Evaluating the Customer Journeys of Two Similar E-retail Businesses

Report Presentation And Structure

The first piece of coursework requires that students evaluate the customer journeys of two similar retail e businesses, comparing and contrasting the features and processes of the two e-commerce websites that make each less or more effective and making specific recommendations for improving the website of each business. 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 1500 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.

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. 

Your report structure and the marking scheme is provided below.

Section 1- Report Presentation And Structure

Title Page PGE: This should include the following: your ID, course details, Module Title, Module Code, The Module leader’s name, deadline date and word count. It 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)

Introducation - Provide a brief paragraph outlining what your assignment will cover and what customer journey model(s) will be examined,  and how you decided which 2 organisations to cover (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, Analysis And Conclusions

You should investigate, analyse and evaluate 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 analyses 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 best and less effective practice in e-commerce  (30 marks). 
 
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 theoretical models on customer shopping journeys. (40 marks available).

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 Harvard Referencing Guide. You should aim for a minimum of ten credible academic reference sources, but we would expect more
(5 marks available).