Retailing Report

This report examines Meredith Dairy's strategy to improve its distribution channel through independent retailers using a digitally driven solution. It analyzes competitor websites, identifies online shopper segmentation characteristics, and proposes a sustainable competitive advantage for an online store or sales referral system. The report also outlines a comprehensive web strategy, including creative media, integrated marketing, CRM relationship management, domain development, and supply chain considerations.

Retailing

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
Background..................................................................................................................................1
Evaluation of competitor or collaborator websites......................................................................3
Segmentation characteristics of online shoppers.........................................................................6
Sustainable competitive advantage for online store or sales referral system...............................7
Web strategy................................................................................................................................8
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................12
TEAM CONTRACT......................................................................................................................13
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................14

INTRODUCTION
Retailing is a procedure in which products are distributed by organisations to its clients.
Retailers does not manufacture goods they buy them from whole sellers and supply to market
where customers can buy them according to their requirements (Abhishek, Jerath and Zhang,
2015). In other words it can be defined as commercial transaction in which buyers purchase
items from retailers and provide them monetary resources according to the price. Main aim of
this report is to analyse reposition strategies for business entities which can help them to improve
distribution channel with the help of independent retailers. The organisation which is selected for
this report is Meredith Dairy which was founded by Sandy and Julie Cameron in year 1990
during Australia's agricultural recession.
The present report covers various topics such as background information, evaluation of
competitors or collaborator websites, segmentation characteristics of online shoppers and
sustainable competitive advantage for online store sales referral system. Apart from this, a web
strategy for reposition the company is also discussed under this project.
MAIN BODY
Background
Meredith Dairy was founded in year 1990 by Sandy and Julie Cameron when Australia
was facing agricultural recession. It is a family owned enterprise which takes pride in their
genomics, sustainability, product quality and growth. It is mainly located in Australia but its
different items are sold all around the world (Background of Meredith Dairy, 2017). Main aim of
the company is to provide best quality goods to the clients on reasonable price in order to
enhance their satisfaction level and sales. All the items including cheese and yoghurt that are
supplied by the company are made from sheep and goat milk. Currently the organisation is
willing to improve its distribution through independent retailers possible with a digitally driven
solution.
As the company is willing to improve distribution in order to be more competitive in the
market and attain a competitive position. For this purpose it is planning to use a digital media
and launch its own website where it can offer products online so that revenues can be enhanced.
The retail strategy which is going to be used by Meredith Dairy is opening a new online store
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where customers can order items and get them delivered at their door step (Beck and Rygl,
2015).
There are various types of external elements that are affecting dairy industry in Australia.
All of them can be analysed with the help of PESTLE analysis where six different elements and
their effects are monitored by organisations to formulate strategic decisions analyse actual
position in the market. All the components of it are as follows:
Political: Governmental and legal policies are very strict in Australia regarding
agriculture which affect decisions of farmers to keep livestock and extract milk out of their
farms. Meredith Dairy is operating its business by following all the legal regulations which helps
it to get support of political parities and attain growth (PESTLE analysis of Dairy Industry,
2015).
Economic: Inflation, interest rate and deflation rates are those economic factors that
affects airy sector by reducing purchasing power of customers. Meredith Dairy has complied
with such factors in appropriate manner by setting affordable price for its products which helps
to generate higher revenues whether economy is growing or decreasing. It helps Australia to
overcome economic crisis such as recession by contributing a good amount in national income.
Social: Buying behaviour, age, gender, income level, education etc. are such social
factors that can affect dairy industry of UK. People generally prefer cow or buffalo milk and
Meredith Dairy is offering products made from goat and sheep milk which can affect its sales
due to buying behaviour of consumers. In order to deal with such factors organisation is using
attractive promotional strategies in which it make sure that clients get detailed information
regarding the products offered by it.
Technological: Digital technology and other technological elements are part of this
factor which helps the dairy industry to attain higher growth. Currently Meredith is not having its
own digital media to distribute its products and to overcome this issue the organisation has
planned to sale products on its own websites to improve it. Main purpose behind this is to attain
higher growth and competitive advantage in the market (Chkanikova and Mont, 2015).
Legal: Different types of law such as food and safety act are the part of such factors
which affects dairy industry negatively. As all the dairy products have limit for consumption and
according to laws for all the organisations which are supplying such items it is vital to make sure
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that the date is written on it. Meredith Dairy is complying with all of them by following all the
governmental laws in order to execute business appropriately.
Environmental: Dairy industry depends upon health and availability of livestock as its
business depends upon it. There are various types of diseases such as Scarpie, Foot rot, Blackleg,
Enterotoxemia etc. that are affecting health of cattle which are used by organisations to
manufacture their products. Meredith Dairy is focusing on all of them and provide appropriate
treatment to all the goats and sheep in order to keep them healthy.
By analysing all the above factors it has been analysed that Meredith Dairy is having
good position in the industry as it comply with all the external factors. Now it is planning to
become more digital which can help it to be more competitive in the market. Dairy industry is
continuously growing due to high demand of its products in Australia and world wide.
According to experts Dairy Industry of Australia is continuously growing as demand of
its products is increasing. The country is a significant exporter of dairy products which is helping
it to develop the economy (Views of experts regarding Dairy Industry of UK, 2019). At the time
of Agriculture recession various new dairies were introduced in order to deal with this challenge
in appropriate manner.
Evaluation of competitor or collaborator websites
Selected retailers: The retailers which are selected to complete the above table are
Woolworths, Safeway, Indo Asian and Coles. All of them are retailer websites which are selling
Meredith Dairy's products in Australia. All of them are selected to fill the table because all of
them are selling products that are sold by Meredith and which are its speciality. Another reason
for selecting them is that all of them are competitors of each other so it can help to conduct the
competitive analysis appropriately.
Comparison of shopping experience on the internet to shopping in a local store for
this type of product: My experience on shopping online was very different from shopping in a
local shop. I have visited various shops and compared the price which was offered by them. With
the help of this I have analysed that from local stores customers have to buy the set price from
websites we can but same products on low price. Experience of shopping online was very good
as I was able to order food items from my home and get d them delivered at my door step.
Advantages and disadvantages of the internet shopping experience: There are various
advantages and disadvantages of shopping items on a websites. All of them are as follows:
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Advantages:
 Customers can get better price options while shopping online and it can be compared
with other website to buy a product on low price (Cox and Dannehl, 2017). Buyer do not have to face crowd which is usually faced by them in local stores and they
have to wait in cue to bill their products.
Disadvantages:
 Issues such as delay in delivery are faced by clients when they order products online.
 There is a lack of interactivity with show owner so the detailed information regarding
products cannot be gathered by buyers while ordering food online.
Comparison of the retail offerings of the products: Four different retailer websites are
used to buy products of Meredith Dairy and a rating is also provided to them according to multi
attribute model. Rating to Meredith is also provided to show the way in which it is going to work
in future.
Woolworths Safeway Indo Asian Coles Meredith
Dairy
Product quality 6 5 7 6 7
Price 4 6 5 8 6
Suggestive
selling
7 5 6 5 5
Website features 6 7 5 5 8
Design of
website
6 5 4 6 5
Ease of website
use
7 7 5 5 8
Closing of the
sale
5 6 4 7 7
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The website which is going to be used in future: From all the above websites I am
going to use Coles as the rating of this website is very good and I think that it provides best
facilities to the clients and it is very easy to shop online.
Market position matrix:
The above position matrix shows that opportunity 1 is the best option which should be
selected by Meredith Dairy as it has high market attractiveness and competitive position in the
market. It can help the organisation to attain higher growth in the market. Opportunity 7 is very
risky for the organisation because it is not having proper competitive position and market
attractiveness.
Unique Selling aspects of competitors:
Wool worths: It is providing ease of use for the website. It can be copied by Meredith
because it helps to enhance satisfaction level of clients (Woolworths, 2019).
Safe way: It has attractive website features which helps to attract large number of client.
It can be copied by Meredith because it can help to provide a good view of the new website of
the organisation from which products can be ordered by clients online and get them delivered at
their door step (Safeway, 2019).
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4006008001000
0
200
400
600
800
1000
Evaluation of Opportunities
Series1
Opportunity 2
Opportunity 3
Opportunity 4
Opportunity 5
Opportunity 6
Opportunity 7
Competitive Position
Market Attractiveness

Indo Asian: This website provides good quality products to the clients and this feature
should be acquired by Meredith in order to enhance satisfaction level of customers and retain
them for a long period in future (Indo Asian, 2019).
Coles: It provides minimum price to the consumers as compare to other websites which
helps it to retain customers. It uniqueness element can be copied by Meredith Dairy in order to
attract customers and retain them (Coles, 2019).
Mixing all these selling aspects could be beneficial for Meredith because it can help to
attain higher profits and successfully launch the new products in the market. If all the above
described elements are copied by Meredith Dairy then it can result in attraction of large number
of clients and sales.
Segmentation characteristics of online shoppers
There are various types of segmentation that could be selected by Meredith in order to
offer its products to the clients. Following table reflects all the required elements that are
required to be focused by the organisation in order to become more digital and improve its
distribution channel.
Segmentation Bases Characteristics of Consumers Shopping Online
Geographic Meredith has planned to cover all the Australia to supply its
dairy products with the help of its website.
Access to technology All type of digital devices can access the new website of
Meredith which includes mobile phones, personal
computers, laptops etc.
Gender All type of genders are targeted by the company because
males and females both order grocery items for use at
home.
Age The age group of 19 to 55 is the target segment of Meredith
who can order items online.
Usage rate It has been estimated by Meredith that its usage rate in
future will be around 65%.
Household Income Price of all its product is affordable by clients so all type of
clients can afford its products. Household income to buy
products from Meredith Website would be around 5000
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Australian Dollars.
Segment: The selected segment is very large and it can help to enhance sales with the
help of attractiveness of website. It is also profitable for the organisation because the price of
Meredith Dairy products is affordable which will attract large number of customers and retain
them.
Access of the segment online: This segment can be accessed by Meredith Dairy online
by analysing market and conducting online survey. It can help to reach maximum number of
customers and spread awareness regarding improvements in website of the company.
Social media habits: These are the habits that people are having to scroll websites such
as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter etc. Advantage of all of them can be taken by making page on
these sites and promoting the website on them. It will help to spread awareness and reach
maximum number of customers.
Cost to access the prospects: The cost to access the prospect will be around 10000
Australian Dollar as it is the marketing budget. Organisation have to bear a touch cost in which
for each touch it will pay the amount to the media where it is marketing its products.
Baseline cost: All the costs such as sign up, maintenance of website are known as
baseline costs. These can be faced by Meredith because it has to maintain its own website and its
social media accounts. It requires staff members who can handle website and update it according
to time.
Information regarding products: Information regarding all the products can be
gathered by the customers from its website where detailed data of all the dairy products is being
kept by Meredith Dairy. Information can also be gathered from other retail websites such as
Wool worths, Safeway and Coles. In order to reach these websites it is required to contact them
and sale products on these sites which are independent retailer in Australia.
Sustainable competitive advantage for online store or sales referral system
Sustainable competitive advantage is very important for all the organisations as it can
help to deal with competition in the market. It can be acquired with the help of enhancing online
visibility of website. It can be created with the help of promotional activities that are conducted
by the organisation to aware clients regarding products that are going to be offered online by
company.
Sustainable Competitive Our Implementation
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Advantage
Customer Loyalty In order to attain customer loyalty Meredith Dairy is
going to set best price for its products and provide best
quality items to them in order to retain clients for a
long period in future and make them brand loyal.
Location It has been decided by Meredith Dairy that it will
cover whole Australia to deliver its products to the
customers who order online. There will be no specific
location where it will sale its products but whole
Australia.
Distribution In order to improve distribution channel it has been
proposed by Meredith Dairy to improve its website
and sale products on it so that large number of
customers can be acquired by the company. Main
purpose behind it is that it helps to modify old
distribution channel.
Merchandise The business will be operated online as well as in local
stores. The website is going to be improved for the
purpose of improving distribution channel of the
organisation.
Customer Service It has been proposed by Meredith Dairy that customer
service is its first priority and it is willing to deliver
them goods on time so that good experience can be
provided to them.
Human Resources New employees are going to be hires for the purpose
of appropriate execution of business activities as they
are required to maintain website, deliver goods etc.
Web strategy
 Creative Media and Integrated Marketing:
Meredith Dairy is a family-owned business with an assortment of quality premium
products mainly focused on Sheep and Goats Cheese. In order to establish its marketing
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component for the online venture, the company needs to adopt a retail communication mix
strategy. A retail communication mix is one which shows various strategies adopted by the
organisation to inform its target audience about the products and services offered by them. This
will help the organisation in understanding various channels that would be effective in informing
customers with different needs and preferences.
The online retail locations for Meredith Dairy includes its only website . For the purpose
of marketing products through:
Paid Methods:
Estimated Budget: $40,000 (AUD)
Impersonal:
The Unique Selling Point of Meredith is its endorsements made by Celebrity Chefs. Both
paid as well as unpaid chefs have been invited. This would help in wide promotion of the quality
products. Apart from this, advertising and sales promotion activities through sponsors. This
would also include a Touch Cost of AUD$10,000. In addition to this, Website Community
Building will help in creating a base of loyal online customers. This is an important step which
will not only help in retention of existing customers but also enhance the brand image of the
Meredith Dairy further. The company can estimate a total of AUD$15,000. For this purpose,
Blogs can be created by hiring content writers who would create a place where the most popular
products can be displayed along with quality, uses and other such elements. This can be
estimated to a cost of AUD$5,000.
Personal:
Online Awareness regarding the website can be initiated through adoption of Personal
Paid methods such as Personal Selling, E-Mail and Direct Mail Channels. Personal contact is one
of the most important part of marketing. Therefore, recruitment of Personal Sellers that provide
samples as well as demonstrate the uses of dairy products effectively can help in redirecting
customers to its website. Apart from this, using E-Mail as well as Direct Mail strategies can help
in reaching mass audience in a more cost-effective manner. The estimated budget for this is
AUD$10,000, out of which, AUD$6,000 is allocated to Personal Selling whereas AUD$4,000 is
allocated to Direct mail and E-mails.
Unpaid Methods:
Impersonal:
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One of the main strategies recommended to be adopted in this method is Publicity. This
can be done by giving out free samples with the products bought by the customers online as well
as offline to create awareness about the website and the offerings listed on it.
Personal:
Word-Of-Mouth through testimonials is another effective mode of retail communication
mix that will help in creating genuine and personal association with new as well as existing
customers.
Impersonal Personal
Paid Advertising
Sales Promotion
Celebrity Endorsements
Website Community Building
Personal Selling
E-Mail
Direct Mail
Unpaid Publicity Word of Mouth
Marketing Budget Forecast
Year Cash Flows PV Factor @ 10% PV
0 40000 1 40000
1 42000 0.9090909091 38181.8181818182
2 42840 0.826446281 35404.9586776859
3 43696.8 0.7513148009 32830.0525920361
4 45444.672 0.6830134554 31039.3224506523
5 45899.11872 0.6209213231 28499.7415228716
NPV 125955.893425064
Average inflow
43976.11814
4
Payback Period
0.909584603
8
CRM Relationship:
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Estimated Budget: $10,000 (AUD)
The target segments of Meredith Dairy can be effectively identified through the
implementation of Demographic and Geographic Segmentation Strategies. The Specific
Actionable Segments are those which help in guidance of Market-related strategies. For
Meredith, these include geographic regions that cover whole of Australia, Technologically
accessible devices such as smartphones, PCs, Laptops especially for those users that fall in the
age group of 19 to 55 years of age with a household income of AUD$5,000.
The costs to access these customers can be estimated to be AUD$10,000 as CRM
Relationship is one of the strongest point required in order to benefit all from the establishment
of a good website. Since cost of acquisition and maintenance is higher for different segments, it
can be attributed that $50 per user is likely to be incurred through the new CRM strategy of
Meredith. In addition to this, the customer database shall include quantitative as well as
qualitative data. Herein the former shall state the number of purchases made in relation to
different products and the latter shall state the preferences of various customers towards various
products based on prices and offers among other important criteria.
CRM Budget Forecast
Year Cash Flows PV Factor @ 10% PV
0 10000 1 -10000
1 10200 0.9090909091 9272.7272727273
2 10506 0.826446281 8682.6446280992
3 13657.8 0.7513148009 10261.3072877536
4 13794.378 0.6830134554 9421.7457823919
5 13932.32178 0.6209213231 8650.8756729235
NPV 36289.3006438954
Average inflow
12418.09995
6
Payback Period
0.805276172
3
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Domain Development and Naming:
Estimated Budget: AUD$9,000
Meredith Dairy has made changes to its existing websites, tools based on the
requirements of marketing strategies it wishes to undertake as well as other software. These will
include CRM Softwares, Enterprise Resource Planning Systems as well as costs incurred for
work on domain and hosting worth AUD$1,000 per annum, Cost Of Application AUD$3,000 as
well as the overall E-Commerce Website Building worth AUD$6,000.
Naming And Domain Budget Forecast
Year Cash Flows PV Factor @ 10% PV
0 1000 1 -1000
1 1040 0.9090909091 945.4545454545
2 1060.8 0.826446281 876.694214876
3 1071.408 0.7513148009 804.9646882044
4 1114.26432 0.6830134554 761.0575233932
5 1125.4069632 0.6209213231 698.7891805701
NPV 3086.9601524983
Average inflow 1082.37585664
Payback Period 0.9238934829
Fulfilment, Information Systems and Supply Chain:
Estimated Budget: AUD$21,000
The Supply Chain of the business includes a very lean model wherein most of the
products are produced by the company itself at its farms, packed and then sold online as well as
offline. The anticipated initial production run costs are AUD$12,000 and Estimated Sales
Velocity is estimated at AUD$4,000.
Marketing Budget Forecast
Year Cash Flows PV Factor @ 10% PV
0 21000 1 21000
1 22050 0.9090909091 20045.4545454545
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2 22491 0.826446281 18587.6033057851
3 29238.3 0.7513148009 21967.1675432006
4 30407.832 0.6830134554 20768.9584044806
5 30711.91032 0.6209213231 19069.6799895685
NPV 121438.863788489
Average inflow 26979.808464
Payback Period 0.7783598623
CONCLUSION
From the above project report it has been concluded that retailing is an activity in which
retailers buy products from wholesaler and supply them to the customers. In order to improve
distribution channel some of the organisations choose independent retailers to sale their products
and other build their own website so that customers can get products delivered at their door step.
It depends upon the owner of business to select best medium to improve its distribution channel
so that maximum number of clients can be attracted and successful business can be established.
TEAM CONTRACT
While me and other classmates get to know that we are going to have projects that are
required to be completed on time and in appropriate manner and we can choose teams by our
own. I felt very good and thought that I can make team with my friends. We are 4 members in
the team and all of us have to work equally on this assignment. Most of the companies are
putting employees in self directed teams so that they can work appropriately and productively in
order to complete the projects. Our tutor did the same they allow us to make team by our own
and work of the project. All of us tried our best to complete the report. Some of us were
responsible to gather information from online as well as offline sources and other were liable to
analyse the information that it is useful for our assignment or not. All the members has taken
appropriate participation in work and gave their best for successful completion of report. While
working on the project we have also faced some conflicts regarding the report due to
miscommunication. But all of us dealt with it appropriately and tried to get over it properly. If
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we get same opportunity again then we will make sure to communicate effectively so that
conflicts can be ignored.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals:
Abhishek, V., Jerath, K. and Zhang, Z. J., 2015. Agency selling or reselling? Channel structures
in electronic retailing. Management Science. 62(8). pp.2259-2280.
Beck, N. and Rygl, D., 2015. Categorization of multiple channel retailing in Multi-, Cross-, and
Omni‐Channel Retailing for retailers and retailing. Journal of Retailing and Consumer
Services. 27. pp.170-178.
Chkanikova, O. and Mont, O., 2015. Corporate supply chain responsibility: drivers and barriers
for sustainable food retailing. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental
Management. 22(2). pp.65-82.
Cox, N. and Dannehl, K., 2017. Perceptions of retailing in early modern England. Routledge.
Cox, N., 2016. The complete tradesman: a study of retailing, 1550–1820. Routledge.
Dewar, D. and Watson, V., 2018. Urban markets: developing informal retailing (Vol. 8).
Routledge.
Fernie, J., Fernie, S. and Moore, C., 2015. Principles of retailing. Routledge.
Hagberg, J., Sundstrom, M. and Egels-Zandén, N., 2016. The digitalization of retailing: an
exploratory framework. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management.
44(7). pp.694-712.
Hristov, L. and Reynolds, J., 2015. Perceptions and practices of innovation in retailing:
Challenges of definition and measurement. International Journal of Retail &
Distribution Management. 43(2). pp.126-147.
Lewis, J., Whysall, P. and Foster, C., 2014. Drivers and technology-related obstacles in moving
to multichannel retailing. International Journal of Electronic Commerce. 18(4). pp.43-
68.
Rhodes, A., 2014. Multiproduct retailing. The Review of Economic Studies. 82(1). pp.360-390.
Scott, P., 2017. Geography and retailing. Routledge.
Verhoef, P. C., Kannan, P. K. and Inman, J. J., 2015. From multi-channel retailing to omni-
channel retailing: introduction to the special issue on multi-channel retailing. Journal of
retailing. 91(2). pp.174-181.
Verma, V., Sharma, D. and Sheth, J., 2016. Does relationship marketing matter in online
retailing? A meta-analytic approach. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science.
44(2). pp.206-217.
Wrigley, N. and Lowe, M., 2014. Reading retail: A geographical perspective on retailing and
consumption spaces. Routledge.
Online
PESTLE analysis of Dairy Industry. 2015. [Online]. Available through:
<https://freepestelanalysis.com/pestelpest-of-dairy-industry/>
Views of experts regarding Dairy Industry of UK. 2019. [Online]. Available through:
<file:///home/user/Downloads/Australian%20Dairy%20Industry%20In%20Focus
%202018>
Background of Meredith Dairy. 2017. [Online]. Available through:
<http://meredithdairy.com/>
Woolworths. 2019. [Online]. Available through:
<https://www.woolworths.com.au/shop/search/products?searchTerm=goat%20cheese>
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