Distribution, procurement and sales are powerful tools for businesses to obtain a sustainable competitive advantage. Distribution can help companies find some solutions for many challenges in producing better or cheaper products and reaching customers in highly competitive environments (Heidelberger, 2009). Almost all buying decisions include factors such as delivery and handling, marginal benefit, and price fluctuations. Combining existing product, price and brand advantages with investment in channel programs and technology is a proven strategy for establishing success with distribution. Mobile procurement has gradually become more and more important in our era. This also brings entrepreneurs new opportunities to reach customers especially in banking and press businesses but these sectors should not be forgotten that these are the easiest sectors to apply this kind of distribution. These sectors’ implementations mostly depend on communications; on the other hand, this doesn’t mean that other sectors could not employ these systems. Notably, the retail sector should be considered with all its distinctions. On the other hand, mobile sales systems are also very promising. However, currently mobile distribution is explained in two distinctive aspects. One of them is based on the distribution of products and services side and the other one is distribution of the contents side which is very frequently used in Bluetooth and LBS systems in mobile marketing. In this chapter, mobile distribution and sales are generally examined. LBS applications and Bluetooth marketing are taken in to account as their content delivery convenience and disparity.
TopMobile Sales
Mobile sales are frequently not in usage in our current situation. These will be the new systems for customers and purchasers. When these systems are realized, facilitating business systems give several opportunities to customers they will consider important for businesses. However, such sales can be conducted in parallel to a call/data center system in an organization facilitating changes of mobile instruments incoming to the market and easily accepted within these systems. Within call/data center based sales and order follow up applications, the product is ordered through a call center representative, IVR and SMS channels, and then the order is routed to mobile distribution vehicles for fulfillment. Applications can be made from distribution vehicles and they support hot sales. So, the customer communicates with the order line via mobile devices of the delivery staff and accelerates order and delivery. Also, order automation and a CRM database can be created for such a structure. Mobile devices communicate with the center and receive delivery orders via GPRS and update the invoice data with the center.
Similar call-center based mobile sales applications are developing in the entire world. At present, many companies benefit from call centers for customer communication and complaint management as an out source. The movement of order automation to this source is also possible. As the ordering of products by people via various media and their home deliveries have shifted outside of the core businesses of companies, the system has appeared as an ideal solution for increasing both the efficiency and managing of costs. Mobile-sales related issues can be considered from three basic points:
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Developing multi-product, campaign-supported and distribution-optimized applications
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Developing a hot sales and order follow up application on mobile industrial devices
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Enabling more effective work of each unit in their own areas of expertise through modular activities
The advantages of mobile sales can be listed as follows:
While creating these kinds of systems, businesses prefer some modular systems to face the new situation and understand the systems better. The system cost, quality, access and support will also be another concern to businesses. The main decisions would go around with these circumstances. Therefore, modular systems should be evaluated by the ordering, distributing and managing of the transaction and financial dimensions.
The most correct time to deliver a marketing message is the time when the consumer is ready to buy. Therefore, determination of location presents very important opportunities to marketers. Via mobile phone, it is possible to know where the consumer is and to reach the label information via service providers. With this method, consumers can be reached at the shopping center that is when they are more ready to buy, and messages can also be delivered (Gökmenoğlu, 2008).
TopMobile Procurement
The issue of mobile procurement comes forth further with the advancement of technology and development of location-based service systems. According to Yamamoto and Karaman (2007), the next step after e-procurement will be m-procurement. Mobile technologies are currently in the stage of development and the use of these technologies is not up to capacity; however, many products mix in with each other and turn into devices that enable m-procurement. The most important ones among them are, of course, mobile phones and PDAs. In order to maintain m-procurement, financial, technological, legal and communicative infrastructures are required to be established.