A typical value chain of business functions includes six aspects, which are Research & Development, Product design, Production, Marketing, Distribution and Customer Service. Breville mainly focuses on four of them, since its production is outsourced to China and its products have one year limited warranty. Therefore, cost item involved in production and customer service are the finished goods manufactured plus the freight and ordinary one-year product return and maintenance respectively.
Research and Development and Product Design cost are primarily for the purpose of high quality and innovation. Therefore, Breville’s Research and Development department and Sydney Design Centre would have the greatest amount of cost for product visionary design, functionality and patent. Researchers and designers specialized in different fields compose of labor cost, while the buildings and infrastructures are Breville’s facility-sustaining cost. Besides, designers at Breville are equipped with NX industrial design and styling solutions, which is another value-adding cost item that enables them to design complex freeform surfaces while refining internal component details.
Breville establishes long-term strategic relationships with a wide range of retailers for marketing, including department stores such as Myer and homeware stores like Harvey Norman. Advertising is the typical cost item for marketing function, for instance, demonstrations of how to use the applicances in retail stores or sponsoring a cooking reality show on television. Even the brand spokesman, Heston Blumenthal, can be seen as a cost item for branding purpose. In addition, online shopping creates other cost items such as website design and maintenance, as well as credit discounts.
Distribution, however, happens merely between Breville and its retailers