Mini-Project Assignment 2 Customer Relationship Management and Essay

Mini-Project Assignment 2 Customer Relationship Management and E-Commerce Strategies - Essay Example The e-commerce components, meanwhile, are seen as effective in extending the relationship experience from the physical stores to the web, complete with orders and payments processing. These latter components too, can be seen from the overarching perspective of the websites executing on good strategies for managing customer relationships (Google, 2013; Google; 2013b; Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, 2004; Starbucks Corporation, 2013). II. Introduction The discussion here centers on comparing and contrasting the major activities focusing on the customers of both Starbucks and Green Mountain Coffee Roasters within their respective websites. This is done in light of how those customer-focused online activities are backed by information technology, and in light of being able to identify the e-commerce applications as well as the CRM strategies that work well for both sites (Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, 2004; Starbucks Corporation, 2013). III. ... That countries foot print for Starbucks is complemented by a large number of stores, totaling more than 18,000, with about half owned by the company and half being franchises. Looking at the financials, both have managed to do well over the recent years, but over a longer-term horizon of five years, one can see that Green Mountain Coffee Roasters’ share prices have been on a rollercoaster ride, while Starbucks’ share price has steadily improved over that period. Starbucks also has a market capitalization that is six times that of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (Google, 2013; Google; 2013b; Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, 2004; Starbucks Corporation, 2013). IV. Comparison and Contrast Looking at the two sites at their Home Pages, one can see that there is a decidedly product focus for the two websites, with some highlighted products being front and center in large images in the two sites. The exception is that in the case of Starbucks, there are links to engage the custo mer or visitor to the site on Facebook, Twitter, and what Starbucks calls My Starbucks Idea, which is a kind of forum where customers can share their ideas for products and experiences, and talk to other customers. Here we see a major set of customer interaction activities that, in comparison to Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, is more robust and also front and center together with the products. Green Mountain Coffee in contrast has a more prominent focus on products on their Home Page, with no links for social media and forums present except for a provision for signing up to an email list. The social media interactions and the forum interactions provided by Starbucks can be considered