The goverment wants ikea to track where the wood they use for furniture comes from. Ikea says it is unrealistic and keeping track of everything would be impossible and expensive.

apple will dominate the phone market with the help of walmart, this means more reach, more affordable phones targeted to young people.

companies like ZARA and IKEA have taken advantage of their supply chain to have their competitive advantage. ZARA is able to get products to the market while they are trendy even though they cost more to produce, they sell more. IKEA can save money on unassembled furniture when transporting it and this savings are pass to the end consumers.

before the new system, toyota could only communicate electronically with dealers about orders on car parts “only”, but everything else was communicated by fax, phone, etc. The new system will allow a faster communication and better communication so car dealers can spend more time “SELLING” and not too much communicating. This can help improve distribution between these two distribution channels.

nitendo lets users create their own sites, the video showed us pricing, content which is product oriented. nintendo gives tutorial with clear pictures. theres a what new section which has words oriented information. community in this site creates relationship between company and cosumers and the ability to see reviews. Theare different country sites for customization.  theres is customer service assistance on the site for repairs.

we saw a xbox 360 which has a consumer friendly site with lots of information. theres games tabs, support, product. the site is fast and simplethe game section has overview. they use pictures to create a community feeling. there’s news on new games and theres info on other xbox owners. theres a lot of forums to delivered the xbox experience. on the customization part you can upload your bio info and communicate with others worldwide. there are links to other sites and other games sites.

other presentations were bestbuy.com, it has a very attractive icon with yellow and blue that catches attention. theres a chance to see the purchasing history and get involved in a rewards program. website is organize and easy to navigate for people with short amount of time. theres menu on top and different categories that helps users  decide and find what they need. context: gives a familiar and consistent color. the only problem is flash that may not be conviente or some computers. people can open their account and pay their best buy credit card. they have a variety of products so its like a one stop site. community: users can join and express their feelings about bestbuy users can link products and expand the social network. members get discounts and points for dollars spent. communication: users can talk users to users and feedbacks from other users. they have a video podcasts that changes weekly with news. users can check their local stores to see if they have products availbale in stock.