Factors Influencing Retail Performance

This assignment delves into the multifaceted determinants of success in the retail industry. It examines both internal factors, such as operational planning, customer loyalty programs, and marketing strategies, as well as external influences like economic conditions, consumer trends, and technological advancements. The analysis draws upon relevant academic literature and real-world examples to provide a comprehensive understanding of the forces shaping retail performance.

Marketing Planning

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction..........................................................................................................................................3
Task 1: Essay .......................................................................................................................................3
Task 2: PPT...........................................................................................................................................5
Task 3: Marketing Plan ........................................................................................................................5
Executive Summary....................................................................................................................5
Role of Marketing Plan in Corporate Strategy............................................................................5
Techniques for New Product Development ...............................................................................5
Product Description.....................................................................................................................5
Pricing Strategy ..........................................................................................................................6
Distribution Strategy...................................................................................................................6
Promotion and Communication Strategy ...................................................................................6
Implementation ..........................................................................................................................6
Ethical consideration ..................................................................................................................7
Time scale:..................................................................................................................................7
Conclusion............................................................................................................................................7
References............................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Primark was established in 1969 in Ireland. It is a widely acclaimed fashion brand that
provides low cost predicts to the customers. It is known to sell fashionable attires on low budget.
The research conducts marketing audit on for Primark. Audit refers to examining the environment,
planning and strategising of the marketing strategies (Zakaria and Rahman, 2014). It is done as it
helps an organization in understanding its problem areas and the opportunities that it can achieve.
The first task of the research studies carries an evaluation of the human resource and financial
prospects of the company. Apart from these barriers and marketing plan is created for the
organisation. Primark wants to expand itself in Dubai it requires creating a new marketing plan
TASK 1: ESSAY
Primark is a well known retail clothing brand which manufactures fashion apparel to
customers of UK, Spain and Ireland. The retailer designs products for the children, teenagers,
women and men who look for low priced fashion apparel. Initially the company started its business
in Ireland and later on it moved to different markets of UK and Spain. Primark in order to achieve
higher profitability, opened more number of stores in the target markets. In order to review
traditional as well as future marketing approach of Primark following passages can be referred:
From the given case study it can be inferred that marketing concept of Primark is simple yet
solid. The company targets price sensitive consumers who look for better fashion clothing at
reasonable costs. The consumer segment include new born babies, children, women and men. The
retailer is successful in the target markets as it provides apparel with simple designs but in popular
sizes (Kennedy, 2013). The pricing strategy of the company is also effective. The prices of the
products are low which meets the needs of budget concious people. In addition to this, the suppliers
of the company provide raw materials to Primark which is an added advantage to the company in
manufacturing apparels in cost effective manner. Besides this, Primark does not invest heavily in
promotional tools to attract large masses.
However, in order to analyse that traditional marketing approach need to be replaced with
modern marketing approach to beat competition and to gain greater profitability. It has been
observed in the given case study that the sales of the company were recorded low due to the
ineffective marketing efforts. The retailer need to develop human, financial and physical capabilities
in order to achieve marketing objectives (Fahy and Jobber, 2012). Human capabilities refers to the
skills and knowledge posses by company's human resources. To develop and implement effective
marketing strategies to meet business objectives of the company. The financial abilities of the
company refer to capital and other investing options which is required to expand its operations in
other potential markets.
SWOT Analysis of Primark

Internal factors of Primark can be analysed by carrying out SWOT analysis.
Strengths
 low pricing
 Simple product design
 less advertising budget
 cheap supply options (Smith, 2014)
Weaknesses
 Lack of sound marketing strategies
 Inadequate implementation of
promotional tools to reach out to large
number of target consumers.
Opportunities
 Better business potential in developing
economies like India, China, etc.
 Globalization provides good
opportunities of business expansion.
Threats
 The profitability depends on the
 political and legal policies of the target
markets
 Economic recession is the biggest threat.
Porter's Five Force Model
Five forces Description
Competition Primark faces hard competition from rival firms. H&M and Marks and
Spencer’s are among the top competitors of Primark.
Threat of substitution Threat of substitute products is higher for Primark. It can be observed
that rival retailers can provide low priced fashion clothing
Supplier’s power: The power of suppliers who supply raw materials to Primark is
comparatively low in UK and US markets. Thus, the company can enjoy
cheap sourcing of raw materials from suppliers as the number of
Threat of new entrants The threat of new entrants is comparatively low (Oh, Sohl and Rugman,
2015).
Buyer’s power The bargaining power of buyers is very high in the given case. It is
because of the presence of many retail clothing brands in UK and US.
The fashion clothing brand has very large customer base.
Hence, it can be inferred that it is very important to carry out marketing efforts in order to
achieve higher sales and revenue in the target markets. The internal factors of Primark can be

analysed by using SWOT tool. In addition to this, the company can identify external factors by
using Porters five force model to formulate sound marketing strategies.
TASK 2: PPT
Covered in PowerPoint Presentation
TASK 3: MARKETING PLAN
A marketing plan is a blueprint of marketing strategies created by the organisation. It shows
all the efforts taken by an organization in order to market its product in the market.
Executive Summary
The marketing manager will research for the potential market. This is done to analyse the
choices and wants of the customers. After this the manager will analyse the environment to analyse
threats and opportunities for the company. After this marketing strategy to promote and
communicate organizational messaged among the customers will be created. The manger will be
responsible to implement and monitor the strategies applied to achieve comparative advantage in
the market.
Role of Marketing Plan in Corporate Strategy
The main aim of Primark is to create a marketing plan in respect to the expansion strategy.
The marketing plans will guide the organisation in achieving its future targets and objectives. The
plan depicts strategies and plans created by the organisation to target its customers (Ashworth,
2012). Marketing strategies are created by marketing manager to achieve the goal of corporate
strategy to sell companies product in the market. The plan will guide the manager in planning and
forecasting. The manger with the help of a marketing plan will be able to implement the strategies
formulated to achieve profitability for the organisation.
Techniques for New Product Development
It is important to create a marketing plan that will the help the manager in achieving
competitive edge in the market. They are as followed-
 Observation- As Primark is expanding into a new market it requires itself to use
observational techniques. In this technique the marketer will have to analyse the new
segmented markets and its elements (Agarwal, Singhal and Goel, 2014). Customers
preference, their choice, taste and culture are to be studied. A close observation of the key
market trends will help the company.
 Test Marketing- Marketing test is a technique that enables the organization to study the
feasibility of its product in the market. In order to do that Primark can sell test samples to
the targeted customers. By doing this it can analyse customers feedback towards their
product.

Product Description
The product will be created for men. The attire will be fashionable with low price. The
apparel will be available in 12 colours with three variant sizes i.e. S, M and L. The product will be
designed based on the corporate environment of Dubai (Agrawal and Smith, 2015). The firm targets
those individuals who are working employees. Comfortable clothing fabric like organic cotton will
be used in the products. This will make the attire light and zippy and can be worn particularly in the
heavy summers of Dubai.
Pricing Strategy
As per the selected target market low price fashionable clothing will be created. This pricing
strategy is created according to the main objective of the company i.e. to sell low priced fashionable
attires. The targeted market will be interested to buy low priced product due to dominance of high
priced product in the market (Gupta, 2014). Dubai is famous for availability of international brands
which cost higher for those who are not receiving high pay scale. Thus, the product will suit their
needs particularly.
Distribution Strategy
Distribution of Primark's product will be through retailers as well as wholesalers. The firm
will contact popular retailers in Dubai. They will be the one who be sell then products directly after
purchasing it from company. Wholesalers will be those vendors who have low market presence but
understand the tarted markets potentials (Igo, VanOverbeke and Griffin, 2013). Thus, company will
sell its products to the wholesalers who will further sell the products in the local market. By selling
the products to both of the above distributors Primark will be able to cater larger market space.
Promotion and Communication Strategy
Communication is a way to market companies product to the customers. The firm must be
able to communicate product features amidst the customer to maintain cordial relationship with
them. Primark will use various promotional technique in Dubai like advertising, sales promotion
and publicity. Mass and social media is the most popular tool to market any product in today;s era.
Primark will use mass media and social media tools like TV, Radio, Instagram, YouTube and
Facebook (Berens, 2015). Apart from this company will also sales promotion techniques to lure
customers towards itself. Direct mails, telephones, samples and exhibitions of the product will be
carried out. Publicity will be done about the launch of the product through banners, newspapers and
fashion magazines.
Implementation
In order to make the marketing plan successful. It is important to set some key performance
indicators. These are used as business metrics to evaluate those factors that will be crucial in
increasing products reach among the customers (Kennedy, 2013). The following are the KPI used

by Primark for its product expansion in Dubai.
 Market trends in Dubai
 Income level of the individuals
 Customer satisfaction
 Number of repeat customers
 To create cost effective advantage
Ethical consideration
There are ethical consideration that have to be followed in order to compliance with the
marketing ethics. The organization have to make sure to conduct effective market research.
Recipients data musty be protected and kept private (Fahy and Jobber, 2012). Market audience must
be selected as per the product and not from the current competitiveness in the market. Customers
must not be misguided b y false advertising or promotional messages.
Time scale:
CONCLUSION
From the research it is clear that marketing audit plays a vital role in achieving the
objectives and goals of the organisation. The report studies marketing strategies both traditional and
future that have been created by the company. Apart from this review is conducted to identify the
viability of the strategies used for the expansion plan of the company. Marketing plan is also created
in order to market companies product in Dubai. Thus, it can be said that marketing is an important
feature that helps to market companies product among the customers.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Agarwal, A., Singhal, A. and Goel, B., 2014. A study of emotional satisfaction, relationship quality
& customer loyalty in retail industry. International Journal of Retailing & Rural Business
Perspectives. 3(1). p.732.
Agrawal, N. and Smith, S.A., 2015. Retail supply chain management: Quantitative models and
empirical studies. Springer.
Ashworth, C.J., 2012. Marketing and organisational development in e-SMEs: understanding
survival and sustainability in growth-oriented and comfort-zone pure-play enterprises in the
fashion retail industry. International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal. 8(2).
pp.165-201.
Berens, J.S., 2015. The Marketing Mix, the Retailing Mix and the Use of Retail Strategy Continua.
Springer International Publishing.
Donnelly, C., Simmons, G. and Fearne, A., 2012. Marketing planning and digital customer loyalty
data in small business. Marketing Intelligence & Planning. 30(5). pp.515-534.
Fahy, J. and Jobber, D., 2012. Foundations of marketing. McGraw-Hill Education.
Gaskill, L.R., Van Auken, H.E. and Kim, H.S., 2015. Impact of operational planning on small
business retail performance. Journal of Small Business Strategy. 5(1). pp.21-36.
Gupta, P., 2014. Global to local: marketing of retail services in rural India vis-a-vis urban India.
International Journal of Retailing & Rural Business Perspectives. 3(3). p.1152-1155.
Igo, J.L., VanOverbeke, D.L. and Griffin, D.B., 2013. Phase I of The National Beef Quality Audit-
2011: Quantifying willingness-to-pay, best-worst scaling, and current status of quality
characteristics in different beef industry marketing sectors. Journal of animal science. 91(4).
pp.1907-1919.
Kennedy, B., 2013. Retail Marketing Theory In Fashion Retailing Context. Springer International
Publishing.
Lusch, R.F., Serpkenci, R.R. and Orvis, B.T., 2015. Determinants of retail store performance: a
partial examination of selected elements of retailer conduct. In Proceedings of the 1995 World
Marketing Congress. Springer International Publishing.
Zakaria, I. and Rahman, B.A., 2014. The Relationship between Loyalty Program, Customer
Satisfaction and Customer Loyalty in Retail Industry: A Case Study. Procedia-Social and
Behavioral Sciences. 129. pp.23-30.

Hübner, A.H., Kuhn, H. and Sternbeck, M.G., 2013. Demand and supply chain planning in grocery
retail: an operations planning framework. International Journal of Retail & Distribution
Management. 41(7). pp.512-530.
Smith, P., 2014. How can the analytics on Big Data affect the buying trends of customers in the
retail industry?. Enquiry-The ACES Journal of Undergraduate Research. 5(1). pp.45-50.
Oh, C.H., Sohl, T. and Rugman, A.M., 2015. Regional and product diversification and the
performance of retail multinationals. Journal of International Management. 21(3). pp.220-
234.
Online
Kokemullar, N., 2016. What Are Internal & External Environmental Factors That Affect Business?
[Online] Available through : <http://smallbusiness.chron.com/internal-external-environmental-
factors-affect-business-69474.html>. [Accessed on 16th February 2016].