PLACE

Ria Cagampang Marta Molla-Gonzalez Roberto Tudorica

CONTENTS
What is place? About Amazon Amazon SWOT analysis Critical Success Factors Place Issues and Amazon Marketing Plan - Objectives - Strategies High street vs Online retailing Research Needs Bibliography

WHAT IS PLACE?

Place or Distribution is about how you can place the optimum amount of goods and/or services before the maximum number of your target market at the times and locations they want. Baines, Fill & Page (2008 p.551)

DISTRIBUTION CHANNELS

Distribution Channel: an organized network of agencies and organizations which perform all the activities required to link producers and manufacturers with purchasers and consumers (Bennet,1998). The aim is the orderly flow material, personnel, and information throughout the distribution channel to ensure product delivery (Russell, 2002).

ABOUT AMAZON.COM
Our vision is to be the earths most customer centric company, to build a place where people can come to find and discover everything that they might want to buy online1

Sector: Services Industry: Catalogue and Mail Order Houses Operating countries: China, Japan, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, U.K and USA Founded by Jeff Bazos in 1995. Based in Seattle, Washington. Market share price: $170.68 Revenue: $34.2 billion(2)

1. Amazon.com FAQ Section. (n.d.) 2. Yahoo Finance (n.d). Amazon.com Inc. Retrieved Feb 23, 2011,

SWOT ANALYSIS

Strengths
Strong brand image and brand loyalty Large market share and strong grow th Low pricing Customer Centric Innovation in technology

Weaknesses
No physical presence Delivery only Brand damage Misleading produts Free delivery strategy Warehousing fees

SWOT ANALYSIS CONT.

Opportunities

Threats

Increasing online retail spending Exporting their technology Expansion into new target markets Partnerships (with Google)

High street competition Worldwide economy downturn consumer confidence and exchange market fluctuations Rising shipping costs and Amazon free shipping costs New technological changes

Datamonitor (Sep 30, 2008) Amazon.com, Inc Company Profile. Datamonitor (May 11, 2009) Amazon.com, Inc Company Profile.

CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS

Enter new markets. Expansion into new or emerging economies. Increase customer base. Product differentiation. Maintain level of performance in logistics. Revaluate delivery options.

PLACE ISSUES AND AMAZON

No

high street store Returns policy Shipping costs

MARKETING PLAN

Objectives
Increase turnover through the implementation of a high street presence Explore and expand to new target markets Keep hold of environmental standing

MARKETING PLAN CONT.

Strategies

Open high street Amazon stores with small catalogue of products for sale (i.e. Books and technology Amazon Kindle1) Implement in store deliveries pick up and pay service in high street Amazon stores.

1. BBC News (Oct 21, 2010) Amazon profits boosted by Kindle.

HIGH STREET VS ONLINE E-TAIL

Highstreet

Online

Physicality- customer can see product before they purchase Many people enjoy the shopping experience Harder to make mistake with purchases e.g. Clothes can be tried on Easy to return purchases Face to face contact- more personal Extra help from experts on your purchase Usually no waiting time

You can purchase products from your own home Can be cheaper- easier to find better deals Bigger market available to customer- they are not restricted to just the retailers in their area Customers can place orders 24/7 No pressure to buy Easy to compare product prices and features

HIGH STREET VS ONLINE E-TAIL

Highstreet

Online

Travelling expenses More time is needed May have to wait for delivery/stock - and this can be slower than online Lack of convenience if customer must travel long distance Pressure selling Customer restricted to only purchasing within opening times Harder to compare products from different retailers Can be harder to find better deals

Enjoyment of retail shopping is lost Customer cannot physically see/touch product before purchase Customer must wait for their product to be delivered Delivery cost Privacy and security issues Easy to be mislead by imitation products Customer must have access to computer and internet Too many choices? Customer may not be able to process vast amount of product info

AMAZONS RESEARCH NEEDS

1.

Close competitor information: How profitable is

the high street sector? Can they take the market easily?

2.

Geographical information: Where to open the first

store? Which country? How many stores? Which areas of (for example) UK/USA have the most triving high streets/shopping centres? Which regions turn over the most profit?

3.

Demographic information: Which target market

are likely to shop in these stores?

4.

Product information: What will they sell? Books?

Technology? Top online buys? Tailor it to new target markets?

CONCLUSION
Even though proving to be one of the best online retailers, Amazon.com can take the opportunity to expand into different markets through a physical presence on high street, boosting their revenue while creating better customer relationships and brand awareness through tangible assets.

THANK YOU FOR LISTENING!

BIBLIOGRAPHY
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Baines, P. Fill, C. and Page, K. (2008), Marketing, Oxford, Oxford university Press. Amazon.com FAQ Section. (n.d). Retrieved Feb 22, 2011. Retrieved from http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=97664&p=irol-faq#6986 Kirby, J & Stewart, T. The Institutional Yes, An Interview with Jeff Bezos. (n.d) Retrieved Feb 22, 2011. Retrieved from http://hbr.org/2007/10/the-institutional-yes/ar/pr Datamonitor (Sep 30, 2008) Amazon.com, Inc Company Profile. Retrieved Mar 11, 2011, from the Business Source Premiere: http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?hid=13&sid=60eec78e-1752-4d2ca5fb9890920866ce%40sessionmgr12&vid=6&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3Qtb Gl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=buh&AN=41223880 Datamonitor (May 11, 2009) Amazon.com, Inc Company Profile. Retrieved Mar 20, 2011, from the Business Source Premiere:http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?hid=13&s id=23238633-51e0-47f8-8ed0-8ff900f09315%40sessionmgr13&vid=1 Hyman, R. (Feb 16, 2006). E-tail can provide an antidote to slow growth on the highstreet [Electronic version]. Marketing Week, Vol 29 (issue 27), p33 35 Simpson, R. (Sept 11, 2006). Christmas Battlefield for E-tail vs High Street [Electronic version]. New Media Age, p10

BIBLIOGRAPHY CONT.
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2.

3. 4. 5.

BBC News (Oct 21, 2010) Amazon profits boosted by Kindle. Retrieved Mar 20, 2011, from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11602923 Penenberg, Adam L. (Jul/Aug2009 ) The Evolution of Amazon. Fast Company (Issue 137). Retrieved Mar 11, 2011, from the Business Source Premiere http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?hid=13&sid=60eec78e1752-4d2c-a5fb9890920866ce%40sessionmgr12&vid=19&bdata=JnNpdGU9Z Whvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=buh&AN=42215882 Yahoo Finance (n.d). Amazon.com Inc. Retrieved Feb 23, 2011, from http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/q/ks?s=AMZN Yahoo Finance (n.d). Amazon.com Inc. Retrieved Feb 23, 2011, from http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/q/pr?s=AMZN Brassington, F & Pettitt, S. (2006). Principles of Marketing (4th Edition). Harlow, Essex: Pearson Eduction Ltd.