International Marketing Plan
Introduction
When it comes to the food and grocery business, Waitrose is one of the major companies that has proved its worth. This company provides the most convenient shopping experience, and the best services and products for its customers, giving shoppers a comfortable and easy experience. With this ethos, people can get the best products at a lower rate, compared to the market, and delivered to their doorsteps. Waitrose is competing with other competitors in the UK market, such as Tesco and Sainsbury's that target lower-end markets, so Waitrose provides the best options in the market for its target customers. Waitrose has the largest delivery area, with around 190 branches around the UK, and has a rapidly developing online business (Waitrose Report, 2010).
TM Identification and Segments
Waitrose has built up a recognised brand name in the grocery and food business market in the UK. Founded in 1904, the British company is owned by John Lewis, a successful high-end department store in the UK. The target market of the Waitrose and the segment is the upper middle class of the UK market. By focusing on the TM Identification and segments this company has increased its market share. An analysis is following:
Waitrose has created an identity with its chain of supermarkets, selling groceries and other products. Waitrose won the Verdict's Customer Satisfaction Award in 2013 in the UK. But when it comes to business, Waitrose has been making losses since 2002, due to the high level of competitors in the same field. Waitrose has maintained its high-quality service to its customers, which is impressively consistent and has helped the company to take a large market share and also expand the business. This is why its store locations range from towns to cities and from 56 thousand feet to seven thousand feet (Waitrose company history, 2010). Waitrose operates in Wales, England and Scotland. This company has changed the traditional ways of shopping by providing its customers a new and innovative shopping experience, especially when grocery shopping. This is why the company has the major share in the UK market, by keeping ahead of its competitors. For example, they introduced a self-scanning and checking out system as you walk around the store and free coffee for its customers.
Market Entry Mode
In most countries, there is a limited area of demand when it comes to online retailing of groceries. The main target area of the Waitrose is the people or the customers that are mostly busy or affluent and have less time for the shopping. These customers prefer the Waitrose due to the services and the quality of products that they offer. In the UK, just 2.6% of the total market and business of grocery is online (Himelstein, Khermouch and Webvan, 2001). Although, there are chances that this will increase in the future as the trends of shopping change and more and more people prefer to shop online. From 2006 to 2009, the online grocery market transaction value grew by almost 85%, from £2.1bn to £3.6bn respectively (Waitrose Report, 2010). This is a huge increase in growth in the online grocery market over a short period. This is why for Waitrose, there are more chances of business than ever before. As shopping trends change in the grocery market, the value of this market will double in the future, due to the growth in online shopping alone (Dekimpe and Hanssens, 2000). Although Waitrose is also in the food business, the grocery market is the major target area for this company. Now, there are more offers available in the shopping market, in comparison to the way we used to shop, customers can experience new things that are introduced in the market very quickly and easily. These tactics are used by companies to attract customers, they offer them the best deals at the lowest price in comparison with other players in the same business (Chintagunta, 1994). In addition, customers have the option to get the product delivered directly to their doors that saves a lot of time and effort.
TM Aims and Objectives
The company maintains a strong viewpoint about the high-quality services they offer to customers and customers can know what to expect when they shop with Waitrose. The aim and objectives of Waitrose include:
Strengthens its relationships with its customers and seeks to offer them only the best quality products. Waitrose's strategy outlines its new perspectives and schemes to highlight its quality. . The most important point is that Waitrose claims its products are farm-sourced and the historic brand retains its quality. This is one of the main reasons that Waitrose can control its exclusive prices in accordance with the market and item cost, and therefore appeal to almost all types of customers.
Although there has been an expansion in the market share of the company, in comparison to the past, the market share of the company has decreased. The main factor is that the company focuses on the upper to middle class market, and therefore offers its high-quality products and services to primarily a smaller market in the UK. So most UK customers, that play an important role in making up the target market, are unable to afford the services that Waitrose offers (Aulakh, 1993). This is one of the main threats to the company, and for this reason Waitrose is developing strategies to target this area of the market, by offering its products and services to all types of customers and making them affordable. So new customers might consider its products and services.
Because of this danger, Waitrose is attempting to build up its appeal to these consumers by re-dispatching its items and accentuating their worth. For this reason, the company is putting a lot of its resources into promoting and progressing the improvement of the business and increasing its market share.
Target Market Strategy
Waitrose is famous for its differentiation strategy that it has used in its business. This company knows its target market, and monitors changing trends, always providing fresh, seasonal products as well as a wide range of high-quality items. The turnover of Waitrose in 2009 was around £1.98bn (Waitrose Report, 2010). The strategy of this company is successful because the customers today like healthy and organic food, and Waitrose provides the best quality products for its customers, and is aware and conscious of its customer's concerns about eating healthily.
Waitrose labels all of its products with a perfect balanced label on, this shows the exact nutrition of each product, following guidelines set by the UK Government in 2005. This company also offers ready meals for customers that don't have time to cook. Due to the advancement in the latest technologies, more and more people have access to the Internet, and are going online to get their shopping (Baumgartner, 2001). The trends have changed in the past few years. Waitrose is using the latest technology to build trust among its customers and to provide them the best shopping experience, wherever they may be. A high-quality service is the key point of Waitrose's strategy. This company offers the best quality products at low cost to its customers. The competitive analysis of
the Waitrose with other competitors is as follows:
Marketing Mix Decisions
In 1960, McCarthy introduced the classification of the four Ps, which are related to the marketing strategy of a company. Marketing-mix is a business tool to ensure the marketing strategy of a company is executed efficiently, and meets its objectives. There are four Ps, these are: price, promotion, product and place. These can be implemented to get the best response from the market.
6.1 Product - Waitrose High Quality Products
Product is one of the main factors that is considered to be the basis of any organization or business. For this reason, almost all companies and retailers focus on the differentiation of their product within the market. As this company offers a huge amount of products it is difficult to focus and analyze all of their products, it is easier and more effective to focus on what products make them different from the rest of the market. The main difference is the high quality products Waitrose offers, this can be seen across all their products and brands. This consistent quality distinguishes them from their competitors. This is why Waitrose considers itself to be the highest quality provider in the market, and this is, without doubt, an effective marketing strategy.
6.2 PRICE – Waitrose: Price Matching Tesco
Price is one of the unique factors that is different from the other points in the marketing-mix strategy. Price generates revenue for the business, while all other mixes produce the cost. The main aim of the company is to provide the best product, and this is why the prices are targeted to the upper and middle classes, but after the financial recession, Waitrose has had to work to lower its prices and to focus on a wider range of customers and classes.
6.3 PLACE – Waitrose: Eldon Square Shopping Centre in Newcastle
Place is a very key point, it can make or break the business. If the best retailer in the world sets up its business in the wrong place, then it can fail. This is why Waitrose has chosen areas that belong to its target customers, which can contribute in the market share. The above location is in a very busy city shopping centre that will have a large footfall of customers from all classes.
6.4 PROMOTION - New Waitrose campaign
Promotion of the product and the business is very important and can increase the market share of the company, as well as the revenue. Promotions can include any advertising, marketing or publicity needed to get the public's attention and subsequent attraction to the stores. The message can be delivered through a particular product to the customers or be through the introduction of a product that is new in the market. New products are most likely to grab the attention of the customers and make them purchase that item. There are many communication means that can be used as promotion. This includes channels that are proven to target a particular area of the market. In the case of Waitrose, they use TV adverts and newspapers to reach customers. They also use campaigns to promote the business that usually include discounts, special offers and other similar tactics to attract customers.
7. IM Management
The IM management of the organization along with the monitoring progress and motivation control is effective. Waitrose has a strong presence and it snap up the consumers through the best quality products and the strategy of differentiation that this company has adopt in comparison with other competitors.
The key methodologies concentrate on quality sustenance and quality administrations. As a consequence, the company has won many awards, including Multiple Retailer of the Year and Best UK Retailer. The services the company offer are presently some of the quickest developing classifications, because the increasing revenue of the company will see an increase in its market share (Doyle and Stern, 2006).
8. Recommendations and Conclusion
Waitrose already has a major market share in the UK grocery market, and in 2010 its profit was around £268 million. Not only this, but in the past few years it has grown by around 28%, strengthening the market share of the company (Waitrose Report, 2010). Alternatively, there are also some problems that can be observed in the policy of the company. Most of the revenue comes from high-quality products, at high rates, according to the company policy this is its main strength. However, this is also a problem or weakness for the company, because the major market share includes a high percentage of people from the middle to lower level classes and in order the increase their revenue and their market share, Waitrose needs to focus on appealing to this area of the market and providing products at prices most people in the market share can afford. This could create a rapid increase in the market share of the company and also generate greater revenue. Waitrose's business originates from its own particular brand, but it would be more helpful for them to provide the best quality at an affordable price. However, Waitrose consistently portrays itself as selling fantastic, high value items, which may be seen as an adverse component to its business on the grounds that it excludes the average individual from shopping there.
References
Aulakh, P. S., & Kotabe, M. (1993). An assessment of theoretical and methodological development in international marketing: 1980–1990. Journal of International Marketing, 1(2), 5–28.
Baumgartner, H., & Steenkamp, J.-B.E.M. (2001, May). Response styles in marketing research: a cross-national investigation. Journal of Marketing Research, 38, 143–156.
Chintagunta, P. K. (1994, May). Heterogenous logit model impli- cations for brand positioning. Journal of Marketing Research, 16, 304–311.
Doyle, P. and Stern, P. (2006), Marketing Management and Strategy, 4th ed., Harlow, Financial Times Prentice Hall.
Dekimpe, M. G., & Hanssens, D. M. (2000). Time series modeling in marketing: past, present and future. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 17(2–3), 183–193.
Himelstein, L., and Khermouch, G., “Webvan Left the Basics on the Shelf”, Business Week, July 23, 2001, p. 43.
John Lewis Partnership Reports (2010), Waitrose Report, Available at: http://www.waitrose.presscentre.com/Press-Releases/John-Lewis-Partnership-Reports-Strong-First-Half-Year-Performance-666.aspx (Accessed: 29 January 2015).
Smith, E., & Marsden, T. (2004). Exploring the ‘limits to growth’in UK organics: beyond the statistical image. Journal of rural studies, 20(3), 345-357.
Spence, L., & Bourlakis, M. (2009). The evolution from corporate social responsibility to supply chain responsibility: the case of Waitrose. Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, 14(4), 291-302.
No comments:
Post a Comment