Evaluating Internet Marketing as a Promotional Tool for M&S

This report investigates the role, impact, and issues of internet marketing as a promotional tool for Marks & Spencer within the UK fashion industry. It evaluates the opportunities provided by internet marketing, determines its potential impact, and examines issues related to digital marketing and consumer behavior. The research covers factors contributing to the popularity of internet marketing, its changing nature, and associated challenges. The methodology includes research philosophy, approach, strategy, and techniques for data analysis and interpretation. Ultimately, the report provides conclusions and recommendations for Marks & Spencer to enhance its internet marketing strategies, highlighting the importance of loyalty programs, product relationship management, content marketing, market research, and new customer experiences while addressing challenges such as negative feedback and security concerns.

Internet Marketing

Table of Contents

Introduction......................................................................................................................................1
Research aim..........................................................................................................................1
Research objectives................................................................................................................1
Research questions.................................................................................................................1
Research background..............................................................................................................1
Research rationale..................................................................................................................3
Research outline.....................................................................................................................3
Literature Review.............................................................................................................................4
Opportunities provided by internet marketing to Marks & Spencer......................................4
Potential impact of internet marketing it has as a promotional tool on Marks & Spencer.....5
Recognise some issues from marketing/digital marketing and consumer behaviour perspective
regarding internet marketing faced by Marks & Spencer......................................................6
Methodology....................................................................................................................................7
Research philosophy...............................................................................................................7
Research approach..................................................................................................................8
Research strategy....................................................................................................................8
Research choice......................................................................................................................8
Research time horizon............................................................................................................9
Research techniques and procedures......................................................................................9
Research and findings....................................................................................................................10
Data analysis, interpretation and presentation......................................................................10
Conclusion and recommendations.................................................................................................11
References......................................................................................................................................13

Introduction
Research aim
To investigate the role, impact and issues of internet marketing as the promotional tool – A study
on Marks & Spencer
Research objectives
 To evaluate the opportunities provided by internet marketing to Marks & Spencer
 To determine the potential impact of internet marketing it has as a promotional tool on
Marks & Spencer
 To examine the recognition of some issues from marketing/digital marketing and
consumer behaviour perspective regarding internet marketing faced by Marks & Spencer
Research questions
What are the opportunities provided by internet marketing to Marks & Spencer?
What is the potential impact of internet marketing it has as a promotional tool on Marks &
Spencer?
What are some of the issues from marketing/digital marketing and consumer behaviour
perspective regarding internet marketing faced by Marks & Spencer?
Research background
Research Overview
The current research is all about internet marketing. It is defined as the approaches and
strategies which are used in the marketing of different products and services in an online manner
with the help of digital medium. This includes the several types of online platforms and tools
along with the content delivery systems with the help of which the internet marketing facilitates
the organization to promote their products and services globally. Such platforms include the
website content and design along with the email marketing and social media or many more.
Social media marketing is one of the best examples of internet marketing which is used for the
rapid growth of the business and maximum use tool of internet marketing. There are different
types of internet marketing such as influencer marketing and affiliate marketing along with
search engine optimization and many more. It is important to adopt for good promotion and
advertising because it supports in driving more qualified traffic across the internet (Hanson and
Kalyanam, 2020).
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Company Background
Organization chosen for the current research on internet marketing is Marks and Spencer.
It is one of the leading international retail companies which has the domain under the United
kingdom fashion industry. It is headquartered in London and established in 1884. It basically
deals with the products and services in the specialization of selling clothing and home products
along with the food products as well. This is the organization which is considered as the long
standing institution which is evolving continuously over the years. Initially it was well known for
the clothes and home products but now it is also known for the great food as well. It has a net
income of 27.4 million euros in recent years. Company has stated its purpose that is to enhance
the lines each and every day of an individual by serving them in a potential manner by fulfilling
the needs and requirements of people.
Factors contributed to the popularity of internet marketing
There are various factors which have contributed to the popularity of internet marketing.
These factors include the alignment of objectives of company in terms of its products and
servicing along with the communication system in an effective manner with the potential
customers. Moreover changing technology and changing consumer demands with the changing
of trends and channels of communication has highly impacted the internet marketing in a
positive manner. There are other factors also with highly affects the internet marketing such as a
perception of marketing which benefits the internet technologies in regards of the ease of use and
affordability. moreover attitude and usefulness of internet technologies along with the customer
pressure and competitive intensity are all the factors which affects the internet marketing which
is also followed by the type of entrepreneurship followed within organization (Grubor and Jakša,
2018).
Changing nature of internet marketing
Changing nature of internet marketing has various components which describes the
modifications and upgrades the internet marketing took in the recent years. For example search
engine optimisation was having the nature before 5 years has now modified to its strategic
elements and features is providing to the companies. Google analytics has changed its algorithm
and it is updated to the more complex one for better eating out the leads. Previously the limited
channels of internet marketing and wherein the operations but now there are a number of options
the company can refer for the marketing. now the company can use multiple platforms for
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internet marketing for better expansion and growth. Internet is now facilitating the business to
escape the risk and lowering the cost of owning the physical shop. Advanced technology is used
in the changing nature of internet marketing such as the virtual reality and artificial intelligence
(Kumar, 2020).
Challenges of internet marketing
Some of the challenges of internet marketing are such that companies usually receive the
negative feedbacks and reviews which affects the brand image and reputation in the marketplace.
It has resulted in the global competition which requires different skills and training that results in
the expensive mode of internet marketing. It is totally depending on the technology and time
consuming process. Moreover security and privacy issues are the major challenges because
cybercrime and hackers majorly conducts unethical activities in order to steal money or for the
personal misuse of the internet (Dilham, Sofiyah and Muda, 2018).
Research rationale
The research rationally is based on the research scope which is dependent on the current
research undertaken benefits the organization and the investigator itself. The current research is
based on the Internet marketing which benefits the organization in investigating the opportunities
and different issues related with the Internet marketing and also the impact off Internet marketing
which can have won the companies. Moreover this has helped though investigator to enhance the
skills of research and computing technologies for better data analysis and presentation of it
(Ahmadjanovna and Makhmudovna, 2020).
Research outline
Discussion is based on the teams and objectives off the research which is related on the
Internet marketing and the study on the Marks and Spencer associated with the research topic.
The following research covers the different chapters of research which includes the literature
review and research methodology along with research and findings and a proper conclusion and
recommendations. Literature review covers the objectives such as the opportunities provided by
Internet marketing to Marks and Spencer, potential impact of Internet marketing it has as a
promotional tool on Marks and Spencer and recognising some issues related to digital marketing
and consumer behaviour perspective regarding Internet marketing faced by Marks and Spencer.
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Literature Review
Opportunities provided by internet marketing to Marks & Spencer
Loyalty is one of the opportunity provided by Internet marketing to Marks and Spencer.
This is the cause read it marketing how’s the ability to retain the customers within the ecosystem
of the company which enhances the interaction with the customers and leads to the loyalty in
terms of products and brand. It provides the instant feedback system from the customers and also
from the company results in the proper servicing to the customers in terms of the products and
services which ultimately results in the brand loyalty. Product relationship management is an
another opportunity which is provided to Marks and Spencer. This is because it helps
understanding the product feature moreover the Internet and makes the life style better in order
to manage the messaging to the customers which is based on the usage of the product and other
context to the information (Trengove, 2021).
Internet marketing provides the content marketing as well which attracts the customers
towards the brand and provides the opportunity to interact with the customers by managing the
product with good content and servicing to the customers. Market research is also one of the
opportunity provided by Internet marketing to Marks and Spencer. This is because it facilitates
interesting though product usage which is based on the behaviour of the customer and also
provides the data which improves the development of the product. This is the function which
mostly happens in the private research for example the outdoor media analytics in order to
expose better outdoor media. New customer experiences is also an another opportunity provided
by Internet marketing to Marks and Spencer. Previously the Internet marketing was simply of
finding out the information about the products and services and ordering and receiving the
product as per the needs and requirements available on the website of the company. But now the
customer can easily compare the prices from different brands and can make their choices and
decisions about the product they have to buy (Liu, Zhang-Zhang and Ghauri, 2020).
This relates with the Internet marketing because it includes the content attraction and the
layout of the website which is used by the customer in a very simple and easy manner. This is the
opportunity that is not limited to the local areas but also it helps in the global marketing across
different nations for better reach out of the customers in order to get the better growth and
expansion to the company. Internet marketing provides the opportunity to operate the search
engine optimization which ranks the website of the company on the top of the search results
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which also results in the faster in the real time customer service by the company. There are
different advanced technologies which help in providing the opportunities in terms of Internet
marketing such as virtual reality and artificial intelligence along with the Internet of Things and
many more. All such opportunities has adopted by the Marks and Spencer which has helped the
company in being successful in today’s date (Khurramov and Fayzieva, 2020).
Potential impact of internet marketing it has as a promotional tool on Marks & Spencer
There are various potential impact of Internet marketing which has as a promotional tool
on Marks and Spencer. One of the most major impact is such that it has facilitated the Marks and
Spencer with finding out the customers which they have never encountered otherwise with the
help of search engine optimization. This is the positive impact of Internet marketing on Marks
and Spencer. Previously the company was only promoting themselves on a local basis but if they
are known to the search engine optimization tool of Internet marketing then they can market their
products on a global basis with the expanded reaching out to the customers. Another major
impact that has helped the Marks and Spencer to understand that what channels support them to
drive sales for the company (Halunko, Kurkova and Oksin, 2018).
Marks and Spencer has used almost all the tools and platforms of Internet marketing and
therefore they can now analyse and determine the suitable channel which can drive their sales in
a large number for the company which ultimately increased their productivity and brand image
as well. This is considered as a positive impact of Internet marketing that has facilitated the
Marks and Spencer to grow and expand along with the loyalty and improvement in goodwill
within industry. Strategic communication of the message which supports in better contact with
both the current and the prospective customers of Marks and Spencer is also the positive impact
of Internet marketing as a promotional tool on the company. Internet and communication
technology is the subset of Internet marketing which supports in the systematic and proper
communication flow among the different stakeholders of the company which includes the
employees and employers along with the competitors and customers and also the vendors or
suppliers of the company. This interaction and communication among all the stakeholders
created the positive impact on Marks and Spencer with proper feedback system and enhancement
in the entire supply chain management of the company (Zitkiene, Gircys, Zitke and
Bartuseviciene, 2021).
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There are some other positive impact of Internet marketing on Marks and Spencer which
includes the establishment of global presence in an online manner. Internet marketing is spread
all over the world and almost every person who are the technology free use the Internet and
reviews the promoted product and services by the brands and local companies as well. Marks and
Spencer has grabbed this opportunity and gain the benefit from the digital marketing tools and
platforms and started promoting its product and services internationally. This has not only
increased the large number of sales to the company but also the brand loyalty all over the world.
Marks and Spencer can now personalise its brand and control its messaging system which is the
positive impact of Internet marketing because it provides different tools and platforms which
allows to target the customers and core audiences to influence them to buy products and services
from the brand. Moreover it also provides value to the customers and also to showcase the
content which matters and connects them emotionally and physically (Shams, 2019).
Recognise some issues from marketing/digital marketing and consumer behaviour perspective
regarding internet marketing faced by Marks & Spencer
There are various issues regarding digital marketing and consumer behaviour perspective
in terms of Internet marketing which has faced by Marks and Spencer. Fake followers and likes
on the post off Marks and Spencer is one of the issue which pays $50 for 10,000 followers. This
is an unethical act because the customers reviews the followers and likes on the brand to make
purchase so that they can judge the trustworthiness of the brand. High saturation rate is also an
another issue faced by Marks and Spencer and this is done where brands use the same Internet
marketing on a regular basis. Regular using of the same strategies on a regular basis results in the
decrement in the customers because they always want something new for the every time
purchase therefore unique selling proposition needs to be updated on a frequent basis. Another
issue is the non disclosure of sponsorship. According to the research it has been investigated that
there are 28% of influencers who were asked by the companies that they should not to disclose
their connections to the brands. Marketing advertising issues are also the issues which are faced
by the Marks and Spencer due to the payment and content delivered by the company. This is
because advertisement always needs the attractive content and good payment to the platform.
This has resulted in the less productive nature of internet marketing which has led to the
generation of several issues to marks and spencer (Altobelli and Sander, 2018).
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Communication issues are also the issues which are faced by the company in terms of
internet marketing. This is because initially the feedback system was not much as effective.
Therefore the company is working on its interaction strategy among various stakeholders and is
progressing in terms of mitigating the communication issues. Lack of market research is also the
issue which is referred to by Marks and Spencer. This is because data analysis and interpretation
was lacking within the company which has resulted in the poor decision-making and led to the
lower productivity of the company. Therefore it has been analyzed that market research is an
important aspect to mitigate such issues (Altobelli and Sander, 2018).
There are various factors which influence consumer purchase behavior in the market.
Psychological factor is one of the factors which includes the motivation and perception along
with the learning and attitudes or beliefs of the customers towards the brand and its products.
Social factors are another factor which includes the family and reference groups along with the
roles and status of the customer which they analyze before purchasing from the company.
Cultural factors are also one of the factors which includes the culture and subculture along with
the social class of the customers which highly impacts the purchasing behavior of the customers.
Personal factors are also another factor which includes the age and income along with the
occupation and lifestyle of the customer which fluctuates the decision behavior of the customer
before making the purchase. Economic factors is also one of the factors of consumer behavior
which includes the personal income and family income along with the consumer credit and liquid
assets along with the savings of the customers which highly affects the purchasing behaviour of
the customers (Bala and Verma, 2018).
Methodology
Research philosophy
Research philosophy refers to the different set of principles which concerns the several
worldview from the point of which the researches conducted. Research philosophy is usually
studied in terms of the ontology and epistemology. Ontology is defined as the authenticity of the
data which is used and the way one understands its existence. Epistemology is defined as the
validity of the data which is used and required to conduct the research and how an individual can
obtain it. These are the philosophy positions which are used in the academic studies and are
divided into positivism and interpretivism. Positivism is defined as the knowledge which is
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independent off the research topic whereas the interpretivism is defined as the observation by an
individual in terms of their own perception and understanding of the reality. Positivism is a study
which is scientific in nature and interpretivism is a study which is qualitative in nature. The
current study uses the positivism type of research philosophy (Snyder, 2019).
Research approach
There are two types of research approach which is studied in the current investigation that
is the deductive approach and inductive approach. The deductive approach refers to the specific
development of hypothesis which is dependent on the literature review which is observed by the
investigator. This is the approach which try to test the hypothesis and holds in the particular
context of research topic. Inductive approach refers to the observations which is done by the
investigator in order to create the new theory. The current research uses the deductive approach
which is based on observation and testing the existing hypothesis in terms of the research topic
(Kumar, 2018).
Research strategy
There are several kinds of research strategies which are used by the investigator to
conduct different types of research as per the needs and requirements of its aims and objectives.
It includes the action research and experimental research along with the interviews and surveys
which is also followed by the case study research and also the systematic literature review.
Research strategy is chosen on the requirement of data and information which is based on the
research and purpose of the current study. The current research uses the case study research or a
systematic literature review on Marks and Spencer in terms of Internet marketing (Pandey and
Pandey, 2021).
Research choice
There are three research choices which are suggested by the research methodology which
can be used while preparing the current research. Mono method is one of the choice in which
only one type of research can be used that is either quantitative or qualitative. Mixed method is
an another choice in which both the type of research can be used. Multi method is also an
another choice in which more than two research types can be used as per the needs and
requirements of the research. The current research uses the mixed method in which both the
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