Dell with E-commerce
E-commerce
Submitted by:
Rahim Ashfaq
&
Noman Arshad
DELL. INC
P REFACE
The purpose of this report is to find out how Dell Inc. is coping up with the e-business strategies
how they are marketing it and what theories they are using in practices. In this report we are
simply dealing with the impact of e-commerce and the payment methods what are their
marketing strategy and how they are offering technical support to the consumer and the suppliers
A CKNOWLEDGMENT
Thank You, Miss. Maryam Altaf (the instructor of the course titled E-commerce), who gave me
the opportunity to present the knowledge, skills and practical know-how I learned in persuading
this course.
I have chosen to make a Project report on the Ecommerce system of DELL, Inc. The report as
guided by the instructor would help me in understanding the Ecommerce system in a practical
application.
The can facilitate the any to know how the Operations and Managerial world is related to the IT
applications and how the company like DELL is dealing with smart and updated technology to
cope with the demand of their customers.
Executive summary:
Dell, Inc. is a global information technology company, which designs, develops, manufactures
and distributes computer systems. The company through its subsidiaries offers its customers a
broad range of solutions and services delivered directly and through other distribution channels.
It conducts its business activities through four global operating segments: Large Enterprise,
Public, Small and Medium Business, and Consumer. The Large Enterprise segment focuses on
delivering solutions and services through data center and cloud computing solutions to large
global and national corporate customers. The Public segment focuses on broad range of
information technology needs of educational institutions, government, health care, and law
enforcement agency customers. The Small and Medium Business segment focuses on helping
small and medium-sized businesses get the most out of their technology by offering products,
services and solutions. The Consumer segment focuses on delivering what customers want from
the total technology experience of entertainment, mobility, gaming and design. Dell was founded
by Michael S. Dell in May 1984 and is headquartered in Round Rock, TX
Organizational Environment
Long Term Objectives
Dell is starting to take on new projects like focusing on markets globally.
Dells objective is to take over 20% of the Asia market. The internet market
has been expanding and exploding across the globe. Dell knows that the way
to globalize the company successfully is through e-business.
The greatest opportunities for future profits are in China. China has a huge
computer market and is growing fast. The main computer company right now
in China is the Beijing-based Legend computer. There are a lot of
opportunities here for Dell because there is low penetration cost into the
Chinese market, and is considered to be the third largest in the World.
Despite relatively low penetration rates, China's $10 billion computer market
is already the third largest in the world; within in a few years it is expected to
past Japan and become second only to the U.S. (Roderick) The project that
Dell is trying to take on is to advance into the Chinese market where they
see a huge potential increasing their revenue greatly.
Remote Environment
The internet market has been expanding and exploding across the globe. It
has varied by market segment and already has been a big hit in the U.S. Dell
knows that the way to globalize the company successfully is through ebusiness. Analysts agree that e-business is the most significant trigger to the
achievement of economic globalization.
Customer Support:
Dell has created many features and services online to help the customer see
the whole purchasing process clearly. The premise of Dells business is selling
directly to customers customers tell Dell exactly what they want and Dell
provides them with the goods directly. As well as being able to customize the
product, customers can track the progress of the order as it is produced and
delivered. This can help the customer see the stages of the process and
likely delivery times. Customers can create and view their service records
online. This includes product support, shipment and delivery dates. Each
purchase comes with a service tag code, which can track the model bought
and its service requirements. This allows Dell customer service
representatives to quickly and efficiently handle requests. This level of 24
hour customer service and fast response time helps Dell build strong
customer relations, which of course is crucial for the company in its
understanding of customer needs. It is also a very cost-effective way of
providing sales and support cost savings which can be passed on in the
form of better prices to customers. Success depends greatly on the efficient
management of the website. The customer must have a convenient
experience when shopping online and have faith that Dell will successfully
complete the order and safeguard financial details.
Customers need to be comfortable using paperless transactions without
face-to-face contact. It is crucial that customers consider purchasing online
as an alternative to the traditional method of going into a retailer and buying
a product off-the-shelf. Dell is focused on enhancing its image and
relationships, not only with customers, but also with employees and the
wider community. To do this, the website is also used as a communication
tool for news, press releases and general information to help customers,
employees, the media and prospective employees find out more about the
company.
Impact of E-Commerce on Dell core
process
When internet technology arrived, Dell was quick to set up the ecommerce
processes that would enable it to also sell directly online to customers.
Selling online allows the whole process to be automated and more efficient.
Since 1996 when Dell opened its website www.dell.com for ecommerce, the
company has had huge sales success. By 1997 the company recorded $1
million in online sales. By 2000 the companys internet sales had reached
$50 million a day! If we go back to our example above, the customer, Liam,
would go to Dells Irish website www.dell.ie to buy his notebook computer.
The full product range is online with detailed information to help him make
his decision. He simply follows the easy, automatic instructions that come up
on screen. These allow him to customize the computer he wants with the
features he needs. He can increase, say, his hard disk space and see the
difference that increase makes to the overall price. Then he has given a
variety of options on how to pay, either directly online or, via a customer
service operator. There is even an automated leasing option available
through a financing arrangement that Dell has here with Permanent TSB.
Liams order is then passed automatically through to the production
department at Dell's factory in Limerick where it will be manufactured to his
specification, tested and shipped out to him. All of the systems relating to
the sale are done through e-commerce: order placement, order tracking,
payment processing, inspection, testing and delivery. Similarly, internally at
Dell, the whole purchase and procurement of materials is automated
between Dell and its suppliers. At www.valuechain.dell.com, Dell shares
information with its suppliers on a
range of topics, including product quality and inventory. The crucial benefit is
the total automation of the whole process, which not only makes it faster and
more efficient, but also much more cost effective, especially given the
volume of business involved. Dells global website receives more than 1
billion page requests per quarter at 80 country sites
in 28 languages and 26 currencies. Dells approach to e-commerce simulates
the benefits of face-to-face contact between the buyer and the seller. This
ensures that staff can be
focused on delivering a quality product and providing excellent customer
service and support.
Internet Commerce
The online store at dell.com is designed to give you options concerning the
privacy of your credit card information, name, address, e-mail and any other
information you provide us. Dell is committed to data security with respect to
information collected on our site. We offer the industry standard security
measures available through your browser called SSL encryption, (please see
Dell's Store Security page for details on these security measures). If at any
time you would like to make a purchase, but do not want to provide your
credit card information online, you may contact a sales representative over
the telephone. Simply call 1-800-WWW-DELL. It has always been a Dell
practice to contact customers in the event of a potential problem with your
purchase or any normal business communication regarding your purchase.
Customized Experience
We use technology to help us deliver customized visitor experiences. At Dell,
we primarily use "cookies" to help us determine which service and support
information is appropriate to your machine and to maintain your shopping
experience in our online store. Our use of this technology does not mean that
we automatically know any information about you. We might be able to
ascertain what type of computer you are using, but beyond that, our use of
cookies is designed only to provide you with a better experience when using
www.dell.com. Dell has no desire or intent to infringe on your privacy while
using the dell.com site. For more information about our use of cookies,
please click here.
Web Beacons
We, or third parties acting on our behalf, may use web beacons on our site,
in our e-mails, in our advertisements on other sites, or in our advertisements
in others' e-mails. A web beacon is an electronic image that can be used to
recognize a cookie on your computer when you view a web page or e-mail.
Web beacons help us measure the effectiveness of our site and our
advertising in various ways, for example, by counting the number of
individuals who visit our site from a particular advertisement or make a
purchase from our site after viewing a particular advertisement as well as by
telling us when a web page is viewed and providing a description of the page
where the web beacon is placed. Web beacons also help us measure the
effectiveness of our e-mail campaigns, for example, by counting the number
of individuals who open or act upon an e-mail message, determining when
an e-mail message is opened and determining how many times an e-mail is
forwarded.
The information we collect may include some limited personal information,
and web beacons allow us to recognize users by accessing Dell cookies. We
may also combine the information that we collect through web beacons with
other personal information we have collected from you. We use all of this
information to better tailor our marketing to you and may use this
information for other purposes, such as to enable a shopping cart, customize
content on our website and internal research purposes.
We do not allow third parties to place their own web beacons on our site or in
our advertisements. We will not share any personal information collected
through web beacons with any third party, except for service providers who
act on our behalf and who are contractually prohibited from any other use or
disclosure of the information.
You can make some web beacons unusable by rejecting cookies.
Third-Party Sites
Please be aware that other web sites that may be accessed through our site
may collect personally identifiable information about you. The information
practices of those third-party web sites linked to Dell.com are not covered by
this privacy statement. We generally use the "" symbol to mark links that go
to third-party sites.
You are solely responsible for maintaining the secrecy of your passwords or
any account information. Please be careful and responsible whenever you're
online. If you post personal information online that is accessible to the public,
you may receive unsolicited messages from other parties in return. While we
strive to protect your personal information, Dell cannot ensure or warrant the
security of any information you transmit to us, and you do so at your own
risk.
Payment Methods
Credit/debit card
Pay with PayPal
Pay with dell business credit
Gift card
Distribution Strategy
Direct modes in compressed product production lines, supplemented by
online purchase at great development of its direct sales model.
Online technical services and technical
support
Dell companies provide online services and technical support is very broad,
users answer questions, the escalation on Windows, software upgrades
informed, and so on. A wide range of services not only to increase the
intrinsic value of their products, can also be user satisfaction, and enhance
the competitiveness of our products.
Conclusion
Dell has grown rapidly to become one of the top three vendors in the PC
industry, and has seen an extra ordinary increase in share price and market
valuation. While many other PC companies have been unable to handle the
demands of time-based competition, Dell has continued to thrive in such an
environment. The key to Dells success has been its direct sales and build-toorder business model. This model is simple in concept but highly complex in
its execution, especially under conditions of rapid growth and change. Dell
has continually rented and extended its business model while striking a
balance between control and edibility. Dells use of IT plays a vital role in the
implementation of its business model. The company has used IT to
coordinate its build-to-order processes from order taking through
procurement, logistics, production, service, and support. Doing so has
enabled it to reduce inventory, speed up logistics and product cycles,
understand user markets, and offer additional services to customers. It also
has used IT to achieve virtual integration with suppliers and strategic
partners by real-time information sharing. The company has extended its
reach to millions of potential customers at low marginal cost through its use
of the Internet. E-commerce is a key element of many business strategies,
from using the Internet as a marketing channel to giving suppliers a direct
link to Dells information systems to being a model for other enterprises to
follow. In fact, Dells use of its own PC-based technology to run much of its
own business is a valuable marketing tool to show customers the capabilities
of its product line. E-business has been a key element in the continued
extension of that model.
