Sun's Florist - Company's SWOT Analysis, E-Marketing Planning Strategy, and Objective - Example

E-MARKETING PLAN Name: Institution: Subject: Date: Introduction Sun's Florist is one of the leading flower companies in Australia .The business is located in Kogarah Town Centre, Kogarah, NSW. It is a privately owned company that operates from 8am to 8pm even days a week. The company has managed to develop a good relationship with the customers throughout Sydney and has been able to oversee successful events in most famous venues. Most of the city’s top hotels use product and services from Sun's Florist. They recommend their client to use different products and services from the leading flower shop in Sydney. The company is positioned to oversee its growth into the near future with high-quality customer services and quality product at a relatively lower price compared to other companies. Delivering products and services as per the required standard of quality is one of the leading priorities of the company. The flower industry- where Sun's Florist operates- has been exceptionally on the rise due to the significant impact of online floral business. The improvement of Internet accessibility throughout the world has yielded a fast growth in online business activities and transactions. This has been facilitated by software that has been developed by a private developer in order to make online business easier and efficient. Due to the availability of this software it has given rise to electronic marketing popularly known as E-marketing. The significant rise in E-marketing has prompted many businesses develop strategies of integrating it with the initial marketing strategies in order to be competitive in the world economy (Frost & Strauss, 2013). With a well-developed E-marketing plan, Sun’s Florist can be able to deploy this plan with the existing marketing plan. Thus, the aim of this writing will be to establish an E-marketing plan for Sun's Florist design company. Situation Analysis Environmental analysis This is with respect to the legal environment; the subsidies provided by the government to the growing industries in Sidney City will enable the company to develop its online business. The flower industry is fast growing due to its expansion of services and products ranging from flower deliveries to event arrangements I.e. weddings. The funds were introduced to enable small growing industries to expand their economic impact since most middle-income earners participate in this industry. But with the development of E-marketing plan for the company it will be able to expand its products and services and the government support when withdrawn would not affect the industry. The funding will allow the company to allocate other finances to other sectors for the development of the industry at large. This is significant since the company will be in a position to raise sufficient income to support the economy of middle-level income earners. The government policy favors the growth of Sun's Florist industry in Sidney since the local government does not highly tax them. This is an opportunity as far as E-marketing is concerned in the floral industry. In relation to technological environment, internet access has been significantly spread worldwide for the last few years. The use of social media has increased among all age groups worldwide. Research has shown that most people nowadays use social media to get information about trending business activities, products and services. Social media which are popularly known are Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Google Plus, etc. It has been postulated that 75% of customers access information about flowers through the social media mentioned above. This will enable the Sun's Florist design company to incorporate the use of social in its marketing of the services and products they offer (Armstrong et al. 2014). Another important technological factor in product marketing through E-marketing is the use of non-desktop (tablets) and smartphones devices. There has been a gradual shift in the use of desktop devices to the non-desktop device in recent years leading to increased time for access to the Internet by many people worldwide. This is also another important opportunity for the company to explore the access of internet by most consumers. It will facilitate the E-marketing of the products of the floral industry that is inclusive of Sun's Florist design. With regards to economic factors, the consumers of the company’s products as per the postulation of research which was targeted at the number of leading hotels using products and services from Sun's Florist and design. 60% of the hotels in Sidney use products from Sun's Florist. The economic growth rate of most users of the company’s products is relatively high comparing to the previous years. The growth of hospitality and tourism sector is an increase in the business opportunity of the company. The only threat is the fact that recently there has been a small increase in inflation rate due to the effects of competition from large economies of some Asian nations. In terms of competitive environment, Sun's Florist is located in a region where there are more than ten other companies that offer the same services. Companies such as The Sun Valley Group, INC and Sun Valley Floral Farms are among the competitors which Sun's Florist design is facing. Both of these companies have active web addresses and platforms which a well-developed in terms of web design. The opportunity for the Sun's Florist is the fact that the two companies do not offer online sales of their products. They have not developed an online payment system. Development of an E-marketing plan to incorporate online payment and sale will give the company an edge. The other competitors do not offer a wider range of products and services as compared to the Sun's Florist. Sun's Florist also offers their products and services at relatively cheap prices in comparison to the other competitors. This will give an edge to the company over their competitors, and this has been an opportunity for the company in the past few years. The only threat as far as competition is concerned is the fact that The Sun Valley Group, Inc offers their services 24 hours a day and they really gain a lot from this since most parties in New York are held past 8pm which is the end of operating hours for Sun's Florist (Best, 2014). SWOT analysis This is the analysis of the performance of the company’s products it the market. The strengths of the company’s products and services over the rest of the other companies are also analyzed. The weaknesses of the company’s product due to the challenges faced by the company are also analyzed. The opportunities those are available for the company in the market. And lastly the threats faced by the company in the market. SWOT analysis is presented in the table below. Strengths Weakness Opportunities threats Strong customer service relation. Under-utilization of the company’s website Recent popularity of flower usage in wider range of events The location of the company may lead to lower space for expansion in the near future. A Wider range of services. A few opening hours Growing use of the social media by consumers A Time limit of the company operation. Recommendation from leading hotels in Sidney. Low supply of the flowers comparing to growing demand recently. Technological advancement in online business i.e. e-payment A Larger base of employees and modern equipment. Lower exploration of internet services by other competitors Partnership with an organization that support community projects. Utilization of E-commerce earlier than the rest of the floral companies. Timely deliveries. Integrated E-marketing with delivery services to improve efficient. Relatively cheap prices of flowers. With the development of the E-marketing plan, the company will be able to eliminate some of the weaknesses concerning the website. It will also strengthen the base of the company’s customers (Sargeant & Jay, 2014). E-marketing plan will enable the company to market its products and increase its customers internationally and locally. E-marketing planning strategy Segmentation and targeting With respect to geographic segmentation, the target market of the E-marketing plan will not have any restriction in terms of the geographic location. This due to the availability of internet services in almost all regions of the world. Many people in the present time are able to access internet services from different locations anywhere in Australia. Reports show that over 40 % of the world wide middle-income earners population can access internet services, and online transactions are gaining momentum day by day. In terms of demographic segmentation, the target group is the middle-income earners who have responsibilities such as family decision-making. The target population is also considering all genders and culture. To be more specific, the target market is the ages between 15 – 65 years of age. This is a group that well-versed with internet access. The digital migration in most countries will favor the E-marketing plan strategy. The present generation is referred to as digital generation due to their participation in online activities, sophistication and habits (Hollensen, 2015). As of physiographic segmentation, the target market is middle-level income earners who are responsible for decision-making in their families. This is people who are responsible for the organization of the family celebrations and hotel reservations for their families. They are the group of people is actively participating in social media and internet access. This guarantees the company of its involvement in E-marketing as a success since this kind of marketing is cost efficient and effective. The use of social networks by this group facilitates the spread of the company’s products since they will be able to share with their friends the experience encountered in doing business with Sun's Florist. With respect to the behavioral segmentation, this can group consumers in terms of the occasion at which the customers are experiencing especially occasions like holidays. The Sun's Florist Company will try to promote the use of flowers on such occasions. Also grouping the consumers in terms of loyalty to the usage of the company’s products is a form of behavioral segmentation. A significant form of behavioral segmentation is the benefits segmentation. This tries analyze the benefits the customers can get from using the products offered by the company. In terms of usage, the target market is the customers who are already using the products and services of the company and also those that are new to the use of the company’s products and services. This is clients who use smartphones and tablets as the rising technology in the market (Jeston & Nelis, 2014). Differentiation This E-marketing plan tries to attain service differentiation and site atmospheric differentiation. Sun's Florist being a company recognized for its efficient customer delivery service and customer relation. This will enable the business to integrate their good customer service relation into the E-marketing plan (Vorhies & Rao, 2015). On the site atmospheric differentiation, the company should be able to use available resources in implementing the development of social media pages and active web address. These factors will enable the company to be a recognized and the credibility in online floral sales and delivery. Positioning In terms of positioning the company will be targeting to be a specialized firm that is recognized for its efforts in online service delivery. This will be attained through a strong customer service and active participation in internet activities. E-marketing objective The aims of this E-marketing plan are to be achieved within a period of two years (2015-2016). These objectives are; to increase customer online customer base by 15%, increase and maintain online sales by 12%, increase the popularity of the company by 18%. E-marketing strategy In case of Product strategies, the E-marketing will oversee the improvement of the initial product strategies. This will cover the efficient use of existing website in e-commerce and e-payment activities. This will also cover the use of existing web address by making it more appealing to the customers and to offer quick feedback to customer queries. This can be achieved through the use of online chat bots installed in the website. The website should also be designed in a way so as to accommodate non-desktop users (smartphones and tablets). With respect to pricing strategy, this E-marketing will involve the utilization of promotional pricing strategy. This is to encourage customers to make online purchase of products and services for a given period so as to get a different price from the one in another period. Segmented pricing also enables the company to gain customers from different age groups since the company can quote a different price for age below 20 years and that of above 20 years. This can also be used in encouraging customers to purchase products at a particular time by changing the price at other times or giving discounts for purchases made at the particular time (Dawson, 2014). With the use of direct distribution model, distribution strategy will be convenient to use since the customers will be able to purchase flowers and other services through the E-commerce platform. Buyers will be able to get their deliveries after they pay for them through the website. The promotional strategy will be achieved through the use of the website and social media since they are cheap means of product promotion. Social media accounts would be used to post attractive flowers to lure customers to the company’s products. Twitter account can be used to facilitate customer interaction and answering queries. The use of Google AdWord will significantly also improve the popularity of the company. This will enable the search of company’s products easy through Google. Implementation plan strategy description responsibility schedule product 1. Utilization of current E-Marketing brand & domain name. 2. Installing chat bots. 3. Accommodation of tablet and smartphone users. Ensure efficient access to products and services through the website. start June 2015 Price 1. Promotional pricing 2. Segmented pricing To facilitate acquisition of new customers (2015-2017) distribution 1. Use of direct distribution strategy. To facilitate convenient reaching of transactions between the company and customer 2015-2017 promotion 1. Google AdWord 2. Social media (Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram) For the marketing of the products of the company 2015-2017 Evaluation and budget Strategy Description Evaluation Criteria for the End of 2 Year Plan Budget product 1. Utilization of current E-Marketing brand & domain name. 2. Installing chat bots. 3. Accommodation of tablet and smartphone users. Increase the number of users by 20% 30 clients to be served every second using chat bot $20,000 once off & $150 / month for web maintenance Price 1. Promotional pricing 2. Segmented pricing Online operating profit level reached: 10% - excellent performance - distribution 1. Use of direct distribution strategy. clients will be delivered with their products with an hour after payment - promotion 1. Google AdWord 2. Social media (Twitter, Facebook and Instagram) Each AdWord created is clicked by at least 100 people each month This will increase website access by 30 Facebook : page likes must reach at least 500 Twitter : reach at least 300 followers Instagram : reach at least 300 followers with average 75 likes for each pictures posted $ 150 each month. Bibliography Frost, R., & Strauss, J. (2013). e-Marketing. Pearson Higher Ed. Best, R. J. (2014). Market-based management. Pearson. Hollensen, S. (2015). Marketing management: A relationship approach. Pearson Education. 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