Module 4 – Case

Distribution and Marketing Plan

Assignment Overview

Online shopping has increased dramatically over the last few years, and online retailing is becoming the top priority of all major grocery retailers. On one hand, retailers see the need to offer easy and convenient shopping venues to attract and keep customers. On the other hand, the consumers take advantage of the extended product assortments and services offered by both online and traditional retailers. More and more traditional brick and mortar retailers such as Best Buy, Wal-Mart, Costco, and Macy’s are becoming brick and click stores. Multichannel retailing has become a popular way to sell products and services. The marketing managers need to find ways to effectively and efficiently manage multichannels and deliver appropriate marketing mix to online and offline channels. In this case, we focus on Wal-Mart’s brick and click channel management issues.

Case Reading

Review the following articles related to brick and click shopping and multichannel retailing (Use the Trident Online Library search engine on TLC homepage to find the articles):

Abrams, R. (2016). Walmart outperforms estimates, but online retail lags. New York Times (Online).

Avery, J., Steenburgh, T.J., Deighton, J., & Caravella, M. (2013). Adding bricks to clicks: On the role of physical stores in a world of online shopping. GfK Marketing Intelligence Review, 5(2), 29.

Clicks and bricks; retailers and the internet. (2012). The Economist, 402 (8773), 18.

Griffiths, G H & Howard, A (2008). Balancing clicks and bricks – strategies for multichannel retailers. Journal of Global Business Issues, 2(1), 69.

Katia Campo, & Els Breugelmans. (2015). Buying groceries in brick and click stores: Category allocation decisions and the moderating effect of online buying experience. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 31, 63.

Mixing bricks with clicks; retail. (2013). The Economist,406(8828), 70.

Saba, J. (2016). Walmart’s bid for jet.com could help it compete against amazon. New York Times (Online).

Tabuchi, H. (2015). Walmart, lagging in online sales, is strengthening E-commerce. New York Times (Online).

Wahba, P. (2017). Walmart’s 29% Online Holiday Season Growth Sends Shares Jumping. Fortune. Retrieved from http://fortune.com/2017/02/21/walmart-results/

Case Assignment

Develop a report in terms of the following guidelines based on the articles listed above and other supplemental articles. A well-written report should have a brief introduction, headings or subheadings, and a brief concluding comment. Note that you should use some keywords as headings or subheadings such as “Facts Recap,” instead of a sentence or a question.

• Briefly review the facts on the brick and click retailing and multichannel shopping, as reported in the articles.
• Describe how Wal-Mart performed in the online channel. How could Wal-Mart do a better job to manage the online and offline channels? Consider appropriate distribution concepts to support your arguments.
• Considering the changing consumer shopping behaviors, how would you recommend Wal-Mart compete with Amazon and other retailers in the future?

Assignment Expectations

Assignment Expectations Regarding Your References and Defense of Your Positions

Write clearly, simply, and logically. Your paper should be 750-1,000 words, excluding title pages and references, but quality of writing is more important than length. Use double-spaced, black Verdana or Times Roman font in 12 pt. type size.

Back up your positions or opinions with references to the required reading found in the Module 1-4 Backgrounds and Ongoing Useful Resources. In using those references, demonstrate your understanding of the concepts presented. Rather than grading on how much information you find, emphasis will be on the defense of the positions you take on the issues. Also remember that the “why” is more important than the “what” and the defense of your positions on the issues is more important than the positions you take.

Do not repeat or quote definitions. Your use of the required reading to support your opinions (that is, contentions or positions) should demonstrate that you understand the concepts presented. Do not include definitions or summaries of the readings or simply describe what the company did. Instead, your responses to the questions should be analytical and should demonstrate that (a) you understand the principles from the background reading and (b) you can apply them to this particular case. Vague, general answers will not earn a good grade.

Avoid redundancy and general statements such as “All organizations exist to make a profit.” Make every sentence count. Paraphrase the facts using your own words and ideas, employing quotes sparingly. Quotes, if absolutely necessary, should rarely exceed five words. When writing an academically oriented paper, you will uncover many facts about the product. If you paraphrase the facts, cite the sources in your text and link those citations to references at the end of the paper.

Here are some guidelines on how to conduct an information search and build critical-thinking skills.

Emerald Group Publishing. (n.d.). Searching for Information. Retrieved from http://www.emeraldinsight.com/learning/study_skills/skills/searching.htm

Emerald Group Publishing. (n.d.). Developing Critical Thinking. Retrieved from http://www.emeraldinsight.com/learning/study_skills/skills/critical_thinking.htm

Guidelines for handling quoted and paraphrased material are found at:

Purdue Online Writing Lab. (n.d.). Academic Writing. Retrieved from https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/section/1/2/

Purdue Online Writing Lab. (n.d.). Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing. Retrieved from https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/563/1/

Purdue Online Writing Lab. (n.d.). Avoiding Plagiarism. Retrieved from http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/589/1/

Your paper consists of arguments in favor of your opinions or positions on the issues addressed by the guidelines; therefore, avoid the logical fallacies described in the following resource:

Purdue Online Writing Lab. (n.d.). Logic in Argumentative Writing. Retrieved from
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/659/03/

Module 4 – Background

Distribution and Marketing Plan

Goldsby, T. J., & Zinn, W. (2016, June). Technology innovation and new business models: Can logistics and supply chain research accelerate the evolution? Journal of Business Logistics, 80-81. doi:10.1111/jbl.12130.

Leuschner, R., & Lambert, D. M. (2016). Establishing logistics service strategies that increase sales. Journal Of Business Logistics, 37(3), 247-270. doi:10.1111/jbl.12133

Rafiq, M., Fulford, H., & Lu, X. (2013). Building customer loyalty in online retailing: The role of relationship quality. Journal Of Marketing Management, 29(3-4), 494-517. doi:10.1080/0267257X.2012.737356

Ramachandrin, S., & Trachtenberg, J. A. (2012). End of era for Britannica. Wall Street Journal (March 14):B1.

Ramsey, M. (2012). Glut of small cars tests Ford resolve. Wall Street Journal (January 11): B1.

Saenz, M. J., & Revilla, E. (2016). Desigual’s multi-stranded approach to omni-channel. Supply Chain Management Review, 20(3), 7-9.

Spain, J. W., Siegel, C. F., & Ramsey, R. P. (2001). Selling drugs online: Distribution-related legal/regulatory issues. International Marketing Review, 18(4), 432-449.

Verhoef, P. C., Kannan, P.K., & Inman, J. (2015). From multi-channel retailing to omni-channel retailing: Introduction to the special issue on multi-channel retailing. Journal of Retailing, 91(2), 174-181.

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