Marketing Within the Global Market: Sun Pride Stores Inc. (Term Paper Sample)

Marketing within the Global Market
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Marketing within the Global market
Executive Summary
Sun Pride Stores Inc. is an American multinational retailer which operates in the U.S, Canada, United Kingdom, and China. The company has over 1000 brick and mortar stalls in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada. The company serves its Chinese customers through an online shopping platform where consumers make orders online and wait for delivery of the product. The company has a three-day shipping and delivery service to its customers enabled by the collaboration with Chinese logistics firm Xing Hua. The company has identified India as a potential market to grow its online shopping, and it plans to roll out an online shopping platform where consumers can order products. The company plans to roll out a two-day shipping service to the Indian consumers to build brand loyalty. This paper discusses the two new services in the Indian market at length as well as the company’s distribution, price, and promotion strategies.
Service Strategy
New Services introduced
The new services Sun Pride plans to introduce in the Indian market are an online shopping platform and a two-day shipping and delivery service. Online shopping is a rapidly growing retail industry trend, and according to Riaz & Raman (2015), the number of online customer transactions is increasing as well as the amount they spend. The rise in popularity of online shopping makes it critical that the consumers in India are provided with an online platform where they can shop at their convenience.
The growth of online shopping has necessitated that retailers must provide quick shipping and delivery of products consumers purchase online. Retailers who can provide delivery within two days strengthen their competitive advantage in the highly competitive online retail market. Sun Pride Stores Inc. sees a two-day shipping and delivery service is crucial in its efforts to attract consumers and build its competitive advantage in the market.
Research methods used by Sun Pride Stores
Secondary research method. The method involved the collection of secondary data mainly from the Central Statistics Office and Statista. Statista records that retail online sales in India will amount to $20 billion by the end of 2017 and the figure is projected to rise to $45.17 billion by 2021. Also, records show that by the end of the year 2019, over 240 million Indians will purchase products online, representing close to 70.7% of Indian internet users. The secondary research also involved looking at the Indian Central Statistics office where it reports that salaries are projected to increase by 10% in India. The implication of rising salaries is that the middle class has more disposable income and since they are technologically savvy, they can prefer to purchase products online and if possible, get them delivered on the same day.
Survey Research method. The company selected a sample of 5,000 Indians, and they were asked to fill a standardized questionnaire. The survey method proved to be useful because the sample customers could provide information on their opinions on online shopping, indicate their frequency of shopping online, the average amount they spend on an average transaction, and the desired delivery period. The respondents were cooperative, and they readily answered the questionnaire, and within a week, all relevant information had been collected. Analysis of the data revealed that most urban dwellers in India prefer shopping at their homes because it is convenient and they can choose from a wide variety of products. They also emphasized that they require fast delivery of the product, preferably within two days after they have purchased the product.
Focus groups. Ten focus groups each with ten members who were recruited. A focus group is an exploratory method, and it is was an effective method because the company can get information on the opinions and the needs of the customers. The length of each session was one and a half hours, and the participants had a discussion on the improvements that Sun Pride Stores can make. Also, they revealed their shopping habits, and the common factor is that most of them had a preference for shopping online compared to coming to the store physically.
Competitive Advantage
Offering the online shopping platform enables Sun Pride Stores to give their potential customers an excellent consumer experience. Luo, Ba, & Zhang (2012) point out that a satisfying online buyer experience is a major competitive advantage of retail firms. However, Luo et al. (2012) point out that for customers to have a good online experience, the website must be easy to use and navigate, there must be a wide variety of products, the customer service must be excellent, and the consumer must have confidence regarding the security of the site. The online shopping will improve their convenience because they can browse for the different variety of products they want, make payments online, and wait for shipping within two days.
The two-day shipping and delivery will build the company’s reputation giving it a significant competitive advantage in the retail industry. Gupta (2015) points out that on average, it takes five to seven days for a product to be delivered to the consumer, but Sun Pride offers same two days. Most consumers are attracted to an online company that will deliver their purchased product within the shortest time possible. Fast delivery makes customers happy, creating relations of trust, and this builds brand loyalty. Therefore, despite the costs involved in developing the online shopping platforms and the shipping, these two services will attract more customers and generate sales.
Inherent risks in services launch
Marketing risk. Marketing risk refers to the uncertainty surrounding the customer, company, customers, competitors, collaborators, and the climate (Chernev, 2014). Customer risk refers to the uncertainty whether the new online shopping platform and the two days delivery will meet all the customers’ needs or the services will only be beneficial for a small market segment, making it unprofitable to come up with the distribution, promotion, and extra inventory. A risk associated with the company is that it might not have enough resources such as distribution infrastructure to introduce the same day delivery service. The success of the new services depends on whether the company’s collaborators who include suppliers and distributors support Sun Pride Stores (Chernev, 2014).
Susterova, Lavin, & Riives (2012) point out that managing the marketing risk requires the development of a plan that identifies the various risks that result from the customers, company, competitors, collaborators, and the climate. The company should utilize the stage group approach where the service goes through a series of stages before it is introduced. Chernev (2014) points out that these steps are idea generation, concept development, business analysis, product development, market testing, and then launch into the market.
Technological risk. Technological risk refers to the uncertainty that the new online shopping platform is not viable. Dai, Forsythe, & Kwon (2014) point out over fifty percent of online shoppers find the experience frustrating and extremely confusing. The introduction of the new online shopping platform might cause uncertainty in the consumers on whether the products will meet their needs, whether the prices offered are the lowest, and whether their online activity is treated as private and confidential by the company.
Managing this risk should focus on enhancing the customer’s trust and enabling them to access the product easily. Sun Pride Stores must make sure that its site’s design is attractive and the layout is simple allowing easy navigation through the website. The checking in and out process, as well as the ordering process, must be simple to understand. Also, the company must address the consumer’s security and privacy fears and Sun Pride must put in place strong security measures through encryption and use of anti-virus software.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Software
Sun Pride Stores Inc. should use an analytical CRM software to track product inquiries and sales through its online shopping platform. Analytical CRM software analyzes the customer’s data and information to discover the buyer behavior patterns. Techniques like data mining are then applied to the collected data to determine the new consumer trends. The analytical CRM software has two key features: it collects all relevant buyer information and stores it in a central data repository. Also, the software uses the database to come up with strategies to improve the relationships with customers and be able to satisfy their unmet needs. The software carries out an analysis of the client, the market, the sales figures, the level of service, and the channel suitability. The main advantage that will accrue to Sun Pride Stores for the use of this software is that it gives the company consumer behavior insights meaning that better service can be offered, the site can be personalized according to individual buyer’s tastes and preferences, and customer loyalty is maintained.
The use of the CRM software to track sales in the global market
The analytical CRM software provides consumer data on the patterns of customer behavior as well as data on the sales figures generated by each client. A significant customer trend is that they want a smooth service with an excellent user interface and Sun Pride Stores should ensure that its site has quality images, the products are accurately described, the prices are visible, and ...