How to improve the customer experience when buying cosmetics online?

The cosmetics industry is currently facing major challenges, especially with the emergence of new trends and the growing importance of online shopping. The consumer experience when buying cosmetics online is set to evolve in order to fill some of the gaps that this dissertation aims to address. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis is to improve the customer experience when buying cosmetics online by capturing the online customer journey and proposing solutions to enhance it. In order to achieve this objective, this essay firstly provides an overview of the current cosmetics market, an analysis of the key concepts related to customer experience and a study of previous research regarding customer journey maps. Following this, a qualitative research study involving twenty interviews enabled the collection of precious customer data which was then analyzed using the Critical Incident Method to define typical customer journeys. After the study of these typical consumer paths, customer journey maps were developed to visualize their pain points and opportunities for improvement. The results of this study suggest various enhancements along the customer journey such as developing websites' UX, providing accessible and qualitative visual content (videos, photos, etc.), implementing personalized diagnostics, limiting delivery fees, simplifying customer feedback emails and adapting loyalty programs to current consumer needs etc. Thus, the visual tools provided by the customer journey maps allowed us to suggest solutions adapted to each phase of the online cosmetics purchase journey. These suggestions for improvement are summarized in a final customer journey map that includes the different phases, the consumer's actions and associated touchpoints, as well as their state of mind throughout the journey. Finally, this research provides valuable insight for cosmetic brands wishing to improve their online sales performance over the long term by understanding their customers' behaviors, needs and expectations.A indústria cosmética enfrenta atualmente grandes desafios, especialmente com o surgimento de novas tendências e a crescente importância das compras online. A experiência do consumidor na compra de cosméticos em linha deverá evoluir de modo a preencher algumas das lacunas que esta dissertação pretende colmatar. Portanto, o objetivo desta tese é melhorar a experiência do cliente na compra de cosméticos em linha, capturando a viagem do cliente em linha e propondo soluções para a melhorar. A fim de alcançar este objetivo, este ensaio fornece em primeiro lugar uma visão geral do mercado atual de cosméticos, uma análise dos conceitos-chave relacionados com a experiência do cliente e um estudo de pesquisas anteriores relativas a mapas de viagem do cliente. Em seguida, um estudo de investigação qualitativa envolvendo vinte entrevistas permitiu a recolha de dados preciosos dos clientes, que foram depois analisados utilizando o Método dos Incidentes Críticos para definir as viagens típicas dos clientes. Na sequência do estudo destes percursos típicos do consumidor, foram desenvolvidos mapas de viagem do cliente para visualizar os seus pontos de dor e oportunidades de melhoria. Os resultados deste estudo sugerem várias melhorias ao longo da viagem do cliente, tais como o desenvolvimento do UX dos websites, o fornecimento de conteúdos visuais acessíveis e qualitativos (vídeos, fotografias, etc.), a implementação de diagnósticos personalizados, a limitação das taxas de entrega, a simplificação de e-mails de feedback do cliente e a adaptação de programas de fidelização às necessidades actuais do consumidor, etc. Assim, as ferramentas visuais fornecidas pelos mapas de viagem do cliente permitiram-nos sugerir soluções adaptadas a cada fase da viagem de compra de cosméticos em linha. Estas sugestões de melhoria estão resumidas num mapa de viagem do cliente final que inclui as diferentes fases, as ações do consumidor e os pontos de contacto associados, bem como o seu estado de espírito ao longo de toda a viagem. Finalmente, esta pesquisa fornece uma visão valiosa para as marcas de cosméticos que desejam melhorar o seu desempenho de vendas on-line a longo prazo através da compreensão dos comportamentos, necessidades e expectativas dos seus clientes

Semantic discovery and reuse of business process patterns

Patterns currently play an important role in modern information systems (IS) development and their use has mainly been restricted to the design and implementation phases of the development lifecycle. Given the increasing significance of business modelling in IS development, patterns have the potential of providing a viable solution for promoting reusability of recurrent generalized models in the very early stages of development. As a statement of research-in-progress this paper focuses on business process patterns and proposes an initial methodological framework for the discovery and reuse of business process patterns within the IS development lifecycle. The framework borrows ideas from the domain engineering literature and proposes the use of semantics to drive both the discovery of patterns as well as their reuse

An exploration of evaluative meanings in tourist brochures : the case of British castles

Maestría en Lenguas Inglesa con orientación en Lingüística AplicadaFil: Faletti, Paula M. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Lenguas; Argentina.The focus of analysis in the present study will be on how writers establish evaluative prosodies that resonate across their promotional discourse and try to accomplish reader positioning by means of their semantic choices. It seems pertinent, then, to bring into play a model of discourse analysis apposite to the study of evaluative resources. The theory drawn upon for this study is Systemic Functional Linguistics (henceforth SFL), which will be delineated in the following chapter (Halliday, 1994, 2004; Martin, 2000, 2002, 2004; Martin & Rose, 2003, 2007). SFL theorises language as social semiotic, as a meaning-making system from which users choose linguistic resources when they engage in communication. It regards language as organised into different strata and performing three major metafunctions: it construes a world of experience (ideational metafunction), it establishes relationships between people (interpersonal metafunction) and it organises discourse (textual metafunction). In SFL the meaning potential of language is described in terms of interrelating sets of options organised as systems (Economou, 2009). Meaning is realised metafunctionally –as interpersonal, ideational and textual meanings– by the choices language users make out of the possibilities available in the language systems. In other words, meaning choices can be realised across different systems of lexicogrammar (Hood, 2004). EVALUATION1 , alongside INVOLVEMENT and NEGOTIATION, is one of three major resources that construe interpersonal meaning. It is located in the interpersonal dimension of language, at the level of discourse semantics – the stratum that maps meaning systems available at the level of text. Analysing Evaluation in language involves the study of the resources writers make use of when adopting a particular stance in an attempt to align the readers with the value position advanced in the text. These aspects of the interpersonal metafunction have been elaborated on by Martin (2000), Martin and Rose (2003), and Martin and White (2005) in the APPRAISAL model.Fil: Faletti, Paula M. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Lenguas; Argentina

Website Proprietorship and Online Harassment

Although harassment and bullying have always existed, when such behavior is conducted online, the consequences can be uniquely devastating. The anonymity of harassers, the ease of widespread digital dissemination, and the inability to contain and/or eliminate online information can aggravate the nature of harassment on the Internet. Furthermore, section 230 of the Communications Decency Act provides Web site sponsors with immunity for content posted by others and no incentive to remove offending content. Given the unique nature of online harassment, ex post punitive measures are inadequate to redress grievances. In this Article, I propose the imposition of proprietorship liability upon Web site sponsors who fail to adopt reasonable measures to prevent foreseeable harm, such as online harassment. I also introduce several proposals to deter online harassment that would qualify as reasonable measures. These proposals incorporate contractual and architectural restraints, limits on anonymity, and restrictions on posting certain types of digital images

Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism 2021

This open access book is the proceedings of the International Federation for IT and Travel & Tourism (IFITT)’s 28th Annual International eTourism Conference, which assembles the latest research presented at the ENTER21@yourplace virtual conference January 19–22, 2021. This book advances the current knowledge base of information and communication technologies and tourism in the areas of social media and sharing economy, technology including AI-driven technologies, research related to destination management and innovations, COVID-19 repercussions, and others. Readers will find a wealth of state-of-the-art insights, ideas, and case studies on how information and communication technologies can be applied in travel and tourism as we encounter new opportunities and challenges in an unpredictable world

I've got a feeling: the effect of haptic information on the preferred location of purchase of guitars and stringed wooden instruments.

This thesis develops technology adoption and sensory information literatures through an evaluation of antecedents to consumers purchase location intention of Musical Instruments (MI). With the unique factor of instrument heterogeneity MI e-retail sales are information asymmetric propositions, where the consumer may make a sub-optimal purchase online having foregone the opportunity to experience the haptic information required to ascertain the instruments true quality. Despite a reticent adoption of MI e-retail from the traditional retail industry online MI sales are increasing, resulting in off-line marketplace contraction, thus investigation of consumers online MI purchase motivations is of value to the industry. The exploration of this topic uses a pragmatic, two-stage mixed-methods process incorporating inductive in-depth interviews with MI retail industry personnel, followed by deductive MI consumer based quantitative questionnaires.The reluctance to adopt e-retail is based on expertise-led aversion and expertise gap where key MI retail influencers attempt to enforce their own views on the correct way to purchase an instrument, rather than responding to consumer trends. This aversion was influenced by their own reliance on haptic information, coupled with knowledge of instrument heterogeneity and their level of musicianship. Consumer research conclusions identify that high haptic-need consumers, who tend to have greater ability and involvement, are more likely to purchase in-store whilst those with lower haptic needs are more willing to purchase MI online. Through the design and empirical testing of the Musical Instrument Need-for-Touch (MINFT) model numerous factors were identified as moderators to this basic supposition. The subsequent development of a MI consumer typology identified five distinct groups that respond to differing stimuli in relation to MI purchase location intention. These findings add to the academic discourse and enable MI retailers to enhance their offerings both in-store and online, leading to more effective targeting of their key customers

Urban Informatics

This open access book is the first to systematically introduce the principles of urban informatics and its application to every aspect of the city that involves its functioning, control, management, and future planning. It introduces new models and tools being developed to understand and implement these technologies that enable cities to function more efficiently – to become ‘smart’ and ‘sustainable’. The smart city has quickly emerged as computers have become ever smaller to the point where they can be embedded into the very fabric of the city, as well as being central to new ways in which the population can communicate and act. When cities are wired in this way, they have the potential to become sentient and responsive, generating massive streams of ‘big’ data in real time as well as providing immense opportunities for extracting new forms of urban data through crowdsourcing. This book offers a comprehensive review of the methods that form the core of urban informatics from various kinds of urban remote sensing to new approaches to machine learning and statistical modelling. It provides a detailed technical introduction to the wide array of tools information scientists need to develop the key urban analytics that are fundamental to learning about the smart city, and it outlines ways in which these tools can be used to inform design and policy so that cities can become more efficient with a greater concern for environment and equity

Urban Informatics

This open access book is the first to systematically introduce the principles of urban informatics and its application to every aspect of the city that involves its functioning, control, management, and future planning. It introduces new models and tools being developed to understand and implement these technologies that enable cities to function more efficiently – to become ‘smart’ and ‘sustainable’. The smart city has quickly emerged as computers have become ever smaller to the point where they can be embedded into the very fabric of the city, as well as being central to new ways in which the population can communicate and act. When cities are wired in this way, they have the potential to become sentient and responsive, generating massive streams of ‘big’ data in real time as well as providing immense opportunities for extracting new forms of urban data through crowdsourcing. This book offers a comprehensive review of the methods that form the core of urban informatics from various kinds of urban remote sensing to new approaches to machine learning and statistical modelling. It provides a detailed technical introduction to the wide array of tools information scientists need to develop the key urban analytics that are fundamental to learning about the smart city, and it outlines ways in which these tools can be used to inform design and policy so that cities can become more efficient with a greater concern for environment and equity

Social Commerce: A Framework for Fashion SMEs in Pakistan

Pakistan is one of the developing countries where the adoption and diffusion of e-commerce remains a challenge for consumers and fashion businesses because of the significant barriers facing the economy. This has led the small businesses to a new online business model "Social Commerce" which has stemmed from the integration of social media into e-commerce. Research suggests that Social Commerce is evolving and proliferating across many emerging markets. Yet the implications of this new form of e-commerce in Pakistan is still largely unknown. Hence, this research contributes to knowledge by exploring the potential of using the Social Commerce business model as an alternative to e-commerce amongst the small fashion businesses in Pakistan. The research adopted a mixed-methods, pragmatic philosophical perspective using a convergent research design. The primary data was gathered through mixed-mode surveys from consumers groups, and interviews and social media content from six fashion case businesses. The data obtained was analysed using descriptive statistics and qualitative content analysis, respectively. The findings revealed that the integration of the social aspect in the social commerce business model can help in overcoming the limitations of e-commerce whilst also enhancing the benefits that were not truly accomplished by e-commerce. It was recognised that the growing acceptance of this evolving phenomenon amongst consumers was because of its ease of use and social interactivity. The study provides a contribution to theory by proposing a model that enables theoretical understanding of Social Commerce and its value potential for consumers and Fashion SMEs. This was later conceptualised and presented in the form of an empirically grounded framework that explained the use of this business model within Pakistan's context, thus advancing Social Commerce research in this underexplored region. Lastly, a simplified version of the framework was designed for the practitioners entailing seven key principles that can help to achieve effective and efficient use of Social Commerce. In terms of the research impact on the industry, the practitioners will greatly benefit from the use of this framework as a guideline for building and improving the Social Commerce presence. Finally, due to the lack of guidelines on the use of the Social Commerce business model in Pakistan this framework has the potential of becoming a leading influence in the area as affirmed by the industry experts