Question

3. Consider the steps you take when shopping online on Amazon or any other website of your choice. Assume that the starting point is when you have found the desired product (Meaning that the research for selecting a product among various vendors is out of this process boundary). The product is available in different colors and sizes. The end point of this process is when you receive the “confirmation of order” message on the web page. 3-1. Create a process flow chart for this process, using the standard form and principles of process flowcharts. Guidelines: Your flow chart may not need more than 5-6 steps. At your discretion, you may add steps in your flowcharts, depending on if the Website you have chosen is one where you already have a user account with your personal information saved there or not. (5 points) 3-2. For the process above, provide one example of financial measure or metric (for the seller), one External metric, and one Internal metrics. Guidelines: Think of measures, which you think can show how satisfactory this process outcome is for the seller, and how effectively and efficiently it works toward meeting customer needs from the customer viewpoint and from the seller viewpoint (3 points) 3-3. What would be 2 of the downsides of “out of stock” in this process. Guidelines: Think of 1 downside for the customer and one downside for the seller in this process and give your answer accordingly (3 points)

Answer 1

Answer 3-1: Process flowchart for online shopping at Amazon: Selection of a product for purchase Identify and select the colour of the product Identify and select the size of the product Add product into your cart Checkout and specify the delivery address for the shipment Make payment through the online mode for the product Customer receives confirmation of order message after making the payment.

Answer 3-2:

This process helps seller in selling lot of his products online and generating the needed revenue for his business. Selling by using the e-commerce platform of Amazon helps seller in saving the huge cost of marketing and supplying the product to the customer. Sellers receive the price of the product directly into his bank account which makes the financial function for the seller more efficient and effective. From the customer’s viewpoint, this process of purchasing the product online is highly comfortable and saves the time and the cost of the customer involved in travelling to the store and making the choice from the range of products. Customer orders product from his home and receives the product at his home, thus, making the process hassle free. From seller’s viewpoint, this process helps seller in reducing the customer involvement in the business and seller is not required to carry out his business from a separate physical location. He can carry out business from his home as well. Thus, reducing huge cost of the seller and making the process comfortable for him too.

Answer 3-3:

Customer may get de motivated in he or she finds out that the product they desire is out of stock. They may wait for the desired product or they may shift to other e-commerce platform for the search of the same product. If on every e-commerce website, they find that the product is out of stock, then they may purchase the substitute product or they may go for searching the product in the local physical market.

If the seller finds that the product desired by the customer is out of stock then he will lose the opportunity of making profits from the sales of the product and in some case he may even loose the customer as the customer may get de motivated of not getting their desired product from the seller.