Usage areas of the Internet

The Internet presents various advantages as an information channel, but many companies choose to use it for more than spreading information. It can also be used for several other purposes. (Jäger & Winberg) has introduced a model that presents the Internet’s usefulness as a market communications tool for the individual company. The vertical axis indicates how much of the medium the company utilises, i.e. the more usage areas used the more the company uses the medium. The horizontal axis shows that the number of companies that have prerequisites of using the different areas of usage decreases with the number of companies. A high degree of utilisation demands a higher degree of commitment from the organisation and management as well as a higher consumption of resources, than a low degree of utilisation.

Being able to give information is the most fundamental usage area of an Internet investment. We define it as a company’s possibility to give information to their customers through the Internet, in other words one-way-communication.

A web site can be adapted from just exposing large amounts of information to becoming an interactive medium. Except enabling the customer to view the company’s products, the customer is given an opportunity to communicate with the company, i.e. two-way-communication. Information and communication are consequently the two areas where the company can use the Internet as a marketing channel.

Using the Internet as a sales channel is the third usage area in the figure. Today it is unusual that the actual sale is concluded on the Internet. This is especially true for complex products that involve big capital investment, like for example cars. Even though the actual sale might not be concluded on the Internet it might be a request for an offer. Requests are erroneously very often referred to as a sale. However, we also categorise in this area the measures that the company takes to bring the consumer closer to his/her buying decision, such as the possibilities to configure the offered product by themselves and to request an offer for a desired product.

In this area the customers role change from only being an information collector to influencing the production of his/her own product, giving the customer the role of partner or co-producer. For the company, this provides valuable information and assist the work of building a relation with the customer. (Wikström,1998)

The next area of usage is payment on the Internet. Some Internet services use the same method as mail-order firms, the customer orders a product and is then billed through ordinary mail. However, there are possibilities to pay directly on the Internet, one can either use credit cards or some sort of electronic payment system. There are several different kinds of electronic payment system and there has not yet developed a standard. One of the major problem with these payment systems is the security aspect and how it is perceived by the consumers.

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