An Exploratory Study on Channel Equity of Electronic Goods

가전제품 소비자의 Channel Equity에 관한 탐색적 연구

Ⅰ. Introduction Retailers in the 21st century are being told that future retailers are those who can execute seamless multi-channel access. The reason is that retailers should be where shoppers want them, when they want them anytime, anywhere and in multiple formats. Multi-channel access is considered one of the top 10 trends of all business in the next decade (Patricia T. Warrington, et al., 2007) And most firms use both direct and indirect channels in their markets. Given this trend, we need to evaluate a channel equity more systematically than before as this issue is expected to get more attention to consumers as well as to brand managers. Consumers are becoming very much confused concerning the choice of place where they shop for durable goods as there are at least 6-7 retail options. On the other hand, manufacturers have to deal with category killers, their dealers network, Internet shopping malls, and other avenue of distribution channels and they hope their retail channel behave like extensions of their own companies. They would like their products to be foremost in the retailer's mind-the first to be proposed and effectively communicated to potential customers. To enable this hope to come reality, they should know each channel's advantages and disadvantages from consumer perspectives. In addition, customer satisfaction is the key determinant of retail customer loyalty. However, there are only a few researches regarding the effects of shopping satisfaction and perceptions on consumers' channel choices and channels. The purpose of this study was to assess Korean consumers' channel choice and satisfaction towards channels they prefer to use in the case of electronic goods shopping. Korean electronic goods retail market is one of good example of multi-channel shopping environments. As the Korea retail market has been undergoing significant structural changes since it had opened to global retailers in 1996, new formats such as hypermarkets, Internet shopping malls and category killers have arrived for the last decade. Korean electronic goods shoppers have seven major channels : (1)category killers (2) hypermarket (3) manufacturer dealer shop (4) Internet shopping malls (5) department store (6) TV home-shopping (7) speciality shopping arcade. Korean retail sector has been modernized with amazing speed for the last decade. Overall summary of major retail channels is as follows: Hypermarket has been number 1 retailer type in sales volume from 2003 ; non-store retailing has been number 2 from 2007 ; department store is now number 3 ; small scale category killers are growing rapidly in the area of electronics and office products in particular. We try to evaluate each channel's equity using a consumer survey. The survey was done by telephone interview with 1000 housewife who lives nationwide. Sampling was done according to 2005 national census and average interview time was 10 to 15 minutes. Ⅱ. Research Summary We have found that seven major retail channels compete with each other within Korean consumers' minds in terms of price and service. Each channel seem to have its unique selling points. Department stores were perceived as the best electronic goods shopping destinations due to after service. Internet shopping malls were perceived as the convenient channel owing to price checking. Category killers and hypermarkets were more attractive in both price merits and location conveniences. On the other hand, manufacturers dealer networks were pulling customers mainly by location and after service. Category killers and hypermarkets were most beloved retail channel for Korean consumers. However category killers compete mainly with department stores and shopping arcades while hypermarkets tend to compete with Internet and TV home shopping channels. Regarding channel satisfaction, the top 3 channels were service-driven retailers: department stores (4.27); dealer shop (4.21); and Internet shopping malls (4.21). Speciality shopping arcade(3.98) were the least satisfied channels among Korean consumers. Ⅲ. Implications We try to identify the whole picture of multi-channel retail shopping environments and its implications in the context of Korean electronic goods. From manufacturers' perspectives, multi-channel may cause channel conflicts. Furthermore, inter-channel competition draws much more attention as hypermarkets and category killers have grown rapidly in recent years. At the same time, from consumers' perspectives, 'buy where' is becoming an important buying decision as it would decide the level of shopping satisfaction. We need to develop the concept of 'channel equity' to manage multi-channel distribution effectively. Firms should measure and monitor their prime channel equity in regular basis to maximize their channel potentials. Prototype channel equity positioning map has been developed as follows. We expect more studies to develop the concept of 'channel equity' in the future.

본 연구는 가전제품 소매채널에 관한 소비자의 선호 및 이용행태를 조사하고 가전제품 구매 채널 현황과 소비자들의 점포선택과 만족도를 분석하여 소비자가 특정 채널에 대하여 가지고 있는 소위 channel equity에 대하여 탐색적으로 접근 하고자 한다. 분석결과 가전제품 멀티채널 쇼핑환경은 소비자로 하여금 채널별로 차별화된 구매 패턴과 쇼핑동기를 만들어 주고 있었다. 백화점이나 대리점은 품질의 우수성과 A/S 측면에서 우세하며 대형할인점, 양판점, TV홈쇼핑, 인터넷쇼핑몰, 전자제품 판매 상가는 가격적인 측면이 경쟁 우위로 조사되었다. 채널별 소비자 만족도에 있어서는 애프터서비스가 잘되고 있는 백화점이나 대리점 등이 만족도가 상대적으로 높은 소매 채널임을 알 수 있다. 채널 에퀴티의 구성요인은 가격 경쟁력과 비교구매, 이용편리성, A/S, 판매원의 전문성, 배송의 신속성, 제품 검색용이, 판매원의 친절성, 매장의 쾌적성, 교통 편리성 등을 들 수 있다. 백화점의 경우 거의 모든 요소에서 가장 높은 만족도를 가지고 있어 채널 에퀴티가 높게 평가되었다. 인터넷 쇼핑몰은 제품을 쉽게 검색할 수 있다는 점에서 우위에 있으며 TV홈쇼핑의 경우는 비교구매와 가격경쟁력에서 우위가 있음을 알 수 있었고 채널별로 채널 에퀴티를 구성하는 요인들의 상대적 비중은 매우 달랐다. 본 연구에서는 채널 만족도를 평가한 후 에퀴티 포트폴리오와 채널별 에퀴티 구성 결과를 제시하고 있으나 향후 채널 에퀴티의 개념과 관리 툴에 대한 본격적인 연구가 요망된다.