First Edition November 2013 Meet The Green Library Team!

Dane Perez

Chi Pascua

Pancho Velasco Mikee Masamayor

E-commerce

Project

NATION BUILDING

pg. 6

pg. 18

pg. 25

SUPPORT to

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Editor’s Note 3

Acknowledgement 4

President’s Note 5

The Green Library Team 6

Company Background 8

Industry Background 9

Mission Vision 10

Strategies 11

E-Commerce Project 18

Support to Nation Building 25

EDITOR’S NOTE

When the idea of this website was first proposed, I was doubtful of sup-porting it. I know for myself that I am not fond of reading books. I am the type of person who is more in-clined in sports. The first thing that came into my mind when this busi-ness was proposed is that I am not suited for it. But eventually, things came into place. I realized that the business has a potential and it’s more than just my hobbies and interests. I am also a student who could relate with the problem the business is try-ing to address. There are many stu-dents out there who could not afford to buy their books in college.

I could attest to that because I have been with students who only buy second hand books. Sometimes, students do not even them. They just photocopy the required chapters because the books itself is too expensive. I could relate with those stu-dents and it’s the reason why I chose to venture in this business. I may not be into reading but I do value education. I believe every student deserves a quality educa-tion and that entails having books for every subjects. If they can’t afford them, we will help them find cheaper ones.

Mikee Masamayor , Editor-in-Chief / Marketing Officer

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

T he group would like to

acknowledge Mr. Borromeo for

passionately teaching electronic

commerce. The group did not only

learn from the class but was also

inspired by stories of successful

blogs & websites. The creators of

the websites and blogs he men-

tioned are now earning a good

sum of money.

They started with simple concepts that appeal to the needs of

people. All big things were once small. The power of simple

solutions should never be underestimated. The ECOMMER

class showed us fresh new ideas that inspired us to be more

creative and innovative and it also raised our awareness of

what is happening around the world. The class was truly

worthwhile.

PRESIDENT’S NOTE

ooks are essential instruments in learning. Stu-

dents have been using them since preschool, high

school, and even up until college. There are many

kinds of books but whatever they are, they provide

one purpose. That purpose is to feed our minds.

When we were small children, our parents read us

fairy tales. We got amused with different stories that

played with our imaginations. Those stories taught us

how the world was and could be like. When we first

step into school, we encountered another kind of

books. They introduced us letters and numbers. Fi-

nally, we learned to how to read by ourselves. As we

grow older, the kinds of books we encounter seem to

change as well. Now I am in college, the books I read

are far different from when I was in elementary and

high school. They are now business books. They

teach me management concepts and theories. If I were to relate it with other students at my

age in college, they also went under the same phases.

owever, the courses we took are different. I read management books while other

read biology, accounting, chemistry, and etc. In college, there are many books as there are

different courses. But the one thing I noticed more is they could be really expensive. It is a

problem for students who cannot afford to buy them. This prompted me and the co-founders

to start something that could help those students.

B

H

Christian Pascua , President

Daniel Perez

Chief Financial Officer

Filipino

Bachelor of Science in

Business Management Christian Pascua

President

Filipino

Bachelor of Science in

Business Management

tEAM

Pancho Velasco

Operations / Logistics

Officer

Filipino

Bachelor of Science in

Business Management Mikee Masamayor

Editor-in-Chief /

Marketing Officer

Filipino

Bachelor of Science in

Business Management

21 years old

tEAM

COMPANY BACKGROUND

T he Green Library is a buy

and sell website that focuses

on college books. It was

founded by a group of four

business students in De La

Salle University Manila in the

year 2013. The founders of

the company were prompted

by the need of college stu-

dents to have cheaper

sources of their books. Most

of their books are expensive

and some are only used in

short term. That is the reason

why students often turn to second hand

books which are being sold on Face-

book, Twitter, Sulit, and Ayosdito.

However, those websites are already

swarming with variety of products and

services promoted by many online

merchants. Looking for college books

become hard because of the huge

population who buys and sells different

products. The founders wanted to ad-

dress that issue and so, The Green

Library was born.

INDUSTRY BACKGROUND

“The distribution of products done by retailing can now be accomplished online. Com-

munication, which involves advertising for the purpose of promotion now has the

online option. This has enabled advertising to go global in a way never seen before

and provides the opportunity for instantaneous communication as well. The onset of

online advertising and online retailing has dramatically changed the marketing of

products. Both these areas are part of the online marketing arena; online advertising

being a method of promotion that is internet based and online retailing a way to dis-

tribute a product that is internet based. Both online advertising and online retailing ap-

pear to have been accepted as an integral part of marketing strategy that is neces-

sary for companies to use if companies want to be able to survive and prosper in the

marketplace” (Werner, 2013).

The Green Library is under the

online retail sector of electronic

commerce industry. The industry’s

function is to make shopping easier

for customers. It allows them to buy

goods or services over the internet

using a web browser. The biggest

players in the industry are Amazon,

Sulit, eBay, Sulit, and etc. While

Web-only companies such as

Amazon.com Inc. once dominated

the Internet retail landscape, the bulk

of the business has tipped decisively

toward "multichannel" retailers -- the

catalogue-and-store merchants --

which accounted for 67% of total

online sales in 2001, up from 54% in

2000. Across all categories, Internet

retailers made bottom-line improve-

ments over previous years, in large

part by slashing marketing costs, ac-

cording to the report (Wingfield,

2002).

Mission Vision

The Mission

The company commits on providing quality books that is affordable to all college students. The Green Library

committed to providing essential educational resources that will support college student success.

The Vision

To provide a wide a selection of products, reaching more college students through growing network.

To build and branch out our services to other colleges in the Philippines to serve the college students who

cannot afford expensive books through our website

To also provide a network for students to interact with each other and discuss about other reading materi-

als and resources that may be helpful in their studies. And also provide a hub for students to discuss about

other issues that may concern academically.

Features SULIT AYOSDITO

Search Option X X

Location X X

Customer Log-In X X

Ratings of Sellers X X

Pictures X X

Videos O O

Chat Box O O

Ad Space X X

Comment box X X

Forum X O

STRATEGIES

Comparative chart of the features of each site

The Green Library has cited that its main competitors would be Sulit.com.ph and AyosDi-

to.ph

X - available

O - not available

ANALYSIS OF COMPETITIVE SITES

ased on the features, Sulit has an advantage over AyosDito due to the fact that they provide

a forums page. This is very important because it provides a community for the site wherein oth-

er customers can interact with each other. A feature like this would increase traffic and may al-

so attract visitors to actually purchase from the store or click through the advertisements.

ulit’s home page also looks a lot simpler as compared to AyosDito. AyosDito’s website

seems to be more cluttered and may not be as visually appealing to the customer as it should be.

The way a website looks and how easy it is to navigate around is very important to a customer

because it becomes more convenient for them. An attractive looking website will prompt the

visitor to stay longer while an easy to navigate website will not frustrate a visitor while he/she is

searching for something. The ad spaces on Sulit are also more organized, which would be a plus

point for the advertisers since their ads are easily recognizable.

B

S

oth websites allow visitors to log-in, most especially through

Facebook. In a way, this could also add some security in purchasing

because the factor of anonymity is taken away. It would be hard for a

person to just buy something on the internet just by looking at the

pictures and the description of the product without knowing who is

selling and why they are selling it. This would also allow users to see

whether or not the seller is credible or not. They also have a location, this

is most especially convenient for a visitor who wants to buy something

but would want to buy it in a place that is closest to him/her. It also

lessens the risk of the actual delivery of your purchased item, and the

logistics are a lot easier.

B

ANALYSIS OF COMPETITIVE SITES

Strength

Weakness

Opportunities

Threats

Sulit has a wide population of users which makes it a tough competitor. Moreover, their good reputation is al-ready established in Philippines. The company will not have to start from the scratch because they are already among the big players in online retailing. It also has the advantage of forums in its features which other web-sites does not have. It is a big factor because it sit is an informative feature in the side of the costumers. It gives them a sense of assurance of the product they want to buy. It also shows that Sulit is more user-friendly and complete in features.

Although Sulit is a big online retail store, it still a flawed business. The website has a huge population of users who uploads numerous products at a variety of prices. Some of them are scams which are just intended mis-lead online shoppers. Sulit needs to come up with a system that detects those kind of promotions in their page because it affects the quality and credibility of search results.

Aside from the fact that Sulit is a big online retailer store, it is also a growing business. The company could consider acquisitions of other businesses that could help in its operations. Businesses that provides delivery, payment, and communication services would be good options since online retailing involves those activities. Acquisitions of such businesses could help strengthen its advantages over competitors.

Sulit is competing with many other online retailers. Those include the big players which are Amazon, eBay, and Ayosdito. Competition with such online retailers is a threat because it entails high consistency in quality outputs. Moreover, it becomes harder to differentiate brand from other competitors. It is more crucial for the company to maintain its good reputation as long as the big players exist.

Strength

Opportunities

Threats

Weakness

AyosDito, is one of the famous online store where people can sell their items. In addition, like other online re-tailing website they have also established a good reputation in the country. AyosDito offers free posting of ads

for items such as properties, cars, computers, cellphones, electronic gadgets, food, etc.

In this type of business, anxiety of customers is a major problem. The experience of seeing and touching the actual product doesn’t exist in this type of business that’s why customers tend to be distrustful. Customers

don’t know if the product is in good condition, some people are not contented with just pictures they want to feel the product itself. Customers will have second thought of buying the product.

Almost all player in the online retail offers the same type of services, so AyosDito should think of some ways in order to show differentiation among the other players. Even though they are well known of their reputation

in the industry, they must think of innovations in their website such as having a forum in order to cope up with other online store that offer such feature.

Online retailing is a growing sector in the e-commerce industry which means there are many other websites that offers the same services. This means that there are many other online shops that compete with Ayosdito. There are many other websites that are famous because of good reputation when it comes to online retailing.

POSSIBLE FEATURES FOR ADOPTION

It has come to our attention that

Sulit provides its users with a forum

page. This could also be useful and pro-

vide more traffic on the site if used

properly. This could be a place for stu-

dents to discuss about the books (e.g.

what book to get, which would be more

useful). And since our business is called

The Green Library, this may be an op-

portunity for students from around the

metro to converse and share notes with

each other in order to maximize full

learning potential. University professors

may even join in on the discussions to

help better facilitate learning.

Chat box can also prove to be very

helpful wherein the customer can inter-

act with the owners and inquire about

the availability of books or other con-

cerns. This will also be able to compen-

sate for those students who will not be

able to visit the physical store and

chooses to buy online instead.

The forums option helps

the third objective of the

vision wherein a forum al-

lows students and even

professors of different col-

leges and universities to

interact with each other.

This also allows the partic-

ipants of the forums to

have an opportunity to

learn from others. As we

all know, a library is not

only a place for building

books but it is a repository

for knowledge. The Green

Library would also like to

attain this status as not on-

ly an online business for

buying and selling books

but also as a place for

learning.

Chat boxes allow the

founders of the business to

entertain the concerns of

their online customer. This

allows the first and second

objective of the vision to

be achieved. This helps in

further building a network

for the founders and the

students of different col-

leges and universities. By

better understanding the

concerns of the students,

then these can be properly

addressed and this then

builds a better connection

between the business and

the students , thus a better

network. This feature also

makes up for the lack of

“experience” that a visitor

feels when he/she is shop-

ping online. It also helps

the business in branching

its products and services to

the online community.

__E-COMMERCE_____ _____PROJECT_____

VALUE PROPOSITION

The Green Library provides a site for college students where they can only buy books at an affordable price. It is recognized for that sole purpose because it gives conven-ience to students. They don’t have to deal with products they are not looking for. The website makes it easier for them by categoriz-ing the books in an organized manner. The books are sorted in their specific fields, au-thor, and the year they were published. More-over, the website gives value to the users through security. Unlike Facebook and Twit-ter, The Green Library does not expose per-sonal transactions in comment boxes, wall posts, or twitter feeds. The Green Library has its more private and professional manner of managing transactions.

REVENUE MODEL

Not only does the Green Library earn prof-it through buying back and selling books, but it also earns through subscriptions and advertise-ments. Not anyone can just sell books using the website. Users who want to sell their books in The Green Library have to pay for their subscrip-tion every year. On the other hand, as the website caters to college students, it also serves as a good place for advertisements. It is the company’s an-other source of income.

7 ELEMENTS OF

A BUSINESS

MODEL

_____PROJECT_____ MARKET OPPORTUNITY

COMPETITIVE ENVIRONMENT

The Green Library targets college students as

its primary market. College students give good market

opportunity because of their need for cheaper books.

A lot of students look for second hand books because

oftentimes they are not willing to buy at an expensive

price when they are only going to use it short term.

Their tendency is to look for a cheaper alternative and

that is where The Green Library comes in.

Social Networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter are competitors of The Green Library. They provide almost the same service to the users but have different features. Moreover, most college students are users of these sites. The Green Library. Buy and sell websites such as Sulit and AyosDito are also competitors because they connect online merchants to potential customers online.

COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

There are no other websites that offers specific features when it comes to books like categorized search. Moreover, the site will have the advantage of having a brand known for buying and selling of books unlike Sulit and AyosDito. The two buy and sell websites are known for vari-ety of products and services offered by a number of online merchants.

MARKET STRATEGY

The market strategy of The Green Li-brary is to target mainly college students at first. We believe that this market will serve as a great niche for the business. Selling buyback books will especially be effective in this mar-ket due to some colleges requiring students to use the same books as those in the past; how-ever, most bookstores start providing new edi-tions of these books each year with already so many differences. We would like to take ad-vantage of this scenario by selling buyback books that are still relevant to the course sylla-bus of the students. The Green Library can col-laborate with college departments in order to make sure that the required textbooks are known and made available to the students.

ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

A decentralized organizational structure would be implemented in the business as the founders wanted a free and comfortable working schedule. Hierarchy would be less and employees would have wide span of control. However, as this structure demonstrates open-ness and trust, strict deadlines will be observed for eve-ry assignments or projects. Employees would only have the freedom when and where to do their work as long as it is guaranteed to reach the deadline. Through this structure, the founders aim to utilize personal coordina-tion with their employees.

OPERATIONS

he Green Library will follow a Catalogue Merchant E-tailing Business Model be-

cause we think that this would the model that would best maximize profits. The Green

Library will have a physical store in order for students to come and visit to see if the

book they are looking for is available. If it is available, this gives the student (customer)

a chance to experience and check the book before actually buying it. Not only will there

be a physical store, but it will also have an online catalogue wherein students can check

the inventory and see whether or not the book they are looking for is available for sale.

The online catalogue will also feature the physical conditions of the book in order to

make it easier for the customer to make a decision and trust the books being sold at our

website.

T

First, the company will set a desired state to set directions and a target. It is im-portant that actions of the company are geared toward a clear goal. The competitors will also be evaluated quarterly in terms of their strengths, weaknesses, opportuni-ties, and threats. The company will try to incorporate the strengths they find and improve on them as much as possible. Weaknesses will be assessed as it will serve as a basis for attack strategies to gain more market share. Oftentimes, websites modify their layouts to improve search results. There will be a thorough research in trending lay outs and other opportunities to improve search results in The Green Li-brary. Tactics will also be developed aligned to the goals that have been created. In relation to the marketing strategy, the tactics would be advertising to frequently vis-ited pages on Facebook and trending pages. Lastly, a company calendar will be cre-

Marketing Plan

We are assuming that 80% of our sales would be coming from our well maintained books, while the rest of the 20% would be coming from books sold at a cheaper price due to the fact that they are already pretty worn out. Anoth-er assumption would be that 70% of the sales would be coming from large text-books while 30% would be coming from small textbooks.

The well maintained large text-books would be bought at P400, and sold at P450 while the small textbooks would be bought at P275 and sold at P300. The following Financial Projec-tion is based on the assumption that 100% of the sales would be coming from well maintained books and that the busi-ness would be able to expand its market to other colleges by the year 2015. Fi-nancial Projection for year 2014 is for within the campus of DLSU only.

FINANCIAL PROJECTION

FINANCIAL PROJECTION (for 3 years)

2014

(1000 books)

2015

(2000 books)

2016

(4000 books)

Sales:

Large Textbooks (70%) P315,000 P630,000 P1,260,000

Small Textbooks (30%) P90,000 P180,000 P360,000

Online Advertising Rev- ----- P50,000 P100,000

Total P405,000 P860,000 P1,720,000

Variable Expenses:

Large Textbooks (70%) P280,000 P560,000 P1,120,000

Small Textbooks (30%) P82,500 P165,000 P330,000

Total P362,500 P725,000 P1,450,000

Contribution Margin P42,500 P135,000 P270,000

Fixed Expenses:

Selling Expenses P3,500 P5,000 P7,500

Administrative Expenses P10,000 P15,000 P25,000

Total P13,500 P20,000 P32,500

Net Operating Income P29,000 P115,000 P237,500

Taxes P2,400 P17,500 P46,875

Net Income P26,600 P97,500 P190,625

The Green Library will partner with Yellow Boat Foundation. It is a foundation that

aims to provide free education to children in rural areas. It also brings convenience to children

who live in areas surrounded by water. The foundation provides free transportation through

yellow boats that take children from their houses to school back and forth.

The Green Library will donate a portion of its proceeds every year to help in the devel-

opment of the foundation. The company has chosen Yellow Boat Foundation because it be-

lieves that education is one of the best measures of our country’s wealth. The Green Library

wants to give back to the community by making quality education more available to poor chil-

dren in places around the Philippines.

References:

Werner, M. (2013). The effect of the use of online advertising and online retailing on marketing strategy for

products.Journal of American Academy of Business, Cambridge, 18(2), 16-22. Retrieved from http://

search.proquest.com/docview/1238189213?accountid=28547

Wingfield, N. (2002, Jun 12). Online retailing still growing despite some losses last year. Wall Street Journal.

Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/398803272?accountid=28547

NATION

BUILDING