Product Preparation

A Final customer buying from an intermediary of the product The Final customer is the one who makes the final decision on what product to buy and from which supplier to buy it. Most consumer products, and many industrial products, reach Final customers through Intermediaries.

Use Steps: Use steps include all the Final customer's activities to find the appropriate product category at the Intermediary, to choose among the alternatives to the product and to take delivery of the product.

2. Emotional:

B. Needs to avoid sources of anxiety
2. Limitations set by time: Segment customers according to the causes of the limitations set by time.
a. Delay related to purchase and installation: Segment customers according to delays before the customer receives or can use the product
1. Segments where delays cause customers to be inactive. Delays caused by time required for:
a. Product preparation

NO.	INDUSTRY SIC	YEAR	EXAMPLE
1	5411	2004	Food Lion opened five stores in 2004 to test a concept called Bloom. The new stores utilize cutting-edge technology and prepared foods to appeal to tech-savvy, on-the-run younger shoppers. Bloom checkout stands are equipped with a handheld scanner and shoppers bag their own items.
2	5411	2004	Biggs superstores in Ohio and Farm Fresh supermarkets in Virginia, both owned by Supervalu Inc., rolled out kiosks next to the deli counter to let customers preorder their deli items and pick them up later.
3	4899	2004	Fiber-optic networks are strands of thin glass cables that can transmit digitized streams of data at great distances and speed. Fiber-optic cables are faster than copper cables, and telephone and cable companies are battling each other for the consumers' choice for a triple play of services (voice, video, and data). With Web users constantly downloading music and videos (all large data files), fiber-optic cabling is increasing.
4	5812	2001	Starbucks imposed a hiring freeze on non-critical employees at headquarters about three months ago. And while the stores have continued to hire, automated espresso machines have been introduced in hundreds of busy shops, so baristas can move customers through in less time.
5	5942	1998	Borders book retailer introduced its "Title Sleuth" in-store kiosk in 1998. The kiosk helps customers find titles and buy online at Borders' Web site, which is run in conjunction with Amazon.com. In some cases, special orders have gone up by 20%.
6	5411	2002	Many stores in Europe are using wireless devices that check prices for customers while they shop. The units, called Portable Shopping Systems, are used mostly in grocery stores, where they enable shoppers to scan and bag items as they walk up and down the aisles. When customers turn the devices in, they pay for the items they rang up without having to wait in a checkout line.
7	7372	2002	Recent changes in Microsoft's media player include things like a "fast start" capability. Microsoft also touted its media software's ability to produce better picture quality despite a much smaller file size than competing market standards.
8	4832	2002	XM and Sirius satellite radio networks are taking on radio just as satellite and cable TV took on broadcasting networks. The satellite radio companies offer 100 music and news channels with higher-quality audio and fewer commercials.
9	5912	2004	At the digital printing kiosk in CVS Corp. pharmacies, digital prints cost 29 cents each and 30 print in less than half an hour.
10	4833	2000	Cable-TV operators are starting to roll out a service called "video on demand," which uses the industry's new high-speed digital networks to provide old and new movies anytime customers want them.
11	7841	2003	People subscribe to Netflix for three main reasons: convenience, no late fees and selection. Netflix has been opening one new regional shipping center a month since January 2002. It plans to have 25 such centers by year-end.
12	5311	1987	Marshall Field started service-improving campaign. Four years ago, it took a salesperson 10 minutes on average to approach a customer. Thanks to computer scheduling program that puts sales people on most needed floors that time is down to 2 minutes.
13	5900	2003	By the end of the year shoppers will be able to walk into just about any big discounter or drugstore and use a machine that prints out their digital images, if not on the spot, then within an hour. Retailers are rising to outfit their one-hour photo labs with equipment to read the images from a digital camera's memory card. Some are installing stand alone kiosks with a dedicated printer that churns out prints instantly.