P6 UNIT 12
Challenges of internet marketing
This report focuses on the challenges of internet marketing that Superdrug can face as a result of being
able to reach such a wide range of people in such a small space of time.
Cost
One challenge Superdrug faces is creating a website as it can be costly and Superdrug need to cover the
costs of maintaining and updating their website, protecting their website and pay for the domain name.
Superdrug also need to recruit staff that use the website for queries and requests that customers may
have. Superdrug need to ensure that they have the best staff to maintain the website as well as a good
customer service team to deal with customers through the website despite that it can be costly to got
through the process of finding the right staff.
Information
Superdrug must ensure their website has correct information and is never out of date. If Superdrug's
website appears to have false information, customers can complain and depending on the issue, it can
give Superdrug a bad reputation. Also the information needs to be clear and precise as too much text
about products and services is unnecessary as customers want to shop online quickly, without having to
read too much. If customers are faced with too much text when browsing products, they are likely to go
to a competitor website to purchase with them as it will be quicker.
Security
Before making a purchase online, customers want to know if entering their personal details will be
encrypted. Superdrug must ensure their website is free of viruses and is out of reach of hackers.
Superdrug can also use services such as PayPal so customers can pay through it and they will feel more
secure than entering their card details. Superdrug must also follow the data protection act of 1998 so
that customers details are not passed on to third parties without their consent. If Superdrug fails to
protect any of their customers details, from their email address to their card details, then it Superdrug
will gain a negative reputation and customers may stop shopping with Superdrug online.
User friendly
Superdrug must ensure their website is user friendly or else customers will find a competitor that is
simpler to use. Superdrug's target market is quite broad as people would browse their website view
make up or the online doctor as well as anything in between. When you visit the home page, their main
attraction is cosmetics and perfume and it is generally aimed at females aged 16 +. This makes someone
that is unfamiliar with Superdrug, that is browsing the site for the first time think that this is their main
target market, as options to view the online doctor, opticians and health products are quite subtle. This
is because most of Superdrug's online customers use the website to search for cosmetics and other
products that are aimed towards females, so Superdrug have reflected their observations by making this
the central attraction of their website on the home page. The other features on the website may be less
clear but are still visible on the navigation bar for customers to find easily. The different category of the
navigation menu each have drop down menus so customers can refine their search to certain brand or
specific type of products. Superdrug also have a search bar that is clearly visible for customers to search
for a product if they don’t know what category it is under or can't find it in the drop down menus. When
browsing through products, Superdrug allows customers to refine their results further by price range,
brand, popularity and how recent a product is. This makes it easy for customers find what they need and
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Challenges of internet marketing
This report focuses on the challenges of internet marketing that Superdrug can face as a result of being
able to reach such a wide range of people in such a small space of time.
Cost
One challenge Superdrug faces is creating a website as it can be costly and Superdrug need to cover the
costs of maintaining and updating their website, protecting their website and pay for the domain name.
Superdrug also need to recruit staff that use the website for queries and requests that customers may
have. Superdrug need to ensure that they have the best staff to maintain the website as well as a good
customer service team to deal with customers through the website despite that it can be costly to got
through the process of finding the right staff.
Information
Superdrug must ensure their website has correct information and is never out of date. If Superdrug's
website appears to have false information, customers can complain and depending on the issue, it can
give Superdrug a bad reputation. Also the information needs to be clear and precise as too much text
about products and services is unnecessary as customers want to shop online quickly, without having to
read too much. If customers are faced with too much text when browsing products, they are likely to go
to a competitor website to purchase with them as it will be quicker.
Security
Before making a purchase online, customers want to know if entering their personal details will be
encrypted. Superdrug must ensure their website is free of viruses and is out of reach of hackers.
Superdrug can also use services such as PayPal so customers can pay through it and they will feel more
secure than entering their card details. Superdrug must also follow the data protection act of 1998 so
that customers details are not passed on to third parties without their consent. If Superdrug fails to
protect any of their customers details, from their email address to their card details, then it Superdrug
will gain a negative reputation and customers may stop shopping with Superdrug online.
User friendly
Superdrug must ensure their website is user friendly or else customers will find a competitor that is
simpler to use. Superdrug's target market is quite broad as people would browse their website view
make up or the online doctor as well as anything in between. When you visit the home page, their main
attraction is cosmetics and perfume and it is generally aimed at females aged 16 +. This makes someone
that is unfamiliar with Superdrug, that is browsing the site for the first time think that this is their main
target market, as options to view the online doctor, opticians and health products are quite subtle. This
is because most of Superdrug's online customers use the website to search for cosmetics and other
products that are aimed towards females, so Superdrug have reflected their observations by making this
the central attraction of their website on the home page. The other features on the website may be less
clear but are still visible on the navigation bar for customers to find easily. The different category of the
navigation menu each have drop down menus so customers can refine their search to certain brand or
specific type of products. Superdrug also have a search bar that is clearly visible for customers to search
for a product if they don’t know what category it is under or can't find it in the drop down menus. When
browsing through products, Superdrug allows customers to refine their results further by price range,
brand, popularity and how recent a product is. This makes it easy for customers find what they need and
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