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Rideau Artisanal Chandlery: Online, Offline or Bust?

Published 28 Aug 2017
Reference 6246
Topic Marketing
Region North America
Length 3 page(s)
Summary

Rideau Artisanal Chandlery (RAC) manufactures and sells a large range of artisanal candles through a variety of specialty retailers in Canada and parts of the United States. It has gained market leadership by constantly adding innovative scents to its product line. The recent addition of its own online store is causing conflicts within RAC between the head of the sales operation in charge of servicing RAC’s distributors and the head of RAC’s online operation. The lower prices charged by the online store are seen as a threat to the traditional channel, but the online store has shown rapid growth and yields higher margins.

Teaching objectives

The case provides a platform to discuss the challenges of integrating online and offline channels. Omnichannel retailing is supposed to be the future, but establishing a fully integrated mash-up of digital and physical experiences has proven to be a thorny problem for many companies. While the case takes the perspective of the manufacturer, retailers are facing the same issue. The case enables an instructor to: 1. Introduce a channel design framework 2. Highlight the need to look at omnichannels from the perspective of the different channel members 3. Discuss strategies to address the problems of "showrooming".

Keywords
  • Channel Strategy
  • Omnichannel Management
  • Marketing Strategy
  • Segmentation
  • Pricing
  • Q41617