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1. Many ‘bricks and mortar’ retailers have websites. Some provide only product i

ID: 350075 • Letter: 1

Question

1. Many ‘bricks and mortar’ retailers have websites. Some provide only product information and encourage store visits. Others allow purchases directly from it. Should a website charge lower prices than in-store? Why/why not? What other strategic issues arise from this dual channel approach?

2. If there are many competing suppliers in a sector, should a prospective entrant prefer collaboration to competition? What factors should influence its decision?

Answer these two questions. Reconcile them using the textbook readings, personal experience, and research to develop an answer to the questions posed?

Textbook(s)/ISBN:

Pitt, M., & Koufopoulos, D. N. (2012). Essentials of Strategic Management. London: Sage. ISBN: 9781849201872

Magretta, J. (2012). Understanding Michael Porter: The Essential Guide to competition and strategy. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Review Press. ISBN: 9781422160596

Explanation / Answer

Dual channel approaches are quite common in brick and mortar stores. Digital channel approach increases the overall availability of options for the customers.
Brick and mortar stores should apply the same pricing strategy over both of the platforms as it would have directly increased fare pricing policy of the organisation. By implementing this pricing strategy into different platforms, fairness to work the customer base as well as increment in the visit in both of the platforms could be increased.
Strategic implementation of different pricing and maintenance of different pricing in in both of the platforms could increase the overall cost involved in the operation of the specific brick and mortar as well as the online website.

Definitely there are many competitors in the same supplier sector. Suppliers are always competing for the retailers as different suppliers have different pricing Strategies for the products. For increasing the overall number of profitable terms, suppliers use different pricing strategies which increases competition in the specific supplying sector.