Target Segment Benefits and Attractiveness

This essay identifies and analyzes the target segment and attractiveness of a newly opened vegan cake shop called Anytime cakes in London. It discusses geographic, demographic, behavioral, and psychographic segmentation strategies to target the market.

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Target segment benefits and attractiveness

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Target Segment Benefits and Attractiveness
As opined by Snieska and Zykiene (2015), the target market benefits and attractiveness suggests
that it would be difficult for a company to target the world at large. Therefore, it is important to
identify the sector which the company wants to target and accordingly segment the market. The
following essay is to identify and analyze the target segment and attractiveness of a newly
opened vegan cake shop called Anytime cakes in London.
Geographic Segmentation
As suggested by Beheshtian-Ardakani, Fathian and Gholamian (2018), geographic segmentation
will include region and population density of London. Anytime cakes will serve in London
market. The cake shop will target customers from the London region by estimating the
population from the latest census. Also, the cake shop will plan to put up an open online order
entry system with the help of delivery partners. This will help to serve vegan custom cakes and
other vegan made products to remote locations also. Since vegan products are highly in demand
among customers, Anytime cake shop aims to deliver these products, either in the Suburban
community of London serving the local residents or locations outside the geographical location.
As the success of the cake shop will increase, it will slowly expand to wide range of locations.
Demographic Segmentation
As opined by Green and Warren (2019), the demographic segmentation include the age, gender
and income status of the target customers. Since there is a rise among people with regards to use
of vegan products, the cake shop will target people between the ages of 19 to 40. Anytime cakes
will also focus on the middle and upper income markets since they consume the majority of
vegan products. The younger customers will also be a suitable target since many families opt
dairy free products. As suggested in the report of Mintel (2018), the younger generation is
consuming lesser meat-products and dairy products. Depending upon the suburban location,
Anytime cake shop will keep the product mix and pricing strategy at an optimum level. The
competition is high in the vegan cake market, where famous cake shops like Ms. Cupcake and
Rubys of London has multiple options and a good hold over the market.
Behavioral Segmentation

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Cakes are mostly loved by people of any age group and therefore Anytime cakes aims at
providing wide range of vegan products for its customers. Cakes are purchased for any and every
occasion. Therefore, the target can be occasion oriented. By the end of 2018, it was estimated
that more than 56% of the population are preferring vegan meals rather than products containing
eggs, dairy or meat (Mintel, 2018). This usage frequency will help Anytime cake shop to analyze
the customers and accordingly cater to their needs. The cake shop will focus on improving its
brand image through its marketing and advertising efforts. Accordingly, as the business
increases, the cake shop will focus on retaining who prefer vegan cakes and other products.
There are customers in the London market who would prefer opting for products that would give
maximum benefit to them. In this case, customers will derive maximum benefit from the vegan
cakes which would support their specific diet requirements.
Psychographic Segmentation
As per Hardcastle and Hagger (2016), the psychographic segmentation will focus on
understanding the consumer attitudes and perceptions. There are several customers who believe
in the importance of specific diet foods, people with specific allergies from dairy products,
people preferring gluten-free products. Therefore, Anytime cake shops aims to cater to the needs
of such customers by offering high-quality vegan products such as vegan cakes, vegan breads
and rolls. Apart from that, the target market will include mostly people who are diet conscious
and have common food allergies. Since, most of the cafes do not cater to the needs of the specific
requirements of customers, Anytime cake shop will focus on providing high-fiber diets.
Customers who prefer buying high quality products would also prefer a comforting atmosphere
that would also provide a unique experience to the customers.
Reflection
According to the feedback provided by the professor, the previous research conducted on the
topic was very little and inadequate which also lacked evidence of understanding and did not
apply relevant theories to it. Along with that, it lacked the basic and important key points of
market segmentation for a new company. Although the previous work was descriptive but did
not mention about demographic, Geographic, psychographic and behavioral segmentation of the
UK market. The business plan for the vegan cake shop seeks to identify the impact of market
segmentation on the cake shop. Initially, I could not prepare a detailed analysis and critical

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evaluation of the target market but in the solution, a proper analysis of the market has been
developed. The previous research lacked the use of theories of Mullins seven domains model
which includes target segment benefits and attractiveness as an important category. Based on the
previous research, there was no sufficient support materials which would help to justify the topic
selected and focus on the requirements. The entire essay should have been more justified and
segregated in to different sub parts like the target market segmentation. This would have helped
to understand the different target markets that would be suitable for opening a new business in
the UK market. The initial work should have started with introducing the concept of target
segment benefits and attractiveness and then the target market segments namely Geographic,
demographic, behavioral and psychographic segmentation should have been mentioned to
understand the UK market better. The previous search should have focused on identifying the
specific age group, and specific requirements of the UK customers. This is highly important
because, when Anytime cake shop is focusing on providing vegan cakes to its customers, it
should also identify the specific requirements such as customers may prefer a gluten free diet,
whereas some might prefer dairy free products. Apart from that, the previous research has
highlighted more the market at large rather than specifying on the UK market.
However, I would like to improve my knowledge on different ways of market segmentation, and
how customers are to be targeted as per the segmented market. This will not only provide me
with an idea on my wider reading in this area, make me aware of the specific requirements while
writing these kinds of essays. I would also like to improve enhanced use of academic and
professional links to support the research conducted on the specified topic. This is not only help
me to have clarity in my work but also help to understand the market in depth. I would prefer
using current and relevant data to full proof the work conducted. Along with that, I would like to
utilize the knowledge gained from the feedback of my professor to carry on such research in near
future. The feedback was very insightful and helped me to derive a better conclusion for my
current research. I would also wish my professor to guide me when in difficulty.

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Reference List
Beheshtian-Ardakani, A., Fathian, M. and Gholamian, M., 2018. A novel model for product
bundling and direct marketing in e-commerce based on market segmentation. Decision Science
Letters, 7(1), pp.39-54.
Green, M.C.K. and Warren, J., 2019. Global marketing. 4th ed. London, UK: Pearson.
Hardcastle, S.J. and Hagger, M.S., 2016. Psychographic profiling for effective health behavior
change interventions. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, p.1988.
Snieska, V. and Zykiene, I., 2015. City attractiveness for investment: characteristics and
underlying factors. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 213, pp.48-54.
Mintel, 2018. More Than Half of All Meat-Free New Product Launches in the UK carried a
Vegan Claim In 2017. [online] Available at: <https://www.mintel.com/press-centre/food-and-
drink> [Accessed 9 April 2019]