Chapter 11 : Designing and Managing Integrated Marketing Channels

 MARKETING CHANNEL STRATEGIES

When you you own a traditional brick and mortar retail store in an out of town location, with the help of  e-commerce presence you apply the Pull channel strategy. The Pull strategy involves bringing the customer to where you are or to your product.

The Internet avails to producers a large pool of customers,If you have a new brand or your business is a start-up, pull marketing is your go-to choice to increase brand awareness and build a reputation. You can achieve a higher level of engagement with pull marketing because of its broader approach. 

In the Pull marketing strategy, the producers run marketing campaigns directly to the consumers online through SEO, social media, content marketing and advertising. The consumers compares and make choices online then go  to the retailers in search of the product. The Pull strategy aims to create customer loyalty. You will notice that over time the customers will come to the out of town location to find their product of choice.

HOW DO YOU COMPETE WITH LARGE RETAILERS

With e-commerce, it's possible for small companies to compete with large companies and to take on an altogether different personality if they so choose.

By operating online, being active on social networks and taking steps to raise brand awareness, they can present themselves as bigger. A company may be located out of town but by using the web, they can reach consumers anywhere.

Your blog, social media or web page  should have good user experience (UX) and allow the user to move seamlessly between channels, so they can order online for same-day store pick-up or interact with you via app.

In conclusion, your location or size does not matter when you have an online presence. E commerce has given small businesses a leverage to compete with big firms through the Pull marketing strategy. The retail shop makes the consumers come looking for their products of choice.

References: Ilias Avgeropoulos(2004) Marketing Planning power point , Kotler (2000) Marketing Management