Review A Local E-Commerce Site

Hi everyone!

In this round of reviewing a local e-commerce site, I have chosen to do a review on blooming.com.my , which is a online florist website in Malaysia. Blooming Florist has now become a household name, as its quality service and heart-capturing flowers have captured the hearts of many both locally and abroad.

In this review, I will not be writing much about the history of this e-commerce site as that would be more of a write up. Rather, I will be sharing with all of you about the strengths and weaknesses of this website from an objective point of view, as this is my 1st time venturing into this website also. Let me walk you through my whole experience through this website...

Firstly, as I entered the the mainpage of this website, I was actually quite impressed and captivated by the simple yet charming website. The main page as shown below contain beautifully arranged links and components of the website. The first thing that actually caught my attention was the beautiful Chinese New Year Greeting on the top of the main webpage. Immediately, a smile is formed on my lips, as I already begin to feel that the owner of this website wants to connect with its customers and viewers like me .

the main web page

Next I decided to try out the purchasing of something from this website. So I had to start with registering myself, which was actually trouble free. Below is the sign up page...

After signing up, I was free to view do my puchasing. As Chinese New Year was approaching, I decided to purchase a Chinese New Year gift box. With the clear view of every single gft box available and its content as well as its price ( as in the picture below ), I decided on the 2nd item "CNY 2009-18: Empress".

main gift box page...

Lastly, I just had to enter all the necessary details at my express checkout page and it is done! A confirmation letter will then be sent to you. Below are the 2 pictures of the check out page - the upper and lower part of the page...

the top part of the page...

the lower part of the page...

Besides the easy process of signing up and purchasing gifts, the banner which on the top right hand corner of the main page that highlights to customers about the latest updates about this business, is easy to view, as it flows pass at a normal speed. The font and color chosen are also pleasing to the eyes.

However, there are also sevaral obvious weaknesses opf this website.

Firstly, in the main page of this website, on the left corner, there is a feature of under "Interactive" on "Click here for Live Support". However this is a feature that is basically useless as it is not available at all. When I clicked on the feature to try to find out more about their products, all I got was this...

I really do feel that instead of having just that pop-up or ntoice that this feature is not available now, the creators of this website should actually make it available. If not, it is best to just remove this feature, as it is a hugh disaapointment towards customers like me who desperately know next-to-nothing about flowers. It also a huge let down and embarassment to this website and company.

Secondly in the main page, towards the end there is this part on promotions...I feel that it is too clutterred up and is giving me a headache with so many things packed together. Perhaps the design or position should be changed and be spread out more, to give a better view.

the promotion sections is to messy and not easy to be viewed clearly...

As blooming.com.my also caters for customers outside Malaysia, I strongly suggest that this website should be available in more languages, as it is only available in English now. As the website can be translated into more languges, there are able to reach out to more customers from more nations.

All in all, after all has been said and done, I would give this website a 85% rating on my satisfaction towards this website especially on its user-friendly features. I hope that the owner(s) or creator(s) of this website will take note of my comments and improve on their weaknesses.

Have fun enjoying this website!

Link: http://www.blooming.com.my/blooming/

Things to take note to prevent e-auction fraud when a consumer participating in and e-auction

Internets bring convenience to the users, it allows indivuduals to communicate with others, pay bills, purchase things even by just staying at home. Therefore, alot of the e-commerce website appeared and fraud rate is getting higher since people are using them regularly. These e-commerce websites allow sellers to sell things and buyers to place their bid on the items they want. E-auction which is the most widely used online mechanism by certain website, for example Ebay and Lelong, people can shop easily on these websites by the pc on hand, and the price is probably lower then the market price.

However, in order to get the offer from internet, you may have to face some risks for being the target the fraudsters. Here are some tips that might help you to get rid fom them.

First, make sure the seller is a verified member of that particular website. Some sellers might refuse to tell you their phone number, but at least their phone number is known and verified by the website. A better way for prevention fraud is verification of IC, which needs some documents provide by the seller to get verified. It gives more security to the buyer.

Next, read the review or the feedback forum. Sellers build their reputation by having good feedback from their buyers. It gives precaution to others if the sellers cheat. Normally, when a buyer won a bid, he/she may have to pay before seller sending the items to buyer, thus, the victims are usually the buyers.

Last, physical verification is another way. This could be used only if

you are stay near to the seller or some particular places which are stated on the page that you place your bid, and pay money after receiving and checking the item you want, it called, COD (Cash On Delivery).

Hope these might help you on e-auction. Anything not clear, please do not hesitate to ask me by giving comment on my post.

Malaysia's E-government

I dread going to government offices.

It may be to apply for a new MyKad, to apply a passport, or to renew a driving license, what you get is just the same - long queue, a lot of hassle, and in the end, you have to come back a second time.

Now, with the widespread use of the Internet, government departments are setting up their own websites, to provide information and services to the citizens online. This is called electronic government (e-government).

In Malaysia, e-government started with the initiation of the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC), to lead Malaysia into the information age. Since then, the e-government has greatly increased the efficiency and effectiveness of almost all government functions.

There are 7 pilot projects in the e-government flagship application. These projects can be categorised into 3 groups as follows:


Government to Citizen (G2C)
Through Electronic Services, citizens can make transactions with government agencies, for example to pay utility bills or tax liabilities. These transactions can be done via eServices kiosks and over the internet in the comfort of one's own home at any convenient time.

To assist in job seeking and recruiting, the Electronic Labour Exchange (ELX) is implemented. The ELX is an online platform where employers and potential employees communicate. This platform is effective in matching jobs to candidates, in providing labour market information, and in assisting optimal labour utilization.

e-Syariah, the 7th project, is a system of case management for the syariah courts, to improve the quality, effectiveness and productivity of the courts' management and services.

Government to Business (G2B)
Only one project is under this category, and that is e-Procurement. This system enables suppliers to sell goods and services to the government via the internet. Transaction cycles are shortened and thus cost can be reduce.

Government to Government (G2G)
One of the most important projects under this category is the Human Resource Management Information System (HRMIS). It is a system developed for the Malaysian Public Service, with objectives including improving effective staffing and right-sizing of civil service, automating HR and operational processes, and promoting a paperless environment.

The Generic Office Environment (GOE) is a powerful document and office management solution that enables users to effectively and efficiently manage their office environment. It is fully web-based and has been customized based on local developed package, DRDok.

Lastly, there is the Project Monitoring System. This is an online system that monitors the entire lifecycle of national programs, i.e. from project application to approval to implementation, mid-term review and completion. With this system in place, Malaysia hopes to improve the quality of its projects by exchanging ideas for best practices and making effective decisions.

To improve customer adoption, many applications have been added to the e-government, such as filing of electronic tax returns, online renewal of driving license, registering voter information and SMS alerts on e-government services. Also, most websites are now bilingual, with Malay and English versions to suit the citizens' preference. Furthermore, besides major government agencies, many district and municipal councils have their own websites, mostly providing area-specific information to the local residents. Various advertisements are also published in the media to promote the awareness of the use of e-government services.

As is clearly seen, e-government has brought about many positive changes to the country. Even the e-government system itself is improving, ranking the 25th in the world - a fitting place as we move closer to Vision 2020.

Corporate Blogging : A New Marketing Communication Tool for Companies

Corporate blogs are business blogs that published and used by an organization to reach its organizational goals.It is another communications and marketing channel.However, unlike a press release, advertisement in a magazine or a listing in the Yellow Pages, corporate blogs are two-way communications.Blogging evangelists often speak of a conversation taking place in marketplaces.Participating in the blogging would gives companies a competitive edge in that conversation.Corporate blogs primarily are used for national branding.They allow companies to present accurate information without the filter of the media or advertising.

Although there are many different types of corporate blogs, most can be categorized as either external or internal.




Internal Blog :
An internal blogs, generally accessed through the corporation's internet, is a weblog that any employee can view.These can be used in lieu of meetings and e-mail discussions.They are very effective when schedules or employee locations make meetings impractical.Ideas can be categorized by topic, person and date, making achieving ideas and conversations easy.

Internal blogs are frequently uses to build and strengthen organizational culture, communicate company knowledge and provide teams with an effective collaboration tool.


External Blog :
An external blog is publicly available weblog where company employees, teams or spokespersons share their views.It is often used to announce new products and services, to explain and clarify policies, or to react on public criticism on certain issues.It also allows a window to the company culture and is often treated more informally than traditional press release, though a corporate blog often tries to accomplish similar goals as press release do.

There is also a special type of external blog, the CEO Blog where the CEO communicates directly to the outside world.The most famous example would have to be the blog of Jonathan Schwartz, CEO of Sun Microsystems.

External blog is frequently uses for strengthening the brand, relationships and the marketing or selling products and services.




Below are 5 ways how a corporate blog can benefit your organization :

(i) Build rapport with customers
At this time of writing, there are more than 100 million blogs worldwide.If you publish a corporate blog, you're giving your customers a channel to interact and get to know your brand and organization in a format that they're familiar and comfortable with. You will earn extra points from them because you speak their language.


(ii) Free feedback and suggestions from key constituents
Corporate blog gives you insights to what people are saying about your products, your brand, your competitors, your marketing from the comfort of your office chair.These insights come in the forms of comments on your blog or commentary and discussions that take place on other blogs.
(iii) Increased website traffic from higher search engine rankings
Because blogs are also easy to publish, you'll find yourself adding new content to your website more frequently.Search engines favour websites with fresh content and rank your blog higher in search results, which in turn results in a greater number of referrals from search engines to your website and blog.

(iv) Position your business as a thought leader
One of the most effective marketing strategies is " show, don't tell ".You can use your corporate blog to take advantage of this strategy by demonstrating your expertise and experience in your industry through commentary, guides, analysis, etc.The quality of your blog content reflects the quality of your organization.

(v) Lead generation
Having your blog appear on the first page of Google's results gives your organization credibility in the eyes of your potential customers.Having high quality content on your blog goes further to reinforce the value your organization can provide and reduces the need to "hard sell".



Examples of corporate blog :
Jonathan' s Blog - The blog of Jonathan Schwartz, CEO of Sun Microsystems. Although John is the CEO of a USD $15billion company, his blog just like a regular guy.

The Official Google Blog - The Google blog gives you a peek into the internet giant's products, technology and culture.


Seth's Blog - Best-selling author Seth Godin's blog is another example of a blog employing a thought leadership strategy and reinforces Seth's reputation as a writer, speaker and consultant.

In summary, corporate blogs are a new, powerful marketing communications tool for any organization.Companies that develop a good corporate blogging strategy are able to capture the goodwill of their community.

Mobile Payment Systems in Malaysia: Its Potentials and Consumers' Adoption Strategies

Ever since year 2001, Malaysians have been able to experience and enjoy a much more secure and convenient way of conducting mobile commerce. TeleMoney for instance was Malaysia's first mobile payment service via multi-channel access for Internet and wireless transcations.

Neowave, on the other hand, the first Malaysian company to be awarded with WorldPayAccredited Storebuilder, was also the first to integrate Mobile Money Weblink as a Payment option on their online storefont software. Other companies in Malaysia who have joined these two companies in providing such mobile payment systems include the following Cordoda Corporation, Nanyang Online, Xchange.com.my, HP Mobile e-services Bazaar and Celcom.

These are among some of the payment systems that are used:

But what are these mobile payment systems?

Mobile payment is one of the latest alternative payment method that is making waves in Asia and Europe, including Malaysia. Basically, consumers can use their mobile phones to pay for a wide range of services and goods, instead of using cash, such as :

a) Music, videos, ringtones, online game subscription or items, wallpapers and other digital goods

b) Books, magazines, tickets and other hard goods

Among the primary models for mobile payments include:

a. Premium SMS based transactional payments

Under this model, consumers send a payment request via an SMS text message to a shortcode to purchase goods such as music, ringtones, wallpaper, mobile games or to conduct transactions such as reloading or transferring credit for prepaid lines. A premium charge is then applied to their phone bill. When the merchant involved is informed of the payment success, the paid for goods will be released.

However, these goods are most frequently digital with the merchant replying using a MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service). As a trusted delivery address has typically not been given to these goods. A MMS can also deliver barcodes which can then be scanned for confirmation of payment by a merchant which can be used as an electronic ticket for access to cinemas and events or collect hard goods. The practice of delivering barcode through MMS is still however not popular in Malaysia.

This method of payment us now beginning to be taken over by bother mobile payment systems such as mobile web payments (WAP) and Direct Mobile Billing for several reasons:

1. Poor reliability - Transactional payments can easily fail as messages get lost
2. Slow speed - Sending messages can be slow and it can take hours for a merchant to get receipt of payment. Consumers do not want to be kept waiting more than a few seconds.
3. High cost - There are many high costs associated with this method of payment. The cost of setting up shortcodes and paying for the delivery of media via MMS and the resulting customer support costs to account for the number of messages that get lost or are delayed.
4. Low payout rates - Operators also see high costs in running and supporting transactional payments which results in payout rates to the merchant being as low as 30%.
5. Low follow-on sales - Once the payment message has been sent and the goods received there is little else the consumer can do. It is difficult for them to remember where something was purchased or how to buy it again. This also makes it difficult to tell a friend.

b. Direct Mobile Billing

Consumers use this system during checkout at an e-commerce site, such as an online gaming site to make a payment. Consumers?mobile accounts are charged for the purchases after the PIN and One-Time-Password is authenticated. This is a an alternative payment method that bypasses banks and credit card companies all together, as it does not require any use of credit or debit cards or pre-registration at any online payment solution.

This method is very popular in Asia, as it provides the following benefits:

1. Security - Two-factor authentication and risk management engine prevents fraud.
2. Convenience - No pre-registration and no new mobile software is required.
3. Easy - It's just another option during a checkout process.
4. Fast - Most transactions are completed in less than 10 seconds.
5. Proven - 70% of all digital content purchased online in some parts of Asia uses Direct Mobile Billing method.
   

c. Mobile Web Payments

WAP is where consumers download and install web pages or additional applications onto their mobile phones to make payments. Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) is used as the underlying technology.

These are amone the benefits of mobile web payments:

1. Follow-on sales where the mobile web payment can lead back to a store or to other goods the consumer may like. These pages have a URL and can be bookmarked making it easy to re-visit or share with friends.
2. High customer satisfaction from quick and predictable payments
3. Ease of use from a familiar set of online payment pages Consumers in Malaysia are coping with these changes well, with the help of the followings:

• Low transaction and maintenance costs.
  
• Low start-up or sign up feess.
  
• No minimum monthly transactions, No Rental Fees.
  
• No merchants account required.
  
• Transactions can be done to anyone, anywhere & anytime.
  
• Flexible methods to Request for Payment: Fixed Line IVR, SMS, WebLink, Mobile Money website.
• Good audit trail and secure ticketing

Reference links:

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_Payment
   
2. www.neowave.com.my/0doc/MobileMoneyPaymentSystem.pdf
   
3. http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/communications/0,39044192,39001884,00.htm