E-retail mix is defined as the different techniques and tools e-retailers use to provide values for customers. The e-tailing mix is the combination of 7Cs and first four Cs are similar to the 4Ps proposed by E. Jerome McCarthy’s (1960) i.e. Place, Product, Price and Promotion. In 1990 Lauterborn proposed 4 Cs namely Convenience for the customer; Customer value and benefits; Cost to the customer; and Communication.
However, with paradigm shift, more Cs added in the list i.e., Customer relationships; Computing and category management issues; Customer franchise and Customer care and service. Customer relationship is emphasis on long-term relationship with consumers and follows continuous interaction with them. Therefore, customer relationship merged with communication and finally there are 7 Cs.
• C1 Convenience for the customer (‘Place’ from the 4Ps)
• C2 Customer value and benefits (‘Product’)
• C3 Cost to the customer (‘Price’)
• C4 Communication and customer relationships (‘Promotion’)
• C5 Computing and Category Management Issues
• C6 Customer franchise
• C7 Customer care and service
The following table briefly describes the 7Cs – the (E-) Retail Mix.
C1: Convenience for the customer (‘Place’ from the 4Ps)
• Physical location
• Multi-channel options: browse the web, buy in store or vice versa – or buy on the web, return to the store for a refund
• Virtual location and ease of finding the website: registration with search engines, location in e-malls and links from associates
• Website design: connectivity; navigation; ‘shelf’ space allocation and ease of purchase.
• Layout: ‘free-flow’; ‘grid’; or ‘free-grid
C2: Customer value and benefits (‘Product’)
• Satisfactions wanted by customers
• Solutions to problems or good feelings
• Specify (sometimes design) products reflecting closeness to the customer and benefits that customers want
• Selecting the range of products offered for sale – assembled for target markets from diverse sources
• Wide and/or deep range – where the ‘clicks’ e-retailer can score relative to the ‘bricks’ retailer
• Content: describing a compelling offer of products clearly in customer value and benefits terms
• Customisation of products to match the wants of customer segments as closely as possible
C3: Cost to the customer (‘Price’)
• The real cost that customers will pay including transport, carriage and taxes
• Costs of Internet telephone access
• Customers’ perceptions that prices should be cheaper online than in store
C4: Communication and customer relationships (‘Promotion’)
Communication is a two-way process also involving feedback from
customers to suppliers, including:
• Marketing research surveys
• Public relations (PR)
• Direct mail
• E-mail
• Internet
• Offline advertising such as magazines and ‘click here’ sections of newspapers
• Online methods include banner ads and pop-ups (often incentivised); paid-for listings in search engines and directories; and affiliate programmes
• Atmospherics and Web atmospherics: visual (décor, colour management, video clips, 3D), oil factory (perfume and samples), touch (smooth and cool or soft and cuddly – communicated by visuals or samples) and oral (music). (But need to avoid long download times – ‘click here for broadband’).
• Customer relationships
In store sales representatives use verbal and non-verbal (body language) communication
Marketing database and loyalty schemes
The e-retailer can enhance product value using Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and data mining to tailor products specifically to individual customers.
C5: Computing and Category Management Issues
• Supplying the products that customers want, in the right sizes and quantities, at the right time and in the right place
• Efficient supply chains with computer network links between suppliers and retailers Minimising stocks and speed of response: QR or ECR
• Co-operation between suppliers and (e-) retailers aiming to improve the efficiency of satisfying customers whilst minimising stocks and costs. On the larger scale, this is ‘Category management’ (CM), the retailer/supplier process of managing categories as strategic business units
• Efficient logistics systems are an important component of Customer care and service
C6: Customer franchise
• Image, trust and branding – long-term investment in quality, corporate communications and Customer care and service
• Safeguards including fraud protection and dispute resolution
• Safe shopping icons, e.g. Web trader
C7: Customer care and service
• Creating assortments at competitive prices in an accessible format
• Fast and reliable deliveries at times convenient to the shopper
• Availability of help; return and refund facilities
• For the ‘bricks’ retailer store personnel are crucial
• For the e-retailer click-through telephone help, bulletin boards and chat rooms make the experience more interactive and add community.
• Addressing customer concerns, particularly for credit card security, e.g., displaying the ‘padlock’ secure site logo.
