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Strategic issues with 'Clicks-to-Bricks'

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I need help with the following questions. Each response should be at least 250 words and include an example.

1. Explain the strategic issues a company need to address when adding 'clicks-top-bricks'.
2. What options does a company have for solving the online/offline channel conflict?
3. Describe how case studies can help you to develop creative strategies. Provide some examples.
4. Go to www.creativitypool.com is a database with creative and original ideas. Report your findings with comments.
5. Explain how you could increase the depth of analysis through the concepts and frameworks presented in this course.

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The response addresses the queries posted in 1600 words with references.

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Every company needs to address some strategic issues that form the major part of its problems or matters. These issues identify the direction of the business and form its core part. Companies need to understand concepts through which, it can identify strategic issues and processes. In context to this, this section highlights the issues faced by companies in applying clicks to bricks model and ways of resolving online and offline channel conflict through developing creative strategies.

Clicks-to-bricks can be defined as a business model in which, a company offers both online and offline facilities to its customers. Many companies also provide their customers an option to order their products on telephone. Click represents placing orders through an e-commerce website and brick represents purchasing products from any of the company's retail store (Ha & Ganahl, 2013). The companies, that use this model are Merrill Lynch, Barnes & Noble, Wal-Mart and Compaq. The issues that can be faced by companies are control of costs, companies need to provide a physical presence to its customers, and they need to pay for different stores and staffing also needs larger capital expenditure.

For example, a company selling luxurious and expensive cars that are only rarely purchased can observe that customers will prefer physical presence to buy the car. The company can also offer online product information still customers would prefer to buy car directly from the store (Ha & Ganahl, 2013). The companies can face the problem of central coordination and they need to provide a centralized e-business group to place its main concerns and arrange the company's e-business actions. Companies can face the problem of lack of sufficient resources. Innovative technologies and new sales channels will lead companies to face and manage new risks and challenges. The companies will face the challenge of more competition and price comparison by customers. Companies need to know their goals before designing their corporate website and make their website innovative to enhance relations between the company, customers and suppliers.

The companies need to properly align the business strategy of the online channel with offline channel to avoid conflicts and maintain coordination between the two. If a company fails to do so, then it can face problems in effective working of the organization (Newton, Long & Sievers, 2006). Companies need to understand certain strategic issues to solve channel conflicts. The first issue is that a company needs to know ...

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  • MBA (IP), International Center for Internationa Business
  • BBA, University of Rajasthan
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