How Can the Web Give a Company a Competitive Advantage?

How has the rise of the World Wide Web changed business practices? What are the benefits and drawbacks for business? For consumers?

Web technologies are one of the last components to an IT system. It connects the company to the World Wide Web. A company may utilize it to service clients where they use the interface or it could be used by the company to input client information. Web technology can be used as a way of staying connected with multiple people at once. Web technology also can help a company save, transfer, and download information that has been saved into a cloud.

Food orders can also be placed through a website instead of being put on hold and waiting. It helps more then just business owners as well. Websites also allow people to take virtual tours of potential houses they may want to buy, venues to rent, hotels, anywhere a person may be interested without having to leave the comfort of their living room. What better way of showing off your work then a website. For example, barbers can posts pictures of their hair styling and allow people to review them. A website can become a very powerful tool.

The web brings people together with common interests and helps unite people as a whole.

A lot of interactive multimedia content is now delivered through the Internet. For example ‘Subway’ can use a PowerPoint presentation about their good quality ready-made food and send it to subscribed customers on email which will update their knowledge about ‘Subway’ new products and add to that guide them with the right food if the customer has allergies etc. This can be an external source because other business can use ‘Subway’ information about their products and improve on it which could make ‘Subway’ lose its customers because of their rival organisations excellent market research. An advantage on web based is that it helps the business to store information on their website. Customers get to know more about the business when they visit a business website. Web based information shows them the price of an item online and where to search for items, however frequent system breakdown can be a disadvantage to web based information because when it happens, customers or the business cannot access their website which can lead to decrease in sales.

People are using the websites to order their desired products so information systems is very important. Without it, our business would not be able to run smoothly or

Customer service is the most important factor in every business. With an online service the supplier could provide an improved customer service. As the customer enters the website they could be greeted by a pop-up chat window. Many websites now provide an online chat, where the customers could chat with a customer care executive and clarify all the doubts about the products or any other details. Even the customer could contact the customer service executive through phone which is a 24x7 service. Making customers happy is the important factor for improving the business and to gain benefits. All these customer services could not be provided if the Internet is not being utilized.

One of the most commonly asked questions is, "Will the Net help me sell more product?" The answer is yes, but in ways you might not expect. The Internet is a communication "tool" first, not and advertisement medium. Unlike print or broadcasting media, the Internet is interactive; and unlike the telephone, it is both visual and content rich. A Web site is an excellent way to reduce costs, improve customer service, disseminate information and even sell to your market.

The internet offers the potential to achieve a global market success for any business. Businesses that go online increase their opportunities to reach their target market and is cost effective when compared with other forms of marketing. It creates opportunities, benefits and challenges for a business but in the long run is worth it for the added publicity and hopefully profits. Going online has benefited many organisations including Tesco PLC. I will be using Tesco as my example of the benefits, opportunities and challenges for a business by using the internet. Tesco has operated on the Internet since 1994 and started an online shopping service named 'Tesco Direct' in 1997 which

1. What is competitive advantage, and how does it relate to a company’s business model?

The IM feature is very beneficial because employees can simultaneously review a document or spreadsheet and communicate/provide input to one another via online IM, instead of over speakerphone - which can be very distracting for employees operating in a cube-farm type environment (common-practice within the industry).

In today’s world of business, everything is computerized and most of the companies use the Internet and information business to help keep their quality, save time and also cost. It also can reach out to more customers worldwide. For an example, with a website in the internet, it would relay the message to millions of viewers worldwide regarding the product and service that the particular company can provide and indirectly saves cost in advertising in television and print advertisments.

Now don't get me wrong. All of these are great tools and can be incredibly powerful when it comes to gaining exposure. The web can be viewed in many ways as a great 'equaliser' thanks to techniques like these which allow smaller new businesses to compete with much larger and more established companies that have

Business has thived on the internet, internet business are able to reach a wider market [2]"Through the internet, a business of any size can compete in the global marketplace. In fact, on the internet, the size of an organization's operation makes little difference because the internet is an open environment. " because anyone has access to the internet businesses can reach anyone also giving the customer a wider choice of products.

Many businesses are currently using various online platforms to promote and marketing their products. With the advancement of technology and increased access of the internet by people, the business have taken the opportunity to reach their potential customers through the internet. There are various advantages that accrue to a business entity that uses internet as a marketing tool. The internet marketing has tremendously increased and the businesses that have not embraced internet marketing are missing out on great opportunity (Schibrowsky, Peltier & Nill, 2007). The importance of using internet as a marketing tool is as explained below;