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.

C.
Experience: Enhance the experience the customer has with the product

2.
Associate the company or the product with an image to increase customer pleasure in using the product

C. Project an image of the values of the firm

Reliable/dependable

No. Year SIC Note
1 2005 5172 Like most resellers, World Fuel has little physical assets. The fuel is handled by independent service operators at air and seaports. The actual transfer of fuel ownership, from supplier to buyer, occurs at a ship's fuel flange or the wing of an airplane, so World Fuel never actually takes possession of the product. What World Fuel does possess is the ability to assure fuel is delivered anytime, anywhere and at a predictable level of quality. World Fuel is really selling the logistics and market knowledge for fuel.
2 2000 5251 If Home Depot didn't carry the paint a customer was looking for, the store would buy it at another store and deliver it to the customer's house the same day.
3 1990 5311 Nordstrom is known for its excellent customer service and helpful salespeople.
4 2001 5311 In response to intensified competition for the business of middle-class Americans, department and chain stores are working to improve offerings and capture more of their clientele’s money from specialty shop rivals. Sears has tried to promote its "softer side" but is now returning its focus to tools, hardware and home appliances. The company has refined its offerings and eliminated apparel and accessory labels that weren't selling well in favor of one brand.
5 2004 5311 Target's strong presence in apparel helped it to outpace Wal-Mart in same-store sales during every month of 2004. With the recently launched athletic brand C9 and other lines, Target has steadily built a reputation for well-designed clothes. Target has cut its product-development cycle, once more than a year, down to somewhere between 10 weeks and nine months, depending on how trendy the item is.
6 2001 5411 Wild Oats Markets lacked the same strong, centralized training and incentive programs of its competitor, Whole Foods Markets. Wild Oats confused its consumers with its inconsistency.
7 2001 5641 OshKosh B'Gosh has a policy of reviewing each store's success before a lease renewal, usually five-years. This method prevents the company from keeping a lot of mediocre stores, which drags down the entire brand. Therefore, the company holds each of their stores to the internal return targets set.

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