E-commerce - Cape Peninsula University of Technology

Dear sir/madam
Appendix A
CAPE PENINSULA
UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY
e-Commerce Research at CPUT
Professor Andy B)1heway
Head: Research and Development Projects
Faculty ofBusiness Infonnatics
Email: bythewaya@cputac.za
Cell: +27828899771
Direct: +27 21 460 3152
23 March 2005
Do you sometimes wonder what all the e-Gommerce fuss is about? We have heard a great deal
about it over the last few years, and some of us are wondering whether the excitement was justified.
In fact. given some years of experience, it is now time to take stock of early experience and learn the
lessons of success and failure. Nowhere is this more true than in the general area of retailing, and the
relationship between retailers and their customers. As part of a wider programme of research activity
into e-Commerce, at CPUT we are looking at this specific question through research that is being led
. by Lucy Nwoffiah. Lucy is a promising young member of the Faculty of Business Informatics, and I am
writing to ask for your assistance in helping her gather information about your experiences with e­
Commerce.
The Cape Peninsula University of Technology, formed by the merger of Cape Technikon and
Peninsula Technikon, is committed to undertaking research that is relevant, practical and useful. As
we move to University status we are investing heavily in research capability and I hope you will enjoy
helping us as we take up this challenge. Lucy will of course treat all that you tell her as confidential,
and there will be an opportunity to share the results of the work.
The formal objectives of the study are as follows;
• To develop an overview of e-retailing business.
• To analyse some eXisting e-retail businesses and describe the challenges presented by
Internet technology.
• To examine the success and failure of some e-retail businesses with examples.
• To understand the consumer behaviour when purchasing goods and services from the
Internet.
• To analyse the benefits consumers derive from purchasing goods and service from the
Internet.
• To survey the Intemet technologies used in e-retailing and examine their capabilities to attract
consumers
If you have any questions at all about her work, or if you would like to hear more about our rapidly
developing portfolio of research work, do feel free to contact me directly.
Thank you for your consideration of this request. There is a great future for businesses that take the
right decisions and make the right moves; we look forward to sharing our new understanding of these
things as our work moves forward.
,
Thank you,
.-