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Chapter 5 E-business strategy 299

from the sales person. Companies selling mobile phones and related tariffs such as the Car-
phone Warehouse, Phones4U and the network providers such as O , Orange, T-Mobile and
2
Vodafone still have a strong high-street presence and the majority of their sales are in-store.
Even dot-coms such as lastminute.com have set up a call centre and experimented with a
physical presence in airports or train stations since this helps them to reach a key audience
and has benefits in promoting the brand. Another example of the importance of a physical
presence related by Tse (2007) is this quote from the CEO of Charles Tyrwhitt, a London-
based shirtmaker that makes heavy use of the on-line channel:
The picture of its Jermyn Street flagship store on our website ‘is worth as much as having
the store (in the shoppers’ native countries). Jermyn Street meant something to the
customers, especially those in the US.

Right-channelling
Prioritization of different communications channels to achieve different e-business objec-
tives is an important aspect of e-business strategy. It is necessary to identify which strategies
will be pursued, set objectives for them and then define approaches to encourage customers
to adopt the appropriate channel. This approach is commonplace and is often referred to as
Right-channelling ‘right-channelling’. Right-channelling involves devising a contact strategy and tactics which
This is selective adoption integrate different channels, supported by technology to reach:
of e-channels by
business for some – The Right Person
products or markets in
order to best generate – At the Right Time
value for the organization – Using the Right Communications Channel
according to stakeholder
preferences. – With a Relevant Offer, Product or Message
Some examples of right-channelling are given in Table 5.9.

Table 5.9 Examples of ‘right-channelling’ applications

Right-channelling strategy example Application and tactics to achieve Typical sector and company
channel adoption examples
1 Sell to and serve SMEs through Using the Internet for sales and service B2B. Hardware: Dell, software services
online channels. through an extranet to lower-sales- such as MessageLabs Antivirus;

volume SME customers who cannot anti-spam and e-mail management
be serviced direct through account services. Commercial banks such as
managers. HSBC.
Customer channel adoption
encouraged by convenience and lack
of other options.
2 Account-managed relationships The converse of strategy 1. Using B2B. Account managers at Dell for larger
with larger companies offline, either face-to-face and phone meetings with clients. Bank ‘relationship managers’
direct or through partner large, high-sales-volume clients who discuss financial management with
companies. through account managers. ‘higher-wealth’ individuals.
Customer channel adoption
encouraged by personal service and
capability to negotiate service levels
and buying options.