This was an assignment written/published in April 2004. Since then some significant changes have occurred in the market, such as the advent of AMD chips, which Dell does not carry for their consumer products.
This site is presented as an artifact of the course, HCI 513 at the DePaul School of CTI and is not updated regularly. The references included were all internet based, which was permitted for the assignment. Unfortunately, some of them are no longer accessible.
Introduction
Two e-commerce web sites were evaluated in a comprehensive analysis to determine their effectiveness and support of business objectives and supply chain alignment. More importantly, we examine each site's focus on meeting customer needs and providing customer ROI, thereby generating ROI for the company.
The two sites to be analyzed are
dell.com and
gateway.com. These are both computer systems manufacturers/vendors who provide computing hardware and software solutions for consumers and businesses. Both are fairly well recognized brands, although Dell is the current market leader and more recognized overall. While Gateway lags far behind, having recently suffered through the closure of it's own retail operations, they recently aquired eMachines a fast rising competitor, in a move that may raise them into 3rd. Dell's lead is largely attributable to their superior supply chain and customer service, but they will face growing competition as other manufacturers make improvements and investment in these areas, just as Gateway is doing now.