ABSTRACT

This research work title “effects of e-commerce on the sales of communication companies in Bamenda case of  MTN, Orange, and Nextel companies had as a watchdog the following objectives, to explain the effect of social media marketing on the sales of communication companies, to investigate the effect of web solution on the sales of communication companies. to determine the effects of mobile phone on the sale of communication companies. to analyze the effect of email marketing on the sale of communication companies and to make recommendations. 

The research design used was the stratified random sampling techniques owing to the fact that the researcher aim was on communication companies in Bamenda with a focus on three communication companies (MTN, Orange and Nextel). However, a total sample of 60 respondents was selected with 20 respondents from each quarter with the reason of getting a true and justifiable result.

The researcher also employs the use of primary data which was the best option to make the research more realistic. This was done with aid of questionnaires, interview, discussion and observation.  The classical linear regression model specifically the ordinary least square method was used for the analysis with a focus on multiple regressions.

The Fisher test was also used to verify the null hypothesis. After the finding, it shows that there exists a high degree of correlation between social media, email marketing and mobile phone marketing on the sales of communication companies in Bamenda.

There is an inverse relationship between web solution and the sales of communication companies. However, many were having clear knowledge of the various type of e-commerce tools and attest that there is an increase in their sales by using these tools in their company.

Keyword: social media email marketing, mobile phone marketing, web solution and sales of communication companies.

CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

Background to the study.

In the emerging global economy, e-commerce and e-business have increasingly become necessary component of business strategy and a strong catalyst for economic development. The integration of information and communications technology (ICT) in business has revolutionized relationships within organizations and those between and among organizations and individuals.

Specifically, the use of ICT in business has enhanced productivity, encouraged greater customer participation, and enabled mass customization, besides reducing costs. With developments in the internet and Web-based technologies, distinctions between traditional markets and the global electronic marketplace-such as business capital size, among others-are gradually being narrowed down.

The turn used to describe this is strategic positioning, the ability of a company to determine emerging opportunities and utilize the necessary human capital skills (such as intellectual resources) to make the most of these opportunities through an e-business strategy that is simple, workable and practicable within the context of a global information milieu and new economic environment.

With its effect of levelling the playing field, e-commerce coupled with the appropriate strategy and policy approach enables small and medium scale enterprises to compete with large and capital-rich businesses. On another plane, developing countries are given increased access to the global market place where they compete with and complement the more developed economies.

Most, if not all, developing countries are already participating in e-commerce, either as sellers or buyers. However, to facilitate e-commerce growth in these countries, the relatively underdeveloped information infrastructure must be improved. What then is E-commerce? Electronic commerce commonly known as e-commerce is the buying and selling of products or services over electronic systems such as the internet and other computer networks.

This can range from ordering online, through online delivery of paid content, to financial transactions such as movement of money between bank accounts.

The use of E-commerce is on the increase among international companies with social media being the latest means of communication. This has brought about creativity and interactive session marketing among members.

Many marketers believe that despite the internet bubble burst a few years ago, the future is still bright for e-commerce. The 20^th century was shaped by the industrial revolution and became the age of the automobile and the television.

The 21^st century is shaped by the technological revolution and has become the age of globalization. The internet impacts all aspects of the business. In this century, e-business is no longer an option for business it is a necessity (Nguyen and Barrett, 2006).

The internet permits businesses to communicate with consumers more quickly, powerfully and sometimes more cheaply. It has also helped marketing firms to gather consumer data, customize production and target potential customers (Bush et al, 2007). 

Spurred by the economic growth offered by the internet and related technologies, many organizations are engaging in e-commerce activities and internet marketing. E-commerce can be defined as any economic transaction where a buyer and a seller come together through the internet or other technology and form and execute agreements regarding the pricing and delivery of the products and services (Guay and Ettwein, 2008, Standifierd 2009).

One area of internet marketing which has exploded in sales and customers interest in online auctions. Consumers will spend about $7billion via online auctions in the next four years. In 2008 alone, auction sales among retail sites were projected to generate sales of $2.1 billion (Collett, 2008). Even more ambitious growth was predicted.

They expected consumers to spend $19billion on online auctions by 2009(Freedman, 2007). Many marketers believe that despite the internet bubble burst a few years ago, the future is still bright for e-commerce.

The 20^th century was shaped by the industrial revolution and became the age of the automobile and the television (Nguyen & Barrett, 2006). The use of the internet for e-commerce (technologically mediated exchanges) has grown rapidly in relation to the increase in commercial web sites.

Information can be requested and provided, orders placed and filled, products delivered and services performed (Ching& Ellis, 2012). It has also impacted upon the barriers to export entry and has provided hope to millions of enterprises attempting to enter foreign markets by allowing them to communicate globally as efficiently as any large business (Herbig & Hale, 2007)

As a result of globalization, brands have come to terms with the fact that they need to deliver products and services that are tailored to individual interest and preferences. The provision of service is thus influenced by behaviour, context and device.

Real-time personalization has become a defining marketing strategy. Besides, marketers are turning large data into smart data so that it becomes more appealing to customers. Firms that have become ambitious in building intelligent customer profiles that are alternative to particular segments of customers who can afford services.

It has become evident that consumers of services desire attractive information and would avoid web pages that can be sent to personal mobile devices in order to inform investment decisions.

The digital market seeks to capitalize on consumer behaviour. In most cases, market research often guides the way marketers approach potential customers. To avoid wastage of resources, marketers time and again target a particular market segment that has the resources to invest in the communication sector. 

Attractive investment packages that are geared towards the needs of different income earners helps consumers to arrange their income to suit their particular investments. Through the digital platform, investors can make payments online and access services of their choice within a short time.

Dejan(2010) defined e-commerce as a subset of e-business that utilizes the electronic medium to perform marketing activities and achieve desired marketing objectives for an organization. Internet marketing, interactive marketing and mobile marketing, for example, are all form of e-marketing. E-commerce is also known as internet marketing, e-commerce, online marketing or web marketing. 

It is defined as the marketing of products and services over the internet. Internet marketing is considered to be broad in scope because it does not only refers to marketing on the internet but also includes marketing done via email and wireless media. Digital customer’s data and electronic customer’s relationship management( ECRM)system are also often grouped together under internet marketing.

The e-commerce platform gives companies an opportunity to reach a large number of people, for example in East Africa, there is 50million mobile subscribers and at least 15 million web users (Business Daily, 2010).

It was of crucial importance to investigate whether the platform could be productive and whether it could yield desirable results for instance increase revenue streams in a market like Cameroon. Electronic marketing can be defined as the use of the internet and related digital technologies to achieve marketing objectives and support the modern marketing concept (Wilson, 2012).

These technologies include internet media and other digital media such as wireless mobile media, cable and satellite. In practice, e-commerce will include the use of a company web sit in conjunction with online promotional techniques such to acquire new customers and provide services to existing customers that help develop the customer relationship.

According to Smith (2009), e-commerce is a broader term than internet marketing and must be distinguished from the latter. E-commerce according to them refers to the delivery of the marketing objectives through the internet, interactive digital TV and mobile marketing together with other technology approaches such as database marketing and electronic customer relationship management(CRM)(Wilson,2012).

Electronic marketing (e-commerce) also called online marketing or e-commerce has been here a while and has gone through a speedy evolution as new technologies are made in applications and digital gadgets (Venkatesh & Davis, 2007).

Forms of e-commerce include, email marketing, display advertising, social medial advertising, commerce sites. Internet marketing as described above is the marketing of products and services over the internet.

On the other hand, interactive marketing is the ability to address an individuals and the ability to gather and remember the response of that individual, leading to the ability to address the individual or more in a way that takes into account of her unique response (Deighton, 2010).

Mobile phone marketing refers to direct marketing to customers via cell phone.

This commercial content includes advertising a new product, information about a sale, information about a product and service, sale promotion and other commercial activities.  It is also important to note that mobile phone can access the internet making them very viral mediums. 

Where computers speed and capacity double every 18 months, the internet seems to double in capacity every 18 weeks (Mack, 2007). The extent of the use of the internet for marketing is growing at such a rate it is difficult to pin it down.

A survey of US online households found that  47% had made online sales within the previous six months( Abrahamson, 2007) and U.S consumers spent at least $2.3 billion over the internet during the 2008 Christmas season alone(Mck, 2007).

The total 2008 e-commerce is estimated to have reached $102 billion( Abrahamson,2007). With this much purchases activity online it is not surprising that the estimated number of fortune 500 organizations with a web presence enhanced in 2006 from 175 to 400(Bush et al, 2007).

1.2 Statement of the problem

E-commerce is an element of ICT. Integration of ICT in business is expected to enhance the sale of many communication companies.  Thus, through the integration of ICT, organizations can enhance their sales. Even then, there exist various factors which may contradict the above expectations.

For instance, there exist assortments of regulations that govern the operation of e-commerce, for example, trademark, patents and copyright.  Similarly, there is competition and a high cost of doing business.

It is also not clear what the effects of e-commerce are on the sale of communication companies in Cameroon. Communication companies like M.T.N, Nextel, and Orange Cameroon suffer from the following problems like cyber insecurity, competition, lack of skilled employees, improper use of internet slang and acronyms, knee-jerk Reaction to new technology, lack of network coverage and power(electricity) , government regulation, creating and maintaining website, difficulty reaching the target audience, poorly defined email channel goals and low visibility into email performance, deliverability and bad publicity  The above-highlighted problems can be justified as follow.

• Skilled employees. It was the top problem identifies among the communication companies for people who work in the field it may seem that social media has always being around but it’s not uncommon to have team members who are less experienced than you need. Or in some cases you may not have enough people of any skill level to help.
• The knee-jerk reaction to new technology. New technology appears all the time in the social sphere. Communication companies are tasked with not just learning new programs within days of their lunch but also with being able to make informed decisions about the role these tools should or should not play in a brand social strategy. Based on the sentiments of Dumpe (2015), the communication companies is an information-based business and thus is affected greatly by information communication and technology. In this regard, it is quite possible to enhance efficiency and speed, to the extent that clients attain the overall benefits of acquiring information without the involvement of third parties.
• Difficulty reaching the target audience: because of the nature of the internet and the sheer number of business already on the world wide web, communication companies(MTN, Orange and Nextel) will find it difficult to reach their website. Several scholars have sought to investigate the effect of e-commerce on sales within communication companies. According to Aladwani (2006), the use of the World Wide Web can affect communication companies, specifically when it focuses on specific assets for marketing purpose. Apparently, market intermediaries such as brokers and agents can use the World Wide Web to connect sellers and buyers. For Kaufman (2014), ICT can change the buying and selling process. Thus, it is quite possible to overcome the traditional bureaucracies within the communication sector through the application of ICT. Moreover, the author posits that through e-commerce, it is possible to eliminate the role of agents who have often monopolized information at their advantage.
• Bad publicity: have a website risk attracting negative comments from competitors among the communication companies  who are unhappy with your services and this may go long way to distract customers.

1.3 Research question     

1.3.1. Main research question

What are the effects of e-commerce tools on the sales of communication companies?

1.3.2. Specific research questions

• What is the effect of social media marketing on the sales of communication companies?
• What is the effect of web solution marketing on the sales of communication companies?
• What is the effect of mobile phone marketing on the sale of communication companies?
• What is the effect of email marketing on the sales of communication companies?

1.4. Objective of the study

This portion brings to light the reasons for which this research is carried out. It is quite imperative to bring clarity in the mind of the reader that this research aims at achieving the following objectives.

The main objective of the study is to examine the effect of e-commerce on the sales of communication companies.

 Specifically:

• To explain the effect of social media marketing on the sales of communication companies.
• To investigate the effect of web solution on the sales of communication companies.
• To determine the effects of telephone marketing on the sale of communication companies.
• To analyze the effect of email marketing on the sale of communication companies and
• To make recommendations