The effective price is the price the company receives after accounting for discounts, promotions, and other

incentives. Price lining is the use of a limited number of prices for all your product offerings. A loss leader is a product that has a price set below the operating margin. Promotional pricing refers to an instance where pricing is the key element of the marketing mix. The price/quality relationship refers to the perception by most consumers that a relatively high price is a sign of good quality. Premium pricing (also called prestige pricing) is the strategy of consistently pricing at, or near, the high end of the possible price range to help attract status-conscious consumers. Demand-based pricing is any pricing method that uses consumer demand - based on perceived value - as the central element.

Marketing mix The marketing mix is generally accepted as the use and specification of the four Ps describing the strategic position of a product in the marketplace. Product - An object or a service that is mass produced or manufactured on a large scale with a specific volume of units. Price The price is the amount a customer pays for a product. It is determined by a number of factors including market share, competition, material costs, product identity and the customer's perceived value of the product. Place Place represents the location where a product can be purchased. It is often referred to as the distribution channel. Promotion Promotion represents all of the communications that a marketer may use in the marketplace.

Seven Ps
As well as the standard four P's (Product, Pricing, Promotion and Place), services marketing calls upon an extra three, totaling seven and known together as the extended marketing mix. These are: People: Any person coming into contact with customers can have an impact on overall satisfaction. Process: This is the process(es) involved in providing a service and the behavior of people, which can be crucial to customer satisfaction. Physical evidence: Unlike a product, a service cannot be experienced before it is delivered, which makes it intangible. Four New P's Personalization: It is here referred customization of products and services through the use of the Internet. Participation: This is to allow customer to participate in what the brand should stand for. Peer-to-Peer: This refers to customer networks and communities where advocacy happens. Predictive modeling: This refers to algorithms that are being successfully applied in marketing problems.

Top 10 Tips to Really Understand the Customer

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Don't assume Go back to basics Invest in CRM as a strategy rather than just a technology Talk to customers and peers about their experiences Embrace change but not for its own sake Select the right technology to support your strategy Put yourself in the customer's shoes Outsource if necessary Align with the customer Go for the competition

Customer Service
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Customer service is an organization's ability to supply their customers' wants and needs. Good customer service is the lifeblood of any business. If you truly want to have good customer service, all you have to do is ensure that your business consistently does these things: Answer your phone. Don t make promises unless you WILL keep them. Listen to your customers. Deal with complaints. Be helpful - even if there s no immediate profit in it. Train your staff (if you have any) to be ALWAYS helpful, courteous, and knowledgeable. Take the extra step. Throw in something extra.

Customer Service
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Customer service is an organization's ability to supply their customers' wants and needs. Good customer service is the lifeblood of any business. If you truly want to have good customer service, all you have to do is ensure that your business consistently does these things: Answer your phone. Don t make promises unless you WILL keep them. Listen to your customers. Deal with complaints. Be helpful - even if there s no immediate profit in it. Train your staff (if you have any) to be ALWAYS helpful, courteous, and knowledgeable. Take the extra step. Throw in something extra.

Customer Service
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Customer service is an organization's ability to supply their customers' wants and needs. Good customer service is the lifeblood of any business. If you truly want to have good customer service, all you have to do is ensure that your business consistently does these things: Answer your phone. Don t make promises unless you WILL keep them. Listen to your customers. Deal with complaints. Be helpful - even if there s no immediate profit in it. Train your staff (if you have any) to be ALWAYS helpful, courteous, and knowledgeable. Take the extra step. Throw in something extra.

Mobile Billboard Advertising Mobile Billboards are flat-panel campaign units in which their sole purpose is to carry advertisements along dedicated routes selected by clients prior to the start of a campaign. Public service advertising The same advertising techniques used to promote commercial goods and services can be used to inform, educate and motivate the public about non-commercial issues, such as AIDS, political ideology, energy conservation, religious recruitment, and deforestation. Types of advertising Media Covert advertising Television commercials Newer media and advertising approaches Measuring the impact of mass advertising

Negative effects of advertising

An extensively documented effect is the control and vetoing of free information by the advertisers. The bigger the companies are, the bigger their relation becomes, maximizing control over a single piece of information. Advertisers may try to minimize information about or from consumer groups, consumercontrolled purchasing initiatives (as joint purchase systems), or consumer-controlled quality information systems. Another indirect effect of advertising is to modify the nature of the communication media where it is shown. Programs that are low in mental stimulus, require light concentration and are varied are best for long sitting times. A simple way to understand objectives in television programming is to compare the content of programs paid for and chosen by the viewer with those on channels that get their income mainly from advertisements.

Future
Global advertising Advertising has gone through five major stages of development: domestic, export, international, multi-national, and global. Trends With the dawn of the Internet came many new advertising opportunities. Popup, Flash, banner, advergaming, and email advertisements (the last often being a form of spam) are now commonplace. Promotion and Advertising Many people when they hear the word marketing instantly assume it is the same thing as advertising. In reality, marketing is a much broader concept that includes as one of its parts methods of communication and promotion of products and services.

Consumer sales promotion techniques

Price deal: A temporary reduction in the price, such as happy hour Loyal Reward Program: Consumers collect points, miles, or credits for purchases and redeem them for rewards. Two famous examples are Pepsi Stuff and AAdvantage. Cents-off deal: Offers a brand at a lower price. Price reduction may be a percentage marked on the package. Price-pack deal: The packaging offers a consumer a certain percentage more of the product for the same price (for example, 25 percent extra). Coupons: coupons have become a standard mechanism for sales promotions. Loss leader: the price of a popular product is temporarily reduced in order to stimulate other profitable sales Eg : RIN Free-standing insert (FSI): A coupon booklet is inserted into the local newspaper for delivery. On-shelf couponing: Coupons are present at the shelf where the product is available. Checkout dispensers: On checkout the customer is given a coupon based on products purchased. On-line couponing: Coupons are available on line. Consumers print them out and take them to the store. Mobile couponing: Coupons are available on a mobile phone. Consumers show the offer on a mobile phone to a salesperson for redemption. Online interactive promotion game: Consumers play an interactive game associated with the promoted product. Rebates: Consumers are offered money back if the receipt and barcode are mailed to the producer. Contests/sweepstakes/games: The consumer is automatically entered into the event by purchasing the product. Point-of-sale displays

Trade sales promotion techniques

Trade allowances: short term incentive offered to induce a retailer to stock up on a product. Dealer loader: An incentive given to induce a retailer to purchase and display a product. Trade contest: A contest to reward retailers that sell the most products. Point-of-purchase displays: Extra sales tools given to retailers to boost sales. Training programs: dealer employees are trained in selling the product. Push money: also known as "spiffs". An extra commission paid to retail employees to push products.

Types of Sales Promotion

Consumer Market Directed - Possibly the most well-known methods of sales promotion are those intended to appeal to the final consumer. Trade Market Directed Marketers use sales promotions to target all customers including partners within their channel of distribution. Business-to-Business Market Directed A small, but important, sub-set of sales promotions are targeted to the business-to-business market.

Merchandise Purchasing
Retailers can source their merchandise from manufacturers or produce their own store brands (referred to as private labels). The most complex task for a retailer is to decide whether to source the merchandise from within the country or to source it from global sources. The merchandise purchasing process consists of five steps: identifying the sources of supply, contacting the sources of supply, evaluating the sources of supply, negotiating with the sources of supply, and purchasing from the sources of supply. The first step in the merchandise purchasing process deals with determining the type of channel to be used for purchasing each line of merchandise. The second step in the merchandise purchasing process involves contacting the various sources of supply. The third step in the merchandise purchasing process deals with the evaluation of several prospective vendors. The fourth step in the merchandise purchasing process involves negotiating with the sources of supply. In the fifth and final step of the merchandise purchasing process, the actual purchasing takes place.

Merchandise Purchasing
Branding Strategies Manufacturer' brands Private-label brands Reasons for launching private labels Global Sourcing Decisions Country-of-origin effect Foreign exchange fluctuations Tariffs Free trade zones Inventory carrying costs Transportation Costs Managerial Issues in Global Sourcing Decisions

The Merchandise Purchasing and Handling process The Merchandise Purchasing Process Merchandise handling Reordering merchandise Regular Re-evaluation Ethical and Legal issues in Merchandise Purchasing Slotting allowances Commercial Bribery Counterfeit Merchandise Gray market Merchandise Diverted Merchandise Exclusive territories Exclusive dealing agreements Tying contracts Refusals to deal Dual distribution

Procurement and Distribution by a Distribution Center

COMPETITIVE STRATEGIES FOR THE SMALL VERSUS LARGE RETAILER

Small businesses are some of the most creative marketers in the world. Celebrate being small by focusing on the inherent advantages of small business such as quick decision making, grassroots marketing and a personal sales approach. Here are a few recommendations that small businesses should follow to make their marketing efforts more effective: 1. Know what you do and do it well. 2. When it comes to marketing, think outside the box. 3. Give your customers an experience to remember. 4. Keep customers happy and they'll come back for more. 5. Mixing businesses is a recipe for success. 6. Will that be cash or plastic? 7. When it comes to business, first impressions count. 8. Business relationships are based on trust. 9. Everyone loves a party. 10. Be good to your community and the community will be good to you.

Business applications
Some common applications related to electronic commerce are: E-mail and messaging Documents, spreadsheets, database Accounting and finance systems Orders and shipment information Enterprise and client information reporting Domestic and international payment systems Newsgroup On-line Shopping Messaging Conferencing

The most common types of retailers include

Department Stores Discount/Mass Merchandisers and Big Box/Category Killers Specialty Stores Factory Outlets Catalog Internet

These 25 attributes ranked in order of importance were selected by customers, accordingly to Scott Gross in Positively Outrageous Service: 1. Being called back when promised 2. Receiving an explanation of how problem occurred 3. Provided with information on how to contact relevant people 4. Being contacted promptly when a problem has been resolved 5. Able to talk to someone in authority 6. Being told how long it will take to resolve a problem 7. Being given valuable alternatives if problem can't be solved 8. Being treated as a person not an account number 9. Being told how to prevent a problem in the future 10. Given progress reports if problem will take some time to resolve 11. Able to talk to people without interruptions 12. Not being put on hold without asking

Three levels of economic competition have been classified:

1. The most narrow form is direct competition (also called category competition or brand competition), where products which perform the same function compete against each other. The next form is substitute or indirect competition, where products which are close substitutes for one another compete. The broadest form of competition is typically called budget competition. Included in this category is anything on which the consumer might want to spend their available money.

2. 3.

13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25.

Being treated with appreciation for their business Having a person, not a recording, answer the telephone Being given service people's names and telephone numbers Getting through to a department on the first call Being offered suggestions on how to keep costs of banking down Being able to talk to someone on the first call who can resolve a problem Receiving an apology when an error is made Being helped without being put on hold Having the telephone answered on the third ring Being greeted with a 'hello' or 'good morning' Able to reach the service area after 4pm Being addressed by name Ability to reach someone after hours.

Principle 1: The overall evaluation of the channels in a multi-channel system is more positive, the more channels are integrated in the system. Principle 2: Consumers evaluate the channels within a multi-channel system more positively, the more similarity they recognize between the channels. Principle 3: Consumer confidence in the overall system is higher, the more channels that are combined within it. Principle 4: Combining internet shops with conventional shops promotes consumer confidence in the appropriateness of the product range of internet shop. Combining internet shops with catalogs promotes consumer confidence in the service competence of the internet shop. Principle 5: Consumer confidence in a multi-channel system is higher, the more similarities consumers detect in the formulation of the marketing-mix instruments between the sales channels. Principle 6: The more familiar consumers are with other channels in the system, the more trust they have in the focal channel. There is a transfer of confidence between the channels.

Principle 7: The attitude of consumers towards the system as a whole is more positive, the more channels that are combined into the multi-channel system. Principle 8: The attitude of consumers to a multi-channel system is more positive, the more integrated they perceive the information and goods-transfer processes between the channels. Principle 9: The more positive the evaluation of the multi-channel system, the more positive the attitude and confidence of consumers in the multi-channel system. Principle 10: The more positive the attitudes of consumers and the more confidence they have in the multi-channel system, the more loyal they are to it. Principle 11: The use of multi-channel systems by consumers is more intensive, the more positive their attitude and the greater their confidence in the multi-channel system. Principle 12: If appropriately formulated, the channels in the system do not cannibalize each other. On the contrary, there is a net gain in consumer usage.