As millions of consumers flock online to purchase just about anything and everything — new and used, large and small, cheap and expensive, from near and afar — how will the interaction between buyers and sellers change?
Buyers with access to the Internet have certain opportunities that may affect what they purchase, when, and where they take their business. Using sites like Google or Yahoo!, a buyer has the ability to search for a product or service; to compare sellers on important attributes such as price, quality, delivery and service; to read product reviews and consider the opinions of other buyers; and to do all of this quickly, cheaply, and with relatively little effort. This can be done regardless of whether or not the buyer chooses to complete the purchase online. Never before have buyers been able to know so much, so easily, about what they purchase and from whom. Sellers can reach large numbers of consumers anytime day or night and can extend their business beyond the limits of geographic proximity more easily. Unconstrained by shelf space, sellers can list a large catalog of items and can quickly adjust prices to reflect changes in demand. A seller, like Dell Computer, can eliminate intermediaries and engage buyers directly online to understand their consumption habits and track their preferences, and then use this information to configure customized products and provide personalized levels of service. Just like the buyer who can easily search for the seller offering a product at the lowest price, sellers can search for the one buyer who is willing to pay the most. This is exactly what happens at the close of every auction on eBay (the highest bidder wins). Furthermore, the immediacy of the data that flow from digital marketplaces allows sellers to integrate the supply chain and better manage production, inventory and distribution. Not only do sellers know more about buyers, they also know more about their business partners and about their competitors
One of the key questions to be considered is ‘who owns the customer relationship?’ i.e. the retail outlet or the brand. Even ownership of communication with the customer is an issue. If you purchase something from a retail outlet is it then ok for you to get email promotions or is it SPAM?
Conflict then can be direct, internal or external (an example of external would be a Chinese flat screen TV maker (for well known brands) launching an online brand of their own. While this can certainly lead to conflict (undercutting prices) external conflict is less threatening as it is not a full on assault on the same brand name. Email campaign has always been an excellent service and reliability while spam is a dubious message like a get rich quick scheme.
Ultimately, when the Internet comes into the mix, it causes conflict between the different channels. Should you buy key words to protect your brand? Try some searches of well known words. Some examples include – Qantas, Telstra, BHP, Nike, Coke – a couple of these brands are obviously paying Google a fortune to just have their result showing, others e.g. Nike and Coke return all sorts of searches.
Keyword is very important to be purchased to protect the brand. Even if you have to pay google to show you the results as a search or other more well known brands.
References:
http://digitalenterprise.org/markets/markets.html
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