The Longtail and Free Flow Of Internet Commerce
There have been many claims that the Internet represents a new nearly frictionless market. The characteristics of the Internet as a channel for two categories of homogeneous products books and CDs. Additionally the Internet e-tailers’ price adjustments over time are up to 100 times smaller than conventional e-tailers’ price adjustments - presumably reflecting lower menu costs in Internet channels. The levels of price dispersion depend importantly on the measures employed. When compare the prices posted by different Internet e-tailers it is find substantial dispersion.
Internet e-tailer prices differ by an average of 33% for books and 25% for CDs. However, when weight these prices by proxies for market share, it is found dispersion is lower in Internet channels than in conventional channels, reflecting the dominance of certain heavily branded e-tailers. It concludes that while there is lower friction in many dimensions of Internet competition, branding, awareness, and trust remain important sources of heterogeneity among Internet e-tailers.
The conventional wisdom regarding Internet competition, expressed in the preceding quotes, is that the unique characteristics of the Internet will bring about a nearly perfect market. In the extreme version of Internet efficiency view, the characteristics of the Internet will lead to a market where e-tailer location is irrelevant, consumers are fully informed of prices and product offerings, and all e-tailers make zero economic profit. At the same time, there is evidence that the Internet may not be completely efficient.
If the Internet makes location irrelevant, why are Internet e-tailers making million-dollar deals for the right to showcase their products on major Internet portals and content sites.2 While there may be answers to these questions consistent with the efficiency hypothesis, the degree of efficiency on the Internet deserves empirical verification. Ultimately, the effects of the Internet on commerce are likely to be varied and occasionally unpredictable. Even the best theorizing will need to be based on empirical observations.
Accordingly, actual prices charged by Internet and conventional e-tailers of books and compact discs. There is different effect of electronic commerce on differentiated goods markets. Online grocery sales tell that price sensitivity can sometimes be lower online than in conventional channels. The prior positive experience with a brand in the physical world can decrease price sensitivity online.
The sale of wine through electronic channels to show that the amount of product information provided to customers can affect price competition and increase customer loyalty. The prices for used cars sold via electronic auction markets tend to be higher than prices for used cars sold via conventional auction markets. The prices for airline tickets offered by online travel agents vary by as much as 20%. The prices for homogeneous physical goods matched across conventional and Internet channels. The homogeneous goods are most likely to experience strong price competition given the characteristics of Internet channels.
Unique Strategy To Implement B2B Relationship Marketing
The performance of a relationship between two firms can be view in the following way. The Business-to-Business Relationship Performance scale is presented as a high order concept. Managers operating in a B2B e-marketplace, findings reveal that greater relationship performance results in better 1) relationship policies and practices, 2) relationship commitment, 3) trust in the relationship, 4) mutual cooperation, as well as 5) satisfaction with the relationship. The multi-dimensional scale shows strong evidence of reliability as well as convergent, discriminate and nomological validity.
It is also reveal that B2B relationship performance is positively and significantly associated with loyalty. While building on this scale. Today firms have a wide range of tools and metrics at their disposal to assess periodic performance, and they represent a critical topic in business literature and across different fields of management research. However, although both worlds are interested in the topic of metrics, the way academics and managers discuss it is quite different. Frequently practitioners have different expectations and work with different time scales than those of academics.
Moreover, it is not normally concerned with the analysis and development of metrics that might be applied at the managerial level and included in management periodic reports. The marketing trend towards a better understanding of relationship development with business partners continues to grow, as managers and researchers observe that better relationships result in a significant impact on business performance.
The development of customer relationship is an ongoing process during which relational policies and practices, trust, relationship commitment, mutual cooperation, and satisfaction with the relationship represent important dimensions to be considered. The need for enhanced corporate reputation and trust-based relationship becomes more crucial in an environment of less traditional relationship coalition, relational history, and interpersonal communication.
The new medium is fostering transitional relationship, and easy access to information and forum to critique, criticize or condemn an institution. The practice of hiding nothing is preferred because there is no where to hide. Ethics and truth, unqualified reputation and transparent honesty, therefore, become very important in the new marketplace made up of institutions and empowered consumers and stakeholders.
Proactively, rather than reactivity, becomes a very important business mantra in the postmodern digital world economy. It is easier to create and maintain reputation and trust than try to regain them. Computer technology has altered the power structure and the relationship between corporations and their publics, stakeholders and the media. Internet may be creating a shift from the traditional vertical and horizontal corporate communication paradigms.
MARKETING 4 Crucial Things You Need
Online marketing may have developed a sudden surge these past few years, but have felt its rise even from then to now. As more internet based businesses are put up, the need to develop new marketing skills and knowledge based on this new medium have arisen. More and more marketing strategies are being discovered and developed to cope with the changing face of business in the business world.
The demand for online marketing tips and strategies have drastically grown and a new form of business has been born, internet marketing strategies. While there are companies that are all too eager to help your site and business build a clientele for a fee, there also many ways that can spread the word about your sites subsistence in a more cost effected way. One of this is Opt-in email marketing, also known as permission marketing.
Opt-in marketing requires the permission of a willing customer to subscribe to your marketing materials, materials that take form in newsletters, catalogs and promotional mailings via e-mail. The more opt-in marketing mail is sent, the more chances you have to bag sale on top of sale. To do this, you must build a list of all those who wants to subscribe to your opt-in marketing list.
From your list, you will get your targeted customer, this is a good list since they already have shown interest in what you have to show and sell since they have willingly signed in for your list. These are the people who have liked what they have seen on your site and have decided they want to see more and maybe even purchase what ever product or service your company and site has to offer.
Many people would think that building their lists would take hard work and a lot of time to build and collect names and addresses. This is not so, it takes a bit of patience and some strategies but in doing this list, you open your site and your business to a whole new world of target market. Take the effort to take your business to a new level, if traffic increase and good profits are what you want, an opt-in list will do wonders for your business venture.
There are many sources and articles in the internet available for everyone to read and follow in building a list. Sometimes they may be confusing because there are so many and there different ways. Different groups of people would have different approaches in building an opt-in list, but no matter how diverse many methods are, there are always some crucial things to do to build your list. Here are four of them.
1) Put up a good web form in your site that immediately follows the end of your content. While some may say this is too soon to subscribe for a website visitors application, try to remember that your homepage should provide a quick good impression. If somehow a website visitor finds something that he or she doesn’t like and turns them off, they may just forget about signing up.
A good web form for subscribing to an opt-in list is not hard to do. Just write a simple short statement about how they would like to see more and get updated about the site. Then there should be an area where they could put in their names and e-mail address. This web form will automatically save and send you the data’s inputted. As more people sign in, your list will be growing.
2) As mentioned in the first tip, make your homepage very, very impressive. You need to have well written articles and descriptions of your site. Depending on what your site is all about, you need to capture your website visitor’s fancy. Make your site useful and very easy to use. Do not expect everyone to be tech savvy. Invest in having good programming in your site, make your graphics beautiful but don’t over do it.
Don’t waste your time making the homepage too overly large megabyte wise. Not all people have dedicated T1 connections, the faster your site gets loaded, the better. Go for a look that borders between simplicity and sophisticated knowledge.
3) Provide good service and products. A return customer is more likely to bring in more business. Even then and now, a satisfied customer will recommend a business always. Word of mouth and recommendations alone can rake in more business than an expensive ad. As your clientele roster grows so shall your list. With more members on the list, the more people will get to know about what you have new to offer.
4) Keep a clean and private list. Never lose the trust your customers have entrusted you. If you provide e-mails to others and they get spammed, many will probably unsubscribe to you. Remember, a good reputation will drive in more traffic and subscribers as well as strengthen the loyalty of your customers.
The Man Who Offered to Beat Me Up
Today I received a long letter from a man who created a new self-defense system. He claims he can defeat anyone in under 3 minutes.
He wants me to promote him and his method. He went on to say he’d be happy to meet with me to prove his skills.
What did he have in mind?
He wants to beat me up.
I’m serious.
“If I can defeat you within 3 minutes,” he said in his letter, “then you promise to promote me and my products. Deal?”
He went on to give me the contact information for his agent so I could set up the match.
It might have made an interesting webcast. I can just see the headline:
“51-year-old formerly obese Internet Marketing Expert meets 30-year-old Superman-fit Martial Arts Expert in Quick-Kill Match. Register now.”
Gee, I wonder who would win?
I’d lose even if I went armed.
What would you have done?
How would you have responded to his offer?
Unless you’re a fighter looking for a match, you’d probably toss this offer in the trash.
I often wonder what people are thinking. Does this guy really think I’ll fight him? And then, if I lose, I’ll gladly smile and start marketing him?
I don’t claim to be a fighter and am not seeking bouts. I’m also not seeking new clients. Especially clients who want to break my nose to prove they are better than me.
When you reach out to anyone, keep in mind that no one likes to be told they are inferior. It is not a good way to win friends and influence people. In fact, it’s not a good way to do much of anything.
I think the lesson here is that we all have egos. The better way to approach people is to put your ego under theirs.
In other words, be willing to lower your status. Don’t flaunt your stuff. Instead, show your weakness and ask for help.
This nervy fighter might have done better by offering to teach me his new method, not offering to embarrass me with it.
Contrast his behavior to that of a man in Florence, Italy. This gent heard I loved leather jackets. He went and bought two of them and sent them to me, gratis.
I’ll never forget *him*.
This works in your marketing, too.
Rather than boast that you or your business is the greatest, focus on how you or your business can make your customer or client the greatest.
Or surprise your customers by giving them gifts (much like this article is a gift). People love to be surprised on the positive side.
See the difference?
This redirection of focus can trigger a true transformation in your sales.
Take heed.
See you in the ring.
Discover The 4 P’s of Internet Marketing Mix
Traditionally the marketing mix is co-ordinated so efficient product, price, promotion and place strategies are developed for products purchased over the counter. The internet is changing the way we sell our products and services. That’s a fact. Consumers now use the internet to research and purchase products/services online. Organization now needs online strategies to attract and retain customers. The e-marketing mix considers the elements of presenting the marketing mix online.
Online, this immediate tangibility disappears. But, is that a disadvantage? E-commerce sales are increasing at extremely high rates. Why? What does buying products online offer over one to one sales? Firstly there are clear online facts about the product you are purchasing. The buyer knows immediately about product features, the facts, not sales persons assumptions. Electrical store offers clear information on products and their specification, consumers know what they get if not there is a customer service number where they can find out more. The buying process is also customized for returning visitors, making repeat purchases easier. Organizations can also offer immediately ancillary products along with the main purchase. As mentioned in marketing mix section, pricing is always difficult to do and must take into account many considerations.
Traditionally pricing was about finding about your costs, discovering how much consumers are willing to pay, taking account competition pricing then setting your price. The internet has made pricing very competitive. Many costs i.e. store costs, staff cost have disappeared for complete online stores, placing price pressures on traditional retailers. The internet gives consumers the power to shop around for the best deal at a click of a button. Such easy access to information helps to maintain prices within the online world.
E-pricing can also easily reward loyal customers. Technology allows repeat visitors to be tracked, easily allowing loyalty incentives to be targeted towards them. Payment is also easy online credit cards use allows for easy payments. One of the biggest changes to the marketing mix is online purchasing. Consumers can purchase direct from manufacturers cutting out retailers totally. The challenge for online retailers is to insure that the product is delivered to the consumer within a reasonable time. Location is important within our place strategy.
Online location can refer to where links are placed on other websites. Promoting products and service online is concerned with a number of issues. Having a recognizable domain name is first stage towards e-promotion. Most organizations today have some form of webpage used in most if not all advertisements. Placing banner advertisements on other web pages is a common form of e-promotion. Banner ads must be placed where potential customers browse. Web public relations are another approach to promoting online. News worthy stories based on product or service launches can be placed on the company’s webpage, or WPR articles sent to review sites for consumers to read. Hopefully this form of online promotion will pull the consumer in. Direct email is a popular and common form of e-promotions, although slowly becoming the most hated my many consumers. Organizations can send e-leaflets to hundreds and thousands of respondents, hoping a small percentage will reply.
To summaries e-promotion includes: Banner promotion, Web public relations (WPR), E-leaflets and having a domain name. The e-marketing mix must work together and support each other if the company is to have a successful online marketing strategy.