Strategic Marketing Analysis for Uniqlo's Sales Boost

The provided content consists of a case study on research design and methods, including books by Yin (2013), Creswell (2013), and Clerehan et al. (2016). Additionally, it includes an ethical form for approval of research conducted by students on taught degrees at the Business School, which involves primary data collection and human participants. The form covers details such as project title, principal investigator(s), and proposed start date, as well as ethical considerations, data management, and participant information. The purpose of this assignment is to ensure that research conducted by students complies with university policies and guidelines on ethics and data protection.

Uniqlo company
Research Proposal

Table of Contents
Background......................................................................................................................................2
Company Background..................................................................................................................2
Client background........................................................................................................................2
Industry background....................................................................................................................2
Research questions...........................................................................................................................2
Research objectives.........................................................................................................................3
Research methods............................................................................................................................3
Research design............................................................................................................................3
Data collection.............................................................................................................................4
1. Semi-structure...................................................................................................................4
2. Group interviews...............................................................................................................4
3. Questionnaires...................................................................................................................4
4. Multi-source secondary data.............................................................................................5
Data analysis................................................................................................................................5
Timescale.....................................................................................................................................5
Resources.....................................................................................................................................7
1. Finance..............................................................................................................................7
2. Human experience.............................................................................................................7
3. Professional consultant.....................................................................................................7
The expert advice has been taken from the professional consultants in order to conduct the
research in an effective manner................................................................................................7
4. Proposed cost....................................................................................................................7
5. Equipment.........................................................................................................................7
6. Data access........................................................................................................................7
References........................................................................................................................................8
Appendix..........................................................................................................................................9

How to improve the marketing strategy in order to boost the sales volume of
the Uniqlo Company?
Background
Company Background
The Uniqlo Company is a Japanese casual wear company which comes under the fashion retail
industry. The company was founded in 1949, and headquarter is in Japan. The company operated
in fourteen countries globally, and the company serves clothes as products. It is the subsidiary
company of Fast retailing, and it has approximately thirty thousand employees.
Client background
The client of the company is worldwide who are satisfied with the high quality of products and
services provided by the company. The clients are mainly from middle family background who
can offer the price of the products and services.
Industry background
The clothing market of Hong Kong has approximately 796 manufacturers and the total number
of import and export is 15,110. The manufacturers of Hong Kong are contributing towards the
reduction of operations cost in order to maximize the sales volume. The performance of industry
in the recent years has been improved and the total export is improved by 12% in the year 2016.
Research questions
What is the current marketing strategy of the company and how to improve the marketing
strategy of the company in order to boost the sales volume?

Research objectives
1. To determine the current marketing strategy of the company.
2. To determine the impact of marketing strategy on the sales volume of the company.
3. To determine the most effective promotional tool for the company.
4. To determine the key resources for developing the competitive advantage to the
company.
Research methods
Research design
The case study approach is used to conduct the research study because the research questions are
explanatory due so the case study approach will be suitable in order to gain the understanding of
deeper understanding related to the improvement of the marketing strategy of the company (Yin
et al., 2013). The mixed research design is used to conduct the research study which is the
combination of qualitative and quantitative data collection and technique (Creswell et al., 2013).
Research Onion
The research onion includes five layers. Following are the layers:
a. Data collection methods
The qualitative and quantitative methods are used to collect the data.
b. Time horizons
The time horizon of conducting the research is 122 days.
c. Research strategy

The research strategy includes case study and survey in order to conduct the research.
d. Research approach
The deductive research approach is used to conduct the research.
e. Research philosophy
The interpretation philosophy is used to conduct the research analysis.
Data collection
The qualitative and quantitative methods are used to collect the data.
1. Semi-structure
The in-depth interview is conducted in order to determine the issues related to the marketing
strategy. The semi-structure interviews are conducted which cover the theme and questions
related to the situation and outcomes of the research study. It enables to provide the knowledge
related to the weaknesses and strength of the company. Four interviews are conducted, and the
expected duration is approximately one hour.
2. Group interviews
The group interviews are conducted among the employees of the company in order to determine
the perceived value of the company by the employees. The customer relationship management
can be explored by using the group interview method.
3. Questionnaires
The questionnaire is used as the statistical tool in order to collect the information from the
respondents (Clerehan et al., 2016). The questionnaire is distributed to the customer in order to
determine the customer perceived value and customer satisfaction related to the quality and
services provided by the customers. The questionnaire consists of fifteen questions with three

sections in order to collection the maximum information from the respondents. The probability
sampling is conducted, and the total number of respondents is hundred. The questionnaire is
distributed through emails to the hundred customers, and random sampling is done in order to
avoid bias at the time of conducting research.
4. Multi-source secondary data
The secondary data includes company’s annual reports which are used to conduct the analysis in
order to determine the opportunities, threats related to the company.
Data analysis
The data is analyzed by using thematic analysis in order to analyze the data and MS excel tool is
used to conduct the data analysis in which graphs and charts are used to interpret the data for
determining the findings of the research study.
Timescale
The research will be started from 13-02-2017 in which the topic is selected, and the research
proposal will be submitted on 18/2/17. Following is the table of the activities with the duration of
the particular activity.

Name
Durat
ion Start Finish
Predeces
sors
Research Project
112
days
01 November
2016 08:00
05 April 2017
17:00
Research Topic Identification 3 days
01 November
2016 08:00
03 November
2016 17:00
Research Paper Collection 5 days
04 November
2016 08:00
10 November
2016 17:00 2
Research Paper Research
10
days
11 November
2016 08:00
24 November
2016 17:00 3
Research Aims, Objective and
Questions Formulation
10
days
25 November
2016 08:00
08 December
2016 17:00 4
Methodologies Design
10
days
09 December
2016 08:00
22 December
2016 17:00 5
Data Collection
25
days
23 December
2016 08:00
26 January 2017
17:00 6
Data Analysis
25
days
27 January 2017
08:00
02 March 2017
17:00 7
Results and Discussion 5 days
03 March 2017
08:00
09 March 2017
17:00 8
Research Paper Writing
19
days
10 March 2017
08:00
05 April 2017
17:00 9

Resources
1. Finance
The majority of the financial expenses are related to the conduction of primary research such as
telephone expense, stationary, traveling expense and others. The primary research is mainly
conducted to collect the first-hand information from the users, so it requires financial expenses.
2. Human experience
The human experience in the research is used through conducting the interview with the
management of the company in order to collect the maximum information related to the
performance of the company.
3. Professional consultant
The expert advice has been taken from the professional consultants in order to conduct
the research in an effective manner.
4. Proposed cost
The proposed cost of conducting the research is assumed cost which covers all the expenses to
conduct the research.
5. Equipment
The statistical tools, namely, MS excel which is used to analyze the data that is collected from
the respondents.
6. Data access
The verbal agreement is made between the researchers and company in order to access the
documentation as well as annual reports of the company. The secondary data which includes
market research report that is collected from the online library.

References
Kotler, P., Keller, K.L., Manceau, D. and Hémonnet-Goujot, A., 2015. Marketing
management (Vol. 14). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Huang, R. and Sarigöllü, E., 2014. How brand awareness relates to market outcome, brand
equity, and the marketing mix. In Fashion Branding and Consumer Behaviors (pp. 113-132).
Springer New York.
Yin, R.K., 2013. Case study research: Design and methods. Sage publications.
Creswell, J.W., 2013. Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches.
Sage publications.
Clerehan, R., Guillemin, F., Epstein, J. and Buchbinder, R., 2016. Using the Evaluative
Linguistic Framework for Questionnaires to Assess Comprehensibility of Self-Report Health
Questionnaires. Value in Health, 19(4), pp.335-342.

Appendix
Ethical form
Business School Application for Ethical Approval for Taught Degrees
June 2012
This form should be completed for any research involving primary data collection conducted by
students on taught degrees of the Business School. This procedure particularly aims to minimize
ethical issues where the primary data involves human data and includes human beings and their
records (such as medical, genetic, financial, personnel, criminal and test results including
scholastic achievements). Please note that no research may be conducted in the Business
School where participants are children.
A copy of this application will be retained by the School for up to 6 years. The Business School
will provide summary information to University’s Research Ethics Committee (UREC) and will
provide further information to UREC as requested.
1. Title of project: How to improve the marketing strategy in order to boost the sales
volume of the Uniqlo Company?
2. This Project is:
UG Research linked to Taught Course* UG Dissertation*
PG Research linked to a Taught Course* PG Dissertation*
*May require University UREC approval – if this is the case, then a new application using the
UREC form will be required.
PLEASE ENSURE THAT THIS FORM IS APPROVED BEFORE COMMENCING
RESEARCH. IF NOT, YOUR RESEARCH MAY BE SUSPENDED WITH IMMEDIATE
EFFECT.
3. Principal Investigator(s):
Family Name: Given Name: Banner
ID:
Programme:
4. Details of the Project
Proposed start date: 20-2-2017 Probable duration: 122 Days
Brief outline of project (Describe t-he objectives and methods. Write approx 150 words in
everyday language)

-
5. Will the research involve primary data collection?
Yes No (if ‘no’ go to Question 10)
Will the research involve human participants?
Yes No (if ‘no’ go to Question 10)
6. Could the participants be considered to…
a) be vulnerable? (e.g. mentally ill?) Yes No
b) feel obliged to take part? (e.g. employees in organisationally sponsored projects)
Yes No
If the answer to either of these is ‘yes’, please explain how ethical considerations will be
minimised

7. If the research generates data relating to individuals (e.g. interview quotes or unique
questionnaire responses), describe the arrangements for maintaining anonymity and
confidentiality
The information which is gathered from individuals that will not be disclosed publically and
it is maintained in the software with security password. The data is stored in hard drive
which will be deleted after the completion of research.
8. Describe the arrangements for storing data and maintaining its security as part of the
project.
The data information is stored in hard drive which is connected to the desktop at the time of
analyzing the data and the hard drive is removed immediately after the completion of
analysis so that the confidentiality of data maintains. The computer system has security
password so that the system is fully secured.
It is a requirement of the Data Protection Act 1998 that individuals are aware of how information
about them is managed. Tick to confirm participants will be informed of data access and
security arrangements.
9. Describe how will participants be informed of the research project’s objectives, purpose
and Data Protection Act compliance (per question 8) Please attach a participant
information sheet.
The consent of the participants has been taken before conducting the research and the
participants are informed about the use of personal information for conducting the research.
10. If the research is going to be conducted within the University or its subsidiaries or partners,
which Manager or Officer of the institution has granted access?
11. If there are other relevant issues that have not been mentioned in this form please note
them below:

12. Declaration of Principal Investigator:
1. The information contained in this application, is, to the best of my knowledge, complete
and correct. I/we have read the University of Greenwich’s Research Ethics Policy and
accept responsibility for the conduct of the procedures set out in this application in
accordance with it. I/we have attempted to identify all risks related to the research that
may arise in conducting this research and acknowledge my/our obligations and the rights
of the participants.
2. I have discussed the project with my proposed academic supervisor or course leader, and
she/he indicates they have approves the planned research.
Signature(s): ...........................................................................(please insert an image of your
signature)
Greenwich email address: ………………………@gre.ac.uk Date: ………….
……………………