Final Customer Purchasing from an Intermediary of the Product

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.

B.
Resources: Reduce resources required for the use of the product

2.

Time: Reduce the time the customer must spend with the product

A. Reduce steps the customer must use with the product

Bring products closer to the customer
Serve current customers with new products, saving customer purchase time
Add products not carried by local competition

Establish a service organization

No.	Year	SIC	Note
1	2000	5251	To spark new expansion, Home Depot is working on roughly 20 major growth projects ranging from installing kitchen cabinets to opening stores in other countries.
2	2002	5331	Sears Outdoors offers consumers a single source for flooring, lighting, kitchen and bathroom fixtures, appliances, curtains, accent items, and furnishings. It combines this with a full spectrum of services for the entire project, from design and financing to construction and installation. It cuts shopping time, streamlines the project-planning process, and improves the quality of the finished work.
3	2002	5731	Rent-A-Center Inc. offers electronics, appliances, computers, furniture and accessories under rent-to-own agreements. The company owns and runs 2,281 stores in 50 states and franchises 341 more through subsidiary ColorTyme. They have more than $1.8 billion in annual sales.
4	2004	5731	Consumer electronics retailers have had to hone their businesses in recent years because of competition from giant discount chains like Wal-Mart, Costco and Target. Instead of focusing on selling commodity products like DVD players, consumer electronics dealers are looking to sell "solutions" like home theater systems and personal computer networks. The specialty retailers will offer advice and provide delivery, setup and installation services. That's something Wal-Mart and its peers can't afford to offer. Services tend to be more profitable for the retailers than typical hardware sales. The trend toward services is exemplified by Best Buy's 2002 purchase of Geek Squad, a company that sends technicians on house calls to set up and repair PCs and other tech gear. Retailers have also found that they can sell more high-margin accessories and peripherals if they spend the time finding out what a customer needs.
5	2004	6141	In August of 2004, Target Corp. received approval from the state of Utah and federal regulators to open a bank that will allow it to offer credit cards to its small business customers. Currently, Target can only offer credit cards to individual customers through its South Dakota-based Target National Bank. In 2003, credit cards contributed only 18% of its operating income.
6	2001	7374	The entire service provider field is evolving to offer more services. Even modest Internet service providers are adding more services to "drive themselves up the food chain."
7	1988	7378	A systems integrator can help by buying hardware and software and writing customized software necessary to make the pieces fit. For customers one advantage is speed, a systems integrator can solve problems quicker than in-house employees.
8	2005	7841	The transformation of Blockbuster into a home-entertainment store is well underway. Whereas once about 80% of an average store was dedicated to rentals, now its closer to 65%. Blockbuster will give you between $5 and $10 in store credit for your unwanted DVDs and then resell them for $10 to $15. Trading is an area where giants like Wal-Mart don't play. Blockbuster is also focusing on its videogames, 15% of its revenue.

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