Technology in Marketing Channels: Present and Future Drivers of Innovation

The paper analyses the contribution of technological innovations to improve the relations and interactions among all members of marketing channels and those with the end consumer. The analysis focuses on marketing channel as a whole, aiming at providing a conceptual framework for future investigations and insights that can be conducted to capture the extent and effects of the changes in technology. The technological perspective of innovation is analyzed by taking into account all types of channels, not just those at the retail distribution level. This perspective can be divided into an area of innovation in vertical relationships between channel members and an area of innovation in relationships with final demand. The main fronts of innovation in vertical relations between firms are: logistics, the joint management of supplying activities, and those joint activities with a high level of integration among partners, such as Vendor Managed Category Management. As regard to relationships with final demand main innovation fields are: checkout technologies, electronic and mobile payments, distance and on-line selling, and self-service technologies.