Internet Model for an Automotive Repair Shop

Internet Model for an Automotive Repair Shop

Student’s Name

Institutional Affiliation

You are to select 1 business that does not already have a Web site, and develop an Internet strategy for it. Most large corporations already have Web sites, so you may have to think of something on a smaller scale such as a local bike store. Sole proprietorship businesses that provide services like car repair, house cleaning, tax preparation, and that use the Internet and similar services are also good options. You will also consider and describe how the business that you select can use social media to achieve its objectives. Use the Internet and the library to research and analyze markets and competitors.

After selecting a business, you will need to answer the following questions:

What Internet business model would be appropriate for the company to follow in creating a Web site and why?

In what ways can the business benefit from a Web site? What functions should it perform for the company (e.g., marketing, sales, customer support, internal communications, etc.)?

In what other ways might the company use the Internet for its own benefit?

Prepare functional specifications for the company’s use of the Web and the Internet. Include links to and from other sites in your design.

Prepare a list of technological specifications for implementation (e.g., what hardware and software are necessary to support your design)?

Abstract

The business that the paper will consider is an automotive repair shop that offers car repair services and sale of spare parts and tires. In establishing an internet strategy for the business, it would be ideal to consider various questions such as the nature of the most appropriate business model, the benefits that the company is deemed to gain, and the technical specifications among other aspects. There are various internet business models each based upon certain skills and certain sets of responsibilities. Each of the models offers an array of benefits, and there is thus need to comprehend the kind of website functionality necessary for the sites and principally which factors can provide definite competencies based on the expenditures.

Internet Model for a Car Repair Business

There are three primary internet business models. These are namely product sales, service sales, and information delivery (Stair & Reynolds, 2013). For this automotive repair shop, a mixed approach of two of the three business models namely product and service sales. Apart from repairing automobiles and tires, which falls into the category of service sales, the shop can also include product sales by which it can sell tires. These models can be employed in creating an internet strategy in which the on shop operates as a virtual storefront. Under this approach, the website can contain information about the inventory of the tires, as well as their specifications and price. From here, customers can look at the company’s stock and buy their specific items, which can then be delivered to them. Customers can pay their bills without having to go to the shop, which can be a distance from their location. There can also be an option of a physical location through which customers can have their purchased tires fixed on their vehicles. The small automotive repair shop would possibly benefit from increased sales and customer service efficiency as the website would help to boost the sale of products and service delivery (Stair & Reynolds, 2013). Besides promoting the product and services sales function, the company can use the internet in online marketing, communication, and contracting suppliers as well as receiving orders from customers.

The intended website for the automotive repair shop would feature various functional specifications such as search engine optimization, navigation, and content (Jones, 2014). This would utilize tools such as use-case scenarios, storyboards, affinity diagrams, mockups, wireframes, and simple narrative documents. These would be useful in illustrating user interactions linking them to the necessary input and output information on the website. Overall, building functional specifications is a crucial step in user-centric and object-oriented designs (Jones, 2014). They are valuable in understanding functionality, behavior, and structure, as well as offering an operative format for presenting the information to the developers.

Ideally, various technical specifications might be needed in establishing the internet strategy. These include both hardware and software. Examples of hardware requirements for this network include routers, cables, media converters, racks, firewalls, and switches (Jones, 2014). Software requirements may include applications such as Microsoft Windows 7, Microsoft Windows Server 2008, Microsoft Office Pro, Adobe Acrobat, Sage Peachtree Quantum, Quick Books Enterprise Solution, SysAid, LBE Help Desk, EndNote X3, AdRem Net Crunch 8, and HRA HRIS among others (Jones, 2014).

References

Jones, C. B. (2014). Geographical information systems and computer cartography. Abingdon, UK: Routledge.

Stair, R., & Reynolds, G. (2013). Principles of information systems. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.