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Starbucks Blazes New Trails With Coffee Delivery Service

Starbucks recently announced they will be offering delivery services for their food and beverage items in select locations. To date, details about where products can be delivered, its costs, and how it is going to function have been withheld. Experts are confused as to how any company could offer low cost personalized differences. They do seem to agree that if it works Starbucks will be blazing some new trails in logistics that will be adopted by others. I congratulate Starbucks on creating buzz in the market because there will be a lot of companies watching how they are effectively going to do this on low value purchases.   The media is ablaze about the development and its implications on e-commerce. Uniquely Starbucks is taking sales and delivery down to a micro level not yet seen on a large scale.  Starbucks is trend setting by not only offering deliveries, but also providing pre-order cellphone applications that customers can pick up later. No one wants to wait in a

Managing Distribution Networks

A distribution channel can be defined as, “an organized network (system) of agencies and insti­tutions which, in combination, perform all the functions required to link produc­ers with end customers to accomplish the marketing task” (American Marketing Association, 2013).  The definition takes into account numerous contributors to the overall success of moving products into customers hands. Distribution channels are an important component of a successful business and marketing campaigns. Where demand is created the product must eventually be delivered. Even online businesses are not immune to taking the order and then delivering the products to the purchaser. For small batch production the use of existing distribution channels may be best (i.e. Fed Ex or UPS) but when large quantities of products are sold a much larger systems may need to be developed (i.e. Wal-Mart’s Commercial Truck Fleet). Each distribution system should be evaluated for its ability to provide timely del