Impact of Technology on Marketing

Impact of TechnologyIntroductionIn today's unpredictable, ever changing market, many businesses, from small entrepreneurs to large corporations, have been looking forward for other business alternatives in order to enhance their productivities as well as profitability. With the help of technology development Electronic Commerce (e-commerce) has emerged. E-commerce is best described as the process of buying and selling or exchanging of products, services, and information via computer networks including the Internet. Using the Internet as a tool to help companies such as G.W. Pergault find success and harmony in customer's ordering product via Internet, salespeople gaining an incentive for can initially be different; however, the outcome will benefit the organization, the customer and the sale rep.

Background G.W. Pergault, Inc.

G.W. Pergault, Inc. is an established $4.2 billion dollar supplier of maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) products and has sold items such as, pipe fittings, light bulbs, ladders and thousands of others to customers throughout North America since 1952.

English: An example of an automated online assista...

Analytické CRM

English: Screenshot from WebCRM

G.W Pergault's main selling tool is an extensive mail order catalog which has grown to over 4,000 pages. In 1997, the catalog was put online however, the majority of the sales rely on the process where a G.W Pergault rep meets with a purchasing agent from the customer firm face-to-face and a hand-written order is created. The rep will fax in the customers order to headquarters where the clerical staff enters the information into the system for delivery. Within three business days the order is packaged and shipped to the customer.

Ken Sutton, the sales manager for G.W. Pergault is responsible for overseeing 15 salespeople who perform this face-to-face customer order process. Recently, G.W. Pergault hired a new President, Celia Fiorni. Fiorni is a fervent believer in the technology industry and has a vision of e-commerce that Sutton's salespeople oppose because her goal...