Volume 15, Number 4 Article by D K Agrawal, Deepali Singh and D P Agrawal December, 2003
Partnering Channel Relationships: Factors for Web Enablement :
In the present era of global competition, market orientation and customer focus can make a vital difference. In order to achieve this, firms are going all out to increase their product portfolio, focussing on quick response, prominent display, ready delivery, 24 hour on-the-spot after sales service, creation of awareness, and ability to influence purchase decision. Offering such a bundle is normally beyond the firm`s capability, and firms are increasingly relying on their marketing intermediaries. With firms today expecting more from their channel members in terms of investment, godown/show-room space, skilled sales forces and mobility, conflict-free partnering channel relationships (PCR) need to be developed and maintained, facilitated by information technology solutions.
Agarwal, Singh and Agarwal report the findings of a study undertaken to identify the key relationship factors as perceived by firms and channel members; and to elucidate the scope of various IT solutions for addressing these factors. A descriptive research, based on a preliminary study, was conducted to collect the views of a sample of 20 corporate and 50 dealers/stockists of three sectors (FMCG, durable and automobile industries) to identify the factors for PCR. On the basis of these discussions, 21 strategic and service related factors were identified. These factors were ranked in order of importance. While respondents perceived all the factors as important, `reasonable return on investment and infrastructure` emerged as the most important factor, and `consistency in total trade related service quality` as the least. These factors were grouped into nine Key Relationship Factors.
The above analysis formed the basis for exploring the scope of IT application in terms of either replacement of the manual system by a Web-based system, or improvement of the capability through efficiency enhancement. The authors show how integrating dealer systems on the Web can help improve marketing efficiency, ensure more transparent and hyper-responsive transactions through real-time information sharing, and reduce transaction and communication costs.
Reprint No 03406
