Zappos, an Electronic Commerce Information System

Abstract As times evolve, so do the tools businesses use to keep up with the competition. One tool widely used is an information system. Such a system allows businesses to input process and store information. Zappos. com is one of the many businesses that use an information system. The system that Zappos. com uses is an electronic commerce information system. This system allows Zappos. com to provide great customer service, which is the company's mission. Many employees are needed to run the different components of the electronic commerce information system, some employees are new and others are seasoned workers. There are managers that train and oversee the production and service provided by employees. The electronic commerce information system has many components. Some workers are in charge of inputting and creating the graphics that appear on the Zappos. com webpage. Other customers are in charge of processing payments and shipping information. A customer must have access to the internet and one of the Zappos. com approved methods of payment to make a purchase. The use of an electronic commerce information system has enabled Zappos. com to be efficient and save money. Unfortunately, should such an information system crash, the website would be unable to run. Although the webpage is very user friendly, there are some improvements that would make it better, such as pictures, advanced search options, and experienced customer service. Zappos. com, an Electronic Commerce Information System With the development of new technology, people have changed the way they do things. From ordering movies and food, to shopping for merchandise, more and more customers are resorting to the internet to satisfy their needs. In order to succeed, companies must keep up with growing trends. Online shopping is one of the fastest growing trends nationwide. In order to provide this feature, companies must have the necessary system in place to provide accurate information such as prices, quantities, and shipping information. One tool many companies use is an information system. Rainer (2009) defines an information system as â€Å"the planning, development, management and use of information technology tools to help people perform all tasks related to information processing and management† (glossary). Zappos. com is an online store that is used my thousands of customer nationwide. Zappos. com offers anything from clothing to shoes for the entire family. There are many features that make Zappos. com an excellent place to shop. One of these features is that customers are given 365 days to return items, as opposed to 30 or 90 days allotted by other online stores. The second feature is that shipping is free both ways. There are many components that make up the electronic commerce information system employed by Zappos. com. Some components allow customers to view the merchandise in stock, while other components store transaction histories. All of these components work together to provide customers with a hassle-free easy internet shopping experience. In addition, components from the online platform also communicate with different operational components. Zappos. com uses this system for many of its operational tasks such as processing payments and keeping up with growing customer trends. Overview and Structure of the Organization Mission: The mission of Zappos. com is to provide the best customer service possible to its customers. There are many internet stores available online. In order to fulfill its mission and stand out above the rest, Zappos. om must provide popular merchandise as well as process transactions fast, accurately, and efficiently. Foundation: The first step in running a successful online organization is to properly train employees. Zappos. com starts by training employee's the core values and organizational culture established by the company. Once the basics have been established, employees are trained to perform different duties. Managers help train and guide new and seasoned Behind the Scenes: To make Zappos. com a successful online business, a special department is in charge of finding merchandise that is in high demand. Once the merchandise has been selected, another department is in charge of taking pictures and preparing information that the customers can see and read when they access the Zappos. com website. After a customer picks out merchandise, a department oversees the processing of the payment and the shipping of the merchandise to the customer. Should there be any issues or concerns, a customer service department is available to assist customers. Inputs, Outputs, and Organizational Usage Webpage Zappos. com is divided up into different sections. Employees enter information such as sizing charts, or lists of brands. Other sections include house wares, beauty, and handbags. Employees are in charge of developing and maintaining these different sections. Merchandise An information system calculates and predicts growing trends. Reports are analyzed to determine the merchandise that will be purchased. Once merchandise is purchased, pictures and descriptions of items are entered into a system to be displayed online. The quantity of merchandise is also imputed to provide accurate information of available merchandise. Transactions Customers view different merchandise online. Once they decide to purchase an item, they must input various information. The first step is usually to indicate the quantity and size of the merchandise. Second, customers enter or create their login information. Third, customers input their address and contact information. Finally, payment information is entered so that customers can get a confirmation that their transaction is being processed and when their merchandise will be shipped. Impact of the Information System on the Organization Efficiency An electronic commerce information system allows Zappos. com to be more efficient. Information that is inputted into the system such as prices or details on merchandize can be viewed by employees in different states. In regards to training, material can be inputed into the information system so that employees can study and review it during their down time or on time allotted for training. Cost Effective An electronic commerce information system allows Zappos. com to be an online store. This saves the company money that would have been spent covering overhead charges as an actual physical store. Rather than having merchandise in one location, Zappos. com is able to offer a variety of merchandize to customers nationwide with the use of an information system. Downfall One negative aspect is that Zappos. com is an online store. Should the electronic commerce information system crash, the website would be shut down. This in return would upset customers that are loyal shoppers. In addition, money would be lost because there is not a physical location where people could go to in order to complete their transactions. Contingency Zappos. om has two locations, one in Las Vegas, and another location in Kentucky. This has allowed Zappos. com to function operations from one location to the other should one system be down. This ensures that while little issues may occur with the site, major issues have never prevented the site from working. Hardware and Software Back Operation Zappos. com must have all the necessary hardware to successfully run an online business. Examples of such hardwa re include cameras to take pictures of merchandise and computers to upload the information to the webpage. Many customers do not feel safe entering their bank information online. As a result, telephones are important so that representatives can assist customers that choose to call. Webpage The webpage designers at Zappos. com would need different hardware as well. Many designers use notepads to organize the content. Graphics programs are also necessary to add slides and transitions to the webpage. Photoshop software also enables designers to tweak pictures so that they appear as professional as possible. Customers To begin with, customers must have access to the internet in order to shop t Zappos. com. Some customers like to use their laptops, desktops, or cell phones to access the site. Many people use internet explorer, while others use Mozilla Firefox. To prevent viruses or other cyber attacks, many customers have some type of internet security software. Recommended Improvements Shoes The Zappos. com website features many shoes and customers can look at multiple views. Unfortunately, t here are not any pictures that show how the shoe would look on an actual person. One improvement the system could use would be to show a picture of a model wearing the shoe. For this improvement, a picture would be taken of a model wearing a shoe. The picture would then be uploaded into the information system so that it is available to be viewed by customers nationwide. Customer Service Zappos. com has a wonderful option to chat live with representatives online. Unfortunately, the service can sometimes be slow because agents have to take time to research the problem. There are so many products offered that sometimes the wait can be long. To fix this issue, agents can be trained to be experts of different areas. This would allow the agents to know their products better so that customer wait time is minimal. For this improvement, agents would have to be better trained in specific departments. In addition, the online chat would have to be set up to allow customers to click on the department that can best assist him or her. Advanced Search Zappos. com offers many products. When trying to narrow down search results, customers have to check different specification. It would be time efficient, to have an advanced search where a customer can enter all the specification of the produce he or should would like to see. To do this, Zappos. com would have to have an advanced search field that would allow customers to choose between different specifications. Conclusion Gone are the days when data had to be inputted, processed, and stored manually. Information systems have revolutionized the way businesses function. Zappos. com is an online store that uses and electronic commerce system to function successfully. Recap major points throughout essay. References Rainer, R. K. , Jr. , & Turban, E. (2009). Introduction to information systems: Supporting and transforming business (3rd ed. ). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.