Importance of Marketing for Increased Profitability
In the current business scenario importance of marketing has increased as it is an effective way to increase the rate of profitability (Grimpe, Chatterjee & Bhargava, 2014). By adopting the effective marketing strategies the organizations will get the chance to develop its business. It has been identified that in the current situation marketing has become one of the major issue for the company. Due to improper marketing strategies, the sales volume is decreasing. In the decreasing sales rate, it has become very difficult for the company to deal with the increasing competition (Davcik & Sharma, 2016). Here the study has identified that the Target which is the departmental store in Australia has not developed its strong brand identity in the market, as it has not adopted effective marketing strategy. Therefore, the organization needs to focus on providing effective training to the employees and develop effective plan within 12 months. After the internal analysis and researching on the market situation, the company needs to focus on its market segment so that it will be easier for it to grab the attention of the customers.
If the current business retail industry is being analysed, it will be identified that the retail industry in Australia is growing in the fastest manner (Hall & Witek, 2016). After the globalization various technological and growth related opportunities have been introduced in the market. It has also been mentioned in this study that the after the development of the Australian shopping centre industry, near about 20000 shopping centres have been developed in the Australian market (Fortier & Laws, 2014). As its result, the level of competition has increased. On the other hand, it is also true that brand identity has become one of the major concern for the company. Due to falling market share the company is in big trouble (refer to appendix 2).
In order to deal with the problems, the company has introduced three objectives that will be helping to bring the solution within 12 months.
- To develop new name by adding technological influence like automating product listing for providing unique facilities
- To focus on introducing large number of innovations, compensations, reward and discount offers for brand awareness through social media
- To provide required recommendation for maintaining the balance between pricing and product quality
Goal: To develop new name by adding technological influence like automating product listing for providing unique facilities
Specific |
The goal is specific as it will help to bring the innovation in the operating system in the workplace |
Measurable |
It is measurable because it will demolish the lengthy purchasing process. It can be expected that it may increase the availability of the customers. |
Achievable |
It is achievable because by introducing the technological changes and installing the product listing software, it will be easier for the customers to identify the products that they need. |
Relevant |
It is relevant because in this process the unique facilities will grab the attention of the customers who are fond of technology. |
Time bound |
In order to achieve the objective 8 to 12 months is required. |
Goal: To focus on introducing large number of innovations, compensations, reward and discount offers for brand awareness through social media
Specific |
The goal is specific as it has focused on increasing the brand awareness through exiting offers. |
Measurable |
The goal is measurable because in this case the availability of the customers as well as the sales revenue will increase |
Achievable |
The goal is achievable because the companies which are involved in the supply chain have decided to provide more discount to this supermarket so that their business can also get developed. |
Relevant |
It is relevant because in the Australian super markets availability of customers’ increases depending on what types of offers the customers are getting. |
Time bound |
In order to achieve the objective 7 to 9 months is required. |
Goal: To provide required recommendation for maintaining the balance between pricing and product quality
Specific |
The goal is specific because it will bring the changes in pricing strategy of the organization |
Measurable |
It is measurable because if the balance between the price and product can be maintained it will influence the financial growth of the company |
Achievable |
It is achievable because most of the organizations have taken such initiatives and have faced the positive results |
Relevant |
The goal is relevant as it will help to deal with the competitors |
Time bound |
In order to achieve the objective 12months is required. |
In the above goals, it can be clearly mentioned that all these types of initiatives have been taken for increasing the availability of customers so that within 12 months the sales revenue can be increased. On the other hand through such practices the technological innovations can be introduced in the organization, which will help in the case of increasing its popularity in the market.
Demographic, geographic and psychographic are the major three segmentations, which has been mentioned in this study for achieving the goals and objectives (Cantallops & Salvi, 2014). After analysing the retail sector in Australia, it has been identified that among the total population large number of people belong to middle class. In the demographic segments, the company has targeted the people who belongs to middle class and lower middle class. In the current scenario, the company has decided to provide delivery service and automatic listing facility, therefore with the modern generations the company has also targeted the aged people, who are not able to visit the markets.
Issues with Current Marketing Strategies
Geographic segmentation also play an important role for the organization.in this case mostly in the urban areas, where the availability of the customers is high, company has decided to expand its business in such places. In such areas people mostly follow the social media and as the company has decided to introduce effective discount and reward offers to the customers. Psychographic segmentation is also being analysed through this study. Depending on the interest of the customers, the company has targeted those people who are fond on technology. Through this process the technological practices will grab the attention of those customers.
Positioning is being considered as one of the major element in STP tool. As the study has mentioned that due to increasing numbers of competitors in the market, the company is dealing with tough situation. On the other hand, it is true that in the current situation the company is dealing with the financial loss in this case analysing the position of the competitors is very important. In the below diagram, the position of target Australia Ply ltd. has been described.
(Source: created by author)
In the above positioning map the major four organization have been highlighted. In this positioning map Woolworths is positioned in high price and high quality segment. Kmart, Amazon are in the upper section of high quality and low price. Similarly, it has been identified that BIG W is also in the upper section of high quality low price. Target Australia and ebay are in the high quality low price. From this positioning map it can be said that as Woolworths is in the high quality high price section, therefore the target market of the company is upper class people. Therefore, it is not the real competitor for target Australia. Kmart and BIG W, Amazon, ebay are the real competitor of the company as target market of these companies are same as target Australia.
The term marketing mix indicates the bunch of action, which is being used by the organization in the case of promoting the brand product (Rezaei, 2015). In the marketing mix product, price and promotion are being highlighted as the important promotional element of an organization.
In the market analysis, it has been identified that the company named Target Australia recently targeting those people who are fond of technology and aged who prefers the home delivery facilities. In this case the company provides the material which are being used for manufacturing cloths. As stated by Osborne, Radnor & Nasi, (2013), the customers who are quite brand fascinated and aware about the product quality they purchase, play an important role in the case of brand extension. As the organization has decided to introduce the multi brand strategy, therefore, it will be beneficial for the organization to grab the attention of different types of customers.
Three Objectives to Improve Business
In this study it has been mentioned that the addition of multi-brand strategy may help for expanding the existing market share of the organization by offering innovative products for the market (Oyserman & Schwarz, 2017). It has been also identified that through this process, the rate of customer awareness can be increased. However, it is true that in the current situation the market share is dealing, therefore, by adopting the marketing strategy, the company will be able to grab the attention of youth and aged people.
Price is being considered as another important part in marketing mix, as this helps to identify the major competitors in the market (Pitt et al., 2017). It has been identified in this study that the major competitors of Target Australia Pty Ltd are Kmart and BIG W. After analysing the product pricing of the products of the companies namely Amazon, ebay, Alibaba, it has been identified that the availability of substitute products in the market is quite high. On the other hand, it is true that customers are getting same product through online shopping in lower ranges. Due to such reasons, the company is dealing with price related issues. In his case, it can be said that different discount offers, reward points can help it to regain its popularity.
Another way, it has been mentioned in the study that in the current situation people have become highly dependent on online marketing. In this case if the company will not change its business strategy, it will not be able to survive in competitive market. In this situation, this can be said that it needs to focus on reducing its product prices and develop an online website for increasing its sales. Through the multichannel pricing strategy will help the organization to grab customers’ attention.
In the study, it has been identified that the company needs to focus on bringing the drastic changes in its promotional strategy. As the company is dealing with the issue regarding less popularity in the global industry therefore, therefore, grabbing the attention of large number of people, it has focused on customer referral incentive program, mail order marketing and social media marketing strategies. Branded promotional gifts can also be beneficial for the company to grab the attention of large number of customers. The aim of the company should be focusing on the perspective of target market. As it has decided to introduce technological innovation and automatic product listing software, therefore, it should develop its advertising strategies which will directly influence the customers emotionally. On the other hand celebrity endorsement and campaigning can be beneficial for the company. Not only the young generation, but also the organization has also targeted aged people, it has introduced delivery facilities. Therefore the advertisements should focus on such facilities so that the target market can easily get attracted.
Product or service distribution is one of the important part for marketing mix. The distribution strategy is a complicated process in which the entire process from manufacturing to delivery is being involved (refer to appendix 1). It has been mentioned in this study that the company needs to focus on its supply chain prices. The supply chain between the retail and wholesale distributors needed to be maintained properly. In this case the company has adopted the strategy to deal directly with the brands so that the products can be directly stored in the supermarket for increasing the market crisis. In this situation the customers will directly purchase the products from the particular organization.
Demographic, Geographic, and Psychographic Segmentation
Conclusion:
In the above study, it has been identified that the company named Target Australia has started working in the case of enhancing the market position in the competitive business industry, the company is recently dealing with its global identity issue. On the other hand, changing needs and demands of the customers, availability of substitute products in lower ranges and declining market share has become one of the major concern for the company. In this study, different types marketing strategies have been mentioned. In this study, it has been recommended that in order to deal with the current marketing issue, the company needs to focus on the grabbing the attention of young and aged people. On the other hand, in order to grab the large number of customers’ attention it has decided to introduce reward, discount offers so that it will be bake to gain the competitive advantages. In this study, it has been identified that the here the study has recommended to introduce the promotional strategies through social media. Celebrity endorsement has been suggested in this study. By introducing the multi brand strategy, not only the middle class people, but also the upper middle class and upper class people can be easily attracted towards the company. The issue has been identified with its pricing strategy too. In this case multichannel pricing strategy will bring the advantage to attract large number of customers.
In this study, it can be concluded that the company named Target Australia has taken the marketing strategy for dealing with the emerging issue regarding its global identity. In this case it has been identified that the competitors are also creating pressure on the company as well as the decreasing market share have brought huge loss. In this situation the company has decided to introduce the online shopping facilities as well as technological innovation such as automatic product listing software and reward points. I believe, this initiative of the organization will be beneficial for the company as in the current business scenario, technology has become one of the major attraction for the customers. On the other hand, in this study, it has been also mentioned that it will adopt multi-brand strategy. This initiative will play an important role in the case of enhance its target market as well as increase business revenue.
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