Q Companies spend a lot of time and money designing the most effective websites. Sometimes the primary purpose of the website is to provide instant access to information about the company and its products. Many companies rely on their Web sites for promotional purchases such as to provide interactive reach with consumers and prospective consumers. Many companies now include blog components on their websites and include company stories and various acts of social responsibility, while some use their sites to promote direct sales rather than through a channel. You are asked to assume the role of an online shopper who wishes to purchase a product over the Internet. You are directed to visit and review/critique two websites that sell your product and then decide which one you’d be most likely to purchase from and why. Requirements 1. Identify the product you chose to “shop” for. This might include airline tickets, automobiles, electronics, clothes or any other retail product. 2. Choose and identify two competing B2C websites that sell your desired product. Be sure to identify the exact web addresses visited. 3. Write a review/critique of each Web site’s design. List the pros and cons of each website. Among other things, your comparison should touch on things like links provided and whether they are helpful, graphics, whether they have done things to make the shopping experience easy and whether or not the site is user friendly and why. 4. Do either (or both) of the sites take a Web 2.0 or 3.0 approach (this is discussed in the text, pages B-12-14, Nickels )? If so, give examples to illustrate. 5. How do the companies attempt to foster continued relationships with their customers or potential customers? 6. Which website do you think is the most effective? Why? 7. Name the company you’d be most likely to purchase your product from and explain why. This may be the same one you judged to be most effective or it may be different. Be as specific as possible as to the reasons for your purchase preference. For example you might include a discussion of whether your decision had to do with the products offered (styles, prices, etc.) or with the Web shopping experience. Reminders: • Be sure to address each requirement listed above. • Where appropriate, include a thorough explanation for your answers and a complete discussion of the reasoning behind them. • Include references to information presented in the text or information you gathered from the Internet (when applicable) that may have provided you with the knowledge you needed to draw the conclusions you do. • Be sure to include web references (web addresses) when appropriate. • It should be obvious from your responses that you read the chapter and considered any concepts present in it that apply to the assignment. This assignment is worth 40 Points.