Free Paper on Start an Online Business: Key Points for Retail Operations Management

Online businesses are businesses that conduct their commercial transactions, which include marketing, selling, and exchange of products and services between the business and the customer. People venturing into online businesses need to understand the industry, including understanding the opportunities and challenges of operating their businesses online. Retail operations management is among the businesses that can be run online. The owners of the business need to know the salient points that will help in dealing with the challenges likely to experience and identify opportunities they need to utilize and grow their businesses. Online businesses are emerging technologies that businesses can exploit to grow and expand to more customers.

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There are salient points that people need to know when venturing into their retail operations managements are run online to enable the person to know the things to do and the things not to do. The salient points include the things to care about because of the risks involved. There are risks associated with running of business online (Xu, 2016). The online risks include cyber-attacks where the information of the business, including money, where the payments are made online. The cyber-threats can cause the business to close down when money and data are stolen and destroyed, denying the business the opportunity to offer its products and services to its customers. Knowing the risks of operating the business online will help the businessman incorporate measures that secure the business from cyber-attacks.

The businessman needs to have information technology skills that will help people cope with the challenges experienced while using online technologies to transact. Technology keeps on changing; hence having the skills enables businessman to apply their skills to trade without having to hire experts in technology (Belew & Elad, 2020). The skills will also enable the person to avoid falling into the trap of scammers and other cyber criminals who might take advantage of the lack of skills of the businessman to steal and offer competition. Challenges faced by businesses that operate online are different from the challenges of businesses that are run traditionally through physical premises.

Retail operations management is a service business that offers logistics such as customer service, money handling, and staff management, among other functions. Branding of the business is a salient point that the businessman needs to know and understand how to create and grow the brand of the business (Xu, 2016). Having a brand makes it easy to market the business because the customers are concerned about a brand that has a good rating in terms of being able to meet their needs and demands. Having a brand also helps in marketing the business to potential customers who will rely on reviews from other customers. The brand will help the business incur fewer expenses of marketing.

Another point is that the businessman needs to know the features of the website where the business will be run. The development of the website needs to consider the usability of the website by the customers and the business employees. Businessmen need to know the technologies that the customer will use to access online business platforms (Lohmann et al., 2019). Different technologies will require the website to be customized for easy access. The ease of access to the business but the customer will determine the chances of the business's success. Customers need to access information on the services they want from the business as easily as possible to ensure the customer does not change their mind about purchasing the services.

The businessman also needs to know that there is a need to hire a cybersecurity expert who will regularly review the vulnerabilities of the business to cyber threats and fix the vulnerable areas to keep the business secure (Lohmann et al., 2019). The expert will also review the use of business technologies and recommend the appropriate action to take to improve the technologies for better use by all the stakeholders. The expert will represent the businessman by guiding the users of the system in areas where they experience challenges when they are getting services from the company.

The businessman also needs to know the target audience of the Retail Operations Management venture to help tailor-made websites and other online platforms in a way that the target audience will get the marketing ads (Belew & Elad, 2020). Online marketing is different from traditional marketing; hence understanding the target market will help the businessman use platforms where the customers will get the ads. The online platforms will also be designed in a manner that the target audience will understand how the business works.

The businessman also needs to recognize the importance of hiring competent people to do the work. The businessman will have to hire employees, including customer service officers, who will guide the customers on the kind of services the business offers and how the customers can get the service (Belew & Elad, 2020). The online support service is offered at all times because the business deals with customers from all walks of life. There are people who prefer consulting at night; hence the business needs to be always offered to guide the customers.

The businessman is the sole proprietor of the Retail Operations Management online business; hence he is the single source founder of all the costs that the business will incur to set up and operate (Lohmann et al., 2019). The businessman will need to have a budget for the resources that will be required to ensure the business does not get stuck while being set up due to a lack of resources. Resources will be required to facilitate the running of the business before breaking even. Financial plans help in making estimates of the resources that the business will require to run.

Before venturing into the business, the businessman needs to be conversant about the regulations and laws that guide the operations, including licensing. All businesses, whether operating online or on physical location, require a license (Xu, 2016). The license can be obtained through the online application, but before that, the entrepreneur needs to determine the legal structure of the business as well as the details of the business activities. Additionally, a sales tax license and other inspections and permits are required.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the salient points will help the businessman overcome the challenges likely to face while learning the online retail operations management venture. The points will help the businessman know the key areas that require keen concentration because of the risks involved and the actions to take to prevent the risks. Retail Operations Management requires one to have the necessary knowledge of business demands that the customers need to be satisfied. The points provide the necessary knowledge that is required to run a successful online business. The salient points also help the businessman to know and prepare for the challenges likely to experience running an online business.

References

Belew, S., & Elad, J. (2020). Starting an online business all-in-one for dummies. John Wiley & Sons. https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=lCjTDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA3&dq=Belew,+S.,+%26+Elad,+J.+(2020).+Starting+an+online+business+all-in-one+for+dummies.+John+Wiley+%26+Sons.&ots=nWgnshHtmz&sig=Pdvl7NByiWhoRL0BGg67pUZ2xIY

Lohmann, G., Pratt, M. A., Benckendorff, P., Strickland, P., Reynolds, P., & Whitelaw, P. A. (2019). Online business simulations: Authentic teamwork, learning outcomes, and satisfaction. Higher Education, 77(3), 455-472.

Xu, J. (2016). Empirical studies in online retail operations and dynamic pricing. https://dspace.lib.cranfield.ac.uk/handle/1826/15046