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IFTM students visit shop of boutique jewellery brand to deepen their knowledge of marketing and distribution channels

中文摘要 / Summary in Chinese

A group of Year 2 students from the English-language stream of IFTM’s Retail and Marketing Management Bachelor’s Degree Programme recently visited the dedicated retail outlet of local jewellery brand Cloé Jewelry & Art at C-Shop, in downtown Macao. The field trip was organised as part of the course on marketing channels and distribution, led by Lecturer Ms. Belina Lei.

The visit took place on 11 March, with the main goal being for participants to understand the marketing channels and distribution systems used by different types of businesses. To that end, Ms. Lei put the students into groups. Each group was given the task of comparing Cloé Jewelry & Art – as an example of a private brand in a specialty jewellery store – with the jewellery retail area of the New Yaohan department store, across the road from C-Shop.

According to the students’ research, Cloé Jewelry & Art stood out in terms of being an original brand from Macao, and one that offered customised jewellery pieces, with limited production runs, and sales under direct supervision of the firm’s marketing department. As well as getting its products stocked in traditional bricks-and-mortar shops, Cloé Jewelry & Art made use of online channels for sales. It did this by resorting to social media. The firm had also developed partnerships with local companies operating in fields such as entertainment, telecommunications, and finance, said the students.

In contrast, the students noted that the New Yaohan department store mostly relied on a single offline distribution channel, presenting off-the-shelf products from various brands under a consignment sales model. Although it also presented the option of online sales, this channel at New Yaohan was not integrated with offline sales, the undergraduates concluded.

They highlighted the personalised after-sales service available at Cloé Jewelry & Art, including free resizing services for up to 12 months for pieces of jewellery such as rings. The business also offered free-of-charge cleaning and inspection services for products it sold, they added.

IFTM’s course on marketing channels and distribution aims to help students understand how to establish a distribution system that allows customers to gain access to and purchase a product effectively and efficiently. Setting up such a system involves many decisions, including assessing the best distribution channels for getting products to customers, determining whether a reseller network is needed, arranging a reliable ordering system, and creating a delivery system for transporting the product to customers.

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