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The business was located inside Clamp Junction station in London looking after the coal market and the passing traffic from am to 1 1 pm daily operating a two shift pattern of work. There were two managers and six sales assistants in total. Essentials was a supermarket selling fruits and vegetables, dairy products, frozen foods of different variety, grocery and off license and freshly ground coffee from all over the world. In addition to all these we were also selling different flavors of ice cream, bespoke chocolates and an assortment of greeting cards.
Our purpose was to satisfy the customers’ needs and expectations by providing them with most of the goods hey want and an excellent service without having to go to a major supermarket on their way to and from work. My analysis of the marketing of ‘Essentials’ using concepts from two study sessions of Book 4. My analysis will be based on one concept from study session 1 and one concept from study session 4. The UK Chartered Institute of Marketing defines marketing in a way which focuses on addressing customer needs which is exactly in line with our philosophy at Essentials.
Marketing is the management process which identifies, anticipates and supplies customer requirements efficiently and profitably. Quoted in Blithe, 2001, p. 11). The American Marketing Association (2004) also defines marketing as an organizational function and a set of processes for creating, communicating, and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships In ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders.
Essentials’ philosophy was the marketing orientation concept whereby a business takes the outside-in approach, starting with a thorough assessment of the needs and expectations of buyers and setting out to fulfill those needs and expectations in order to attract customers. From the outset, Essentials knew the needs of Its potential customers and positioned Itself to fulfill these needs. The customers are commuters getting on and off the train and In need of different items varying from fruits and vegetables to a pint of milk , they were able to get these from Essentials without having to go too far a distance after getting off their trains.
There are three other forms of business orientations: product orientation, production orientation and selling orientation but they all adopt an inside-out approach unlike a marketing orientation. My second concept is the racketing mix concept. A marketing mix Is a planned mix of the four As within a can be described as a bundle of benefits. This means it is not usually the actual product itself which is important to customers but what it will do for them. A product might also be an intangible item called a service.
Essentials’ sells freshly ground coffee which delivers the value of quenching a customer’s thirst and also offers customers the convenience of a free Wi-If, ice cream and coffee mugs. (Education- Portal. Com n. D. ). Place or physical distribution is the location where the product or revive is available for purchase such as actual physical place or a website. Essentials’ is located inside a busy train station, very convenient for the customers. ‘Essentials’ promotes the value of its products by placing a billboard outside the shop to tell the customers about special offers such as different kinds of wines from all over the world.
Price is the overall sacrifice a consumer is willing to make to acquire a specific product or service. This includes the time and effort a consumer sacrifices for the product or service. A discussion of the ethical implications of the marketing of Essentials. Business ethics determine a company’s everyday conduct. Ethics can be taught in business by providing training to employees to develop a personal code of ethical conduct. Training sessions can be created to show employees the appropriate way to act in a business environment. (Education- Portal. Com n. D. ).
All the staff at ‘Essentials ‘ are well trained to develop a code of conduct appropriate for the business. There are rules and guidelines to follow; members of staff are not supposed to accept gifts from customers. The development of trust, integrity, loyalty and good business habits are always encouraged among Taft members. Pricing is an area of the marketing mix where irresponsible and unethical actions are often found (Crane and Matter, 2004). Unethical pricing practice occurs because of the power differences that often exist between producers and consumers. Essentials’ is able to charge a slightly higher price than major supermarkets because of the convenience it offers its customers. Marketing communications is an area where marketers have been criticized for a great number of irresponsible and unethical practices (Smith and Squelch, 1993). The important issue is that marketers should not deceive potential customers or make misleading claims about any aspects of the marketing mix. ‘Essentials’ does not deceive its customers. A discussion about what the marketers of Essentials could learn from my description and analysis.
In conclusion the marketing practitioners at Essentials could improve on their efforts by practicing market segmentation more thoroughly. The customers should be grouped according to the differences in their needs and behavior. This is called segmentation and can be accomplished by carrying out a survey of the passing traffic in front of the shop. This is necessary because all buyers in a market rarely have exactly the same needs and expectations. It is possible to identify smaller subgroups of buyers which are more homogeneous in terms of their needs and expectations.
Lastly it will be easier to satisfy the needs and expectations of these smaller more homogeneous subgroups of buyers than those of the entire heterogeneous market. After dividing the market into segments, the business can then decide on how best to serve each segment or which segment to stop serving. Improved upon. Efforts should be made to bring more awareness about the business n the internet. Lastly, prices should be made more comparable in order not to drive the customers away.