If you were a retailer, you might have considerable overhead. For example, you might need to have a place to receive customers, present merchandise, store inventory, assemble purchased items, and package or ship these items. If, on the other hand, you are a professional shopping consultant, you do not need any of these capabilities. Instead, you only require a channel for prospective customers to reach you. For companies such as Amazon, the traditional retail functions listed above are being blended with the personal shopping services. Amazon learns your shopping and purchasing behaviors, suggests related products to buy, and even "remembers" your browsing history for the next time you visit them. Amazon has discovered that, while other marketing tactics might be beneficial, it is quite possible to be a successful service provider without incurring overhead such as renting a space for stock.

For this week's assignment, you research how new technologies are influencing current marketing strategies. You examine current campaigns and identify emerging trends using this week's resources, your research, and your own personal and professional experience.

Present the following, drawing on your own personal and professional experience if possible:

1. A description of three organizations and/or companies you identified in your research that, in your experience, effectively integrate innovative technologies into their prospective marketing strategies, and explain why these innovative technologies are effective
2. An explanation of how these innovative technologies are affecting the market share of each of the companies you identified
3. An explanation of how these technologies are changing the way consumers evaluate the company's offerings and the purchase decision