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

1.
Money: Reduce the money the customer uses with the product. For more ideas on using pricing, please see the Improve/Pricing section of StrategyStreet.

A. Reduce the level of payment for use of the product

Reduce Performance benefits
Reduce both Function and Convenience benefits

Reduce ambiance or advice and increase customer purchase or preparation time

No.	Year	SIC	Note
1	2002	4724	Airlines were looking to wiggle out of paying airline commissions to travel agents. Therefore they jointly created Orbitz LLC. It sells plane tickets directly to consumers, cutting travel agents out of the loop.
2	2004	5399	Discount retailers have benefited from the shaky economy in recent years, enjoying a steady rise in same-store sales gains and net annual sales. Regardless of the economy, one channel continues to drive growth: warehouse sales. The clubs typically require shoppers to pay an annual membership fee before they can stock up on bulk-packaged goods in a no-frills warehouse. Wal-Mart's keeping a strong presence in the field with Sam's Club.
3		5712	85% of IKEA customers were satisfied by IKEA's new store design, as it was designed by customers themselves. Return visits to the Chicago store are higher than average. This design-by-users approach need not be limited to consumer products or external customers.
4	2005	5900	Price Chopper delivers value through promotions. It tries to craft promotions with a theme to bring excitement into the stores in addition to low prices such as a 99-cent aisle and a buy-one-get-one free sale.
5	2002	6211	Investment firms are shifting their approach to smaller accounts in an effort to cut costs. Many investors have been switched to call centers instead of an individual broker. Prudential shifts accounts of less than $25,000 to call centers. In some cases, this shift may improve customer service and expertise and drive down fees as they were largely ignored by individual brokers.
6	1992	7832	Mitchell built more dollar houses and now owns 358 screens in multiplexes across the US. He puts the theaters in lower-rent districts and in the less-expensive suburban malls. The cheap tickets attract plenty of customers, many of whom buy high-margin treats at the movies.
7	1992	7832	Cinemark located walk-in and drive-in theaters in small towns. Discount theaters an option for families.

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