Digital Markets

Question 1
a)What experiences have you had with shopping online?
I have had very little experience when it comes to shopping online. I look often at things online I have every intension to purchase products however very rarely end up doing so.

b) Describe a good experience.

A good experience I had with shopping online was that I was able to purchase DVD that werent yet available to buy in Australia at a very cheap price that I wouldnt be able to get if I had of got them in a store

It was also a good experience because the deliever time was every small only 7 days

c) What did you like about the online store you used?

I like the online store because of the easy nature of how to navigate my way around the site and the prices were much lower.

d) Describe a bad experience.

It wasnt a experience i have had with shopping online but a friend order shoes online and they never turned up and she was never able to get her money back.

e) What problems did you have with the online store?

I have issue with knowing how to pay for things and understanding all the different ways you are able to pay and working out which would be the best for me.

f) What features make an online store more appealing?

To me the features to shopping online would be the easy accessability of it. The prices of items are normally cheaper then if you went into a store and purchased it in person. I also think that it is a great way to compare products and prices easily

g) What features make an online store less appealing?

The only thing that I think would make shopping online less appealing to people would be the uncertainty of if the person or company selling the product can be trusted.

h) Should we expect to see the prices of goods and services rise or fall due to the migration of consumers online?I'm unsure on this one as I think it could go either way as businesses could rise prices as they arent making the same profit as they once where and therefore need to make up the difference. however on the other hand they could also drop prices to be able to compete with online stores. I think it will be up to the individual business on how they deal with this.

Question 2

a) The dispersion of prices (that is, the spread between the lowest and highest price for a particular product) will narrow

I agree with this statement as I believe that business will try to compete this online stores and online stores will also online stores will compete with eachother therefore prices between highest and lowest prices will narrow.

b) The importance of brand names will decrease.

I also agree with this statement as consumers will be looking at products on price not by brand name and if the product is very similar then a brand name product but cheaper consumers are more likely to go with the cheaper option.

c) Price competition will make all products cheaper.

I disagree with this statement as same business pride themselves on being the best and have high prices to show to their target market that they are the best. Therefore I dont think that all products will become cheaper.

d) Digital markets will become dominated by a handful of mega-sites, like Amazon.com.

I disagree with this statement as I believe businesses will have their own sites and clients will use these to purchase products that they desire.

e) How do you think the balance of power between buyer’s and seller’s will change?

I think that the balance will change slightly in the fact that buyer's may be to hold the power more easily as if prices or products arent to their liking they are able to use other companies more quickly and easily.

f) Prices are clustered online.

I agree as the online stores try to compete not only with eachother but normal shopping centre stores.

g) Online prices are elastic. ( i.e. immune to change up and down with demand)

I disagree with this statement because I have always had the experience that online are there for the customer and are more able to have lower prices.

h) Online prices are generally transparent (the extent to which prices for a given product or service are known by buyers in the marketplace.).

I agree with this statement because buyer's now if they can get products or services cheaper or for better quality in everyday stores. therefore buyer's know what to expect with online prices.

Question 3

a) What types of m-commerce services does your cell phone provider offer?

My phone company offers * location based services. * games and entertainment *content and products and also * moblie bill payment.

b) Which of these services do you use?

Out of the above services I use Games and entertainment

c) What types of transactions do you perform through your cell phone or other wireless device?

I only use my phone for text messaging and phone calls.
d) What types of transactions would you like to perform, but are currently unable to?

I would like to be able to pay bills of all kind through the use of my phone not just my phone bill. I would also like to be able to transfer money between accounts.

e) What is your opinion of wireless advertising/mobile marketing?

I dont have a strong opinion on this as i dont use it. i think that companies have to do the best they can with technology to be able to reach a larger audience.