Buyer Behavior
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By entering the market of e-commerce they were able to offer products to customers 24/7 and expand their customer base to people not located within the vicinity of a brick and mortar store. With this strategy in place, people can get things instantly and may be willing to pay a higher ticket price because the time that they save from schlepping to the mall is priceless. However, in order for the Internet store to be efficient, customers need to be able to navigate through the site at ease. Otherwise, they may not see the benefits which are why the brick and mortar stores appeal to them. Another key question to ask is whether LL Bean has a clear competitive advantage that customers are willing to pay for or whether this competitive advantage needs to be created with marketing mix variables.
There are several main channel strategies that exist in the market today, commodity, conditions, competition, costs, coverage, competence, control and characteristics of intermediaries. All of these play a role in their strategy, but can differ by store.
The flagship store in Freeport, ME used channel strategy of conditions because they have evaluated the current state and expected changes in the economic, social, political and legal environments in which it operates. The location seems perfect for the products they are selling and LL Bean must have agreed. Costs also must have been considered to look at what people are willing to spend and how much it costs to make the product.
The new store at the Promenade Shops uses the channel strategy of conditions because they have evaluated the current state and expected changes in the economic, social, political and legal environments in which it operates. If the conditions in the Lehigh Valley were the type that LL Bean was looking for, this affected their choice to enter the market. Competence was most likely used here as well to look at both the financial strength and marketing skills needed in the area.
Their Internet store dealt with the issue of coverage. This relates to the number of outlets in a particular geographic location where products will be sold, by expanding this to the Internet, they have an infinite amount of potential customers but need to hone in on their marketing tactics. The degree of control is also important with an e-commerce company because it has the ability to appeal to a broader market. When there are no