Search engines help surfers find information fast. But search engines need to specialize in order to ensure speed. Examples of specialized search engines include a search engine for products - all the products offered for sale, a search engine for customer transactions - all the purchases, services and payments, and a search engine for management - reports on suppliers, delivery services sales transactions. The specialized search engines should be able to interact with each other seamlessly.
The existing legacy system has all the historical data of the business. It needs to be connected to the online business. An existing customer with a J.C. Penney credit card should be able to use the card for paying for online purchases. A multi-year service contract needs to be accessible via the Internet, even if it is an old contract.
All the existing technologies can and should be used.
For example, the PDA has become much more popular, as well as Internet-enabled cell phones and Blackberry units. J.C. Penney needs to provide access to its systems by enabling its information technologies to be PDA and cell phone ready.
Cell phones have enabled m-commerce successfully for several years. Bluetooth technology is helping this expansion throughout the U.S.
In using IT as one of its 3 sales channels, through their online business, J.C. Penney is achieving its business strategies. But IT is also part of its managerial process, used in MIS, GDDS, EIS. J.C. Penney probably employs all the IT mentioned throughout the text.
The product offering is diverse. The site offers many features and is visually appealing.
These companies have similar strategies. They employ different web page designs, but all try to entice web visitors to buy from their site. Some time ago, K-Mart tried a strategy of giving free web access to bring the web user to the “Blue Light” sales zone. This has been discontinued, but they still offer “blue light” specials to entice web visitors to purchase online.