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

Reduce customer steps in the product process
Complete some of the customer's steps with the product

Preparation steps

No.	Year	SIC	Note
1	1986	200	The beef retail trade has begun to introduce precooked fresh meats that can be finished in minutes in a microwave oven.
2	2002	2700	Under a new inventory-management system, Donnelley keeps digital files of books for publishers so they can easily reissue out-of-print titles.
3	2002	5300	Consumers felt that digital pictures were a hassle to print. Now, about every major photo company is producing photo kiosks that would make it easy to print good photo shots from digital cameras. They even have features such as a photo editing program and can pop out a picture in about 30 seconds. The machines are aimed at winning over people who haven't bought a digital camera because they're unsure how to print the photos. For people who are intimidated by using photo kiosks, traditional photo centers are offering to produce photos for them.
4	1996	5411	Harry's Farmers Market has 2 new Harry's in a Hurry gourmet takeout restaurants in an exclusive neighborhood.
5	2003	5411	Convenience stores are being redefined by the industry. Market outlets now feature gourmet food to go provided by staffed chefs who prepare soups, deli sandwiches and deserts for shoppers in a hurry.
6	2003	5900	Borders Group Inc., which operates 415 Borders stores in the U.S. says its looking to introduce new features to its listening post technology, including a way for customers to register their preferences and help the customer make selections on future visits.
7	2004	5900	The best feature of MSN music is that you can access the store without first downloading or switching to Windows Media Player software. That's because, unlike iTunes, Microsoft's new store is available in Web version, accessible from a standard Web browser. The Web version isn't as slick as the jukebox software, but it's a quick an easy way to shop for music.
8	2000	6000	Banks have the most at stake in the bill-payment business, for years they have been losing customers to other companies, including brokerage and mutual fund firms. Wells Fargo & Co.'s customers that use online bill payment service are 54% less likely to switch to another institution.
9	2000	6211	Datek is focused on fast execution and effortless order entry. The company's computerized limit order book called Island matches buy and sell orders. The program handles a large percentage of the volume in stocks like Yahoo and Dell.
10	2001	6411	In the past, buying insurance meant taking the time to contact different agencies to compare policies. Now there are Web sites that gather the info for consumers.
11	2000	7371	E-memories, one of the best online photofinishing sites, produces the best looking albums on their site. The site allows customers to customize their own photo albums and add live links to other web pages.
12	2000	7375	Dialog does not create or own most of the data it sells. Many general news publishers are posting their content for free with additional graphics and hot links and sound and movie files in easy to use formats.
13	2005	7375	Google promoted its two-year-old local search page to the main site, after more users clicked on it during the holiday season than on the company's Froogle shopping site.

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