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P2M
Analysis of major
traditional retail models
Corner Store
³
Advantage of easy access and
personal relations with the
customer;
³
Consumers more likely to
have more involvement in the
product;
³
Quality-Dependant Customers
Loyalty;
³
Personalized shopping
experience;
³
Personal recommendations of
the trusted person as the
most effective marketing
³
Customer Oriented Business
Supermarket
³
Sales volume achieved by the
convenience of purchase;
³
Consumers with a relatively
low involvement in the
product;
³
Product quality matters less
than brand name and pricing;
³
No way to personalize
shopping experience;
³
Total shift from niche
marketing to mass marketing.
³
Sales Oriented Business
Traditional e -Commerce
Model
³
Traditional supermarket
business model shifted
online;
³
Personal communication is
minimized;
³
Loyalty programs are very
primitive;
³
Needs of the customers are
not learned properly;
³
Shops are usually offering
everything instead of
fitting into the customer
needs.
Analysis of Current E-
Commerce Trends
There is a strong movement
in e-commerce toward niche
markets. Reasons for this
trend include market
saturation, improved
education and innovation.
(Source: Double dot Media, a
New Zealand-based Web
development firm)
A Change in Direction
What these changes indicate
is a move from popular
markets and marketplaces to
a more evenly spread
distribution of sellers
across niche markets and
throughout and indicates a
push towards market
fragmentation. This push has
likely been caused by the
following factors:
Market saturation
The movement to niche
markets has been
precipitated by the
oversaturation of popular
markets. There is no
shortage of new sellers
online, according to the
survey.
The move to mainstream
although e-commerce is not
main-stream yet, census
results have shown that
e-commerce is slowly
becoming more used and
accepted. In the first
quarter of 2008, just fewer
than 4 percent of all retail
sales in the United States
were e -commerce sales;
compare this with the first
quarter of 2004, where e
-commerce made up only 2
percent of all retail sales.
Improved education
Just as the numbers
participating online are
increasing, demand for new
information to assist those
interested in e-commerce is
growing. As the
proliferation of online
business education
continues, users become more
informed in their choices.
The end of the period of
trial and error can also be
attributed to the shift.
Innovation
As users become more
educated, new innovations
are developed.
Niche's New Focus
Niche markets are a move
away from a
one-size-fits-all mentality
toward a more valuable
customer experience.
Initiatives globally are to
make the customer experience
more customized and more
personalized something that
all retailers will have to
do as the trend continues.
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