Just In The Right Place

Reference: “Marketing blog #1- Virtual Subway Store Makes Grocery Shopping Easy”
https://blogs.ubc.ca/elizalee/

After learning about distribution in class, I’ve learned that “convenience” is the key to success whether to the producer or the consumer; getting the right product to the right place to the right time. Home Plus’s strategy to make a virtual store in the subways of Korea really adapted to the average Korean consumer’s needs by making it truly convenient to shop for groceries while waiting for the subway to get to/back from work and having their ordered goods delivered to their doorsteps without any effort by the consumer themselves, which ultimately adds customer value to the store.

In order to be successful at delivering all the orders taken online, the company must have a value delivery network where the company, suppliers, distributors and consumers set up a marketing channel to deliver the goods from the manufacturer to the consumer. This distribution must be very complex because of its time-orientated factors because they are delivering perishable items. Home Plus must have spent a considerable amount of resources to insure this process is smooth and gets delivered on time to create customer value and take on a whole new set of customers that value their services. This service also gives Home Plus a big competitive advantage because in the world today, many consumer’s are using smart phones and similar technology in their everyday life that makes Home Plus’s service very compatible compared to the traditional offline supermarkets.

Therefore, it’s no surprise that Home Plus’s online sales increased by 130% and became #1 online store in Korea. I am again astonished by the company’s care for its Korean market. Home Plus increased their sales and brand image with just a placement strategy, the company accomplished so much with no change in the product, pricing, promotion. However, I think this strategy will only work well in countries that are fluent in using technology. If we had this kind of service in Canada where we are still a few years lagging behind the technological frontiers, most people would not know how to use the features on their devices or may not even be able to access such devices. So I think it was very clever to cater the Korean market with this service and placement because it distinctly matches its consumers needs and environment.