MRKT 3001 Week 7 Distribution Channel Note Example

Where First-Year Adopters Buy at Each Stage, From Adoption Day to Routine Refills: A Channel Note Recommending a Shelter Voucher, In-Store Fittings and Local Delivery, and Declining a National Web Shop

Student Name

Walden University

MRKT 3001: Marketing

Instructor Name

Month Day, Year

Where First-Year Adopters Buy at Each Stage, From Adoption Day to Routine Refills: A Channel Note Recommending a Shelter Voucher, In-Store Fittings and Local Delivery, and Declining a National Web Shop

The Question

Second Paw Pet Supply, a composite independent with stores on Madison's east and west sides, needs to decide where it should be present as those buyers move through their first months. A household's needs on adoption day are different from its needs at the first food refill and different again once buying becomes routine. This note maps where new adopters typically buy at each stage and why, then recommends a mix of channels.

The Buyer's First Months

Lemon and Verhoef (2016) describe the customer journey as a sequence of stages, each with its own touchpoints, and argue that firms should manage the whole sequence rather than single transactions. For Second Paw, the journey shows a clear pattern: the store is strongest in the first weeks, when advice matters, and weakest later, when convenience dominates.

Table 1

Where a New Adopter Buys at Each Stage, and Why

Stages and reasons summarized from the segmentation brief and from journey research cited in the text.

Recommended Mix

Adoption day: a pickup voucher at the shelter. The county shelter already hands new adopters a folder of information. Second Paw should provide a voucher in that folder for a free harness fitting and 10 percent off the starter bundle, redeemable within two weeks. This places the store at the moment the buyer first needs supplies, which is the stage where it is currently absent.

First week and first refill: in-store fitting, both locations. The store's advantage is hands-on help. Both stores should keep a trained fitter on every shift, and the first visit should end with a booked four-week follow-up, which brings the buyer back for the first refill.

Routine buying: local delivery for refills. Once habits settle, many households will move to online repeat delivery. Second Paw can keep some of them by offering free local delivery of food and litter within its trade area on a set schedule, ordered by phone or text. It will not match the online retailer's range, but it offers the same convenience for the products that matter, from people the household already knows.

What the Mix Costs

The voucher costs little to print, but every redeemed voucher gives away a fitting and 10 percent of a bundle, about $8 in margin. In-store fitters on every shift mean scheduling a trained person at both stores from open to close, which may require training one more employee. Local delivery needs a vehicle and a driver for two afternoons a week; using the owner's van and a part-time driver keeps the cost near $200 a week. Palmatier et al. (2020) note that every added channel brings coordination costs, and the delivery route is the one most likely to cost more than it earns if demand is thin.

The Channel the Store Turns Down

The store will not build a national web shop. Competing with large online retailers on range, price and shipping speed would cost far more than a two-store business can spend, and it would draw attention away from the in-person help that defines its position. Kotler and Armstrong (2018) note that channel choices must fit the firm's positioning, and a national web shop would turn Second Paw into a small version of a competitor it cannot beat. A simple website with hours, fitting appointments and the delivery order form is enough.

How the Store Will Know the Mix Works

Three figures will show whether the mix is working: the number of shelter vouchers redeemed each month, the share of first-time customers who come back for their follow-up fitting and the number of households using local delivery after six months. If vouchers are rarely redeemed, the shelter channel needs a different offer; if delivery stays small, the store may be better off accepting that routine buying will move online.

References

Kotler, P., & Armstrong, G. (2018). Principles of marketing (17th ed.). Pearson.

Lemon, K. N., & Verhoef, P. C. (2016). Understanding customer experience throughout the customer journey. Journal of Marketing, 80(6), 69-96. https://doi.org/10.1509/jm.15.0420

Palmatier, R. W., Sivadas, E., Stern, L. W., & El-Ansary, A. I. (2020). Marketing channel strategy: An omni-channel approach (9th ed.). Routledge.