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.

A.
Knowledge: Add knowledge

3.
Process where product is used: Explain how product can or should operate in customer cost system

B. Acquire

Information about products for sale

No.	Year	SIC	Note
1	2002	5000	Barnes & Noble, Borders, Target, and Gap are among the many retailers experimenting with Internet-enabled kiosks, which usually display the retailer's own Web site and let customers search for product information or search for goods not on the shelves. The kiosks' average cost is about $8,200. Currently, about 40,000 retailer kiosks are operating world-wide, around 35,000 of which are within the U.S. The growth rate for retail kiosks is expected to average about 19% world-wide and 17% in the U.S. over the next four years.
2	2002	5331	Target Corp. now lets couples create an online bridal registry, which can then be accessed in Target stores by wedding guests.
3	1997	5411	Stores with extensive knowledge of individual buying habits encourage customers to try competing brands.
4	2002	5511	On the sales side, prospective buyers can cruise inventory online, and see photos, calculate monthly payment and fill out loan applications. Dealers say the system cuts 15 minutes from the three hours customer typically spend at the dealership to buy a car.
5	2002	5521	Shoppers are armed with research culled from auto advice Web sites like Consumer Reports, Edmunds or Kelley Blue Book as 62% of new-car buyers first consult the Internet for invoice prices, sticker prices and trade-in values.
6	2002	5600	REI outdoor-equipment retailer recently began using in-store kiosks. The company now has 124 kiosks in its stores, allowing customers to access REI.com, REI-outlet.com, and REIAdventures.com. If customers don't see the gear they want in a store, they can go to a kiosk and browse the company's selection of 78,000 products-three times the selection of the average store. Customers also can use the kiosks to access the 45,000 pages of content on REI's Web sites-everything from backpacking 101 to how to teach kids to ride a bike. The kiosks look like desktop computers and are strategically placed in locations where customers might have questions about what sort of equipment to buy or how to use it. Customers are willing to buy more products because they can get more information about the goods and employees can use the kiosks as a resource.
7	2002	5611	Men's Wearhouse has spent a significant amount developing software for Web-enabled personal computers that have replaced cash registers. The PCs allow sales personnel to not only ring up purchases but check inventory and retrieve information on what to wear and when. The retailer is also using the new terminals for companywide e-mail and other personnel services. For instance, the technology supplements an in-house training program called Suits University. Online photos help wardrobe consultants know what's appropriate attire for everything from a job interview to a formal date. The system can also provide week-to-week training about hot merchandise and help staff learn the most about the item and how to sell it. The system has improved overall corporate communications, allowing management to e-mail companywide the tabletop clothing displays designed to move in-demand or clearance items quickly.
8	1995	5900	Customers at Circuit City's CarMax stores browse through the offerings from easy-to-use computer kiosks that print a photo, price, & specs for any car selected. It also prints the row parking space, so shoppers don't get lost in huge inventory.
9	2005	5900	REI stores have separate departments carrying gear for most outdoor activities, including camping, hiking, and skiing. Within each shop are sales associates with expertise in that particular area.
10	2002	5963	The company offered 13,000 vitamin supplements and minerals as well as free access to 1300 articles, newsclips and encyclopedia entries from the Encyclopedia of Natural Health.
11	2002	5999	During the Internet boom, it was assumed that all brick-and-mortar stores would become obsolete in favor online retail. However in reality, traditional retailers found the most success in the online retail world. Their combination of physical stores and online outlets was dubbed "bricks and clicks." Traditionally, online customers could check out products in the real stores before buying, but now retailers are trying to also bring the Web into their physical stores. They're giving customers and salespeople access to computers that enhance the shopping experience by allowing them to go online and get additional information on a product or, for example, order an item that's not on the shelves.
12	2003	5999	In order to update Amazon's traditional market, books, the company launched Search Inside the Book, which allowed visitors to find any word or phrase on 35 million pages in 120,000 books. Sales surged for books that had this feature.
13	2004	6211	A.G. Edwards Inc. has boosted the offerings of its "Allocation Advisors" program, which was launched in 2002 with four model portfolios of exchange-traded funds designed to fit varied investment needs.
14	2002	6231	Nasdaq is ready to launch its SuperMontage which is designed to simplify the Nasdaq market by aggregating orders from all participating broker-dealers. By providing a central pool of liquidity, it aims to make it easier for institutions to trade in big blocks.
15	2000	6289	Merrill Lynch Direct offers IPOs only to accounts with more than $100,000 in assets and margin accounts must be stocked with at least $20,000 in assets. If traders meet the requirements, they are offered access to notable institutional research, new from Dow Jones and S&P reports.
16	1995	7319	NBC is test-marketing 27-inch monitors in the nation's supermarkets to broadcast 15-second spots along with snippets from shows.
17	2000	7375	Shopping search engine mySimon.com is aiming for a sort of consumer-magazine approach, in which a staff of writers and editors present their picks.
18	2004	7841	Netflix is the leading online DVD-rental service with 2.1 million subscribers and 80% customer growth. Netflix has proprietary software that uses factors such as customers' past rentals to help subscribers find movies they like. About half its customers rate movies.

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