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ELECTRONIC COMMERCE ASSIGNMENT 2

JAMBOREE EVENT MANAGEMENT

SUBMITTED TO: Sir Raja Zia-ul-Haq SUBMITTED BY: Fahd Hussain Khan Fatima Ikram Khan Sana Abid Ansari Saniya Raza Tiwana Urooj Tariq BBA-5(A) 25th May 2011

INDIVIDUAL CONTRIBUTIONS

Preparation and compilation of report: Sana Abid Ansari Website design and layout: Saniya Raza Tiwana & Urooj Tariq Preparation and compilation of slides and presentation: Fatima Ikram Khan & Fahd Hussain Khan

TABLE OF CONTENTS
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Page No. (i) Introduction........1 Baby showers....1 Weddings...4 (ii) Business Model of Jamboree Event Management.6 (iii) Revenue Model of Jamboree Event Management8 (iv) Business Strategy.9 (v) Technical Issues in E-Commerce...12 Security features.12 Affiliations and partnerships14 Payment systems14 Hardware and software requirements.16 (vi) References..18

JAMBOREE EVENT MANAGEMENT

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INTRODUCTION Jamboree event management is an online business providing its customers with a way to celebrate their special occasions without the hassle of organizing and planning out the event themselves. We cater to weddings, birthdays, baby showers, anniversaries and other special occasions. All aspects of an event such as catering, decorations, photo shoots etc. are managed by us. However our services are limited to Islamabad/Rawalpindi only. Customers can contact us through our website. After logging into our website they only have to specify the event that they want us to cater to and the rest is managed by us. Every event that we organize will be unique and according to the specifications of the customers. Our team has highly innovative and imaginative ideas to make all our events special. The following are examples of how we plan to organize certain events:

BABY SHOWERS

For baby showers here are just a few of the services we provide: Catering We organize seating arrangements and apart from this our team is responsible for providing delicious eatables including custom-made cakes and confectionary items. Customers can select from a wide range of snacks listed in our menu. The menu is available on our website and can be selected depending on what scale the event is taking place. We also provide professional photographers and movie- makers if asked for.
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 Decorations These include flowers, banners, balloons, floats and pinups. Our customers can specify the kind of decorations they want. Decorations can even be custom-made exactly according to what our customer wants. However orders for customizable decorations have to be placed at least a week beforehand.

Games and Activities Food, drink and conversation are the basic ingredients of a baby shower. But it is often the games that help a host make the event memorable, and thats where we come in! We can help provide ideas for games and other activities. [1] Baby Shower Bingo: With bingo cards and a word list, this is a game which guests of all ages will enjoy.
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Guess the baby: Each guest is asked to bring with them to the shower a picture of themselves as a baby. The various pictures are all jumbled up and one of them is picked. The rest of the guests are made to guess whose picture it is. Name the Baby: Every guest is given a small piece of paper and is asked to write down their favorite names and then fold up the paper. The mother-tobe picks out one of the folded pieces of paper and the name written on it can be chosen for the baby. Gifts We can help provide our customers with ideas for what to give as a gift if they have been invited to a baby shower. We also provide small wrapped return gifts for guests.

WEDDINGS
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Planning a wedding can be a very intimidating and overwhelming task. Jamboree Event Management will help to alleviate this stress by helping put together a wedding plan, deciding on wedding venues, dresses and flowers, and even selecting a wedding song. Our standard services include: Catering and Decorations For weddings we provide formal seating and dinner arrangements, marquees and professional photographers. The menu has to be decided and the order placed a month beforehand through our website. Orders can also be placed for our custom-made cakes and confectionary items. All decorations at the venue are made by our team. These include flower arrangements, stage arrangements and lighting etc.

Dresses
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We even help the prospective bride and groom to pick out dresses that most suit them and are within their specified price range. We help them select designers/boutiques that they are interested in buying from. After that we make ourselves responsible for contacting the selected designers/ boutiques for selecting the dress and for subsequent dress fittings.

Music We provide a band of our customers choice and for those wedding functions that involve dancing even provide professional choreographers. Wedding Invitations On our website there are hundreds of sample wedding invitations. Customers can select any one of the designs available and can let us know if they want any alterations made to the invitations. After placing the orders they can receive them in a couple of weeks time.

BUSINESS MODEL OF JAMBOREE EVENT MANAGEMENT

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1) VALUE PROPOSTION To help our clients live their dreams through the development and execution of customized, meticulously planned special events. Through our involvement in every stage of the project we ensure maximum customer satisfaction. 2) REVENUE MODEL Sales, affiliate/referral and advertising fees will be our major revenue models. We will be earning a fee from our clients through the sale of our services. Affiliate or referral fees will also be earned as we will be referring various services to our clients, such as designers/boutiques, choreographers and musical bands. Advertising fees can also be earned as we will be running advertisements for a few selected services on our website. 3) MARKET OPPORTUNITY There is a wide market for event management services such as ours. And especially in the Islamabad/Rawalpindi area there is a great shortage of such services. We will be the first business to organize and cater to every aspect of an event. 4) COMPETITIVE ENVIRONMENT In this area there are only a few major quality catering services such as Hanif Rajput and Capital Catering Services. These are hugely popular with the residents of Islamabad/Rawalpindi and are hired for a number of events. 5) COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE However the catering services present are only limited to specifically catering at events. The advantage that we have here is that we provide not just catering but also decorations, photo shoots, choreographers, gifts for guests, invitations and planning of events. 6) MARKET STRATEGY We plan to aggressively promote our business through the internet, flyers and most importantly through positive word-of-mouth. We have also created
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a page on Facebook that describes our services and also provides links to our website. 7) ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT To organize and manage our various services Jamboree Event Management has several departments. These departments are specific to the various services we provide such as catering, clothing and food. Then there are separate departments that handle advertising, financing and recruitment etc. 8) MANAGEMENT TEAM The employees of Jamboree Event Management are required to be hardworking, able to meet deadlines and most importantly extremely imaginative. They have to be able to pull off clients wildest suggestions and ideas and make each event a memorable experience.

REVENUE MODEL OF JAMBOREE EVENT MANAGEMENT

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The basic function of any business is to generate revenue and profits. A revenue model describes how business aims to generate profits and produce a superior return on its invested capital [2]. Our basic revenue model will consist of: 1) SALES FEE Most of our revenue will be earned from the sale of our services. Our standard fee for organizing an event is approximately Rs. 60,000 to Rs. 100,000. This includes payment for standard services such as catering and decorations. But if our customers specify additional services such as music arrangements, organizing activities and contacting designers, then our fee can rise up to the range of Rs. 100,000 to Rs. 200,000. 2) AFFILIATE/REFERRAL FEES As our services involve referring our clients to various other businesses and services such as choreographers, boutiques etc. we will also obtain a fee from the businesses we are referring our clients to. Every time a client requires additional services we refer to other businesses, and if a transaction is made between our client and that business, we will obtain a fee for enabling that transaction. 3) ADVERTISING FEES On our website we will run advertisements of other related businesses as well. Mostly the ads will be of the businesses and services that well be using to plan out our events. However they can buy advertising space on our website as well.

BUSINESS STRATEGY

A service business entails selling a product that does not exist until the customer pays for it. Because it is intangible, launching a service business is an entirely different ballgame from marketing a product. Selling a service is more difficult than selling a tangible product. Consumers are much less certain when they are buying a service, since what they are buying is merely a promise that someone will do something for them in a way that will satisfy their expectations. [3] Our business strategy describes how we plan to launch our business. But before we launch our service we have to consider a number of factors. These factors include: [4] 1) Size of the market Unless there is a demand for our services, launching our business will not be profitable. There has to be a reasonable number of customers who are willing to pay for our services. 2) Is the market growing? It is only profitable entering a market if it is growing. Entering a market which is declining and has already been saturated would only lead to decreasing returns and losses. 3) Competition If there are already a number of companies who are providing similar services to ours, the entry of Jamboree Event Management wont create such an impact. Even if were ready to spend and have the resources to run the business, it wont be profitable for us if the market is already saturated. 4) Is the market price driven? The obvious answer is yes, the market is price driven. Especially if there are a number of competitors, customers go for the company offering the lowest prices and the best possible services. 5) Are there viable segments within the market? The market can be divided into various segments and then a specific segment can be targeted. This can help us to specialize our services according to the tastes of that segment and also provide us with opportunities for expansion in the future. 6) Is the market seasonally driven?
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Some events like anniversaries, birthdays and baby showers arent seasonally driven and take place practically all year round. But other occasions like weddings for example are more frequent in winters and the later parts of the year. 7) Cost of entry If the cost of entry into a market is low this means that it will be easier for others to enter the market as well. This in turn will lead to increased competition. 8) Is there a gap in the market? Entering into a market that already has a number of businesses providing similar services requires a lot of capital and time to capture an adequate market share. However if there is a lack of businesses that provide services similar to our, then we can easily capture a large share of the market and gain control over it. Now we get to how well actually launch our product. Mass marketing strategies do not work well with a service business. To please our clients, we can only focus on a select number of customers to sustain our business. If we decide to get as much clients as possible, there is the risk that we might get overburdened and since our resources would initially be extremely tight, the quality of our work would suffer. To promote our business we can use the following strategies: [5] (i) REFERRALS The cheapest and easiest way to promote a business is positive word-ofmouth. Satisfied clients are likely to refer our services to their peers and as a result bring in more clients for us. We can even ask our clients to refer us to people they know and if they agree we can give them brochures and other promotional materials to spread around. To show our clients that we appreciate their efforts on our behalf we can send them notes expressing our gratitude.

(ii) CLIENT RELATIONS

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To retain our client-base we will have to make sure that our clients are satisfied with our service and also maintain cordial relations with them. Our whole business depends on effective customer service. If our clients are happy, they will come back to us a second time as well. (iii) PARTICIPATION IN ORGANIZATIONS Helping to organize organizational events would enable us to promote our services on a much larger scale and build a network of potential clients. This would help us to network with potential clients and industry players, increase our exposure to the community and professional colleagues, and even get new business. Organizing charitable events would be another useful way for us to build our companys name in the community. By organizing such events we can promote ourselves as a business concerned with not just generating profits but also with the welfare of the society. (iv) DIRECT MAIL Another way to promote our business would be to send out fliers and brochures to our target market. We would also need to regularly send out mail to our existing clients, to remind them of us and what we can do to help them. We could e-mail them about any new deals or discounts that we are offering.

TECHNICAL ISSUES IN E-COMMERCE

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While building a website for our business, a number of issues will have to be considered. These include: 1. Security features 2. Affiliations and partnerships 3. Payment systems 4. Hardware/software requirements 1) SECURITY FEATURES [6] Security is a major concern for all E-Commerce websites as they can suffer huge financial losses and face much bad publicity. On the other hand consumers also fear the loss or theft of financial data. E-Commerce sites have to judge security vulnerabilities, assess potential technical solutions and also assess, evaluate and resolve the risks involved. A few security issues that can occur can be described as follows:

The users of a web site have to identify or authenticate themselves to the website they are using. Typically, authentication begins on the users home computer and its browser. However security problems in home computers allow hackers to steal E-Commerce data and identification data from users. Some examples include saving private data as cookies which can be used by hackers. Ineffective encryption or a lack of encryption for home wireless networks and mail-borne viruses can steal users financial data from the local disk or even from users keystrokes. While these specific security problems can be fixed by software developers and web-site administrators, similar problems have continued to occur.

The users web browser connects to the merchant front-end. When a consumer makes an online purchase, the merchant's web-server usually caches the order's personal information in an archive of recent orders. This archive contains everything necessary for credit-card fraud. Further, such archives often hold 90 days' worth of customers' orders. Naturally, hackers break into insecure web servers to harvest these archives of credit card numbers. Therefore our first security priority should be to keep the web servers' archives of recent orders behind the firewall, not on the front-end web servers. Furthermore, sensitive servers should be kept highly specialized, by turning off and removing all inessential services and applications (e.g., ftp, email).
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The merchant back-end and database. A sites servers can weaken the company's internal network. This not easily remedied, because the web servers need administrative connections to the internal network, but web server software tends to have buggy security. Here, the cost of failure is very high, with potential theft of customers identities or corporate data. Additionally, the back-end may connect with third party fulfillment centers and other processing agents. Arguably, the risk of stolen product is our least-important security concern, because most merchants' traditional operations already have careful controls to track payments and deliveries. However, these third parties can release valuable data through their own vulnerabilities.

Steps that can be taken to prevent security issues: [7] 1. The merchant is always responsible for security of the Internet-connected PC where customer details are handled. Virus protection and a firewall are the minimum requirement. To be absolutely safe, sensitive information and customer details should be stored on zip-disks, a physically separate PC or with a commercial file storage service. Multiple back-ups of essential information should be kept, and it must be ensured that they are stored safely off-site. 2. Where customers order by email, information should be encrypted with PGP or similar software. Or payment should be made by specially encrypted checks and ordering software. 3. Where credit cards are taken online and processed later, it's the merchant's responsibility to check the security of the hosting company's web server. 4. Where credit cards are taken online and processed in real time, four situations can arise: Using a service bureau. Sensitive information is handled entirely by the service bureau, which is responsible for its security. Other customer and order details will be our own responsibility. Our company possesses an E-Commerce merchant account but uses the digital certificate supplied by the hosting company. A cheap option acceptable for smallish transactions with SMEs. We should

take a look at the hosting company, and the terms and conditions applying to the digital certificate. The company possesses an E-Commerce merchant account and obtains its own digital certificate. We should look at the hosting company, and enter into a dialogue with the certification authority. Security is a vexing, costly and complicated business, but a single lapse can be expensive in lost funds, records and reputation. Instead of waiting for disaster to strike, we have to stay proactive, employing a security expert where necessary. 2) AFFILIATIONS AND PARTNERSHIPS Affiliations are associations between two companies for the purpose of obtaining mutual benefits for both the companies. On the other hand in a partnership two parties agree to share the responsibility of achieving a mutual goal and share in the profits or losses that may occur. The main purpose of entering into an affiliation or partnership is to enhance the quality of the product or services provided to the consumer. A partnership on the other hand is entered into through a contract where both parties agree to share in the profits and losses of a business. [8] At Jamboree Event Management we plan to enter into a number of affiliations to enhance the quality and range of our services. These include affiliations with dress designers, musicians, printing companies etc. 3) PAYMENT SYSTEMS An E- Commerce payment system enables the acceptance of payments for online transactions. The various online payment systems used can be described as follows: [9] Bank and Credit Card Systems Many large online businesses use the payment systems offered by major credit card operators, such as Visa and MasterCard. Cardholders create and register a password with their bank and use that password to authenticate each online transaction that they perform.

Secure Trading To accept online payments directly through our own website well need an Internet merchant account. This can be handled indirectly, through a service such as the Secure Trading Merchant Account Service. This can also arrange merchant accounts for mail order or telephone ordering if need be or directly at a bank. Charges for merchant accounts vary from bank to bank, and according to the type and age of the business together with other trading factors such as turnover. PayPal If a business does not need or want a merchant account with a bank PayPal may provide a simpler option. A PayPal account can be created very easily and there are no set up or cancellation fees. One is not bound by a minimum number or value of transactions each month. One can simply cut and paste the HTML code supplied by PayPal for the creation of a payment button into an online checkout for single item transactions. Alternatively one can choose from the shopping carts already integrated with PayPal for multiple items. Transaction fees range from 1.4% to 3.4%. Google Checkout Other ecommerce systems that can be considered include Google Checkout, which allows online shoppers to make purchases from anywhere on the Internet, but provides tracking and delivery information in a single location. This includes a merchant fee depending on sales volumes, with additional costs for international transactions. World Pay World Pay is backed by the Royal Bank of Scotland, the fifth biggest bank in the world. It allows secure payment not only by credit, or debit, card, but by what the firm claims is the widest range of payment means currently available.

Payment system used at Jamboree Event Management: The payment system we will be using at Jamboree Event Management is Secure Trading. This is because it does not involve the use of credit cards and payments can be made directly at our bank account. Due to the rise in credit card and internet fraud and various other scams a lot of people are unwilling to carry out credit card transactions. Also since our business is only limited to the Islamabad/Rawalpindi region making direct payments would be much easier and convenient. 4) HARDWARE/SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS Hardware requirements

The basic hardware requirements are: [10] An operating system such as Windows XP Pro or Windows Server 2003 A processor e.g. Intel Hard disk drive RAM A connectivity path to the internet The stated hardware is needed so that our website can operate under heavy load while being viewed by multiple users. Aside from this a back up is needed to store data incase of an emergency or if the data needs to be updated. Software requirements

There are three basic ways to obtain software to build our website: [11] purchasing software
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using software provided by an e-commerce hosting company create our own system, writing the necessary code

Having the appropriate software will enable us to have a professional looking website, which is easily customizable, easy to navigate and use, and which works well with all browsers. It must also help us to keep track of all purchases and customer databases. In case we design the software ourselves, it should be easy to build and the resulting code can be tweaked when needed. If we buy a software program it has to be made sure that the software is produced by large and reputable company and has a good customer base. There must be adequate build instructions, online tutorials and help centers available.

REFERENCES
[1] Baby Shower Games, Gifts & Favors; www.Babbee.com [2] Revenue Model, Pg. 68, Chapter 2: E-Commerce Business Models and Concepts, e-commerce business. technology. society (2008) 4th edition by Kenneth C. Laudon and Carol Guercio Traver [3] Marketing a Service Business by George Rodriguez; www.PowerHomeBiz.com [4] 11 Essential Questions To Ask Before You Launch Your Product Or Service by Susan Oakes; www.M4B Marketing.com [5] Marketing a Service Business by George Rodriguez; www.PowerHomeBiz.com [6] Review chapter for the New Economy Handbook (Jones, ed.), in press; Privacy and Security Issues in E-Commerce by Mark S. Ackerman and Donald T. Davis, Jr. [7] Ecommerce Security Issues; www. eCD.com [8] Do Affiliations and Partnerships Help? By Dennis Michael Gannon, Marketing Communications Representative; Gate2Shop E-Commerce Solution Provider [9] Ecommerce Payment Systems; active webdezign ltd. Web design London - A London based Web design agency [10] www.EnvisionWare.com [11] Ecommerce Software Packages; www.eCD.com