International Business Essay: Online Retailing and Brand Management

This essay delves into the dynamic world of online retailing, focusing on the transformation of brick and mortar services in the digital age. It explores the concept of retailers, highlighting the shift towards online platforms and the reasons driving this transition, such as enhanced reputation, wider availability, and expanded customer base. The essay examines the strategic approaches adopted by retailers when going online, including digital marketing and website development. Furthermore, it analyzes brand management theories and attributes, providing a comprehensive understanding of how businesses can effectively manage their brands in the online sphere. The essay concludes with a case study and offers valuable insights into the challenges and opportunities faced by businesses in the evolving retail landscape, making it a valuable resource for students studying business and marketing.

BRICK AND MORTAR
SERVICES ESSAY

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
CONCEPT OF RETAILER.............................................................................................................3
REASONS TO CHOOSE ONLINE RETAILING..........................................................................4
APPROACHES MADE BY RETAILERS UPON GOING ONLINE............................................6
BRAND MANAGEMENT THEORY AND ATTRIBUTIONS....................................................7
CASE STUDY.................................................................................................................................8
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................1

INTRODUCTION
Retailing is one of those trade that is most seen everywhere that is particularly focused upon the
aspects that are related to trading goods of the kind that are a mere important to the community
and a set of traits. Retailers are of different categories and those that deals with the domestic ones
as well as the ones that are dealing with groceries are said to be more in number (Bonetti and
et.al, 2018). The online retailing is said to be one of the most astonishing fact that every retailer
in this present marketing world is more concerned about. There are small to major aspects that
are related to the online trading and retailing. The entire report deals with the prospects of
retailing and that with regards to online supply and purchasing. The Brick and Mortar concept is
being explained in the report.
CONCEPT OF RETAILER
Brick and mortar retailers are said to be one of the most emerging retailers since ages. The most
traditional type of retailing service where the customer will approach the retailer physically and
will buy the product by a thorough examination of a particular product that the consumer would
want to willingly buy is only possible in the brick and mortar concept (Nguyen and et.al, 2018).
All the brick and mortar services are not more profitable yet they rely upon the daily wages that
are incorporated by the customers upon their purchasing. The traditional method of selling goods
physically is practiced and the online trading is gradually through a step-by-step process is
appealing in this brick-and-mortar businesses. There are many retailers all around the globe
which are operating in all the possible ways. The brick and mortar services is mostly available in
the remote areas where people do not usually rely upon the online shopping once. With the
increasing Technology all the retailers around the globe are incorporating the technological
aspects and are going online for selling their goods (Wagner and et.al, 2020). Because of this
emerging technology that seems to be a most backdrop in the brick-and-mortar businesses since
they only operate physically. Every point of criteria that is followed by the brick and mortar
businesses is said to be seamlessly helpful at there are people who cannot wander all about in
order to just purchase goods from the so-called businesses. There are few consumers who do not
rely upon the online modes of transaction. Few people consider the online modes of transaction
to be the fraud bases and therefore they only feel like going to the store and manually pick up an
item and thoroughly and handset then they will go for the purchasing full stops for people of this
kind the brick and mortar businesses will provide the entire entity where they can go in person

and buy the product. Yet in the emerging world the brick and mortar services is slowly growing
by adapting to the technology and trying to rapidly get into the online basis. There are many
challenges that are associated when a particular retailer all by itself is coming into the online
selling criteria. The usual brick-and-mortar services that are seen on a daily basis will fall under
the categories of groceries and small items of daily need that are mostly incorporated by the
consumers when they adjust overlapping the stores (Ibrahim and Wang, 2019). Profitability is
said to be a major aspect of this brick and mortar services since there will not be much
interpretation of the consumers on a daily basis. For example, considering the recent pandemic
where people are not allowed to go out and the brick and mortar services are the ones that get
affected by the profitability conditions. There will not be mere sales that can be obtained during
pandemics where they have nothing left but to just shut down the stores. These pandemics are a
mere bane to the companies where they can move ahead with the online trading and selling the
items that will be a major benefit to them upon making purchases by the consumers online. there
are many companies that are already making success in this online selling and trading purposes.
For example, the major retailer that is flourishing in this aspect is Amazon. Started off as a petite
dynamite it got reputed into many countries globally by the process of online shopping that it has
attained. The brick and mortar services planning strategy is such that they have their own mark
of being the best offline trading yet this online purpose will have to be incorporated although
there are many challenges that are associated upon providing a strategic environment that will
help them exceed their limitations (Nguyen and et.al, 2019).
REASONS TO CHOOSE ONLINE RETAILING
Reputation:
Brick and mortar type of retailers are said to be amazingly awesome kind of retailing services
that will offer the traditional method of buying the goods upon going physically. Yet there are
things that are to be improved by the company in order to reach the standard of reputation. When
a company is operating online then the reputation of the company is set to reach a limit that is
above the stipulated one. Every retailer whether big or small will aim towards reaching the crest
by going more in two people. Therefore, the main reason for extending online services is to
maintain the pace with number of crowd and to give services to more people in the remote areas.
This will in return contribute to the growth of the company which will also help in maintaining
the reputation of the company.

Availability
The brick-and-mortar kinds of retailers are set to be one of the most probable kind of retailers
which work from 9 to 5 basis. Sometimes there are cases when they might extend to long hours
yet physically, they cannot be available for a longer duration of time than the usual. The major
reason why the brick and mortar services choose the online modes of communication where they
can sell their products to more number of customers is the fact that they cannot trade for a longer
duration of time physically. Although there is a limit of extending their duration of working
hours yet the workforce in the particular company will not operate upon long durations of work.
Many retailers all around the world are choosing online services for this reason where they can
trade for a long duration.
Customer base
Customers are said to be the root cause of all the retailers to flourish. The brick and mortar
services are exploring more number of customers on a daily basis where the can meet and
explain the product specifications manually. In this particular method number of customers can
be drawn by the way they interact with each of them. This will fulfil the need of attending more
number of customers but at an instance of you might not be able to visit distort due to
pandemics. Online trading is where immense population will fall upon a product and its
specification and therefore the amount of sales and reviews for their particular product will
therefore be gained. This reputation that is attained online is merely enough for a good cause
where the customer base that is associated with the particular retailer upon expanding online
basis will be retained. There are many tools online through which one can depict what the store
is offering to the customers. In this method by the number of views that are mentioned in the
concerned website or browser the retailer can trace the number of customers that are visiting
their portal and making purchases. This will indirectly impact the growth of the company in a
more positive prospect where the retailer can attain the fame of being the best.
Cost effective
While operating offline there are certain issues that are related to the consumption as well as the
wastage of resources. For an operation of a store there are certain it is that are associated with the
ongoing circumstances in the store. The power supply as well as the workforce are set to be cost-
effective where the retailer will have to pay for. The money that is invested upon a particular
retailer is said to be a more of wastage where there are a lot of allowances that were granted for

few resources which are mandatory to be maintained. The maintenance charges are said to be
minimised in an online trading therefore the brick and mortar type of retailers are said to be
choosing the path of going online up on saving few of its resources that can contribute in
creating wonders letter on. The money that is saved upon this purpose by cutting the way stages
can be useful and developing and attaining profits. This is said to be a valuable idea that is
usually followed by many retailers all around for example Amazon which is operating online and
with it strategies it is in the most favourable online retailers in the present marketing scenario.
For the purpose of avoiding wastage as many retailers have choosing this path.
Internet support
The internet nowadays is such that it is contributing its part towards extending support to all the
business that are operating online. The internet speed is set to be increase at a very stressed
where people can utilise this opportunity of trading online. The browsers are said to be really
active where people cannot face any issue on an instance and have a good sense of online
shopping. For this purpose many retailers have choosing the internet as one of the most common
issue that can be in a positive manner impact the growth of the company.
Pandemics
There are different uncertainty that are taking place around the world. Every issue that is
evolving around the world is said to be impacting the retailing sector. If the retailer is operating
offline then there is a more chance of getting affected by the so called disturbances that are
occurring around the world. Due to these disturbances there seems to be a loss in the profits that
are generated earlier. When trading online, the pandemics can be beaten with that can come back
as a good profitable situation to the retailers. For this purpose, many brick and mortar retailers
are said to be choosing the online method of trading.
APPROACHES MADE BY RETAILERS UPON GOING ONLINE
Digital marketing
Digital marketing is considered to be one of the greatest tool that is incorporated by different
retailers all around the globe in order to meet the expectations of the customers. Digital
marketing will help the retailers in order to defend their products and services online by the
usage of technology. There are different people all around the world that are well versed of
technology and in order to capture their part in the online trading, the digital marketing will take
the company to the nook and corner where they can aim for more number of people and get more

views. The brick and motor services upon going online can explore the world of reaching people
and taking their services into number of population.
Websites
Every organisation weather small or big is aiming to build a very conscious website that will
depict its services online. There are many people that are more towards watching the website
before having been shopping with the retailers. The brick and motor retailers upon expanding
into the online services, they start building their website and give their contact and location to
more number of people that are visiting their website. It serves as a mapping partner and many
people can get to know about the retailers.
BRAND MANAGEMENT THEORY AND ATTRIBUTIONS
Brand is considered to be one of the major point of considerations in today's marketing scenario.
Branding is defined as one of the major objective of every retailer where they can attend the
name and fame of being the best retailers. People crave for getting the best branded items sofa
which can only be achieved by maintaining the quality and quantity brand management is said to
be a challenge that is edited by many companies when extended online (Lukiyanchuk and et.al,
2020). Every small company to a very big company are expanding their services online which is
to make sure that they reach more number of people at an instance. Upon maintaining a
particular brand there can be more attribution towards attaining more population. For example,
Tesco and Argos are extending their services online. Tesco being the most relevant brand and
which has attained a name of being the best quality product maker it will be more chosen by
many people other than Argos. Since Tesco is said to be one of the best grocery retailing service
in the united kingdom it has attained the fame because of the brand that the name Tesco carries.
Argos retailer yet a service still that is not known to many is trying to attain the name of being
the best upon extending online. People will mostly recognise Tesco based on the brand it has
created. The branding and the brand management of particular retailers will bring value to the
company upon extending online. Before expanding online the services are only limited to a
community where few people can identify and some people may not know the existence of the
retailer. They will have to pull there approaches upon extending their brand online such that
more number of people will get to know. Some attributions that are made to brand are as follows:
Maintaining relevance

People will go for more purchases when the items are made relevant and people can personally
approach a particular product upon the relevance it has carried upon. The online shopping mainly
carries a filter which will identify the relevance of a particular item (Zhang and et.al, 2019). The
attribution that is attained to the relevance of a particular product will help more number of
consumers to go for it. The company upon extending online will have to develop the feature of
adding their relevant product criteria that will bring good amount of consumers. For example, the
Marks and Spencers which is known for its brand is set to depict its products based on the
relevant criteria where most of the people can go for it. relevance is an identity of brand that is
created by the retailing service in order to flourish.
Maintaining consistency
Consistency is the component that is to be adhered by all the companies and all the retailers that
are expanding online. Beginning with a small trade is not the thing that is to be considered.
Where the company is upon few years of trading is what it matters. This growth is termed to be
the profitability aspect of the retailers that have chosen a path that is less travelled (Van
Kerrebroeck and et.al, 2017). This amount of reputation that has attained by the company is said
to be the consistency it and this will determine the consistent levels which are followed by the
company upon facing the atrocities and competing with each other in the marketing race. It is not
until when the retailer maintains a proper consistency of offering the services to the customers
they will stand as an epitome of being the best. For example, Amazon being one of the retailers
which it started as a small e- book stores has attained the name of being the best and there is
every product that is available. This consistency that amazon company maintenance is said to be
one of the most deserving and can be followed by many retailers all around.
CASE STUDY
Amazon retailer
Amazon retailing services is almost known to everybody around the nook and corner of the
globe. the Amazon retailer started as one of the smallest Bookstore which has provided many
books to people and later it has incorporated the ideas of developing and expanding its services
upon different products and therefore it started off with amazon.com. The website is developed
in such a way that the online shopping is the only mode that has attained the company a good
Fame in the recent years. The amazon's attribution towards brand management is certainly have
to be followed by many retailers that are operating brick-and-mortar services. The services will

have to follow the path of consistency in order to maintain the profitability standards over a long
run. Amazon services are categorised into many kinds based on the necessity and the need of the
consumer. Every attribute that is well defined by the retailer made it one of the most challenging
bill retailer of the world.
Marks and Spencers
The company marks and Spencers is best retailers around the globe for supplying the branded
clothing to its consumers. The retailer is incorporated into offering different services that will
contribute good quality as well as the service to its customers. Marks and Spencer is operating in
almost all the countries around the globe and it is said to be one of the most consistent retailer of
all times. Started off as a small conception where it never thought of extending it service around
the globe yet with its strategies of brand management and the services it has offered to its
customers upon expanding online has served the purpose of attaining a good reputation for the
company. Marks and Spencers identified its positioning in the present retailing sector and that is
what the main component is upon expanding online. It is necessary to identify the position such
that the competition can be known and the company can attribute towards change based on the
amount of competition that is seen all around.
CONCLUSION
The report concludes upon explaining the variations and the atrocities that are to be faced by the
retailers and mainly the brick and mortar services that are operating in every country upon
expanding globally. The report concludes that there are a number of retailers all around the world
that are expanding online by maintaining different concepts. The report concludes upon
explaining the different reasons to choose while expanding the retailing service online which
include the reputation, availability, customer base, cost effective measures, internet support and
pandemics. Which are a major important criteria that is to be taken care of while expanding
online. The report has taken many examples in order to explain the different strategies of
branding that are adopted by companies in order to flourish. The report highlights the fact that
there will be different challenges that are faced by the brick and mortar services upon expanding

online because there seems to be a greater competition. Case study containing the two different
companies concepts will help to analyse the aspects and the prospect of their growth and how the
retailing sector will have to focus upon.

REFERENCES
Books and journals
Bonetti and et.al, 2018. Augmented reality and virtual reality in physical and online retailing: A
review, synthesis and research agenda. Augmented reality and virtual reality, pp.119-132.
Nguyen and et.al, 2018. Consumer behaviour and order fulfilment in online retailing: a
systematic review. International Journal of Management Reviews. 20(2). pp.255-276.
Wagner and et.al, 2020. Online retailing across e-channels and e-channel touchpoints: Empirical
studies of consumer behavior in the multichannel e-commerce environment. Journal of
Business Research. 107. pp.256-270.
Ibrahim and Wang, 2019. Decoding the sentiment dynamics of online retailing customers: Time
series analysis of social media. Computers in Human Behavior. 96. pp.32-45.
Ibrahim and Wang, 2019. A text analytics approach for online retailing service improvement:
Evidence from Twitter. Decision Support Systems. 121. pp.37-50.
Nguyen and et.al, 2019. What is the right delivery option for you? Consumer preferences for
delivery attributes in online retailing. Journal of Business Logistics. 40(4). pp.299-321.
Zhang and et.al, 2019. Order consolidation for the last-mile split delivery in online retailing.
Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review. 122. pp.309-327.
Lukiyanchuk and et.al, 2020. Development of online retailing logistics flows in a globalized
digital economy. Revista Inclusiones, pp.407-416.
Van Kerrebroeck and et.al, 2017. Touching the void: exploring consumer perspectives on touch-
enabling technologies in online retailing. International Journal of Retail & Distribution
Management.
Online
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