Based on the analysis of trade promotion and motivation activities targeted to various types of channel members by suppliers in 14 industries between 1990 and 2010, this paper aims to draw a picture of the evolution of trade promotion practice. We find that “loyalty” promotions, i.e. loyalty schemes and clubs, that have literally flourished in consumer markets, have been adopted in B2B contexts. This has the potential for aligning supplier and distributor objectives and improve channel performance. In fact, non-price channel promotions such as the above act on attitudes, not only on behaviour, differently from price incentives that literature has found to determine mere short term compliance. Promotional strategies that are found evolving in time towards a loyalty approach can probably be more effective in aligning supplier and reseller goals. We also find that loyalty programs in channel relationships can act as “frameworks” to provide and engage channel partners with the most-advanced, highly promising opportunities offered by web 2.0 developments, such as prediction markets and group/social buying. We believe that our findings could be useful for management decision-making in the area of channel promotion investment, design and innovation, especially in times of recession, when more companies resort more frequently to trade promotion, when a sound return on channel investment is sought and when increased reseller power is pushing non-leading manufacturers to price reductions and price based channel management behaviours.

From Trade Loaders to Online Channel Partner Programs: How Trade Promotion Changed its Face from 1990 to 2010 / Ziliani, Cristina. - STAMPA. - volume 26/II:(2013), pp. 77-96. [10.1007/978-3-658-00717-1_4]

From Trade Loaders to Online Channel Partner Programs: How Trade Promotion Changed its Face from 1990 to 2010

ZILIANI, Cristina
2013-01-01

Abstract

Based on the analysis of trade promotion and motivation activities targeted to various types of channel members by suppliers in 14 industries between 1990 and 2010, this paper aims to draw a picture of the evolution of trade promotion practice. We find that “loyalty” promotions, i.e. loyalty schemes and clubs, that have literally flourished in consumer markets, have been adopted in B2B contexts. This has the potential for aligning supplier and distributor objectives and improve channel performance. In fact, non-price channel promotions such as the above act on attitudes, not only on behaviour, differently from price incentives that literature has found to determine mere short term compliance. Promotional strategies that are found evolving in time towards a loyalty approach can probably be more effective in aligning supplier and reseller goals. We also find that loyalty programs in channel relationships can act as “frameworks” to provide and engage channel partners with the most-advanced, highly promising opportunities offered by web 2.0 developments, such as prediction markets and group/social buying. We believe that our findings could be useful for management decision-making in the area of channel promotion investment, design and innovation, especially in times of recession, when more companies resort more frequently to trade promotion, when a sound return on channel investment is sought and when increased reseller power is pushing non-leading manufacturers to price reductions and price based channel management behaviours.
2013
978-365800717-1
From Trade Loaders to Online Channel Partner Programs: How Trade Promotion Changed its Face from 1990 to 2010 / Ziliani, Cristina. - STAMPA. - volume 26/II:(2013), pp. 77-96. [10.1007/978-3-658-00717-1_4]
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11381/2432904
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