MARKETING MIX: DISTRIBUTION

Principles of Marketing BUSI 141Professor Conrad

Our Discussion for Today•Retailing

•Definition•Evolution•Ethics

•Types of Bricks-and-Mortar•Types of Clicks-and-Order and More•Providing Top-Notch Service

What is Retailing?Final stop in the distribution chain…. The process by which organizations sell goods and services to the consumers for their personal use. (Pg 362-362)

•$4.53 trillion in sales in 2013

•E-commerce = 17%•M-commerce = 9%•>1 Million Retail businesses•15.3 million employees (10% of US workers)

•Most retail businesses are small, mom-and-pop businesses

•Some retailers are also wholesales who sell to businesses as well as consumers (Home Depot)

Evolution of RetailingPgs 363 – 364

Wheel-of-Retailing Hypothesis

Entry Phase• Low Margins• Low Prices

• Limited/no services• Low-end facility

Trading-Up Phase• Moderate prices• Better facilities• Some services

• Increased quality goods

Vulnerability Phase• High prices

• Luxurious facilities• Excellent services/amenities

Experiential Retailing•Experiential Shoppers want and need to have ‘fun’ while they shop

•Retailtainment is marketing strategies that enhance the shopping experience

•Examples include Toys-R-Us, Disney, Bass Pro Shop and Cabela’s

Cabela’s devotes 45% o their floor space to retailtainment features such as taxidermy

displays, fish tanks, restaurant and a shooting gallery.

Retailing Ethics (pgs 366-368)

•Loss of $112 billion or 1.4% of all retail sales annually

•Loss of $300 per family •Consumers pays for these losses•Shoplifting•Employee theft•Retail borrowing•Customer profiling

Bricks-and-Mortar Store TypesPage 371

Non-Store RetailingPgs 374 - 376• Direct Selling• Door-to-Door• Parties and

Networks• Multilevel (Pyramid

Schemes)• Automatic Vending

What is service?•Intangible offerings•Acts, efforts or performances exchanged from producer to user without ownership rights.

Categories of Consumer ServiceDirectly on Consumer Directly on something

consumer owns

Intangibility

Perishability

Variability Inseparability

Service

Serv

ice

Char

acte

ristic

s Pg

s. 38

1 - 3

82

Providing Quality Service (pgs 383 – 385)• Be Positive• The goal is to satisfy the

customer• Identify customer

expectation• Work hard to exceed

expectations• Plan for mistakes• Use transparency• Act fast with resolution• Train and empower

employees

Assignments Due by Sunday•Journal Entry on Distribution•Shopping Experience Paper•MML Chapter 12 Simulation (Reopened)