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- Creators: Department of Finance
- Creators: Sanford, Adriana
Description
E-commerce has rapidly become a mainstay in today's economy, and many websites have built themselves around providing a platform for independent sellers. Sites such as Etsy, Storenvy, Redbubble, and Society6 are increasingly popular options for anyone looking to open their own online store. With this project, I attempted to examine the effects of four different marketing techniques on sales in an online store. I opened a shop on Etsy and tracked sales in connection with promotion through social media, selling products in-person at a convention, holding a holiday tie-in sale, and using price anchoring. Social media accounts were opened on Facebook, Tumblr, and Instagram to promote the shop over the course of the project period, and Etsy's web analytics were used to track which sites directed the most traffic to the shop. I attended a convention in mid-January 2016 where I sold my products and distributed business cards with a discount code to track sales resulting from being at the convention. A holiday sale was held in conjunction with Valentine's Day to look at whether holidays influenced purchases. Lastly, a significantly more expensive product was temporarily put in the shop to see whether it produced a price anchoring effect \u2014 that is, encouraged sales of the less expensive products by making them seem affordable in comparison. While the volume of sales data was too small to draw statistically significant conclusions, the project was a highly instructive experience in the process of opening a small online store. The decision-making steps outlined may be helpful to other students looking to open their own online shop.
ContributorsChen, Candice Elizabeth (Author) / Moore, James (Thesis director) / Sanford, Adriana (Committee member) / Harrington Bioengineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
This thesis is structured as a case study that draws primarily from the field of marketing with supplements from supply chain management. It focuses on the Law Offices of Jennifer Hayes over a time period of six months that spans from September 2012 to February 2013. This project examines how the firm's marketing efforts were expanded to include online pay-per-click marketing through Google Adwords. The project was a huge success as it helped fuel the growth of the business through the generation of qualified leads. Additionally, this thesis also tells the story of the complexities and decisions surrounding the project from its inception to its completion. In the process, this thesis found that the value of the advertising spend at a professional services firm can be increased even when cost reductions are impractical. This was be done by first confirming that there is in fact room to enhance value in this spend category. Secondly, the strategy to accomplish this goal took a holistic approach that enhanced the overall competitiveness of the company, not just its revenues.
ContributorsDe La O, Douglas David (Author) / Ostrom, Amy (Thesis director) / Kull, Thomas (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor)
Created2014-05