Chapter 15: Distribution - McGraw-Hill Introduction to Business

Traditional Retailers Face a Harsh Future

March 9, 2016

With e-commerce now commonplace, traditional retailers are having a lot of trouble convincing customers to visit their stores. After all, online outlets allow people to order almost anything they need for the best price on the market. Brick and mortar retailers, meanwhile, must rely on promotions and holiday shopping since they can’t compete on price or selection. Even these strategies have become increasingly undependable, however. The most recent Christmas season saw sales rise by just 3 percent. In fact, the Continue reading →

Abercrombie & Fitch, Bankruptcy, E-commerce, Marketing, Product Distribution, Retail, Sports Authority

Bonus Chapter B: Technology and New Media, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution, Chapter 16: Place and Promotion, Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 7: Management & Leadership

Food Delivery Startups Stall in India

March 7, 2016

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Throughout the U.S., food delivery apps like GrubHub and Postmates have totally transformed takeout. These services offer eaters a variety of cuisines and restaurants to choose from, a far cry from the days when many American homes could only order pizza for delivery. And unlike other tech startups, food delivery companies have developed solid profit models based on the service fees they charge. This dependable system translates into markets throughout the world. The Berlin-based delivery service Foodpanda, for instance, operates Continue reading →

Delivery, Entrepreneurship, Food, Global, India, Innovation, Mobile, Product Development, Startups

Bonus Chapter B: Technology and New Media, Chapter 10: Motivation, Chapter 11: Human Resource Management, Chapter 12: Labor Management and Unions, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution, Chapter 16: Place and Promotion, Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 3: Globalization

Clear Channel Uses Billboards to Track Customer Habits

March 4, 2016

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In today’s age of targeted advertising, billboards may seem like a holdover from another era. However, these seemingly obsolete roadside ads could bring about one of the latest advancements in mobile marketing. This week the media giant Clear Channel announced a plan to make their tens of thousands of billboards more effective by analyzing location data from smartphones. The idea is to aggregate demographic information about the people who travel by a particular billboard and where they go afterwards. For Continue reading →

Billboards, Clear Channel, Consumer Research, Ethics, Marketing, Mobile, Privacy, Product Development, Regulation

Bonus Chapter A: Business Law, Bonus Chapter B: Technology and New Media, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution, Chapter 16: Place and Promotion, Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility

China Prepares for Massive Layoffs

March 2, 2016

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For decades China’s industrial economy grew at a breakneck pace thanks to heavy investment from the state. This expansive age may be at an end, however. Over the last few years, demand for Chinese goods has dropped and its stock market has become increasingly unpredictable. Analysts say that China built up far too much manufacturing infrastructure that has now become an excessive drain on resources. As a result, last week the Chinese government announced the drastic measures it would take Continue reading →

China, Ethics, Global, Human Resources, Labor Relations, Layoffs, Manufacturing, Operations Management, Regulation

Chapter 11: Human Resource Management, Chapter 12: Labor Management and Unions, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution, Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 7: Management & Leadership, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management

Airline Profits Soar While Passenger Perks Remain Grounded

February 10, 2016

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For the airline industry, the last few decades have been more like a rollercoaster ride than a smooth flight through calm skies. Enduring consistent losses as well as the occasional bankruptcy, companies began making deep cuts to basic services in order to keep costs down. Meanwhile, airfares continued to skyrocket even as in-air amenities started disappearing. Now it finally seems like all that belt-tightening is paying off: last year the four biggest domestic carriers together earned about $22 billion in Continue reading →

Air Travel, Ethics, Oil, Pricing, Southwest, Supply chains, Transportation, United

Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management

The Best and Worst Super Bowl Commercials of 2016

February 8, 2016

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Aside from being an exciting night for Denver Broncos fans, Super Bowl 50 didn’t exactly provide viewers with much entertainment on the field. In fact, the 63 commercials that aired nationally during the big event may have generated more online conversation than the game. But the impact of this year’s ads can’t be attributed solely to some sloppy play on the gridiron. After all, many brands now hype their ads with the same gusto as the NFL’s pregame festivities.

For Continue reading →

Advertising, Branding, Doritos, Football, Heinz, Hyundai, Marketing, Sports, Squarespace, Super Bowl

Bonus Chapter B: Technology and New Media, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution, Chapter 16: Place and Promotion, Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits

Innovation’s Reward and the Hoverboard

February 1, 2016

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For many inventors, creating a machine that’s functional as well as popular can feel like striking gold, even if the actual material reward for their work isn’t exactly golden. That’s the situation Shane Chen found himself in since inventing the “hoverboard,” a two-wheeled, Segway-like vehicle that doesn’t quite float but has nevertheless been flying off the shelves. Unfortunately for Chen, many consumers are buying hoverboards from companies that have not paid him for his patented design. Instead, consumers are taking Continue reading →

China, Entrepreneurship, Ethics, Global, Hoverboard, Innovation, Manufacturing, Pricing, Product Development

Bonus Chapter A: Business Law, Bonus Chapter B: Technology and New Media, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution, Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 6: Entrepreneurship, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management

Can Chipotle Recover from Its E. coli Crisis?

January 29, 2016

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Chipotle enjoyed years of rapid growth thanks in part to its heavily marketed commitment to fresh ingredients. However, that established image has crumbled over the last few months as the burrito chain grapples with a major E. coli outbreak at its restaurants. Chipotle’s problems began in summer 2015 when customers began falling ill in California and Washington. Attention then shifted across the country to more than 140 Boston College students who received food borne noroviruses from a local Chipotle. By Continue reading →

Branding, Chipotle, Distribution, Ethics, Food, Marketing, Safety, Supply chains

Bonus Chapter A: Business Law, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution, Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 7: Management & Leadership

Facebook’s Free Internet Offer Backfires in India

January 25, 2016

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In 2014 more than three hundred million Indians were regular users of the Internet, representing nearly a quarter of the country. With that number expected to double by 2020, India is the fastest growing online market outside of China. However, there’s a crucial difference in the way these two Asian nations use the Web. While China’s government prohibits foreign digital services like Facebook from setting up shop, India welcomes them.

At least that’s the way it works in theory. After Continue reading →

Facebook, India, Innovation, Internet, Net Neutrality, Product Development, Regulation

Bonus Chapter A: Business Law, Bonus Chapter B: Technology and New Media, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution, Chapter 16: Place and Promotion, Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 7: Management & Leadership

Tech Transitions from Smartphones to Smart-Everything

January 22, 2016

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When Apple launched the iPhone in 2007, the revolutionary smartphone was instantly heralded as the future of mobile technology. The public and media only got more excited as the years went by and the device’s hardware improved with each subsequent generation. Over the last couple of years, however, the hubbub surrounding each new iPhone’s launch has died down significantly. After all, smartphones have been around for nearly a decade, making people so familiar with them that the incremental improvements made Continue reading →

Apps, Innovation, iPhone, Smartphones, Tech

Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution, Chapter 16: Place and Promotion, Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits