On page 332
"Wholesalers and Retailers plan their own strategies"

• Goal
• Objective(s)
• Plan(s)
• Strategy(ies)
• Tactics

Goals-- Goals are the ultimate thing you want to achieve. They are the statements that a company uses to motivate employees and statements used to judge and measure challenges that you face. Excellently worded goals should include measurable statements.
WTGR

Examples: 

• To be the largest on-line cosmetics retail site on the planet

.

Examples: 

• To have the largest on-line product offering of cosmetics

(theoretically if you have the largest product offering, you have the potential to make the largest sales, which helps fulfill the goal)
• To have the most competitive prices for cosmetics sold on-line
• To carry  the largest brand selection of cosmetics sold on-line

• generating leads, 
• increasing sales, 
• increasing store traffic, 
• reducing customer service costs or 
• improving brand awareness.

Examples: 

• Develop online giveaways to drive consumers to our product.
• By having on-line contests with prizes given away by other companies, you associate your brand with other circumstances, thereby increasing your brand depth
• Build links from the web sites of famous cosmetics brands and have reciprocal links.

• Strengths
• Weaknesses
• Opportunities
• Threats. 

(SWOT is explained in the text in Chpt 7, page 188-189)

Examples: 

• Establish ongoing monthly contests giving away sample product to 10 lucky winners. 
• To enter, consumers must complete a data sheet, providing demographic information.
• Winners will be announced in the product category of the Web site to ensure consumers see our product line.

"Retailing covers all of the activities involved in selling goods and services to consumers for nonbusiness use"
- nonbusiness use means the consumer buys it and uses it, they do not sell it to another person

"Retailing involves many small transactions"

"Retailing is very competitive"
 

• Scrambled Merchandising
• problems
• opportunities
• selecting retailers with the right image
• (no Larkhill to Walmart, Bay and Sears are better)
• Chains, the most efficient retailers for producers
• advantages
• disadvantages
• Different Types of Chains
• corporate chains
• co-op chains
• voluntary chains (eg. IGA)
• franchise operations

Nonstore retailing (not selling in a shop)

• catalogue selling 
• door-to-door (Avon)
• automatic vending
• direct-mail
• TV sopping
• retailing on-line, e-commerce
• location determinant
• location indeterminant
• payment methods, limited and immature
• tactile limiations
• search engine weaknesses, TMI
•  www.witiger.com/ecommerce/searchengineissues.htm 

• "Retailers must understand their markets"
• "Retailers must analyze their marketing environment"
• political / legal environment
• (laws and regulations)
• Cultural Environment
• Competitive Environment
• Technological Environment
• Economic Environment

Benefits 
to 
organizations 
that use 
e-Commerce

Benefits 
to 
consumers

Limitations 
of 
e-Commerce
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Interdisciplinary 
nature of 
e-Commerce

Benefits 
to 
organizations 
that use 
e-Commerce

Benefits 
to 
consumers

Limitations 
of 
e-Commerce

• Marketing
• Computer Sciences
• Consumer behaviour and psychology
• Finance
• Economics
• MIS - Management Information Systems 
• Accounting and Auditing
• Management
• Business Law and Ethics
• Linguistics

• Expands the size of the market from regional to national or national to international
• decreases costs

• costs of creating the product
• costs of distribution
• costs of processing (orders from the customers)
• costs of storing information
• reduces inventories
• enables customization of products
• reduces the time exposure
• increases productivity
• lowers telecommunication costs
• improves customer service (in some cases)

• can buy when you want, from more locations (internet connected terminals)
• more choices
• sometimes products are less expensive
• can receive more information about the product, make a more informed decision
• greater information leads to enhanced customer satisfaction
• quicker delivery (for online products)

• cocooning - more individuals can work offsite
• less affluent people can buy more and increase standard of living (questionable says WTGR)
• facilitates delivery of public services (Toronto water bills online now)

• Technical Limitations
• some protocols are not standardized around the world
• reliability for certain processes
• insufficient telecommunications bandwidth
• software tools are not fixed but constantly evolving (ie. Netscape 3,4,4.7,4.75 etc.)
• access limitations of dial-up, cable, ISDN, wireless
• some vendors require certain software to show features on their pages, which is not common in the standard browser used by the majority
• Nontechnical Limitations
• costs
• security and privacy
• lack of trust and user resistance
• tactile limitations
• legal issues outstanding
• limitations of support services
• lack of critical mass in certain market areas for sellers and buyers
• accessibility outside of urban/suburban and areas effects universality 

Advantages 
and
Disadvantages
of 
Electronic 
Commerce

• increase sales and decrease costs
• increase profits
• reach a narrow market
• create a virtual community
• reduce costs
• of handling sales inquiries
• repeat activities and information processing
• of promotional material
• of handling customer phone calls
• provide price quotes
• determine product availability (inventory management)

• customer fear of personal information being used wrongly
• fear of payment information being unsecure
• costs of a technological solution
• higher employee training required to be click and mortar
• integrating digital and non-digital sales and production information
• vulnerability to fraud and other crimes
• customer expectations unmet

The question about a lingerie store depends on the demographic info you have and the 5 environments

"Consumers have emotional and social motives"
- image
- entertainment
- status
- perceived value (rolex vs. omega)
 

• "Retailers must understand their markets"
• "Retailers must analyze their marketing environment"
• political / legal environment
• (laws and regulations)
• Cultural Environment
• Competitive Environment
• Technological Environment
• Economic Environment

• Product
• Personnel
• education & product knowledge of the staff
• "attitude"
• Personalized Services
• store hours
• memberships
• customized service
• Price
• Place / Location
• Physical facilities
• decor, lighting, colour, amenities
• Promotion
• Mass Advertising
• paid advertising
• publicity
• Personal Selling
• Sales Promotion 
• brand managers working with retailers to merchandise the product
• contests, coupons, reward programs 

"Retailers must be good Managers of people"
 www.witiger.com/senecacollege/BUS203.htm
 

• If the products are similar
• if the warranty and aftermarket accessories are similar
• if the prices are similar

"Strong Financial Management Skills Required"