Lamb Chapter 13 Web Exercise

Supply Chain Management

Vignette: At Grocery Gateway you can fill your shopping cart 24/7 with goods ranging from basic groceries to organic foods to specialty items like wine and lottery tickets, and then choose a convenient time for home delivery

Featured URL: www.grocerygateway.com

Taking Stock
A successful grocery site is driven by customers' lifestyles. The person buying the groceries drives the product assortment, placement, pricing, and promotion. On-line grocery companies face a number of challenges: solving customer needs, improving profits, hiring the best people, locking in customers, and organizing and choreographing the distribution of goods, services, and information. A good database system is needed to monitor stock. Ideally, the system will alert customers to their needs, based on previous buying patterns.

E-mail replaces flyers and junk mail. Customers don't want to deal directly with manufacturers to buy, say, laundry soap. They have no time to search and evaluate products. They rely on the company to select and organize a wide variety of goods at reasonable prices. An on-line grocery must provide a manageable and convenient selection and reliable delivery.

Visit the Grocery Gateway site and register to shop there. Plan a party for a dozen friends to celebrate an upcoming holiday. Create a shopping list of 20 to 30 items you need in order to prepare for this event. Select a variety of items from different sections of the store. Go through most of the process of filling your cart, saving your shopping list, and selecting a delivery time.

Write a review of your experience (250 words), comparing your on-line shopping experience with how you would have shopped for the same items had you gone around your neighbourhood to bricks-and-mortar stores.

Shopping Sites

• Peapod.com.
  
• Online Grocer.ca.
  
• NetGrocer.
  
• Petco.com.

Shopping Articles

Groceries on the Web

• "Grocery Gateway builds 'total brand personality'" - Strategy Marketing Magazine report.
• "Cisco and NetGrocer.com: Eliminating Runaway Shopping Carts" - Cisco Systems Solutions
• Why Peapod is Thriving: First-Failure Advantage - Business 2.0

What Went Wrong?

• "Webvan delivers its last word: Bankruptcy" - CNet.com
• "Workers bitter, bittersweet as Webvan folds" - CNet.com
• Petopia.com - InfoWorld
• Petco Gobbles Up Petopia's Assets - E-Commerce Times

Strategies and Solutions

• "Fewer Unhappy Returns" - Business2.0
• "The Missing Link: What You Need to Know About Supply-Chain Technology" - Business 2.0
  

These Web Exercises provide an additional opportunity for exploration of Chapter 13.

1. Top Honours

Visit the four shopping sites listed in the Resources section. Which shopping sites do the best job of

1. solving customer needs?
   
2. generating profits for their investors?
   
3. assuring potential buyers of good customer service?
   
4. developing effective strategies for winning shopper loyalty?
   
5. organizing items in a helpful manner?
   
6. setting up delivery options for customer convenience?
   
7. making it easy to navigate and place orders?
   
8. displaying visually appealing and attractive sites?
   
9. giving extra incentives to on-line shoppers?

2. Bad News/Good News

Read the four articles listed under "What Went Wrong" in the Resources section. Give a brief point-by-point history of the downfall of WebVan and Petopia. What can be learned from their mistakes?

3. Behind the Scenes

Read the articles listed under "Strategies and Solutions" in the Resources section. What can be done to reduce returns for a CD or book supplier? How do Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com handle returned books? How can supply chain technology be helpful to companies like ColumbiaHouse and CDNow?