Table of Contents INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1 LO1..................................................................................................................................................1 P1. Marketing function's roles and responsibilities....................................................................1 M1. Roles of marketing in context of marketing environment..................................................2 P2. Interrelation of marketing with other departmental units....................................................3 M2. Significance of interrelationship.........................................................................................4 D1. Critical Analysation..............................................................................................................4 LO2..................................................................................................................................................4 P3. Marketing Mix......................................................................................................................4 M3. Evaluation............................................................................................................................7 LO3..................................................................................................................................................7 P4. Market Plan...........................................................................................................................7 M4. Detailed marketing plan....................................................................................................10 D2. Strategic market plan by using marketing mix..................................................................10 CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11 REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................13
INTRODUCTION Marketing is a set of organisational activities and processes that is used to promote and sell business products and services by indulging in market research and advertising. This report is based upon an organisation named eBay Inc which is an American based e-commerce business enterprise that provides goods and services to its customers through internet (eBay,2019). This report covers the significant responsibilities and roles of the marketing function in this enterprise and in the context of external business environment. It also covers the interrelation between marketing function and other functional units of an enterprise and the importance of this interrelationship in achieving business objectives. It also covers comparison of eBay with other business enterprise on the basis they apply marketing mix for achieving business goals and objectives. At the end, it includes a strategic marketing plan which is developed for attaining various business goals and aims which eBay desires to achieve. LO1 P1. Marketing function's roles and responsibilities Marketing function can be defined as a role that helps an enterprise in identifying potential sources for the marketplace. It is very important for an organisation to use marketing function in an appropriate manner for attaining various goals of an organisation. In eBay, there are various functions of marketing that performs certain roles and responsibilities in a business enterprise that are elaborated as follows- Promotion-The basic function of marketing in an organisation is that it helps in promoting and advertising goods and services produced by a business enterprise. Promotion is a form of communication between buyers and sellers in which customers are made aware about the existence of a specific product and service. Ebay uses online promotional techniques in order to advertise its products to its buyers. Product Development-It refers to developing a product as per the demands, tastes and preferences of customers in the target market. Product is developed in two ways either by introducing a brand new product in market or by making certain changes in the existing product by analysing current market conditions. Marketing plays an important role in developing a productbyindulginginmarketingresearchandidentifyingthestrategiesadoptedby competitors. For example: eBay provides a platform to both buyers and seller to buy and sell 1
goods at various prices and it keeps on updating its website by analysing customer tastes and preferences. Market Research-It is determined as activities and actions that are used to gather information about customers demands and desires(Abbate, 2017). The another important role which is performed by marketing function is that it helps the organisation in indulging itself in market research by analysing the competitors and by identifying the tastes of customers. The basic role which is played by market research in an enterprise is to make the organisation aware about the current trends in marketing. eBay indulges itself in market research in order to find out what customers wants and provide them products and services in accordance. Marketing Strategy-It is defined as a future looking approach for developing a plan which is utilised to achieve business goals and objectives. Organisations can use various strategies for formulating an effective marketing plan such as product development, market development, market penetration, diversification, and so on. It is very important for a business enterprise to indulge itself in proper market research and then on that basis formulate an effective marketing strategy which will be helpful in achieving business goals and objectives(Abushadi and et. al., 2015). M1. Roles of marketing in context of marketing environment Marketing performs various roles and responsibilities which helps the firm in achieving its goals and objectives. The roles and responsibilities performed by marketing function is not only limited to organisational context but, it is equally significant to external environment. The roles performed by it in wider environmental context is elaborated as follows- Marketing Information System-This helps the enterprise to provide it essential data and information regarding certain specific factors which are planning, implementing, controlling, developing strategies and developing products. For example, it helps in depicting data related to logistics which is based on real time and helps in distributing work network in an appropriate manner. eBay uses this system to attain information about various factors that are useful for its overall functioning(Allen, 2016). Monitor Market Environment-In context of external environment, marketing function is responsible to monitor and develop the marketing environment. These developments provides constructive response to develop a particular product or service of a business enterprise. It involves changes in market traits, economic and social forces, political, legal changes, and so on. 2
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P2. Interrelation of marketing with other departmental units Marketing is a wider concept that helps the business in achieving its goals by enhancing profitability and productivity of an enterprise. But it is impossible for it to attain these goals alone, so, it operates activities with other functional units in order to achieve business goals in an appropriate manner. eBay is an American based e-commerce organisation that provides a platform to both buyers and sellers to purchase and sell various range of goods and services (Babin and Zikmund, 2015). As this enterprise operates on a large scale so, it is very important for it to have appropriate collaboration and coordination between all its departmental functions for delivering products to customers as per their requirements. In eBay, the interrelation between marketing and other functional units are elaborated as follows- Marketing and HR Department-HR department has the responsibility to recruit and select skilled and talented workforce in a business entity and provide them rewards to motivate them towards better performance. An appropriate interrelation between HR and marketing processes makes sure that smart and talented workers are available in business for formulating and executing functions of marketing. Timely incentives given by HR helps in enhancing marketing team's performance. On the contrary, marketing helps in promoting and developing organisation's brand image that helps in providing pool of skilled individuals for HR for selecting best candidate for the business. In eBay, an appropriate coordination between these departments has facilitated in achieving business targets timely and improved the overall performance of workers. Marketing and finance department-Finance department is responsible to properly manage fundsand monetaryresourcesthatconsistsofplan,organise,audit and control organisational finance. It is also responsible to prepare budget timely and in allocating and distributing fundsamong variousdepartmental units. Thus, it isvery importantto form appropriate coordination between finance and marketing department to ensure that adequate funds are available for properly executing and implementing market plans and strategies. For instance, money required to meet promotional and advertisement expenses is provided by financial unit(Babiuk,Braun and Campbell, 2015). In eBay, interrelation between these functional units has reduced unnecessary activities as financial department prepares timely budget for market department and has appropriate control over wasteful business activities. 3
M2. Significance of interrelationship In a business enterprise, interrelation between all the units or departments makes sure that business goals and targets are achieved timely which helps in smooth running of a business. Finance department helps marketing department by providing it money which it can use in promotionalandadvertisementofcompany'sproductsandservices.Similarlymarketing department helps HR department by doing advertisement if any job vacancy available in an enterprise. In eBay, appropriate connection between marketing and other functional units helps in achieving targets timely. It also helps in formulating an effective marketing strategy that is used to achieve business objectives. D1. Critical Analysation Marketing is an vital function of organisation and it is vital for it to maintain a balance with other departmental functions also. The promotion function of marketing helps the HR department in recruiting talented employees in an enterprise by doing advertisement. By indulging in appropriate marketing research, it becomes easy for an enterprise to appropriately use financial resources which helps the finance department in its proper utilisation. Marketing also helps in developing organisation's brand image which helps the HR department in getting skilled and talented workforce Finance department helps in providing monetary funds to marketing department which helps it in producing goods and services of high quality.(Brychkov and Domegan, 2017). LO2 P3. Marketing Mix Marketing Mix is defined as a set of tools that are used by a business in achieving its goals and objectives. It is kind of framework of seven factors that can be controlled by a business for influencing customers, for purchasing its products and services. Each business is developed for attaining certain goals and objectives and marketing mix helps it in attaining these goals. eBay Inc-It is an American based multinational organisation that helps in providing an online platform to buyers and sellers in buying and selling of various goods and services. It deals with products like fashion, electronics, cosmetics, home and appliances, and so on(Dioko, 2016). Objectives ofeBay Inc-This business enterprise aims at achieving various goals and objectives which are stated as follows- 4
To attract and increase number of customers by maintaining its brand loyalty among consumers. To become number one e-commerce website in the world by being ahead of its competitors in terms of quality and deals offered by this organisation. eBay is an e-commerce company and hence, it has various competitors prevailing in market due to increase in number of online buyers. Here, the business enterprise which has same objectives as eBay is Amazon, which is another big American based multinational e-commerce organisation (eBay Marketing Mix,2019). Following is the comparison between these enterprises the way in which they uses marketing mix to achieve these objectives- Marketing MixeBay IncAmazon ProductThe products and services in which this enterprise deals is electronics, fashion, health and beauty,motors,collectibles, sports,homeandgardening products, and so on. Theproductsandservices providedbyAmazononline arefashion,cosmetics, healthcare,homeappliances, mediacontent,electronic devices, amazon web services, etc(FolinasandFotiadis, 2017). PriceIt uses two pricing strategies whicharemarketoriented which is based upon prevailing marketpriceanddynamic pricing strategy which allows flexible pricing. On the other hand, the pricing strategyofAmazonis competitive and it always try toprovidecustomerswith products at more competitive prices than other companies. PlaceThis e-commerce organisation provides goods and services in around30countries worldwide.It is accessible in alloperatingsystemsand websites(Horton, 2019). On the contrary, it do not have physicalstoresanditdeals with11globalcountries includingCanada,North America,Germany,Mexico, United Kingdom, and so on. 5
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PromotionItusesvariousmodesto promoteitsproductsand services such as online adds, television,printmedia, billboards, etc. It uses online mode to promote its products and services such as social media, television, and so on. ProcessItinvolvesinasimple procedureinwhichselleris required to upload a picture of itsproductandabuyeris chosen for the same. After this, the product is shipped to the buyer and payment is received by the seller. Its process is very simple and easy. The buyers have to place an order, make online payment or can choose cash on delivery option. After it, the company accept the order and deliver it to the customer. Physical EvidenceIt has physical evidence in the formofeBayfulfilment centres that helps in receiving, inspecting,storingand shippingitsproducts. Moreover,itswebsiteand packaging of products can also be determined as its physical evidence. Whereas,Amazonsellsits productsinadifferentand uniquecolourpackaging which can be easily identified. Moreover, its official website and mobile application also act asaphysicalevidencethat providescustomerswith picturesofproductsin differentangles(Kotouaand Ilkan, 2017). PeopleIt has employed around 12600 peoplewhoworksfor achieving various goals of this enterprise. Its effective digital marketingteamhelpsthe customersinguidanceand Thedigitalmarketingteam helps this company in grabbing large number of customers by doing online and social media promotion.Moreover,they keep their employees updated 6
supervision.aboutcertaindiscountsand offers. M3. Evaluation The 7P's of marketing helps the organisations in achieving its different goals and objectives. It is important for an enterprise to develop an appropriate product that meets customer's expectations, offer it by using appropriate pricing strategy, making it easily available for buyers, promote it by using suitable means, provide physical evidence, in order to increase company's profitability and productivity. eBay after doing appropriate market research produces its products and price them as per the their demand. It serves various range of products such as fashion, healthcare, home appliances, motors, and so on. It provides products in all ranges which covers all kinds of customers and due to its flexible pricing strategy, it is able to attract large number of customers.(Notta and Vlachvei, 2015). LO3 P4, M4. Market Plan Marketing plan serves as a roadmap to the business so that it can easily identify and outline the marketing strategy and tactics which the firm will be using in the near future. This is also coined as the process where the business seeks to achieve its targeted goals by implementing advertising strategy. Preparation of these marketing plans will assist the business to improve their plans and strategies so that a competitive advantage can be gained and introduction of new service that is eBay food delivery application can be done in the most effective manner. Itis a business document that is utilised for outlining business marketing tactics and strategies. It provides a basis for formulation of a strategy which is adopted by an organisation by using various tools and techniques(Ottman, 2017). Executive Summary-eBay Inc is an e-commerce organisation that provides a platform for both customers and sellers to buy and sell various range of products and services such as fashion, cosmetics, motors, electronics, and so on. This enterprise is about to launch a new mobile application named “eBay Food”, that deals with providing online food delivery to its customers. For this purpose, marketing plan is developed as follows- 7
Mission The mission of eBay is, “ To develop a global marketplace which allows people to buy and sell anything that can be sold.” Vision The vision statement of this enterprise is, “ To become number one and most trustworthy e-commerce organisation and be ahead of its competitors.” Objectives The objectives towards which this mobile application eBay Food is launching are- To enhance company's market share up to 10% in upcoming one year by motivating its employees to perform better. To increase sales and profitability of company up to 20% in upcoming year by providing customer satisfaction(Perry and Pyatt, 2015). SWOT Analysis SWOT Analysis is used by the enterprises in identifying its competitive strengthand measuringitsperformance.Inordertoformulatemarketingplanforlaunchingmobile application in an effective manner, SWOT analysis is done in following manner- StrengthsWeaknesses The business has a strength to promote its new food application service in the market place as the business of eBay has good reputation and is at world's largest internet marketplace. The core strength for the business is thatitmaintainsgoodcustomers relations by gathering feedback from the customers on regular basis. The weakness to the business of Ebay is itstechnologymalfunctiondueto which the orders from the customers are misplaced and are delivered to some other places. Due to its online services, the business does not provides its customers with fullproductdescriptionwhichhas loweredtheir position in the market (Pooler, 2018). OpportunitiesThreats ThebusinesshastheopportunitytoThe business has to suffer from the 8
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expanditsmarketinJapanbythe launch of new product that is ebay food delivery services through application. Thebusinesscanalsograbthe opportunity by acquisitionwith other firms for the services and products. hugecompetitionfromtheother competitive firm that is Amazon. The firm also has the threat from rapid changes in technology as it is difficult for the business to adapt each and every technological innovation. Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning (STP) strategies: Below mention are the marketing strategies which will support the business of Ebay in taking their decision related to the marketing of their new products and services: Segmentation:In this,the business will focus on the segmenting the large market into the smaller section on the basis of the Psycho graphic segmentation where identification about which areawho are more towards the utilisation of the services of online food delivery and on that basis the market will be segmented to be served with the services(Uncles, 2018). Targeting :From the segmented market, in this strategy of marketing the business will target the section on the basis of their income and usage of the online serviceswhere people believe in online food delivery services rather than cooking it by themselves and will launch the products in a successful manner without consisting much cost. Positioning:Here the new application services of the eBay food will be positioned in the mind of the customers by giving the customers a unique facility to get bonus after ordering from the application on the basis of how much amount of food they have ordered. So that customers get attracted towards the services and focus more on the ordering foods through online services. MARKETING BUDGET (£) PARTICULARSIst YearIInd YearIIIrd YearIVth YearVth Year Initial money20006300122001416019970 Investment930010500238303163013550 TOTAL1130016800360304579033520 MARKETING OUTLAY 9
Promotion47461459459318751211 Sales publicity1365800245214921050 Direct selling22351900465110004434 TOTAL814641591189644676405 Monitoring and Controlling For implementing marketing plan in an appropriate manner, it is very important for an organisation to monitor and control business performance from time to time. eBay monitor all the marketing activities and makes sure that all the strategies are formulated properly. This business enterprise while launching this mobile application, is required to ensure that proper promotional techniques are utilised to make customers aware about the availability of the product (Babin and Zikmund, 2015). The tools which are utilised for monitoring and controlling of this market plan are metrics and by checking effective flow of communication. eBay is launching a new mobile application named eBay Food which will provide online food delivery services to customers. For this purpose, a market plan is developed that includes mission, vision and objectives towards which this application is launching. A budget is also prepared which is required to formulate this market plan in an appropriate manner. Tools such as SWOT Analysis and STP model is also used in order to identify the company's competitive advantage. D2. Strategic market plan by using marketing mix This plan is a kind of document that helps in providing guidance to perform future activities for achieving business goalsand objectives. This marketing plan for eBay for launching mobile application is using marketing mix in following manner- Marketing MixIts usage in formulating market plan ProductIn this, the product which is about to introduce by this company is mobile application named eBay Food which will provide fast online food delivery service to customers. PromotionForpromotingthismobileapplication,this enterprise will use online and social media 10
promotional measures for making customers awareabouttheexistenceofonlinefood delivery application. PriceThis is targeted to all customer segments and it will use different prices for different foods on the basis of restaurant's rating and reviews. PlaceThis mobile application will be operated in all operating system and will be made available to both apple and play store. It will be available worldwide in all the countries it is operating right now (Abbate, 2017). ProcessCustomerswilldownloadthismobile application from play store or apple store and can simply place order for food among various rangeofrestaurantsavailable.Afterit, company will confirm the order and deliver it directly to the customers. PeopleIts technical team will play a major role in developinganeffectivemobileapplication with unique features and the digital marketing team will promote it among customers through online promotion. (Abushadi and et. al., 2015). Physical EvidenceThe physical evidence in this regard will be the mobile application, the delivery person who will deliver food to customers and the receipt received by consumers. 11
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CONCLUSION From the above assignment, it has been concluded that marketing is an important function for every organisation with the help of which it is possible to make people aware about products and services of an organisation. In addition to this, it has also been concluded about the importance of interrelation in between different organisational functions which helps in efficient running of the organisation. Further, the conclusion has been drawn about marketing mix which provides information related to different aspects of a products to the organisation. At the end, it is very important for an enterprise to develop a marketing plan to ensure that the project is accomplished effectively. 12
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