Non-Price Competition: Wirelesstoyz Competition Is

Non-Price Competition: Wirelesstoyz Competition is very important in any industry. When competition is discussed, however, most people automatically think of the price of the good or service. Price is important, but non-price competition also affects what many people do when it comes to whether they will buy from a particular business or go to a different business that sells the same type of good or service.

The writer works at Wirelesstoyz, which is a cellular phone company, and therefore this particular paper will deal with non-price competition in the context of cellular phones and the Wirelesstoyz Company in both its stores and its Web site. The Web presence is especially important, because a customer can see what Wirelesstoyz has to offer, fill out a request to buy a phone, and look up their local area to see where a store is (Wirelesstoyz, 2006).

Ever since the Internet became popular, many companies have been using it to promote their products, but it is valuable for much more than that. One of the main reasons that many companies have done so well is that they have an effective marketing strategy. They use what many people call the 4 Ps: product, price, place, and promotion. By using a combination of these four items, and using them well, various companies have made names for themselves as some of the top retailers on the Internet.

In order to understand why the marketing for these kinds of products do so well, it is necessary to discuss each of the four Ps in turn and how they can help this company market and sell its product. To do this, each of the 4 Ps will be taken in turn, although promotion will be discussed the most thoroughly, and price will be addressed the least as the focus here remains on non-price competition. As for product, web sites offer many different things.

Customers who find their way to Amazon.com's web site, for example, can also purchase travel accessories, clothing, baby items, electronics, and hundreds of other things that may come as a surprise to Internet shoppers who assumed that Amazon.com only sells books and music (Hurst, 2002).

With the cell phone products that are marketed by Wirelesstoyz, it is not only the cell phones that can be marketed, but other products that many people may need or want that go with their cell phones, as well as promotional offers that will also be discussed. For example, Wirelesstoyz has many different promotions to entice people to their stores. These promotions are at the heart of the interest in this company vs. other cell phone companies.

First, Wirelesstoyz offers service from many different cell phone companies including Sprint, Nextel, T-mobile, and Verizon. This allows the customer to choose from many different options (Wirelesstoyz, 2006). When someone activates a phone, they also receive 'goodie bags' that include pens, key chains, and water bottles among other things. Contests where customers can win game tickets and other items are also part of the promotional activity. The main issue for promotion, however, is that Wirelesstoyz offers no activation fee.

No other cell phone companies offer this option, as all of them require the customer to pay an activation fee when they purchase a phone. Six times every year, Wirelesstoyz has a 'grand opening' during which they have barbeque and hot dogs as well as offering free T-shirts, free phones, and free DVDs. Customer referral programs are offered as well, where customers can receive $25 by referring someone else, and the person that is referred also receives $25.

Wirelesstoyz is an oligopoly, and therefore has to work at competing with many other wireless carriers. This is why the company works so hard at the promotions that it offers, so that it has an edge over the rest of the competition. Price is also a consideration for any retailer, and this company is no different, but price will not be discussed excessively here. It is important to understand price in the context of the Web site, however.

While it is possible to find items on the Internet more cheaply than they can be purchased at retailers, it is usually somewhat difficult due to shipping and other charges. For a cell phone company, however, this shipping usually would not be an issue because many companies offer free shipping, and the weight of a cell phone is not so much that shipping would be expensive.

The main issue when it comes to price for the cell phone company itself would be whether other companies that also advertise on the Internet cost more or less, and what is offered for that particular price. Web sites that offer low prices are very popular, just as lower-priced products are popular in many retail stores. Using the example of Amazon.com again, it is largely because pricing is so good, and products are so comprehensive, that individuals are drawn to the web site (Press, 2003).

Place and promotion, however, are other important factors for any business, and these are seen to be the most important for Wirelesstoyz. The Internet is an amazing place in that people from all over the world can look at the same web pages, and find the same information. It helps the cell phone company not only sell their products, but also helps to show the customers where stores are where they can make purchases, enter contests, and take advantage of promotions that are offered.

The Internet is convenient to everyone in the world, provided they have a computer and Internet access, which makes it a great 'place' to sell or market a product. The marketing of a product is its promotion. Word-of-mouth advertising gets around very quickly, and recommendations from previous customers often entice new customers to come to web sites and make a purchase. In order to do this in the most effective way, however, businesses such as Wirelesstoyz must learn as much as possible about their customers.

The most important reason for this is that the customers generally dictate what the business will do and how well it will perform. In other words, customers will not buy something, either good or service, from a business if it is not what the customer wants or if the price is unacceptable. When a business works with its customers, everyone benefits (Nickels, McHugh, & McHugh, 2005). The business makes more money and the customers come back to purchase other things from that business.

Price, product, place, and promotion, what is commonly called 'the 4 Ps' in business circles, is vital for the continued success of any business. To illustrate, these businesses must set their price at a level that the customers are willing to pay, must provide a quality product that the customers want, must offer these products at a place that is convenient for the customer, and must promote their products so that customers know that these products exist.

Without doing these things, the business will have a much more difficult time getting and retaining customers (Nickels, McHugh, & McHugh, 2005). This sounds relatively easy and simple, but until these businesses know what their customers are like and what these customers need and want, there is little likelihood of reaching them properly. This is why all businesses should have a target market, and work to understand that market very thoroughly (Nickels, McHugh, & McHugh, 2005).

By doing so, they offer what the customers that would be most likely to purchase from them truly want. This is what Wirelesstoyz has done with the promotions that they offer to their customers. The branding and packaging of convenience, shopping, and specialty goods often differ rather strongly, and there are reasons for this that are important to note as well, as the type of product often affects what the customer expects to see when he or she is examining that product (Nickels, McHugh, & McHugh, 2005).

Where branding and packaging is concerned, convenience products are the least significant. What people want in this instance is to purchase something that they need quickly, and they are not as worried about the brand that they get or how it is packaged (Nickels, McHugh, & McHugh, 2005). For example, someone that goes to the local convenience store to get milk would not be as interested in what brand that milk is, or whether it comes in a plastic jug or a carton.

For shopping products, brands and packaging are slightly more important (Nickels, McHugh, & McHugh, 2005). People that go shopping for.