Marketing Analysis of The Body Shop: Competitor and Environment Report

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of The Body Shop, a British cosmetics company. It begins by emphasizing the importance of understanding customer needs, wants, and demands, and discusses The Body Shop's marketing orientation. The report then delves into the marketing environment, including both internal and external factors, and highlights the significance of competitor analysis. A competitor analysis table compares The Body Shop with key competitors in the UK, such as Avon, Rimmel London, and Yardley London, focusing on aspects like pricing, quality, and product range. The report also examines the macro-environmental factors using a PESTLE analysis, detailing political, economic, social, technological, legal, and environmental influences. Finally, the report identifies and describes the 7 Ps of the marketing mix: product, price, promotion, place, process, physical evidence, and people, as they relate to The Body Shop's overall performance. The report concludes by summarizing the key findings and implications for The Body Shop's marketing strategy.

THE BODY SHOP
(REPORT)

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
a) Importance of The Body Shop of understanding its customer’s needs, wants and demands. 3
b) Identify and discuss the marketing orientation or concept of The Body Shop..................4
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................4
a) Analyzing the marketing environment of The Body Shop.................................................4
b) Discuss macro environment of The Body Shop.................................................................5
c) Relevance of The Body Shop conducting a competitor analysis.......................................6
d) Developing a competitor analysis table for three key competitors of The Body Shop in the
UK..........................................................................................................................................7
e) Discuss the findings of the competitor analysis.................................................................7
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................8
a) Identify and describing The Body Shop’s marketing Mix.................................................8
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
The Body Shop is a British cosmetics, perfume and skin care company that was founded
by Dame Anita Roddick on 26th March 1976. It is headquartered at Croydon, London, United
Kingdom. Currently, The Body Shop has more than 1000 products range, which is provided to
its customers across worldwide. It has around 17,000 employees who are working with them to
make this organization better. It has approx 3,049 owned and franchised stores which are located
internationally, i.e. in 66 different countries. This company is owned by Natura, which is a
Brazilian cosmetics company. Earlier, it was owned by the French Cosmetics Company, L'Oréal.
The total revenue of company till 2017 was estimated to US$ 1.4 billion. The Body Shop has
variety of range to offer its customers, which includes products for the body, face, hair and home
(Wilder, Collier and Barnes, 2014). Product of this firm includes body products such as body
scrub, body butter and bath lilies, make up essentials, full skin range including men's skincare as
well as hair care, fragrances for both women and men etc. It also provides products that are
“inspired by nature” and features ingredients, such as, marula and sesame seed oil which is
sourced through the Community Trade program.
Present report is focused on the evaluation of The Body Shop, which will include
different aspects like understanding towards customer’s needs, wants and demands from
company’s perspective and discussing the marketing orientation or concept of The Body Shop.
Factors like marketing environment and why it is important for organization is also explained in
it. Apart from this, it will discuss about its macro environment and competitor analysis to
identify key competitors of The Body Shop that are present in UK and this report will also
identify and describes 7 P's of Marketing Mix Process that can affect an overall performance of
this organization.
TASK 1
a) Importance of The Body Shop of understanding its customer’s needs, wants and demands
It is very important for any organization to understand its customers’ needs, wants and
demands to provide them services according to their preferences and liking. Needs are the basic
requirements for any individual, which can be related to, for example, food, shelter, clothes, etc.
Other than this, there is a need for education, healthcare, etc. that also has a huge significance in
one’s life. Want of a person can be related to their preferences which can change according to
time, place, etc. Demands can be related to want only that is; desire of an individual for any

particular thing. For Body Shop, it is very important to understand their customers’ needs, wants
and demands in order to fulfill their requirements and make them satisfied from given services
(Understanding needs, wants and demands of customers, 2016).
A product can be differentiated on the basis of whether they are satisfying their
consumer's needs, wants and demands. It is one of the fundamental concepts to fulfill the
requirements of their clients. For The Body Shop, needs are those things which can help them to
satisfy the basic requirement of their customers. Wants are those requests that are directed to
specific type of item or demand for unique products that the buyer wants.
b) Identify and discuss the marketing orientation or concept of The Body Shop
It is very important to have proper and effective marketing orientation or concept, which
can help any organization to grow their business in respective industry. It can also help them in
competing with their competitors. The role of marketing has grown exponentially throughout
recent years and this is faithfully reflected for strategic endeavors and decisions of company.
It is very crucial for them to maintain environmental and social friendly image in market
to increase their customer and profitability rate (Baines and et.al., 2017). They have highly
differentiated range of their products, which ensure to deliver the best product according to their
customers’ choices. This helped them to grow their business. It guaranteed a fair profit for its
suppliers and assesses their responsibility towards environmental protection.
Marketing concept of The Body Shop is very strong as compared to their competitors that
play an important to run their business successfully. This process includes various factors such as
production, sales and marketing concept. All three concepts are very carefully managed by them
to enhance their products and services. When this firm began to adopt this marketing concept, it
became very important for the marketing department of The Body Shop to satisfy their customer
needs and can help them in achieving their objectives.
TASK 2
a) Analyzing the marketing environment of The Body Shop
Marketing environment is a concept or strategic tool, which is used to analyze internal
and external environmental factors that can affect the proper functioning of firm. Internal can
include employees, retailers, shareholders, customers, etc. and external factors consist of
political, legal, social, technological, and economic that influences their marketing operations.

So, it is very crucial for The Body Shop to have good understanding of their marketing
environment that can help to have a strong strategic management (Chun, 2016). These
environmental factors have huge significance in knowing the business.
It is very important for organization to analyze the marketing environment to work
effectively in market. It will help them to deliver their best services to customers. It can help the
firm in various key areas such as for planning, understanding their customers, analyzing their
strengths and weaknesses. This will also ensure to understand their competitors to assist them in
growing their business more (Ricci, 2014).
b) Discuss macro environment of The Body Shop
The macro environmental factors are used by The Body Shop to analyze all their external
components that can influence their business. This can be studied by applying PESTLE Analysis,
which has several factors that include political, economic, social culture, technological, legal and
environmental factors as explained below:
Political Factors  They must follow the rules and regulations assigned for this
industry, which they should follow; for example,
implementation of governmental laws related to forbidding
animal-testing.
 Trade regulations by political institutions that can influence
their trading relationships with other countries (Charter, 2017)
.
Economic Factors  Foreign exchange rate a huge impact in order to supply their
products worldwide.
 Increased price consciousness among consumers has also
impacted their business a lot.
 Interest rate and inflation rate also affects business.
Social culture Factors  Change in purchasing pattern in their customers is the most
important factor.
 Lifestyle and preferences change. They are choosing more
healthy and natural products for their use.
 Rising income revenue is also a factor which can affect them.

Technological Factors  Implication of internet facility which is sued to sell their
products online, for example, increased the use of e-
commercial sale methods.
 Updating their system with the latest tool and technology
which is very important for cosmetic industry to deliver the
best products to their customers.
Legal Factors  Implementation of new chemical law in UK.
 Sale and marketing of animal-testes is also banned.
 Foreign exchange (Jin, Ji and Gu, 2016).
Environmental
Factors
 Use of renewable resources.
 Implementation of Eco friendly packaging.
Two factors which has impacted The Body Shop most is the change in the preferences of
their customer and concern about environment. This sudden change has affected the cosmetic
industry a lot as all their customers prefers for naturally made products without the use of
chemical products in them.
c) Relevance of The Body Shop conducting a competitor analysis
Competitor analysis is a process which is used by any organization to analyze the
strength and weaknesses of their competitors which are currently present in market. This analysis
helps them to provide both an offensive and defensive strategic environment to identify their
opportunities and threats. It plays critical part in the marketing plan of organization. This
analysis helps the firm to understand their competition and can improve their products and
services better than them in order to compete with them and increasing their customer rate as
well (The Bodyshop - An Analysis of the Company´s Actions towards Sustainability, 2014).
It is very important for The Body Shop to have effective competitor analysis which can
help them to increase their business. Conducting this process in their system can give them huge
advantage, such as, it will provide them their competitor's Current Strategy and what are their
objectives. It will also help them in analyzing their current strategies. Implementation of this
method will increase their overall performance in the industry (Alnaser and et.al., 2017).

d) Developing a competitor analysis table for three key competitors of The Body Shop in the UK
The competition in cosmetic industry is very tough in United Kingdom as there are so
many companies operating there. The main three key competitors of The Body Shop are, Avon,
Rimmel London and Yardley London. Competitor analysis of is explained below:
Key Components The Body Shop AVON RIMMEL YARDLEY
1. Number of
shops
High Online store Average Average
2. Pricing High-Average Average High Low
3. Quality Excellent Great Great Good
4. Product
Range
Wide range of
products which
includes, make up
products, skin
care, hair care,
perfumes, etc.
It has only beauty
and make up
products.
It also has
beauty and make
up products.
It produces
basically
perfumes, Deo
and soaps.
5. Ingredients
used
Herbal and
Chemical products
Herbal and
Chemical
products
Herbal and
Chemical
products
Herbal and
Chemical
products
e) Discuss the findings of the competitor analysis
From the above competitor analysis it is clear that there is tough competition between all
the companies. It can be concluded that The Body Shop has a vast business as it has maximum
number of shops nationally and internationally which makes them a stronger competitor. It also
has variety of products range in its production apart from just make up essentials. From the
above finding it is clear that organization has to focus more on producing herbal or natural
products as customers are more keen in buying these types of products which cannot affect their
skin. This can be achieved by interacting with their customers personally and knowing their
preferences for the products (Groucutt and Hopkins, 2015). Another factors which has a huge
impact on the business is the pricing strategy. It has to be accordingly which can be easily
afforded by their customers.

TASK 3
a) Identify and describing The Body Shop’s marketing Mix
Marketing mix is a process which is used to study internal and external marketing
environment for the organization. The 7 P's of marketing mix include, product, price, promotion,
place, process, physical evidence and people, which is explained below:
Product: In this process, the focus is on their products, such as, on its quality, processing, etc. It
provides variety of range in their products to choose which gives positive impact on their
customers. They sell organically grown body products according to their customers preferences.
For example, New Fuji Green Tea Cleansing Hair Scrub, Rainforest Radiance Hair Butter, etc.
Price: This includes the pricing strategy of the organization. Company has set their prices at high
to medium range which is easily affordable by their consumers. It is important that the company
knows its target group and knows what the target group is willing to pay for the products
(Marketing mix of the Body Shop, 2016).
Promotion: The Body Shop has used several marketing policies to promote its brand name in
the consumer market. The brand has its own website that markets its products as well. It also has
tie-ups with other shopping portals that sell its products online, for example, Amazon.
Place: Company sells their products by both the modes, i.e., offline and online. This helps them
in increasing the customer rate. For example, it has their internal shops in Canada, France, Italy,
etc.
Process : In this method they take care of every step that is followed in the manufacturing of
their products. They also ensure that nothing is harmed during this method, for example, there is
no animal testing of products.
Physical Evidence: This includes the physical appearance of their products, such as, their
packaging of products. It has to attractive to attract customers (Jackson and Ahuja, 2016).
People: This factor helps them in interacting with their customers to know their feedback for
their products so that they can make improvement according to them.
CONCLUSION
From the above report it can be concluded that it is very important to have a strong
marketing department which can help them to promote their business effectively in the market
which can be very useful for them to aware their customers about their products and services.
This report explained about the needs, wants and demand of their customers which has helped

then in providing the best products according to their preferences. It also discussed about the
marketing orientation or concept and marketing environment of The Body Shop to make them
understand their internal and external factors which can affect their business. Other than these
topics it also explained competitor analysis which is used to identify their key competitors
present in UK. This report also includes the 7 P's of marketing mix which plays an important role
in enhancing the overall performance of The Body Shop and helped them in growing their
business.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Alnaser, F. M. I. and et.al., 2017. The Influence of Services Marketing Mix (7 Ps.) and
Subjective Norms on Customer’s Satisfaction in Islamic Banks of Palestine. European
Journal of Business and Management, 9(27), pp.20-25.
Baines, P. and et.al., 2017. Fundamentals of Marketing. Oxford University Press.
Charter, M., 2017. Greener marketing: A responsible approach to business. Routledge.
Chun, R., 2016. What holds ethical consumers to a cosmetics brand: The Body Shop case.
Business & Society, 55(4), pp.528-549.
Groucutt, J. and Hopkins, C., 2015. Marketing. Macmillan International Higher Education.
Jackson, G. and Ahuja, V., 2016. Dawn of the digital age and the evolution of the marketing mix.
Journal of Direct, Data and Digital Marketing Practice, 17(3), pp.170-186.
Jin, J., Ji, P. and Gu, R., 2016. Identifying comparative customer requirements from product
online reviews for competitor analysis. Engineering Applications of Artificial Intelligence,
49, pp.61-73.
Ricci, F., 2014. L'Oreal acquisition policy: The Body Shop case study (Doctoral dissertation).
Wilder, K. M., Collier, J. E. and Barnes, D. C., 2014. Tailoring to customers’ needs:
Understanding how to promote an adaptive service experience with frontline employees.
Journal of Service Research, 17(4), pp.446-459.
Online
Marketing mix of the Body Shop. 2016. [Online]. Available through:
<https://www.marketing91.com/marketing-mix-of-the-body-shop/>
The Bodyshop - An Analysis of the Company´s Actions towards Sustainability. 2014. [Online].
Available through: <https://www.grin.com/document/187767>
Understanding needs, wants and demands of customers. 2016. [Online]. Available through:
<http://www.baillie.com/hardwood-lumber-blog/item/420-understanding-needs-wants-and-
demands-of-customers>