International Market Selection Report for Dollar Shave Club

This report examines Dollar Shave Club's international marketing strategy, focusing on market selection and market entry. The report begins with an introduction to international marketing and its principles. The first assignment analyzes market selection, with a focus on expanding into Western...Read More

International Market
Selection For
Dollar Shave Club

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................................3
ASSIGNMENT 1.............................................................................................................................3
Market selection .........................................................................................................................3
ASSIGNMENT 2.............................................................................................................................7
Market entry strategies ...............................................................................................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES...............................................................................................................................10
APPENDIX 1.................................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
International marketing can be defined as application of marketing principles in more
than one country. This helps organizations in expanding their global operations and opportunities
so that they can achieve their desired goals and objectives. Further, this method is based on
extension of ventures marketing strategy where special attention have been paid on marketing
identification, targeting the segment and taking effective decisions globally (Henseler, Ringle
and Sinkovics, 2009).
By taking the above scenario into consideration, this present report has been prepared on
Dollar Shave club which delivers razors and other personal grooming products straight to door
step of consumers through mail. Organization positions itself as cost effective leader in retail
chain. Venture delivers the razor blades on monthly basis and provide other grooming products
for home delivery as well. This present report will focus on market selection for existing product
and also on different marketing strategies.
ASSIGNMENT 1
Market selection
Market selection for Dollar Shave club plays a crucial role as organization has to select a
particular geographical market which can boost their sale and venture will be able to increase
their revenue, productivity and goodwill. Moreover, firm has got huge success and their first
video on YouTube went viral. Since then, it has attracted the mind of audience and firm delivers
the blade at the door step of individuals (Czinkota and Ronkainen, 2012). Organization then
launched three membership plans and for that company has got more than 2 million subscribers.
The three plans are:
 The humble twin: It has two blades per razor and company gives 5 cartridges/ month. The
cost for this blade is £0.69.
 The 4X: This is more advanced shaver that gets right down to business. It comprises 4
stainless blades with 4 cartridges per month. The price for the same is £4.13.
 The Executive: This razor is also called assistant for face. It is also known as special
trimmer which is built for professionals. It consists of 6 stainless blades and Dollar Shave
Club provides 4 cartridges/ month. It costs £6.19.

Moreover, Dollar shave club is building their market share immensely and focusing on
giving stiff competition to their major competitors like Gillette, Mach3 Turbo, Philips, etc.
Mentioned venture works on giving customers maximum satisfaction and focusing on giving
products at their door step. People can choose one of the best blades and it comes with free
compatible handle. Further, the membership cub has no rule and boundations. One can simply
login and get in touch with organization products. There are no fees, no commitments and
individual can also cancel the order anytime. Further, person is also free to change the razor
plans and if someone does that then the new handle will come free (HOW IT WORKS, 2016).
Apart from it, if a person does not shave so often, then person can skip the delivery for
the particular month and can call for the same for next month. Dollar Shave Club has also come
with different other products like Shave butter which is there first non-razor product. Individual
can use it before shaving which will give him smooth shaving experience.
The first promotion of the venture product was done in the year 2012 where company has
posted a video on YouTube featuring the CEO of firm. This video has attracted many customers
towards the organization products and within the 2 days of it release, venture has got more than
12000 orders. Apart from it, it has also received 22 million views and the number is increasing
day by day (Kourdi, 2010). Further, cited firm has a staff of 24 people who are working with best
of their efficiency and capability to achieve organization goals and objectives.
Furthermore, the market choose for organization growth and expansion is Western
Europe which lies in the western part of European continent. The countries which have been
selected for organization growth are Belgium, France, Germany and Switzerland. Market
selection strategic is necessary for venture as they have to choose best of the country in order to
expand their operations. Target marketing eventually act as a part of market segmentation.
Further, Dollar Shave company have to do mass marketing in order to sell their product in entire
market.
Moreover, before the actual expansion, cited firm need to scan the environment
effectively so that their operation gets best of the output and does not incur that much cost. The
main reason for expansion is that Dollar Shave Company has raised some of $10 million from
venture capitalist and this will eventually help in firm expansion. Apart from it, mentioned
company is on its early stage of international development (The Best Razor Brands, 2016).

Therefore, firm should emphasize on manageable opportunities rather than large scale
opportunities.
Moreover, different crtieria's need to be considered before expanding organization
products in other countries. The countries undertaken from western Europe have immense
popularity and business ventures are doing their best in order to contribute their best in growth
and development of nation. Some of the major criteria on the basis of which company will
expand has been discussed down under by taking the analysis of each and every country:
 BELGIUM
Belgium is a sovereign state in western Europe with population of 11,250,585. The
political structure of country is complex and the most political power of nation is organized
around the different need of nation and it has to present the main cultural communities. However,
individuals who speak French belongs to upper class and people who speak Dutch were treated
as second class citizen (Kumar, 2012). The target market on which organization will focus will
be the youth as people are professional there and individuals love to remain classy. Further,
standardization of product in Belgium will be on the basis of the income level of individuals and
Dollar Shave Club will show its major emphasize for middle class people.
Moreover, the target market on the cited firm will focus will be on the basis of market
segmentation and organization will target on specific segmentation in order to increase the sale
of their existing products. In target audience, organization will focus on specific age group so
that they will be able to generate more of the revenue and productivity. Further, the market base
of Belgium will be the reason of their specific growth and cited firm with different advertisement
campaign would like to attract the audience and increase their customer base for the products
they serve.
 FRANCE
France is second largest populated country in Western Europe and the population of the
nation is around 66,673,000. The percentage of change is increasing year by year. Thus, Dollar
Shave Club can focus on this country in order to increase their operation and get good amount of
revenue. Target market on which firm can emphasize will be working class and professional.
Target audience will be the individual who has high income because these are the people who
want best of the services which satisfy their needs efficiently and effectively. Further, there exist

low competition as there exist only few brands who sales razor products (Target Audience vs.
Target Market: How to Leverage Both for Referral Programs, 2016).
The razor products has got immense popularity in the country in which they are currently
selling and venture will try to give the customers of France the same experience as with that they
will be increasing their customer base and organization will achieve its goals and objectives. The
market base in France will be the individual who are of working class and professionals. Cited
firm will focus on attracting the same with different advertisement and promotional ways as it
will attract audience towards organization products (Tucker, 2011).
 SWITZERLAND
Switzerland is a country which is situated in western and central Europe. It is an amazing
place and has attractive locations. The population of country is around 8,211,700. Organization
can seek their expansion in order to improve their business operations. The preferred target
market will be teenagers and college students as they love to look smart in their early academic
years (Walter, 2010). On the basis of this, the target audience for the venture will be individuals
who belongs from age group 18-25.
The income level of individuals is not that high, therefore, organization has to set the
price by considering income level of individual. Standardization of product need to be maintain
and venture need to sale their best razor products in order to gain the popularity in Switzerland
market.
 GERMANY
Germany is one of the biggest country in Central Europe with population of almost
81,459,000. Dollar Shave Company can target this country because there exist large population
and therefore it will be easy for venture to increase more of the sale and revenue of their existing
products. The target market preferred will be all segmentation i.e. from youth to teenagers and
prtofessionals. Further, the target audience will be all age group whosoever like the organization
products. Market base will also comprise all income group and venture will be able to increase
more of the sale of their existing products and services (Webster, 2010).
Further, the standardization is the major element which cited firm takes into consideration
and gives customers best of the shaving experience. Blade products so used are pure original and
individual gets maximum satisfaction when he shaves. By attracting more of the customers

through advertisement and promotional activities, firm will be able to achieve their goals and
objectives immensely (Carbone and Stoddard, 2011).
Criteria Belgium France Switzerland Germany
Population 11,250,585 66,673,000 8,211,700 81,459,000
Target market Youth Working class
and professional
Teenagers and
college students
All individuals on
basis of students,
teenagers,
working class and
professionals
Target audience Specific age group High income
level
Individuals from
18-25
All age groups
Market base
Advertisement
campaign
Increasing
customers
through banners
and social media
marketing
Printing,
newspaper,
social media
All source of
advertisement
campaign
Competition Low Moderate Low High
Standardization
Products served are of
standard quality
Meets the
expectation level
of individual
The best
products will be
sold to
customers
Satisfy customers
needs and
demands
immensely
ASSIGNMENT 2
Market entry strategies
Market entry strategy is considered as a planned strategy of delivering goods and services
to new target market and distributing them for increasing their revenue and productivity. This
strategy will play a crucial role for Dollar Shave Club in order to increase their business
operations effectively. On the basis of above discussion on different criteria, mentioned company

will focus on expanding their business operations in Germany because the population of country
is very large as compared to other nations which are discussed in the report (Kim and Hyun,
2011). Apart from it, people from Germany are quite professionals and they will prefer to use
organization product effectively because it will save their time from going to departmental stores.
The blades will be provided to customers at door step which will satisfy their needs and demands
in effective manner.
Moreover, cited firm will divide the market on the basis of demographic segmentation
and will sell the products according to needs and demands as well as on the basis of their income
level. Moreover, since the start of the venture, organization has always provided best of the
products to customers which maximizes their wants. Therefore, firm will not compromise from
quality perspective and will give customer best of the shaving experience. Moreover, with high
population, the target market will also be high for the Dollar Shave Club and audience will be
attracted through different advertisement promotions (Bowman and Gatignon, 2010). This
includes advertisement in local newspaper of nation, banners, hoardings, social media, etc. With
this, firm will be able to achieve their goals and objectives and get a good start in their new
expansion.
Further, the needs and demands of customers also differ from person to person. Cited
firm cannot force them to purchase their products but can attract them immensely with the help
of different promotional techniques. Moreover, in order to develop a market-entry strategy, it
involves a thorough analysis of potential competitors and demand of particular product in the
nation. Some major issues which organization has to consider in order to have better operations
are trade barriers, price localization, competition and export subsidiaries (Ghuman, 2010).
Some of the common marketing strategies which Dollar Shave Club can implement are
either production through home or by producing abroad. Through production in home country,
there will exist indirect exporting and merchant exporter will take care of the products which are
been served to merchant. Further, it also includes direct exporting through agent, distributor,
foreign branch and subsidiaries. On the contrary side, production abroad will be more useful for
firm then the home production. In order to meet this, firm can produce more without direct
investment by entering into relationship with other parties through franchising, licensing or
contract manufacturing.

Mentioned company runs their operations online and used to get orders from clients
online only through subscription way. Mentioned venture has to set a plant at good location in
Germany as well in order to meet the demands of the products. Apart from it, courier boys,
dealers and other also parties need to be contacted for better business operations. With this, firm
will be able to achieve their goals and objectives and will also make a chain of loyal customer
base (Kotler, 2010). At the initial level, firm will focus on particular market and also take the
orders according to their fulfilment as late achievement will give wrong impression to customer
and the organization image in order to get enhance will degrade. Products price will be normal
and each and every individual can have smooth shaving experience. With more customer base,
their will be growth in the organization success, revenue and profitability. Satisfying needs and
demands of customers will improve firms productivity and organization will get successful in
getting an international expansion (Ferrell and Hartline, 2012).
CONCLUSION
From the above report, it is evident that the Dollar Shave Company delivers razors and
other grooming products to customer's through mail. This report focuses on different criteria
which organization has to consider before making actual expansion. This document also
showcases the implementation of the best practice which improves organization revenue and
productivity and helps firm to achieve their goals and objectives. This document also reveals the
target market on which firm will majorly focus so that they can make a good market share in
Germany.

REFERENCES
Journals and Books
Bowman, D. and Gatignon, H., 2010. Market Response and Marketing Mix Models: Trends and
Research Opportunities. Now Publishers Inc.
Carbone, G. and Stoddard, D., 2011.Open source enterprise solutions: developing an e-business
strategy. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Czinkota, M. and Ronkainen, I., 2012. International marketing. Cengage Learning.
Ferrell, C. O. and Hartline, M., 2012. Marketing Strategy. 6th ed. Cengage Learning.
Ghuman, K., 2010. Management: Concepts, Practice & Cases. Tata McGraw-Hill Education.
Henseler, J., Ringle, C. M. and Sinkovics, R. R., 2009. The use of partial least squares path
modeling in international marketing. Advances in International Marketing (AIM). 20. pp.
277-320.
Kim, J. H. and Hyun, Y. J., 2011. A model to investigate the influence of marketing-mix efforts
and corporate image on brand equity in the IT software sector. Industrial Marketing
Management, 40(3). pp. 424-438.
Kotler, P., 2010. Principles Of Marketing: A South Asian Perspective. Pearson Education India.
Kourdi, J., 2010. Business Strategy: a guide to effective decision-making. 2nd ed. Profile Books.
Kuhn, K. A. L., Alpert, F. and Pope, N. K. L., 2008. An application of Keller's brand equity
model in a B2B context. Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal. 11(1). pp.
40-58.
Kumar, D., 2012. Enterprise Growth Strategy: Vision, Planning and Execution. Gower
Publishing, Ltd.
Tucker, R. B., 2011. Strategy innovation takes imagination. Journal of Business Strategy. 22(3).
pp.23-27.
Walter, D., 2010. The Decision Making Process: The Four-Step Decision Making Process as
simple way to arrive at rational decisions. GRIN Verlag.
Webster, R., 2010. Management of risk: guidance for practitioners. The Stationery Office.
Online
HOW IT WORKS. 2016. [Online]. Available through: <https://www.dollarshaveclub.com/how-it-
works>. [Accessed on 4th May 2016].
10

Target Audience vs. Target Market: How to Leverage Both for Referral Programs. 2016.
[Online]. Available through: <https://www.getambassador.com/blog/target-audience-
versus-target-market-how-to-leverage-both-for-referrals>. [Accessed on 4th May 2016].
The Best Razor Brands. 2016. [Online]. Available through: <http://www.ranker.com/list/best-
razor-brands/ranker-shopping>. [Accessed on 4th May 2016].
11

APPENDIX 1
Criteria Belgium France Switzerland Germany
Population 11,250,585 66,673,000 8,211,700 81,459,000
Target market Youth Working class
and professional
Teenagers and
college students
All individuals on
basis of students,
teenagers,
working class and
professionals
Target
audience
Specific age group High income
level
Individuals from
18-25
All age groups
Market base
Advertisement
campaign
Increasing
customers
through banners
and social media
marketing
Printing,
newspaper,
social media
All source of
advertisement
campaign
Competition Low Moderate Low High
Standardization
Products served are of
standard quality
Meets the
expectation level
of individual
The best
products will be
sold to
customers
Satisfy customers
needs and
demands
immensely
12