have no idea abt these 3 . Plz help if u can. Many thx

By: Suleman S. Abdullahi

Suleman S. Abdullahi — Fri, 10 May 2013 20:25:00 +0000

In reply to Dave Chaffey.

Exactly Dave. Founders get deluded into thinking because a few exception seem to have made it, it should become the norm.

And in my opinion one shouldn’t even just try to adopt social profit strategy for retail.

With social, due to generally low startup and running cost , one could forge ahead to quickly build critical mass of users and then figure out a way to make those users worth at least some cents enough to cover cost and deliver a profit either as products or/and as customers. Preferably, there should be a rough ideas of how profitability could be achieved from the get go.

With retail, it is different. The startup cost is comparatively high, the products are obvious and the customers are also obvious . There is the cost of delivering the product to the customer. It shouldn’t be hard to determine that cost dynamics and price accordingly to allow for profit from each product from the get go.

Just my thoughts.

By: Dave Chaffey

Dave Chaffey — Fri, 10 May 2013 12:14:00 +0000

In reply to Suleman S. Abdullahi.

You’re right Suleman – it’s the first rule of business to deliver a sustainable profit. Perhaps with the social media startups like Twitter and Social not being profitable initially this causes the delusion.

But it obviously doesn’t work in retail!

By: Suleman S. Abdullahi

Suleman S. Abdullahi — Fri, 10 May 2013 10:59:00 +0000

I think the owners right from the beginning broke the first business rule which is to sell the product more than what it is costing them. Their strategy didn’t have this figured out.

It’s quite unfortunate that startups go into business without properly working out a profit strategy. You don’t have to be an accountant and doing the numbers doesn’t have to be such a “huge task”. It’s simply about understanding your cost (could be tricky though) and pricing accordingly.

If from the get go you get it wrong, it doesn’t matter the sales you achieve, you will be running at a lost without any chance of ever breaking even, unless of course you make some serious changes.

By: Arthur Adams

Arthur Adams — Fri, 10 May 2013 06:25:00 +0000

In reply to Dave Chaffey.

Thank you Dave for the appreciation!

By: Dave Chaffey

Dave Chaffey — Thu, 09 May 2013 11:36:00 +0000

In reply to Arthur Adams.

Hello Arthur, thanks for your comment – yes – it’s certainly not a cake walk – I like that expression!

Dave

By: Arthur Adams

Arthur Adams — Thu, 09 May 2013 06:35:00 +0000

Yes, your article is really touching and the failure of Ecomum shows how fierce is the world of Internet marketing, especially when it comes to affiliate marketing giants like Amazon.com is concerned. As with any commercial organization be it offline or online, the onus lies on the entrepreneurs and the promoters to evaluate their business’s bottom on a regular basis. This can be done either weekly or monthly or even quarterly but cannot be done away with!

Your article has brought a new perspective into the limelight and gives us a reality check that online business isnt a cake walk and certainly not for the faint of heart.