Online Electronic marketing: Old vs New Methods of Selling

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Before the advent of information technology, selling is done thru person-to-person contact, or seller and buyer interaction done in a face to face manner. Customers would place an order and would wait for days or even weeks for the product to arrive. That is the primitive method of selling.

Today, by utilizing the advances of information and communications technology tools, the way selling is done has drastically changed. Selling is consummated at the click of a mouse. This is the new era of selling-- electronic commerce utilizing internet technology. Gone are the days when you have to have branches around the world. Gone are the days when you need to accumulate inventories. Gone are the days where you have to set up a building to house your products.

A concrete example is Amazon.com. Although it's main office is located in the U.S., its customer base is the world. It has the entire world of consumers on its own.

The old method of selling requires the physical presence of a company around the world. That is costly.

The new method of selling does not need physical presence but only a "virtual presence" using a website. Accessibility of the four corners of the earth to the internet assures a company's access to them.

Please consider the following additional materials:

(From "Marketing's New Role", http://www.cheskin.com/view_articles.php?id=20)

Marketing's New Role

In the early decades of the twentieth century, a few far-seeing individuals observed the changes brought by the industrial revolution and conceived a new philosophy of selling "things." Using mass production, network broadcasting, nationwide transport and chain retailing, marketers could drive consumption among a rapidly increasing US population.

By emphasizing product, pricing, promotion and placement, companies could manage customers like they managed their production plants-with strategy, SKUs and forecasts, planned spending and measurable results. Consumers could be "bought," like capital equipment and this process could be controlled, repeated and replicated.
The Coming Change

For over 50 years, this model worked. It propelled the US economy to heights unimagined in previous centuries, shaping popular culture and contributing to nearly everyone's lifestyle. But this model has started to disintegrate.

Traditional marketing practices, rather than promoting purchases, are starting to inhibit them. Packaging and direct mail induce guilt and create waste. Merchandising and advertising create clutter and invade privacy. Pricing elicits skepticism. Positioning often rings false. Distribution channels fail to get the right product to those who want it when they want it. And traditional marketing costs continue to skyrocket, while results spiral downward.

As the common practices of marketing flail about and gasp for breath, a new approach is emerging from the chaos. This new approach is based on a fundamental reversal in the relationship between consumers and producers. At its core, it tightly aligns marketing with innovation. It emphasizes meaning, experiences, authenticity, and passion, and it de-emphasizes hype, intrusion and image. It embodies one-to-one and one-to-many communication principles, but it's the consumer who is holds the power, and it's the companies that are being evaluated.

Both cultural and technological forces are effecting this change. Technology has empowered the household with 24/7 shopping, delivery on demand, time shifting of media, mute power over ads and an unparalleled ability to price compare, bargain and evaluate. Additionally, consumers have grown savvy to the tactics and strategies of marketers. They are no longer easily persuaded. And when they are persuaded, it's typically by their growing reliance on the recommendations of friends, family and community. Finally, the increasing expectation of individualism and customization leaves little room for mass appeals.

For marketing to meet this challenge demands a change in its focus and practices. These are a few Cheskin feels are critical:

Deeply know your customer. Success will increasingly be based on an information advantage. The more you know ...