Intermediary Customer Purchasing from the Product Producer

Obtain Steps: The Obtain steps include all activities preceding the selling of the product. These activities include the costs of identifying potential suppliers and stocking 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

No.	SIC	Year	Note
1	2000	2003	Companies like Kraft, Nestle, Kimberly-Clark, and Unilever have all started to combat competition from store-brand products by adopting a strategy to also do private labels. Many of them sell in Europe.
2	2086	2001	Cott also provides purified drinking water for Wal-Mart's private label, Sam's Choice. Bottled water is the fastest growing segment of the beverage industry, growing at a 35% to 40% annual rate vs. 1% to 2% for carbonated soft drinks.
3	2086	2004	PepsiCo initially expanded its frame of reference from cola drinks to all carbonated beverages and only later moved into nonalcoholic, nondairy ones.
4	3144	2001	Maxwell Shoe has $50 million in cash (with little debt) and the CEO plans to license or buy even more brands. "We're deeply interested in (brands) that offer modern women comfort."
5	3571	2001	Teva Pharmaceuticals battles commodity pricing in drugs through ties with the 20 or so top drugstores and wholesalers. It builds those ties by offering a greater breadth of products in practically all forms and doses. Its pipeline is full of drugs coming off patent that customers have sought.
6	3861	2000	Concord Camera Corporation, an 18 year old company, became stodgy by making outdated cameras and relying totally on the retailers to distribute its product. To turn around, the company started making digital and one-time-use cameras.
7	4841	2000	Worldgate offers cable TV based internet access and email. It has the only system ready for the domestic market, which has more than 60 million cable subscribers.
8	5311	2002	Amazon has cooked up imaginative ways to cut shipping fees by consolidating orders. And it has a lucrative new business selling new and used goods online on behalf of other merchants.

<<Return to Obtain Steps