Matching Products and Services, Essay Example

Providing matching goods and services provide a number of benefits to the organization. First of all, it increases customer loyalty because it is convenient for customers to get both goods and services under the same roof. It also improves the customers’ experience because when firm offers both matching goods and services, the quality is higher. There is a better integration between the products and the services because they are built under the same roof. A really good example of an organization following this strategy is Apple that maintains tight control over both the goods and the related services to maximize customers’ experience. It is no surprise that Apple’s retails stores are highly profitable (Retail Business News, 2007) because Apple understands its products better than others and ensure that the service provided by the retail stores also exceeds customer expectations. Similarly, the company offers matching services for most of its products such as songs for iPod and apps for iPhone and iPad.

Offering matching goods and services also influences the organizational structure in a position manner. First of all, it promotes learning and ‘knowledge’ culture which means the employees are encouraged to acquire experience in difference areas so that they better understand how the overall organization operates. Zappos is a leading online show retailer but all employees are required to gain experience in customer service (Frei, Ely, & Winig, 2009) because customer service is one of the company’s core competencies. Another benefit to organizational structure is that it is built around providing total experience to customers and there is strong working relationship among the employees.

References

Frei, F. X., Ely, R. J., & Winig, L. (2009). Zappos.com 2009: Clothing, Customer Service, and Company Culture. Harvard Business School.

Retail Business News. (2007, December 23). Apple Retail Stores: the 9-success factors. Retrieved May 8, 2012, from http://retailbusinessnews.wordpress.com/2007/12/23/apple-retail-stores-the-9-success-factors/