Dells Successful Use of the Internet as a Selling Channel Essay

dells Successful Use of the Internet as a interchange ChannelDell are currently the worlds number one PC supplier, a position inthe market they took from Compaq in April 2001. In short, thecomp boths success story is mainly down to their innovative directbusiness molding, which pays particular attention to the selling touchwhere Dell wholly bypasses all intermediaries and/or middlemen. This is because Michael Dell believed they add little if no value tothe end product, instead just gaining a considerable mark-up forselling the product. Hence, they became the first PC manufacturer tocompletely cut out retailers and instead sold customised computersdirectly to guests based on their exact specifications. Thisselling process began over the telephone and via catalogues but in1996 Dell embarked on Internet based selling on their officialwebsite, Dell.com, providing customers the opportunity to buydesktops, notebooks and servers directly from them. In order to king online commerce suc cessfully for any business, thebasic technology required is the installation of servers anddata-storage systems. The website Dell.com runs on industry standardDell PowerEdge servers. These powerful servers are backed up byDell/EMC fiber Channel storage. Dell is therefore equipped withbackup strategies in case any problems with the servers or softwareoccur and are experienced. This is crucial, as users may bugger off to viewthis distribution channel as unreliable if breakdowns are recurrentand could detract them from not only buying from Dell.com but fromanything from the company. According to company intrinsic metrics,Dell.com is one of the most responsive web sites on the Internet, withan average download time of 1 second for a page. That brieflyexplains the technology used to power the website however customerscan access it simply via an Internet browser, the most popular beingMicrosoft Internet Explorer and Netscape Explorer. Dells direct business model (can be seen on the pag e three) may besimple in theory however it is very complicated executing it inreality. Building PCs to order means that they must have the partsand components on hand to build a wide range of possiblespecifications over a short period of time (to ensure minimum timebetween order and manufacture). To complete these orders quickly,Dell must have first-rate manufacturing and ... ...ffective they are. Asmentioned, customer aid has also improved from an already highstandard even further. Dell has created many services online thatenables the customer to see the whole purchasing process clearly oncethey have made an order. It gives the customer the ability to trackthe progress of their order as it is produced and delivered, providingthem with constant feedback of delivery dates and productinformation. This 24-hour customer service and fast response timehelps Dell build a strong relationship with customers. References----------The key references handed in earlier referred to the two links down the stairs- http//www1.euro.dell.com/content/topics/global.aspx/corp/home?c= uk&l=en&s=corp- http//www1.us.dell.com/content/topics/global.aspx/corp/pressoffice/ en/2003/2003_10_20_rr_002?c=us&l=en&s=corpFurther websites were found with useful detail on Dells directselling model- http//www.internetretailer.com/article.asp?id=6717- http//www.microsoft.com/resources/casestudies/casestudy.asp?CaseStudy ID=14674- http//www1.us.dell.com/content/topics/global.aspx/policy/en/policy? c=us&l=en&s=gen&ck=lf§ion=006