Product Value Proposition and Business Process Re-engineering
Success of Business Managers and Marketing Managers depends largely upon short term goal of achieving targeted sales as well as focusing continually on long term strategies to grow and retain the leadership in the market. Becoming a brand leader and continuing to retain the leadership calls for the Organization to continually be in touch with […]
Factors Affecting Buying Decision of the Customers at the Store
There are several factors which affect the buying decision of the customers. Let us go through them one by one: Store Display and Presentation of Products The store display plays an important role in influencing the buying decision of the customers. It is the display of the store which attracts passing individuals into the store. […]
Signage – Meaning and its Role in Retail Industry
What is a Signage? Any visual representation which gives information to the customers about a store, any office, building, street, park and so on is called a signage. Signage helps the customers to easily reach their desired destination or locate a building by simply following the instructions displayed on it. Role of Signage in Retail […]
Services Marketing – Definition and its Importance
Stated simply, Services Marketing refers to the marketing of services as against tangible products. As already discussed, services are inherently intangible, are consumed simultaneously at the time of their production, cannot be stored, saved or resold once they have been used and service offerings are unique and cannot be exactly repeated even by the same […]
Variations of Multi Level Marketing (MLM) Schemes
Network marketing has caught on the fancy of millions of people across the world. Amway, Tupperware, Avon, Nu skin, Herbal Life & Oriflamme etc have become house hold names globally and established themselves as premium products thanks to MLM sales and distribution strategy that have been adopted by these Companies. The novel concept of MLM […]
E Commerce is growing day by day in both B2B and B2C context. Retailing industry including Fashion Retail and Grocery retailing have caught on to the bandwagon and have begun to offer E trading or Online Shopping.
In the early 1990s we saw Companies setting up websites with very little understanding of E Commerce and Consumer behaviour. E commerce as a model is totally different from the traditional shopping in all respect. All Companies have fast realised the need to have E commerce strategy separately but as a part of overall Retail Strategy.
Retail Strategy involves planning for the business growth keeping in view the current market trends, opportunities as well as threats and building a strategic plan that helps the Company deal with all these external factors and stay on course to reach its goals.
Further the Retail business strategy is concerned with identifying the markets to be in, building the product portfolio and band width coupled with brand positioning and the various elements of brand visibility and in store promotions etc. Business operations are more or less standard and proven models that are adapted as best practices.
However when it comes to defining an E Commerce strategy for the business, the dynamics of the various elements contributing to the business are totally different. The one factor that remains common is the focus on Customer.
While in the physical| traditional selling method, there exists a physical experience from the Customer’s end and hence it is easier to build Customer relationship and engage the Customer, E Commerce platform has got to devise methods to reach out to the virtual Customer on One to One basis and build the relationship.
The e-commerce generally provides more product information and technical details to the Customers than provided through the Traditional Sales channel.
e-Commerce has got to define the sales transaction, third party payment and financial transaction as well as Customer service processes. As compared to traditional |physical channel sales, all these processes are new and have to be well defined and proven.
One important question that the Companies have got to answer is to figure out ‘How Do We Differ from Competition’ or have an edge over Competition in the E commerce market. One of the key differentiators has been the system security and the third party billing desk partners used by the Companies.
Wherever Companies have partnered with well known and reputed bankers and billing desk service companies providing safe and secure transactions, the customer confidence in dealing with such Company is enhanced.
Secondly companies that provide clear processes outlining the delivery commitments, Online Customer service coupled with publicized policy of customer returns and warranty management are successful in building loyal customer base. Loyalty programs and product promotion offers.
Pricing of products is another area that is required to be addressed through the E Commerce strategy. While the Selling and operational costs are higher in traditional sales model, the E commerce or Virtual Sales costs are negligible. There exists a potential to price products attractively and engage the Customer to buy in bulk.
E commerce strategies and plans would be different in case of Retail Companies engaged purely in internet selling to the already established Retail Companies offering Online shopping along with traditional shopping.
Similarly it is also seen that selling intangibles and technical products is easier through the E Commerce platform than other products that needs some interaction with salesman as well as product sampling etc. Accordingly the product offering on the E Commerce platform may have to be decided by the Company as a part of its strategy plan.
The fact that traditional shopping experience as well as back end operations are totally different from the virtual and instantaneous Online shopping, the Companies have got to come up with separate sales strategy for both traditional sales channel as well as electronic commerce trading channel.
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International Retail Store Design Principles – The Principle of Totality
February 12, 2025
