Positions itself strongly on low prices and what those always low prices mean to customers.

INTANGIBILITY: Marketing challenges Lack of ability to be stored:

Cannot be stored as buffers for periods of high demand. This translates into constantsupply and demand problems (physicians, movie seats) Lack of protection by patents: Since the service is intangible , it cannot be patented. New or existing services can becopied, hence difficulty in maintaining a differential service advantage over competition Difficult to display or communicate services: How does one get the customer to notice the service? Due to intangibility the task of explaining the merits of the service to consumers is highly challenging Difficult to price the services: Products are priced based on cost-plus basis, while in services the cost can be onlyattributed to labour (doctor charges).

INTANGIBILITY: Possible Marketing SOLUTIONS Use of tangible clues: Consumers look a tangible clues or physical evidence surrounding the service. (qualityof furniture, appearance of employees, logos) Use of personal sources of information: Sources like friends, family, opinion leaders are used by consumers to gather information, word-ofmouth advertising Creation of strong organisational brand image :If the brand is well known and respected, it lowers the perceived risk in the eyes of theconsumer and results in loyalty

INSEparability : Marketing challenges Physical connection of the service provider to the service: Service provider should be physically present to deliver the service (dentist). Face-to-face interactions with customers makes employee satisfaction crucial.

Involvement of the customer in the production process: Requires the customer to be physically present to receive the service (surgery, haircut)or present at the start and end of service ( dry cleaning, auto repair), or to be mentally present (adult education).The customer has a direct impact on the type of service desired Involvement of other customers in the production process: Since production and consumption happen simultaneously, several customers share aservice experience.This could be negative or positive (restaurants ve, theatre +ve)

INSEparability: Possible Marketing SOLUTIONS Emphasis on selecting and training public contact personnel: Unhappy employees can affect both, customers in direct contact as also other employees. A bright, highly motivated employee creates a more pleasant experience for the customer.A well trained employee also gives the customer a sense of gratification, training inskills like reliability, empathy, assurance, etc Consumer Management: Can be minimised through effective consumer management. (separating smokers fromnon-smokers, restaurant reservations) Use of multisite locations: Multisite locations would reduce distance for travel to avail of service, offer thecustomer better service at each location

heterogeneity : Marketing challenges Lack of ability to control service quality before it reaches the consumer Most errors are one-time events and cannot be foreseen nor corrected ahead of time Consistency of service varies from firm to firm, among employees of the firmand also while interacting with the same service provider on day-to-day basis Service standardisation and quality control are difficult to achieve and maintainsince each employee is a different personality

heterogeneity : Possible Marketing SOLUTIONS Customisation:

Producing or creating services customised exactly to the consumers specifications.Such services end up satisfying a customer, but take longer to produce.However, the service provider could end up charging a premium for such services Standardisation: The service firm could look at standardisation of services through training employeesand service providersA better option is to replace human capital with machines (ATMs, automated car wash)

perishability : Marketing challenges Refers to the fact that services cannot be stored or inventoried Unused capacity is lost forever Some services can inventory a part of their services (mostly related to goods) Matching demand and supply is a major problem

perishability : Possible Marketing SOLUTIONS DEMAND STRATEGY: Creative pricing: early bird specials, price offs, discount coupons Reservation system: guarantees minimum usage of services.Drawbacks could be customers no showing up in time for the consumption of theservice, as well as increasing customer expectations since the service would beavailable at a specific time Development of complementary services (lounge in a restaurant) Development of non-peak time demand; use of non peak time to prepare for the pea time demand SUPPLY STRATEGY: Part time employee utilisation Capacity sharing (service cooperatives, doctors for expensive medicalequipment) Utilisaion of third parties (travel agent

Reformulate the recipes of the Carrefour-brand products Since 2004, the recipes of all Carrefour products have been reformulated to improve nutritional value and taste. Our suppliers are also contractually obligated to respect our nutritional requirements, especially in the reduction of salt, sugar, fat and trans fats.

Develop nutritional product lines for children Aware of its commitment to childrens nutrition and wanting to offer adapted products, Carrefour developed lines responding to children's nutritional requirements. A major development was the international partnership agreement signed with Disney in 2008, in order to develop "Carrefour Kids a line of highly nutritional products. The hundreds of Carrefour Kids products were designed to make children happy and be the benchmark in terms of nutritional value within their family of products: packaging inspired by the Disney universe; products that meet nutritional requirements (caloric intake, ingredients carefully chosen to limit the amount of fats, sugar and salt, and without sugar substitute); affordably priced for everyone. Carrefour aims to respond to the nutritional needs of active children and give a nutritional guarantee to parents. The packaging of Carrefour Kids products has a wide variety of nutritional information intended for parents and children.

Encouraging consumers to choose sustainable products

Carrefour has regular promotions for its sustainable products. These products are promoted in catalogues and on websites, as well as in stores during various ad campaigns or theme weeks, such as World Environment Day, Sustainable Development Week, European Sustainable Energy Week and Fair Trade Fortnight.

Carrefour Quality Lines (CQL): at the forefront of sustainable development

Since 1992, the CQL is based on authenticity, the traceability from field to plate, long-term partnerships with producers, tradition and respect for the environment. Producers are required to comply with a set of related specifications, including an integrated approach to agriculture, breeding conditions that respect animal welfare, a ban on chemical treatments after harvesting and the absence of GMOs in plant production processes (fruit and vegetables) and in animal feed (pork, salmon, eggs, poultry etc.). In 2010, there were 30 new lines launched. Carrefour now offers 395 products in 14 countries.

Carrefour Bio products: organic and accessible With the launch of the Boule Bio loaf in 1992, Carrefour paved the way for the development of organic products in its stores. Because of the large selection and great prices, Carrefour is the leading retailer of organic products in France and offers more than 3,700 organic products in its hypermarkets worldwide.

The Group continues to develop its organic range of food and non-food products. Since 2009, it has offered, for example, a permanent selection of towels made from organic cotton. In 2010, the collection of Carrefour Bio expanded again with a new line of under garments. This totalled 4.6 million articles of organic cotton textiles in 2010. In France, Carrefour was the number one retailer of organic products in 2010.

Promoting fair-trade products In 1998, Carrefour was the first large distributor in France to launch a fair trade product: Malongo coffee from small-scale producers. Since then there have been many more products offered and, in 2007, Carrefour-brand fair-trade products were launched. In 2007, the Group developed a line of FLO-cert certified Carrefour-brand fair-trade products This line includes nearly 20 Max Havelaar certified products, including food products (coffee, cocoa powder, chocolate bars, tea, honey, sugar, bananas) and roses. The Group also works with about 50 small-scale food producers (80% in South America, 8% in Africa and 12% in Asia). More than 480 products with the Max Havelaar label were sold in the stores in 2010 under the following brands: Alter Eco, Carrefour, Lobodis, Ethiquable, Malongo. With over 40.8 million euros in sales in 2010, Carrefour is a leading retailer of fairtrade products in France. Carrefour carries out its social and societal responsibilities:

Through its assortment: offering a wide range of Carrefour sustainability products that meet high quality and safety standards, sold at a reasonable price and for every budget. Through its relations with suppliers and farmers: by building sustainable relations with suppliers and promoting fair and socially-responsible trade. By making its stores accessible: to those with disabilities By ensuring safety in our stores By encouraging its employees: by the management of its employees and a fair remuneration and by a policy promoting diversity and guaranteeing safety in the workplace. By making customers happy: by listening and meeting customers' expectations, by guaranteeing their safety in stores, by the democratisation of consumption and promotion of a socially-responsible consumption. Through its integration in the local economy: by encouraging employment and local sourcing, by integrating local economy and managing solidarity and sponsorship actions.

Working with more than 410,000 employees and thousands of suppliers presents us with a special responsibility. Thats why we adhere to strong values and endeavour to be committed, caring and positive each and every day

Smart Design, Responsible Ingredients Approach Making better products starts with finding better ways to build those products. One of the ways we do that is by integrating alternative, recycled and recyclable materials into both the devices we make and their packaging. For example, in 2010 we introduced renewable bamboo packaging, and in 2009 we shipped approximately 7.2 million pounds of postconsumer recycled plastic. This makes it easier for you to reduce waste. At the same time, we work to reduce or eliminate from our products any substances such as mercury, arsenic and brominated flame retardants that could have serious negative impacts on the environment or human health. For example, we found a better way to ensure smooth display glass without the use of arsenic and introduced that innovation in our laptops and display monitors in 2009.

Improving Energy Efficiency Who says high performance has to mean high energy consumption? Thanks to our engineers intense focus on efficiency, Dell products use less and less power with each generation. For example, Dell desktops and laptops, already among the industrys most energy-efficient, have saved our customers 25 percent or more in related energy costs since 2008, fulfilling a commitment we made that year. Meanwhile, our M-series PowerEdge blade servers can consume up to 20 percent less power than identically configured competitive offerings, while also offering performance-per-watt advantages.* Design for End of Life and Reuse At the earliest stages of product development, we think about longevity. Our products, parts and components are designed to be upgraded, extending the life of the product if not for you, then for someone else who might be able to reuse the device. We also collaborate with recyclers and asset recovery partners to determine what kinds of design features will make product recycling easy. Here are some of the techniques we use:

Modularity The majority of components found inside Dell products are easily removable, with standardized parts. This makes it easier to reuse or recycle them. Easy disassembly The less complexity, the better. By designing smarter, weve cut down on the number of screws in our products, and the ones that remain are easier to access and more consistent in type. All parts are easily separable with commonly found tools. Minimal glues and adhesives Glues and adhesives can create processing challenges for recyclers, so we have come up with other methods, such as innovative snap fits, to accomplish the same design goals. Restrictions on paints and coatings We prefer integral finishes instead of exterior coatings, which can interfere with the recycling process or degrade certain plastics during processing. If paint is the only option, we use paint that is compatible with recycling.

When the time comes for you to say good-bye to your product, recycling it in a responsible way is convenient and easy.