New Economy Edge Strategies and Techniques for Boosting Online Profitability

by Kourdi, Jeremy

• ISBN13: 9780471498445
• ISBN10: 0471498440
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-08-08
• Publisher: WILEY

Summary

The Wiley New Economy Excellence series has a simple aim - to help managers create and sustain competitive advantage in the new economy. Written by series editor Jeremy Kourdi, New Economy Edge is an inspiring look at how to create and develop profitable online activities by grasping the impact of the Internet on employees, markets, customers and business partners. Features include a review of products and services suitable for new channels, a guide to integrating 'clicks' into 'bricks', and an exploration of the skills required to take a business forward once a new direction has been set. Other titles in the New Economy Excellence series include: New Economy Energy: Unleashing Knowledge for Competitive Advantage Sultan Kermally - 0471499633 New Economy Expression: Redefining Marketing in the Multi-Channel Age David Mercer - 0471500089 New Economy Emotion: Engaging Customer Passion with e-CRM Alfredo Zingale and Matthias Arndt - 0470841354

Author Biography

<B>JEREMY KOURDI</B> is responsible for The Economist Conferences activities in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. This includes London and Vienna conferences with a combined total of 46 events in 2000-01. Jeremy started his career with Longman, before joining Reed-Elsevier. During 1992-3 he was Business Operations Manager with what is now the CIPD. From 1993-6 he was Head of Publishing at The Institute of Management, and was then Publishing Director for the Hawksmere Group, as well as working as a consultant with IBC Conferences, London Business School, IMD and ING Barings. He has an MA in International Relations, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. He is author of a number of business books. <P>

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	x
Introduction	xi
Understanding the nature of online business	1	(14)
Understanding the impact of the Internet: the seven principles driving change online	1	(12)
The balance of power is shifting decisively to the customer	2	(1)
The Internet is revolutionising sales techniques and perceptions of leading brands	3	(2)
The pace of business activity and change is rapidly accelerating, and the need to be flexible, adaptive, customer focused and innovative is at a premium	5	(1)
Competition in all its forms is intensifying	6	(1)
Managing and leveraging knowledge is a key skill - and knowledge is a key strategic resource that needs to be nurtured and developed	7	(3)
Companies are transforming themselves into extended enterprises in order to add value for their customers. They are re-evaluating factors as fundamental as their objectives, markets and competencies	10	(3)
The Internet is increasing interactivity among people, companies and industries	13	(1)
Harnessing the seven principles driving change online	13	(2)
Focusing the profit-driven online business	15	(32)
Assessing the e-commerce potential of your products and services	15	(8)
The customer as driver of profits: online, offline and always	17	(6)
Focusing on customers: ten critical drivers of e-commerce success	23	(1)
Understanding the ten critical drivers	23	(22)
Content - the need to develop compelling, credible and customer-focused information	25	(2)
Communication - the need to engage customers	27	(3)
Customer care - the need to provide customers with support and confidence	30	(1)
Community and culture - the need for contact and interaction	31	(1)
Convenience and ease - the need to make things easier for current and potential customers	32	(2)
Connectivity - the need to connect with other sites and users online	34	(2)
Cost and profitability - the need to reduce waste, improve financial efficiency and drive profits	36	(3)
Customisation - the need to deliver efficient personalisation	39	(1)
Capability - the need to ensure that your site remains dynamic, responsive and flexible	40	(2)
Competitiveness - the need to be distinctive	42	(3)
Using the ten drivers to benefit your e-business	45	(2)
Leading and building the online business	47	(24)
Leading the business through change	48	(9)
Creating and delivering major change	49	(8)
Designing the best structure for online business success	57	(7)
Developing the best e-commerce structure	57	(3)
Techniques for establishing the best structure for your e-commerce activities	60	(4)
Online strategy	64	(7)
Drivers of online strategy developments	64	(7)
Developing your markets to increase profitability	71	(22)
Segmenting markets and data mining	72	(12)
Market segmentation on the Internet	72	(4)
Data mining and the profit-driven online business	76	(8)
Harnessing the power of the Internet to develop business markets	84	(9)
Using the Internet to measure market trends and enhance flexible decision making	85	(1)
Using the Internet to build better - and distinctive - relationships with customers	86	(1)
Using the Internet to measure and refine advertising effectiveness	87	(1)
Using your web site to collect and analyse customer information - clickstream data	88	(2)
Understanding the implications of one-to-one marketing via the Internet	90	(3)
Internet pricing	93	(16)
Issues affecting Internet pricing	93	(5)
Effective Internet pricing strategies	98	(11)
Developing an Internet sales strategy	109	(20)
Selling on the Internet: an overview	110	(9)
Internet selling - the positive approach	110	(1)
Internet selling - the negative approach	111	(2)
How the Internet can benefit your organisation's sales activities	113	(1)
Increasing sales	113	(1)
Reducing sales costs	114	(1)
Building customer loyalty	115	(1)
Creating new business models	116	(3)
Key techniques for selling via the Internet	119	(10)
Generate participation, ownership and commitment within your organisation	120	(1)
Ensure that your Internet selling strategy is all-embracing, enhancing existing activities and learning from past experience	121	(1)
Simplify the customer's experience	122	(1)
Ensure that your web site is sticky and compelling	123	(1)
Focus on flexibility and efficient personalisation	124	(1)
Avoid duplication and the mistakes of the past	125	(1)
Plan and prepare internally for the changes that an Internet sales strategy will deliver	126	(3)
Building brands and customer loyalty	129	(20)
How customer loyalty online drives profitability	133	(8)
Measuring the profitability of customers	133	(2)
Developing a customer's lifetime value to your business	135	(2)
Targeting, attracting and retaining the right customers: the value of mass personalisation	137	(4)
Building an online brand	141	(8)
The advantages of brands in the online environment	142	(2)
Techniques for building an online brand	144	(5)
Using the Internet for profitable product innovation	149	(18)
Innovation using the Internet	150	(8)
How the Internet will help companies innovate	150	(2)
Customisation and customer-intelligent products and services	152	(6)
Profit-driven innovation in the online business	158	(1)
The value of product positioning	158	(7)
Market entry: choosing a market position for your online business	162	(2)
Managing the potential for channel conflict	164	(1)
Protecting intellectual property rights	165	(2)
Suppliers and supply chains: reducing costs and adding value	167	(16)
Techniques for profitable online supplier management	168	(5)
The importance of supplier management for cost reduction	168	(1)
Techniques for cost-effective supplier management	169	(4)
Reducing costs and boosting profits with supplier management	173	(10)
Managing knowledge to enhance profitability	183	(18)
The importance of knowledge and information management online	184	(5)
Managing knowledge to aid decision making and drive profitability	189	(3)
Assessing and managing the organisation's knowledge base	189	(3)
Being prepared: establishing an effective information management framework	192	(9)
Devising an information management framework	192	(1)
Avoiding the potential pitfalls of information systems	193	(8)
Financial techniques to reduce costs, minimise risk and boost profits online	201	(18)
Cost-reduction techniques	202	(11)
Avoiding the `tomorrow syndrome'	202	(2)
Product profitability analysis	204	(3)
Eliminating waste and non-core activities: ensuring lean operations	207	(2)
Structuring your organisation so that it is flat, flexible and customer focused	209	(2)
E-business cost planning: target costing and continuous improvement costing	211	(2)
Evaluating and managing financial risk for an e-business	213	(6)
Resource building: the key to the competitive online business	219	(14)
Resource building	220	(4)
Types of resource	220	(4)
Using e-commerce to build resources	224	(9)
Understanding the competitive commercial environment online	224	(2)
Understanding your competitors	226	(1)
Developing sources of competitive advantage	227	(6)
Online solutions: delivering profitability	233	(14)
Customers and market innovations	234	(5)
Techniques for improving customer service and satisfaction online	234	(2)
Techniques for improving sales	236	(2)
Techniques for rewarding customer loyalty online	238	(1)
People	239	(1)
Finance	240	(7)
Improving the efficiency of accounts receivable	240	(1)
Reducing the costs of inventory	241	(1)
Utilising capacity	242	(1)
Understanding and developing your financial information requirements	242	(5)
References	247	(2)
Bibliography	249	(4)
Subject index	253