ASIA PACIFIC INSTITUTE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN COLLABORATION WITH STAFFORDSHIRE UNIVERSITY UK

BA (Hons) in Business Administration

(Level 3) Nirmal Kalubowila - CB003199 - GF10B1BA Title: INTERACTIVE AND E-MARKETING BLB10070-3 Supervised by: Miss. Zeenath Hidaya Submitted on: 24th June 2011 Word count: 3292

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Executive summery
According the Economic times (2011) Online shopping is the next big thing. Out of all the sales done in South Asia 3% to 4% sales are done by online. Sri Lanka been one of the developing country is South Asia which as approximately having 1,163,494 individual internet connections (TRC, 2010) can be identified as a good potential market for Online shopping to grow. In the year 2006 Dialog Telekom introduces www.ibuy.lk with a partnership of another company call Four Corners Pvt. Ltd. With the designer expertise of Four Corners Pvt. Ltd ibuy.lk was introduced to the market, with partnership with many well reputed suppliers such as Soft logic, ODEL, Cake Factory Etc. and with collaboration with well renounce bankers such as Nations Trust, HSBC and NDB. All the delivery is handle by International Xpress which is a subsidiary of the Aitken Spence Group. All the business that are been done under the ibuy will have to through its website, so its a must to maintain the site in the best possible way that will always satisfied the consumers. According to the survey done under ibuy.lk this report contains all the Emarketing techniques and recommendations that ibuy can adopted in order to gain competitive advantage over the competitors. Also the current segments have been analyzed and new segments have been introduced in order to gain the maximum market share. Finally E-CRM recommendations have been suggested to maintain a good relationship with the customers.

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Acknowledgement
First and for most I would like to thank my lecture Miss. Zeenath Hidaya for her interesting and interactive lectures inside the class room and for her untiring individual guidance towards completing this assignment effectively. And I also like to thank my parents and sister who have supported me in numerous ways in completing this report. If not for their effort and sacrifice I would have not be able complete a successful report like this. Last but not the least I would like to thanks my dear friends in my batch and the administrative and academic staff of Asia Pacific Institute of Information Technology.

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Table of Content
Executive summery............................................................................................................ii Acknowledgement............................................................................................................iii Table of Content................................................................................................................iv List of Tables......................................................................................................................v List of Figures...................................................................................................................vi 1.0 Introduction..................................................................................................................7 1.1Industry Analysis.......................................................................................................8 1.2 Competitor Analysis.................................................................................................9 1.2.1 Porters Analysis...............................................................................................11 1.2.2 Site Analysis....................................................................................................12 1.2.3 Revenue Opportunities....................................................................................16 1.2.4 Internet Business Model..................................................................................17 1.2.5 Good and Bad E-Marketing Practices.............................................................19 2.0 SEGMENTATION AND TARGETING...................................................................20 2.1 Market Trends........................................................................................................20 2.2 Segmentation..........................................................................................................20 2.2.1 Geographic......................................................................................................21 2.2.2 Demographic...................................................................................................22 2.2.3 Psychographic.................................................................................................24 2.2.4 Behavioral.......................................................................................................25 2.3 TARGETING.........................................................................................................26 3.0 POSITIONING...........................................................................................................28 3.1 Value proposition...................................................................................................28 3.2 Strategic Approach.................................................................................................28 3.2.1 Comparison of the unique value proposition with the competitors................29 3.2.2 Conceptual Map..............................................................................................30 3.3 Positioning Strategy...............................................................................................31 4.0 E-MARKETING STRATEGY..................................................................................33 4.1 Objectives Of ibuy.lk.............................................................................................33 4.2 E-Marketing Strategies...........................................................................................34 4 APIIT

Interactive & E-marketing 4.3 E-CRM Recommendation......................................................................................35 5.0 DESIGN AND EVALUATION.................................................................................36 5.1 Criteria to measure the website effectiveness........................................................36 5.2 Strengths and Weaknesses of the web site.............................................................38 5.3 Creative suggestions...............................................................................................39 Conclusion........................................................................................................................40 Referencing......................................................................................................................41 Appendix..........................................................................................................................43 Appendix 1...................................................................................................................43 Appendix 2...................................................................................................................44 Appendix 2

List of Tables
Table 1 Market size and Growth........................................................................................8 Table 2 Competitor Analysis............................................................................................10 Table 3 Porters Analysis..................................................................................................12 Table 4 Site Analysis........................................................................................................12 Table 5 Current Revenue..................................................................................................16 Table 6 Future Revenue...................................................................................................17 Table 7 Good & Bad Practices.........................................................................................19 Table 8 Market Trends.....................................................................................................20 Table 9 Geographic..........................................................................................................21 Table 10 Geographic Evaluation......................................................................................21 Table 11 Demographic.....................................................................................................23 Table 12 Demographic Evaluation...................................................................................23 Table 13 Psychographic...................................................................................................24 Table 14 Psychographic Evaluation.................................................................................24 Table 15 Behavioral.........................................................................................................25 Table 16 Behavioral Evaluation.......................................................................................25 Table 17 New Target Segment.........................................................................................27 Table 18 Strategic Approach............................................................................................29 Table 19 Comparison Value Proposition.........................................................................29 Table 20 Differentiation strategy.....................................................................................32 Table 21 SMART Objectives...........................................................................................33 Table 22 E-Marketing Strategies......................................................................................35 Table 23 E-CRM Technique............................................................................................36 Table 24 Criteria measure website...................................................................................37 Table 25 Strengths and Weaknesses of the web site........................................................38 5 APIIT

Interactive & E-marketing Table 26 Creative suggestions..........................................................................................39 Table 27 Creative suggestions

List of Figures
Figure 1 Competitor Analysis............................................................................................9 Figure 2 Market Share........................................................................................................9 Figure 3 ibuy Demography..............................................................................................13 Figure 4 Daily status........................................................................................................14 Figure 5 Overall Analysis................................................................................................15 Figure 6 Traffic by country..............................................................................................21 Figure 7 Value Proposition..............................................................................................28 Figure 8 Conceptual Map.................................................................................................30 Figure 9 Porter's Three Generic.......................................................................................31 Figure 9 Porter's Three Generic

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1.0 Introduction
With its entry in 1995 as a mobile service provider, Dialog Axiata PLC is now Sri Lankas largest and fastest growing mobile telecommunication network which is followed by Mobitel which is now a local mobile service provider. Dialog is a subsidiary that operates under the parent company AXIATA (previously known as TMI) which is one of the largest Asian telecommunication companies that are highly focused in high growth low penetration emerging markets. Vision: To be the undisputed leader in the provision of multi-sensory connectivity resulting always, in the empowerment and enrichment of Sri Lankan lives and enterprises. Mission: To lead in the provision of technology enabled connectivity touching multiple human sensors and faculties, through committed adherence to customer-driven, responsive and flexible business processes, and through the delivery of quality service and leading edge technology unparalleled by any other. As of 2010 according to the annual report the number of Dialog subscribers was 6,716,000 from amongst a total of 15,875,000 which indicated that 42.3% of the market share was captured by Dialog. According to the Corporate Website (2011) Dialog Axiata PLC is valued at Rs. 116.05 billion and the revenue Rs. 36,168.83 million. The site www.ibuy.lk was launched with the objective of providing local and global customers a one stop online shopping experience where products can be both bought and sold; currently it includes more than 180 products that has a price range between Rs. 30 Rs. 142,500. The vision of this e-commerce site can be said to provide convenience to customers in order to be the most sought e-business site in Sri Lanka and around the world. (Ibuy, 2011) According to Alexa, (2011) the site is ranked as at 372,575 with respect to global traffic and 531 with respect to local traffic and according to Cubestat, (2011) the site is valued to be worth $5,150.88.

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1.1Industry Analysis
Internet usage around the world is said to be 1.5 billion from amongst the total population of which 20.1% are Asian internet users. (Internet World Stats, 2011) The ecommerce industry is maturing as many companies and entities realize the enormous benefits of conducting business online the most important of which is the lack of physical space. The e-commerce industry is highly proactive in the Asian region due to the developing economies, e-commerce infrastructural investments and demand for economical and qualitative products from the European regions (Ecommerce, 2010). The retail industry in Sri Lanka alone are worth at least Rs. 250 billion annually, but only 15% of this total is transacted online (IBR, 2011) but it can be said that the eretailing industry in Sri Lanka is booming with the rising number of internet users and high government investment into information technology. According to research it is seen that one out of every ten households uses a computer; the computer awareness has increased from 37% to 44% from 2006 to 2009. (DSC, 2009) According to the World Bank, (2011) the number of internet users in Sri Lanka is 1,163,494 as at 2008 which is an increase from 13% in 2006 and parallel to the increase in internet users the number of websites that deal with e-commerce has increased to 17 e-commerce websites in Sri Lanka. The number of credit card users in Sri Lanka is 892,291 but amongst those number only a few are comfortable using credit cards to purchase online due to fear of fraud and lack of trust. Market Size The retail industry in Sri Lanka alone are worth at least Rs. 250 billion annually, but only 15% of this total is transacted online (IBR, 2011) Market growth is high as from 2008 to now number of ecommerce sites have increased from a negligible figure to 17 sites in 2010 Future potential is extremely strong and it can be seen from the rising internet usage as well as the computer awareness & ecommerce sites Kapruka is the market leader in this industry with a market share of 72% amongst the E-Retailers in Sri Lanka (Cubestat, 2011)

Market Growth

Future Potential

Market Leader

Table 1 Market size and Growth

Source: Authors work

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1.2 Competitor Analysis

The E-retailing industry is an extremely large industry around the world both in terms of online and offline retailing but since Ibuy conducts online retailing the competitor analysis will be based on other e-commerce sites thus based on relevant similarities, functions and product ranges, Ibuy has identified its direct and indirect competitors:

Ibuy

Direct Competitors Lankaeshop.com Lankanest.com Lankafoods.com Kapruka.com

Figure 1 Competitor Analysis

Indirect Competitors Gift2Lanka.com Odel.lk

Source: Authors work In order to understand the competition that Ibuy faces an analysis is conducted only on the direct competitors to Ibuy as mentioned above therefore the following are the direct competitors of Ibuy and their market share

Figure 2 Market Share

Source: Authors work

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The above analysis indicates that the site Kapruka.com has the highest online market share amongst its competitors indicating it to be the dominant leader in the e-retailing industry; these has been achieved by Kapruka.com due to the high quality products and secure transactions it conducts along with its extensive marketing which has effectively increased its customer base. The type of competition in this market would be an oligopolistic type as there are few sellers in the market who are very sensitive to each others pricing and in this type of a market it is difficult for new sellers to enter thus everything depends on the strategic moves of the sellers to stay ahead in the market. The following table consists of a direct competitor analysis
Table 2 Competitor Analysis

Ibuy
Name of Site Products Average Price Target Segment Presence Market Share Geographic Presence Type of Competition Traffic Rank Page Views Website Worth 425,308 2,352 $ 5,150 11% www.ibuy.lk

Lankaeshop
www.lankaeshop.com

Lankanest
www.lankanest.com

Lankafood

Source: Authors Work

Kapruka

www.lankafood.com

www.kapruka.com

All of them have similar products ranging from gifts and electronic items to other food items (refer appendix)

[Put The Target Segment] Online Presence Only (Click and Mortar Businesses) 7% 4% 6% 72%

No Geographic Presence since its an Online Store but they are Sri Lankan Sites Direct Competitors 637,258 1,570 $ 3,438 1,525,918 656 $ 1,436 753,824 1,327 $ 2,906 65,589 15,247 $ 33,390 10 APIIT

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Interactive & E-marketing Critical Evaluation: According to the direct competitor analysis conducted it can be seen that Kapruka can be seen to be the market leader even though it offers similar products at similar prices the difference is the quality of its services which attracts more customers as can be seen by the market share. The traffic rank indicates that more people visit the Kapruka site and the website value can be seen to be higher than the other sites. The next inline in this industry would be Ibuy which also has a reasonable amount of market share after Kapruka and it also has quite a strong image due to its parent company, Dialog.

1.2.1 Porters Analysis

Rivalry within Industry

Many competitors from diverse backgrounds that offer online products for purchasing. The vendors themselves can provide competition since they

High

themselves have their own delivery system and sites. Switching costs are low thus customers can easily change their suppliers leading to a higher risk of rivalry. Setting up an e-retailer or an e-commerce website is not difficult at all due to the availability of necessary technology. Capital requirement in terms of office space and other start up requirements are not needed. Even though there is no barrier to online retailing customers are not yet comfortable due to the security aspect but the Dialog brand is perceived as secure and is trusted. Switching cost for customers is low and the availability of substitutes is high in the market. High number of alternative products available in the market both online as well as offline. The traditional stores will have a better chance than online retailing due the lack of trust and security in the customers minds. Switching cost for the customer is really low since any website is simply a click away.

Threat of New Entrants

Moderate

Threat of Substitute

High

Customer Bargaining Power

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Interactive & E-marketing The products offered online in this industry are not products that are very important for the customers thus can be High purchased offline. The availability of substitute products are extremely high both Supplier Bargaining Power Low
Table 3 Porters Analysis

in the online and offline sense. There are many suppliers in this industry when considering the particular products. Switching cost is low for Ibuy plus there is no need to keep stock or a supple for the customers demand indicating low supplier power.

Source: Authors work 1.2.2 Site Analysis

Criteria
Hosted in IP Address Domain Suffix Sri Lanka Traffic Rank World Traffic Rank Website worth Daily Pageviews Sites linked Audience
Table 4 Site Analysis

Description
Sri Lanka 125.214.169.111 Sri Lanka 604 378,750 $5,150.88 2,352 19 90.4% is from Sri Lanka while 9.6% is from abroad

Source: Alexa (2011)

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Figure 3 ibuy Demography

Source: Alexa (2011) Most users are in the age range of 18-24 and 25-34 since they are the crowd that is highly compliant with new technology thus more prone to purchase online, most are males which is due to the purchasing power being with the males. As indicated above due to the younger age range most of the users do not have children but they all have completed graduate school and it can be seen that the browsing location is usually from work which is due to the fact that they are employees. The following is a detailed site analysis which would help determine if the site is successful or not in achieving its set objectives:

Daily Status Analysis

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Figure 4 Daily status

Source: Alexa (2011) The daily traffic trend indicates that the site has an extremely low traffic trend except during the initial months of the year 2010 which can be contributed to the fact that most employees would have received their bonus pay check for the last year thus increasing the discretionary income of the users enabling them to purchase more products online. The daily reach of the site shows that it has increased from the year 2009 and has been constant over the years till present but shows an increase in the initial years of 2010 which is as explained above and also there are increases in certain months which is due to the seasonal offers and promotions conducted by ibuy. The daily pageviews of the site show that only during the midyear of 2010 onwards till the year 2011 has shown an increase in the number of pages viewed which can be due to the increase in the product range or additional options in order to check out causing more pages to be visited than normal.

Overall Analysis

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Figure 5 Overall Analysis

Source: Alexa (2011)

The bounce rate of the site seems to be extremely high in the year 2010 and during the end of the year it seems to have reduced which can be due to the promotional offers that were provided but again it has increased in 2011; overall it can be seen that the bounce rate is unstable indicating that the site is not very relevant or helpful to the users. Search visits indicate that in the end of the year 2009 the visits were extremely high but reduced later on to increase in 2011 which can be contributed to the fact that SEO was conducted quite well increasing the chances of customers ending in the site more often. The time on site indicates that the user stays in the site for an average of around 10 min with many instances that have exceeded as well as gone below the average. This indicates that the site is not improving and that it is not very stable in satisfying the users desires and wants.

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Interactive & E-marketing 1.2.3 Revenue Opportunities The main revenue generating mechanism for www.ibuy.lk currently is the revenue that is generated by product sales online and while selling a product there are other revenue that is also generated and they are outlined in the following table:

Current Revenue Generation

Product Sales Payment Transactions Delivery Charges The main source of revenue for the site which is for the listing and commission on completed sales. Commission is earned by the site from the credit card companies for the online transactions that occur daily. The site generates income by collecting a commission on the delivery of the received orders. Ibuy.lk acts as an intermediary between the vendors and customers thus commissions are earned for each transaction from the vendors. According to Cubestats, (2011) ibuy.lk earns 8$ revenue through daily Ads and 247.41$ through monthly ads.

Commissions

Advertisements
Table 5 Current Revenue

Source: Authors Work Though there is revenue being generated by the current mechanisms of the site it can be seen that there are more revenue opportunities that can be exploited by the site in order to earn higher revenue in the future; as mentioned below:

Future Revenue Opportunities

Affiliate Marketing Auction Opportunity Offer banners that would direct a customer to other related sites which will generate revenue for the ibuy site This is a possible revenue opportunity as there is very less sites in Sri Lanka that provide an auction opportunity Currently ibuy does not provide delivery to other countries thus this can be considered as a possible revenue generation tool Introducing other methods of payments apart from using credit cards can attract a larger crowd to purchase goods thus increasing the revenue generation through a larger customer base 17 APIIT

Delivery Abroad

Payment Options

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Table 6 Future Revenue

Source: Authors Work 1.2.4 Internet Business Model The site www.ibuy.lk does not use a single internet business model rather uses multiple models in order to effectively conduct business online therefore the four levels of commitment toward ebusiness will be examined in order to understand the different business models used by ibuy; the higher the firm travels up the pyramid the greater is the level of commitment toward e-business. The four levels of commitment are: Online Advertising: The site is home to many different advertisements which advertise different products and sites. Order Processing: The internet transactions of the customers are automatically generated by the site according to which the order is created. Online Sales Promotions:

Activity

The newest arrivals amongst the product range are displayed on the right side of the site to promote it to the audience. Pricing Strategies: Prices are decided by the vendors and more often than not it is similar or lesser to the store price especially during seasons and promotions. E-Mails: Confirmation of membership or order is conducted through Emails through which additional costs are reduced. Customer Relationship Management

Business Process

The site keeps records of the customers previous purchasing records as well as the customers registered information, these records are used to forecast potential needs and enhance customer experience. Supply Chain Management

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Interactive & E-marketing The Ibuy site involves a delivery partner in order to deliver the products effectively and efficiently to the customer within the given time-limits. Affiliate Programs Affiliate programs are available on the site which would direct customers automatically to other sites for which a commission is paid to the Ibuy site E-Commerce
Dialog ibuy is a top e-commerce online shopping portal application in Sri Lanka (ibuy 2010) which indicate that the site conducts ecommerce

Enterprise

Social Networking Social networking in itself is not available in the site rather it has fan pages on other social networking sites such as Facebook and twitter.

Pure Play

This is the top level of the commitment of a business towards ECommerce and is one of the models of the ibuy site since it is completely based on the internet.

Table 7 Internet Business Model

Source: Authors Work Recommendation: The site www.ibuy.lk currently does have many models which it uses but for long term effectiveness as well as to stay ahead of other e-retailers it is recommended that the site uses a combination of its currently adopted models while at the same time use them more efficiently by increasing the functionality of each business model in order to adapt to the current market needs and wants.

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Interactive & E-marketing 1.2.5 Good and Bad E-Marketing Practices

Good Practices
Interface: Reach:

Bad Practices

The interface is very user-friendly and it The site does not have a global reach rather only provides accurate relevant information. local delivery which is also highly expensive. Customization: Provides a range of customization options to the customer. Security: Technology: The store is totally a pure play business thus a failure in the site will affect the business immensely. Information:

The transactions are conducted through The information provided regarding the products secure portals and an e-mail is sent to the available are not enough. customer. Notifications: Variety:

Newly arrived items are highlighted when The products offered have very less brand variety a user enters the site thus stimulating thus will be a de-motivating factor to certain interest. users. E-Commerce: Payment:

The site provides a shopping cart facility The only payment facility provided is online and is open to anyone with a credit card. which prevents non-credit card holders from buying online.
Table 8 Good & Bad Practices

Source: Authors Work

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2.0 SEGMENTATION AND TARGETING

2.1 Market Trends
In analyzing the market which ibuy.com operates, there are some significant trends which are identified locally and globally as see Table 2.1 Online retail marketing keeps on growing Online market have taken over the market share of other marketing channels. According to clickz (2011) Christmas shoppers in year 2011, holiday purchasing will grow by 12.4% and estimate $166 billion. Integrated marketing comes out to play According to Heidi, riverside marketing strategies (2011) she pointed out that integrated marketing is a must. With social media marketing, mobile and TV all this must perform together. Mobile dominates the industry With the use of sophisticate mobile phones in the market users tend to satisfy their needs and wants with the use of it. According to the U.S. Audiences & Devices (2010) 30% of all the mobiles phones are smart phones or Black Berries. Marketing goes real time - According to David, clickz (2011) marketers must be conscious to grab the advantage or the opportunity in the market.
Table 9 Market Trends

Source: Authors Work

2.2 Segmentation
Ibuy.lk is an online market where anyone with an ability to pay with the use of a credit card or other electronic payment method, can purchase a product from a range of well establish suppliers who are tied up with Dialog. The Ibuy market can be segmented based on the market segmentation characteristics. Ibuy based market segmentation can be divided based on the following characteristics namely geographic, demographic, psychographic and behavioral. Geographic segment is Sri Lanka and other countries.

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2.2.1 Geographic Geographic/ SubSegment Country Sri Lanka -Other Provinces Colombo -Other
Table 10 Geographic

Justification In the common market place Sri Lanka is 95.7% and other countries are 4.3% of the ibuy sales. See figure **** Narrowing the SL segment Colombo leads with 81% and other provinces are 19%. See figure **** Source: Authors Work

Figure 6 Traffic by country

Source: Websitetrafficspy (2011) Evaluating the Geographic base Customer expectation Ibuy.lk is an online shopping portal that provides services to Expanding service to other distributor to sell items online. Because Ibuys delivery is limited to the Sri Lankans geographical area, 95.7% of Sri Lankan us this service. People from other countries use this to send gifts to their love ones.
Table 11 Geographic Evaluation

countries

as

well.

Eg:

Australia, USA and UK Promote the site on other parts of the island. E.g. Hambantota, Kandy Source: Authors Work

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Interactive & E-marketing 2.2.2 Demographic Demographics / Justification Sub-Segment Age - 15-19 -20-24 - 25-29 - 30-34 - 35-39 - 40-44 - 45-49 - 50-54 - 55-59 Relative to the general internet population, 25-34 year olds are over represented at ibuy.lk According to the statistics Alexa, (2011); Ibuy has selected 25-34 ages group as the target market. So as for the statistical data ibuy.lk is most proffered among the 25-34 age group which holds about 1,631,000 individuals. Total Population = 13,312,000 (Department of Census and 15-19 = 2,003,000 40-44 = 1,425,000 Statistics, 2011) 20-24 = 1,942,000 45-49 = 1,250,000 25-34 = 1,631,000 35-39 = 1,538,000 Gender - Male - Female place. Male Population = 10,249,000 Male Literacy = 92.7% Female Population = 10,404,000 (Department of Census and Statistics, 2011) Income Female Literacy = 89.1% 50-54 = 1,126,000 55-59 = 817,000

Ibuy is target segment of male and female are relatively equal in the market

Relative to the general internet population, people with income of LKR 30,000- LKR 60,000 per month are well present at ibuy.lk Urban: Rs. 47,783 Rural Rs. 35,225 Estate Rs. 24,162 (Income & Expenditure Survey, 2011) Average Rs. 36,451

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Interactive & E-marketing Occupation -Students -Professionals -Technical Associates -Official -Managers -Proprietors Enterprises of Total Employed and Out of which students (school 5,941,57 Population 4 university) and professionals are tend to buy on ibuy.lk Government Employees 13.0 % Semi Employees government 5.1 % 47.1 % Private sector Employees and Employers 27.4 % Own account Unpaid workers 7.5 % (Department of Census and Statistics, 2011)

Education -School -O/L & A/L -Professionals -Degree holders Ethnicity

family workers Relative to the general internet population, people who has gone to the Graduate School are greatly over presented at ibuy.lk

Alexa, (2011) Relative to the general internet population, people of Asian ethnicity are over presented at Alexa, (2011)

Table 12 Demographic

Source: Authors Work

Evaluating the Demographic base Customer expectation Ibuy.lk provides its services to different kinds The about adjustable payment methods of individuals in different sub-segments. Even A guarantee about the payment they though depending on the segment each pay individual spending patterns and the likely Provide the customer with discounts hood will change. Identifying the variations of the demography and offers variables will help ibuy.lk to capture the market and service them better. Table 13 Demographic Evaluation Source: Authors Work

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Interactive & E-marketing 2.2.3 Psychographic Psychographic / Sub-Segment Life style Modern Lifestyle -Classical Lifestyle Justification Generally when we consider the customers who are in to online shopping, most of them prefer to live in a Modern lifestyle. But Dialog ibuy.lk gives a chance to the classical Social class -Upper class -Upper middle class -Middle class lifestyle consumer to satisfy their needs as well. Usually social class is measured by the consumers annual income basis. According Alexa (2011) its clearly shown that most of the middle and upper middle class people tend to use ibuy.lk more than the other competitors. See image ****

Interests -Day-to-day buyer -Gift seeker

Manly ibuy.lk caters to two different customer groups. Which are, Day-to-day buyers who are using online shopping to satisfy their daily needs and wants and Gift seekers who are interested in sending gifts for their loved ones on special occasions.

Table 14 Psychographic

Source: Authors Work Evaluating the Psychographic base Customer expectation With the modernization of lifestyle patterns, Regardless of the social class a total the usage of interment has been an essential solution for the consumer. requirement in keeping up with the trend. So Emphasize on the classical buyers with customers with modern lifestyle patterns tend the localization of the service. to do online shopping rather than physical Promote online shopping as a day-toshopping. This requirement will change day activity rather than a special and depending on the income that the consumer occasional one. generates and their types of needs and want. Table 15 Psychographic Evaluation Source: Authors Work

2.2.4 Behavioral Behavioral / Sub-Segment Justification Brand Loyalty -Strong According to the sites descriptor ibuy.lk (2011) ibuy is the top 25 APIIT

-Medium -None Benefit -Speed -Quality -Convenience

Interactive & E-marketing online shopping portal application in Sri Lanka - Powered by Dialog so we can see a high brand loyalty in the service they provide. As mentioned in the site ibuy.lk (2011) Minimum Order Preparation Time: 24 Hours is required. And for the delivery service also consumes a minimum of 24 Hours. So after placing a order, hopefully the customers will receive the goods within 48 hours which in Sri Lankan contexts, its Really Fast. Quality is maintained with the reputed suppliers base and customers can enjoy a convenience as well with the user-friendly web site. Mohamed & Husnayati (2008) stated that Sri Lanka is one of the developing countries in Asia which has a recent growth in telecommunication sector. So we can hope that Sri Lankas attitude towards online shopping will be a positive one. Source: Authors Work

Attitude -Positive -Negative -Neutral

Table 16 Behavioral

Evaluating the Behavioral base Customer expectation With the strong brand loyalty that captured by One day delivery service ibuy.lk, Dialog is capable of providing a speedy quality service with the support of the registered reputed suppliers and delivery provides which cab have a direct effect on the end customer.
Table 17 Behavioral Evaluation

Flexibility on the delivery time periods An online tracking system

Source: Authors Work

2.3 TARGETING
In the segmentation process Targeting is the process whereby select a set of segments which are attractive to the firm and Target all the resource and effort on the selected segments in order to provide benefit to them (marketingteacher, 2011). Therefore, based on the maker segments Ibuy.lk can categories the attractive opportunities under three categories as see in Table ** 26 APIIT

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Target segment Teenagers (Low income earners )

Characteristics Local consumers Income per monthly Rs.10,000-25,000 Age 15-25 Male and Female Students, graduates Middle and middle upper class Modern Lifestyle Looking for speed and convenience Positive about online shopping Local consumers Age 25-40 Male and Female Professionals and officials Middle and middle upper class Modern Lifestyle Looking for convenience Positive about online shopping under graduates and post

Target segment value per individual 10,000+20,000 2 15,000*47.5% =7,125.00

Middle class

25,000+50,000 2 37,500*47.5% =17,812.50

(Medium income earners) Income per monthly Rs.25,000-50,000

Higher class (High income earners )

Local consumers Income per monthly Rs.50,000- upper Age 25-60 Male and Female Managers and proprietors Middle upper and upper class Classical Lifestyle Looking for convenience and quality Neutral about online shopping

50,000+100,000 2 75,000*47.5% =35,625.00

Table 18 New Target Segment

Source: Authors Work 27 APIIT

Interactive & E-marketing Income & expenditure survey done in year 2011 by the Department of Census and Statistics, have categories the income level under three main categories mainly Lower, Middle and Upper income earners. From the survey we can get average house hold non-food income break down. Based on this rough estimate of the income percentage that Sri Lankan consumers are willing to spend on ibuy can be estimated. For more info refer appendix 1 Clothing, Textiles & Foot wear Health & Personal care Cultural & entertainment Non durable household goods Durable household goods Other non consumer expenditure Total 5.0 7.9 2.2 1.5 4.3 26.6 47.5%

According to this statistics we can come to a conclusion of what the percentage of income will be spent on ibuy.lk by a Sri Lankan which will be 47.5%

3.0 POSITIONING
3.1 Value proposition
Value proposition is A business or marketing statement that summarizes why a consumer should buy a product or use a service or should convince a potential consumer that one particular product or service will add more value or better solve a problem than other similar offerings (Investopedia, 2011). When comparing Dialog ibuy.lk the unique characteristics that give them the edge against the competitors is their value proposition. See Figure 2 Convenience Speed Next Day Delivery All The Goods Under One Site APIIT 28

Interactive & E-marketing Quality Quality At Its Best Value proposition

Figure 7 Value Proposition

Source: Authors Work

3.2 Strategic Approach

In order to communicate the value proposition, ibuy.lk will use a strategic approach with the use of its web site www.ibuy.lk Value Proposition Speed Next Day Delivery Convenience All The Goods Under One Site Strategic approach To provide the customers order within 24 Hours Quality Quality At Its Best
Table 19 Strategic Approach

Introduce new speedy payment methods like PayPal and Easy-Pay Minimized the site loading time Tie up with local shop owners, and provide physical pick-up points Provide the whole bunch of good under one site Customer specific, customized delivery system Move into more valuable items such as vehicles and real estates Having an online tracking system Providing a 24/7 customer care service program When choosing the suppliers, do a quality analysis before selecting them Have a customer after sale satisfaction feedback process Carry out random quality circle process of the entire product range To improve the standard on the packaging used Source: Authors Work

3.2.1 Comparison of the unique value proposition with the competitors Element Ibuy.lk lankaeshop.com lankanest.com Lankafoods.com Positioning For the same Catering to Sri Your e-world Connecting strategy price as in shop Lanka Sri Lankan Expatriates with Value proposition Provide one stop Buy online shopping local experience in Sri international APIIT products Sri Lanka Order Online for Gifts delivery in Sri Lanka. 29

Quality and and Customer care

Lanka.

Interactive & E-marketing delivery! Cohesiveness and team work Competence and adoptability Trust and reliability Innovation and creativity

We 100%

Guarantee Secure

Shopping Experience.

Main revenue opportunities

Brokerage Affiliations Advertising space

Brokerage Affiliations Advertising space

Brokerage Affiliations Advertising space

Brokerage Affiliations Advertising space

Table 20 Comparison Value Proposition

Source: Authors Work

3.2.2 Conceptual Map

6 1 Low 2 9 High Quality 8 7Quality3 Less High 4 8 4 10 3 7 Convenience Convenienc 2 6 e 1 1 9

Based on the primary marketing research that was conducted among the leading competitors the following positioning map has been plotted.

10

Ibuy (Expected)

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Interactive & E-marketing Ibuy (Current) Lankafood

Lankanest
Figure 8 Conceptual Map

Lankaeshop

Source: Authors work

3.3 Positioning Strategy

Porters generic strategy have pointed out three types of strategies where a company can use as Differentiation, Overall Cost Leadership and focus . (APMF, 2011) Since ibuy.lk is a well establish online shopping portal it is advisable to use Differentiation strategy in positioning itself. See Figure 4. There by ibuy.lk will be able to focus on differentiating the market with the existing products and service and to capture the total market share.

Strategic Advantage Uniqueness Differentiation Low Cost Position Overall Cost Leadership APIIT Broad Business Scope 31

Interactive & E-marketing Focus Differentiation Focus Low Cost Narrow

Figure 9 Porter's Three Generic

Porters three generic strategies (APMF, 2011) Source: Authors Work According to position strategy (2011) a web positioning plan is a combination of Search Engine Positioning (SEO), Search Engine Marketing (SEM), Social Media Optimization (SMO), and Visitor Experience Optimization (VEO). These strategies will help ibuy to grab a competitive advantage over the competitors.

Differentiation
strategies Site Environment Making the Intangible Tangible Building Trust

Description Positive Word-of-Mouth through strategies like Tell a friend! option and reduce the uncertainty about the online purchasing. Provide 3D imagers of products online Issuing a mouthy magazine with the ibuy hot offers in it Make use of existing Dialog Customer Base. Promote ibuy with SMS Alerts and Dialog DTV advertisements. Update the customers with the New Arrivals and promotions available on ibuy through Email and SMS alerts. Looking forward to introduce innovative payment system such as Dialog eZ-pay system, since Dialog subscribers can easily interact with the website. Promote the site on other parts of the island like Hambantota, Kandy and Jaffna. Expanding to countries like Australia, USA and UK 32 APIIT

Efficiency & Timely Order Processing

Pricing CRM

Interactive & E-marketing Provides discounts for Dialog users Giving the opportunity to redeem star points Seeking customer convenience through Value added services Source: Authors Work

Table 21 Differentiation strategy

4.0 E-MARKETING STRATEGY

4.1 Objectives Of ibuy.lk
Ibuy.lk has taken into account the flowing objectives in developing the E-marketing strategy. New Customers 1. Increase customer awareness 2. Satisfying customers expectation 3. Retain improve the brand image Existing Customers of the service and the reliability 4. Improve the quality 5. Gather customer information for current and future endeavors Objectives Objective 1 Description At present out of the selected competitors ibuy.lk stands as the number one. Comparatively it comes around 42% market share. Through promotion ibuy.lk hopes to increase the market share by another 10% Objective 2 Objective 3 Objective 4 Objective 5 within the next 6 months. To improve customer satisfaction up to 80% with the use of a customer feedback blog within the next 6 months. With the use of social media, improve the brand awareness by 10% within the next 6 months. Having a customized web page, that will improve the customer reliability by 40% within the next 6 months. Provide the customer loyalty points program and gatherer 70% customer 33 APIIT

Interactive & E-marketing information within the next 6 months.

Table 22 SMART Objectives

Source: Dialog annual report (2010)

4.2 E-Marketing Strategies

Strategies Search Engine Positioning (SEO) Recommendation Search engines are ones of the primary ways in which people fine sites, by SEO ibuy.lk can build up more traffic to the site. Social Media Optimization (SMO) Use text Keywords as image tags and links Getting the search engine page rank up To adopted Pay-Per-Click technique in most commonly used Keywords (Reefer Appendix 2) Use Keyword advertising programs like Google Ad Word Use Paid Listing in search engine. Ones of the low cost marketing strategy The ability to send only for the target group of customers The capacity to provide a large amount of information To provide 3D images of the product that they offer Giving the consumer the ability to customize the product online Provide customer review for products Dialog been the largest mobile provider in Sri Lanka, ibuy.lk has the capability of going into a large customer base. Develop mobile applications that will help users to order good via mobile phones Have SMS system that informs the consumer about the newest offers that ibuy has to offer. Use of social media such as Facebook and Twitter to advertise and inform the consumers. Conduct promotional activities with the use of social media, which is very much cost effective 34 APIIT

Search Engine Marketing (SEM)

Newsletter and E-mail Marketing Visitor Experience Optimization (VEO) Mobile Marketing

Offline Marketing

Interactive & E-marketing Use Facebook groups to gather information about the consumer Use of print media as such as banners, bill boards and news paper / magazine advertisements. Sponsoring and hosting social events and sports activities. Conduct marketing campaigns where the target audience is frequently gathered. E.g. ODEL, Majestic City and Food Court

Table 23 E-Marketing Strategies

Source: Authors Work

4.3 E-CRM Recommendation

Integrated E-CRM in ibuy.lk would help to attract more customers, understand them better, help to build up the relationship with the customer and increase the customer loyally. Also on the other hand these E-CRM strategies will be useful in bringing down the time and cost. E-CRM activities can be breaker down as Awareness, Exploration, Expansion, Commitment and Dissolution where the below mentioned technique fall under. See Table ** Technique Personalized web page 24/7 Help desk First time user guiding page Mobile CRM Recommendation Once a customer login to the site, depending on their purchasing power and characteristics, if the home page can be customized that can be so convenient for the users. Either live chat or by a caller client, if ibuy can maintain a help desk that will address consumers day-to-day queries and delivery issues. If ibuy.lk can dedicate a separate page that demonstrates how to carry out a successful transaction in verbal format as well as in visual format, it will reduce the new customer confusion and will increase revenue. Developing a mobile application that will help to place an order and even to track the status of the order until it reaches the consumer and Loyalty system Maintaining a Blog Online point finally allows the user to give a feedback on the service. Providing a loyalty point system which will help to influence the consumers more to buy and at the same time it is a great opportunity that can be used to gather useful information about the consumer. This will allow all the customers that how have used the ibuy serve and who havent, to exchange ideas and shear comments among them. With the current registrations of the users it would be great if they can 35 APIIT

community building Product ranking ability

Table 24 E-CRM Technique

Interactive & E-marketing create an individual profile for each customer and give them the ability to interact with other profile and suggest products. It would be ideal if ibuy can provide a customer ranking index with the product description, with similar characteristics products where the consumers purchasing decision will be much easier. Source: Authors Work

5.0 DESIGN AND EVALUATION

5.1 Criteria to measure the website effectiveness
In design and evaluation of the ibuy.lk the author has benchmark www.ibuy.lk with one of renowned online retailer www.amazon.com. Based on the comparison, the author has given a ranking for each criterion. (5= Very Good 4=Good 3=Ok 2=Bad 1=Very Bad) Navigation Rank Explain the rank Current location within the site is 4 The user can easily find, in what category is shown clearly (site map). he/she in. Link to the site's main page is clearly 5 The home page link is present in two different identified. ways. Log or home link. Major/important parts of the site are 4 Profile, shopping cart, services and previous directly accessible from the main page. impotent links are clearly shown. Easy to use Search function is 3 The search can improve, then the user is provided. typing the keyword, no automatic suggestion is given. User Control Rank Explain the rank Site reflects user's workflow 5 The site keeps up with the process of the order. User can cancel any operation 5 Customer can terminate the buying process at any time. User can go back on every page 2 When going back to the previous page in the check out. User faces difficulty in going back. Per-page loads quickly with normal 3 With the animation and graphics, it takes a connections. little much more time to load. Functionality Rank Explain the rank Functions are clearly labelled 5 All the key functions are clearly labelled Essential functions are available 4 Most of the essential functions are found in without leaving the site every page. Plug-ins are used only if they add value 2 No additional plug-ins are used Language and Content Rank Explain the rank Important information and tasks are 3 Important information is given but it can given prominence improve. Information of low relevance or rarely 4 Only the necessary information is provide. 36 APIIT

Interactive & E-marketing used information is not included Related information or tasks are grouped Language is simple, without jargon Help and user guides Site is designed to require minimal help and instructions Help and instructions, if needed, are easily accessible System and user feedback It is always clear what is happening on the site Users can receive email feedback if necessary Users can give feedback via email or a feedback form Confirmation screen is provided for all payments All system feedback is timely Web Accessibility Site follows current web standards Images and animations Image maps Multimedia Consistency The same word or phrase is used consistently to describe an item Link reflects the title of the page to which it refers
Table 25 Criteria measure website

Simile information is categories under categories. 3 Sometimes the user gets confuse in understanding information. Rank Explain the rank 4 Very rear users are in needed with help assistant. 3 Only help through messages are available. Rank Explain the rank 4 User has a good idea of whats happening in the site. 2 Bad email feedback system is present. User help senate give user to contact the administrations via email. 5 User has to individually confirm, the purchase orders. 1 System feedback consumes lot of time. Rank Explain the rank 4 Ibuy.lk use the current CSS systems 5 Image and animations fit correctly in different resolutions 2 There is no such dedicated image map. 3 Actually there is no such audio and video multimedia used in the site. Rank Explain the rank 4 The user can experience consistence within the whole site. 2 The address link does not give a clear idea about which page are you in. Source: Authors Work 5

5.2 Strengths and Weaknesses of the web site

Strengths Navigation 37 APIIT Weaknesses

Interactive & E-marketing Link to the home page is effectively No automatic search suggestions are given. presented Have good accessibility for the key aspects of the site. User Control Has a gentle flow of the site User faces difficulty in going back in some locations of the site. Functionality Doesnt have and use full plug-in involved Language and Content A detailed descriptor is lacking for some products Help and user guides

Easy to recognise labelling

Provides the necessary information

Does not require additional help form a 3rd party System and user feedback User is not getting a good feedback on the process Web Accessibility

Works really well in all resolutions and different browsers Consistency Good consistency is mantling throughout Address bar does not give good idea about the site the location Source: Authors Work

Table 26 Strengths and Weaknesses of the web site

5.3 Creative suggestions

Criteria Navigation Suggestion Provide predictive search engine support, where depending on part of the keyword which gives automatic suggestions. 38 APIIT

User Control

Interactive & E-marketing To allocate a 24/7 live chat user help desk that will address all the problems

Functionality Provide 3D animations where the consumer can get a good idea about the product Language and Content For each and every product once they purchase and used it let them to make a review or leave a comment about the product.

Help and Provide audio and visual support for the product in order customer to get a good user guides idea about the product System and Link up with a mobile application that will help the user to find out the current user status of the delivery and to give feedback on the service. feedback Web Accessibility Adjust the sites capabilities to work with new OS like ANDRIOD and WM 7 in tablets Source: Authors Work

Table 27 Creative suggestions

Conclusion
Ibuy.lk is an online shopping portal which introduced by Dialog Telekom. Today ibuy.lk is the top player in the industry. Therefore a critical internal and external environmental analysis has been carried out to analyze and evaluate the findings. Furthermore ibuys online web sites

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Interactive & E-marketing Business model and Revenue model has also been evaluate in order to find out the current position of the web site. In aliened with the company objectives, current E-CRM strategies have been evaluated and new strategies have been suggested in order to improve the effectiveness of the website. Also a comparison survey on the user friendliness and effectiveness of the site has been conducted taking to account the online retail giant Amazon.com. Finally recommendations have been suggest eliminating the weaknesses pointed in the survey.

Referencing
Alexa, (2011) ibuy.lk [Online]. Available from: http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/ibuy.lk# [Accessed: 20 June 2011] APMF (2011) study [Online]. Available from: http://www.apmf.org.sg/apmf.html [Accessed: 18 June 2011] 40 APIIT

Interactive & E-marketing Central Bank of Sri Lanka, (2009) Central Bank Annual Report, Colombo Clickz (2011) online marketing trends [Online]. Available [Accessed: 15 June 2011] Corporate Website (2011) company profile Accessed: 22 June 2011]http://www.dialog.lk/about/overview/corporate-profile/group-overview/ CSE (2011) Dialog [Online]. Available 2011] Cubestat, (2011) ibuy.lk [Online]. Available

from:

http://www.clickz.com/clickz/column/1935424/online-marketing-trends-2011-included

from:

http://www.cse.lk/cmt/upload_report_file/389_1273225287863.pdf [Accessed: 15 June

from:

http://www.cubestat.com/www.ibuy.lk [Accessed: 15 June 2011] Department of Census and Statistics (2011) population Estimated [Online]. Available from:http://www.statistics.gov.lk/PopHouSat/Mid%20Year %20Population/midyearsex&age.pdf [Accessed: 16 June 2011] Dialog annual report (2010) Annual Report [online]. Available from:

http://www.dialog.lk/content/uploads/pdfs/annual_reports/2010_annual_report_en.pdf [Accessed: 20 June 2011] Dialog Sustainability Report (2010) sustainability Report [online]. Available from:http://www.dialog.lk/content/uploads/pdfs/sustainability_reports/2010-dialogaxiata-sustainability-report-2010.pdf [Accessed: 21 June 2011] Dialog Telekom PLC, (2009), All product categories Website, [Online], Available: http://www.ibuy.lk/ , [Accessed on15th May 2011] Dialog Telekom PLC, (2009), All product categories Website, [Online], Available: http://www.ibuy.lk/ , [Accessed on15th May 2011] DSC (2011) computer awareness [online]. Available from: http://www.dsc.com/ [Accessed: 20 June 2011] Ecommerce (2010) e-commerce [online]. Available from: http://www.ecommerce.com/ [Accessed: 22 June 2011] Economic times (2011) Online shopping [online]. Available from:

http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2008-05-26/news/27697118_1_onlineshopping-e-tailing-internet-shopping [Accessed: 23 June 2011] 41 APIIT

Interactive & E-marketing IBR (2011) Sri Lanka [online]. Available from: / [Accessed: 20 June 2011] Ibuy.lk (2011) about us [2011]. Available from: http://www.ibuy.lk [Accessed: 21 June 2011] Income & Expenditure Survey (2011) Final Results [Online]. Available from: http://www.statistics.gov.lk/Newsletters/HIES200910FinalBuletin.pdf June 2011] Internet World Stats (2011) home [online]. Available from: [Accessed: 20

http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats2.htm [Accessed: 22 June 2011] Investopedia (2011) value proposition [Online]. Available from:

http://www.investopedia.com/terms/v/valueproposition.asp [Accessed: 15 June 2011] Marketing 2011] Mohamed & Husnayati (2008) E-Learning Adoption in Sri Lanka [Online]. Available from:http://www.ibimapublishing.com/journals/CIBIMA/volume6/v6n19.pdf [Accessed: 21 June 2011] Position strategy (2011) strategy [online]. Available from: teacher (2011) Targeting [Online]. Available from:

http://www.marketingteacher.com/lesson-store/lesson-targeting.html [Accessed: 19 June

http://www.positionstrategy.com/ [Accessed: 18 June 2011] Riverside marketing strategies (2011) marketing strategies [Online]. Available from: http://www.riversidemarketingstrategies.com/ [Accessed: 13 June 2011] TRC (2010) statistics [online]. Available from:

http://www.trc.gov.lk/information/statistics.html[Accessed: 21 June 2011] U.S. Audiences & Devices (2010) media fact sheet [Online]. Available

from:http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/nielsen-mediafact-sheet-jan-11.pdf [Accessed: 12 June 2011] Websitetrafficspy (2011) ibuy.lk [Online]. Available from:

http://ibuy.lk.websitetrafficspy.com/ [Accessed: 20 June 2011] 42 APIIT

Interactive & E-marketing

Appendix
Appendix 1

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Interactive & E-marketing

Source: Income & Expenditure Survey (2011) The statistical data of the income level and its break down structure in the year 2009 2010.

Appendix 2
Keywords analyzes

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Interactive & E-marketing

45 APIIT