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DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF ONLINE MARKETING INFORMATION SYSTEM (CASE STUDY OF VINCO CITY SUPERMARKET)

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Abstract

This project work termed “Design and implementation of an online marketing information management system” is aimed providing greater efficiency, accuracy and speed in all their processing operation, good public relations and improve services to users. The software was designed to eliminate the problems found in the existing system which includes: Poor information circulation leads to loss of customers, as the customers may be unaware of changes effected or if they could not obtain most of the time, the quantity of products they need, it takes a long time to process transactions and this leads to delay in the delivery of the products, mistakes are made in the invoice given to customers, and difficulty in determining when the branch is running out of stock. The methodology used is Structured System Analysis and Design Methodology (SSADM) because each phase must be complete in its entirety before the next phase can begin. The choice of language adopted is Visual Basic programming languag

1.1 Background of the Study

The Internet has its origins in cold war and technological rivalry between USSR and US. In fact “while the World Wide Web was created in 1991, its origin dates back to 1957 when the Soviet Union launched the Sputnik I satellite” (Dickey & Lewis, 2012). US reacted with establishment a department of Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) which launched in 1960s ARPANET, an experimental project of computer networks from which what we now know as internet developed. Since then internet contributed to science incredibly and “by the late 1980s the internet was being used by many government and business institutions” (Ferguson, 2018).

So internet was considered an inclusive communicative tool of scientific and research centers for several years and its academic function was its dominant prior to discovering its commercial capabilities which led to its commercialization. As Newman (2017) puts it: “until the mid-nineties, the research and academic communities accounted for most of the internet population but the commercialization of internet soon gained enormous momentum and the business community quickly became aware of the potential it has to offer”. With increasing the number of internet users during the 1990s, entrepreneurs started to appreciate commercial prospects of this new medium. Although there is no complete consensus on when did internet marketing exactly start, but the majority of commentators refer to 1994. So it is widely held that “significant commercial use of the Internet began with the first ?banner ads‘ on web pages in 1994, and the appearance of Internet-based ?malls‘ (the electronic equivalent of a storefront) such as Amazon.com in 1995”.

Statistics make it clear that this young marketplace, online marketing, has had an astonishing rate of growth. So amazing is the growth rate of this new paradigm of marketing that it is hard to believe how young it is. In fact “in 1994, spending for internet marketing totaled nearly nothing, but increased to over $300 million in 1995. After a decade later, marketing spending and internet marketing business has exploded to nearly $500 billion (according to Forrester Research). Today, it‘s hard to believe in having an organization which doesn‘t have some kind of online presence” (Newman, 2017). This brief historic background is concluded by pointing to the fact that step by step online marketing has become a much more sophisticated practice. So early methods of internet marketing such as online advertising and email marketing has been followed by more younger, developed methods such as search engine optimization or social media marketing.

What is Online Marketing?

Chaffey (2017) simply define internet marketing as “the application of the internet and related digital technologies to achieve marketing objectives”. This definition is a simple definition which, unlike the following ones, does not touch the important aspect of customer relationship. According to Kotler (2014), online marketing consists of measures and activities to promote products and services and build relationships with customers over the Internet. Burrett (2018) understands online marketing as – carefully targeting users and getting them to interact with you while they‘re engaged with the most personal, intimate medium ever invented. The most comprehensive definition has been articulated by Chaffey (2017), he defines online marketing as – Applying Digital technologies which form online channels (Web, e-mail, databases, plus mobile/wireless & digital TV) to contribute to marketing activities aimed at achieving profitable acquisition and retention of customers (within a multi-channel buying process and customer lifecycle) through improving our customer knowledge (of their profiles, behavior, value and loyalty drivers), then delivering integrated targeted communications and online services that match their individual needs. As this relationship concept definitions show online marketing revolve around interaction and building relationship with customers, a point which discriminates it from traditional, offline marketing.

 

 

 

• Statement of the Problems

Some of the problems observed in the existing system are:

1. Poor information circulation: poor information circulation leads to loss of customers, as the customers may be unaware of changes effected or if they could not obtain most of the time, the quantity of products they need.
2. It takes a long time to process transactions and this leads to delay in the delivery of the products.

• Mistakes are made in the invoice given to customers.

1. Difficulty in determining when the branch is running out of stock.
2. The control system is time consuming, less accurate and less efficient.
3. Not having enough and accurate inventory system which may lead to profit loss.

• Data loss to simple accidents like rodent attacks, fire outbreaks etc. due to lack of backup.

 

1.3 Aim and Objectives of the Study

The principle aim of this project is to develop and implement an online marketing information management system that will be useful to business owners, with the following objectives:

1. To create a platform for businesses to reach a wider audience and increase sales and profits.
2. To clearly distinguish between marketing research and marketing intelligence.

• To gather sort, analyze, evaluate, and distribute needed, timely, and accurate information to marketing decision makers.

1. To develop a general purpose store where consumers can find products and services from the comfort of home through the Internet.
2. To implement an online virtual store on the Internet where customers can browse the catalog and select products of interest.
3. To ensure data security by restricting access to the program and to the database.

• To ensure easy access and retrieval of data in the program.

 

 

 

• Significance of the Study

The essence of the design and implementation of an online marketing information management system are as follows;

1. It would help managers to forecast changes in product demand, increase selling productivity and exercise control over sales and distribution expenses.
2. The newly design system would interact with the marketing managers or rather information users to assess information needs.

• It would help managers to analyze information to put in the right from making marketing decisions and managing customer relationship.

1. The MIS distributes the marketing information and helps managers use it in their decision making.
2. The design of the system would provide jobs for system analyst and programmers contacted to build the system for companies.
3. Finally, research project would serve as reference material to other scholars interested to further research on this topic.

 

1.5 Scope of the Study

This research project is restricted to the “implementation of online marketing information management system” using Vinco City Supermarket, No. 208 Nnebisi Road, Opp. GTBank, Asaba as a case study. Data used for the study were gathered from this source.

 

1.6 Limitations of Study

In the course of carrying out this research work a number of problems were encountered.

1. Lack of adequate fund to finance the project: this was another limitation to this work because much money is needed to carry out a detailed research work which is not easily borne by every student.
2. The limited knowledge of ASP.net and Visual Basic programming was great challenge to this project. However, more research was made to complete this project successfully.

 

 

1.7 Definition of Terms

Automation: it is the replacement of human workers by technology; a system in which a workplace or processes has been converted to one that replaced or ministries human labor with electronic or mechanical equipment.

Business: A business is defined as an organization or enterprising entity engaged in commercial, industrial, or professional activities.

Customer Relation: Customer relations describes the ways that a company will engage with its customers to improve the customer experience.

Data processing: it is defined as the entire process of converting or manipulating data into definite meaningful information (Adigwe, & Okoye, 2015).

Data Security: Data security prevents unauthorized users from viewing or updating the database by the use of passwords.

Data: is any collections of vital information that meant to be processed.

Database Management System (DBMS): it is software which controls the flow of data and checks and checks on how data are stored.

Database: is an organized /unique collection of related files. It is a collection of schemas, tables, queries, reports, views and other object.

Design: is the art or process of designing how something will look, work.

Documentation: material that provides official information or evidence that serves as record; written specifications and information that describes the product.

Information: is a processed data that can be read and understand.

Internet: The Internet is a global wide area network that connects computer systems across the world.

Management: it is act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively. It includes planning, organizing, staffing, leading or directing, and controlling an organization or a system to accomplish a goal.

Market Research: Is a formal systematic collection recording, analyzing and reporting of data aimed at solving problem.

Marketing Intelligence: Is a set of procedures and data sources used by marketing managers to gift information from the environment that they can sue in their decision making.

Marketing: Marketing is the process of teaching consumers why they should choose your product or service over those of your competitors, and is a form of persuasive communication.

Promotion Channels: In marketing, promotion refers to any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or issue.

Security: This helps to prevent unauthorized users from illegally accessing certain data within the database, it protects your data/ files.

Software: is a program or a set of programs written to carry out some task in the computer, it also perform logical related programs that works together to control the hardware.

System: It is the collection of hardware and software, data information procedure and people.

Virtual Store: The virtual store is an online store that displays merchandise and an order form.