The Recommendations And Conclusion Information Technology Essay

When we think about cinemas in Malaysia, we would probably think about well-known cinema distributers in the country such as Golden Screen Cinemas Sdn Bhd. Golden Screen Cinemas Sdn Bhd (GSC) is a well-known cinema exhibitor and distributer in Malaysia. GSC is also a subsidiary of PPB Group, which is a member of Kuok Group. PPB Group is listed in the stock exchange in Malaysia.

This company was founded back in 1981 and was known as Golden Communications Circuit. Another company, Cathay, was also another well-known cinema distributer in Malaysia until 1998. GSC was then founded from the merging of Golden Communications Circuit and Cathay Cinemas. The first GSC cinema that was operated in Malaysia was in Kota Kinabalu back on 14th July 1981. In the present day, GSC has about 23 cinemas all over Malaysia, which includes East Malaysia. For example, GSC Mid Valley, GSC Pavilion Kuala Lumpur, GSC 1 Utama and GSC Times Square.

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GSC Mid Valley

The most visited GSC Cinema in Kuala Lumpur

Like its competitors such as Tanjong Golden Village Sdn Bhd (TGV) and Cathay Cineplexes, Golden Screen Cinemas Sdn Bhd is famous for the special features in their cinemas. For example, GSC provides us with a unique cinema experience with their special Gold Class and Premiere Class halls. Other than that, GSC Signature is another Golden Screen Cinemas trademark, providing a luxurious cinema experience to their customers. However, the most impressive feature was revealed recently, when GSC introduced digital 3-D films in June 2008 and 2-D films in May 2009, further enhancing cinema viewing experience in Malaysia.

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GSC Gold Class

The most expensive and exclusive cinema by GSC.

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GSC Maxx

Recently opened by GSC at Berjaya Times Square

Research Findings

E-business, commonly referred to as Electronic business, or an internet business, may be defined as the application of information and communication technologies (ICT) in support of all the activities of business. Commerce constitutes the exchange of products and services between businesses, groups and individuals and can be seen as one of the essential activities of any business. Electronic commerce focuses on the use of ICT to enable the external activities and relationships of the business with individuals, groups and other businesses.

An electronic payment is any kind of non-cash payment that doesn’t involve a paper check. Methods of electronic payments include credit cards, debit cards and the ACH (Automated Clearing House) network. The ACH system comprises direct deposit, direct debit and electronic checks (e-checks).

E payment is a subset of an e-commerce transaction to include electronic payment for buying and selling goods or services offered through the Internet. Generally we think of electronic payments as referring to online transactions on the internet, there are actually many forms of electronic payments. As technology develops, the range of devices and processes to transact electronically continues to increase while the percentage of cash and check transactions continues to decrease. In the US, for example, checks have declined from 85% of non-cash payments in 1979 to 59% in 2002, and electronic payments have grown to 41%.

The Internet has the potential to become the most active trade intermediary within a decade. Also, Internet shopping may revolutionize retailing by allowing consumers to sit in their homes and buy an enormous variety of products and services from all over the worlds. Many businesses and consumers are still wary of conducting extensive business electronically. However, almost everyone will use the form of E Commerce in near future.

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There are 3 steps of e-payment:

A one-time customer-to-vendor payment is commonly used when you shop online at an e-commerce site, such as Amazon. You click on the shopping cart icon, type in your credit card information and click on the checkout button. The site processes your credit card information and sends you an e-mail notifying you that your payment was received. On some Web sites, you can use an e-check instead of a credit card. To pay by e-check, you type in your account number and your bank’s routing number. The vendor authorizes payment through the customer’s bank, which then either initiates an electronic funds transfer (EFT) or prints a check and mails it to the vendor.

You make a recurring customer-to-vendor payment when you pay a bill through a regularly scheduled direct debit from your checking account or an automatic charge to your credit card. This type of payment plan is commonly offered by car insurance companies, phone companies and loan management companies. Some long-term contracts (like those at gyms or fitness centers) require this type of automated payment schedule.

To use automatic bank-to-vendor payment, your bank must offer a service called online bill pay. You log on to your bank’s Web site, enter the vendor’s information and authorize your bank to electronically transfer money from your account to pay your bill. In most cases, you can choose whether to do this manually for each billing cycle or have your bills automatically paid on the same day each month.

Electronic payment is very convenient for the consumer. In most cases, you only need to enter your account information — such as your credit card number and shipping address — once. The information is then stored in a database on the retailer’s Web server. When you come back to the Web site, you just log in with your username and password. Completing a transaction is as simple as clicking your mouse: All you have to do is confirm your purchase and you’re done.

Electronic payment lowers costs for businesses. The more payments they can process electronically, the less they spend on paper and postage. Offering electronic payment can also help businesses improve customer retention. A customer is more likely to return to the same e-commerce site where his or her information has already been entered and stored.

The main drawbacks to electronic payments are concerns over privacy and the possibility of identity theft. Fortunately, there are many safeguards available to protect your sensitive personal information from falling into the wrong hands.

You can defend yourself against identity theft by using virus protection software and a firewall on your computer. You should also make sure that you send your credit card information over a secure server. Your Internet browser will notify you when a server is secure by showing a lock or key icon. In addition, the URL on a secure site is usually designated by the prefix “https” instead of “http.” Retailers do their part by using data encryption, which codes your information in such a way that only the key holder can decode it.

Like every other companies, Golden Screen Cinemas also uses online payment/e-payment. This is used as for the convenience of all their customers. They can get to know about any info about the current movies available in cinemas by just clicking their computer and search for their website. Customers can also make reservations and buy tickets via online through the “e-payment” method. However, they must sign up for an online GSC account in order to continue their process. This process is needed to prevent the rate identity theft from happening.

GSC Cinemas also known as Golden Screen Cinemas Sdn. Bhd. uses e-Payment which is GSC’s electronic ticketing facility which enables customers to purchase GSC movie tickets through the internet from the comfort of their own houses at a convenient location. This e-Payment has grown more popular among citizens of Malaysia and can be found almost anywhere. E-Payment was introduced as a means of increasing revenue and to gain an advantage over competing companies of the same line of work. A study on e-Payment showed that it is very beneficial for consumers and has increased sales drastically.

Electronic payment or e-Payment in GSC saves time for consumers in purchasing tickets because all you need to do is to enter your account information such as your credit card number and shipping address once. Once an account is created, the information is stored in the GSC’s database. So, consumers just have to log in and browse through available movies and purchase the ticket when they have the urge to watch a movie. This convenience saves all the trouble that people face having to queue up before buying tickets and waiting for hours just to get a few strips of paper.

Besides that, purchasing through e-Payment also saves money because costs for paper and postage can be reduced thus saving the extra cash. Customer retention which also means the capacity to retain customers from previous transactions will be present because information is stored in the database makes it convenient for future transactions and can improve businesses. Instead of using computers and laptops, e-payment can also be done through cellphones that support the system and has internet access. Since handphones are mobile, it makes it convenient for consumers that are always on the go.

Promoting e-Payment can be done through various methods of attracting consumer’s attention. The most common way of applying technologies to increase sales is to offer discounts for products. For example, GSC is able to provide discounts for tickets bought through e-Payment. Instead of discounts, a free popcorn or free voucher to redeem gifts that can be found anywhere else by GSC for each purchase of tickets are sure to be a big hit and can increase sales vastly.

Applying the use of other internet technologies together with e-Payment is another method to increase sales. For example, the use of Facebook to promote GSC’s e-Payment is a very good way because in today’s digital age, Facebook is considered to be a global phenomenon where almost every individual is involved in it and more and more companies have also implemented their business and collaborated with Facebook. Using other media to reach other individuals is applied by GSC. Older generations rarely have Facebook and the only method to reach out to them is through different media such as newspapers and magazines. The distribution of redeemable tickets from certain locations in newspapers and other paper media are applied to increase sales.

The usage of the internet technologies by Golden Screen Cinemas (GSC) better known as GSC to most people has brought upon many impacts and influences to the society. These impacts and influences can be divided into two categories which are the positive and the negative impacts.

We will start off with the positive impacts of the usage of internet technologies by GSC. The usage of internet technologies has caused many people to be IT savvy. People are now getting more advanced with the current technologies for their own convenience. This is a big step to improve the computer literacy rate of the public. People use internet technologies to make online reservations at the GSC website. Thus it makes them more IT savvy. It is also more convenient. They no longer require to queue up to buy tickets at the cinema. Especially during the times where a new hit movie is just released, the queue line will be very long.

Besides that, people will usually visit the GSC website to find out about the current and latest movies that are showing in the cinemas. These will help people to manage their time properly as they do not require to actually be at the cinema to know what shows are showing and what shows are not. Not only that, we are also able to see the trailers of upcoming movies online. We are then able to make ourselves free on the day of the anticipated date of released of the movie. Trailers of current movies are also shown online. This can help people to make the right choices of what movies to watch after watching the trailer. They might be enticed by the title of the movie because it is interesting but after watching the trailer they might not like the story line of the movie. Therefore, we are able to make the right choices and save money on simply watching any movies.

On the other hand, although there might seem to be a lot of positive impacts, there are also a lot of negative impacts towards the society. First of all, due to the fact that internet technologies used by GSC have made it so convenient for people, we tend to get lazy. We get over dependant on these technologies that we cannot live without it. We will also be prone to health risks. This is because we are becoming more of a couch potato, being too dependent on the computer. We don’t exercise or move around. Calories will pile up and we are exposed to diseases such as heart attack and many more.

Another negative impact would be that we are exposed to cyber theft. When we want to do an online booking for tickets in GSC, we need to have a GSC account. They require us to insert our personal information to make a GSC account. By inserting our personal information, we are exposed to the many threats of cyber theft. If there are any leaks in the database, our personal information would be abuse by those syndicates.

Not only that, when we want to purchase a ticket online, we are required to use our credit cards. All our credit card information would be inserted to make the transaction to purchase the ticket. If there are any errors or misuse in the system, we would be charged for something else and our credit card information might be use to make other transactions. There is no definite way to prevent this, neither is there a way to make people fully trust this system.

GSC is a well established company over the years. Every company needs to make improvements as the times goes by as the internet technologies will be more and more advance. To prevent them from being outdated or out of the rat race, GSC should provide more online previews in the future. As of currently, there are not a lot of previews on the GSC website, and some of the trailers are too short. GSC should give out more trailers online that are longer and more interesting in the future to increase sales.

GSC Cinemas should also make a section online where people who have watched the movie be able to give out their comments. These reviews help other people to make their choices in choosing which movie to watch. The reviews also help give people a rough idea of what the movie is about and what to anticipate. Flaws of the movies can also be discussed and shared among the viewers. Events that happen or any dislike can also be stated. When people participate in giving their comments, they are active in giving feedbacks to improve the company services. This will eventually help GSC to improve their services in the future.

In the distant future, where people have become a lot more IT savvy, GSC should give the opportunity for them to watch at home through online streaming. Customers would have to pay a fee to stream the movie online. To prevent the movie from being distributed, copyright issues shall be done to prevent customers from burning the movies into DVD’s. People are now able to enjoy the latest movies at the comfort of their own home together with families and friends.

3D movies are not rare nowadays. With the current technologies, there are a lot of 3D movies in the cinema. GSC should prepare themselves to provide a better experience for their customers. In providing a better experience I would mean 4D movies. Where, the customers get to feel that they are in the movie when it is showing. 4D movies will provide a whole new experience to watching movies in cinemas for the customers of GSC. Therefore, it is strongly recommended that GSC Cinemas be prepared for any upcoming 4D movies, so that they can provide the best experience to draw in more customers.

Recommendations and Conclusion

Through the surveys, we have found out that most people are satisfied with the online service provided by Golden Screen Cinemas, but there are also some who are not. There is still much room for improvement for the website.

Firstly, the looks of the website should be improved, though looking nice and fancy doesn’t mean much compared to having good functions, appearances always gives people a strong first impression and shows how much effort they have put in, and that first impression is always a bonus. This is what the website lacks, as the colors are plain and the layout is not in any way, attractive.

Also, the site is not quite user friendly, the layout is too crammed. Everything is squeezed against another, making it look very untidy and hard to read. The website for another cinema – Tanjong Golden Village, www.tgv.com.my, is an example for a better organized website. Other than that, the categorization of the movies could be better by grouping movies under language or popularity, making it easier for customers to find their desired movies.

New or popular movies should be given advertisements on the website to further promote them, and let customers know what’s new. We have also found that there are movie names without links to information about them, those should also be put up as soon as possible to keep the customers updated.

More information on movies should be given to save clients the trouble of doing research on the films themselves. One of the ways to do that is to give critical information such as ratings and comments from critics, which can ultimately influence the clients’ choice to watch the film or not. Embedding trailers on the website or giving links to more other websites to them can also prove helpful, as some websites may be slow on loading.

They should consider giving more choices for seats on online ticketing in order to attract more people to use it because the current system only allows a very limited number of seats for online purchasing. This makes the website quite useless for some people who want better seats in the cinemas, and they would rather buy the movie tickets themselves at the cinema.

Golden Screen Cinemas Home Page

All in all, I can conclude that Golden Screen Cinemas has done a good job so far in providing services to the people through internet technologies. There are still lots of room more for improvement. They can improve by first changing the layout of their main web page which contains too many advertisements as shown above. Thereafter, they can slowly improve their online services to be more user-friendly so that people feel comfortable using their services. Therefore, I can say that Golden Screen Cinemas has successfully use internet technologies to increase their sales in ticketing.

References

Online Reference

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