Buying and selling shares means you need the latest information.

Some people do it themselves to make their investments grow - or on a bad day, fall.

Others make a living out of doing it for others.

Banks, insurance companies and stockbroking firms all try to make other people's money grow by buying and selling shares.

Marc Pinter-Krainer has used up-to-the-minute technology to compete in a market which has a few big players.

Sophisticated

He's selling a product which has been very expensive and available to the few.

Providing current information about share prices, currency markets and other details that buyers and sellers need has always needed very sophisticated technology.

Marc has made it much simpler.

It doesn't need a special terminal or high specification computers. Any old computer with an internet connection will do.

Just think...

Explain how technology has created a very competitive product.

How's the product different?

Marc's system means that customers can find information anywhere in the world.

Marc is offering simplicity

A fanatical trader who can't leave work behind can sit on the beach and get the latest information from a handheld computer!

It's available anywhere you can access the web - at an internet caf�, sitting on a train or round at a friend's.

The computer doesn't need to be too clever either.

Marc has kept all the heavy duty systems on the company's servers so customers don't have to download software. It's quicker and easier.

Accessibility is certainly a unique selling point.

Just think...

How has Marc reduced the costs of running an information system?

What other products can you think of that have used technology to cut costs?

What is meant by "unique selling point"?

Choose four products that you know and decide what their USP might be.

What's the price?

Just one terminal from Bloomberg, one of Marc's competitors, can cost �13,000 a year.

A big company often needs more than one terminal - if not several.

Marc's system costs �89.95 per month. That's less than one-tenth the cost of Bloomberg.

Technology has cut the costs and the customer is benefiting.

Just think...

Explain why the price is so much lower.

Use demand and supply curves to show what has happened to the price of the information system.

What would you expect customers to do when offered this alternative?

Being competitive

Even when you have a product that is both cheap and effective, it's not always easy to break into the market.

Many of the big companies that are potential customers have had contracts with Bloomberg and others for a long time.

Although they are always looking for ways to cut costs, change can also be expensive. People may need retraining and there may be installation costs.

A business also has to be certain that the product is reliable and will really meet its needs.

There are also other businesses with products that compete with Marc's so he has to be able to demonstrate how his system will add value for a purchaser.

Just think...

Explain "add value".

How do you think Marc's product adds value to a business?

How do you think he might persuade potential customers that they should use his system?

Explain how a business that you know adds value.

How does it persuade people to buy its products?