ABSTRACT

Title: The Internet and Marketing: A case study of SmartGuy AB. and PostNord AB.

Level: D-Level Final Master Thesis in Business Administration

Authors: Naa A. Allotey and Ashenafi T. Degefie

Supervisor: Professor Akmal Hyder

Date: 2013 June

Aim: Technology has changed the way businesses are being done specifically in the internet marketing. Even though the growth & development of internet marketing is rapid, many new firms doing e-business are increasing. To make use of this ever increasing opportunity many companies without adequate knowledge and lack of concepts about internet marketing enter into this business that leads into failure. This study examines how businesses use the internet as an effective marketing tool in order to increase business efficiency and survive in the competitive business. The study also identifies the various problems that are affecting the internet marketing business and review possible strategies.

Method: The study adopted a qualitative method through a deductive approach. Research questions were developed to gather the data. A semi structured interview was conducted with personnel from Nordpost and SmartGuy. The data was analysed and linked with the theory to provide answers to the research questions. To enhance the richness of the study secondary data sources has been employed in a form of scientific articles, literature, annual reports from the case companies and online sources. 

Results and Conclusions: The result of this study shows that the rapid development of online marketing makes it imperative for businesses to seriously consider the internet as a marketing tool in order to remain competitive. There is no specific strategy to adopt but firms could develop internet marketing strategies depending on the nature of their business in order to cope up with the ever changing environment. It also identified the difficulties traditional marketers face when integrating internet marketing. The conclusion is that businesses can overcome the barriers affecting Internet marketing if they take time to identify their micro and macro environments and adopt appropriate strategies.

Suggestions for future research: Although this study identified that there are some factors affecting the internet marketing and suggested key elements in developing e-marketing strategy, the results of this study and conclusion, to some extent have some limitations.  Firstly there are only two case companies investigated which makes it hard to generalize the outcomes. Secondly, current literatures in the area of study were very limited showing that researchers are not really giving time to this all important topic.  Thus future research could look more into this subject area, broaden the scope of the investigation to more companies and could also concentrate in the areas where there is a need for a unique strategy development for different internet companies. Future researchers could also look at how the transition from traditional to internet marketing could be made very simple.

Contribution of the thesis: The study provides significant insights into the factors affecting internet marketing and e-business strategies that can be adopted to make it an effective marketing tool, a topic often overlooked by published material. Even though there are no specific e-marketing strategies to directly copy or implement, the study suggests specific areas a business should take into consideration while developing the strategy. For businesses, the question of using the internet as a marketing tool should be one of ‘when, why and how’. A well-structured and well thought out business plan which is still applicable is the backbone of any company who is going to be successful in the e-commerce industry.