Demonstration of the Importance of the Relationship of Logistics to Marketing: Incorporating Supply Chain Capabilities into Marketing Efforts

Marketing and Supply Chain each have their own functional responsibilities within a company. Fundamentally, they also should have a relationship with each other, as the supply chain connects to marketing's "place." Supply chain provides the goods to meet the marketing demand. If this relationship is enhanced beyond the basic, however, this can contribute to revenue opportunities. If the supply chain provides enhanced services that customers can utilize, and if this is inserted into the marketing message to customers, then this can lead to increased customer acquisition and likely retention. Many companies neglect to highlight this enhanced service aspect in their promotion activities, and thus are missing an opportunity for customer preference and potentially revenue growth. This paper portrays an example of how the marketing message (at a major retailer) was redesigned to incorporate the promotion of a customer-oriented supply chain service, and provides evidence of the subsequent growth that occurred.