PRODUCT MANAGEMENT CASE STUDY

Q1.
INVENTORY MODEL (HINA) – Inventory model of e-commerce means an e-commerce activity where the
inventory of goods and services is owned by e-commerce entity and is sold to the consumers directly.

In this model:
 PURCHASE OF GOOD - Marketplace purchases the goods from the sellers and sells them to customers
directly.
 MERIT - The best merit of speedy delivery, better quality control and best customer experience and
trust.
 FEES/COMMISSION - Marketplace issues purchase order to the sellers and seller issues invoices
against the purchase orders and this is how they make their fees or commission.
 ISSUE OF INVOICE - Marketplace issues invoice directly to customers for the products sold.
 DEMERIT – It is difficult to scale, high fixed cost and redistricted cash flow.
 EXAMPLE - Jabong.

MARKETPLACE PLATFORM (RADHEY)- Marketplace model of e-commerce means providing an information

technology platform by an e-commerce entity on a digital and electronic network to act as a facilitator
between buyer and seller. 

In this model:
 SELLING OF GOOD - Marketplace acts as a medium for the seller to sell his goods to buyers.
 MERIT - The best merit of this model is that it is highly scalable, wide product portfolio and is a
investor friendly model.
 FEES/COMMISSION - Marketplace charges a fee/commission to sellers on items listed/sold on the
marketplace and charges service tax on those fees.
 ISSUE OF INVOICE - Invoices are issued directly from Seller to buyers and seller is responsible for the
collection of taxes on the products and services that it is selling.
 DEMERIT - The demerit is difficult to conduct quality check, shipping cost is higher and difficult to
build trust.
 EXAMPLE - Ebay, Shopclues.

Q2.
HYBRID MODEL (PRIYANSHU)- The Hybrid model is a mix of Marketplace and Inventory led models. The
model works similar to Marketplace model except that in this model the marketplace offers sellers
fulfilment services which include inventory storage, packaging and delivery but sellers are free to choose
between self-fulfilment and marketplace-fulfilment.

ADVANTAGES –
Ensure product availability –
Vendors rely on Amazon to order goods from them to ensure availability. There can be many different
reasons why Amazon does not place orders, such as low demand, insufficient profitability or poor
performance as a supplier.

Price control –
In the vendor program, Amazon acts as a retailer and executes price adjustments independently. Sellers
have price autonomy over their products. Therefore, they are more flexible and independent when it comes
to pricing.

List products faster –

Sellers can make their products available on Amazon in a shorter time. They are able to put products online
immediately and this applies to all country marketplaces. Vendors usually must wait several weeks for
Amazon to upload an item.
Obtain specific analysis data from Seller Central –
To some extent vendors do not have access to particularly meaningful analysis data, and only receive relative
values or index values. With a seller account you receive meaningful information on important key figures,
such as the Conversion Rate.

Logistics Advantages –
Amazon classifies some products as problematic for several reasons and refuses to store them.
In the Hybrid Model, you have the option to distribute these products via your seller account, as the
products you offer via Fulfillment by Merchant (FBM) do not have to be stored by Amazon.

AMAZON HYBRID MODEL (DEVESH) –

The “hybrid model” is when a brand or distributor chooses to use the two sales models on Amazon. Rather
than positioning itself as a Seller or Vendor, the brand exploits both, combining retail and marketplace. In
other words, depending on the products, the brand will supply some to Amazon, who will resell them as a
distributor but will also sell certain products itself on Amazon, at the price it wants.

The model is designed for vendors who want to acquire a high degree of flexibility based on their
product references and have the skills to devote more resources and time to Amazon in order to get the
most out of it.

Q3.
CUSTOMER DELIGHT (ASHUTOSH) – Customer delight is surprising a customer by exceeding their
expectations and thus creating a positive emotional reaction. This emotional reaction leads to word of
mouth. Customer delight directly affects sales and profitability of a company as it helps to distinguish the
company and its products and services from the competition.

HOW TO PROVIDE CUSTOMER DELIGHT –

Providing Help Almost Instantly –
Businesses can align your customer’s expectations with reality by deploying new technology to provide real
time support to your customers. Great customer experience can be achieved by using live chat software and
live engagement tools that boost customer satisfaction rates.
*Live chat instantly connects with your customers and assists them in real time.

Whether they’re in a brick-and-mortar store or visiting an online SaaS business, customers want to feel like if
they need help, they can get it immediately. Your staffers or reps don’t necessarily need to approach the
customer first, but they do need to be accessible to resolve small, one-time issues. For an online business,
this may mean adding a live chat function to the website, with either an AI chatbot or a human on the other
side.

Publishing Company Contact Information –

Customers should be able to get in contact with you easily. Even more importantly, they should have several
avenues for reaching you, such as email, phone, social, and chat. This is different from the previous point in
that it involves bigger issues or more than one-time questions. If a customer is reaching out directly to your
team, they likely require extended help and support.

Giving Each Customer a Personalized Experience –

We can’t overstate the importance of personalizing the experience for each customer. Addressing them by
their names in each email, sending offers that solves for their specific pain points, and pitching products to
them that they actually need — these seemingly small gestures make customers feel like you’re trying to
help them, not just sell to them. You can start by providing a personalized experience through your website.

Giving Loyal Customers Pre-ferential (SPECIAL) Treatment –

Loyal customers might not expect much. They likely enjoy the products you sell and/or the experience you
offer, and that’s why they’re staying. But you can easily surpass expectations — and generate customer
delight — by offering them perks, discount codes, and long-term benefits. A strong customer loyalty
program will make your customers feel appreciated while securing their future business.

HOW AMAZON PROVIDE CUSTOMER DELIGHT (ITIKSHA) –

Build Awesome Product Listings –
Amazon sell bundles or private label items, there's a strong likelihood that control the product detail page
content. Amazon try to set unreasonable expectations. Customers are delighted by items that exceed
expectations - not those that fail to live up to them. Accurate descriptions matter which amazon always try
to do.

Create a Flawless Supply Chain –

Building a flawless supply chain helps minimize friction and sets yourself up to delight shoppers with on-time
delivery. That being said, one of the best ways to delight and surprise customers is an earlier than expected
arrival, so amazon always aim for this. They try to deliver product a day before or two.

Communicate, Communicate, Communicate –

Amazon requires sellers to acknowledge customer inquiries within a 24-hour period. In addition, sellers are
asked to publish support phone numbers and email addresses on their Amazon Help pages. Amazon wants
sellers to be highly responsive and accessible.

Make Returns Easy Peasy –

Not everything goes perfectly, which is why returns and refunds are part of everyday life for Amazon sellers.
Returns and refunds or gift voucher/cashback type of thing represent a great opportunity to show customer
delight by amazon.
TOPIC