Product, Pricing, and Channels Paper

According to MarketLine, the world online retail market expanded by almost 18% in 2010 and is predicted to reach close to $435 billion in sales. The market is expected to reach a 90% growth by 2015 and exceed $827 billion in sales. Listed in an article “Ecommerce Growth Statistics”, the average amount spent by each consumer is expected to rise from $1,207 per year to $1,738 per person by 2016. That is a significant increase. That shows that people prefer to shop online than going to the actual store in today’s society. Shoppers will spend on an average of $327 billion online shopping in 2016, which is about 45% from $226 billion in 2012. It is very evident that consumers will drive ecommerce into the future; especially e-retail. In just a few years, purchases online will be more profitable than ever, with others products and services available to purchase such as mobile and social allowing consumers to shop to their convenience. For retailers and

Loyalty programs include frequent flier miles or points systems associated with credit card offers that can be used only with the original company, creating a perceived loss or cost when switching to a competitor. Most programs are able to get consumers to spend more money just to get to free or bonus item.

The greatest contrast in the middle of drop shipping and the standard retail model is that the offering dealer doesn't stock or own stock. Rather, the vendor buys stock as required from an outsider – typically a wholesaler or producer – to satisfy orders.

Many businesses have shown that after implementing an e-commerce system into their companies, sales have increased immensely. Sneaker Joe’s is a small family run business that is looking to expand their business after the sneakers they sell have shown to be very popular locally, after a picture of them was spotted on a social networking site. I have been looking at some of the most popular websites that consumers use to purchase their goods and what kind of commerce system they have in place, but first, I have written an explanation of the different types of ecommerce used today.

The online retail sales market share was exceptionally high in the United States who ranked second amongst the developed nations

Online stores are growing in popularity and drawing attention. Because of this, other retail stores are losing that attention and business. Some major stores include Sears, Radio Shack, JCPenney, Macy’s, Payless ShoeSource, Dillards and more. These are called brick-and-mortar stores. According to www.merriam-webster.com the definition of a brick-and-mortar store is, “a traditional business serving customers in a building as contrasted to an online business” (Brick-and-mortar, n.d.). “It’s possible more than 8,600 brick-and-mortar stores will close their doors in 2017 (…) JCPenney announced plans to shutter 138 stores by July, Payless ShoeSource is closing hundreds of stores, and Macy's said it's shutting down 68 locations” (Wattles, 2017). What a shame to lose these resources and businesses, especially for those who support and appreciate the local retail option.

Even though H&M follows a strategy which differs significantly from Inditex’s approach it is the closest competitor from the financial point of view. H&M differs from Zara because it outsources all of the production, it is more price oriented and spends more money on advertising. But both companies are based in Europe, are fashion forward at lower price retailers, and have a strong international expansion strategy. Exhibit 6 indicates that the financial results of Inditex and H&M seem to

Amazon and eBay attracted the most unique visitors each month to their global e-commerce sites. Forrester Research Inc. estimates that the global online population will be 2.32 billion in 2014. Online shoppers have more options than ever before. Used, hard to find items, and collectables are more accessible thru online shopping. Online shoppers no longer need to drive from one store to the next to find the best deal, and there is no need to stand in long lines making shopping online fast, easy and enjoyable.

Even though it has experienced hard competition with other companies that sell low-cost teen apparel, Abercrombie has avoid industry changes on its price points as its pricing power can decrease and thereby eliminate its ‘dignity’ on the eyes of its customers. It’s not a surprise because customers assign more quality to expensive products. This has affected its unit volumes as well as excessive inventory ranks with

A steady increase in the popularity of online sales has caused a major push towards e-commerce in the retail industry.

This study will prove that e-commerce has grown because it adds value to people’s lives. It will show that e-commerce will not disappear but evolve into something even greater than what it is right now.

The most recommended distribution network suited for highly differentiated products would be drop-shipping network. It is the process where shipping avoids the retailers, meaning the retailer isn’t informed to hold any type of inventory for the customers, and instead, the products are directly delivered to the end customers from the manufacturers. In this network, the supply chain can divert and expand low level of inventory to a higher level of availability. It also gives an opportunity for manufacturers to reschedule the customization when necessary. This is excellent for sellers that are able to build to order, and for end customers who wants highly-differentiated products that are in low-demand but are highly valued and are willing to wait for delivery.

Online shopping or online retailing is a form of electronic commerce which allows consumers to directly buy goods or services from a seller over the Internet using a web browser. Alternative names are: e-shop, e-store, Internet shop, web-shop, web-store, online store, and virtual store. An online shop evokes the physical analogy of buying products or services at a bricks-and-mortar retailer or shopping center. The process is called business-to-consumer (B2C) online shopping. In the case where a business buys from another business, the process is called business-to-business (B2B) online shopping. The largest of these online retailing corporations are eBay and Amazon.com, both based in the United States.

Based on the PESTEL Analysis, the external environment of H&M is hostile as there are more threats than opportunities. This is mainly due to the high unpredictable of Socio-Culture factor where customer’s trend preferences and expectations on apparel are difficult to gauge and manage. Furthermore, Economic factor further intensifies the competition as it tends to control customer’s willingness to spend.

In the perspective of developed markets, the percentage of online sales account for between 5-15% of total retail sales. The major developed markets for e-commerce are South Korea, United States, France, Germany and the UK. These markets all have a few things in common including: