Accent Group Limited's Business Model for Online Sports Footwear Sales

This study analyzes the business model of Accent Group Limited for selling high quality sports footwear through an online app. The study recommends establishing transparent communication, adding more secured gateways for online payments, and providing high quality products and on-time delivery services to customers.

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Executive Summary
Accent Group Limited offers the high quality sports footwear from diverse brands. The current
internet-driven world has the considerable influence on the customers’ purchasing decision
making process. The customers can select any of the option as per their queries and gather the
necessary information prior to place any order. The product specifications would be included in
this app for providing the best experience. The motto of the company is to offer the best quality
products and services to the customers and maintain a commendable relationship to gain their
loyalty. The study develops the knowledge about the specific recommendations for the
betterment of the services.

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Table of Contents
1.0 Introduction................................................................................................................................3
1.1 Business Model..........................................................................................................................3
A. Building Blocks..........................................................................................................................3
B. Interrelationships.........................................................................................................................7
1.2 Critical Success Factor..............................................................................................................8
1.3 Downside Risks.........................................................................................................................9
1.4 Business Model Changes...........................................................................................................9
1.5 Conclusion.................................................................................................................................9
1.6 Recommendation.....................................................................................................................10
References......................................................................................................................................11
Appendix........................................................................................................................................13

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1.0 Introduction
Accent Group Limited has captured the leading position in retail and distribution industry
of the lifestyle footwear. The 420 stores across 10 different retail banners are involved with the
exclusive distribution rights that are serving almost 10 international brands across New Zealand
and Australia. Some of these major brands are Mererll, Podium Sports, The Athlete’s Foot,
Platypus Shoes, Dr. Martens. Sperry Top-Sider, and many more (Accentgr.com.au. 2018). The
company maintains the uniqueness to deliver the best value propositions to the customers.
However, considering the current pace in the changing needs, the company has decided to use
the internet sources to develop their online services (Accentgroup.org. 2018). The customers can
get access to the online products and customer services through their mobile devices. The study
will thus develop the complete understanding of the business model to analyze the product
feasibility.
1.1 Business Model
Accent Group Limited offers the high quality sports footwear from diverse brands. The
current internet-driven world has the considerable influence on the customers’ purchasing
decision making process. The official app of the company would provide the opportunity to get
access through the mobile device for ordering any product, gathering information about the
product specifications, and receiving the relevant customer service. The further study would
present the idea about the business model of the company to measure service feasibility.
A. Building Blocks
 Customer Segment

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Customer segment defines the target customers who are interested to purchase the offered
products and services (Joyce & Paquin, 2016). The customer segment for launching this online
app includes the athletes, members of sports clubs, and customers from different age group.
People who are fond of using the fast online shopping can receive the opportunity to order for
their products through this app. The athletes and the other customers who would like to purchase
the high quality and comfortable sports shoes will be able to find the best offers in this app.
Those who have the tendency to search for specifications prior to make the purchase decision
can also get the access to the necessary details through this app.
 Key Partners
Establishing the partnerships is necessary to provide the appropriate service or products to
the customers (Zolnowski, Weiß & Bohmann, 2014). The key partners of the company for
launching this app will be the local suppliers for the delivery purpose and the referral websites
for promoting the app. The website partners would promote the app through the push up
notifications to draw the attention of the customers. The extra notifications would be popped up
and take the customer directly to the official sites. The local suppliers would be partnering up
with the company to deliver the orders within the stipulated time.
 Value Propositions
The motto of this app is to provide the convenient shopping experience and the resolve the
queries of the customers. The app introduces the customized segments that will take the
customers to the section related to their queries. This unique facility would help them to gather
knowledge about the relevant specifications (Vargas, 2015). The customers would ensure the

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value proposition for the online services that can satisfy the needs of the customers and develop
the strengthened competitive position.
 Key Activities
The app consists of diverse activities according to the needs and preferences of the
customers. The app includes different sections for online shopping, order placements, online
transactions, feedback, and customer service. The customers can select any of the option as per
their queries and gather the necessary information prior to place any order. The product
specifications would be included in this app for providing the best experience. The customers
can place their orders by clicking on few easier steps. The secure online transaction gateway is
used to protect the confidentially of the online payments (Caetano et al., 2017). The customers
can also provide their feedbacks sharing their experiences. In case of gathering information or
resolving any queries, the customers can opt for the online customer service option and gather
the necessary information from the executives.
 Channels
The online shopping facilities through app can be accessed from different channels like
mobile devices, websites, and the computer devices. The customers can get the easier access by
checking the URL of the websites.
 Revenue Streams
Prior to take any further steps to formulate any online shopping app, it is essential for the
company to identify the major revenue sources. It is noticeable that the app maintains the on-

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time delivery services of the footwear. Therefore, the online delivery of the products generates
the revenues mostly from their online delivery services.
 Cost Structure
The cost is divided into several segments like website software, transportation cost,
distribution services, salaries of the associated staffs, anti-virus software, and so on. The budget
is presented below:
Expenses Cost
Computers and entire set up $50,000 (Assumed)
Salary of the executives $1,30,000 (Assumed)
Paid antivirus and malware services $10,000 (Assumed)
Transportation cost $80,000 (Assumed)
Distribution Services $25,000 (Assumed)
Other expenses (Including rent and other
commodities)
$30,000 (Assumed)
Total $3,25,000 (Approx)
Table 1: Cost Structure
(Source: Created by the author)
 Key Resources
The business requires the strengthened IT infrastructure, human resources, transportation
facilities, and adequate capital resources. The complete support of these specific resources would
help in developing the business in a success and sequential way.

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 Customer Relationship
The maintenance of the customer relationship is one of the most important segments to be
considered in promoting this app. It is noticeable that the positive ‘word of mouth’ creates the
significant business opportunities for the company by gathering the supports of maximum
number of the customers (Plenter et al., 2017). Therefore, it is important to establish the better
customer relationships by providing them the greater services and products as per their
convenience. This app enables the greater customer relationship by maintaining a transparent
communication. The customers can always opt for the online chat with the service executives. In
case of resolving any service related queries, they can approach the customer service executives
any point of time. Moreover, the app also provides the information about the specific segments
of the products and delivery details. The discounts are also available for the premium customers.
B. Interrelationships
The business model canvas represents the list of the segments that are interrelated to each
other. The motto of the company is to offer the best quality products and services to the
customers and maintain a commendable relationship to gain their loyalty. The customer
segments help the company to reach to the right customers through different online sites
(Jackson, Scott & Schwagler, 2015). Delivering the most convenient products and helping them
though best customer service would be beneficial for maintaining the long term sustainability.
The key partners help in reaching out to the customers and develop the most suitable services.
This segment is important since the company draws the attention of the targeted customers and
offers them the best experience (Jenkins & Fife, 2016). The value propositions of the products
determine the development of the competitive advantage by offering the value added services.

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The customized segment would help the customers to select the preferred segments and fulfill
their queries. The maintenance of the sequential activities will divide the customer preferences
into different segments. The customers need to select the customized option to access the right
location and resolve their queries. The company observes the main revenue streams in delivering
the orders within the scheduled time. A complete budget preparation helps in understanding the
expenses that are needed to be taken into account (Spieth, Schneckenberg & Ricart, 2014). This
complete budget would also provide the knowledge regarding the profit level. The company
requires gaining ideas about necessary resources that are to be utilized for developing the entire
set up. The effective customer relationship is necessary for developing the long term
sustainability of the company. Providing the required benefits and maintaining the
communicational transparency with the customers would be beneficial enough to generate more
profits and secure the competitive position.
1.2 Critical Success Factor
The company requires concentrating on the most valuable segments to ensure the critical
success factors (Terrenghi et al., 2017). It is noticeable that meeting the high quality parameter of
the product would generate the customer satisfaction. However, along with such segment, the
company can ensure the greater customer relationship through on-time delivery and greater
communication scope with the service executives as the critical success factors. Once the
customers would receive the solutions for their queries, it will generate the sense of reliability
and enhance the customer loyalty. Eventually, these segments would ensure success for a longer
time.

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1.3 Downside Risks
One of the major downside risks that the company can encounter is the security of the
transaction gateway. The transactional gateways require the confidential details of the
employees. The lack of adequate malware software and other software protection security can
encounter the risks of data breaching. The continuous flow of the information is necessary in
such cases for protecting the data of the online customers. The lack of proper antivirus can crete
the issues with the malfunctioning of the websites.
1.4 Business Model Changes
The alternative business model can be considered through changing the channels of
promoting the app. For example, the channels that are using the promotional activities and push
up notifications are needed to be customized to avoid the pages, which are not secured. On the
other hand, the personalized chat box can also be added to let the customers get access to the
executives as per their convenience. Accent Group Limited has the diverse brands and services
existing in the online platforms. The company can create the direct links to this page for selling
footwear. Making these specific changes could ensure more appropriateness in the business
model.
1.5 Conclusion
The study develops the formulation of the business model to introduce an online app by
Accent Group Limited to sell their high quality sport shoes and footwear. The official app of the
company would provide the opportunity to get access through the mobile device for ordering any
product, gathering information about the product specifications, and receiving the relevant

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customer service. The following recommendations would be much helpful for the company to
prepare a better business model for the future benefits.
1.6 Recommendation
 Establishment of transparent communication with the business stakeholders
 Adding more secured gateways for the online payments
 Developing an online chat box to get hold of the customer care executives
 Providing the high quality product value and on time delivery services to the customers
 Addressing the feedbacks of the customers would also generate the sense of reliability.

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References
Accentgr.com.au. (2018). About Us :: Accent Group Limited. [online] Available at:
http://www.accentgr.com.au/about-us/ [Accessed 2 Aug. 2018].
Accentgroup.org. (2018). Accent Group Limited Report and Financial Statements for the year
ended 31 March 2017. [online] Available at: http://www.accentgroup.org/media/258546/report-
and-accounts-2017.pdf
Caetano, A., Antunes, G., Pombinho, J., Bakhshandeh, M., Granjo, J., Borbinha, J., & Da Silva,
M. M. (2017). Representation and analysis of enterprise models with semantic techniques: an
application to ArchiMate, e3value and business model canvas. Knowledge and Information
Systems, 50(1), 315-346.
Jackson, W. T., Scott, D. J., & Schwagler, N. (2015). Using the business model canvas as a
methods approach to teaching entrepreneurial finance. Journal of Entrepreneurship
Education, 18(2), 99.
Jenkins, J., & Fife, T. (2016). 4. Designing for disruption: strategic business model
innovation. International Perspectives on Business Innovation and Disruption in Design, 75.
Joyce, A., & Paquin, R. L. (2016). The triple layered business model canvas: A tool to design
more sustainable business models. Journal of Cleaner Production, 135, 1474-1486.
Plenter, F., Fielt, E., Hoffen, M., Chasin, F., & Rosemann, M. (2017). Repainting the business
model canvas for peer-to-peer sharing and collaborative consumption.

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Spieth, P., Schneckenberg, D., & Ricart, J. E. (2014). Business model innovation–state of the art
and future challenges for the field. R&d Management, 44(3), 237-247.
Terrenghi, N., Schwarz, J., Legner, C., & Eisert, U. (2017). Business model management:
current practices, required activities and IT support
Vargas, I. S., Calva, A. L. G., & Camacho, J. H. (2015). Business model canvas. Ciencias
Huasteca Boletín Científico de la Escuela Superior de Huejutla, 3-5.
Zolnowski, A., Weiß, C., & Bohmann, T. (2014, January). Representing Service Business
Models with the Service Business Model Canvas--The Case of a Mobile Payment Service in the
Retail Industry. In system sciences (HICSS), 2014 47th Hawaii International Conference on (pp.
718-727). IEEE.

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Appendix
Business model canvas of Accent Group Limited