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UNIVERSITY OF VISION STRATEGY OPPORTUNITY WESTMINSTER WESTMINSTER BUSINESS SCHOOL SCHOOL OF APPLIED MANAGEMENT Module Title: Web-enabled Business Module Code: 5BDIN003W Assessment title: Website Evaluation Individual Report Assessment weighting: 25% Assessment deadline: 28th February 2024 Semester 2, 2023/2024 Assessment Brief The Assessment This is an individual assignment; therefore, you should not share ideas or material with others, while completing this work. Please note that this is an individual report and not an academic essay. It should be 1000 words in length. The word count excludes the title page, table of contents and reference list. Task The title of this Assignment is: This assessment consists of two elements: An Investigation into the E-Commerce Website of an S&P 500 Company All S&P 500 companies as at January 2023 are shown on pages 10-30 of this document 1. A 1000 word written report. 2. A customer journey map i.e., a visual representation of the customer's online journey. Element 1: A 1000 word written report Your task is to choose one company from the most recent list of the S&P 500 Companies and to produce a 1000 word written report which appraises the company's approach to e-commerce, taking into consideration the following: ● ● Analysis of the online marketplace. You should introduce and discuss: (1) the industry in which your company operates, (2) the scale of its operation, either in the US, UK or globally, and (3) its main online competitors. Identification of the company's online customers and appraisal of the website. You should research who is the typical customer of the business online (demography). In addition, you should identify and discuss whether the design and usability of the company's e-commerce website meets the needs of the envisaged user demographic. You should take into account and comment on: (1) website accessibility, including fonts employed, colour schemes and its accessibility on different types of devices, (2) trust and credibility, including availability of contact information, real user reviews and transparency of product pricing, and (3) website navigation, including navigational links, search functionality and ease of use. ● Customers' needs on the company's website. You should investigate how different features and technologies on the website can satisfy customers' needs. In addition, using the relevant theory, you should categorise these needs into the groups of threshold, performance and excitement needs. Page | 2 ● The product and/or services offered by the company. You should identify and discuss the products and/or services offered by the company on its e-commerce website and whether these have been sufficiently well-described (in textual form) and presented (in images and/or videos) to allow the customer to make an informed decision on whether to purchase. Your report should reference at least five published sources of information and be written in the third person. Wikipedia is not to be included as a reference source and over-reliance on web-based articles is not considered appropriate for this assignment. Element 2: A Customer Journey Map Your task is to produce a Customer Journey Map (CJM) for a typical customer who uses the e- commerce website of your chosen S&P 500 company. Your CJM should visually represent the various phases that a customer passes through from the point of initially accessing the e- commerce website (i.e., starting from the website homepage) to completion of the purchase of a product and/or service (i.e., finishing on the Order Confirmation page). Your CJM should use a standard modelling technique to show clearly the chronological phases, pages and actions that a customer must take in order to complete the purchase of their chosen product and/or service. To complete your CJM, you should read Chapter 10 of James Kalbach's book entitled "Mapping Experiences: A Guide to Creating Value through Journeys, Blueprints, and Diagrams" for further guidance. Please see the Module Handbook for a full reference relating to this publication. Your CJM should be visually presented on one page only. Report Structure Title page This should include the title of the assessment, the name of the module and the Word Count of the report. Introduction 100 - 150 words, explaining what the report covers and an introduction to your chosen company. A useful approach is to provide a sentence about the aim of the report, a short paragraph introducing the chosen company and then a short explanation of what is contained in the report so that readers know what is coming. Findings This section should contain the findings of your investigation. Only present results which are informative and relevant to the focus of your report. Use sub-headings where necessary to Page | 3 identify the approach used by your S&P 500 company to its e-commerce website. Present findings in a clear manner, using figures and tables where necessary. Customer Journey Map On the final page of your report, you should include your Customer Journey Map. It is not necessary to discuss or describe your CJM in your report. • Reference List References should be included for all source material you use in this report. The reference list should be included at the end of the report in a single integrated list; it must follow the Westminster Harvard Referencing Style. Please see the Assessment folder on Blackboard for the University of Westminster Guide to Harvard Referencing. Students will be rewarded for their efforts to follow a clear consistent style and for correctly giving full references. Students will also be rewarded for the quality of their references. Peer- reviewed academic sources will be considered favourably. Please refer to the module handbook for examples. English style and grammar points Before submitting your report, please make sure that grammar and spelling has been checked and that the report has been proof-read. Keep findings separate, at the very least by using a new paragraph for each point. Report Format The presentation of your report is part of your grade and helps markers to gain a good understanding of your work. You should write in clear, concise and correct Academic English. The report should be single-spaced, 12-point text and using standard margins. Arial font is preferred. Assessment criteria The assessment criteria and weightings show you what is important in the assessment and how marks are shared across each criterion. When you are completing your assessment remember you need to fulfil the brief and the assessment criteria below. At the end of this document, we have provided you a more detailed marking grid, which describes both the expectation for each criterion and how marks would be awarded based upon performance. Criterion Analysis of the online marketplace Identification of the company's typical online customers Customers' needs on the company's website The product and/or services offered by the company Weighting 20% 20% 15% 10% Customer map (Identification of customer journey phases and key actions 25% taken by customers to complete purchase) Referencing and layout (including use of Academic English): 10% Page | 4 The University has arrangements for marking, internal moderation and external scrutiny. Further information can be found in Section 12 of the Handbook of Academic Regulations, westminster.ac.uk/study/current-students/resources/academic-regulations Anonymous marking Do NOT include your name or student number within the file name or anywhere within your submission. The submission will be subject to anonymous marking. Having logged into blackboard the system will record your details anonymously and tutors will only see your name after the entire submission has been assessed and provisional marks have been released to all students at the same time. Referencing requirements for the assessment Statements, assertions and ideas made in coursework should be supported by citing relevant sources. Sources cited in the text should be listed at the end of the assignment in a reference list. Any material that you read but do not cite in the report should go into a separate bibliography. Unless explicitly stated otherwise by the module teaching team, all referencing should be in Westminster Harvard format. If you are not sure about this, the library provides guidance (available via the library website pages). Page | 5