.
TITLE
NAME: Sonia Christa D’costa
ID: 1301191010
SUBJECT CODE/TITLE: BDS 2103- E-COMMERCE
LECTURER’S NAME: Moganavatsala Jeevanantham
SUBMISSION DATE: 22nd June 2021
M-Commerce
Mobile commerce, also called m-commerce or M-Commerce, includes any monetary transaction
completed using a mobile device.
It is an advancement of ecommerce, enabling people to buy and sell goods or services from almost
anywhere, simply using a mobile phone or tablet device
But mobile commerce is more than just a simple evolution of ecommerce. For me this implies
that mobile commerce is a trend, a passing fad that will soon be forgotten, or superseded by
something else. It has also served as a trigger for new industries and services, or helped existing
ones grow, including:
• Mobile money transfers.
• Electronic tickets and boarding passes.
• Digital content purchases and delivery.
• Mobile banking.
• Contactless payments and in-app payments.
• Location-based services.
• Mobile marketing, coupons, and loyalty cards.
Mobile commerce is a natural progression of ecommerce.
On some levels they are nearly identical, but there are also important differences between the two.
As a result, you will see me use ecommerce instead of mobile commerce a few times throughout
this article, and you are welcome to do the same.
But I will only interchange them when referring to the aspects that overlap; there will be times
when only mobile commerce will do.
Does mobile commerce matter?
Mobile ecommerce sales account for 34.5% of total ecommerce sales in 2017, and that number is growing.
By now your website – and online store – should already be accessible on mobile devices, but that doesn’t
automatically mean your business is ready for mobile commerce.
The following are the different types of e-commerce platforms:
Business-to-Business (B2B)
A B2B model of business involves the conduct of trade between two or more
businesses/companies. The channels of such trade generally include conventional wholesalers
and producers who are dealing with retailers.
Business-to-Consumer (B2C)
Business-to-Consumer model of business deals with the retail aspects of e-commerce, i.e. the sale
of goods and/or services to the end consumer through digital means. The facility, which has taken
the business world by storm, enables the consumer to have a detailed look at their proposed
procurements before placing an order. Some of the businesses operating in this channel include
well-known players like Amazon, Flipkart, etc. This mode of purchase has proved to be beneficial
to the consumers when compared to the traditional method, as they are endowed with access to
helpful contents which may guide their purchases appropriately.
Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C)
This business model is leveraged by a consumer for selling used goods and/or services to other
consumers through the digital medium. The transactions here are pursued through a platform
provided by a third party, the likes of which include OLX, Quickr, etc.
Consumer-to-Business (C2B)
A C2B model is the exact reversal of a B2C model. While the latter is serviced to the consumer by a business,
the C2B model provides the end consumers with an opportunity to sell their products/services to companies.
The method is popular in crowd sourcing based projects, the nature of which typically includes logo designing,
sale of royalty-free photographs/media/design elements, and so on and so forth.
Business-to-Administration (B2A)
This model enables online dealings between companies and public administration, i.e. the
Government by enabling the exchange of information through central websites. It provides
businesses with a platform to bid on government opportunities such as auctions, tenders,
application submission, etc. The scope of this model is now enhanced, thanks to the investments
made towards e-government.
Consumer-to-Administration (C2A)
The C2A platform is meant for consumers, who may use it for requesting information or posting
feedbacks concerning public sectors directly to the government authorities/administration. Its
areas of applicability include:
• The dissemination of information.
• Distance learning.
• Remittance of statutory payments.
• Filing of tax returns.
• Seeking appointments, information about illnesses, payment of health services, etc.
Types of mobile commerce
While m-commerce covers a wide variety of transactions, they can all be categorized as one of
three types:
1. Mobile shopping.
Mostly similar to ecommerce, but accessible via a mobile device. Mobile shopping is now
possible through mobile optimized websites, dedicated apps, and even social media platforms.
2. Mobile banking.
Not too different to online banking, though you may find some transaction types are limited or
restricted on mobile devices. Mobile banking usually involves a dedicated app, though some
banks have started experimenting with the use of chatbots and messaging apps.
3. Mobile payments.
There are so many diverse mobile payment options that we have chosen to cover them in detail
further in this article. As a business owner, and user of BigCommerce, your exposure and interest
in mobile commerce would mostly relate to shopping and payments, which is what the rest of this
article will focus on.
Common Benefits of Mobile Commerce
➢ Better overall experience for customers
➢ Phenomenal growth potential.
➢ A true omni-channel experience.
➢ Variety of payment options.
Common Pitfalls of Mobile Commerce
➢ Constant need for optimization.
➢ Variety of payment options.
➢ Easier for customers to compare prices.
➢ Need to know and comply with a wider range of regulations.
is one of the largest international fashion companies. It
belongs to Inditex, one of the world’s largest distribution groups.
The customer is at the heart of our unique business model, which includes design, production,
distribution and sales through our extensive retail network.
Amancio Ortega opened the first Zara store in 1975 in central A Coruña, Galicia, Spain. Ortega
initially named the store Zorba after the classic film Zorba the Greek, but after learning there was
a bar with the same name two blocks away, the letters were remolded for the sign to say "Zara".
It is believed the extra "a" came from an additional set of letters that had been made for the
company. The first store featured low-priced lookalike products of popular, higher-end clothing
fashions. Ortega opened additional stores throughout Spain. During the 1980s, Ortega changed
the design, manufacturing, and distribution process to reduce lead times and react to new trends
in a quicker way, which he called "instant fashions". The improvements included the use of
information technologies and groups of designers instead of individuals.
Products
Zara stores have men's and women's clothing as well as children's clothing (Zara Kids). Zara
Home designs are located in European stores. Zara's products are supplied based on consumer
trends. The majority of Zara customers range from 18- mid 30s. years old. Its highly responsive
supply chain ships new products to stores twice a week. After products are designed, they take 10
to 15 days to reach the stores. All of the clothing is processed through the distribution center in
Spain. New items are inspected, sorted, tagged, and loaded into trucks. In most cases, the clothing
is delivered within 48 hours. Zara produces over 450 million items per year.
Zara mission statement is to “give customers what they
want, and get it to them faster than anyone else.” Such a
simplistic, concise, and straightforward statement shows
why this company has been so fruitful. It has the following
parts:
1. Distinguished products
2. Improving lives
Zara is more concerned with the likes and interests of its
clients rather than simply pushing fashions in the market.
That is why the company dedicates more time to learn about
these ‘wants,’ to inform the designs of its products.
Unknown to many competitors, this is what makes Zara
brand unrivaled. The company has also learned that by
meeting the demands of the clients when needed, it
improves their lives and creates loyalty. The unique supply
chain adopted by Zara to increase the speed of delivering
new products faster has made it a darling in the Spanish and global markets.
Zara vision statement is “to contribute to the sustainable development of society and that of the
environment with which we interact.” Its main parts include:
1. Developing society
2. Improving the environment
Through its corporate social responsibility, Zara keeps demonstrating its responsibility to
improvement of the lives of people. Moreover, the company also supports a wide range of
environmentally-conscious programs to support the stability and preservation of natural resources.
Core Values
Zara core values include “beauty, clarity, functionality, and sustainability.” The company uses
these as the guiding principles in its operations.
As a fashion company, Zara acknowledges the importance of fostering progressive cultures to
stay alert and updated with market demands.
Zara is a business to consumer (b2c)
According to Zara, the only restraining factor to its expansion is the availability of suitable real
estate. Also Keith Mortimer (cited in Hill, 2005, case study), a European retail analyst, reflects
that Zara will sell clothes on the Internet so as to avoid the finding of new store sites issue. To
expand a business means going to market and sell where it does not already or less than
somewhere else. Thus, the Zara’s aim is to especially expand in the Americans (USA: 8 shops;
South America: 67 shops) and Asian markets (7 shops) where its presence is very little compared
to the European market (419 shops). Such an expansion could be helped by the mean of the e-
commerce also termed entailing. The e-commerce refers to selling goods to customers using the
Internet (Chaffey, 2004). This Business to Customer (B2C) concept allows to sell directly to the
customer while cutting out the mediator and presents many benefits including virtual geographic
expansion. Also, the e-tailing option represents an “easy” and quick mean to reach any market
and customers all over the world, provided that of course those latter have access to the Internet
(Kotzab & Madlberger, 2001). Therefore, the e-tailing could be the solution to market Americas
and Asia.
Zara competitive advantages
An advantage that organizations have over its rivals, allowing it to produce more prominent deals
or margins and/or retain a bigger number of clients than its opposition. There can be numerous
sorts of competitive advantages including the association 's expense structure, item offerings,
distribution system and client bolster (Jay Barney 1991). All together for a business to remain
over whatever is left of its opposition, it's imperative that they build up a solid business model.
Zara is one of the biggest international style organizations. It has a place with Inditex, one of the
worlds 's biggest distribution bunches. The brand is eminent for it 's capacity to convey new
garments to stores rapidly and in little bunches. Twice per week, at exact times, store
administrators request garments, and twice per week, on calendar, new pieces of clothing arrive.
The organization produces around 450 million things a year for its 1,770 stores in 86 nations. To
accomplish this, Zara controls a greater amount of its manufacturing and inventory network than
do most retailers.
Revenue models for Zara
Its products wind up on the shelves and clothing racks of its shops because Zara produces them
by itself and only continues to manufacture those products that sell the best within its stores. ...
So Zara manages to save on its warehousing and inventory costs in every shop worldwide.
The Business model of Zara consists of vertical integration and logistics trade-offs. These two
strategies play a significant role in the success and global recognition that Zara receives. Vertical
integrations help the company to control all of its verticals like design, manufacture, shipment,
distribution, etc.
The security threats for Zara
➢ Increasing competition from high end fashion merchandisers locally and globally.
➢ The loss of appeal within target customer segment.
➢ Failure to meet fashion tastes and preferences of millennials.
➢ Intensifying imitation of counterfeit Zara products.
Zara payment systems
Zara accepts payments by Debit Cards, Credit Cards, and Net banking. There is also an option
for COD (Cash on delivery)
Zara also use Quad pay online or in-store everywhere that accepts Visa. This system basically is
used to Split your payment in 4 installments over 6 weeks. Shop smarter!
Zara Mobile App
➢ The app and all of its functions load quickly.
➢ Easy to navigate within categories. Categories are available when scrolling down and at
the bottom of the page as well.
➢ Apart from the classic categories – shoes, dresses, accessories etc. – there are seasonal
and more specific subcategories as well to make it easier for users to find particular items.
For example: Halloween, Party Wear, Weddings etc. Mobile apps are used on the go.
Therefore, it is crucial for a mobile app to reduce navigation as much as possible so users
can reach anything with just a few clicks. (Inkbot Design, 2019) Pretty Little Thing mobile
app does it well.
This screenshot is showcasing the easy navigation of Pretty Little Thing mobile app. Users can
shop by common categories, such as dresses, tops, shoes etc. or by special categories or occasions
such as Hallo ween, party wear or student style. This makes navigation and searching easy and
enjoyable for users.
Zara is one of the most powerful in the textile sector and with great international Spanish brands.
Surely more than one consumer is using the app right now of her favorite brand for pricing or
shopping. Let's start with the installation of applications on mobile:
Platforms that the App is available in
The application of Zara is available in a variety of Official Markets; you can install it on IOS,
Android, Windows Phone and BlackBerry. Really, it's a good strategy, because although 94% of
mobile devices sold today in Spain come with IOS or Android, it is important to consider small
niche markets to reach potential customers than other competitors themselves discarded.
2 User ratings
If you visit the market Apple store you will find this application data:
Zara App: In total 646 people have voted, giving the application a score of 4.5 out of 5. There is
a maximum score of 526 references and with the minimum of 51.
Zara App: 40,001 consumers have rated this app so far, giving it a rating of 4.1 out of 5. In total,
23,041 have decided to give the top score and 3,440 people gave the minimum score. It has
between 5 and 10 million downloads
Microsoft – Zara App: The rated 94 users in Spain, giving an average of 4.3 out of 5 stars.
Blackberry – Zara App: The average is 3.5 out of 5 stars.
Zara Android App has the 271 position in the ranking of Spanish applications and within the
category of Lifestyle is ranked 10th.
Zara App on the market of IOS has the 37th position in the general ranking Spanish and within
the category of Lifestyle is ranked 5th.
This is a very visual and intuitive application. It has a white background design with colorful
pictures of models that become the different sections of the program. With menus that take you
directly to the collection you're looking for: it is a woman, man or child.
Offers you know where the nearest shops of Zara by geographical location.
All other services are provided by the two brands: Scanner for price of the garments in the store,
register as a user to buy, basket and all products with their current prices
Zara benefits of having its own mobile application
Zara is the leader in its market, thanks to a pioneering technological strategy. By adapting to new
tools—including big data—the Spanish clothing retailer has managed to outpace its direct
competitors. Despite being one of the last fashion companies to take up e-commerce, Zara has
achieved a universal shopping experience that encompasses both its brick-and-mortar locations
and its online stores. Other companies have tried to emulate this experience, but never with the
same results.
Zara’s success is based on a rather unusual premise: its founder, Amancio Ortega, has managed
to become one of the world’s richest people without monopolizing a sector. The clothing retailer’s
business model leans heavily on technological innovation and user experience. The firm has
doubled in size in just ten years, shattering the forecasts of analysts who thought the firm could
never achieve such a feat without overhauling its business plan to centralize its [Link] the
flagship brand of the Inditex group, Zara is synonymous with clothing and fashion. The aim of
Ortega’s company is to give society what it wants as quickly as possible. Zara therefore changes
its collections every two weeks. To put this strategy into perspective, look no further than Mango
or Gap: these competitors renew their collections about six times a year. Although most fashion
experts consider Zara’s model to be unsustainable—due to its supposed high cost—the company
has managed to grow steadily year after year, leaving its competitors in the dust.
“Zara’s business model leans heavily on technological innovation and user
experience, allowing the firm to double in size in just ten years”.
This is a very visual and intuitive application. It has a white background design with colorful
pictures of models that become the different sections of the program. With menus that take you
directly to the collection you're looking for: it is a woman, man or child.
Offers you know where the nearest shops of Zara by geographical location.
All other services are provided by the two brands: Scanner for price of the garments in the store,
register as a user to buy, basket and all products with their current prices.
Conclusion
ZARA has grown into a world-famous fast fashion brand and its international presence has seen
an impressive rise in the recent years. its network of physical stores has reached more than 2200.
Apart from that the brand is also operating e-commerce websites across 48 markets. Overall,
ZARA is in a strong position to achieve faster growth in near future. Some other key strengths
that have helped it achieve an edge over its rivals include its pricing strategy, focus on quality and
customer service and the excellent in-store experience it has designed for visitors. ZAR has
achieved all this without investing anything in marketing. Instead, it relied upon a well
synchronized supply chain. Moreover, its focus on HR has also helped bring great results. In this
way, ZARA has obtained several sources of competitive advantage. A large customer base and
high-level customer loyalty are helping it grow faster.
References
Ha, H-Y., (2004) “Factors influencing consumer perceptions of brand trust online”, Journal of Product &
Brand Management. Vol 13, No 5, pp 329-342
Kopaneva, I., & Sias, P. M. (2015). Lost in translation: Employee and organizational
constructions of mission and vision. Management Communication Quarterly, 29(3), 358-384.
Park, J., Stoel, L. (Feb 2005) “Effect of brand familiarity, experience and information on online apparel
purchase”, International Journal of Retailing & Distribution Management, Vol. 33 No.2, pp.148-16
Siddiqui, N., et al., (2003), “Retailer and consumer perceptions of online fashion retailers: Web site design
issues”, Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management. Vol 7, No 4, pp 345-355
Tokatli, N. (2008). Global sourcing: insights from the global clothing industry—the case of Zara,
a fast-fashion retailer. Journal of Economic Geography, 8(1), 21-38.
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