Digital marketing and e-commerce: e-commerce and m-commerce, social media and digital promotion, the benefits and drawbacks of digital marketing, and the impact of technology on the marketing mix.

A 3-mark AO1 and AO2 question. Social media lets a business promote itself at low cost to a very large audience, and it can target specific groups by age, location and interest, so its marketing reaches the right people cheaply. It also lets the business interact directly with customers, building a relationship and responding to feedback. One mark for a valid benefit, up to two more for developing it (low-cost wide reach leading to more awareness, or targeting leading to efficient marketing spend). A common error is to state "it reaches lots of people" without explaining the low cost or the ability to target, which is what makes social media distinctive.

A 6-mark Analyse needing developed chains applied to the retailer. Effect one (wider reach and more sales): selling online and marketing digitally lets the retailer reach customers far beyond its high street, nationally or even globally, and trade 24 hours a day, so its potential market and sales grow without the cost of more shops, while social media and targeted ads attract new customers cheaply. Effect two (cost, competition and change): building and running a website, handling online orders and delivery, and managing digital marketing need investment and new skills, raising costs in the short term, and online the retailer faces far more competition (including large rivals and price-comparison sites), so it must work harder to stand out. The chain to credit links the move to both the growth opportunity and the cost and competitive challenge. Markers reward two developed effects applied to the high-street retailer, not a generic list of digital benefits.