Unilever Value Chain Analysis

3. E-Business Strategy In order to further enhance on the value of its products to consumers, Unilever has adopted an e-business strategy that seeks to make use of the internet as well as the information technology. The e-business strategy mainly focuses on cost reduction and enhancement of efficiency while dealing with supply and distribution networks. Consumers can order and purchase their preferred product brands online, thus eliminating the additional costs of distribution that comes with physical distribution networks. The company also targets to reach a wider market through its online marketing and advertisement campaigns. The e-business strategy has also seen Unilever become a member of Transora, which is a B2B marketplace that comprises of numerous other companies (Loudon 45). Transora offers a data pool combined with solutions together with services which are cost-effective in supporting user needs as well as helping the industry to optimize on data synchronization value. This has helped consumers achieve high convenience in their acquisition and use of Unilever range of products.

Procter & Gamble has equally initiated an e-business strategy that is slightly different in focus to that of Unilever. P&G does not sell its products directly on the internet although it fully utilizes the internet to manage its supply chain efficiently. The company also uses the internet to internally share results of its R&D strategy, transportation, retail partner’s logistics, customer information, feedback mechanism, as well as video conferencing and billing and payment. All these factors significantly help in the company’s quest to lower its overall cost of operations and basically pass the benefits to its consumers (Kalakota & Robinson, 23).

Proposals on Improvement of Unilever Value Chain Unilever is a huge global company whose operations have been grouped into very large divisions. Each of the three divisions of the company manufactures quite a range of products