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.

C.
Experience: Enhance the experience the customer has with the product

3.
Increase the customer’s sense of security with the product

C. Your investment is safe

Maintain close personal ties to customer

No.	Year	SIC	Note
1	1986	5311	Nordstrom's clerks keep notebooks on customer dress sizes and fashion preferences.
2	2002	5621	The super plus size industry is expected to generate $2-3 billion in retail sales annually. Catherine's Plus generates $350 million or 30% of Charming Shoppes' total sales. Catherine's Plus attracts customers with direct mail campaigns that target credit-card customers. They are trying to create a one-to-one customer relationship.
3	2005	5621	Speed-to-market is all-important to retailer Forever 21. The store has at most nine months to cash in on a craze before it fades. When ponchos started reappearing on trendsetters in early January 2004, Forever 21 had them in stores for 45 days.
4	2002	5699	In the "epicenter" New York Prada store, high-tech wizardry is used to grab shoppers' attention. Salespeople in the store are armed with wireless handheld computers that tag & keep track of merchandise as well as let them instantly bring up a certain customer's likes and dislikes, and all of that information on a customer at home or in the store can be accessed at the touch of a button by a salesperson.
5	2005	5900	Many retailers, including the Recreational Equipment outdoor gear and clothing chain, are successfully competing with bigger rivals by carving a distinct niche. REI caters to consumers who are looking for good service and product knowledge, but aren't price motivated. Its target customer is the higher income, higher-educated customer. Customers include all types of outdoor enthusiasts. Good service is a key selling point. Since most sales associates are REI co-op members, they have a camaraderie with customers. The firm offers a 100% satisfaction guarantee on products.
6	2000	6021	Northern Trust's edge over competitors comes from its tradition in strong relationships with clients. The CEO himself even makes several hundred personal meetings a year. The bank also hosted 1,000 social events in 1999 like financial/Internet seminars.
7	1998	6099	It’s a tradition for small-business owners to get together to start a community bank. Customers are drawn to these kind of banks if they are tired of impersonal larger banks.
8	2001	6162	MortgageRamp.com is trying to establish itself as more than just an online mortgage broker. It was born out of GM. The company's basic mission is to close loans faster and more cheaply and to marry technology with the human touch. The thought behind this is that the relationships must be strong between the company and the brokers.
9	2001	6211	In 1994, SEI Investments invented an asset allocation tool based upon mutual funds, which allows customers to manage their own money through the internet and their PC. To develop this product, SEI spent over a year studying their wealthy target market.
10	2001	6211	SEI Investments uses many different and tightly coordinated teams to best suit the customers' needs, including product teams, competency teams, and others. These many teams reflect SEI's policy to deeply understand its clients.
11	2002	6211	In order to improve their services and encourage investment activities, brokers are working to offer personalized advice. Charles Schwab can give customers a financial plan for $250 to $500 depending on the portfolio.
12	2003	7379	Swoosh, a new peer to peer software, allows its 1.4 million users to click on a download easily. Its digital-rights-management feature blocks unauthorized users from downloading and encrypts the file while in transit.

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