With the advent of faster, better and more importantly cheaper technologies online iciness had a rampant development and all the major firms irrespective of its Industry orientation had Introduced e-commerce and e-business concept as an integral part of this business module. It is not just the product related orientation messages rather now-a-days websites and other e-business module ensures two-way communication, online ordering facility and online tracking of the parcel order.
Even though, the Importance of a 24*7 back office has diminished to an extent the major challenges businesses all across the world currently facing Is getting their takeovers specially the customers well acquainted with the e-business process since all the customers do not enjoy the equal footing on this technological affairs. Subway Is perhaps the most spread out restaurant chain shop with a USA origin selling sandwiches and salads (Beyond;Davies, 2004). The firm has operations In more than 92 countries with a fleet of over 37 thousand stores which maintains extremely effective nutrient and food quality.
Subway which used to be offline store Is getting extreme pressure from the external environment to become a fully-fledged inline business venture so that customers can order Its entire delicious menu from the internet which will save customer’s effort and time (Hoffman ; Novak, Bibb). Surely becoming an online business firm sounds to be a soothing affair but as a whole this is a huge capital budgeting process so all the affiliated pros and cons need to sort out appropriately (Amour, 1999). 1. Background of the study For some UK based product lines there is a provision for online marketing; as an example the Sub category which the most dominant is available for online order. But the snacks and in the Hall segment there is no such option. There are numerous stores In UK and for the sake of better research we have decided to concentrate on only two stores and two meals. We have picked out London based ( Gangway) store which offers hall food (hall is provided in limited stores only and Gangway store is one of them).
The store is situated in 75 Gangway, London and greater London, YWCA USSR. Ham and Bacon – these products are generally replaced with the Islam and other religion friendly “Turkey Ham” and “Turkey Rashers” respectively In the hall stores but these offerings are not yet ready for online sale. For another store we eave selected the busiest business center of UK – Canary Wharf which is the financial capital of the world. The Subway Is situated In South Quay Plaza Unit B, Harbor Island London, London ; Greater London, EYE SSH.
Within the snacks category we have selected the very popular and delicious Pepperoni Pizza Toasts which is not offered online. Though out the research we will try to focus on the online business I OFF Rationale of the research study As mentioned earlier the business environment around us is changing quickly to be more precise it is changing very quickly in deed since all the previous beliefs and all he previous time and zonal boundaries of business is getting blurred with the advent of internet based technologies (Beyond-Davies, 2004).
Earlier we need to think about bounded rationality but with time we people are trying to be rational with no boundaries (Amour, 1999). Online marketing paves the way for easy, efficient, paper- free and less cost and more convenient shopping experience. But one needs to think about the supply side issues also (Paul, 2000). This research paper is certainly going to put light on the online marketing prospects and challenges for a food company ND lessons to be taught will be useful in different sphere of life. 1. Development of research idea, question, objectives and hypothesis Research aim: The researcher wants to pinpoint the appropriate online marketing tools for selected I-J based Subway outlets. Research questions: * What is current level of online marketing engagement in case of Subway? What are the impediments for Subway towards becoming a full-fledged online marketer? * How can mass-awareness about Subways online offerings be enhanced? * How online marketing programs can be made more effective for the existing customers of Subway? How online marketing programs can be made more effective for the potential customers of Subway?
Research objectives: * To pinpoint the current level of online marketing engagement in case of Subway * To locate the impediments for Subway towards becoming a full-fledged online marketer * To fix up online marketing programs which will be more effective for the existing customers of Subway * To fix up online marketing programs which will be more effective for the potential customers of Subway Hypothesis: The core focus of the research is going to be on Subway store’s marketing strategy to increase its inline sale on some selected stores.
Hypothesis testing is a statistical procedure which verifies the authenticity of any pre-established statement made up regarding the research area of interest. So, in our case any formed up null hypothesis need to focus more on the impact of online marketing program on attracting newer customers and retaining the older ones. From this very prodigy we have built up two hypotheses regarding the potential financial feasibility of online based marketing endeavors.
Null hypothesis 1: Investment in online marketing will not be effective in attracting new customers. Alternative hypothesis 1: Investment in online marketing will be effective in attracting new customers. Null hypothesis 2: Investment in online marketing will not be effective in retaining old customers. Alternative hypothesis 2: Investment in online marketing will be effective in retaining old customers. 1. 5.
Research Access, Limitations & Resources All the recommendations and suggestions which have been made by the researcher will hold good only for the I-J based Subway stores. To be more accurate some of the recommendations are very much location specific – only valid for the two means not offered in the online format of the above mentioned two Subway stores. Conduction of similar research using the similar methodology may result in completely different with online business actually the scope of the research is pretty limited.
There are several structural limitations of the study. Since there had been resource shortages we have to depend on small size so actually we have squeezed the access of full proof research validity. Even though the researcher had tried to be very careful with the data collected there remains some systematic and unsystematic sampling errors ND biases in the data set. For conducting the research there needed to be some basic capabilities and abilities like the conceptual skill, report writing skill and analytical skill.
There had been some lacking in terms of the skill requirements but through the course of report conduction these abilities really grew up. 1. 6 Outline of the research The literature review portion of the research is going to present important key notes related with online business – the true meaning of online business, the ways to make online marketing even more effective, online marketing tools.
The research methodology portion of the study is going to present the research design, the research approach, the research philosophies and the basic logic against the researcher’s choice. The analysis portion of the project paper has delineated all the key numerical and non-numerical concepts and the discussion portion of the study has largely been the comparison of the academic literary findings and the ongoing research findings. Finally the recommendation portion of the study has presented the key suggestions for improving the online business of Subway.
