Q

The assignment signifies Non-Store Retail as making sales to the end consumer without any traditional retailing channel

Home, - Non-Store Retail

Non-Store Retail

Introduction

This report is consisted of launching a new non-store retail in Malaysia by an International Organization. The name of the organization will be kept anonymous to assure the confidentiality. The company can be named as XYZ to address it in further report. The report starts with defining what non-store retailing is and it will lead to company’s profile.

Non-Store Retailing

Dash, (2012) defined Non-Stored retailing as making sales to the end consumer without any traditional retailing channel or a physical retail store. There are many examples like eBay, Alibaba, Daraz, Amazon etc. A company is willing to start its operations by opening a new non-store retail in Malaysia.

Company’s Profile

The XYZ company is based on internet selling as there is no physical retail store of the company. They offer different products on their website which consumers can purchase from their website. The products offered to the consumers is kind of a resale from the vendors and products bought from third party sellers associated with the company. The range of products include edibles, furniture, baby products and many more as the company is expanding its departments of products. The company offers the services as well which are related to information technology. The company offers different promotions to its potential customers online as web market is growing rapidly around the world. XYZ company is planning to offer its own products along with its launch in the Asian countries which is a rapidly growing consumer market.

The organization of XYZ company is structures in a way to make collaboration in different components of the company. The businesses involved in e-commerce and have no physical retails, need higher commitment and collaboration in between its departments (Kotler & Armstrong, 2010). The reason is the prompt ordering on software as the order will be confirmed when the finance department will confirm that the payment has been made and on approval it has to be communicated to suppliers and delivery department as well. So, one order requires the collaboration of different departments, to be fulfilled.

The company is structured like making direct relation of CEO with the all the department which includes Finance, IT, Operations, Customer Service and Legal. These departments are directly related to CEO of the company along with having direct information transferring relation with the department heads which include Department heads of Consumer Relations, Web Service, Accounting Officer and Business Development. Marketing is an integral part of the e-commerce business because the policies and products of no-store retailing can be conveyed through different marketing channels.

Marketing Strategies

Marketing Strategies of XYZ company to launch in Malaysia is based on two models to know the internal and external environment of the company. Moreover, other external factors which can affect the entrance of the company and performance after starting operations.

SWOT Analysis

SWOT analysis of the company depicts the picture of internal and external factors influencing company (Whalley, 2010).

Strengths: The multiple products range is one of the major strengths of the company. As consumers can find different products of need at platform. Already set standards and experience in the field will help company to cop up with the challenges which company may face.

Weaknesses: The Weakness which company may have is shrinking margins. Because there are lots of competitors in e-commerce industry, generally around the world and specifically in Malaysia which leads to price wars which leads to shrink the profits.

Opportunities: XYZ company has the opportunity to work with the local suppliers to make the venture cost effective. They can differentiate their offerings in Malaysia according to their culture and beliefs which helps.

Threats: Government regulation in new market will be a greater threat because already present local customers are settled down and know the local trends.

 

 

PESTLE Analysis

The PESTLE analysis comprises of six different factors to analyze the external environment of the company (Rastogi and Trivedi, 2016).

Political: Its always believed that starting a new venture or bringing a company into the country will be affected by political aspects. In case of Malaysia, there are strict regulations and political sentiments involved in making policies. The government made a program which with the name of Entry Point Projects which help international companies to enter in the market and have their operations performed (Export.gov, 2017).

Economical: This is another external factor which can affect the performance and entry of the company. Malaysia is a growing economy and the consumer market is growing day by day as well. So, it attracts new businesses to start their operations in the country. Moreover, XYZ can take an advantage of Economic Transformation Programs launched by the government of Malaysia to support new entrants and growing businesses in the country (Export.gov, 2017).

Social: One of the most important factor which XYZ company has to consider while entering Malaysia is Social and cultural issues. The country based on Muslim population at most, is concerned about their food, dressings and other daily life activities. So, XYZ company will have a challenge to have compliance with their cultures for example in providing Halal food and avoiding prohibited items like alcohol etc.

Technological: The e-commerce business is growing by leaps and bounds around the world and the industry is totally based on technology. Frequent technological innovations and upgradation is necessary to have competitive advantage by having satisfied customers. It creates opportunity for the company to touch the untapped markets and fill the loop holes present in the industry of e-commerce in Malaysia. Government regulations and supports by the government in technological advancement can help XYZ as well to make their operations better.

Legal: The country has made regulations to avoid scam related to online business in the country Because consumers were facing many fraudulent activities. The consumer protection act launched by Malaysia government in 2012 led good results in subsequent year and regulatory body reported 50% decrease in online scam in the country. XYZ company will need to have compliance with the consumer protection act in regards to be operational in the country.

Environmental: The business environment and local environment of the country is changing and accepting the trend of e commerce in the business. The Companies like Lazada, 11 Street, Qoo 10 and many other companies are involved in corporate social responsibility in Malaysia to give an overview of their policies regarding local environment. CSR policies of XYZ company can lead to have competitive advantage as most of the companies around are doing the same and it helps them portraying a better brand image in the minds of potential consumers (Export.gov, 2017).

These two models of analyzing market will lead XYZ company to proceed further for startup of the business and making marketing strategies accordingly.

Business Start-up

There are few strategies which can be adopted on the basis of above marketing models to make marketing plan.

Social Media Marketing: Kaplan and Haenlein (2010) argued Media marketing is helping e-commerce business the most in growing number of customers. It is such a powerful tool to communicate to your potential customers as customers already using internet will tempt them to click ads posted on social media sites and company can achieve its target of bringing traffic.

Search Engine Optimization: Khraim (2015) This is another tool in the technological world to keep your company in front of the eyes of potential customers present on the internet. The creative, original and unique content will keep XYZ company’s ranking higher and more traffic can be brought to the platform in Malaysia.

Surveys: Surveys are the best tool to conduct research for the required products in the market. Third parties can also be hired from local Malaysian market who is aware of the environmental and social position, to carry out research on behalf of XYZ.

Business opportunity:

Customer relations is the biggest tool to develop their loyalty and avail business opportunities. In the world of e-commerce customer relations are more important than more transactions because retained customers are the key to long term success for the customers. According to a survey, 81% of the online customers do surveys before shopping on a certain platform. 60% of the customers read product reviews before making those purchases. So, it’s better to keep the customers and make them loyal once they get attracted to your platform and make them loyal. According to another survey it costs five times higher to attract a new customer them retaining a loyal customer (Sadikov, 2016).

The customer relation can be developed in e-commerce industry of Malaysia by giving services to the customers and making their purchases hassle free. The major source of developing customer’s relation is through developing a purchasing application for mobile and linking them with different social media channels and payment options available in Malaysia. The app will keep them logged in and once a satisfied customer does not go to other platforms because of trust developed with successful purchase and efficient delivery with the easy payment method. So, it can be concluded as keeping all the factor discussed in SWOT and PESTLE, in consideration will lead company to give services according to the potential customers of Malaysia to develop stronger customer’s relationship.

Addressing the Challenges

There is a policy of creating brand, brand equity and product development to address the challenges which XYZ may face while entering into the market of Malaysia. Some actions can be taken for the purpose.

USP: Bobrov, (2016) described Brand recognition can be done by creating Unique Selling Proposition or USP of the company. It searches for gaps in the market to tap that untouched segment. In case of Malaysia, XYZ can create USP by brining innovation to the technology and giving easier access to their products by giving simpler options to the people who are not that much aware of the technology. The customers go to physical stores can be a best gap to cover by XYZ. Target those customers and bring them to your platform by positioning your product as easy accessible to the customers with different choices of shopping, return policies and payment options.

Listen and only Listen: According to the recent researches, its most difficult to get audience’s attention for just few seconds. If the customer takes spends enough time on your website then technological team should be proactive in engaging them. Listening to the customer needs and reminding them of your existence will lead to better result. Researches also concluded that in world of e-commerce, customers who get engaged from time to time have more potential to be some loyal customers (Mullen, 1990)

Mass and Personal Communication

Das, Kumar, Das, and Burnwal, (2013) argued There are different ways of managing mass and personal communication. As companies in e-commerce are not physically present, so communication mean is the source to interact to the customers. The combination of different mediums need to be used by XYZ to make an effective communication plan

Advertising: Advertising is the best and most useful way of communicating to the masses for the purpose of marketing. The advertising of different types like ATL and BTL to target customers of different niches according to their needs and sentiments. Although this is an expensive way of communication but a most effective one as well as it portrays an image of the company as a larger entity (Bakshy, Eckles, Yan and Rosenn, 2012).

Pre and Post Sales Communication: The personal communication can be done by different means like emailing, live chatting, blogging, and messaging etc. The companies do mass and personal communication before sales through different channels but post sales services are only associated to the personal level of customers who made purchases. Communicating after sales gives a signal to the customers that company is willing to develop a relationship rather than making one time sales to the customer. This post sales communication lead to make loyal customers which are considered to be a biggest asset of the company. XYZ can use their resources to apply these communication techniques to different segments according to their potential customers (Rafiq, Fulford, and Lu, 2013).

Leave a comment


Captcha

Related :-