Where the consumer will get access to the products or service.
The product must be available in the right place, at the right time and in the right quantity, while keeping storage, inventory and distribution costs to an acceptable level.
The place where customers buy a product, and the means of distributing your product to that place, must be appropriate and convenient for the customer.
This applies to brick-and-mortar operations but is even more important in e-commerce.
– Customer surveys show that delivery performance is one of the most important criteria when choosing a supplier.
– Place also means ways of displaying your product to customer groups. This could be in a shop window, but it could also be online.
– E-commerce operations that sell exclusively on the internet must place even more emphasis on the company website and other online activities, as there are fewer points where the customer will interact with the company.
– For the same reason, all firms that sell online should consider how the product will be delivered to the consumer – even if this is handled by a third party.
– Mobile is an increasingly important purchasing channel for consumers, so it may be a good time to optimise your website. Does yours conform to the latest standards?
For example, Google search now penalises websites that are not optimised for mobile, potentially making it more difficult for consumers to find you.