E Commerce Readiness Assessment Tool

E-Commerce Readiness Assessment Tool By

Dr. Ratish Kakkad Faculty Member R.K. College of Business Management Kasturbadham, Rajkot-360020

Just how ready is your company to develop an e-commerce site where you can sell products directly? This assessment tool is rough, but will help you pinpoint some of the hurdles facing your company. We're assuming, of course, that you have a product that is suited to selling directly on the Web. Points Awarded

Your Company's Score

COMMITMENT READINESS (45 pts. total) Company Commitment to Web Sales (35 pts.) Without serious commitment on the part of top management any web sales initiative is seriously crippled, since commitment brings resources and removes barriers. However, sometimes-full commitment comes only after some web sales success, and many companies have built stores with only tentative or partial commitment from top management. Select one of the following choices: Little commitment at any level -50 Full Commitment at sales/marketing level only

15

Partial Commitment by CEO and top officials

25

Full Commitment by CEO and top officials

35 Your Company's Score

Competitive Environment (5 pts.) The degree of threat from online competition has a way of affecting top management commitment. Select one of the following choices: No competition threat from Web sales

0

Minor competition threat from Web sales

1

Moderate competition threat from Web sales

3

Major competition threat from Web sales

4

Acute competition from Web sales

5 Your Company's Score

Distribution Chain (5 pts.) Distribution chain factors can create ambivalence in commitment to Web sales, and therefore severely retard the process. Committed to no sales on company website, display and referral only -25

_________

_________

Web sales will cause major distributor/dealer resentment/defection

-20

Web sales will cause moderate distributor/dealer resentment/defection Web sales will cause minor distributor/dealer resentment/defection

-10

Web sales welcomed by distributors/dealers who receive commissions for sales in their regions. No existing distribution chain to disrupt

0 5 5

Your Company's Score

_________

CONTENT READINESS (25 pts. total) The content is what the online shopper sees. Of course you'll need a graphic lookand-feel, but the core is the product database and photos. Don't underestimate the time to prepare these carefully. Product Database (15 pts.) The basis of an online store (except the very smallest store) requires a spreadsheet or database containing SKU, product name, price, weight, description, etc. Full product data exists only in page-oriented program such as -10 Quark, PageMaker, or Frame Maker. Since this will take not only data entry, but a basic systems change in order to become efficient, count this as a negative Give points for each of the following fields included in an existing spreadsheet or database. SKU and Product Name 5 Price

2

Weight

2

Full description

2

Category/Subcategory

2

Filename of product photo

2 Your Company's Score

_________

Product Photos (10 pts.) For most products, photos are an important motivation to the customer to actually complete the sale. Do not exist -5 Obtainable from catalog printer at cost per photo

5

Exist as print or transparency

5

Exist in digitized form easily obtainable

7

Exist in Web-ready format (dimensioned)

9

Exist in Web-ready format optimized for minimum file size

10

No product photos required

10 Your Company's Score

SYSTEMS READINESS (20 pts. total) Companies often underestimate the importance of the systems that support Web sales. These may not be essential to launch readiness, but they are vital to efficiency and profitability. Mail-Order Experience (10 pts)

_________

Companies that have only sold in physical retail stores are at a disadvantage, since the distribution requirements for online sales are substantially different than instore sales. Customer service, order tracking, and shipping systems are vital. Existing direct sales and mail order companies have a leg up here. This category applies equally to inventory and drop-ship models. No company mail-order fulfillment experience 0 Minor company mail-order fulfillment system already in place

3

Major company mail-order fulfillment system already in place

10

Your Company's Score

_________

Legacy Computer Systems (5 pts) The larger the company, the more important are connections to existing backend inventory, accounting, and order fulfillment systems. This does not kill web readiness, only web sales efficiency. Many companies, however, choose to develop an online sales presence prior to full integration so they don't lose market share. Select one of these measures of relative ease of bridging from Web ordering from end to existing systems. Very difficult and expensive 0 Moderately difficult and expensive

2

Relatively easy and inexpensive or no existing system

5

Your Company's Score Internal Maintenance Staff (5 pts.) Online stores must be maintained on a regular basis by in-house staff, not outsourced. Select one of these two choices. Maintenance staff budget commitment or in place 5 Maintenance staff inadequately budgeted or planned

2

Maintenance staff not budgeted or planned

0 Your Company's Score

_________

_________

DEVELOPER READINESS (10 pts. total) Site Developer and store software readiness require some important decisions. (a) selecting a developer to construct an online web store and (b) selecting a storebuilding software environment in which to construct the store. Choose one of the following: Neither developer nor store software selected 0 Store software selected, but not developer

5

Developer selected, but not store software

5

Store software and developer selected

10

Your Company's Score _________ YOUR COMPANY TOTAL _________ Now add up your company's score in the right column and total it to determine your company's "Readiness Score." Readiness Score Under 50 pts.

A lot of blood, sweat, and tears ahead

Some elements in place, but others need preparation Good start A lot of work, of course, but you're well on your way. Your online store will require a major effort, but you're well positioned already.

51 to 60 61 to 70 71 to 80 81 and above

Dr. Ratish Kakkad

Faculty Member R.K. College of Business Management Kasturbadham, Rajkot-360020