The manner in which a company markets a product or service on the internet versus a traditional retail business model is very similar. In both instances, the marketing strategy will contain four key components: product, price, promotion and placement. The product is the actual good or service being marketed. Price is the amount the company charges for a product or service. Promotion is all the activities that a company engages in to sell a good or service. Finally, placement is the medium the company chooses to advertise or sell its goods or services (Schneider, 2004). The purpose of this paper is to describe the marketing tools used on three website: Amazon, Books-a-Million and Barnes and Noble. Additionally, the paper will evaluate the customer service provided on each website.
To develop an effective marketing strategy, managers must consider the product that is being marketed and the target market or customer.
Barnes
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English: The interior of the Barnes & Noble locate...There are two types of marketing strategies. The product-based strategy considers the product being marketed and the target market. For example, companies that sell books will each set up its website in a similar manner. Each site provides the buyer with the option to view and purchase best sellers; although, the source of this information may differ from one site to the next. They will also give the customer the opportunity to search for books by title and by author. Most often this search information is obtained using a drop down box with predetermine search categories. Additionally, companies organize books by categories such as fiction, non-fiction, fantasy, children, home improvement, cookbooks and romance. The second type of marketing strategy is customer-based marketing. In this scenario, the company creates a more flexible web site that customer can customize to fit its individual needs. To be effective, the company will identify common...