Global E-Commerce: Business Plan for Online Book Retailers

E-Business Plan

Prepared 16 April 2010

Submitted by: Danny O’Mara u114690

Contents 1. Executive Summary 3 2. Business Description 3 3. Market Analysis 4 3.1. Customers 4 3.2. Pricing 5 3.3. Payment 5 3.4. Competition 5 4. Operations 6 4.1. Marketing & Promotion 6 4.2. Management and Staffing 7 4.3. Hardware & Software 8 4.4. Risks 9 5. Financials 10 5.1. Developmental Costs 10 5.2. Operational Costs 10 5.3. Sales & Marketing Costs 11 5.4. Revenue Model 11 5.5. Profit and Loss Forecasts 12 6. Timeline 13 7. Conclusion 13 8. Bibliography 14 9. Appendices 15

1.
Executive Summary
There is a strong future in the sale of electronic books (e-books). In its Global Entertainment and Media Outlook 2008-2012, PricewaterhoureCoopers predicts that whilst they will not threaten traditional book sales, in countries like the United Kingdom, sales of e-books will increase and be worth $386m USD by 2012 (PricewaterhoureCoopers, 2008, p. 663). notaprintedbook.com is an online (e-book) website, which allows users to download and access a wide range of fiction and non-fiction books in different electronic formats. Users can download e-books to PCs, mobile phones and PDAs as well as read them online.
The following business plan will outline the market analysis, pricing, management structure; risks; and financials to explore the proposition of launching this Australian based business into the United Kingdom. 2. Business Description notaprintedbook.com is a wholly online e-book retailer that allows users to download and/or store text on “my books”, an online directory which bookmarks all the items you have purchased, sorted by genre or author. This means that the customer has no need to use up memory on their computer, PDA, e-book reader or smart phone. It also means that books are accessible from sources that are not usually the users, such as an internet cafe, as no additional

Bibliography: ACT Insurance Authoirty. (2004, February). Guide to Rick Management. Retrieved April 1, 2010, from Treausry ACT: http://www.treasury.act.gov.au/actia/Guide.doc Advertising Web Service Beck, J. (2007). The sales effect of word of mouth: a model for creative goods and estimates for novels. Journal of cultural economics , 31 (1), 5-23. Book Marketing Limited. (2008). Sizing the UK Book Market. Retrieved April 1, 2010, from Book Marketing Limited Web site: http://www.bookmarketing.co.uk/index.cfm/asset_id,885/index.html Dholakia, R Frisch, M. (2010, January 1). Digital piracy hits the e-book industry. Retrieved April 1, 2010, from CNN: http://edition.cnn.com/2010/TECH/01/01/ebook.piracy/index.html Laudon, K Maneker, M. (2010, January 15). Is Book Piracy Booming? Retrieved April 1, 2010, from The Big Money: http://www.thebigmoney.com/blogs/goodnight-gutenberg/2010/01/15/book-piracy-booming Personnel Today PricewaterhoureCoopers. (2008). Global Entertaiment and Media Outlook: 2008-2012. New York: PricewaterhoureCoopers. Reserve Bank of Australia. (2010). Exchange Rate Data, Monthly Data. Retrieved April 1, 2010, from Reserve Bank of Australia: http://www.rba.gov.au/statistics/hist-exchange-rates/2007-2009.xls Society - Internet Access WorldSalaries.org. (2005). Total Personal Average Income - International Comparison . Retrieved April 1, 2010, from Worldsalaries.org: http://www.worldsalaries.org/total-personal-income.shtml 9 Sourced from the ACT Insurance Authority’s Guide to Risk Management. (ACT Insurance Authoirty, 2004) -------------------------------------------- [ 1 ]. Conversion used data from the Reserve Bank of Australia (Reserve Bank of Australia, 2010)