MK Blinds: Developing An E-business Website And Mobile Application

Business Needs Identification

MK Blinds deals in customization of window blinds as well as shades and serves in Washington. The company sells and at the same time installs different varieties of blinds and shades to architects, property managers, homeowners, general contractors and designers in different regions of the United Kingdom (Blinds 2022). However, MK Blinds only operates through phones and in-person booking. Therefore, the company is aiming at the development of its operations on online platforms for the purpose of initiating online marketing as well as sales for their e-business by the development of the mobile application and website of MK Blinds.

Therefore, in this report, the different business requirements for the e-business website and application of MK Blinds will be identified, and relevant solutions for meeting all the requirements shall be provided. Market research shall be further conducted for all the business needs that have been identified for MK Blinds.

The report will further provide relevant recommendations in alignment with the business needs of the selected company for e-business. A relevant conclusion shall also be provided for concluding the report.

 The main aim of MK Blinds is to initiate its operations to e-business by the development of the website and mobile application. As a result of the same, the selected firm is aiming at the development of online marketing and sales platforms for e-business. Therefore, the primary business needs that have been identified for MK Blinds is the development of the website and mobile application of the firm.

In order to meet the business needs, the following requirements have been identified for MK Blinds,

• Completely Optimized Website: For developing online sales and marketing of the products, it is essential for MK Blinds to undertake the development of a fully optimized website. The website must be developed in such a manner that its features are easy to navigate and the texts are readable (Zebari et al. 2019). Furthermore, the website must display the images of products sold by MK Blinds in a clear manner, the cart must be easy to load, the checkout process must be simple, the same must be compatible in different devices, and the loading time of the website and its several pages must be fast.
• Mobile Application: The firm further has the primary requirement for the development of the mobile application for the purpose of initiating the acceptance of orders and sales through online platforms. The mobile application must also be user-friendly, and all its features must be easy to understand (Aktymbayeva et al. 2018). Proper navigation instructions must be available in the application for assisting the users.
• The facility of Signup, Sign in and Payment: At the time of developing online platforms, it must be ensured that friction is reduced as much as possible. Thus, length registration forms must be avoided, and the website must gain the name of the customer along with their email address and information associated with payment (Alazab, Bevinakoppa and Khraisat 2018). Furthermore, the purchase of customers can be done in an efficient manner by integrating the options of Google and Facebook for signing in. The facility of different payment applications must be further integrated into the website and application for making it easy for the customers to make payments of the products purchased through online mode.
• Email marketing: MK Blinds are aiming at online marketing, and as a result of the same, email campaigns must be undertaken for reaching out to their customers for all kinds of upcoming offers, sales as well as the launch of new products and designs. Therefore, an email marketing strategy is required to be developed for reminding the customers about the existence of the firm.
• Return Policy: A well-defined policy must be initiated for the returns of the products purchased through online platforms. By seeking this initiative, the time of the firm shall be saved, and future issues will not take place in terms of the return of products (Sihare 2018). This will assist the customers in having a positive image of the company, and they will be further clear about the return policy of the selected company.
• Customer Reviews: The website and application of the company must indicate the reviews that have been received from other customers for gaining more customers as well as the trust and loyalty of the existing ones (Shoukry, Khader and Gani 2021). The new customers are often attracted by the reviews that are displayed on the online platforms.
• Customer Support: All the online platforms of the MK Blinds must ensure that reliable customer support is provided to the customers. The unsatisfied customers can be handled with customer support, and this is considered a great initiative to prevent the loss of customers. The website must be easy to contact for the customers in case of any issues faced by them in relation to the website, order history and transaction issues. Integrating the facility of live chat is considered as one of the major initiatives because it assists the customers by helping them resolve their issues without leaving the application or the site (Labus et al. 2020). The phone support that is provided to the customers must be either on the basis of 24/7 or a fixed customer support hour must be set, and the same should be reflected on the site with the relevant phone number.
• Consistency: This is regarded as one of the essential requirements for any business because it is essential for the business to test all the aspects and ensure that all the mentioned key areas are integrated for the online platforms (Tingbin and Jiacong 2018). This can help the selected firm in meeting all the requirements of e-business without missing any of the critical aspects, which can cause loss.

In addition to the above-mentioned business needs, there are some of the functional requirements that must be met by the selected company at the time of developing and expanding its business on online platforms. The functional requirements are as follows:

• Third-Party Integration: The appropriate third-party integration that shall be required for the online platforms of MK Blinds must be identified, and the same must have the primary focus on streamlining the operations of the business. The business operations must be mainly focused upon the inclusion of customer-relationship management, enterprise resource planning as well a flexible system of payments for the customers through the website and application (Kopczy?ska, Ochodek and Nawrocki 2020). Therefore, with the help of third-party integration, the website will be developed in a structured manner, and the business will get ready for scaling up in the future.
• Mobile Responsive: The major part of the customers make use of mobile for the purpose of undertaking their operations (Paradkar 2021). Therefore, it is essential that the website of MK Blinds is mobile responsive so that the customers can browse through the same in an easy manner. Although the mobile application will be developed for the firm, few of the customers avoid installation of applications due to storage issues, and therefore, with the help of the mobile-friendly website, the customers will be able to utilize it for buying products.
• Product Detail Page (PDP): The PDP is an essential function required for the website and application of the MK Blinds because the product page will include all types of products sold by the company along with their characteristics. Therefore, all the attributes related to the product shall be included in the website and application, such as the color, size, types, videos, images and price (Nag 2019).
• Social Sharing: This is another crucial function requirement because the presence of the website and company details on social media platforms will help the business in scaling up (Kharmoum et al. 2019). Providing the facility of sharing the website on the social media platforms by the users will be essential for increasing awareness of the products and company brand.

The identified business requirements for MK Blinds were the development of the website and the mobile application. The market research has helped in outlining the following results,

• Targeted Audience: The targeted audience of MK Blinds are mainly the architects, property managers, homeowners, general contractors and designers. The marketing strategy mainly aims at the evaluation of information associated with the targeted audience of the firm (Leshob, Hadaya and Renard 2019). Therefore, the need for online marketing of MK Blinds took place because of the increase in the development of the residential building as well as firms, which further attracted the requirements for blinds and shades provided by the selected company.
• Customer Behaviors: Learning about the behavior of the customer is regarded as another essential aspect of market research. The customers are in demand of modernized and luxurious look for their homes. Therefore, the modern look blinds produced by MK Blinds, along with dirt, water resistance, reliable and highly durable blinds that are produced by the firm, meet the requirements of the customers (Saura, Palos-Sanchez and Correia 2019). In addition to this, the firm customizes the blinds as per the customer requirements on the basis of their preference for color, material and other associated aspects.
• Customer Security and Protection: Customers further seek the protection of their personal information at the time of signing into a website and mobile application. MK Blinds have ensured to protect the privacy and security of the customers and, as a result of the same, attracts more customers.
• Product Quality: The window blinds that are produced by the selected firm helps in maintaining the temperature of the room and help the functioning of air conditioners more efficiently (Afridi et al. 2021). In addition to this, the installation of the blinds is very easy, and discounts will be further provided to the online customers, which advances the market growth. Privacy is further ensured by the blinds and the customers can adjust the transparency of the blinds according to their will (Reinhold, Zach and Laesser 2020). All of these factors are expected from the customers of the blinds and MK Blinds by meeting all these requirements gains fame in the market and gain higher demand in comparison to their competitors.
• Health Concerns: Several health concerns of the people, such as the issues with dirt, excessive sunlight and dust also assists in driving the growth of the market (Jean and Tan 2019). The blinds that are produced by MK Blinds assist in eliminating the mentioned issues of the customers and thus gain the advancement in the market.
• Demand for Technology: The demand for technologies is increasing in the market. The Bluetooth-enabled blinds that are produced by MK Blinds help the customers in controlling the blinds by sitting at a place that attracts more customers. The usage of remotes or mobile phones for controlling the blinds provides luxury as well as comfort, which are demanded customers (Šimi?, Biloš and Mijo? 2019).
• Variety of Products: The customers demand different varieties of products as they tend to get bored of a single variety. Therefore, the company meets this demand of the customers by producing several types of blinds, and the same is available on online platforms (Setiawan et al. 2018). The types of blinds that are produced by MK Blinds include panel blinds, wood blinds, roller blinds, roman, pleated, vertical, Venetian, aluminum as well as faux blinds. The fabric on which the blinds are focused is natural as well as synthetic fabric, and the same is easy to clean, and therefore, the demand of the customer increases.
• Sales Channels: According to market research, sales channels are another driving force of a business. Therefore, the online, as well as offline sale services that will be provided by MK Blinds shall help in gaining a large customer base and thus, the firm shall be successful in excelling online platforms along with offline stores (Sanaei and Sobhani 2018). This will help the firm in gaining profit by selling blinds and shades, which are the primary products of MK Blinds.

The following recommendations have been made for the purpose of the identified business needs of MK Blinds, such as the development of the website and mobile application,

• Ensuring the introduction of upselling and cross-selling is a recommendation that must be adopted by MK Blinds for the website and application developed by them. Upselling is regarded as the act of providing encouragement to customers for purchasing a similar product to the one being looked at. Cross-selling, on the other hand, is regarded as a process that encourages the shoppers to buy complementary products with the one purchased by them. This recommendation can help in boosting the sale of the selected firm.
• Following this, it has been recommended that the slow-moving products must be closed by the website and the application. The reduction in the cash flow is mainly due to the slow-moving product, and as a result of the same, the business growth is slowed down. Therefore, MK Blinds must ensure that the products that are available on their website are not slow-moving and are further reasonable.
• MK Blinds must further ensure to proofread their website as well as application. Errors can be present on the website, and therefore, it is recommended that the website undergo proofreading for improving the mistakes and ensuring every information present on the website are relevant.
• In addition to the same, it is recommended that the selected organization provides the facility of free shipping for the customers shopping through websites and applications. The free shipping option attracts more customers, and there must be a minimum limit of purchase set above which the customers shall gain the benefit of free shipping.
• A thank you card is further recommended for MK Blinds for greeting their online customers after each and every purchase. This gesture assists in creating a better impression of the company, and hence the customer relationship shall be enhanced.

All the above-mentioned recommendations must be followed by MK Blinds at the time of meeting their business needs for the purpose of ensuring that after meeting the business requirements, they can benefit themselves with the implementation of the recommendations. With the help of these recommendations, MK Blinds shall be able to undertake effective as well as efficient business operations on online platforms and as a result, initiate the process of e-business.

Requirements For the Business Needs

Conclusions:

MK Blinds is a company that has the primary focus for dealing with blinds as well as shades for both industrial and residential purposes. This report has discussed the business needs of MK Blinds along with all the essential requirements that are necessary for the purpose of meeting the business needs. The primary need of MK Blinds is to expand its market on online platforms by developing a website and application for the firm. Thus, the report has further conducted market research in order to evaluate the business needs of MK Blinds. The market research has been done by ensuring that the requirements of online websites and applications are met. In addition to the same, the report has identified recommendations for the business needs of MK Blinds.   

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