Understanding inter-relationship between traditional and new forms of selling

• Main Authors: Ang, Geok Poh, Koo, Brenda Shi Ting, Loh, Carryl Ju Hui
• Other Authors: Ian McGovern
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2013
• Subjects: DRNTU::Business
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/51504
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Our research seeks to understand the interactions between online and physical presence. It allows us to find out how entrepreneurs can best make use of both the online and physical platforms to exploit their synergies and gain a competitive advantage over the other companies. To accomplish this, we carried out secondary research to find out more about the two platforms. A total of 105 companies from Apparel, Confectionery and Electronics industries were selected. Next, we came up with a framework incorporating both platforms and created a composite scoresheet to calculate the online and physical presence of the companies. Surveys were given to experts to validate the weightings used in our scoresheet. Each company’s online and physical presence was then plotted. This allowed us to discover the success factors of existing companies. We also made use of focus group discussions to understand customers’ needs and gather suggestions for the optimal marketing mix. Findings from our secondary and primary research were combined to provide a set of recommendations revolving around the marketing mix. Lastly, an application of our framework for a potential Confectionery company was also presented. This research allows entrepreneurs to figure out the degree of online and physical presence they should adopt, and how to go about doing so. The main finding is the importance of having an online presence in today’s society. An online presence can be used to substitute the physical presence in some instances. This pattern is observed mainly in the Apparel industry. Other times, it should at least be used to complement the physical presence. This pattern is observed mainly in the Confectionery and Electronics industry. All in all, it is vital for companies to have an online presence in today’s world due to demand from consumers and other benefits it confers.