Free Marketing Dissertations - Currently, Airlines, Especially Budget Airlines, Are Now Frequently
Currently, airlines, especially budget airlines, are now frequently bypassing the travel agencies wherever possible, and even online grocery shopping is beginning to come from companies over which retailers have no power, such as the manufacturers. However, it is interesting to note that one of the most successful online retailers is Tesco, which has traded off its strong brand image and wide range of product offering, in order to grab a huge share of the online retailing market. Thus, although online distribution is definitely a major development in retailing, its main limitations are that consumers will still tend to gravitate towards brands they know and trust, and time poor customers will still continue to demand centralised access to all their needs, especially in areas like groceries and consumables, rather than have to visit several websites to supply their needs.
Markillie (2004) explains some of the implications of online selling, including how e-commerce is merging with traditional forms of retailing. His research shows that the vast majority of people still buy most things in bricks-and-mortar shops, however these figures exclude online travel services, one of the most successful and fastest-growing sectors of e-commerce, and other sectors such as financial services. However, even with these figures included, the actual value of transactions currently concluded online is dwarfed by the extraordinary influence the internet is exerting over purchases carried out in the offline world. The main implication of online retailing, on all retailers, is that the internet is profoundly changing consumer behaviour, with half of the sixty million consumers in Europe who have an internet connection having bought products offline, after having investigated prices and details online, according to a study by Forrester. (Markillie, 2004) This has enormous implications for business, and means that any company that neglects its website may be committing commercial suicide. A website is increasingly becoming the gateway to a company's brand, products and services, even if the firm does not sell online, and to some extent, the online and offline worlds have already begun to merge. In the future, multi-channel selling could involve a combination of traditional shops, a printed catalogue, a home-shopping channel on TV, a phone-in order service and an e-commerce-enabled website, with the global balance shifting ever more towards the online aspect as the world becomes ever more connected.
References
Barlas, S. Osheroff, M. Sortur, S. and Williams, K. (2005) Developing E-Commerce. Strategic Finance; Vol. 86, Issue 11, p. 19.
Conhaim, W. M. (2004) Where the Internet Is Taking Us. Information Today; Vol. 21, Issue 11, p. 27.
Country Profile: Mexico (2005) Resources and infrastructure: Transport, communications and the Internet. p. 20.
DataMonitor (Australia) (2005) Internet Access Industry Profile: Australia. Jun2005, p. 1.
