Littlepay: A Next Generation Online Payment System, Essay.

1.Provide a succinct description of the business, the industry in which it operates, the market(s) it serves, and the products and services it provides 
2.Describe the business model canvas of the selected business using the nine building blocks 
3.Explain the key relationships that exist across the nine building block
4.Identify and discuss the critical success factors the business has to get right to achieve sustainable success
5.Evaluate what will contribute to downside risk.
6.Discuss the changes you would make to the business model if this was your business.
 

The rise of small payment systems

The current business scenario is witnessing the boom in the market of payment system. Cash transactions are becoming obsolete and other modes of payment options are taking that place. One of the most promising and probable payment options in the recent time is the small payment system. This system is becoming popular in order to fill the gap between the cash transactions and complex online payment options (Costanza et al., 2014). In addition, it is difficult for the small business institutions to invest in having online payment system. This gap is letting some new and innovative companies to initiate effective offerings such as little pay system.

Little pay ecosystem is the new generation concept of online payments between the seller and buyers. This refers to the similar concept of online payment system but in smaller scale. Thus, the investment behind it is also low (Zhou, 2013). Littlepay is one of the major startup organizations based in Australia, who offers products and services in the little payments ecosystem. This report will critically evaluate the business operation of Littlepay along with determining their business model and positive and negative factors.

Littlepay was founded in 2015 in Australia. Their key objective is to develop micropayment services for the business institutions. They caters to business customers including transport authorities, service organizations and other operating firms in having a safe and secure cloud based payment solution. They support multi operator account based payments. As per the information, Littlepay is financially backed by a global investment company in their business operation (Stockwell, 2018). Their product portfolio includes end to end payment technology with acquiring and issuing services for both the customers and merchants. Another product of them is the acquiring platform, which helps in accepting payments from different channels and tracking the data insights at once. It also acts as analytical tools for the merchants.

They also offer products for the customers such as customer platform. This helps the customers to have one stop solutions to all their payment and transactions related queries. With the help of this portal, customers will be able to manage their accounts and view their transactions in safe and secure process. Currently, they are having their operations only in Australia and are planning to enter in the market of New Zealand.

Key relationships among the building blocks

• Customer segments should be effectively identified and determined due to the reason that effective identification of the customer segments will helps in determining the market trend and requirements (Hamka et al., 2014).
• According to the market requirement and market trend, value proposition should be designed to create maximum value for the customers over their rivals.
• Customer channels should be initiated by Littlepay in order to have maximum reach in the market (Bilgicer et al., 2015). Both online and offline mediums should be used to have maximum effectiveness.
• Customer channels should be effectively initiated in order to have positive customer relationship. It will help in creating positive impression in the market.
• Revenue will further be enhanced if the brand value in the market is positive.
• The resources of the organization should be determined to match with the market requirements. In accordance to the requirements, resources should be allocated.
• Key activities should be implemented according to the resources available. Objective will be to provide maximum value from the available resources.
• Partners should be identified in accordance to the market requirements and in accordance to the maximization of the value for the customers.
• Cost structure should be designed according to the above elements. Cost should be finalized according to the above elements and the final price to be determined. 

Identification of the critical success factors 

In the business operation of Littelpay, there are some critical success factors identified. These factors should be initiated in order to enhance the effectiveness and competitiveness in the market. Some of these critical success factors are:

• Littlepay should have innovative approach of marketing activities such as providing free trial to the potential customers (Alias et al., 2014). There are various business customers who are aware about Littlepay but skeptical about its usage. These customers should be given free trail in order to have practical impact on their purchase decision.
• Littlepay can come up with the facility of virtual debit and credit card payment system. This will enable the customers to use their cards from their mobile without having the use to carry them. Initiation of this facility will create more value for the customers.
• They can have partnership with leading retailers and other companies who are selling end products to the customers. Littlepay should position themselves as an alternative mode of payment in these retail stores. This will enhance the usage of the apps among the customers.

Littlepay: An introduction

Evaluation of the downside risks

There are various risks also being identified from the business operation of Littlepay. These downside risks will have negative impact on the business effectiveness of them. Some of the identified risks are:

• Littlepay is currently not having certification from the leading banks. This is a security concerns for the merchants and customers. Thus, they should partner with leading banks in co-creating the services (Martins, Oliveira & Popovic, 2014). This will enhance the brand value and authenticity of their products in the market.
• Littlepay is not having presence outside Australia. This is restricting their business potentiality in the global market. Moreover, customers willing to transact to or from outside of Australia are not getting to access. This is also increasing the business risk in particular one region. Thus, Littlepay should initiate their activities outside of Australia and initiate their marketing strategies in the host market also.

Recommended changes

It is recommended that Littleplay should have strategic alliances with leading IT companies in order to gain further insights regarding the development of the payment technologies (Brouthers, Nakos & Dimitratos, 2015). With the alliances with the IT companies, it will be more easy and effective for Littleplay to come up with more efficient and updated payment mechanism.

Another recommended change is the initiation of the market research. According to me, initiation of the market research will help in identifying the current challenges faced by the customers in their payment process. In addition, the expectation of the customers can also be identified from the market research. In accordance to these, steps can be taken to introduce products, which will meet all the identified requirements of the customers.

Conclusion 

Thus, it can be concluded that the current business model of Littlepay is having various positive and negative factors. This report critically evaluated these factors of business model of Littlepay. A few critical success factors are identified in this report, which will help them in gaining competitive advantages in the market. On the other hand, the issues or risks identified in this report should be effectively overcome in order to have sustainability in the business process. There are some changes being recommended and it is expected that these changes will further help in enhancing the business operation of Littlepay. 

References

Alias, Z., Zawawi, E. M. A., Yusof, K., & Aris, N. M. (2014). Determining critical success factors of project management practice: A conceptual framework. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 153, 61-69.

Bilgicer, T., Jedidi, K., Lehmann, D. R., & Neslin, S. A. (2015). Social contagion and customer adoption of new sales channels. Journal of Retailing, 91(2), 254-271.

Brouthers, K. D., Nakos, G., & Dimitratos, P. (2015). SME entrepreneurial orientation, international performance, and the moderating role of strategic alliances. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 39(5), 1161-1187.

Costanza, R., de Groot, R., Sutton, P., Van der Ploeg, S., Anderson, S. J., Kubiszewski, I., ... & Turner, R. K. (2014). Changes in the global value of ecosystem services. Global environmental change, 26, 152-158.

Hamka, F., Bouwman, H., De Reuver, M., & Kroesen, M. (2014). Mobile customer segmentation based on smartphone measurement. Telematics and Informatics, 31(2), 220-227.

Joyce, A., & Paquin, R. L. (2016). The triple layered business model canvas: A tool to design more sustainable business models. Journal of Cleaner Production, 135, 1474-1486.

Martins, C., Oliveira, T., & Popovi?, A. (2014). Understanding the Internet banking adoption: A unified theory of acceptance and use of technology and perceived risk application. International Journal of Information Management, 34(1), 1-13.

Stockwell, P. (2018). littlepay.com. Littlepay.com. Retrieved 28 March 2018, from https://littlepay.com/products.html

Wilusz, D., & Rykowski, J. (2013, April). The architecture of coupon-based, semi-off-line, anonymous micropayment system for internet of things. In Doctoral Conference on Computing, Electrical and Industrial Systems (pp. 125-132). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.

Zhou, T. (2013). An empirical examination of continuance intention of mobile payment services. Decision Support Systems, 54(2), 1085-1091