The e-commence solutions of Dell, Inc. essay
The purpose of this essay is to discuss the e-commence solutions of Dell, Inc. and competitive advantages brought by e-commerce into business. Dell, Inc. is probably one of the most successful pioneers of e-commerce. The company launched its online operations in the middle of 1990s, and by early 2000s, 25% of the company’s sales were taking place due to e-commerce (Plunkett, 2007). The reason of such immense success of Dell online presence is the same build-on-order principle which made the company popular among customers before its online start. Dell offers both B2C and B2B online ordering, with the possibility to request the necessary configuration. The company also delivers the offers in a remarkable time: 80% of the products are delivered within 36 hours, and about 50% of them are assembled within 8 hours (Plunkett, 2007). For business customers, the company offers customized web-interfaces and special pricing decisions (Ignatiuk, 2009). In addition to this, corporate customers receive the possibilities to track and control their orders during the whole delivery time (McIvor, 2010). There are many corporate clients of Dell who choose it because of speed, quality and pricing.
It is possible to state that e-commerce created a significant competitive advantage for Dell. Until 2006-2007, it was one of the leaders of e-business (Jelassi & Enders, 2008); currently, HP is also well-performing in online sales, and thus Dell experiences significant competition. However, due to its direct sales strategy, Dell benefits from e-commerce more than the organizations working with retailers. Dell also partners with retailers, but direct-to-customer sales still remain its main source of revenue.
In general, e-commerce successfully fits into Dell business model: it allows to establish direct connection between customers and the company, increases productivity and speed of delivery, gives access to new customer segments, and provides new options for customers. Thus, the statements of Louis Gerstner on e-commerce is more than true with respect to Dell. It is likely that Dell will use its online channels even more intensively in future since it is planning to expand into new markets and broaden its scope of operations.
