Background to the Company
Marketing strategy is considered to be a long-term and forward looking type approach which is based on the achievement of fundamental goals in an active way. The company is thereby able to gain a competitive advantage in the industry with the help of proper marketing based strategy. The initial situation which has been developed in an organization is based on the process of effective strategic planning (Hill, Jones and Schilling 2014). The market oriented type of competitive position in the industry is based on the methods by which it is able to achieve the different goals of the company and the marketing objectives as well.
The report will be built on the study of the marketing strategy that has been implemented by a firm in order to function in a country in an effective way. The organization which has been considered for the study is Amazon. The marketing based strategy that has been applied by Amazon in Australia will be analysed in the report in detail.
Amazon.com is an American organization which operates in the electronic commerce based industry and also provides cloud computing based services. The headquarter of the organization is located in Seattle, Washington and was established by Jeff Bezos in the year 1994. Amazon has thereby been able to grow into the largest internet based retailer with the help of its effective products and services that are presented to the consumers (Amazon.com.au 2018).
The market capitalization and the revenues which have been earned by the company are high. The website had started its business operations mainly as an online book store. Further the operations of Amazon were expanded and different types of products were sold which included video games, toys, food, jewellery and electronics. The company is also known to sell many low end products to different types of consumers under the brand name of Amazon Basics (Amazon.com.au 2018).
Amazon has been able to continue its business processes in many countries with the help of the diverse range of services and products. The websites that are developed by Amazon for the different countries are also different from each other. The report will be mainly based on the Australian operations of Amazon and the strategies which have thereby been implemented in the country (Amazon.com.au 2018).
The strategy which had been implemented by Amazon Australia at the time of its entry in the country was the two pronged strategy. This strategy was mainly aimed at the magnification of the impact of the organization and its operations on the other Australian retailers. The competition that can thereby be provided to the retailers who are already operating in Australia is quite high. The levels of competition which can be thereby be faced by the different organizations are based on the methods by which Amazon Australia is able to offer the products and services in an effective way (Abc.net.au 2018).
The market entries which have been made by the company in different countries in a successful way have played a major role in deciding the process that is implemented by Amazon. Amazon had been selling the products and services to customers with the help of its website. However, the development of physical stores had been able to affect the retailers of Australia. The marketing strategy which has been implemented by Amazon in different countries is based on effective differentiation process (Coyne and Coyne 2018).
Marketing Analysis
The high value which is provided by the company to its customers is considered to be an important part of the marketing strategy which is implemented by Amazon. The different offerings of the company are thereby helpful in keeping the prices of the products low. The customer centric approach has been thereby implemented by the company in different areas of its operations all over the world. The organization is thereby able to increase its presence in the online retail industry with the assistance of customer centric based policy (Daspit et al. 2017). The distribution strategy that has been implemented by Amazon in Australia has been able to develop its place in the retail industry of the country.
The marketing mix of Amazon Australia needs to be analysed in order to discuss the marketing strategy in an effective manner. The marketing mix of the company is as follows,
- Product –The international ecommerce based organization is able to offer a wide range of products to the customers in an effective manner. The products of the company are delivered to the consumers which can help in fulfilling the needs and demands. The different products that are offered to the Australian consumers include, books, DVDs, Kindle, gaming consoles and clothing items for men and women (Frynas and Mellahi 2015).
- Place –The company has been to develop its effective presence in various parts of the world and Australia. The image which has been developed by the brand in the country is related to the loyal base of customers. The effective online presence of the company is thereby considered to be an important part of the operations. The base of the organization is mainly located in the United States and further the operations have been expanded all over the world (Hill, Jones and Schilling 2014).
- Promotion –The promotional activities that have been conducted by Amazon have been able to provide the company with a profitable position in the industry. The major promotional strategy which has been implemented by Amazon is known as search engine marketing. This is thereby considered to be a smart strategy of promotion which is able to provide the company with a customer base (James 2016). The word of mouth based promotional strategy has also worked for the company and the development of its customer base.
- Price –The competitive pricing based policy has been implemented by Amazon in order to attract the consumers. The pricing based strategy of the firm has been able to offer the company with a loyal base of consumers. The premium consumers are provided with lower prices and more facilities in order to attract and then retain them as well (Kasemsap 2014).
The operations of Amazon had started with its first store in Melbourne and the company had taken this step in order to increase its presence and to gain its foothold in the ecommerce industry. The company had aimed at building an effective distribution strategy in order to provide the products to the consumers within a short time. The distribution of warehouse in area outside Melbourne has been able to increase the levels of profitability of the company. The operations of Amazon in the country is thereby facilitated in an effective manner by the distribution strategy which has been developed by the firm (Michael, Storey and Thomas 2017).
Amazon has been able to bring huge number of jobs in the country. The Prime membership based facilities have however not been provided by Amazon in Australia. The consumers in Australia are able to take advantage of the facilities which are provided by the company based on fast delivery options. The operations of the company in Australia is in the early stages and Amazon still needs to develop its stores all over the country (Morschett, Schramm-Klein and Zentes 2015).
The response that has been provided to the operations of Amazon in Australia has not been highly enthusiastic in nature. The adverse response is provided to the company from the customer side and the retailer side as well. The shoppers have thereby complained on different social media platforms based on the poor levels of product selection and the pricing related options as well. The retailers in the country are also not impressed by the start of operations of Amazon in the country (Webalive.com.au 2018).
The arrival of Amazon in the country is not considered to be quite important for the retailers who already have their operations in the country. The local retailers are thereby not affected in the ways by which Amazon has decided to enter the Australian retail market. The physical stores of Amazon have not been able to provide effective levels of competition to the already operating retailers in the industry. The different retail based organizations like, Harvey Norman and JB HiFi have started increasing their physical operations after the announcement of the entry of Amazon in the retail industry of the country (Steinbach et al. 2017).
The Nature of Amazon Australia’s Marketing Strategy or Strategies since it began
Amazon thereby has to implement active marketing and promotional approaches in order to improve the revenues of the company in an effective way. The marketing strategy which can be applied by the company in Australia is based on the effective differentiation from the other organizations. The prices of the products need to be set in such a manner which will help the company to compete with the physical retailers. The distribution based strategy that has been applied by the company all over the world needs to be implemented in an effective manner. The warehouses of the company need to be developed in many parts of the country (Simon, Fischbach and Schoder 2014).
The increase in number of warehouses can help in the development of distribution based strategy of Amazon. The distribution strategy will thereby be able to affect the methods by which the firm is able to offer the products to the consumers. The advertising and promotional strategies that have been implemented by the firm also need to be improved in order to increase the awareness of the brand all over Australia. This will help the company to provide tough competition to the other physical stores which are already operating in Australia (Sakas, Vlachos and Nasiopoulos 2014).
Conclusion
The report can be determined by asserting that Amazon Australia has not been able to create its position in accordance to that which has been created by the company all over the world. The company thereby needs to improve its strategies based on marketing and further implement new strategies in order to function in the market in a profitable way. The organizations which already have their operations in the country are also facing threat from the huge retail based organization. The improvement in distribution based strategies will further be able to play a key part in the methods by which Amazon operates in the country in an effective manner.
References
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Amazon.com.au 2018. Amazon.com.au: Shop online for Electronics, Apparel, Toys, Books, DVDs & more. [online] Amazon.com.au. Available at: https://www.amazon.com.au/ [Accessed 17 Sep. 2018].
Coyne, A. and Coyne, A. 2018. Amazon launches online store in Australia. [online] iTnews. Available at: https://www.itnews.com.au/news/amazon-launches-online-store-in-australia-479134 [Accessed 17 Sep. 2018].
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Kasemsap, K., 2014. Strategic innovation management: An integrative framework and causal model of knowledge management, strategic orientation, organizational innovation, and organizational performance. In Strategic approaches for human capital management and development in a turbulent economy (pp. 102-116). IGI Global.
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Steinbach, A.L., Holcomb, T.R., Holmes, R.M., Devers, C.E. and Cannella, A.A., 2017. Top management team incentive heterogeneity, strategic investment behavior, and performance: A contingency theory of incentive alignment. Strategic Management Journal, 38(8), pp.1701-1720.
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