Benefits of Physical Stores for Ecommerce Companies
Discuss about the Communication and Critical Thinking for Global Economics.
Innovation is an important aspect for businesses today to promote growth as well as keep with the global trends in the market as described by (Fagerberg, & Godinho, 2004). Technology has made the retail business go on another level when it comes to business because shopping online has been made fun as explained by (Wolfinbarger, & Gilly, 2001). As much as online shopping has been made easy for people all over but consumers who buy groceries from the company’s website need the touch of an item they are buying while some also need more information about the goods provided by the company that the website does not provide.
A physical store is important to reduce the cost of logistics of the company, makes delivery of goods faster as well as to provide the customers with a place they can walk in, view the goods as well as return them when must. They will have one pick up point of the goods with the help of the agents and get more information about the goods. A store also provides them a variety of goods that they can get enticed to and buy even more but at the same time customers can order online, buy online but come to pick goods at these stores. This improves customer service and satisfaction which is the main key of success to the company. (Liu et al., 2013).
The essence of a market is to provide an avenue for trade between sellers and buyers, making a place to carry out efficient transactions. It is better for a market which has the access to a wide variety of sellers who provide an array of goods for the buyers. Buyers are more likely to access such a market. Since the market is physical it provides a stationary place where the sellers and buyers can easily access each other therefore reducing the cost of travelling in search of either a buyer or a seller.
The major problem at the company is that they are no physical stores costumers can walk in see the item, touch it and even choose others to buy instead they shop online. To be able to solve this problem, there is a need for the company to set up physical stores in different locations in the country. The cost of transport is high making delivery of goods bought buy online customers costly to the company. To solve the physical markets may be used as the customer has direct access to the goods.
|
Key Partners It is totally associated with WALMART as its subsidiary but first, it started as a whole eventually it merged under it. |
Key Activities Key activities are related to an online sale of grocery items to people in the US so as to earn a maximum amount of profit (Fan et al., 2017). |
Value Proposition · The needs and wants of customers are taken care by Jet.com in a very appropriate manner so that there is growth in business as well. So as to do it, it uses a very good pricing algorithm so as to attract and satisfy with the value of money they pay for the products |
Customer Relationships Maintaining the relationship with customers is as similar as to take care of your belongings (Ng, 2017). After sale services and return policy of Jet.com is very good that customers feel reliable while buying any products from the website. |
Customer Segments Jet.com have a very defined customer segment as for now as it is an e-commerce website so it is available to many people on a large scale whosoever has access to the internet in the US. People who are being targeted by WALMART are similarly important for Jet.com as it is a subsidiary of it (Zhang, Sun, & Lyu 2017). Mainly the females are targeted as they are more concerned about the factor to buy grocery for houses. Eventually, all the other segments such as children men etc. are also targeted. |
|
Key Resources The key resources of the company are its products, people, finances it acquires as it is a subsidiary of the giant company WALMART it is in safe hands in the name of resources. |
Channels There are several channels of communication, products distribution, and sales through which a company sell its products (Remane et al., 2017). Likewise, Jet.com uses online means to reach to its customer and deliver them through courier and various channels of distribution. |
|||
|
Cost Structure Costing structure is very much authenticated and expertly driven upon which the customers can rely and totally be in a composition of (Rüb, Bahemia, & Schleyer 2017). |
Revenue Streams The company is already working on a very reliable pricing algorithm which returns the company in a very proportionate manner that it supplies satisfaction to a customer as well as the cost of goods is also actualized (Sathananthan et al., 2017). |
There is always a need for activities in a company to be integrated to work as one unit. Omni channel business strategy will work best for the company as explained by (Piotrowicz & Cuthbertson, 2014). This model consists of one sales channel in that the online operations and the stores work as one. This is to mean that the customers can place their order of goods online and come to pick them at the store at the same time, they can place their orders online and if the goods don’t match their specifications, they can return them to the store. The customers are able to choose whichever method of shopping that suits them.
Jet.com: Key Partners, Activities, and Resources
This business model requires the stores and the online market to be able to coordinate to achieve the same company goals and objectives. The company works to achieve better responsiveness, flexibility and reliability to customers who shop both at the physical store and online.
This Omni channel business model is very friendly to the customers and helps build a strong customer relationship and this will help expand on the market for the grocery. It will help the company to cut on the cost of shipping goods to individuals across the country. It is expensive to deliver goods and most retailers have invested so much in logistics and this will help generate more revenue. A physical store will make the business easy and attractive. This model requires that all activities in the nine blocks be interconnected to bring better results.
A physical store as demonstrated by (Kacen, et al., 2013), is very important since it gives the customer a different experience from online shopping sometimes. It promotes customer engagement which builds a strong relationship with them and this leads to market growth of the business. The customers can pick up the goods from the store and return them if they done match their specification. Secondly, delivery of goods will be made faster and easier maybe reduced to one day which means the service provided to customers will be efficient. Free shipping may take a week to deliver to customers. If a physical store is set up, it’s a guarantee most customers will come to the store and the few that prefer online shopping will be delivered faster to them. Customers may also get to know more about other groceries and their health benefits, information that is not provided at length by the website. Engaging the customers when buying goods will lead to them building a strong relationship and bond with the company.
Information to the customers is a critical factor in the company’s success for the company to be agile, the management should be able to have access to both online and stores information. The customers should be able to access information both online and the physical stores in their locations to experience the Omni channel strategy. To be able to make this a success to the company needs to make the information available to customers unified in that the information online and offline match.
Training of the service providers is also important. (Smith, 2001). The company needs to provide proper training to the team that will work at the stores to push the sales of the products. Team work should also be highly advised so as to promote commitment. Technology should also be improved in that the company should develop software that will help in keeping accurate data, avoid errors and coordinate information between managers, sales office and the back office. (Chopra, 2003).
Manager-employee relationship is also a key factor. The employees should be able to work together to meet the company’s objectives and goals which requires lateral communication from the managers to them. They should be given information that will help them succeed at their work; the management should promote transparency to promote trust in the team.
Conclusion
A physical store will make the company efficient in future. The integration of the online shopping and stores will increase customer service and satisfaction. The company cost of shipping goods for individual orders will be cut down if these stores are built. The market will also grow if these stores are set up in different location to allow quick and efficient accessibility by customers. This idea will also promote commitment, trust and team work among employees which will improve services. It will also promote customer engagement and business which will lead to loyalty and an increase in the number of customers which is the main objective of the company. It will also help in the improvement of technology and innovation; there will be a need to expand on the technology used in the sharing of information both to the customers and the company members. They should also make sure that there is technology that will make sure that information shared online and offline is unified and accessible to customers all the time. (Bendoly, et al., 2005). Internet business has become a common trend a for a company to be successful it should consider these key factors.
Conclusion
Online shopping has made buying of items easy in the world today such that people do not have to come out of their house. The concept of having a physical store should also be considered since people want to have the touch of an item before buying them as emphasized by (Soars, 2009). Online retailers such as Amazon have seen it a success by introducing locations where customers can pick or return items. Setting up a physical store will help the company to interact with customers and sell their brand more. Most companies that have considered setting up a physical store are finding it a very good idea because it feels different from the traditional retail shops. For the future success of this business, the online retailers and brick and mortar traditional retailers should come together to find ways which sales can be channeled.
References
Bendoly, E., Blocher, J. D., Bretthauer, K. M., Krishnan, S., & Venkataramanan, M. A. (2005). Online/in-store integration and customer retention. Journal of Service Research, 7(4), 313-327.
Burke, R. R. (2002). Technology and the customer interface: what consumers want in the physical and virtual store. Journal of the academy of Marketing Science, 30(4), 411-432.
Chopra, S. (2003). Designing the distribution network in a supply chain. Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, 39(2), 123-140.
Fagerberg, J., & Godinho, M. M. (2004). Innovation and catching-up. Georgia Institute of Technology.
Kacen, J. J., Hess, J. D., & Chiang, W. Y. K. (2013). Bricks or clicks? Consumer attitudes toward traditional stores and online stores. Global Economics and Management Review, 18(1), 12-21.
Kim, Y. K. (2002). Consumer value: an application to mall and Internet shopping. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 30(12), 595-602.
Liu, X., Burns, A. C., & Hou, Y. (2013). Comparing online and in-store shopping behavior towards luxury goods. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 41(11/12), 885-900.
Morganosky, M. A., & Cude, B. J. (2000). Consumer response to online grocery shopping. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 28(1), 17-26.
Piotrowicz, W., & Cuthbertson, R. (2014). Introduction to the special issue information technology in retail: Toward omnichannel retailing. International Journal of Electronic Commerce, 18(4), 5-16.
Rohm, Andrew J., and Vanitha Swaminathan. “A typology of online shoppers based on shopping motivations.” Journal of business research 57, no. 7 (2004): 748-757.
Smith, E. A. (2001). The role of tacit and explicit knowledge in the workplace. Journal of knowledge Management, 5(4), 311-321.
Soars, B. (2009). Driving sales through shoppers’ sense of sound, sight, smell and touch. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 37(3), 286-298.
Wolfinbarger, M., & Gilly, M. C. (2001). Shopping online for freedom, control, and fun. California Management Review, 43(2), 34-55.
Order an Essay Now & Get These Features For Free:
Turnitin Report
Formatting
Title Page
Citation
Outline
