Marketing Strategy and Plan for Chope Restaurant Booking App

This report provides a comprehensive marketing plan for Chope, a Singapore-based restaurant booking app. It begins with an executive summary and an introduction to the e-commerce industry in Singapore, highlighting its growth and economic importance. A key component of the report is a det...Read More

Marketing strategy and plan 0
Marketing strategy and plan
CHOPE

Marketing strategy and plan 1
Executive summary
The marketing strategy is a plan of action intended to endorse and sell a product or service. It
is a plan created to reach people and turn them into the potential customers. Whereas the
marketing plan is a document which shows the way a company can implement its marketing
strategy. It includes a combination of resources to attain business objectives like sales target
or customer acquisition. This report includes the marketing plan of the Chope, Singapore
which is a restaurant booking app. The app was launched by the idea of making restaurant
process simpler and addresses the problems faced in placing restaurant reservations. This
report includes the competitor analysis of the Chope. The report comprises dominant
economic features and the external environment of the company. The key success factors
have been defined which contributes to the competitive success.

Marketing strategy and plan 2
Contents
Executive summary...............................................................................................................................1
Introduction...........................................................................................................................................3
Competitor analysis...............................................................................................................................3
Dominant economic features.................................................................................................................4
External environment............................................................................................................................5
Key successful factors...........................................................................................................................8
Conclusion.............................................................................................................................................8
References.............................................................................................................................................9

Marketing strategy and plan 3
Introduction
A market is a place where the demand and supply forces operate and allows buyers and
sellers to interact to facilitate an exchange. The type of market can be physical or online. It
facilitates deals and transactions. This report includes the marketing plan of the e-commerce
industry of Singapore. E-Commerce is buying and selling of the goods and services over an
electronic network like the internet. These business transactions occur in three forms like
business to business, business to customer or customer to the business. The e-commerce
industry in Singapore has grown enormously in the last few years. The industry has a
substantial increase in the number of online start-ups in the home needs and entertainment.
The country is embracing its dedication in the digital economy to attain the goal of becoming
a smart nation. As per the report of the World Bank, Singapore is the second easiest place to
do business in the world. It is estimated that e-commerce revenue of Singapore will amount
to $3.74 billion by the end of 2018. It is anticipated to show an annual growth rate of 10.1%
(Export.gov, 2018). The e-commerce industry in Singapore supports companies in
developing and expanding their online business.
Competitor analysis
The e-commerce market of Singapore is growing fast due to its persistent; ultra-high speed
trusted infrastructure, the government’s dedication in embracing digital technology and
achieving the objective of becoming a smart nation. The e-commerce sales in Singapore are
estimated to reach the US $7.4 billion by 2020 (TQC, 2018). The government of Singapore
has launched an electronic commerce to manage businesses. The government targets to
transact $4 billion worth of the product and services online. A greater potential is shown in
the next 10 years due to increasing middle class and young consumer market.
There are various e-commerce players in the market of Singapore such as Chope, Pootaa,
Redfoodie, Mogl, Qraved and more. But the main competitors are HungryGoWhere, Weeloy,
and Kreserve. HungryGoWhere is the top competitor of the Singapore industry. It was
established in 2006 in Singapore. When it is compared to the Chope it has 83 fewer
employees. Weeloy is also one of the top competitors of the Chope. It was established in
2014. It generates $5.6 million less revenue than Chope. Kreserve is also one of the
competitors and generates %5.6 Million less revenue.

Marketing strategy and plan 4
If it is talked about Chope then it is highly differentiated from its competitors in the restaurant
reservation space. It has a list of 600 restaurants in Singapore which is quite impressing. On
the other side, Chope’s investment in table and queue management technologies differentiates
it from the competitors. The website of the Chope has 24/7 booking widget which combines
booking from restaurant’s website as well as social media channels. It integrates booking and
table management tools. The strong partnership of the Chope differentiates it from the
competitors. It captures the devotion of the diners as they browse on the website of the
partners. It takes reservations directly from the top websites like Google, TripAdvisor, Ctrip
and more. The company has even acquired TickTok dealing in the queue management
systems which is a perfect adjacent product complement to its seating technologies.
The biggest player is Opentable and its valuation is worth more than the US $ 2 billion. It has
various geographical focuses and has a single restaurant on the list. OpenTable is a supplier
of internet-enabled customer relationship management, marketing and reservations solutions
to the $500 billion global foodservice industry. On the other hand, Restalo ranks second as
competitors of the Chope. It allows customers to spare thousands of restaurants for free. It
also aids restaurant owners to maximize their capacity and increase their revenue. The closest
competitor of the Chope in Singapore is HungryGoWhere. It was acquired by SingTel back
in 2012. Chope has prouder expansion plans whereas HungryGoWhere is mainly focused on
Singapore.
Dominant economic features
The e-commerce sites has 24/7 online reservations and provides instant email confirmation of
the bookings. It even provides exclusive promotions, restaurant updates, and special menus. It
works with the best restaurants in Singapore and it keeps on adding restaurants on the weekly
basis. There is a list on the website which provides information about the new restaurants. It
provides hassle-free dining experience and improves guest experience by seating and queue
management techniques. The revenue of the company is mainly derived from the 600
participating restaurants. They pay a monthly subscription fee to the company. The e-
commerce companies also earn through the booking fee for each diner coming through the
platform. The 600 partners of the company represent double the number they had a year ago.
The company had over 250,000 registered users across Singapore and Hong Kong (DBS
SME Banking, 2018). It has achieved ten million dinner milestone. The companies expect
their more growth with the recent expansion into Shanghai and Beijing. The lifecycle of the

Marketing strategy and plan 5
services of the companies begin with the authorization request from the users which is known
as the payment gateway. The economies of scale reduce the average cost of the companies
engaged in the online process. The companies have gained economies of scale due to their
expansion in the local market as well as foreign market. The benefits arising from the
expansion of the services depends on its efficiency. It can be assessed by looking at the
changes in average costs with the increasing size. The company’s more expenses on the
advertisement lead to the generation of more sales. As a result, the companies can earn more
profits at the same cost applied earlier (Wang, Li, Li and Zhang, 2016).
External environment
The external environment comprises the following factors:
Pestle analysis
Political factors: The political risk in Singapore is quite low. It defines the impact of
government policy on the companies operating in the local economy. The political factors
include factors like tax policy, trade tariffs and monetary policy (Rodan, 2016). These factors
affect the revenue structure of the Chope.
Economic factors: The economic factors have an impact on the Choper as these factors are
determinants of the economy’s performance. For instance, the increase in the inflation rate of
an economy affects price along with the products and services of the company. The
purchasing power and demand in an economy are also affected by economic factors.
Social factors: social factors influence both the market and society. It includes career
attitudes, population growth, health awareness, cultural prospects, age distribution, and global
warming. The business sector in Singapore expects higher purchasing power from the
customers (Tan, et. al. 2015).
Technological factors: The technological factors are considered important to prevent services
being out-dated. It is helpful in updating the services of the e-commerce comapnies. The
factors comprise an advertisement, marketing, and publicity programs. The technological
factors are behind one of the reasons of the change in the lifestyle (Baumers, Dickens, Tuck
and Hague, 2016).

Marketing strategy and plan 6
Legal factors: The growth of the e-commerce sector depends on transparent rules and
regulations. It comprises legal aspects such as taxation, consumer rights, laws, employment
and more. The e-commerce companies are required to consider all the legal and illegal factors
in order to trade effectively.
Environmental factors: The environmental factors are determined by the surroundings of the
environment. It comprises temperature, contamination, natural calamities and more. The
environmental factors are becoming important due to the increasing trend of CSR (Ortas,
Álvarez, Jaussaud, and Garayar, 2015).
Porter’s five forces
Competitive rivalry: This force of Porter’s defines the competition along with the profitability
of the e-commerce industry. The competition in the industry is found high due to a large
number of players. The brands in the e-commerce market have grown which leads to higher
competition (Gummesson, Kuusela and Närvänen, 2014).
The threat of new entrants: There is a need for the large investment in marketing and
technology. The barrier to entry in the e-commerce industry is moderately high. The
difficulty is felt in developing brand image and trust in the customers.
The threat of substitute products: The threats in the case of substitutes for the e-commerce
brands are competing for retail businesses and physical retailers (Lindborg, 2015). The
company tries to earn competitive advantage by offering a better quality of the products, low
prices or better customer experience.
Bargaining power of the buyers: There is hardly switching cost for the customers due to the
availability of the several high brands. Now day’s customers are well informed and are ready
to make an investment in the technology and customer service (Chiu, 2018). These factors
lead to the bargaining power of the buyers moderately high.
Bargaining power of suppliers: The code of conduct is set by the higher authority and the
brands are required to follow the same. Most e-commerce companies are conscious about
their suppliers and have set code of conduct related to quality and service. The bargaining
power is mostly low to medium (Wee, 2017).
Likelihood of competitive forces

Marketing strategy and plan 7
The rivalry of the e-commerce industry is high due to a large number of buyers. The growing
number of local and international brands in Singapore has led to higher competition. On the
other hand, the threat of new entrants is low to moderate in the e-commerce industry of
Singapore. It is due to the requirement of the large investment in human resources and
technology. In the case of the substitute products, the customers can easily switch to another
brand. The bargaining power of the buyers is discreetly high in the e-commerce industry of
Singapore. The bargaining power of the buyers is high which moderates to the bargaining
power of the buyers (Kurnia, Choudrie, Mahbubur and Alzougool, 2015). The bargaining
power of the suppliers is low to medium in Singapore’s e-commerce industry. It is because
the suppliers have to follow the code of conduct set by the higher authorities.
Do forces differ across segments
The forces differ across segments as the e-commerce industry is growing at an impressive
rate. It also includes the reasons like growing economic activity around the globe and the
growth of technology. As per the geographic segment, people of urban areas prefer to go for
dinner then the rural areas. It is seen that age group of 15- 40 prefer to experience service of
the Chopra several times. The status like single or married has not much role into this. The
forces differ in physiographic segmentation as people prefer to choose restaurant s per their
lifestyle (Lam, Ho and Law, 2015). As per the behavioral segment, people consume service
on the regular basis like weekly or monthly.
Overall attractiveness of the industry
Singapore is among the largest share of online shoppers. Here almost 65% of the population
prefers to shop online. The online market size, consumer behavior, growth potential, and
infrastructure has reached the attractive score of the online market.
Consumer trends
The teenage and professionals prefer to buy the service provided by the e-commerce
companies in the Singapore. It is considered that such people are involved in more social
activities and prefer to go for casual meetings and professional meetings. These meetings take
place at the restaurants (Wensley, 2016).

Marketing strategy and plan 8
Key successful factors
The key successful factors are required in achieving desirable business goals. The industry
issues influencing success are:
 Maintaining high-quality service influences the success of the e-commerce industry.
The industry can face an issue when the good quality is not provided by the
restaurants. This factor is constant across all the segments.
 Staying ahead of the competition. The segments do not matter what matters is to stay
away from the competition (Parmenter, 2015).
 Customer satisfaction is an important factor in the life cycle of the services provided
by the e-commerce industry.
Conclusion
From the above report, it can be concluded that the e-commerce industry of Singapore
supports companies in developing and expanding their online business. The major
competitors are Choper, HungryGoWhere, Weeloy and Kreserve. But the table and queue
management technologies used by the e-commerce industry differentiates it. The industry
provides hassle-free dining experience and improves the guest experience. The external
environment provides suitable conditions for the companies to operate in the Singapore
economy.

Marketing strategy and plan 9
References
Baumers, M., Dickens, P., Tuck, C. and Hague, R., 2016. The cost of additive manufacturing:
machine productivity, economies of scale and technology-push. Technological forecasting
and social change, 102, pp.193-201.
Chiu, S.W.K., 2018. City states in the global economy: Industrial restructuring in Hong
Kong and Singapore. Routledge.
DBS SME Banking, 2018. Singapore’s Digital Start-Up Giants- Chope. Available at
https://www.dbs.com.sg/sme/businessclass/articles/business-strategy/chope.page [Accessed
on 28 November, 2018].
Export.gov, 2018. Singapore-eCommerce. [Online] Available at
https://www.export.gov/article?id=Singapore-eCommerce [Accessed on 28 November,
2018].
Gummesson, E., Kuusela, H. and Närvänen, E., 2014. Reinventing marketing strategy by
recasting supplier/customer roles. Journal of Service Management, 25(2), pp.228-240.
Kurnia, S., Choudrie, J., Mahbubur, R.M. and Alzougool, B., 2015. E-commerce technology
adoption: A Malaysian grocery SME retail sector study. Journal of Business Research, 68(9),
pp.1906-1918.
Lam, C., Ho, G.K. and Law, R., 2015. How can Asian hotel companies remain internationally
competitive?. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 27(5),
pp.827-852.
Lindborg, P., 2015. Psychoacoustic, physical, and perceptual features of restaurants: A field
survey in Singapore. Applied Acoustics, 92, pp.47-60.
Ortas, E., Álvarez, I., Jaussaud, J. and Garayar, A., 2015. The impact of institutional and
social context on corporate environmental, social and governance performance of companies
committed to voluntary corporate social responsibility initiatives. Journal of Cleaner
Production, 108, pp.673-684.
Parmenter, D., 2015. Key performance indicators: developing, implementing, and using
winning KPIs. John Wiley & Sons.

Marketing strategy and plan 10
Rodan, G., 2016. The political economy of Singapore's industrialization: national state and
international capital. Springer.
Tan, H.X., Yeo, Z., Ng, R., Tjandra, T.B. and Song, B., 2015. A sustainability indicator
framework for Singapore small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises. Procedia
Cirp, 29, pp.132-137.
TQC, 2018. Competition racks up in Singapore’s E-commerce scene. [Online] Available at
https://www.theonlinecitizen.com/2018/08/16/competition-racks-up-in-singapores-e-
commerce-scene/ [Accessed on 28 November, 2018].
Wang, Y.S., Li, H.T., Li, C.R. and Zhang, D.Z., 2016. Factors affecting hotels' adoption of
mobile reservation systems: A technology-organization-environment framework. Tourism
Management, 53, pp.163-172.
Wee, C.H., 2017. Think tank—beyond the five forces model and blue ocean strategy: an
integrative perspective from Sun Zi Bingfa. Global Business and Organizational
Excellence, 36(2), pp.34-45.
Wensley, R., 2016. The basics of marketing strategy. In The marketing book (pp. 75-107).
Routledge.