Posts Tagged ‘Challenges’
E-commerce Site Search Tools and Product Attributes: the Series (part 2 of 3)
Product Attributes In The Online World
This is the second part of a series concerning product attributes. Previously, we discussed what product attributes are, and the use of product attributes in the real, off line world. Today, we wish to cover how product attributes can be employed in the online world to facilitate commercial success.
Product attributes are essential to commerce in the real, offline world. They are so important that we use them all the time. In fact, they are so important and ubiquitous that we use them without thought.
So how could a web merchant expect to be successful without mimicking the offline world by supporting product attributes in the online store?
In our view, supporting product attributes in site search is absolutely essential, since customers express their interest in products using them. CyberSiteSearch has been designed from the beginning to provide comprehensive support for product attributes.
In fact, we implement an extensible data base solution that allows merchants to specify any set of attributes that makes sense for their product mix. These attributes are used in site searches to help site visitors to rapidly locate and purchase products, using the vocabulary that is most natural to employ for the type of product.
But of course, we must first obtain product attribute information before making it available in site search.
How NOT To Obtain Product Attribute Information
Obviously, a site search tool like CyberSiteSearch must obtain product attribute information to be able to use it in searches. Today, we?ll briefly discuss how not to obtain that information.
As stated in one of Google?s official blogs:
?Before, there was simple web crawling which involved indexing the content on a website. But there were challenges: sometimes the web crawler could not find all pages on a site, and, even if a page was crawled, it was often difficult for a computer-based system to understand the meaning of the content.?
Think about this: how could a search engine spider examine every page on a merchant site, digest all of the information on each and every page, and attach real meaning (attribute values) to words and phrases found on the page?
How could a search engine spider possibly know that the word ?lilac? is a scent and not a color? Or ?fair trade? is a specific certification given to coffee? Or 6 inches is a diameter and not a length?
Web crawlers are poorly suited to organize detailed product content into a searchable structure across all of the products on a web site.
But merchants can, and that is the topic of our next part.
How To Effectively Assess Forex Review System Trading Information
When getting into foreign exchange trading, beginners and experts alike are first considering investing in necessary investment tools and instruments. You should do the same. It is important to find, choose, and subscribe to the best trading system that you would use. But how do you find and pick the best there is? You should do some research and browse several Forex review system trading information.
Many investors are getting into money exchange. In fact, Forex trading defies the challenges and setbacks of geography and time zones. Money exchange trading goes on around the world regardless of time. Different countries have different time zones. Thus, expect that there are just too many trading systems available that you would surely feel a bit confused. But you could not choose them all. You only need one.
As they say, it is ideal to learn from the experience of other people. You could gather and use actual feedbacks from actual users of Forex trading systems by reading good and credible reviews. Not all Websites and information across the Internet should be trusted. Here are some tips that would help you effectively assess Forex review system trading information that are available.
Choose credible sources
As mentioned, not all Websites, authors, and information across the Worldwide Web could be fully trusted. But you could always take heed from the more credible and proven accurate ones. Do not confer too much trust on blogs as it is easy for just about anyone to come up with one. When viewing a Website, find out about the author, creator, or company behind the site and evaluate them according to market experience and credentials. Of course, you should just trust those that are known and respected in the market.
Popular business and trading Websites could be trusted. You should remember that the information you would believe in should come from actual Forex market players, who have been trading in and around the market for so long. You could not expect a video gaming site to accurately run reviews of Forex trading systems.
Do not be misled by false claims
It is easy for anyone to claim about the excellence of a certain Forex system trading product. Learn to be critical and skeptical about any claims by people across the Web. As mentioned, it is best to trust credible and qualified traders and businesses.
Do not easily take statements claiming how superior a trading system is. To give you an idea, Websites that are operated and run by system trading companies themselves should not be trusted. Of course, they would claim that theirs is the best in the market today. Find Forex review system trading information that are obviously unbiased and are fair.
GREEN MARKETING ? OPPORTUNITIES & CHALLENGES
GREEN MARKETING – OPPORTUNITIES & CHALLENGES
BY
Miss. P. PIRAKATHEESWARI, Lecturer in Commerce,
Sri Sarada College for Women (Autonomous), Salem – 16.
“Progress is possible, No one can stop it, but obstacle is there, we have to face it.”
- Amartya Sen
Introduction
Yes, green marketing is a golden goose. As per Mr. J. Polonsky, green marketing can be defined as, “All activities designed to generate and facilitate any exchange intended to satisfy human needs or wants such that satisfying of these needs and wants occur with minimal detrimental input on the national environment.”
Green marketing involves developing and promoting products and services that satisfy customers want and need for Quality, Performance, Affordable Pricing and Convenience without having a detrimental input on the environment.
Meaning
Green marketing refers to the process of selling products and/or services based on their environmental benefits. Such a product or service may be environmentally friendly in it or produced and/or packaged in an environmentally friendly way.
The obvious assumption of green marketing is that potential consumers will view a product or service’s “greenness” as a benefit and base their buying decision accordingly. The not-so-obvious assumption of green marketing is that consumers will be willing to pay more for green products than they would for a less-green comparable alternative product – an assumption that, in my opinion, has not been proven conclusively.
While green marketing is growing greatly as increasing numbers of consumers are willing to back their environmental consciousnesses with their dollars, it can be dangerous. The public tends to be skeptical of green claims to begin with and companies can seriously damage their brands and their sales if a green claim is discovered to be false or contradicted by a company’s other products or practices. Presenting a product or service as green when it’s not is called green washing.
Definition
According to the American Marketing Association, green marketing is the marketing of products that are presumed to be environmentally safe. Thus green marketing incorporates a broad range of activities, including product modification, changes to the production process, packaging changes, as well as modifying advertising. Yet defining green marketing is not a simple task where several meanings intersect and contradict each other; an example of this will be the existence of varying social, environmental and retail definitions attached to this term. Other similar terms used are Environmental Marketing and Ecological Marketing.
The legal implications of marketing claims call for caution. Misleading or overstated claims can lead to regulatory or civil challenges. In the USA, the Federal Trade Commission provides some guidance on environmental marketing claims.
Three keys to successful green marketing
Show potential customers that you follow green business practices and you could reap more green on your bottom line. Green Marketing isn’t just a catchphrase; it’s a marketing strategy that can help you get more customers and make more money. But only if you do it right.
For green marketing to be effective, you have to do three things; be genuine, educate your customers, and give them the opportunity to participate.
1) Being genuine means that a) that you are actually doing what you claim to be doing in your green marketing campaign and b) that the rest of your business policies are consistent with whatever you are doing that’s environmentally friendly. Both these conditions have to be met for your business to establish the kind of environmental credentials that will allow a green marketing campaign to succeed.
2) Educating your customers isn’t just a matter of letting people know you’re doing whatever you’re doing to protect the environment, but also a matter of letting them know why it matters. Otherwise, for a significant portion of your target market, it’s a case of “So what?” and your green marketing campaign goes nowhere.
3) Giving your customers an opportunity to participate means personalizing the benefits of your environmentally friendly actions, normally through letting the customer take part in positive environmental action.
Evolution of Green Marketing
The green marketing has evolved over a period of time. According to Peattie (2001), the evolution of green marketing has three phases. First phase was termed as “Ecological” green marketing, and during this period all marketing activities were concerned to help environment problems and provide remedies for environmental problems. Second phase was “Environmental” green marketing and the focus shifted on clean technology that involved designing of innovative new products, which take care of pollution and waste issues. Third phase was “Sustainable” green marketing. It came into prominence in the late 1990s and early 2000.
Why Green Marketing?
As resources are limited and human wants are unlimited, it is important for the marketers to utilize the resources efficiently without waste as well as to achieve the organization’s objective. So green marketing is inevitable.
There is growing interest among the consumers all over the world regarding protection of environment. Worldwide evidence indicates people are concerned about the environment and are changing their behavior. As a result of this, green marketing has emerged which speaks for growing market for sustainable and socially responsible products and services.
Benefits of Green Marketing
Companies that develop new and improved products and services with environment inputs in mind give themselves access to new markets, increase their profit sustainability, and enjoy a competitive advantage over the companies which are not concerned for the environment.
Adoption of Green Marketing
There are basically five reasons for which a marketer should go for the adoption of green marketing. They are -
Opportunities or competitive advantage Corporate social responsibilities (CSR) Government pressure Competitive pressure Cost or profit issues
Green Marketing Mix
Every company has its own favorite marketing mix. Some have 4 P’s and some have 7 P’s of marketing mix. The 4 P’s of green marketing are that of a conventional marketing but the challenge before marketers is to use 4 P’s in an innovative manner.
Product
The ecological objectives in planning products are to reduce resource consumption and pollution and to increase conservation of scarce resources (Keller man, 1978).
Price
Price is a critical and important factor of green marketing mix. Most consumers will only be prepared to pay additional value if there is a perception of extra product value. This value may be improved performance, function, design, visual appeal, or taste. Green marketing should take all these facts into consideration while charging a premium price.
Promotion
There are three types of green advertising: -
ü Ads that address a relationship between a product/service and the biophysical environment
ü Those that promote a green lifestyle by highlighting a product or service
ü Ads that present a corporate image of environmental responsibility
Place
The choice of where and when to make a product available will have significant impact on the customers. Very few customers will go out of their way to buy green products.
Strategies
The marketing strategies for green marketing include: -
Marketing Audit (including internal and external situation analysis) Develop a marketing plan outlining strategies with regard to 4 P’s Implement marketing strategies Plan results evaluation
Challenges Ahead
ü Green products require renewable and recyclable material, which is costly
ü Requires a technology, which requires huge investment in R & D
ü Water treatment technology, which is too costly
ü Majority of the people are not aware of green products and their uses
ü Majority of the consumers are not willing to pay a premium for green products
Some Cases
ü McDonald’s restaurant’s napkins, bags are made of recycled paper.
ü Coca-Cola pumped syrup directly from tank instead of plastic which saved 68 million pound/year.
ü Badarpur Thermal Power station of NTPC in Delhi is devising ways to utilize coal-ash that has been a major source of air and water pollution.
ü Barauni refinery of IOC is taken steps for restricting air and water pollutants.
Conclusion
Green marketing should not neglect the economic aspect of marketing. Marketers need to understand the implications of green marketing. If you think customers are not concerned about environmental issues or will not pay a premium for products that are more eco-responsible, think again. You must find an opportunity to enhance you product’s performance and strengthen your customer’s loyalty and command a higher price. Green marketing is still in its infancy and a lot of research is to be done on green marketing to fully explore its potential.
References:
Chopra, S. Lakshmi (2007), “Turning Over a New Leaf”, Indian Management, Vol-64, April-2007 Ottman, J.A. et al, “Avoiding Green Marketing Myopia”, Environment, Vol-48, June-2006 www.greenmarketing.net/stratergic.html www.epa.qld.gov.au/sustainable_ industries