Individual Coursework details

The first piece of coursework requires that you do the following:

1. Evaluate the customer journey of any two similar retail e-businesses (UK or Global)
2. Compare and contrast the features and processes of your chosen retail e-business websites that make each less or more effective, and
3. Propose a new e-business that would sell at least one product or service and would incorporate the best features identified in the two retail e-businesses. The new e-business needs to offer an attractive product proposition that customers need today.

Any customer journey model(s) may be used provided the online search, discovery, presentation, cart, checkout, and post-purchase phases are all considered.

A) THE REPORT – WHAT YOU ARE BEING ASKED TO SUBMIT

You are required to submit a written report of 2000 words (+/- 10% - not including reference list etc) where you are expected to compare and evaluate the customer journeys* through two different e-commerce businesses of your** choice.

* Customer journey models are discussed in the lectures and tutorials. You may choose any model you wish provided you cover as a minimum online search(es) and navigation, evaluation of what to buy, and the purchase and post-purchase stages-(including engagement and retention). You should consider customer engagement within and outside the website, calls to action, touch-points and any other relevant e-commerce concepts.
** Any 2 businesses that sell online direct to the customer (B2C) are acceptable. Online marketplaces, auction sites, B2B and similar enterprises are not suitable for this assignment. Ideally, the two businesses will be in the same retail sector.
*** Both B2C and B2B are acceptable for the new proposed e-business.

You are encouraged to refer to the document “CASE Guide to Report Writing”.

You might use the headings shown in this briefing or you may use your own headings; what is important is that you clearly cover all areas outlined below in a way that can be marked. You are also encouraged to be as creative as you like in using visuals, graphs, and charts to present your arguments. This would make your report stand out, look professional and be more enjoyable for the reader.

Your report structure and the marking scheme is provided below:

SECTION 1

REPORT PRESENTATION AND STRUCTURE

TITLE/COVER PAGE: This should include the following: your ID, course details, Module Title, Module Code, The Module leader’s name, deadline date, and word count. This is an anonymous assignment and thus should not include your name.

CONTENTS PAGE: This should contain page numbers and you should include these in a clear contents page (i.e. the structure of the report needs to look professional)

INTRODUCTION - Provide a brief paragraph outlining the following:

1. What your assignment will cover and what customer journey model(s) will be examined?
2. How you decided which 2 organisations to cover, and
3. What is the new e-business that has been introduced as a result of your research? (nb as normal, the report should be written in academic language including being voiced in the third person). (10 marks available).

SECTION 2

MAIN FINDINGS
You should present the effectiveness of the features and processes of the two e-businesses within each of the phases of the customers’ journeys through the e-business. These findings should offer a thorough investigation of activities both inside and outside of the two e-commerce websites which must be supported by theoretical models of customer shopping journeys, e-commerce models and theories, and examples of best and less effective practices in e-commerce (20 marks available).

ANALYSIS
Your analysis and conclusions must include clear and well-defined summaries that are supported with discussions and justifications comparing and contrasting the customer journeys through your chosen companies. This analysis should offer a thorough investigation and evaluation of activities both inside and outside of e-commerce websites which must be supported by theoretical models on customer shopping journeys. (30 marks available).

PROPOSAL
Your proposal for the new e-business, its product or service, and its unique features must be an attractive proposition that customers need today. (20 marks available).

THE USE OF CREDIBLE SOURCES
You are expected to use credible and up-to-date reference sources for the e-commerce industry. The references must provide evidence of commercial e-commerce practices and provide a theoretical underpinning for your analysis and discussions. (15 marks available).

SECTION 3

REFERENCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY
You must reference all sources (text and graphical) using the CASE Harvard Referencing Guide. You should aim for a minimum of ten credible academic reference sources, but we would expect more. (5 marks available).

**No appendices to be submitted.

IMPORTANT note on PLAGIARISM: You must provide an original piece of work and avoid using third-party content without references. If you do then your case will be sent to our Academic Misconduct Team. If your similarity report for plagiarism on your work is yellow or red (meaning too high and in most cases above 15%) then in addition to sending your case to our Academic Misncodunt Team, we will be adjusting your marks to reflect your copied content.

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS:

1.     You will be required to submit a copy of your full assignment to the correct assignment tab on the Module site. You must submit this as a PDF file only! You must name your document as follows:

The filename must be in the form: Student_ID_GEB.pdf, e.g. "1235412_GEB.pdf. The word count is 2000, +/-10%. No hardcopy is required.

Failure to follow the above instructions may result in a penalty of up to 5% from your report mark.

2.     Standard Business School penalties for late submissions will apply. Late assignments will be capped at a simple pass. Submissions over seven days late will not be marked.    

3.     If you exceed the word count then you may be penalised.  

4.     If you require an extension to this assignment deadline, you must apply to the Module Leader, Hajrë Hyseni, via email at least one week before the assignment is due for submission. You must provide a valid reason for requesting an extension and be prepared to submit evidence if required to support your request. You should not assume that you have been granted an extension unless you receive an email from Hajre confirming that this is the case and advising you of a revised submission date. If an extension is granted, given the anonymous nature of the submission, you must note this in the submission comments along with the date and time of Hajre’s email. All the penalties listed above are still applicable to any revised submission date.

Marking Scheme