Critical Analysis of Commerce Platforms Amazon and e

Critical Analysis of Commerce Platforms Amazon and e Introduction The 2 ecommerce platforms chosen for analysis are Amazon and e-Bay. I selected these two platforms because I was most familiar with them and had made online purchases before.Advertising We will write a custom term paper sample on Critical Analysis of Commerce Platforms Amazon and e-Bay. specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Amazon I first purchased a motivational book from amazon.com then went ahead to buy a DVD. I decided to return the DVD and first visited the returns centre in order to ensure that I was doing the right thing. I was surprised that it was quite easy to return an item as long as it is open. I was lucky enough not to have opened my package. In the Return center, the company had laid out a pictorial representation of the returning process. First, a customer needs to go to this returns center and print the label which would be attached on the package; I printed my return label. The second step was to prepare a pa ckage in which to place the item and the third step was to seal the box and attach the return label at the top of the package. The last step was to ship the package through my local courier. When I took the package to DHS, they told me that I needed to pay shipping fees and I realized that there would be a number of other hidden payments in this process. So I went back to the company website under â€Å"Amazon Help† to find out all the charges involved. I found out that since mine was a media item and it had not been opened, I would get a refund of 80% of my purchasing price. However, because I was returning something out of my own liking rather than a mistake made by Amazon, then I needed to pay for the shipping. I also found out that the reason why I was not getting a full refund was that there was a restocking fee which would be deducted from my desired item. I had returned my package after a period of two days so this was well within the 30 day limit that the company plac es on returned items. I received my refund through the same method that I had used to pay for the service and this was through my credit card. It came after three days. All in all, I felt that their return policy was quite fair; it was reasonable for me to pay shipping charges since they had not committed any wrong. Furthermore, refunds came in on time and I liked the fact that they only deducted 20% out of the original purchase price. This was quite fair because all goods lose value as soon as they leave a business’s premises.Advertising Looking for term paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The reason why Amazon is doing so well in this highly competitive world of ecommerce is their customer focus. The company has created forums for conducting web reviews in which customers rate items and give their comments about the items. In fact, I bought the self help book and DVD only after look ing through customer reviews to find out if it would be worth my while. Additionally, the website has provided a content search platform in which one can analyze book content. I was therefore able to buy my book only after ascertaining that it contained only the material I was looking for. Amazon also impressed me with the bonuses they give on credit cards and shipping and it was great that the book cost much less here than it did in some other book stores. I was impressed by their click ordering because I did not have to follow such a long process in order to get my product and I received it on time. The company has such a large inventory of items and it is almost impossible to miss one’s favorite book or item. For an ecommerce website to do well it must have an air tight marketing strategy. I saw an advertisement for this motivational book on another website I was visiting. In fact, Amazon ads can be found in almost all types of websites so it is quite easy to get external information about the service. The website is user friendly because payment options and terms of use are clearly written. I thought their customer service was top notch and this was even increased by the fact that I could track my product movement. The company has a ‘contact us’ link on almost all sections of their websites. I did not wait long before someone could attend to me. In fact, it is the personal service that illustrated how professional the company was. EBay My purchases from E-bay were for a commemorative coin and a watch. I decided to return the coin and found that their return policy was quite different. Since this is a flea market, all sellers had their own return policies. I went back to my seller and read his return policy. He had stated that customers must return items within 7 days of purchase, but this was not inclusive of shipping time. He specified that a refund would only be possible after the good had arrived back to the seller and that Return of merchandise authorization was needed. I therefore contacted the seller and told him that I changed my mind about the product and wished to return it to him. The customer was expected to pay for shipping and he asserted that this would be done through PayPal.Advertising We will write a custom term paper sample on Critical Analysis of Commerce Platforms Amazon and e-Bay. specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More After contacting him for authorization, he first told me that I had already exceeded the 7 day limit so I should not expect a refund but I requested him to be lenient with me since I was going to buy more collectables from him in the future. He told me that he could give me credit for future purchases that was equivalent to 50% of the coin’s value- I received a gift certificate. I negotiated with him and he agreed to increase it to 70%. I also had to pay for shipping. I am yet to buy more items from him so that I can investigate whether he will stick to his assertion or not. I thought this return policy was more stringent because the duration was only 7 days. I also felt that he should be willing to send refunds since the items are not breakable or easily spoilt like electronics. There is room for improvement here even though the concerned collectables seller tried to accommodate me as much as possible. I was impressed by the company’s web design; Products were categorized so that it would be easier to find what I was looking for. I also found that prices, photos and descriptions of the items were well done such that vital information could be found at a glance. However, sometimes the descriptions can be different from the actual commodity since these are mostly second hand commodities. I found that the customer service was not as powerful as it was at Amazon because most of the work is left to independent sellers in the eBay village. In fact, I got most of my information from blogs and external par ties when trying to find out about return policies. This site is unique in that I could access so many commodities and so many sellers at one place. Everything from clothes, to phones, furniture, electronics and many more were available from this particular online shop. So the convenience was definitely something worthwhile. I could imagine that many other customers from around the world were buying and bidding just like I was at EBay yet I could carry out my transactions very quickly. The company must have very effective servers to monitor these transactions.Advertising Looking for term paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More However, I did not like the fact that most items needed to be bided on. It wastes a lot of time because the seller must decide which price is most convenient. Although there were items that had fixed prices, these represented the smaller percentage. Conclusion Generally, Amazon appeared to be more user friendly because it is owned and run by a single firm. On the other hand, EBay is operated by a series of sellers from around the world; they all have their different offerings, conditions and expectations so synchronization is a challenge here. Both websites have great variety and conduct transactions quickly.

The Worlds Most Popular Languages

The Worlds Most Popular Languages There are 6,909 languages actively  being spoken in the world today, although only about six percent of them have more than a million speakers each. As globalization becomes more common so does the learning of languages. People in many different countries see the value of learning a foreign language to improve their international business relations. Because of this, the number of people who speak certain languages will continue to rise. There are 10 languages that currently dominate the globe. Heres a list of the 10 most popular languages spoken worldwide, along with the number of countries where the language is established, and the approximate number of primary or first language speakers for that language: Chinese/Mandarin- 37 countries, 13 dialects, 1,284 million speakersSpanish- 31 countries, 437 millionEnglish- 106 countries, 372 millionArabic- 57 countries, 19 dialects, 295 millionHindi- 5 countries, 260 millionBengali- 4 countries, 242 millionPortuguese- 13 countries, 219 millionRussian- 19 countries, 154 millionJapanese- 2 countries, 128 millionLahnda- 6 countries, 119 million The Languages of China With more than 1.3 billion people living in China today, it is no surprise that Chinese is the most commonly spoken language. Due to the size of Chinas area and population, the country is able to sustain many unique and interesting languages. When speaking of languages, the term Chinese encompasses at least 15 dialects spoken in the country and elsewhere. Because Mandarin is the most commonly spoken dialect, many people use the word Chinese to refer to it. While roughly 70 percent of the country speaks Mandarin, many other dialects are spoken as well. The languages are mutually intelligible to a varying degree, depending on how close the languages are to one another. The four most popular Chinese dialects are Mandarin (898 million speakers), Wu (also known as Shanghainese dialect, 80 million speakers), Yue (Cantonese, 73 million), and Min Nan (Taiwanese, 48 million). Why Are There So Many Spanish Speakers? While Spanish is not a commonly heard language in most parts of Africa, Asia, and the majority of Europe, that hasnt stopped it from becoming the second most commonly spoken language. The spread of the Spanish  language is rooted in colonization. Between the 15th and 18th centuries, Spain colonized much of South, Central, and large parts of North America as well. Before being incorporated into the United States, places like Texas, California, New Mexico, and Arizona were all part of Mexico, a former Spanish colony. While Spanish is not a common language to hear in most of Asia, it is very common in the Philippines because it too was once a colony of Spain. Like Chinese, there are many dialects of Spanish. The vocabulary between these dialects varies greatly depending on what country one is in. Accents and pronunciation also change between regions. While these dialectical differences can sometimes cause confusion, they do not block cross-communication between speakers. English, a Global Language English too, was a colonial language: British colonial efforts began in the 15th century and lasted until the early 20th century, including places as far flung as North America, India and Pakistan, Africa, and Australia. As with Spains colonial efforts, each country colonized by Great Britain retains some English speakers. After World War II, the United States led the world in both technological and medical innovation. Because of this, it was considered beneficial for students pursuing work in these fields to learn English. As globalization occurred, English became a shared common language. This caused many parents to push their children to study English as a second language in the hopes of better preparing them for the business world. English is also a useful language for travelers to learn because it is spoken in so many parts of the globe. A Global Language Network Since the popularity of social media, the development of a Global Language Network can be mapped using book translations, Twitter, and Wikipedia. These social networks are only available to elites, people with access to both traditional and new media. Statistics of use from these social networks indicate that while English is definitely the central hub in the Global Language Network, other intermediate hubs used by elites to communicate business and science information include German, French, and Spanish. Currently, languages such as Chinese, Arabic, and Hindi are vastly more popular than German or French, and it is likely that those languages will grow in use of traditional and new media. Sources Simons, Gary F., and Charles D. Fennig. Ethnologue: Languages of the World. SIL International 2017. Web. Accessed January 30, 2018Population, Total. World Bank 2017. Web. Accessed January 30, 2018.Ronen, Shahar, et al. Links That Speak: The Global Language Network and Its Association with Global Fame. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 111.52 (2014): E5616-22. Print.Tang, Chaoju, and Vincent J. van Heuven. Mutual Intelligibility of Chinese Dialects Experimentally Tested. Lingua 119.5 (2009): 709-32. Print.Ushioda, E. M. A. The Impact of Global English on Motivation to Learn Other Languages: Toward an Ideal Multilingual Self. The Modern Language Journal 101.3 (2017): 469-82. Print.