Logistics System A logistics system consists of different functions and activities,such as the following: 1.Customer service is a core function in the logistics process.Each business entity should have a customer service department to handle complaints,special orders,loss and damage claims,returns,bills problem,and etc．This function becomes crucial because any dissatisfaction can lead to failure to retain customers. 2.Inventory management is to maintain the stock of raw materials and half-finished products.In order to satisfy the customers＇demand and minimize costs,a company should establish an optimal level of inventory to meet the market demand that exceeds our expecta-tions,and at the same time,minimize your inventory holding costs and inventory write-down costs. 3.Transportation has taken a great role in many logistics systems for two reasons.First of all,globalization and importing-exporting activities make most products necessary to be transferred from one country to another.Secondly,information revolution has propelled the manufacturing process and consumer behaviors to be changed drastically.Traditional trans-portation methods need to be upgraded to accommodate modern transportation demand,therefore,containerization and usage of information sharing system emerge. 4.Storage is needed to manage the materials and store ready-for-market products in warehouses.There is new technology applied in the storage,for example,automatic ware-house.Old-fashioned warehouse has become the distribution center where container trucks deliver and pick up the goods. 5.Information system links all logistics processes and integrates all information to en-sure all the handling of large quantity of goods are delivered in an efficient,cost-effective and accurate manner. Questions:

Why is customer service an important element?( )

A:To retain and keep customers. B:To gather information about competitors. C:To develop new market. D:To strengthen business partner relationships.

From: Paul Rooney ＜rooneyhoy@speedmail.com＞
To: Green Mountain Stationery, Inc ＜pgmountain@qmail.com＞
I have been purchasing various products through your catalog for many years. For the most part, I’ve been quite satisfied. However, I recently ordered a case of 1,000 envelopes for my business and am extremely disappointed.
First of all, the envelopes I received differ from the description in your catalog. They are supposed to be nine inches long, but the envelopes I received are six inches long. Second, the adhesive on the envelops is defective. I attempted to use a dozen of them. and none of them remained properly sealed.
At the very least, I would like a refund for the full cost of these envelopes, along with the shipping charge. The total amount I paid was $34.68. Furthermore, the inspection sticker on the carton states that the product was inspected at your Burlington warehouse. I would like to know how this mistake occurred and request your assurance that this sort of thing will not happen again in the future. Otherwise, I am afraid that I will have to take my business elsewhere.
From: Sharon Park ＜pgreeenmountain@qmail.com＞
To: Paul Rooney＜rooneyhoy@speedmail.com＞
Dear Mr.Rooney,
My name is Sharon Park, and I am the director of quality control at Green Mountain Stationery. Inc. I was recently made aware of your complaint by one of our customer service representatives.
I would like to start by apologizing for any inconvenience you may have experience. Our accounting department will issue you a full refund of $34.68 for the defective envelopes. We would also like to offer you a $50 gift certificate that can be used with the purchase of any product in our catalog.
I must acknowledge that there have been some problems with inspections in our Burlington warehouse. To deal with this issue, the company has decided that the entire inspecting staff will take part in an intensive re-training program. We will review our procedures to identify anything that needs to be improved.
I have forwarded your message to our entire management team, to ensure that this issue will not be overlooked. I am sorry that we have disappointed you, and I sincerely hope you continue to purchase our products. I’m sure this was a one-time incident that will not happen again. Please don’t hesitate to contact me directly in the future if you have any questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Sharon Park

A:Replacement of the product he ordered B:Voucher for the purchase of any product C:Free shipping on his next order D:A tour of the Burlington warehouse

Every product on the market has a variety of costs built into it before it is ever put up for sale to a customer. There are costs of production, transportation, storage, advertising, and more. Each of these costs must bring in some profit at each stage: truckers must profit from transporting products, or they would not be in business. Thus, costs also include several layers of profits. The selling price of a product must take all of these costs (and built in profits) into consideration. The selling price itself consists of a markup over the total of all costs, and it is normally based on a percentage of the total cost.
The markup may be quite high, 90 percent of cost, or it may be low. Grocery items m a supermarket usually have a low markup, while mink coats have a very high one. High markups, however, do not in themselves guarantee big profits. Profits come from turnover. If an item has a 50 percent markup and does not sell, there is no profit. But if a cereal has an 8 percent markup and sells very well, there are reasonable profits.
While most pricing is based on cost factors, there are some exceptions. Prestige pricing means setting prices artificially high in order to attract select clientele. Such pricing attempts to suggest that the quality or style of the product is exceptional or that the item cannot be found elsewhere. Stores can use prestige pricing to attract wealthy shoppers.
Leader pricing and bait pricing are the opposites of prestige pricing. Leader pricing means setting low prices on certain items to get people to come into the stores. The products so priced are called loss leaders because little or no profit can be made on them. The profits are made from other products people buy while in the store. Bait pricing, now generally considered illegal, means setting artificially low prices to attract customers. The store, however, has no intention of selling goods at the bait prices. The point is to get people into the store and persuade them of the inferiority of the low priced item. Then a higher priced item is presented as a better alternative.
A common retail tactic is odd priced products. For some products of $300, the store will set the price at $295 or $299.95 to give the appearance of a lower price. Automobiles and other high priced products are usually priced in this manner. For some reason $7995 has more appeal to a potential car customer than $8000.
Bid pricing is a special kind of price setting. It is often used in the awarding of government contracts. Several companies are asked to submit bids on a job, and normally the lowest bidder wins. A school system may want to buy a large number of computers. Several companies are asked to submit prices, and the school district will decide on the best bid based as well on considerations of quality and service.
Odd-pricing method ______.

A:is often used with very expensive items B:is only effective on potential car customers C:is the most popular way of pricing a product D:is the most effective way of selling low priced products

Advertising is a form of selling. For thousands of years there have been individuals who have tried to (1) others to buy the food they have produced or the goods they have made or the services they can (2) .
But in the 19th century the mass production of goods (3) the Industrial Revolution made person-to-person selling inefficient. The mass distribution of goods that (4) the development of the highway made person-to-person selling (5) slow and expensive. At the same time, mass communication, first newspapers and magazines, (6) radio and television, made mass selling through (7) possible.
The objective of any advertisement is to convince people that it is in their best (8) to take the action the advertiser is recommending. The action (9) be to purchase a product, use a service, vote for a political candidate, or (10) to join the Army.
Advertising as a (11) developed first and most rapidly in the United States, the country that uses it to the greatest (12) . In 1980 advertising expenditure in the U.S. exceeded 55 billion dollars, or (13) 2 percent of the gross national product. Canada spent about 1.2 percent of its gross national product (14) advertising.
(15) advertising brings the economies of mass selling to the manufacturer, it (16) benefits for the consumer (17) . Some of those economies are passed along to the purchaser so that the cost of a product sold primarily through advertising is usually far (18) than one sold through personal salespeople. Advertising (19) people immediate news about products that have just come on the market. Finally, advertising (20) for the programs on commercial television and radio and for about two thirds of the cost of publishing magazines and newspapers.

A:business B:service C:product D:profession

In a competitive economy, the consumer usually has the choice of several different brands of the same product. Yet underneath their labels, these products are often nearly identical. One manufacturer’’s toothpaste tends to differ very little from another manufacturer’’s. Two different brands of shampoo may vary only in scent or color. And the tobacco in two different brands of cigarettes frequently comes from the same fields. This close similarity means that a shopper often has little reason to choose one brand over another. Thus, manufacturers are confronted with a problem--how to keep sales high enough to stay in business. Manufacturers solve this problem by advertising. Through advertising, each manufacturing company tries to convince consumers that its product is special. To do this ,the companies try to appeal to consumers in various ways. In fact, advertisements may be classified into three types according to the kind of appeals they use. 　　One type of advertisement tries to appeal to the consumer’’s reasoning mind. It may offer a claim that seems scientific. For example, it may say that dentists recommend Flash toothpaste, or it may declare that Woof dog food contains a special, vitamin-rich ingredient known as K-9, or it may report that laboratory tests show that R. I. P. cigarettes contain fewer harmful ingredients than other brands. In selling a product, the truth of advertising may be less important than the appearance of truth. A scientific approach gives the appearance of truth. 　　Another type of advertisement tries to amuse the potential buyer. Products that are essentially boring, such as cleaning powder or insecticide, are often advertised in an amusing manner. One way of doing this is to make the products appear alive. The advertiser may draw little cartoon eyes, arms, and legs on the cans of cleaning powder and have the resulting figures scrub the sink. Ads of this sort are silly, but advertisers believe that consumers are likely to remember and buy the products that the consumers associate with fun. 　　Associating the product with something pleasant is the technique of the third type of appeal. In this class are ads that suggest that the product will satisfy some basic human desires. One such desire is the wish to be admired by other people. Many automobile advertisements are in this category. They imply that other people will admire you--may even be jealous--when they see you driving the hot, new Aardvark car. This kind of appeal is sometimes strengthened by hiring a famous person to endorse the product. Seeing the famous person, the consumer is supposed to reason thus: Everyone admires Judson Smith the great football star. Judson Smith used Buckworthy Bank traveler’’s checks. Therefore, if I use Buckworthy Bank traveler’’s checks, everyone will admire me too. Some other basic desires that ads commonly try to appeal to are the desires for social acceptance ,financial security, and so on. 　　One only needs to look through a magazine or watch an hour of TV in order to see examples of these three different advertising strategies. The author is probably in favor of the statement that

A:diverse brands of identical products make consumers confused B:any product advertised in a cartoon figure sells well. C:It’’s appealing to have a celebrity sign on the product. D:the best policy is to improve production and service.

customer service

If you want to complain about a product or a service,this is the standard （） for you to follow: first fill in a form and then wait for your turn to see the manager.

A:procedure B:direction C:commitment D:example