Executive Summary
Planning for a business is critical towards laying the foundation for success. Thus, it is imperative for a proposed business to have a comprehensive plan that captures the busy ideas and its implementation. This explicit business plan will explore the above elements as a prerequisite for the successful establishment and sustainability of the Edmond Market Online Delivery business which will be located in Edmonton, AB, Canada.
The business targets majorly customers who do not have time to do their own shopping. The business will offer excellent customer shopping services, flexible work environment for employees as well as the skills applied in operations. In addition, the business will provide a variety of services to customers under one roof as well as extending the business operation hours since the online shopping support business does not have limitation on when customers can place shopping request. The firm will also employ highly proficient personnel to offer the various shopping services to the online customers upon placing their orders. Since the business targets to introduce unique online shopping support services, it will not face much competition since most of the businesses in the region do not have affordable specialized services the business promises. The business is likely to breakeven within six months since the unique services will form part of its competitive advantage.
Industry Analysis
The market size for the online shopping support in Canada is estimated to be worth more than two billion dollars. The company targets to capture 25% of this market within the first years of operation since competition are still not very stiff. Since this type of business is relatively new in Canada, the Edmond Market Online Delivery business will be among the first key players and may reap the benefits of being the market leader within the online shopping support sector (Dlabay, Burrow, & Kleindl, 2008).
Market Analysis
Market dynamics determine effective sales and public awareness to develop product knowledge to clients in the Edmonton region in Canada. Besides, the plan will offer a variety of different distributions channels that will be vital in the attraction of new customers, especially from the low and high economic ends. The Canadian market is strategically located and can offer the Edmond Market Online Delivery business series of services such as reliable internet connection, proper infrastructure, and relatively big target market base (Dlabay, Burrow, & Kleindl, 2008).
Target Market / Customer Profiles
The target market for the Edmond Market Online Delivery business will mainly consist of anyone who is too busy to carry out physical shopping in the supermarkets around Edmonton. However, the customers are classified as low economic end consumers since the business will offer affordable shopping support services depending on the distance to be covered and location of the client. Fortunately, the low economic consumer segment forms the majority of the residents of the Edmonton area. In essence, the Edmond Market Online Delivery business will target individuals who can afford to pay at least $10 fee per shopping.
Competitive Analysis
The Edmond Market Online Delivery business is strategically located to benefit from the expansive target market. Reflectively, this type of business has low operational costs and high returns. The success is directly proportional to the level of trust and loyalty that customer have on the establishment. Since this business plans to establish a strong business network and reliable shopping support services to its online customers, there are high chances of survival and business sustainability within the Edmonton region in Canada. Besides, the business has the potential of growth beyond this region. In addition, the business may benefit from its unique online shopping support, especially when it offers the most competitive prices since it will have no serious competitors (Dlabay, Burrow, & Kleindl, 2008).
Competitive Advantage of Products and Services
Due to a fair pricing mechanism for the online shopping support and delivery, competition factors will positively skew to the advantage of the online shopping support product proposed by the Edmond Market Online Delivery business. With competitive prices for its products and uncompromised trust and reliability of services, this strategy will have the capability of making the company’s operations in Edmonton economically feasible and sustainable, while at the same time winning a greater percentage of the market share. To enhance the achievement of the same, the company will introduce different price policies which in return will attract various types of clients thus creating new market segments (Dlabay, Burrow, & Kleindl, 2008).
Image of Products/Services
The Edmond Market Online Delivery business will adopt multiple branding strategies to ensure that customers are in a position to distinguish each product segment to avoid confusing when making online shopping orders. For instance, the business will clearly indicate its scope of operations and type of shopping services for each package offered to customers. The business’ product multi-branding as a positioning strategy will enable it to survive competition. Besides, the business will strive balance the elements of intangibility, inseparability, and heterogeneity in the 4Ps of its market mix due to improved product visibility for each target segment (Dlabay, Burrow, & Kleindl, 2008).
Product/Service Strategies
The Edmond Market Online Delivery business’ product line objective will be to provide quality and reliable shopping services at the convenience of the clients. The services offered by the business will include online payment, online purchasing order, and online shopping consultancy. This will ensure that the business has a product or service to any one and expand to other regions due to its customer-centricity business model (Dlabay, Burrow, & Kleindl, 2008).
Pricing Strategies
The Edmond Market Online Delivery business will use the ‘good, better, best’ pricing strategy comprising of discounts for every shopping delivery during the period of market entry, depending on the location and quantity of the shopping to be delivered. Therefore, the business will be able attract customers from the low and upper economic end market segments to achieve the aim of quantity maximization by increasing number of deliveries each day of operation (Dlabay, Burrow, & Kleindl, 2008).
Location/Distribution Strategies
The Edmond Market Online Delivery business will be located along the strategic street within the Edmonton region. The business will establish a single location of operation and a reliable physical address to win the trust of potential customers, despite the proposal to adopt the online business model (Dlabay, Burrow, & Kleindl, 2008).
Promotional Strategies/Tactics
The business will adopt a flexible and proactive advertisements meant to appeal to each customer segment. Besides, the business will have series of after sales services such as discounts, coupons, and rewards to customers who make the highest number of monthly shopping orders. The business will also uses direct, online and database marketing through its Business-to-Consumer (B2C) e-commerce model (Dlabay, Burrow, & Kleindl, 2008).
Reference
Dlabay, L., Burrow, J., & Kleindl, B. (2008). Introduction to business (7th ed.). Alabama, Al: Cangage Learning. Web.