...Case Study: Online Comic Book Retailing Case Study: Online Comic Book Retailing Much like a lot of retail businesses the sale of comic books and related items has both grown and moved from the brick and mortar shops to online. In some cases this is to expand their customer base. In others it is a way to reach customers without the overhead of a physical shop, which carries various levels over overhead. My case study will look at three businesses, Mile High Comics, (milehighcomics.com) Midtown Comics, (midtowncomics.com) and My Comic Shop .com (mycomicshop.com). These three shops have different backgrounds and different levels of web presence. I’ll consider each to these things in the case study of online comic book retailing. I chose online comic book retailing as its something that I have familiarity with. Once upon a time I was a manager at a brick and mortar shop in St. Louis, Missouri. The Comic shop that I worked at was a family owned business and had been around for 20 years. The time away near the end of the 90’s and we were beginning to see a decline in sales Like many comic book retailers. You see in the early 90’s the comic book industry saw a boost in sales. Young readers were picking up comics for the first time. Many were getting into comics for the first time many were returning. A big reason for this is was that the large publishers, DC Comics and Marvel, were making efforts to bring new readers in different ways. One of these ways was to begin making collectable...
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...Best Buy Case Abstract In this case study of Best Buy in Crisis, by John Wells and Galen Danskin, Best Buy Company (which will subsequently be referred to as “Best Buy” or “BB”) is shown to be in a period of financial turmoil. Best Buy focused on consumer electronics in 1983 and experienced growth along the way, adapting its product offering and changing its big-box sales style, however, with changes in technology and the retail environment itself, Best Buy is experiencing a stagnation in sales. This report will review the case study and tactics of Best Buy, and in particular, the strengths of this electronics retailer as well as the threats that have emerged that endanger its financial well-being. From the information provided in this case, defensive and offensive plans of action will be suggested and analyzed in order for Best Buy to remain competitive in this industry. By utilizing both types of these recommendations, Best Buy will be able to lower its expenses, increase its revenues, and maintain its current market share as well as attracting new customers in order to achieve the growth the firm once saw. Issue at Hand In a changing electronics retail environment, how can Best Buy survive financially and remain profitable? Internal Recommendations One aspect of BB’s business that is doing well is the creation of Best Buy Mobile and the ability of consumers to choose between multiple carriers at a single location with an even lower priced subsidized...
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...“Bricks-and-Mortar” vs. “Clicks-and-Mortar”: an Equilibrium Analysis Fernando Bernstein Jing-Sheng Song Xiaona Zheng The Fuqua School of Business The Fuqua School of Business Guanghua School of Management Duke University Duke University Peking University Durham, NC 27708 Durham, NC 27708 Beijing, China 100871 Forthcoming in European Journal of Operational Research The Internet has provided traditional retailers a new means with which to serve customers. Consequently, many “bricks-and-mortar” retailers have transformed to “clicks-and-mortar” by incorporating Internet sales. Examples of companies making such a transition include Best Buy, Wal-Mart, Barnes & Noble, etc. Despite the increasing prevalence of this practice, several fundamental questions remain: (1) Does it pay off to go online? (2) Which is the equilibrium industry structure? (3) What is the implication of this business model for consumers? We study these issues in an oligopoly setting and show that clicks-and-mortar arises as the equilibrium channel structure. However, we find that this equilibrium does not necessarily imply higher profits for the firms: in some cases, rather, it emerges as a strategic necessity. Consumers are generally better off with clicks-and-mortar retailers. If firms align with pure e-tailers to reach the online market, we show that a prisoner’s dilemma-type equilibrium may arise. Keywords: Supply chain management, Game theory, E-commerce, MNL model...
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...School of Public Policy and Management, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213 erikb@mit.edu • yuhu@mit.edu • mds@cmu.edu Erik Brynjolfsson • Yu (Jeffrey) Hu • Michael D. Smith W e present a framework and empirical estimates that quantify the economic impact of increased product variety made available through electronic markets. While efficiency gains from increased competition significantly enhance consumer surplus, for instance, by leading to lower average selling prices, our present research shows that increased product variety made available through electronic markets can be a significantly larger source of consumer surplus gains. One reason for increased product variety on the Internet is the ability of online retailers to catalog, recommend, and provide a large number of products for sale. For example, the number of book titles available at Amazon.com is more than 23 times larger than the number of books on the shelves of a typical Barnes & Noble superstore, and 57 times greater than the number of books stocked in a typical large independent bookstore. Our analysis indicates that the increased product variety of online bookstores enhanced consumer welfare by $731 million to $1.03 billion in the year 2000, which is between 7 and 10 times as large as the consumer welfare gain from increased competition and lower prices in this market. There may also be large welfare gains in other SKU-intensive consumer goods such as music, movies, consumer electronics...
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...CASE STUDY 3 MOUNTAIN EQUIPMENT CO-OP Case Study 3 Mountain Equipment Co-op Mountain Equipment Co-operative (MEC) was built in the late 1960s due to the heavy demand of buying outdoor gears and equipments across Canada. In the past few years, the company opened several stores in Vancouver, Toronto, Calgary and so on to serve the outdoor enthusiasts in the major regions in Canada. But its not enough, MEC wants to serve more customers and expand its market countrywide. The best way to achieve the goal is to create a website, and hence allow the customers buying on-line despite of where they are. This is what the president and chairman of MEC concerning about recently. By analyzing the following aspects, the company may create a successful website to match the customers' requirement indeed. First, MEC should consider how the market segments will impact the website and it's ecommence strategy. Customer segmentation is a method for grouping customers based upon similarities they share with respect to any dimensions the company deem relevant to its business (http://www.mindofmarketing.net). And Trites & Boritz (2008) identifys "an ebusiness strategy is the sum of all the choices that a business makes to offer unique value to its customers that differentiates its business model from those of its competitors" (pp.23). There are five major market segments MEC deal with: Young adults, Retired, Families, Businesses, and Gift buyers...
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...scientific studies been conducted to come up with a universal standard for every lab to use. Keywords: Introduction Best Buy is an electronics retailer based out of Richfield, Minnesota specializing in consumer electronics. The company’s products include in home-office equipment, entertainment software, appliances and mobile products as well as support for all their products. Best Buy has a global presence having operations in Europe, Mexico, China and Turkey (Datamonitor, 2011). The firm has successfully differentiated itself from other firms within this market by using a customer-centric approach having a focus on customer service. This approach has allowed Best Buy to take advantage of the high growth in China as well as sustain growth in the more mature markets in the United States and Europe (Datamonitor, 2011). How Best Buy differentiates itself Best Buy utilizes an overall customer-centric marketing approach using local demographics to tailor products and services. This creates customer loyalty and attracts more affluent customers that need advice as well as setup which cannot be offered by a discount online site. Best Buy has a technically savvy sales staff that can suggest products and services including bundling products and offering lucrative extended warranties. They can also offer competitive finance offers using their credit card and provide expert installation using their in-house Geek Squad. Another factor is Best Buy has both a brick-and-mortar and internet...
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...1 Nordstrom Case Study Nordstrom’s Success Fred Ware III Strayer University Marketing 100 May 29, 2011 Professor Niquelle Wright 2 Nordstrom’s is an upper echelon grand department store that retails the finest products for an affluent consumer. Similar department stores that operate on the same scale and market are Barney’s, Neiman Marcus, and Saks Fifth Avenue. Other less exclusive retailers like Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s, and Dillard’s are in competition with Nordstrom’s, but do not carry the same high quality merchandise. All of these retailers offer items such as jewelry, cosmetics, perfume, clothing, shoes, and accessories. Nordstrom’s inventory tends to be more upscale for the exclusive consumer. This consumer may be looking for the best product or shopping experience available in a retail operation. Nordstrom’s delivers this in exceptional style. Nordstrom’s carries a varied inventory on its floor, offering choices for men, women, and children. 2. Unrivaled customer service is entrenched in Nordstrom’s retail policies. Many times in order to appease the customer; a monetary loss is taken by the store. Customer Relationship Management as described in our textbook is a process that companies use to rank, sort, and group customers into categories. Once this step is done, customers are organized and a personal data file is created. With this data when the customer returns, the salesperson can view the customer profile, purchase history and...
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...After reviewing the videos and other information relevant to CanGo made available in weeks three and four, we have determined the following issues to be the most pressing and critical of those currently being faced by the CanGo team. 1. Team Building and Communication An issue which has plagued CanGo from the outset, and one which continues to cause negative repercussions throughout the entire organization, is the lack of a clearly defined organizational system and structure by which CanGo manages projects, as well as prepares for, and deals with corporate change and growth. CanGo's current approach to projects, as well as their strategy for managing change is very reactive, and seems to be developed on the fly, as the need for change, growth, and additional functionality or systems arises. Being in a reactive mode like this will severely limit CanGo's ability to control the efficiency, and the final outcome of these changes. A perfect example of CanGo's reactive approach to change is their recent realization that they are not currently researching and tracking customer behavior. The fact that they realized this oversight is a very positive thing, but their unpreparedness in being surprised by this, and not having a proactive customer tracking plan in already in place, is paralleled only by their cluelessness at how to implement one. Sapient Solutions recommends that CanGo establish an overlying project and change management strategy to be applied to all future...
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...place, and promotion) and how the marketing mix applies to Apple Inc. According to Armstrong and Kotler (2011), the marketing mix consists of tactical marketing tools, blended into an integrated marketing program that actually delivers the intended value proposition to customers (p. 53). The tactical marketing tools that this definition is referring to is known as the four P’s which are the product, price, place, and promotion. These four things are what the organization has control of in order to influence the demand of their products or services to their target audience. Within the four P’s, product refers to the actual product that is being sold to the consumer whether it be a tangible good, a service, or a combination of both. In the case of Apple Inc. there goods consist of tangible goods such as the line of iPod music players, the iPhone smart phone, the iPad tablet, personal computers and laptops and also smart televisions (Apple Inc., 2013). Along with their tangible goods, Apple Inc. is also in the business of selling music, movies, books, and applications such as games all for downloading via the iTunes platform. The selling of their downloadable media is one of the main ways that Apple Inc. uses their products to effectively market to their customer base. Apple Inc. is proprietary in the sense that a customer has to own or at least have possession of an...
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...1........2........3........4........5........6........7 DOMINATING TYPE a) My company would use its influence over its ICI to get its channel conflict management ideas accepted. b) My company would use its authority over its ICI to make a channel management decision in its favor. c) My company uses its channel-related expertise for its ICI to make a channel management decision in its favor. d) My company is generally firm in pursuing its side of channel management issues comparing to its ICI. e) My company sometimes uses its channel-related power to win a competitive channel situation with its ICI. 1........2........3........4........5........6........7 1........2........3........4........5........6........7 1........2........3........4........5........6........7 1........2........3........4........5........6........7 1........2........3........4........5........6........7 OBLIGING TYPE a) My company would in general try to satisfy the needs regarding the channel issues of its ICI. b) My company would accommodate the wishes regarding the channel issues of its ICI. c) My company would give in to the wishes regarding the channel issues of its ICI. d) My company would allow concessions regarding the channel issues to its ICI. e) My company would go along with the suggestions regarding the channel issues of its ICI f) My company would try to satisfy the expectations regarding the channel issues of its ICI. 1........2........3........4........5........6........7 1......
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...existences. I’m going to introduce amazon and what the company is about and the role they played as more then successful online retailer. Then introduce the topic of taxes and state taxes, sales tax, and the importance collecting and paying taxes, and the benefits the country and its residents get for paying such taxes. The amazon company will then be analyze and in operating structure and design and learn how they avoided paying taxes in their home country and how they brought their operation over seas and did the same. And why this topic and subject matter is and should be severely important for future business owners and managers on business structuring operations. Part I: Amazon Amazon is the largest online retailer as of 2014. And how did they accomplish this? Jeff Bezo is the founder and amazon.com and it all started in his garage in the state Washington. Amazon first started off as an online bookstore and soon began to venture off to selling CD’s, DVD’s, and computer software. I’m currently an Amazon user and I use it from buying everything from schoolbooks to DVD’s to watch purchases. Why do I use Amazon.com? Amazon seems to have better prices then the regular store outlets. How does amazon accomplish this? First they have no overhead, they are completely based online and therefore the expenses of an old fashion brick and mortar store are...
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...Question 1: How has Dell used its direct sales and build-to-order model to developan exceptional supply chain? Many of the challenges in improving the supply chain come with all of theunknowns. Most companies produce products they think the consumer will want. Thenthey ship these products to the retail stores. The stores then try to sell the products thatare on their shelves to the customers. The supply chain shows down while they arefiguring out what to build. Then they work with suppliers to get the raw materials andcomponents for the products. The chain slows down more while they are building the products and shipping them to the stores. Then the supply chain is still slow while theywait for the products to sell and get paid. Supply Chain Management: An Analysis of Dell¶s Value ChainDell has used its direct sales and build-to-order model to create this exceptionsupply chain by integrating everything from the beginning to the end process. Dell starts by researching customer to find out what they want. As soon as an initial product isdesigned, Dell starts to market that product on the web-site. Dell does not start to produce any of the products until the customer tells Dell exactly what they want and paysfor the product. Only then does the procurement process start. Dell has improved thesupply chain to make it exceptional by integrating the suppliers. The suppliers have aWeb page which informs them of pending orders. This allows the suppliers to plan basedon actual demand...
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...necessary for them to adapt and implement these new technological advancements. Overall, the role of e commerce is to enable companies to transform the way that they deal with internal information and customer service. The purpose of this case study is to analyze the survival of Barnes and Noble in the inevitable era of e books. Research of this analysis will be drawn form primary sources such as academic journals, articles and books. Introduction Barnes and Noble, is one of the leading retail distributers of books in the U.S, with over, 1300 bookstore all across the United States. The company is comprised of three segments, which include, retail segment, which includes its 661 brick and mortar stores as well as the official company website (bn.com), e book segment which focuses on selling “The Nook,” Barnes and Nobles e book reader and the college bookstore segment. (IBISWorld, 2015). Since its inception, Barnes and Noble helped to put many independent booksellers out of business, and now finds itself fighting fierce battles in the wake of the e book era. The book industry went has gone through drastic changes, which have resulted from the advancement of technology, there has been a radical change from actual print to digital. Recent studies have shown that more and more individuals are inclined to purchase e books over print, for reasons such as convenience, accessibility, having a wider range of choice of books at choose from and the “on the go” feature that comes with...
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...predicted by scholars and experts over the past decade that there will be a steady migration from a brick and mortar retailing model to internet/online shopping stores (Levy & Weitz 2001; Chiang and Dholakia, 2003) (Solorzano, 2011; Ferguson, 2011). With this trend, many traditional retailers have developed their own online stores. There were also the “pure plays”, companies that are mainly start-up e-commerce businesses, which are competing alongside traditional retailers in the marketplace. According to the Internet World Stats 2011, there are currently over two billion Internet users daily at the growth of 480 percent in the past 10 years. This has certainly led to tougher competition for many internet retailers that want to stay competitive and profitable. These businesses want to differentiate themselves, become visible, and stand out above their competitors – gain a competitive advantage. According to Forrester, CIOs have a vital role to play in developing business strategy and framing business technology strategy. Through this approach, IT is viewed as a business enabler for value creation and with this thinking they believe it has a great opportunity to influence business agenda through technology innovation. Even though the effect of a high IT investment on the business’s performance has not been proved (Bharadwaj, 2000), these businesses, both the online-only stores and the “bricks and clicks”, are heavily investing in information technology (IT) infrastructures to conduct...
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...Arden Brazzeal Case Study #4: Blue Nile Corporate Strategy 1. Prepare a five-forces model of competition in the online retail jewelry industry. Conclude as to the strength or weakness of each force as well as the attractiveness of the industry overall. Rivalry Among Competing Sellers- There are many competitors in the online retail jewelry industry with overlapping characteristics in their business models. A very similar competitor that Blue Nile faces is Diamonds.com. Diamonds.com has expert gemologists. They offer "more than 40,000 loose diamonds" in a selection of settings. (Page 326) Their customers have the option to customize their purchases. They provide their customers with widespread educational knowledge for purchasing a diamond. They have excellent customer service by providing free shipping, an appraisal of the diamond, and non-customized orders receive 30 days to return the purchase after delivery. (Page 327) Diamonds.com offers substitute diamonds that are readily available and easily accessible to their customers. Another competitor in the diamond industry is Whiteflash.com. They too provide their customers with the option to customize jewelry. One service that they provide that is unique from their competitors is their diamond trade-up policy. This policy provides customers with a less expensive option to purchase a new Whiteflash diamond by trading in or exchanging their old diamond for a new, more expensive one. Their customer service features...
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