E-Business and Marketing Plan

This report discusses the importance of marketing planning and strategies for an upcoming e-business venture, Croscet Grocery. It includes a product description, customer analysis, industry analysis, and marketing strategy. The report highlights the benefits of online ordering and subscription options for customers, as well as the competitive advantages of the e-business model.

E-Business and
Marketing Plan
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
For an organisation marketing plan is as important as business planning because it help
them in enhancing customer based by attracting them towards their offerings. Market planning is
the procedure of organising as well as defining marketing aim of business firm as well as
gathering strategies and tactics for accomplishing them. In simple term it can be said that solid
marketing plan consist values of company, proposition, information related to target market or
customers, promotional strategies, distribution channels, budget allocation and many more. This
report is based on Croscet Grocery which is an upcoming e-business.
Croscet Grocery will have its online application and website through which customers
can place order of their grocery online by subscription. In this, customer will get up-to 10% off
on their order along with this they will be able to get order place automatically on monthly basis
with up-to 10% off. For bringing something innovative it is important for an organisation to
target their customers before bringing innovation in market area. After targeting customers,it is
essential for an business firm to analyse industry in more effective manner. So that current target
market will analyse in effective manner which include taste, preferences of customers. Apart
from this, for bringing something innovative it is important for an organisation to design their
proper marketing strategy. So that, they will be able to attract large number of customers and
enhance their customers base as well as generating high revenue.
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Table of Contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.............................................................................................................2
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................4
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................4
Product description.................................................................................................................4
Customer analysis...................................................................................................................5
Industry analysis.....................................................................................................................7
Marketing strategy................................................................................................................14
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................15
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................16
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INTRODUCTION
Marketing plan is comprehensive document which outlines overall marketing efforts of a
business firm. In simple term it can be said that marketing plan is blueprint which outlines how a
business firm will implement their marketing strategy as well as utilise combination to resources
for accomplishing business objective that includes sales targets and customer acquisition
(Hollensen, 2019). In addition to this, due to ever changing environment and marketing tool
which are available modern days marketing plan is relatively short in nature in comparison of
traditional time. There are several things which included within marketing plan such as
introduction and broad objectives, marketing overview, market landscape, SWOT analysis,
specific objectives, brand strategy, promotional strategy as well as actions, deadlines and
budgets. In addition to this, it is important for an organisation to design marketing plan in proper
manner because it will help them in accomplishing goals and objectives in proper manner as well
as also assist in gaining long term sustainability in business environment.
This report is based on Croscet Grocery which is an upcoming venture operating in
online mode within the confines of Australia. The entity will function in the format of e-
business, providing deliveries of grocery items to customers pertinent to Australia within 24
hours. This organisation will run via its online application and website which will offer
customers with an offer to opt for monthly subscription and get up-to 10% discount. The e-
business mode has been selected for the venture as this allows the customers to shop in
accordance with their comfort and convenience. The report will throw light upon the different
aspects linked to this e-business venture inclusive of product description, customer analysis and
industry analysis. Furthermore, marketing strategy will also be implemented for gaining
competitive advantages.
MAIN BODY
Product description
Croscet Grocery is the upcoming e-business venture dealing in grocery items. The product
portfolio of this company will include dairy products (such as ice cream, cheese, milk etc.),
fruits, vegetables, coffee, tea, candies, bakery items (cakes, bread, desserts, pie, mousse etc.),
meat (beef, pork, poultry etc.), seafood (shellfish, fish, crustaceans etc.), sandwich, readymade
food items, vitamins, herb, supplements and beverages (soft drinks, liquor, beer, wine, rum etc.).
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Respective grocery venture is bringing something innovative for attracting large number of
customers and generating high revenue. It is coming up with online application and web page
through which customers can place order of their grocery items online with a choice of opting for
subscription. In case customers go for subscription, they will be eligible to receive discounts up-
to 10% off on their orders. Such type of innovation will provide assistance to respective grocery
store in attracting large number of customers and generating high revenue. The product concept
of this venture is capable of gaining the attention of large base of customers as it provides items
associated with day to day use. The online ordering system will allow the customers to make
orders of items of their preference and demand in accordance with their idol time, comfort, ease
and convenience.
Customer analysis
Customer analysis is an important section of an organisation business plan or marketing
plan. In addition to this, customer analysis provide assistance in identifies target customers,
ascertain the customer needs as well as specifies how the product satisfies these needs.
Moreover, customer analysis is broken within two part i.e., behavioural profile (why product
matches customers lifestyle) as well as demographic profile (describing a customer’s
demographic attributes). By using secondary sources, Croscet Grocery will gather information
and data about their customers in effective manner. The product portfolio of the company has
already been discussed earlier which will provide assistance in solving the problem faced by
people related to purchase of grocery items (Williams, 2017). The customers will no longer have
to take tension about taking out the time to visit a physical store and purchase the grocery
because the concept of this e-business is to provide online deliveries within 24 hours of
placement of orders. The orders can or cannot be placed by leveraging the subscription option
available in online application or website of Croscet Grocery.
In addition to this, for Croscet Grocery it is essential to implement customer targeting
strategy within their working because it will provide them assistance in analysing which
customer segment is suitable for company and provide assistance in serving them within
effective manner. For this purpose, STP model will be suitable which stands for segmentation,
targeting and positioning. It is a familiar approach within modern marketing and it can be used
by every type of business firm in easy manner. The STP model is useful when creating
marketing communications plans since it helps marketers to prioritise propositions and then
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develop and deliver personalised and relevant messages to engage with different audiences. In
relation to Croscet Grocery, STP model are mention below:-
Segmentation–It is first step of STP model in which company segment their market
which simply means that company divide their market within group that based on some criteria.
There are numerous criteria in accordance with which Croscet Grocery can divide or segment the
market. Such criteria are discussed as follows:-
 Demographics–In this market is divided on the basis of age, gender, income level,
education level, marital status, occupation, ethnicity and many more (Melchiorre and
Johnson, 2017).
 Geographic– Within this factor market is sorting through country, region, state or
province, city or urban area, neighbourhood and many more.
 Psychographics -Segmenting people by lifestyle, hobbies, activities, opinions, religious
views, political affiliation, entertainment choices, personality traits, attitudes, etc. While
demographic information explains “who” your potential customer is, psychographic
information explains “why” they buy.
 Behavioural - Breaks down market by how customers use the product, including how the
purchase was financed, brand loyalty, usage level, key benefit sought/key feature used,
etc.
In relation to Croscet Grocery, market will be segmented by this e-business management on the
basis of combination of geographical and behavioural segmentation. Hereby, the entity will
select people who are fond of online purchasing and who are pertinent to Australia.
Targeting – It involves deciding which segment has company identified to be more
attractive as opposed to others. This simply means that company trying to determine commercial
attractiveness of each and every segment. Explanation of these factors is as follows:-
 Size – It is related to segment size and its potential growth in size.
 Income status – This segment is prepared for paying most for company’s product as well
as services. Along with this, it also determine what is lifetime value of customers.
 Ease of reach – This will decide on the basis that what will be easy to reach the market
with marketing as well as can distribution network will be easy to reach selected
segment.
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On the basis of behavioural segmentation, the targeting will be done in accordance with the
aspect named “likelihood” and this would be perceived in relation to online purchase. This will
make it easy for Croscet Grocery to approach customers on the basis of their behaviour
(Opresnik, 2018). In addition to this, respective e-business will approach customers pertinent to
the confines of Australia belonging to middle and upper class sections of society. This will help
the venture in generating high revenues and attract large number of customers towards them,
thereby fulfilling their needs and wants in effective manner without facing any difficulty.
Positioning–It is final step of STP model where company map out different variables
considered within last two steps and position product differently within rivalry market and
customer mind. If USA Food deliver & pickup company take unique position within market as
well as in marketing terms this is named as value proposition. In addition to this, there are three
standard ways which company can use for position products to accomplish competitive
advantages. Explanation of these is as follows:-
 Functional positioning – It is related to solving problem or providing a benefit to
customers.
 Symbolic positioning – This is related to enhancing self-image, ego as well as
belongingness needs of customers.
 Experiential positioning –It is related to focusing on those elements related to products or
brand which connect emotionally with customers.
Croscet Grocery focuses on functional positioning because offerings and mode of operations of
respective company focus on solving problem as well as providing benefits to customers (Han
and et. al., 2019). The products of this organisation will be delivered to customers within 24
hours of orders being placed by them thus solving their problem related to time, efforts and cost
incurred for visiting the physical grocery outlet. With the assistance of functioning positioning
strategy, the upcoming e-business will be able to serve their customers in an effective manner
and retaining them for a considerably longer period of time in future context.
Industry analysis
Industry analysis can be describe as the function of business that will help in identifying
and analysing different aspects about industry in order to perform business activities in more
effective manner (Frost and Strauss, 2016). This helps organisation to analyse and evaluate
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market area in which organisation is performing its functions and offering products to customers.
Croscet Grocery is dealing in retail industry which is one of the largest industry that is providing
different types of products and services which is accurate to the needs of customers. Industry
analysis includes process that will assist in determining different facts and features of market
area. It is important for respective company to take decision which is according to the analysis of
industry and support in gaining competitive edge over other rival companies.
Competitive analysis - Porter’s five force model is a significant model that will help
company to analyse strategies and offering of competitors in order to take better decision for
growth and development of business(Filipe, Marques and de Fátima Salgueiro, 2017). This is
effective strategy management tool that will help Croscet Grocery to identify different forces of
market area that have impact on decision making process of business. Porters five force mode in
context of Croscet Grocery is mention below:-
 Threat of new entrants – This force refer to the impact on business due to increase in
new entrant organisation in market area. In food retail industry new entrant organisation
will lead to bring new idea and innovation in way of business process and performance.
Croscet Grocery is a small and medium sized organisation that can be affected by new
entrant in market area. In order to overcome the challenges that is faced by organisation
due to new entrant, respective company is considering new and innovative approach for
attracting customers (Saura, Palos-Sanchez and Correia, 2019). Threat for new entrant
force will lead to have moderate impact on business and its performance.
 Bargaining power of suppliers – There are numerous suppliers for food retail company
is Australia market area. Most of the organisation which is dealing in Food products and
services are collecting raw material for different types of suppliers (Willian and et. al.,
2018. Due to this the power of suppliers decrease and this force will lead to have low
impact on Croscet Grocery. It is essential for this organisation to develop effective supply
chain with different suppliers. So that this organisation can perform business task in more
accurate manner.
 Bargaining power of buyers – It has been analysed that buyers are very demanding and
this lead to impact over sales and profitability ofCroscet Grocery (Chen and Huang,
2016). This organisation is dealing in small market area and high demand of customers
will lead to increase the bargaining power of buyers on business. High bargaining power
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of customers will lead to impact on profitability of respective company. In order to
overcome this issues Croscet Grocery should focus on developing customer base as this
will help in minimizing the impact of buyers bargaining power.
 Threat of substitute products – This includes all those products and services which is
able to meet with the need and requirement of customers. Croscet Grocery is dealing in
retail food sector which includes various companies that is providing different types of
food products in order to meet with the needs of customers. Low switching cost to
customer will lead to have moderate impact of this force on business. Respective
company should focus on providing new and different products and services that is
innovative for customers.
 Rivalry among existing players – Food retail industry is highly competitive industry
that include large number of companies in same market area. Croscet Grocery is a small
size company which s dealing in completive environment that lead to increase the threat
of rivalry among existing players. This force have high influence on business
performance and profitability.
Structure of market – There are different forces that are driving in order to perform
business activities and operation in Australia market. The major forces that will affect
functioning of organisation include threat of rival companies, new entrant and bargaining power
of customers. All of these forces will lead to have impact in performance and productivity of
organisation as well as impact on sales of business. It is important for Croscet Grocery to
consider this structure of business while conducting business operations. By overcoming these
threats, respective e-business will be able to increase its scale of operations in market area as
well as gain competitive edge over other companies.
Social and cultural factors - Social and cultural factors includes different element such as
family, status, religion, perception, attitude, belief, customers and many other factors. These will
lead to have impact on business and its operations. It is essential for Croscet Grocery to consider
cultural and social factors while taking business decision as well as implementing organisational
activities (Chatterjee, Chowdhury and Roy, 2018). The offerings and mode of operations of this
organisation are aligned with the preference of customers already as most people now like to buy
products online.
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Figure 1: Australian E-commerce Statistics
As per the above graph, it can be stated that 94% of the total population of Australia have
access to internet. Out of this, 79% individuals go online every day while 60% visit it several
times within a day. This implies the extensive usage of internet for shopping and other purposes.
This inflates the opportunity for Croscet Grocery to attain growth and success in rapid course of
time.
Figure 2: Ecommerce Market of Australia
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As per the above pictorial presentation, the e-commerce market of Australia is constantly
growing. The total revenue earned from this industry in the year 2019 was AU$28.6 billion. This
figure is expected to reach AU$35.2 billion by the year 2021. This implies that Croscet Grocery
has lucrative opportunity to experience success and growth in the market of Australia as people
are quite comfortable with purchasing online.
Technology- This refers to the new and innovative techniques or technology that is used by
organisation in order to provide its products and services to customers. Every business needs to
consider innovation in its business operation in more to promote and sale products and services
to potential customers. In this relation, it has been determined that Croscet Grocery is offering
online deliveries in a time span of 24 hours. This is being done by the organisation by leveraging
technology at its best. The mode of the business is e-commerce which inflates its growth
prospects. Further, the inclusion of subscription option is also a kind of innovation that is being
leveraged by the upcoming venture to gain the attention of large number of potential buyers. The
orders can be placed by the customers over the website and application of Croscet Grocery. The
information related to the orders directly reaches out to the warehouses of the company from
where the goods are delivered to the buyers in 24 hours. Technology factor will support
respective company in gaining competitive advantage over other competitors’ company is
market.
SWOT analysis- This is considered as the effective business tool that will assist in
identifying and analysing different factors of business environment that will affect functioning of
business (Chaffey, Hemphill and Edmundson-Bird, 2019). SWOT analysis will help in
determining internal and external factors of respective company as well as better decision-
making process for growth of organisation. Strength and weakness are internal factors whereas
opportunity and threats are external factors. SWOT analyse Croscet Grocery is mention below in
detail.
Strength Weakness
 The growing preference of people
towards making online purchases
inflates the growth prospects of Croscet
Grocery thereby making its mode of
 The main weakness of the organisation
is that it is not able to tap the purchase
behaviour of those individuals who do
not like to make online purchases.
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operation as its biggest strength.
 Croscet Grocery is providing different
types of high-quality products and
services which are able to meet the
requirement of customers. This
company has developed strong brand
image in market area which can be
considered as its strength.
 This company will be performing
business activities through online
application and website whereby it will
be providing customers with the option
of choosing subscription. This will
provide them with benefits and
discounts at the time of online payment
check out. This will lead to attract more
customers towards business as well as
increase profits of this e-business.
 This organisation has effective market
research team that will constantly take
efforts to gain understanding of the
needs and requirements of customers in
an appropriate manner. Thus, by
offering services and products aligned
with the market demands, the e-
business seeks to inflate its financial
performance. This strength of the
business will help in increasing loyalty
of customers towards the business.
 Croscet Grocery is dealing in a small
market area (Australia) which is one of
the major weaknesses of organisation.
Due to this weakness, the growth and
development prospects of respective
company are limited (McKeever,
2016). This weakness affects the
overall market share of company.
 The marketing efforts of the upcoming
e-business venture have not been
effective enough to create hype in
market about the venture.
Opportunity Threat
 There are several opportunities for  Croscet Grocery has threat for different
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company in the market that will lead to
boosting the performance and
capability of organisation. External
market of business is filled with various
opportunities for Croscet Grocery that
will lead to increase its sales and
profits. Such opportunities primarily
include extension of product portfolio.
 Respective company have opportunity
to target new market area by offering
its products. This will help in
enhancing customer base and market
share of Croscet Grocery. By making
deliveries in new markets, the entity
will be able to appeal to the customers
in new market by providing high
quality offerings. This implies
entailment of support from them in
terms of higher purchases.
 Training will help in improving
capability of staff member to conduct
business task in more effective manner
as well as use new technology in
correct manner. This organisation
should use different marketing
techniques in order to enhance
awareness about products and services
of Croscet Grocery to different
customers.
external factors of market area that will
lead to affect the performance of
business.
 Highly competitive market area is the
major threat for this business as its will
lead to affecting sales and profits of
business. Coles is acknowledged to be
the biggest threat for Croscet Grocery.
 Change in market trends as well as
rules of government are a threat to
respective company as this will directly
influence performance of company.
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Marketing strategy
Marketing is related to activities which company undertakes for promoting the buying or
selling of products as well as services. In addition to this, marketing includes advertising, selling
as well as delivering products to customers or other business firms. Moreover, some marketing in
done through affiliates on behalf of a corporations. In simple term, marketing is activity, set of
institutions and proceeding of creating, delivering, and communication as well as exchanging
offerings which have values for clients, society, partners and customers at large. Along with
this, marketing is related to the activities of business in relation of buying and selling offerings of
company (Jin, 2017). It includes finding out what consumers want and determining whether its is
possible for producing it at right price. For conducting marketing strategy, it is important for
company to decide promotion and price strategy. Explanation of these is as follows:-
Promotion – It is important for an organisation to promote offerings of Croscet
Groceryso that they will be able to grab attention of people in more effective manner. There are
several promotional tools such as Advertising, print media, social media tools and many more. In
simple term it can be said that, main motive behind conducting promotion strategy of a business
firm is to gain attention of people and increase large customer base. Thus, Croscet Grocery is
bringing online application which help in attracting large number of customers (Namin and
Dehdashti, 2019). Respective grocery will be going to conduct their promotion by using social
media tools such as Facebook, twitters, LinkedIn and many more.
Price – Company using premium and economic both pricing strategy both so they will be
able to attract large number of customers in more effective manner (González-Benito, Martos-
Partal and Garrido-Morgado, 2018). If company have both type of offering then they will be able
to attract large number of customers in better manner.
Analytics–By using secondary data Croscet Grocery will be able to gather necessary
information about their customers in more effective manner which will provide assistance to
them in fulfilling need of customers and getting them satisfy (Kumar, 2018).
Budget of Company Croscet Grocery
Insurance and financial AU$
Small Loans 6000
Credit card 1000
Insurance 3000
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In case of emergencies 1000
Furniture and building
Shelves 2500
Tables and Tops 1500
Computers 3000
Additional store house 3600
Transport and language 4900
Salaries 3500
TOTAL 30000
CONCLUSION
After going through above discussion it has been summarised that, marketing plan is
important for an organisation while they are coming with something innovative in market area.
As it will provide assistance conducting overall activities in effective by designing budget
conducting market analysis in effective manner so that better outcomes will be gained. In simple
term it can be said that marketing plan is blueprint which outlines how an business fir will
implement their marketing strategy as well as utilise combination to resources for accomplishing
business objective that includes sales targets and customer acquisition. There are several major
steps which an organisation has to conduct or implement within their working while bringing
something new or innovative in market area. First they have to analyse customers to whom
company will target for selling their innovative offerings as well as it is essential to describe
product to targeted audience. By using STP model, company will able to analyse as well as target
their customers in more effective manner.
Along with this, it is also important to conduct industry analysis in which company will
going to conduct their operation. Main motive behind conducting industry analysis is to identify
competitive analysis and for this, Porter’s five force analysis will be effective. With this, model it
is important for company to analyse social factors, cultural factors and technological factors as
well as it is important for an organisation to conduct SWOT because it will provide assistance in
external analysis. Apart from this, while bringing something innovative it is essential for an
business firm to implement proper marketing strategy within their working as it will provide
assistance in grabbing attention of people in more effective manner.
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