CIS5101 Assignment 1

S2-2022-CIS5101 – E-commerce Business Strategy Report & Prototype

Website

ASSIGNMENT ONE SPECIFICATION

Assignment 1 requires you to plan and develop an e-commerce business strategy report
including building a prototype website using WordPress for an online business in tourist
industry in Australia. This business also sells Australian souvenirs and other products
sources nationally and internally.

You will be required to develop your prototype website using the WordPress content
management system with e-commerce capabilities. Details about setting up your website
on the USQ virtual servers will be provided to you on StudyDesk.

Your business model and prototype website must be related to the online business category
selected by you in the industry mentioned above. Failure to do so will result in your
assignments being rejected and no marks will be allocated.

Report: E-commerce Business Strategy 70 marks

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Report Structure and Presentation 5

Your report should include a title page, Table of Contents (including a List of Tables and List
of Figures if applicable) and Appendices.
Note: Make sure to state your name and student number in the report on the title page. State
the word count of the report (Introduction to Conclusions & Recommendations)
Report Executive Summary and Introduction 5
(Introduction – approx. 150 words)
Your report should include an executive summary and an introduction to the report.
Note: Make sure to nominate a name for your prototype website and provide a brief rationale
for why you used this name in the Introduction to the report.

Report Section 1 – E-commerce Business Strategy (approx. 400 words) 15

A business strategy is a set of plans for achieving superior long-term returns on the capital
invested in an organisation. There are five basic business strategies – in your textbook
Table 5.9 (page 360) illustrates those strategies.

Select a business strategy that you think is relevant to your proposed online business and
assigned business category.

When you consider your business strategy, you have to discuss the nature of competition in
your market, types of products and services that you may be providing, unique value that you
may be offering, distinguishing processes that you may be following, and level of
personalization and customization that you may be able to offer.

Report Section 2 – E-commerce Business Models (approx. 800 words) 20

Simply put, a business model is a plan for making money. The textbook explains eight
components of a business model. (Refer to Table 5.3, page 332). Discuss the following
three components of the e-commerce business model for your online business:
• Value proposition - how does your online business fulfil customer needs? (page no.323)
• Revenue model - how does your online business earn revenue and have a positive
return on investment? (page no.324)
• Competitive environment - who else occupies your intended market place? (page no.328)

Report Section 3 –Online marketing and advertising tools

(approx. 400 words) 15

Online marketing and advertising tools provide a greater opportunity for companies to attract
potential customers and increase their revenues. The textbook explains online marketing
tools – Refer to chapter 6. (page no.390)

Select two online marketing tools that are relevant to your online business and justify your
choice.

Describe how the chosen online marketing tools attract customers. You should discuss the
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main benefits and challenges of using these tools for your online business and ways to
measure the results of the chosen online marketing tools.

Report: Conclusions and Recommendations to the Business (approx. 150 words) 5

Your report should include a separate conclusions and recommendations section.
• Conclusions provide a summary of your key findings from the body of the report.
• Recommendations provide a summary of the recommendations for your
online business based on the research conducted in the report

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Report: Referencing and Appropriateness of Sources 5

References are required and the Harvard AGPS standard of referencing must be used. This
standard is detailed on USQ Library Site <http://www.usq.edu.au/library/referencing>.

Ensure that your reports are fully referenced, including any reference to the text book. Your
report should include in-text references and a List of References.
Do not repeat verbatim large slabs of information from other sources such as the text – you
must put the ideas/information in your own words.
You must use at least ten (10) academically sound sources other than the textbook in
completing this report.

Note: the word count does not include letter of transmittal, executive summary, references or
appendices.

Checklist: Prototype WordPress Website 30 marks

Ensure you setup your WordPress website and complete the activities as listed in the checklist
document. Your WordPress Website URL should be accessible for the marker to assess the
activities undertaken as per the checklist document.
1. Valid setup of WordPress Website (5)
2. Template and layout are accessible and user-friendly (5)
3. Content – key articles: Home, About, Contact (5)
4. Menu & Links (5)

Report: Website Development Journal 10

Prepare a journal that records your activities while developing the prototype website. In date
order, clearly list the following:
• Date of project activity
• Full description of activity/discussion
• Time duration of the activity
Submit this journal as Appendix 1 in the Report.

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Submission Guidelines
Attach the two documents (Report & Checklist document) in Microsoft Word or PDF file
format using the naming convention below, to your online assignment submission in the
Assignment 1 area on the CIS5101 StudyDesk before midnight Australian Eastern Standard
Time (AEST) on the day the assignment is due.

[lastname].[initial] _ [student number] _ [course code] _ assign1.docx or .pdf

(eg. sello.b_0050051005_cis5101_assign1.docx).

Upon completion of the submission process, check your UMail email account for an
automatically generated confirmation email (if you do not have an email account, print out
the Submission Complete screen before exiting the Submission System). You must check
that the file name and file size are listed correctly - if there is a problem with either, please
email the course leader immediately.

If you have difficulties submitting through the StudyDesk Assignments submission tool,
email the course leader immediately for instructions on an alternative course of action. Any
submissions after the due date is considered Late Submission and will be dealt accordingly.

Please note that:

• The following is the USQ Assessment – Assignment (Late Submission) and
Compassionate and Compelling Circumstances procedure that relate to Extensions
and Late Assignments. They can be found under the following links:
 Assessment – Assignment (Late Submission) Procedure:
http://policy.usq.edu.au/documents.php?id=14749PL#4.2_Assignments
 Assessment of Compassionate and Compelling Circumstances Procedures:
http://policy.usq.edu.au/documents.php?id=131150PL
• Students seeking extensions for any Assignment work must provide appropriate
documentation to support their request before the due date of the assignment (see
points 4.3 and 4.4 in the Assessment of Compassionate and Compelling
Circumstances Procedures above to see what is considered as Compassionate and
Compelling reason for an extension and the level of documentation that will be
needed).
• An Assignment submitted after the due date without an approved extension of time
will be penalised. The penalty for late submission is a reduction by five percent
(5%) of the maximum Mark applicable for the Assignment, for each University
Business Day or part Business Day that the Assignment is late. An Assignment
submitted more than one week after the due date will have a Mark of zero recorded
for that Assignment. Further details regarding late submission can be found through
the following link.

 https://policy.usq.edu.au/documents/14749PL#4.3

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