B. CUC International Direct marketing powerhouse phone-based shopping club. Customers access thru a toll-free number, a computer online service, or thru the Web. Web on-line members generate higher renewal rates, higher usage rates, lower operating costs. Revenues derived from membership fees. CUC is an info intermediary that reduces a consumer s search cost less time needed for searching thru catalogs.
Business model is based on transactions that depend on impulse purchasing behavior.
8.3 Mercantile Models from the Consumer s Perspective Electronic commerce must develop a mercantile model to formalize interaction between consumers and merchants, which -specifies the sequence of activities a shopper takes in purchasing a product or service. A. Distinct Phases of a Consumer Mercantile Model 1. Prepurchase preparation phase search and discovery for a set of products capable of meeting customer requirements and product selection from the smaller set of products based on attribute comparison. Postpurchase interaction phase customer service and support to address customer complaints, product returns, and product defects. Most online services are geared toward this type of shopping.