Amazon’s Marketing Distribution of the PS4
Amazon’s Marketing Distribution of the PS4
Abstract
This paper is about how the wholesaler Amazon uses their advantages of being a warehouse to store, package, and distribute the Sony PlayStation 4 in preparation of launch day and how it fulfills the place aspect of the marketing mix.
The article, “A Look Into The PS4 Launch From Within Amazon Distribution,” by Sarah Fox, published on November 12, 2013, on theslanted.com, shows how Amazon packages and prepares for the launch of the PS4. When there is a high profile launch like that of the Sony PlayStation 4, distributors like Amazon must prepare ahead of schedule so they can fulfill their orders. The article touches on the place part of the marketing mix because Amazon can fulfill several parts of the place aspect, which is why this article is a good choice to help you learn more about physical distribution. This article is dealing with the PS4, which is distributed via an indirect channel. According to Perreault, Cannon, and McCarthy (2010), because of the fact that you are redirected to other retailers when clicking on the “Buy Now” button on the PlayStation website that means the PlayStation Company distributes their product via indirect channels. These indirect channels are agent wholesalers, because while they sell the product, they do not own the product that they sell (Perreault et al., 2010). To support the million console launch, there are a number of retailers that had the console available at launch, these retail stores would be the conventional retailer type; specialty shops like GameStop or BestBuy would fit that retail type (MacDonald, 2013). Sony handles discrepancies and separations in the form of pre-orders; months before the launch of the PS4, consumers were able to make a pre-order for the console at retail stores like GameStop or Amazon, and this gave Sony an estimate of how to distribute the PS4 at launch. Without the aid of pre-ordering the discrepancy of quantity, or knowing
Abstract
This paper is about how the wholesaler Amazon uses their advantages of being a warehouse to store, package, and distribute the Sony PlayStation 4 in preparation of launch day and how it fulfills the place aspect of the marketing mix.
The article, “A Look Into The PS4 Launch From Within Amazon Distribution,” by Sarah Fox, published on November 12, 2013, on theslanted.com, shows how Amazon packages and prepares for the launch of the PS4. When there is a high profile launch like that of the Sony PlayStation 4, distributors like Amazon must prepare ahead of schedule so they can fulfill their orders. The article touches on the place part of the marketing mix because Amazon can fulfill several parts of the place aspect, which is why this article is a good choice to help you learn more about physical distribution. This article is dealing with the PS4, which is distributed via an indirect channel. According to Perreault, Cannon, and McCarthy (2010), because of the fact that you are redirected to other retailers when clicking on the “Buy Now” button on the PlayStation website that means the PlayStation Company distributes their product via indirect channels. These indirect channels are agent wholesalers, because while they sell the product, they do not own the product that they sell (Perreault et al., 2010). To support the million console launch, there are a number of retailers that had the console available at launch, these retail stores would be the conventional retailer type; specialty shops like GameStop or BestBuy would fit that retail type (MacDonald, 2013). Sony handles discrepancies and separations in the form of pre-orders; months before the launch of the PS4, consumers were able to make a pre-order for the console at retail stores like GameStop or Amazon, and this gave Sony an estimate of how to distribute the PS4 at launch. Without the aid of pre-ordering the discrepancy of quantity, or knowing
References: Fox, Sarah (2013, November 12). A Look Into The PS4 Launch From Within Amazon Distribution. Retrieved from http://theslanted.com/2013/11/11558/twas-the-nights-before-the-ps4-launched-at-amazon-distribution/ MacDonald, Keza (2013, November 18). Putting PS4’s Million sales in perspective. Retrieved from http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/11/18/putting-ps4s-million-sales-in-perspective Perreault, W. D., Cannon, J. P., & McCarthy, E. J. (2010). Essentials of marketing: A marketing strategy planning approach (12th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. PlayStation Website. Retrieved from http://us.playstation.com/ps4/index.htm