Marketing Plan

Jesica - Portion

The I-Cart program is unique in a number of ways in relation to the life cycle of products. The program is a service, not a tangible good, that allows Lowe’s making a part of its standard services for all buyers. Customers will agree to the new terms including giving their telephone number at check out, if they intend to continue using Lowe’s virtual, and in store market as a venue for conducting business. The I-Cart program is part of the new standard operating policies and procedures for Lowe’s vendors. This is an important factor when evaluating the life cycle of this service because it enters the market attached to another service already in its own life cycle. “How we see product life cycles depends on how broadly we define a product-market” (Perreault, Cannon, & McCarthy, 2009, p. 264, para. 2). Lowe’s exists in a product-market of it’s own, and web-hosted virtual market. If the I-Cart program offers an optional service users chose to pay for, it would be considered a separate product, in a submarket, with it’s own life cycle. This is only offered on line! The I-Cart program online is a service that allows customers to have their own shopping cart online that saves their video clips, products, and services. Then the customer can save their credit card information and address on their Lowe’s account and buy the products. However, as an adjustment to the package of services provided by Lowe’s of an established product idea, it enters the market in the current life cycle of Lowe’s distribution, the maturity stage. Market introduction and growth are all but by-passed, and the I-Cart program becomes a part of Lowe’s marketing strategy modifications to retain its loyal customers in the face of growing competition. According to Perreault, et al., “this type of product improvement can help extend the product life cycle” (2009, p. 270, para. 2).

Important factors to consider when evaluating how this program will affect the life cycle of...