COMP1008 Middle East College E Commerce Individual Case Study Guidelines : * Use Page Number & References should be academic quality from quality sources a

COMP1008 Middle East College E Commerce Individual Case Study Guidelines : * Use Page Number & References should be academic quality from quality sources and Harvard Reference Notation should be used. * The Table of Contents Should have, each deliverable task number, content, page number * required to use appropriate literature review and use of many library resources to complete this assignment. * using correct Citation and CU-Harvard Referencing Style. * read the SCENARIO from the Instructions file carefully * answer all the tasks Individually * the example of this assignment and work proposal are attached * the work proposal should be submitted within 1 day E-Commerce – COMP 1008 – SPRING– 19 –CW2
INDIVIDUAL CASE STUDY
E-COMMERCE (COMP 1008)
Level: 6
Maximum Marks: 100
Submission Week: week 13
_________________________________________________________________________________________
INSTRUCTIONS FOR STUDENTS
Students are advised to go through assessment requirements, assessment objectives, essay requirements,
description of tasks, mark distribution, feedback to students, guidelines, late submission policy, rules, regulations
and plagiarism policy carefully.
If you have any questions, please ask (during class timings or office hours).
Please read the following case study carefully and answer the questions given below.
A “Gilt”-Free Shopping Experience
It is noon on a typical weekday, and customers are waiting to pounce on the discounted merchandise as
soon as the sale kicks off, eager to snap up a great deal on clothing from designers such as Rodarte, Derek
Lam, Christian Louboutin, and others, because they know the best bargains go very quickly. Designer
sample sales typically are by invitation only, and fashionistas work their list of contacts to finagle
invitations to these private events, where they can purchase luxury brand merchandise at discounts of 50
to 70 percent. Shoppers line up around the block for the semi-annual Barneys Warehouse Sale in New
York City and, because all sales are final, often strip down to their underwear between the racks to try on
a $3,000 dress marked down to $600.
This particular sample sale has a different twist, however, because more than 100,000 customers will be
attending, making this the most crowded store in the city. Except that there is no store. Gilt Groupe,
founded in 2007 by Alexis Maybank and Alexandra Wilkis Wilson (who are known inside the company as
A&A), runs “flash sales” entirely online. Access to Gilt’s Web site is by invitation only (which gives it an air
of exclusivity, exactly what the designers whose items are sold there are looking for), but, because the
site has limited access, none of the sales or merchandise shows up in online searches. Landing an
invitation to join is much easier than scoring an invitation to a brick-and-mortar New York sample sale
sale, however. One of Gilt’s 2 million customers (75 percent of whom are women) can issue an invitation
or interested shoppers can contact the company’s customer service department to receive one.
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On its Web site, Gilt hosts about 70 sales each week and runs each one for just 36 hours before taking all
of the merchandise down. “Whereas a department store might move a certain amount of product in a
season, we can do it in 36 hours,” says Amanda Graber, Gilt’s public relations manager. The speed of the
sales and the discreetness with which the company conducts them appeal to designers, some of whom
were initially reluctant to offer their merchandise through Gilt. Thanks to the site’s tremendous success
and rapid growth rate, that reluctance has withered. “I have so many brands banging down our door, that
I have to say ’no,’” says Wilkis Wilson. Gilt also boasts an incredible sell-through rate, the proportion of a
designer’s inventory that customers actually purchase. In the typical department s tore, the sell-through
rate is about 65 percent across a 12-week season; at Gilt, the sell-through rate typically is 92 percent,
which means Gilt customers tend to pick the virtual racks clean! “Most online shopping mirrors brickand mortar stores,” says Susan Lyne, Gilt’s CEO. “They’re not taking advantage of what’s uniquely possible
online, the heightened sense of entertainment and competition. A big part of the Gilt promise is discovery:
You come every day, and it’s new every day.” Recently, an ostrich feather jacket
from Alessandro Dell’Aqua, originally priced at $3,175, sold for $618. Normally priced at $2,420, a Marc
Jacobs leather bomber jacket sold for $548. Generating sales totally online means that Gilt has a
tremendous cost advantage over its brick-and-mortar rivals, which incur the expense of operating
physical locations.
Maybank and Wilkis Wilson have been friends since they were students at Harvard, where they met in a
Portuguese class. After completing Harvard Business School, Maybank learned the ropes of e-commerce
at eBay and AOL, and Wilkis Wilson embarked on a career as a merchandising executive at luxury brands
Bulgari and Louis Vuitton. The two had been discussing ideas for starting a business and told Kevin Ryan,
former CEO of DoubleClick and now a venture capitalist, about their ideas. According to Ryan, his “eureka”
moment occurred one day when he saw a long line of women waiting in line to get into a Marc Jacobs sale
on New York’s 18th Street. “If there are 200 women who are willing to stand in this line,” he recalls
thinking, “that means that in the United States there are probably hundreds of thousands. But they don’t
live in New York, they’re busy right now, and they just can’t do that. We can bring the sale to them.” The
skills, experience, and networks of the three proved to be the ideal launching pad for Gilt Groupe. Ryan,
who knew of a French company called Vente Privée that had achieved success in Europe with online
designer fashion sales, invested some seed capital, and the Web site went live in late 2007.
Sales at Gilt have grown very rapidly. When Maybank and Wilkis Wilson launched the site, there were just
15,000 members, most of whom came through their network of contacts. Today, Gilt boasts more than 2
million members— and growing. Just 2 years after start-up, sales had reached $170 million, and 1 year
later they were pushing $500 million. Gilt’s success has convinced design houses to create clothing
specifically for the site rather than merely selling overstocked merchandise. The company now works with
more than 700 brands and has launched other sites such as Jettsetter, which offers travel deals; Gilt Fuse,
which offers lower-priced brands such as American Apparel; and Gilt Man, which sells men’s clothing.
Since launching the Gilt Man site, the company’s revenue from menswear has tripled. Some early Gilt
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E-Commerce – COMP 1008 – SPRING– 19 –CW2
members complain that the company has moved away from its original concept, including many brands
whose names they do not recognize.
The Gilt Web site has a decidedly upscale look, with muted colors and no flashing “sale” signs and appeals
to the company’s target customers: upscale shoppers who are “aspirational” luxury buyers, people who
are eager to purchase designer goods but cannot afford to pay full price for them. The key is to make sure
that customers feel as though they are getting access to bargains that are not available to just anyone.
The site also provides shoppers with extensive product descriptions and simple photographs of
merchandise. “We deliver an incredible amount of information about the product,” says Lyne, “and we
have a direct line to our customers every day.” The company also offers an iPad application for shoppers .
Gilt’s management team is exploring an initial public offering for the company, whic h was valued at $400
million in its latest round of venture capital financing. Challenges do exist, however. “This is a pretty easy
market to enter,” admits Lyne, “but the operational aspects of it are incredibly complex. We change out
the store every night. Receiving, sale preparation, and shipping and fulfillment are incredibly complex.”
Lyne is focusing on the company’s e-commerce strategy. “We have to be thinking about what the Internet
makes possible,” she says. “Can we do something that drives the next wave of excitement in e-commerce?
We need to get better at personalization. We need to be able to offer you different sales than we might
offer somebody in Minneapolis or your mother.”
Task
Submit a work proposal for this assignment by week 10th, which must include:
? Understanding of deliverables – a detail description of deliverables
? General overview of proposed plan – initial understanding of solution to all tasks
? Resources identified
QUESTIONS:
1. What advantages the Guilt Group Company will be getting by operating solely online offers. ? What
are the disadvantages?
(20 Marks)
Note: (Students are asked to provide at least 3 advantages & 3 disadvantages)
2. What advice can you offer the Gilt Groupe’s management team as they continue to develop their ecommerce strategy? What steps can they take to stay connected to their customers and to keep their
customers coming back?
(30 Marks)
Note: (Student answer must discuss the e-commerce strategy with all parameters and impleemnation
plan with details)
3. What Social, Legal and Ethical issues they must consider while developing the strategy for ecommerce for Gilt Groupe’s so that they must not face procecution.
(30 Marks)
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E-Commerce – COMP 1008 – SPRING– 19 –CW2
Note: (Students are expected to mention 3 points for each type of Issue)
4. Documentation and Referencing.
(10 Marks)
Note: (Students are expected to submit a well documented report along with at least 15 references.)
Note: For the assignment, student may write about 2500 words. Students are invited to discuss during class hours
or office hours.
Presentation & Discussion Guidelines:
?
Zero marks will be awarded if student is absent for presentation.
?
You will present and discuss your proposal in class according to a schedule that will be announced by
the instructor. The presentations will be done using the same document. There is no need to prepare
Power-point slides. The presentation should not exceed 20 minutes, and additional 5 minutes will be
given to discussions. The presentations will be scheduled on Weeks 13 and 14.
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E-Commerce (COMP 1008)
Assessment Sheet
Deliverables
Expectation
Proposal Submission
0-10
?
?
?
Deliverables
Expectation
Q1
What advantages does
Expectation
Q2
What advice can you
offer
the Gilt Groupe’s
management team
as they continue to
develop their ecommerce strategy?
What steps can they
take to
stay connected to their
Customers and to keep
their customers coming
back?
Deliverables
Expectation
What Social, Legal and
Ethical issues they must
consider while
developing the strategy
for e-commerce for Gilt
Groupe’s so that they
must not face
procecution.
Deliverables
Understanding of deliverables – a detail description of deliverables
General overview of proposed plan – initial understanding of
solution to all tasks
Resources identified
0
No
Attempt
operating solely
/
online offer Gilt Groupe?
Plagiarize
What are the
d Report
disadvantages?
Deliverables
Expectation
Format & Referencing
COMP (1008) (CW2)
Marks
0
No
Attempt
/
Plagiarize
d Report
0
No
Attempt
/
Plagiarize
d Report
1-5
6-10
11-20
2 advantages & 2
disadvantages
Provided.
No analysis done
or examples
provided.
3 advantages & 3
disadvantages
Provided. Answer,
data & information
are correct, relevant
& sufficient.
composition needs
improvement, not
supported by
enough examples
3 advantages & 3
disadvantages
Provided. Analysis
done. Answer, data
& information are
accurate, relevant ,
duly composed,
supported by good
examples &
references
1-3
4-6
7-10
2 advices
provided for EC
strategy. 2 steps
provided to
improve
customer
services.
3 valuable advices
provided for EC
strategy. 3 valuable
steps provided to
improve customer
services.
Answer, data &
information are
correct, relevant &
sufficient.
composition needs
improvement, not
supported by
enough examples
3 valuable advices
provided for EC
strategy. 3
valuable steps
provided to
improve customer
services.
Analysis done.
Answer, data &
information are
accurate, relevant ,
duly composed,
supported by good
examples &
references
1-3
4-6
7-10
Average
attempt/ 1
points
identified.
Good
attempt/ 2 points
identified.
Marks
Marks
Marks
Excellent
Attempt/ 3 points
for each
identified
0
1-3
4-6
7-10
Marks
Uncomple
ted/
Weak
attempt
Referencing
made
but not CU
Harvard Style.
Good Referencing
made. Good
Documentation
Excellent
Referencing
made. Good
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E-Commerce – COMP 1008 – SPRING– 19 –CW2
Fair
Documentation
Documentation
Total Marks
Penalty
FINAL Marks
GUIDELINES
? For each requirement, students are expected to appropriately
? The document should be well presented and neatly done
? Assignment should be computer typed using Calibri 12 font and the soft copy should be submitted through
Moodle, duly checked by TurnItIn to check the similarity of work. Please note the time mentioned above
and also go through the Middle East College plagiarism policy given below.
? The report must have a Title Page, table of contents (optional), reference/ bibliography and page number.
Every page must have header & footer.
? Heading should be with Font Size 14, Bold, and Underline.
? Each student has to do the assignment individually.
? You are welcome to discuss about the assignment with the lecturer in his/her office hours.
Plagiarism Policy
DO NOT DIRECTLY COPY/PASTE FROM INTERNET/BOOKS! DO NOT COPY FROM ONE ANOTHER!
PRODUCE YOUR OWN ASSIGNMENT SOLUTION REPORT. The work submitted must be your own and
must not be based on inputs from others. Your assignments shall be submitted to electronic databases
to identify plagiarism. If assignment is found to be plagiarised, action will be initiated. Please refer to
MEC policy on plagiarism the Student Handbook for more details:
As per MEC policy, any form of violation of academic integrity will invite severe penalty. Plagiarised
documents, in part or in whole, submitted by the students will be subject to this policy.
Plagiarism
A. First offence of plagiarism
a. If a student is caught first time in an act of plagiarism during his/her course of study in any assignment
other than project work, the student will be allowed to re -submit the assignment once, within a
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maximum period of one week. However, a penalty of deduction of 25% of the marks obtained for the
resubmitted work will be imposed.
b. Period of re-submission: The student will have to re-submit the work one week from the date he or she
is advised to re-submit.
c. If the re-submitted work is also detected to be plagiarized, then the work will be awarded a zero.
d. Re-submission of the work beyond the maximum period of one week will not be accepted and the work
will be awarded a zero.
e. If the student fails the module and has a proven case of academic integrity violation in this module ,
the student is required to reregister the module
f.
If plagiarism is detected in
Project work (Project 1, Project Planning and Project Design and
Implementation) the above clauses (a,b,c,d) do not apply and the work will be summarily rejected.
In these cases the student will be awarded a fail (F) grade and is required to re-register the module
B. Second offence of plagiarism
a. If any student is caught second time in an act of plagiarism during his/her course of study (in a subsequent
semester), the student will directly be awarded zero for the work in which plagiarism is detected. In such
cases, the student will not be allowed to re-submit the work.
b. If the student fails the module and has a proven case of academic integrity violation in this module, the
student is required to re-register the module
C. Third Offence of plagiarism
If any student is caught for the third time in an act of plagiarism during his/her course of study (in a
subsequent semester), the student will be penalized wi th a fail in the module and shall be required to reregister the module.
D. Fourth Offence of plagiarism
If any student is caught for the fourth time in an act of plagiarism during his/her course of study (in a
subsequent semester), he shall be suspended from the College for a period of one semester.
E. Fifth offence of plagiarism
If any student is caught for the fifth time in an act of plagiarism during his/her course of study (in a
subsequent semester), he shall be expelled from the College
Malpractice (MP)
A. First offence of MP
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E-Commerce – COMP 1008 – SPRING– 19 –CW2
If a student is caught in an act of malpractice for an assessment component irrespective of coursework or
end semester, the student shall fail the module and shall be required to re -register the module.
B. Second Offence of MP
If a student is caught a second time in an act of malpractice for an assessment component irrespective of
coursework or end semester (in a subsequent semester), the student shall be suspended for one semester
from the College.
C. Third Offence of MP
If a student is caught a third time in an act of malpractice for an assessment component irrespective of
coursework or end semester (in a subsequent semester), the student shall be expelled from the College.
Other cases
It denotes all other forms of academic misconduct including but not limited to ghostwriting,
collusion, fabrication, falsification, unauthorized access to unseen examination papers and other
academic and administrative documents/systems and aiding academic dishonesty/misconduct
If a student commits an act of academic integrity violation whether defined as above as “other
cases” or of a different nature, those cases shall also be forwarded to a departmental level
committee set for the purpose .The committee shall investigate the case by means of a viva and/or
a disciplinary hearing and shall take appropriate decision.
As per MEC policy, the minimum penalty that can be granted to a proven case of academic
integrity violation which falls in the category of “malpractice” or “other cases” is a fail in the
module. The student shall be required to re-register the module.
Late Submission Policy:
Students must reach their respective teachers to know specific details on submission and late submission
of assignments. For late submissions a penalty of 5 per cent of the mark achieved for that assessment will
be deducted for each working day. Assessment documents submitted beyond a period of one week after
the last date of submission will not be accepted and will be marked as zero for that assessment
Rules & Regulations
If any topic or diagram of an assignment is found copied from the other then marks will be deducted from
both assignments.
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Assignments with 3 or more identical topics will be awarded 0 Marks.
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