Business Technology

Evaluating Websites and Purchasing Business Equipment

Assume that you are the employee responsible for ordering and maintaining office equipment. You have been assigned the task of looking for office equipment online, determining what office equipment is required for the new branch of your business that will open in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, in February, and providing a complete list of the specific equipment, price, and place of purchase.

Your specific tasks are:

1. Look at various websites that sell office equipment. A few suggestions are www.officemax.com, www.officedepot.com, www.staples.com, www.dell.com, www.gateway.com, www.circuitcity.com, etc. There are numerous other websites.

2. Select the three websites you like the best. For each of the three websites, write an essay evaluating the following aspects of the website:

A. Ease of finding information on the website.

B. User friendliness of the website.

C. Eye appeal of the website.

D. Whether or not pricing information and item descriptions were clearly given.

E. Factors that made you decide this was one of the three websites you liked the

best.

3. Make a list of the office equipment you believe would be required to open the Cape Girardeau branch office.

4. Participate in a class discussion regarding required office equipment.

5. Research to find where the various pieces of office equipment could be purchased for the best price. Don’t forget to include shipping charges if the items will be ordered and shipped to you.

6. Provide information regarding maintenance information for each piece of office equipment (i.e., what will you do if the equipment breaks down or needs routine maintenance, is there a charge if you decide to purchase the maintenance contract on the equipment, etc.)