¶ … Message and E-Tailing
Background- E-Commerce is the buying and selling of products and services over electronic means, usually the Internet. As Internet usage grows, so does trade conducted electronically, allowing for a number of improvements and innovations that follow suit. Most economists see e-commerce as a market segment that leads to intensive price competition and consumers armed with greater knowledge. In two particular industries, e-commerce has actually changed the way the market works on those industries, causing the brick and mortar versions to fade away. One of these is the book industry, in which larger e-commerce firms like Amazon.com, use economies of scale to drop prices, increase variety, and capture the market (The Click and the Dead, 2010).
Levels of Interaction- E-commerce has changed business models globally. The United Kingdom actually has the largest e-commerce market in the world, even higher than the United States. This has certainly changed the dynamics for marketing and advertising all over the world (Robinson, 2010). Even countries who are new to the Internet, or who have limited Internet access expand with e-tailing (e.g. China and almost $40 billion in 2009). E-commerce is an important business tool not only to sell to customers, but also to engage them in the process of computer-based shopping (Eisingerich and Kretschmer, 2008).
Many scholars believed that e-tailing would lead to intense price competition since it increases consumers' ability to shop the market, gather information, and decide with whom and how to purchase. Two particularly market niches have been affected by e-tailing, bookstores and travel agencies. Amazon has really captured the market in books, and there are very few small travel agencies left- consumers can find better deals quicker through the Internet. Instead, what has occurred is a market scaling -- larger companies can usually offer better prices, and even with shipping can usually out-compete the local retailer. This has formed two distinct aspects of e-tailing: the pure-click shops that have no local brick and mortar and who have launched a website without any previous experience. These firms are both price and customer service driven. The second type are Brick and Click firms that are existing companies, usually have a brick and mortar location, but also know they need to expand and enhance their distribution profile more (Graham, 2008).
There are three basic interactions between e-tailers and consumers: the product, the process, and finally the partnership.
Product -- Consumer develops and enhances preferences and learns to evaluate difference; E-Tailing strategies include: price discrimination, price attributes, product differentiation, and bundling strategies.
Process -- Consumer takes in information, evaluates it against e-tailer's...
E-tailer recommends existing and new products; uses strategies to increase trust and turn purchasers into customers; and provides both direct and indirect learning experiences.
Partnership -- Consumers feel loyalty, commitment, trust, and privacy. E-tailers use loyalty programs, social medial, privacy and trust strategies.
Interaction
Product
Process
Partnership
Basic Issue
Learning about product
Development of the sale, knowledge process.
After the sale process; turning purchasers into customers
Medium of Behavior
Electronic, emails or website information
Online catalog
Email notification, phone support if needed.
How enables e-commerce
Acts as an online catalog and inventory mechanism
Allows for a more robust shopping experience; ability to compare as well.
Increases market share, adds customers, increases word of mouth
Looking at the communications matrix and interaction, we then see:
Communication
Product
Process
Partnership
Purpose
Gain Customers
Get purchase decision
Retain customers
Sender
E-Tailer, E-Commerce
Both E-tailer and consumer
Both
Receiver
Consumer, B2B
Both
Both
Message
Reasons to Purchase
How to purchase
Service, follow up
Environment
Virtual
Virtual, could be telephony as well
Virtual, telephony
Technology
Email, Internet, Smart Phone
Email, Internet, Smart Phone
Email, Internet, Smart Phone
Noise
Other ads, competing spots, social networks, predispositions
Multiple shopping experiences
Potential mishaps in shipping, product, etc.
Feedback
Usually causes a purchase if successful
Purchase and beginning of relationship
Can make or break experience
Sample Message
Audience: Pet owners with following demographic characteristics
Age Range: 34-69; age range suggests more stability and discretionary income
Income Range: Households above $75K, suggests ability to donate
Home Ownership: Condo or single family home, suggests community stability
Education Level: some college or above, more likely to donate to cause
Issue: Sponsorship of Canine Companion for Independence working dog for identified individuals with special needs.
Graphics included: see samples…
REFERENCES
Canine Companions for Independence. (2011). Information. Retrieved from: http:www.cci.org
The Click and the Dead. (2010, July 1). Retrieved October 2011, from The Economist:
http://www.economist.com/node/16478931?story_id=16478931&fsrc=rss
Eisingerich, A. And Kretschmer, T. (March 2008). In E-Commerce, More is More. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from: http://hbr.org/2008/03/in-e-commerce-more-is-more/ar/1
Robinson, J. (October 27, 2010). UK's internet industry. The Guardian. Retrieved from: http://geospace.co.uk/files/compass.pdfhttp://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/oct/28/net-worth-100bn-uk
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