Final Customer Purchasing from an Intermediary of the Product

Use Steps: Use steps include all the Final customer's activities to find the appropriate product category at the Intermediary, to choose among the alternatives to the product and to take delivery of the product.

B.
Resources: Reduce resources required for the use of the product

2.
Time: Reduce the time the customer must spend with the product

A. Reduce steps the customer must use with the product

Bring products closer to the customer
Serve current customers with new products, saving customer purchase time
Add products not carried by local competition

Products appealing to a niche of existing customers

No.	Year	SIC	Note
1	1996	5200	If a client needs a product not listed, Wilmar places a special order. Offers everything within reason.
2	1998	5331	Should the hypermarkets want to compete with category killers, they must exploit their customer traffic. Unlike specialist retailers who must always remain focused, hypermarkets can vary space allocation according to season.
3	2003	5735	The biggest change in Napster's new model is that Napster 2.0 does not allow direct sharing of files. Like iTunes, the free version of Napster 2.0 will also be an online music store, offering an a la carte selection of songs for 99 cents each or $9.99 per album. Unlike iTunes, Napster has selection of comedy tracks.
4	1990	5912	Walgreen has a computer network that allows customers to fill a prescription at a store near his home and then get it refilled at any other Walgreens.
5	2000	5912	New London started selling homeopathic remedies since the drugstore chains didn't carry them. It started carrying glucosamine sulfate (for arthritis) and cat's claw (for cancer).
6	2002	5941	Dick's Sporting Goods sells more equipment and less clothing than other sports retailers, and the clothing that it does sell is more functional than flashy. Dick's Sporting Goods has carved out a good slice of a highly competitive market that includes rivals like Sports Authority Inc. and Galyan's Trading Co. by appealing to the serious sportsperson.
7	1994	5942	Barnes & Noble running an all-out offensive with its superstores ranging from 12,000 to 37,000 square feet. They also offer selection and ambience small stores can't match.
8	2003	5942	Customers come from far away to visit Book Baron. In order to acquire the 500,000 volumes of books the store has, it has bought inventories from 20 other stores that went out of business. The founder also travels around the U.S. to buy from private libraries.
9	2003	5999	Gap carries odd sizes on the site and offers free shipping to customers if they can't find a particular item in its Gap, Banana Republic and Old Navy brick-and-mortar stores.
10	2001	6141	The Credit Card giants such as Visa and MasterCard confront new competition: 1)consumers in Japan and Europe pay for taxi rides, cars washes, etc. through their cell phones 2) Achex is a virtual checking site where customers can send money.
11	2001	7832	Century has tested the art-house market which puts pressure on Landmark Theaters, who specialize in art-films and are particularly popular in the Bay Area (has 53 theaters in 11 states and 41 screens in the Bay).

<< Return to Use Steps