Review of a local e-commerce site

One of the well known e-commerce site in Malaysia is Airasia.com. It is the first low fare airline in Malaysia which has grown to be one of the most prominent and bright airline company in South East Asia. AirAsia.com offers flight to destinations like within Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, China, Philippines, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Myanmar.

Besides offering offering flights to the above said destinations, users can preorder their food online for the flight to enjoy 20% discount on the actual food price on board. Besides that AirAsia.com also offers other travel services, for example “GoHoliday, GoCar, Gohostel and GoMedic”
On the home page of AirAsia.com, there is an option where consumers can choose for the language that they prefer and destination which they are from. These options reflect the “user-friendliness” of AirAisa.com that enables consumers to be able to access AirAsia.com that are part of AirAsia.com’s success.
The search engine for ticketing services provided by AirAsia.com is useful and specific. It has the option of “single or return” flight. It then require user to key in the origin and destination that the user are planning to go. Then user keys in the date that of the departure and arrival of their flight, and choose the numbers of tickets they which to book. The search engine will then scope down to the tickets that are available from the information that users provided.
The success of this e-commerce site needs no explanations as it is the leading low cost fare site in South East Asia and it is recently named the “World’s 50 most innovative company” by Fast Company. The success of AirAsia originates from the success of their e-commerce site that enables them to slash cost and then pioneers them to be at the top of the trade.

E-Government in Malaysia

Implementation

The implementation of e-government stared since the initiation of Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) by government in 1996. The have many e-government successful applications such as Electronic Labour Exchange(ELX), e-filling of income tax forms, SMS alert on e-government service, online renewal of driving licenses and other application.

Problem and Solusion

However, citizen are faced some common problem with the e-government. E-government is lack of public awareness. 60 % of the public are not aware of the services offered. Citizens do not know what applications are offered by the government. To solve this problem, government needs to do more promotion in order to increase the citizen usage of e-government application. Government can have advertisement in television, newspaper and have campaign.

Citizen online behavior also is one of problem with the e-government. Malaysian still remains skeptical on e-transaction especially on online banking and buying from internet store. There will affect citizens do not have trust on e-government. Government need to do workshop at shopping mall about how the e-government operate to increase their trustiness with e-government.

Besides this, some part of citizens are faced language barrier problem. Most of the government website had in Bahasa Malaysia in pass. There had become a problem to users who cannot understand Bahasa Malaysia. However, there have English version now. This is a good solution to be friendly to all users.

Corporate Blogging

Corporate blogging has become popular among the organization. Corporate blogging giving established companies and obscure brands alike the ability to connect with their audiences on a more personal level, build trust, collect valuable feedback and foster strengthened business relationships. More importantly, these companies are enjoying tangible returns in their blogging investment in the form of increased sales, partnerships, business opportunities, press coverage and lead generation.

There is a list of business blogging company in http://www.socialtext.net/bizblogs/index.cgi . Phil Mooney, historian/archivist for The Coca-Cola Company for the last 30 years has create the blog for the organization . In the Coca-Cola Conversations blog, he share information on a wide variety of topics, ranging from brand history to the value of collectibles. However, the blog only works if there is a two-way dialogue. He has encourage viewer to give comment by using a friendly statment as 'So please share your personal perspectives on the themes presented. I look forward to chatting with you'. This make people feel confortable when viewing the blog and viewer to ask question and will get reply directly from the Phil Mooney. This may increase of customer satisfaction and create a good relationship with consumer as well as viewer.

Nothing is perfect including corporate blogging. It's still has pros and cons as below.

Pros:

• Leaders can communicate directly with customers, suppliers and investors, as well as employees, helping disseminate and explain strategy.
• Be more accessible.
• Create a searchable archive of thoughts and ideas.
• Employees' questions and feedback will be permanently recorded on a blog
• Blogs give the writer an opportunity to answer critics in a controlled forum.
• Compared with conference or printed memos to all staff, blogs are highly cost effective.
• A well written blog can give a human face to an otherwise anonymous corporation.

Cons:

• Need to master a new style of communicating.
• Creates an expectation that you will post regularly.
• Puts the CEO “out there” and writing ability and though process will be scrutinized—at least initially.
• The writing can be difficult unless the CEO loves to write (in which case this becomes a positive)
• The best non-corporate blogs are spontaneous and genuine. Poorly written corporate blogs can look fake -- or perhaps worse, they reveal incompetence on he part of the writer.
• It is difficult for executives to write freely, particularly at listed companies where they are legally required to publish significant information to all investors at the same time.
• There is a risk that an ill-judged comment could be seized upon by the media or disgruntled investors.
  

Prevention of E-auction Fraud

E-auction can be defined as a market mechanism by which sellers place offers and buyers make bids which conducted online and is characterized by the competitive and dynamic nature by which the final product is reached. There are many information available to both buyers and sellers in this market such as prices, product, current supply and demand. Example for e-auction is http://www.lelong.com.my/.

Since the buyers cannot look at the items directly, they may get defective items. The fraud rate are become higher and higher. To protect the buyers and sellers in the e-auction, there are several measures in an effort to reduce fraud. Following are action to prevent e-auction fraud:

Authentication service is used to determine whether an item is genuine and described appropriately. Authentication is very difficult to perform because it needs training and experience. So, only the experts can detect the counterfeits based on subtle detail.

Escrow Services is a licensed and regulated company. They collect, holds, and send a buyer’s money to the seller according to instructions agreed on by the buyer and seller. Once the buyer receives the items and approved, the escrow service will sends the payment to the seller within the agreed time frame. Example for an escrow services is http://www.iescrow.com/.

User identify verification is a program that use to verify the user identity. For example, eBay uses Equifax services to verify the user identities. Verified eBay User is a voluntary program that encourages users to provide eBay with the information for online verification. By offering their MyCard number, driver’s license number, and date of birth, users can qualify for the highest level of verification on eBay.

Feedback forum is to allow the buyers and sellers to build up their online trading reputation. It also provides the user with ability to comment on their experiences with other.

Nonpayment punishment is to protect the sellers. For example, eBay implemented a policy against those does not honor their winning bids. There will be friendly warning for the first time nonpayment. In the second time, they will issue sterner warning. There will be 30-days suspension for the third offense and the indefinite suspension for the fourth offense.

Appraisal services are a variety of methods used to appraise items. This including expert assessment of authenticity and condition and reviewing what comparable items have sold for in the marketplace in recent months. However, it is only useful at the time appraisal done since the market products changing rapidly.

Verification is a way to confirm the identity and evaluate the condition of an item. Neutral third parties will evaluate and identity an item through a variety of means.

Credit Card debts: cause and prevention

Credit card is a card issue for issuer leads money to the consumer to pay later to the merchant. When it is used properly is convenient. However, if abused, credit card can be the start of a years-long nightmare and stress.

Causes

Credit card debt can be causes by carrying a balance, though, is very costly. There will have high interest rate and minimum payment rate per month (usually about 2% of the balance).

Second causes are having a poor money management. Holders might have debt with the card issuer which is over their ability to pay. A monthly spending is essential to acknowledge holders where the money is going. They may be spending some unnecessarily money each month and end up having to charge purchases on which should have spent that money.

Beside this, saving too little or not at all also is one of the causes of credit card. The simplest way to avoid unwanted debt is to prepare for unexpected expenditure by saving three to six months of living expenses. With saving, job layoff, illness and so on will not cause immediate financial strain and increase of debt.

Prevention

The prevention for credit card debt is establishing a budget and follows that budget. For instance, don’t be tempted to charge plasma TV to credit card when haven’t budgeted for it this months.

Carry a credit card balance for no longer than six months. This is due to simple interest can produce a very expensive balance to pay off. It is help credit card balance getting more.

Beside apply a credit card, when you credit card interest rate is excessive try to get a low interest credit card. The better the credit card, the lower the rate for which you will qualify.

Application of Pre-paid Cash Card for consumers

What is a pre-paid card? Actually, pre-paid card is like a credit or debit card. The pre-paid cash card is a card that you can use to make purchases by just swap the card on the counter.

Since it is a prepaid card, you need to put money on the card which you can reload at the retail location where you pruchared the card or directly deposit of your checks. Besides, some of the pre-paid cash card can do over the phone or online before you using the card to do any purchases. You can continually put money onto the card if you want to, but you cannot spend more than the balance you have left.

Pre-paid cash cards provide a lot of benefits to the consumers. Pre-paid cash cards applications are best used by consumers who have a poor credit record or by young children. This is because, if the consumer has a poor credit record, the consumer may not be eligible for a credit card, as the credit card companies will not want to take the risk on lending money.

As for younger people, parents can get their kids used to using financial products by getting them pre-paid cash cards and putting money on it, however only in a small increment, which allows them to manage their money and use a cash card from a young age with no danger of getting into debt as you are not allowed to spend more than the balance you have on the card.

Besides that, by using pre-paid cash card consumers can bring less cash to shopping. With this, they no need to worry that the cash being stole by others. With pre-paid cash cards, you are protected from unauthorized transaction if the card is lost or stolen. Furthermore, the cards can be replaced if lost or stolen.


There are few example of the pre-paid cash card, such as, Touch n Go which normally use in major public transports, highways and selected parking sites in Malaysia. EZ-Link cards are another example which is used in Singapore. Another example is Octopus card that used in Hong Kong. It like Touch n Go card, however it can be used in more area compared to Touch n Go. So, most of the Hong Kong person are using this card because it very convenience.

Electronic Currency - Beenz.com

Electronic currency also known as electronic money which refers to money or scrip which is exchanged only electronically. Typically, this involves use of computer networks, internet and digital stored value system

Beenz.com was a web site that allowed consumers to earn beenz, a type of online currency, for performing activities such as visiting a Web site, shopping online, or logging on through an Internet service provider. The beenz e-currency could then be spent online with participating Web merchants around the world. Beenz.com, originally founded in 1998, will close offices in Europe and Asia, but will keep its New York offices open in order to manage the sale of its assets.At the height of its operations in 2000, Beenz employed 265 in offices worldwide.

There are some hints over beenz will not stay long as two of the company's top executives - CEO Charles Cohen and president Don Maguire quit their post and joint venture operations in Japan, China, Korea and Italy were shuttered.

When beenz is closing down, the company is giving its customers a 10-day notice. The Beenz.com home page says that any beenz remaining in a member's account after 12:01 am (EST) on August 26th will be invalidated and the member will not be entitled to any compensation of the invalidated beenz.