Dexit

Individual Case Analysis: Dexit – A Marketing Opportunity

Amy Gusfa

MKT 515

University of Michigan – Dearborn

February 26, 2009

Situation Analysis

Nature of Demand

Since no exact product of its kind exists, product information & current levels of awareness are fairly low, even though other forms of e-cash were unsuccessfully introduced previously. A consumer’s knowledge & understanding of Dexit’s product relies on an effective marketing campaign, as well as obtaining information online & over the phone; cash, credit & debit-card transactions are a consumer’s main frames of reference.

The location of product category decision will be made at home or work. Although the Dexit readers cost a nominal fee - $2-3 ea - an interested consumer is really buying the service, not the product. The purchasing decision will be made by adults seeking convenience either for themselves or for their children or business people wishing to more efficiently track small transactions. The decision is a group decision, as it changes how small transactions are made.

The decision process is frequent. The 2003 estimate for the number of small transactions (~$4.50 ea) totaled 60 billion. If a consumer’s reader held say $25 and each transaction averaged $5, the consumer would use the card 5 times before deciding whether or not to re-load it. On the one hand, the risk or uncertainty of negative purchase outcome is low; the consumer has the option to “run out” the reader and not re-fill. However should the service not be widely accepted by merchants or end abruptly, the consumer is at risk of losing the balance contained on the reader. The decision to utilize the service is functional. The duration of the service itself would be durable, similar to a credit or debit card. However the goods purchased with the reader, due to their low value, would most likely be non-durable.

The market can be broken down into several homogenous groups with respect to “what they want” and...