Saturday, March 7, 2009

Review A Local E-Commerce Site

Cat n Dogs.my is an online pet store specialized in selling variety of high quality pet product.The main purpose of establishment of this website is to ease the pet lover to sit back and relax browsing or shopping for their pets while spending quality time with them.

No more hustle and bustle queuing up at shopping malls or the local pet store. The owner of this online pet shop is own by Bumiputera entrepreneur which located in Kulim,Kedah

CatsnDogs.my
Azza Hafizah Marketing (PG0219390-W)
09000 Kulim, Kedah.
MALAYSIA
This is the webpage of the CatnDog.my.this e-commerce store provide so many thing that ease the purchaser of their store.In this page i also found that they also provide the shopping cart which is used to accumulate the product that have been place in the cart and total price of the product by buyer.Buyer can use the cart to varify the purchases that have been made by them and also enable for them to finalise the purchases before they make the actual payment and order.

The interesting that can be found in this website is they also provide the price category for the ease of it potential buyer who like to choose the product base on price categories.Catsn Dogs.my also updated it product every month by showing their latest product in their front page,Not only that,there are also a purchaser complement on the product which show the hot item to be purchase to satisfy their pet.

CatnDogs.my sold not only pet toy, it also sold wide variety of pet food, pet shampoo and also the vitamin and nutritious food for pet.








The shipping methods provided in this site are convenient and simple to understand. Payments can be made either through cash transfer from Maybank2U,Credit card,and Paypal. The navigation in this website is user friendly making it easy for customers to pinpoint items of interest. This website is vertified by Paypal.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

E-Government in Malaysia: Its implementation so far and citizen's adoption strategies.

Various countries, including Malaysia, are implementing electronic government, generally known as ‘e-government’. The status of e-government implementation in Malaysia is widely discussed as to the potential of e-government implementation towards the public and businesses. The implementation of e-government started since the initiation of Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) by the Malaysian government.

The Electronic Government initiative in Malaysia was launched to lead the country into the Information Age. It has improved both how the government operates internally as well as how it delivers services to the people of Malaysia. It seeks to improve the convenience, accessibility and quality of interactions with citizens and businesses; simultaneously, it will improve information flows and processes within government to improve the speed and quality of policy development, coordination and enforcement.

The vision of Electronic Government is a vision for government, businesses and citizenry working together for the benefit of Malaysia and all of its citizens. The vision focuses on effectively and efficiently delivering services from the government to the people of Malaysia, enabling the government to become more responsive to the needs of its citizens.

The 7 pilot projects of the Electronic Government Flagship Application are as follows:

1. Project Monitoring System (PMS)
2. Human Resource Management Information System (HRMIS)
3. Generic Office Environment (GOE)
4. Electronic Procurement (EP)
5. Electronic Services (E-Services)
6. Electronic Labour Exchange (ELX)
7. E-Syariah

The myGovernment Portal ( http://www.gov.my/ ) acts as the one-stop source of Malaysian government information and services for the citizens in Malaysia.

Citizen’s adoption strategies:

E-Government adoption is affected by website design elements that provide perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness, by user characteristics such as sense of perceived risk, feeling of perceived control and prior Internet experience, and also by citizen satisfaction with the quality of its services.
1. Customer satisfactionE-Government adoption requires that citizens show higher levels of satisfaction with the online service provided by the government. A higher level of customer satisfaction will increase the rate of e-Government adoption.

2. Service QualityOnline service quality for e-Government could be measured in terms of quality of content provided on the website, the speed of the response to the citizens concerns with problem solving approach, and the availability of names. Other important measurement factors are telephone and fax numbers of personnel with whom citizens might need to get in touch, and the integration of an offline channel with online channel so that citizens could interact with government departments through other means if necessary. Higher quality of service will lead to higher levels of customer satisfaction and thus can increase the use of e-government services.

3. Website DesignPersonalization of websites, customization of product offerings, and self-care are the three key features that could be used not only to build relationship with the visitors, but also to enhance their experience. These features give visitors a sense of control and participation and could potentially enhance their adoption.

4. User CharacteristicUser characteristics such as perceived risk, perceived control, and internet experience can have a direct impact on internet adoption. Experience influences a citizen’s trust of e-Government. Users with prior experience, especially if satisfied, would be more likely to return to use e-Government services. Perceived risk leads to security and privacy issues that could discourage the use of online services. It is important to ensure that citizens can transact online securely and their personal information will be kept confidential to increase the level of trust and the e-government adoption rate.

The government should be able to propose an effective strategy to encourage citizen’s adoption of e-government by focusing on these 4 areas.

Monday, March 2, 2009

Corporate Blogging: A new marketing communication tool for companies

Do you know what is corporate blog is? According to Wikipedia, a corporate webblog is published and used by an organization to reach its organizational goals. The advantage of blogs is that posts and comments are easy to reach and follow due to centralized hosting and generally structured conversation threads.

Wikipedia goes on to explain two types of corporate blogs. Internal–meant for employees to view and comment on and external–published for the public to view.

Internal blogs are used as a communication tool within the organization. They are usually placed on the company Intranet where only employees can view. These can be used in the meetings and e-mail discussions. They are very effective when schedules or employee locations make meetings impractical. Ideas can be categorized by topic, person and date, making archiving ideas and conversations easy.


Frequent uses: Build and strengthen organizational culture, communicate company knowledge and provide teams with an effective collaboration tool.


External blogs are a new public relations tool being used to engage the customer community. These are publicly viewable sites that act as a window into the company itself. They make product announcements, explain policies, rally support, react to criticism and communicate to the outside world. There is also a special type of external blog,


Frequent uses: To strengthen the brand, to build and strengthen relationships and to market or sell products and services.


On the whole, notwithstanding the fact that corporate blogging provides a good marketing platform to companies, i believe that to make it a success, companies need to put in a lot of effort as this medium requires a lot of time, resources, and, most importantly, commitment to transparency.





Friday, February 20, 2009

Things to take note to prevent e-auction fraud when a consumer participating in an e-auction

E-Auction is market mechanism by which buyers make bids and sellers place offers through internet. It is characterized by the competitive and dynamic nature by which the final price is reached. E-Auctions can rapidly disposal of items that needs liquidation or a quick sale, they offer trading opportunities for both buyers and sellers that are not available in conventional channels and they ensure cautious execution of contracts. Another advantage is, it is fast and convenience. However, there are also drawback.


Below are some tips on keeping your risk at a minimum or to prevent when purchasing items from an online auction website.


1. Become familiar with the auction website. Look into the websites protection policies. Never assume you are protected from auction fraud.


2. Before placing a bid, learn as much as you can about the seller. If you can’t find anything out about the seller, than avoid doing business with them. Never fall for promises of better deals by moving away from the original auction website.


3. If the seller wants you to use an escrow service you’ve never heard of, look into it. Check out the website. Call up customer support. If you can’t confirm the legitimacy, don’t use it.


4. Never ever give out your social security number, drivers license number, credit card number, or bank account information until you have thoroughly checked out the seller and the escrow service.


5. Always save 100% of the transaction information. You’ll be glad you did in the event your case makes it to court.


6. If after the sale you feel the item/payment should have been delivered already, try to work it out with the seller/buyer. If at that point you feel that fraud is involved, immediately contact your state attorney general’s office.


7. Physical inspection. It can eliminate many problems especially for collectors’ item.

Monday, February 16, 2009

The application of pre-paid cash card for consumers

Nowadays, people can limit their spending with their prepaid cash card that load funds onto the card and use the money. A prepaid cash card allows consumers to purchase something even when they don’t have the cash to pay for it. It benefits consumers in their everyday life.

Though it works almost the same like a credit card, a prepaid cash card is different because it allows consumers to have a better control over their finance.

How does it work ??

First thing first, load the amount of money you want onto the prepaid cash card. That will be your spending limit.
For any purchases transaction, the sum will be subtracted from the card balance. You can always pump in more money when the balance runs low by transferring money from your regular checking or savings account.

The following is a list of benefits you can get being a consumer, for having a prepaid cash card.

Having a prepaid cash card is certainly quick and easy. Transaction can be made just within a minute. All you have to do is hand swap your card on the counter, sign on the receipt and collect your card and a copy of the receipt. Done.
Consumers can plan how much they want to spend in advance. Thus, spending is controlled by how much one has in the account. In a way, prepaid cash cards give consumers a better alternative in keeping record of your spending.
Having a prepaid cash card is surely safer than carrying cash. Prepaid cash card protect consumers from unauthorized transactions even when the card is stolen or lost. Plus, these cards can also be replaced once it is stolen or lost. Unlike cash, once it’s lost, it’s gone. Forever.

Besides, prepaid cash cards are always convenient all the time. It can be used at just anywhere anytime. Consumers can use it at their groceries shopping, petrol filling, utilities payment, movie tickets, airline tickets, download songs online, mobile phone bill, fast food or restaurant and even online shopping or any online payment! Or, they can even use it to withdraw cash from the ATM.

Here is a advertisement that can show you how useful for debit / credit card in our dairly life.











The best thing is, consumers don’t have to worry about extra charges over their card without their knowing. Because the pre-loaded sum of money is the maximum amount that can be charged to the card.

Competition is very high nowadays and banks today are offering all sorts of attractive prizes and rewards to win over consumers’ hearts. For example, the launch of point-collection system as consumers spends using the card. So the more they spend, the more points they collect and the better chance they stand on winning prizes!

Below are some examples for debit card :


Touch'n Go
Touch'n Go smart card is used by Malaysian for electronic payment system to toll expressway and highway. It is expanding its business to retail purchase by starting with fast food industry that enables consumers to buy dough nut, burger or fast-food from 21 outlets such as Burger King, 7-Eleven, Dunkin’ Donut. It is limitating the success of Hong Kong’s Octopus Card by setting 5 to 10% of the card holders for retail purchase as current target of the company.


Octopus card
Octopus Card was launched in Hong Kong on year 1997, September. It is a rechargeable contactless stored value smart card to transfer electronic payments in online in offline system. It is widely used in payment system for transportation, supermarkets, fast food restaurant, car parks and other pint of sale application such as service station s and vending machines that have achieved good outcomes.
Pre-paid Visa Cash Card

Pre-paid Visa Cash Card is issued by Four Oaks Bank & Trust Company that given the opportunity for consumers with poor credit record and young children by not spending more than the balance on the card. Visa permits travelers access to money at automated teller machines in 65 countries and book the train tickets by offering prepaid cash card such as Metro Card in New York City.

Credit card debts: Causes and prevention


Nowadays, it seems that credit cards are almost a necessity, rather than a luxury, which has caused many people to have a huge problem with credit card debt. Many people now have more than one credit card with a balance. If you are one of the millions of people wanting to get out of credit card debt, then you first need to understand what caused the credit card debt problem to begin with.

A credit card is exactly what the name implies. It is a card with which you are able to use by borrowing on credit. Every time you use a credit card, you are borrowing money from the credit card issuer. Also, each time you use your credit card, you are increasing your credit card debt.

The total credit card debt is the full amount you have borrowed from the creditor. Each month you receive a statement showing the total credit card debt with which you are given the option of paying the balance in full or making a partial or minimum payment. When making only the minimum payment due, you will then be charged interest on the balance owed.


This will also increase your credit card debt balance. If you are only making the minimum payment due each month, the new monthly interest charges are calculated on the prior months balance. This causes you to end up paying interest on the previous month's balance as well.

The credit card debt cycle just continues to increase, especially if spending habits are not controlled, which causes credit card debt to increase even faster. What started off as a small credit card debt rapidly becomes a large amount that can seem impossible to pay off.

Now that the credit card debt problem has been explained in a very basic manner, we need the solution to get the problem under control. The key to solving the credit card debt problem is to stop the cycle! As hard as this idea may seem and as impossible as it might appear to be, it can be accomplished. Once you are able to stop the cycle, you will be able to stop your credit card debt problem and begin on your journey to financial freedom.

So basically…well, we’re stupid about money. If it’s not actual cash in our hands, our brains have to be reminded pieces of plastic are still costing us money. It’s just a step removed. If you don’t remind yourself of that simple fact, your brain will be perfectly happy to do stupid things with credit, quickly and easily.

In that sense, the banks cutting back on credit card lending could be the right medicine for consumers. At least if they aren’t too far gone already.

Electronic currency



what is electronic currency is all about?
"The money screamed across the wires, its provenance fading in a maze of electronic transfers, which shifted it, hid it, broke it up into manageable wads which would be withdrawn and redeposited elsewhere, obliterating the trail."

Nest of Vipers, a banking thriller
by Linda Davies.



Electronic Currency is the new way of using money to exchange for a goods that consumer like.The different of it is the consumer did not using cash to purchase the product.They took the cash and change it to an digital format to stored in an account to enable them to shopping using cashless way.The Electronic Currency can be found in many form such as credit cards,debit card,cash card and ATM bank card as long it can stored it in digital way.The usage of electronic currency not just to only to make payment but it can be use as a Trading tool for an businessman. This electronic currency is better in usage in term of making transaction with other person from different part of the world.The Digital format open source micropayment system can be based on Java, JXTA, XML, OpenPGP and SSL.


The main focuses of digital cash development are:
1) being able to use it through a wider range of hardware such as secured credit cards; and
2) linked bank accounts that would generally be used over an internet means, for exchange with a secure micropayment system such as in large corporations (PayPal).

One such Electronic currency corporation is E-Gold


e-gold is an electronic currency, issued by e-gold Ltd., a Nevis corporation, 100% backed at all times by gold bullion in allocated storage.

Other e-metals are also issued: e-silver is 100% backed by silver, e-platinum is 100% backed by platinum, and e-palladium is 100% backed by palladium. However, the most popular e-metal (by an overwhelming margin) is e-gold.

e-gold is integrated into an account based payment system that empowers people to use gold as money. Specifically, the e-gold payment system enables people to Spend specified weights of gold to other e-gold accounts. Only the ownership changes - the gold in the treasury grade vault stays put.