Question

Online Retailers Set Up Shop in Newfangled Manhattan Mall Show fields is an interactive market where consumers can shop for brands that previously only and sold products online Customers tried out a bed at Show field, a new pop-up mall in the Norto con of Mshaman. PHOTO: JOHN TAGGART FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL Bume Rider Feb 5.2014 10:30 am ET The first thing I did when visiting Showfields, the new, four-story, self-proclaimed "Most Interesting Store in the World," in Manhattan was try a new toothbrush. A sales rep selling electric toothbrush kits for dental care startup Quip donned plastic gloves, squirted paste onto a new brush head and waited patiently as I buzzed the device around in my mouth until its two-minute timer went off. "How does it feel?" she asked. "It feels like I brushed my teeth," I said. Cruising Showfields' zigzag corridor, I also tried a rowing machine, sampled a face cream, voted on scents for a coffee-based body scrub and dozed under a 25-pound compression blanket meant to

Answer 1

1)

In my opinion, Showfield is a great opportunity not only for the sellers but also to the customers. From the given case I learnt that the store give real time experience of the products and services offered as Mr. Grillo referred that it is place where customer gets to experience the product. Now a days where everything is turning electronic and most of us do not have the time to go to shopping in the real world, we prefer online shopping where we might not get to know the real description of the product. In this context this store has a major role to play from sellers' and customers' point of view. And I would definitely visit the Showfields' store to get an experience about the products at least which are not available for display in the real world.

2)

One of the most basic feature of marketing the product is to attract the customers. Many studies say that marketing in particular is the one factor that majorly drives customers towards the product. Particularly, while an innovative product is launched into the market, many customers will not have the knowledge about the product and may not be willing to buy the product. Marketing the product in real time like in this case, giving real time experience and interaction with the sale personnel might give in-depth information and knowledge about the product which increases the customer's confidence in spending for the product. As a startup, Quip's primary objective must be to attract customers towards its product. When its objective became clear, spending amount to attract customers might have become less priority. Also, the store provides the information about the customer's facial expressions and etc., to their marketing, this information can be used for future references in making changes in the product, etc.

3)

It is mentioned in the case that Melissa Gonzalez said that the Showfields is not the first agency that tried this strategy. She later on mentioned that shopping malls also try to fill their vacant spaces by attracting the sellers on similar basis. But these shopping malls does not offer the provisions Showfields offer to its sellers like providing different information regarding customers, training and providing sale representatives, etc. Also, the store's social media hype is also mentioned in the case unlike those of shopping malls' which also create deemed free publicity for the sellers in the store. Therefore, I consider Showfields as a new entry. Although its strategy seem like that of shopping malls', it reflects so much more than the basic filling of vacancies.

4)

By the same above reasons, I deem Showfields to be a first mover. Its strategy might become difficult for any new entrants to copy because of many reasons like finding a place to infrastructure all facilities, attracting sellers to take up office spaces, etc. This takes a lot of time, which gives Showfields to upgrade its activities into much more sophistication, assuming Showfields' management does it operations in the right way. It always will have most probability to have an advantage over others by having good relationship with sellers and customers, publicity, etc.