E-commerce Business Plan: ByNature Groceries and Application Design

This project presents a detailed business plan for ByNature Groceries, an e-commerce venture focused on delivering fresh groceries to customers. The plan outlines the company's mission, value proposition, and the advantages of transforming a traditional grocery business into an online platform. It includes a thorough SWOT analysis, target audience analysis, and market analysis to assess the viability of the business idea. The business model incorporates both a white-label and subscription-based approach, with a sales revenue model. The paper also discusses high-level application design, including registration, login, product listing, subscription plan creation, and user profile features. The primary focus is on creating a user-centric design that streamlines the ordering process for busy individuals. The project concludes with a discussion of the business's potential strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, along with strategies for sustainable growth and customer retention.

COVER PAGE

Contents
COVER PAGE............................................................................................................... 1
1 Introduction............................................................................................................. 3
2 Mission Statement and Value Proposition................................................................3
2.1 Mission Statement............................................................................................. 3
2.2 Value proposition.............................................................................................. 3
3 Business model and revenue model........................................................................4
3.1 Business model................................................................................................. 4
3.2 Revenue model................................................................................................. 4
4 Target audience analysis......................................................................................... 4
5 Market analysis....................................................................................................... 5
6 High level design..................................................................................................... 6
6.1 Registration page.............................................................................................. 6
6.2 Login Page......................................................................................................... 7
6.3 Product list page............................................................................................... 8
6.4 Create subscription plan................................................................................. 12
6.5 User profile...................................................................................................... 13
7 Conclusion............................................................................................................. 14
8 References............................................................................................................ 14

1 Introduction
This paper provides a general discussion of transforming traditional business
ventures into modern e-commerce business ventures by taking advantage of the
current trend of e-commerce business. The paper discusses the business idea and
why it is viable to be implemented as an e-commerce business. This is achieved by
conducting an in depth SWOT analysis to get all aspects of the business that could
lead to its success and the challenges it might face during the operation. The
business idea is analyzed in all aspects from doing target audience analysis to
designing the application the customers will use to buy different products sold by
the business. For this paper I have chosen an online grocery store called ByNature
Groceries from where users will buy groceries and the groceries are delivered to
them within the shortest time possible.
2 Mission Statement and Value Proposition
2.1 Mission Statement
ByNature groceries is an online e-commerce store from where customers will be
able to buy fresh groceries and the groceries are delivered within the shortest time
possible to make sure the groceries are still fresh by the time the customer gets
them. An online grocery store is a viable business idea because groceries are
needed in every household in most places. Transforming this business from the
typical business model where customers visit a grocery store for groceries to an
online store can succeed because groceries are consumed almost on a daily basis
by customers so instead of the customer having to visit the grocery store every
time he or she needs groceries, the customer can just use their mobile phone to
order the groceries and the groceries are delivered to their doorstep with the least
time possible. The application will be easy to use to make it easy for the user to
order groceries easily. The business will partner with grocery farms producing
groceries and will deliver them to the nearest store in their proximity. Customer
orders near that store are then processed and the groceries delivered to the
customers who have made their orders. To make the order, the customer will have
to create an account and login to access their account and then proceed making an
order. After registration, the application will determine the customer location while
giving the user the option to change to their preferred location. The app will then
determine if the there is a store near the customer to make sure the customer’s
orders are processed using the least time possible.
2.2 Value proposition
Value proposition is what makes customers prefer the business to other existing
businesses in the market (Laja, 2018). Most people customers buy groceries almost
on a daily basis or on a constant basis. Most grocery customers use a specific
pattern to buy groceries for example you can find a customer who buys groceries
daily or a customer who buys groceries maybe three to four days a week. The
application takes advantage of this customer pattern by adding a subscription
based feature where customers that follow a specific pattern can subscribe and
receive groceries based on their subscription. Every customer will have the option

of customizing the type of subscription where by the customer will select the
groceries they want to receive and which days of the week they want the groceries
to be delivered to them. The customers then pay for the orders on a weekly basis. A
customer will not receive a week’s orders if he or she has not cleared the previous
week’s balance. This is will make the business stand out among other businesses
operating in the same field.
3 Business model and revenue model
3.1 Business model
To identify the business model adapted by the ByNature Online Grocery store, the
business is first classified (Demartrs, 2018). ByNature is a Business to Consumer
(B2C) E-commerce type of business. This is the typical retail type of business except
that the sales take place through an e-commerce store instead of a physical store.
ByNature E-commerce store will adapt two types of business models that will work
interchangeably as one business model. ByNature will adapt white labelling
business model where by the produces sold to different by different farms will be
delivered to the business and the business will deliver to the customers. For
customers with a constant purchase pattern willing to subscribe to get groceries
based on their subscription will use the subscription business model. The two
business models are combined to form the business model that the ByNature
application will operate under.
3.2 Revenue model
ByNature application will operate under the sales revenue model. The sales revenue
model involves wholesalers or retailers selling their products online (Hoffman,2017).
The sales revenue model fits perfectly for this business as the business will be the
retailer delivering goods to customers who have made their orders through the
application. This model will be the main revenue generator for the business
(McLaughlin, 2016). Although the application adapts the subscription revenue
model because of the ability of customers to make subscriptions based on their
purchasing pattern, the business cannot be said to be operating under this model
since there is no subscription fees but the model is just adapted to facilitate the
sales revenue model by making sure there is a constant demand-supply created
between the customers and the business. The business will be getting produces
from different farms who will be delivering their produce to the closest warehouse
near the location. The business will then package the produce depending on the
orders made by customers through the application. The orders are then delivered to
the customers where by customers living in close proximity will be served by one
delivery van. The application will have a backend part that will run and determine
which orders can be combined in one delivery before the delivery is made. This will
help to reduce the cost that will be incurred by the business while making
deliveries.

If the sales revenue model fails to sustain the business, the application can fully
adopt the subscription model (Paawa, 2016) where by customers who have paid to
get grocery deliveries according to their specified subscriptions will have to pay a
certain subscription fee per month. This will help the business to generate a bit
more revenue which will in turn help sustain the business.
The other type of revenue model that the business may adapt if the sales revenue
model fails channel sales or indirect sales. Channel sales model will involve getting
resellers who get the grocery supplies through the application and then sell them to
the customers. This will help reach more customers as the agents will be well
distributed and will reach more customers.
4 Target audience analysis
The ByNature application targets by a large extent all types of people but mostly
grownups be it male or female. However, the application will be most suited for
people with homes who cook on a regular basis. The application will target the
working class people who have no time to do grocery shopping so by just
subscribing to their specified plan, the customers will receive depending on their
preference. These type of customers are the primary focus for this application
(Kappel, 2017) because if more of these type of people subscribe to get grocery
deliveries then the application will be able to generate revenue to sustain the
business.
The targeted audience for this business are people that are in close proximity to a
warehouse near their location as the business will have different warehouses
located in different positions thus paper close to a warehouse will be eligible to
make orders.
5 Market analysis
Market analysis involves doing an in depth SWOT analysis to determine the
strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that the business may have or
experience (Shewan, 2016). The ByNature Online store has a lot of strengths that
make it a viable business to succeed amidst of its competitors. One of those
strengths is that the application has been designed to make very easy for the user
to place an order to get groceries delivered at their doorstep using the least time
possible. The application also makes it easy for the customers with a constant
purchasing pattern to create a custom subscription for which they will get groceries.
This feature is what stands out most for the application as it will make it easy for
customers to get groceries. By maintaining a constant supply of groceries
depending on the customer’s subscription the business will be assured of continuity
in the business. Delivering of the groceries is also another strength because not
many businesses in the same field sharing the same model with ByNature.
Although the business is likely to succeed there are few weaknesses that might
hinders its growth (Boag, 2018). One of the weaknesses is the problem of dealing
with the suppliers of the groceries who are the farms. This is a weakness because
the business is depending on this suppliers to make supplies to the business. If the

suppliers fail to make supplies it means there will be no groceries to deliver to the
customers thus making the application unreliable to the customers. Another
weakness that might be faced with the problem of getting products from the farm
suppliers is the issue of decline in quality of the produce. If farms compromise the
quality of their produce this might lead to loss of customers as customers expect
the best. The other issue that might be experienced by the business is making of
deliveries. Deliveries to customers who are not near the warehouse can be costly to
the business. Deliveries can also be a problem if they are not consistent in such a
way that multiple deliveries can be made together. Making single deliveries can be
costly to the business because it would mean the business would have to hire more
delivery people to make the deliveries as the customers are supposed to get the
delivery within the least time possible.
Despite the weaknesses faced by the business the future presents some
opportunities that might help the business grow even more. Currently, there is a
high growth in the logistics industry where by many logistics businesses are coming
up to take advantage of the growing e-commerce business where by most e-
commerce businesses do not have the infrastructure to make deliveries. These new
logistics firms are making it easy for e-commerce businesses to make deliveries by
using services provided by these businesses at a lower cost as compared to building
a logistics department to take care of growth in the businesses.
One threat that the business might experience in the future is a scenario where the
customers might decide to get the grocery supplies directly from the firm meaning
that the business will lose many of its customers forcing it to close down or to start
its own farms so as to maintain its customers.
6 High level design
The application will be designed with the user in mind to make it a user-centric
design. This means that the all factors that make it easy for the user to use the
application will be evaluated and considered in order to come up with the design of
the application. The application will mostly be used by users who are busy and need
to get work done using the least amount of time thus it’s important to make it easy
to make an order by reducing the steps through which the user will have to go
through before completing an order.
The following high level design interfaces shows how the user will interact with the
ByNature application.
6.1 Registration page
This is the first page a new user will see if they want to register for them to use the
application.

After registration the user will be provided with a map with the marker on their
current positon. The user can choose to proceed or change the current location to
their preferred location.

6.2 Login Page
For a customer to log in into their account they will have to provide the correct
credentials provided during the registration.

6.3 Product list page
After login the user will be taken to the product list page to view or search a product

After clicking on a product the user is taken to the product detail page from where
they can order the item
After making orders the user can complete the order using the interface shown
below

6.4 Create subscription plan

6.5 User profile
The user can access his or her profile using this interface

7 Conclusion
ByNature Online grocery store is a viable business idea if implemented as it is easy
to run through the e-commerce platform. As seen in the discussion subscription
based sales can be a good revenue generator for the business and help to sustain
the business.
8 References
Boag, P. (2018). Website SWOT analysis: A ‘How To’ Example of Best Practice.
Retrieved March 16, 2018, from https://boagworld.com/digital-strategy/swot-
analysis/
Dematrs, D., 2018. https://selfstartr.com/types-of-ecommerce-business-models/.
Selfstartr. Available at: https://selfstartr.com/types-of-ecommerce-business-models/
[Accessed March 16, 2018].
Hoffman, J., 2017. The 10 Most Popular Startup Revenue Models . Founder Institute.
Available at: https://fi.co/insight/the-10-most-popular-startup-revenue-models
[Accessed March 16, 2018].
Kappel, M. (2017). Find Your Customers With A Target Market Analysis. Retrieved
March 16, 2018, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/mikekappel/2017/01/09/find-
your-customers-with-a-target-market-analysis/#6cb57226babd
Laja, P., 2018. Useful Value Proposition Examples (and How to Create a Good One).
CXL. Available at: https://conversionxl.com/blog/value-proposition-examples-how-to-
create/ [Accessed March 16, 2018].
McLaughlin, E. (2016). You Have a Great New Product. Here’s What You Need to
Think About Next. Retrieved March 16, 2018, from
http://fortune.com/2016/09/21/business-revenue-models/
Paawa, A. (2016). What Is A Revenue Model? 10 Types Of Revenue Models.
Retrieved March 16, 2018, from https://www.feedough.com/revenue-model/
Shewan, D. (2017). How to Do a SWOT Analysis for Your Small Business. Retrieved
March 16, 2018, from https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2017/12/20/swot-
analysis