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Abstract
Outlines the adaptation process in the distribution channel structure of the retail 留学生论文代写banking sector as a consequence of the introduction of electronic channels, such as telephone banking, PC banking and Internet banking. Based on responses from 42 retail banks in Denmark, their distribution channel strategies are described and their relation to selected Marketing mix elements is examined. Most Danish retail banks attach decisive importance to offering a customer-friendly PC bank service, whereas fewer of them attach the same importance to telephone, Internet and branch banking. A multiple channel strategy combining several channels is the most popular.

Article Type:
Research paper

Keyword(s): Banking; Channel management; Communication technology; Denmark; Distribution channels; Marketing mix.

Introduction
Owing to deregulation, new technology and changing consumer behaviour, the competition in the banking sector is getting more fierce. In the Danish banking sector the intensified competition has recently resulted in a number of banks launching non-bank financial services through their branches as well as insurance companies and other financial companies opening banks. The battle for the customers is, however, also fought through new electronic distribution channels. Prendergast and Marr (1994) reviewed the literature relating to the future of bank branches and gathered expert opinions on New Zealand’s bank branches in the next decade. The experts predicted a reduction in the branch network from 1,500 in 1994, to 1,000 a few years past the year 2000. Four forces were believed to cause this reduction, of which the least important one was the availability of electronic and remote banking. Greenland (1994) predicted that in the foreseeable future the branch network will remain the main channel for retail banks. However, despite these predictions, the electronic distribution channels available for financial service companies world-wide force the banks to make a number of strategic distribution channel decisions.
According to rational channel planning models (e.g. Stern and Sturdivant, 1987; Stern et al., 1996), retail banks should identify profitable customer segments attracted to branch banking, telephone banking, PC banking and Internet banking or combinations thereof. Based on this knowledge, they have to decide which distribution channels they want to offer their present and future customers. Hence, they have to predict both the consumer acceptance of these distribution channels and the dominating distribution channel strategies of their competitors. However, the problems of the retail banks are even more complex because the different distribution channels have different cost structures and different degrees of face-to-face interaction. This creates an interrelationship of distribution channel strategy and the other elements of the bank’s marketing mix, such as pricing, level of personal service, and the array of services offered.
This paper explores the distribution channel strategies chosen by Danish retail banks and aims at answering the three following questions:
• How can the likely development of the distribution channel structure for retail banking be described?
• What distribution channel strategies does this development offer the retail banks and which of them 本论文由英语论文网提供整理，提供论文代写，英语论文代写，代写论文，代写英语论文，代写留学生论文，代写英文论文，留学生论文代写相关核心关键词搜索。