Web Site Marketing
The ability to effectively develop an appropriate marketing mix and convey the desired marketing message is an essential element in any successful business strategy. The ability of the Internet to reach new markets requires the creative use of marketing strategies as a means of gaining a competitive edge in the marketplace while developing loyal, satisfied customers and achieving long term growth.
This paper evaluates marketing strategies used by the websites of three major domestic retailers (Wal-Mart, Best Buy, and Tiger Direct) with specific emphasis on the customer service provided by each site. It first identifies the marketing tools used by each website, and then describes the evaluation tool and the essential customer service characteristics developed by Learning Team C (LTC) to assess each site. Using the chosen evaluation criteria, the paper then evaluates each site for customer service, then compares and contrasts each website in terms of marketing tools used and customer service provided. The paper then identifies the best website based on the evaluation criteria with an analysis of the marketing tools used and the website's approach to customer service. Based on this analysis, LTC offers recommendations for improvements to both marketing and customer service for each website. The paper then concludes with a summary of LTC's observations.
Marketing Strategy and Tools
In terms of marketing strategy, Best Buy and Tiger Direct use product-based and customer-based marketing strategies, the latter to a much lesser degree, to establish Web presence (Schneider, 2004, pp. 156-159). Both retailers' commercial Web site home pages are organized in typical product-based fashion, list ...