IT Management
The primary aim is to evaluate the Starbucks website (www. starbucks. com) and the Greenmountaincoffee website (www. greenmountaincoffee. com) to discover the major customer related activities and their support by the latest information technology. Depth evaluation of what services and functions the websites provide to the various levels of customers. The secondary research is about the e-commerce strategy models that have been adopted for effective functioning of the website for the customers. It includes the business models adopted for servicing the customers.
The first section deals with the Starbucks website discussing the services it provides to the clients and the involvement of the business models. The second section takes up Greenmountaincoffee website and the customer related services along with the business models that successfully implement the business models. The homepage offers a great look displaying all the services that the company provides and are accessible from online site. The various customer related services can be highlighted as follows:
- Browse the Coffee catalog: The Link “Our Coffee” provides an insight to all the items and products that are available with the company and can be used by the customers for their choice.
- Browse store locations: The customers can browse store locations that are near to them. Starbucks is spread in over 27 countries and over 5 continents in the world.
- Customer service options: In spite of selling coffee, the customers can listen to music, read books, access to local events, access Wireless internet and so on at the coffee parlors at selected locations. These are the additional entertainment options they offer at the parlors for fetching more customers of every length and dimension.
- Starbucks card: The various offers and gift cards are available for a price. It helps one to avail discounts, whole bean purchase, brewed coffee refills at no cost. One has an option to regulate designing of loyalty card and also take care of the refills and various gift options.
- Purchase options: The organization has allowed selling of coffee packages over the internet for various groups of customers from individual to institutional customers. It allows customers to use their Credit card, debit card and Paypal options for making any sort of payments.
- Food service: It also offers food service to various businesses and industry cafeterias, hotels, colleges, healthcare and other centers.
- Entertainment Services: It also sells Starbucks branded books, music collections, movies and many more.
- Ancillary services: It also sells brewing equipments, coffee, tea and many more. The store locater search option provides various search facilities for any store within the domain of Starbucks.
