Module 3 – Case

DISTRIBUTION & MARKETING PLAN

Assignment Overview

Online shopping has increased dramatically over the past few years,
and online retailing becomes the top priority of all major grocery
retailers. On one hand, retailers see the needs 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, Walmart,
Costco, and Macy’s are becoming brick and click stores. Multichannel
retailing is popular way to sell products and services nowadays. The
marketing managers need to find ways to effectively and efficiently
manage various distribution channels and deliver products and service
through both online and offline channels. In this case, we focus on
Macy’s brick-and-click channel-management issues.

Case Reading

Review the followings articles related to brick and click shopping
and multichannel retailing (Use the university online library search
engine and additional library resources on TLC Portal to find the
articles):

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.

Birchall, J. (2009, May 14). Macy’s online sales rise 16% despite store woes. The Financial Times, pp. 16.

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.

Macy – online order fulfillment center expansion – Arizona. (2014). World Market Intelligence News

Macy’s fights online shopping with a tablet in fitting rooms. (2015). Engadget [Engadget – BLOG]

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

Newman, D. (2016). The Top 10 Trends Driving Marketing In 2017. Forbes. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/danielnewman/2016/10/18/the-top-10-trends-driving-marketing-in-2017/#34f633e17581

Case Assignment

Develop a report in terms of the following guidelines based on the
articles listed above and other supplemental articles. At least two
additional articles should be included in the analysis. 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 Macy’s performed in online channel? How Macy’s could
  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 and new
  technology trends, how would you recommend Macy’s compete with Amazon
  and other retailers in the future?

Assignment Expectations Regarding Your References and Defense of Your Positions

Write clearly, simply and logically. Your paper should be 750-1,000
words long, 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
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 information search and build critical thinking skills.

Emerald Group Publishing. (n.d.). Searching for Information. Retrieved from http://www.emeraldinsight.com/learning/study_skill…

Emerald Group Publishing. (n.d.). Developing Critical Thinking. Retrieved from http://www.emeraldinsight.com/learning/study_skill…

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.). Is it plagiarism yet? Retrieved from https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/589/02/

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

Purdue Online Writing Lab. (n.d.). Logic in argumentative writing. Retrieved from https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/659/01/