BSBMKG607: Comprehensive Market Research Plan for Kmart

This report presents a comprehensive market research plan developed for Kmart. The plan encompasses various critical areas, including an analysis of Kmart's competitive landscape, comparing consumer attitudes towards Kmart, Target, and Myer, and identifying key competitors' strengths and weaknesses. The research further delves into consumer behavior, developing detailed consumer profiles, and identifying shifts in attitudes and buying patterns, particularly among younger demographics. It also explores optimal locations for Kmart stores and examines consumer attitudes towards pricing, identifying costs and testing alternative pricing strategies. Moreover, the plan investigates Kmart's products and services, evaluating competitors' offerings, assessing consumer perceptions of presentation and packaging, and identifying potential new product opportunities. Finally, the plan addresses promotion strategies, including measuring advertising effectiveness and testing different media options. The report provides a detailed framework for Kmart to improve its operational efficiency and market position.

Running head: MARKET RESEARCH PLAN
Develop a Market Research Plan
[Kmart]
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note:

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Executive summary
The main purpose of this project is to highlight the importance of a marketing research plan. The
project establishes an understanding of a few things that greatly impact a business. This includes
but not limited to understanding the consumer attitudes for pricing and quality, their buying
behaviour, the competitors’ strategy for their products and services, and marketing mix of the
chosen product or service.

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Table of Contents
1. Introduction:................................................................................................................................4
1.0 The company background:....................................................................................................4
1.1 Statement:..............................................................................................................................4
1.2 Research objectives:..............................................................................................................4
1.3 Project scope:.........................................................................................................................4
2. Research on competition:............................................................................................................5
2.1 Comparing consumer attitudes:.............................................................................................5
2.2 Services and those of competitors:........................................................................................5
2.3 Identifying frequency of use of competitors' products and services:....................................5
2.4 Identifying key competitors and their strengths:...................................................................6
2.5 Measuring awareness:............................................................................................................6
3. Research on consumers:..............................................................................................................6
3.1 Developing detailed consumer profiles:................................................................................6
3.2 Identifying changes in attitudes and behaviour patterns:......................................................7
3.3 Identifying existing, potential or lapsed consumers:.............................................................7
4. Research on place:.......................................................................................................................7
4.1 Identifying attitudes towards location:..................................................................................7
4.2 Identifying cooperative opportunities for distribution of information or services:...............8
4.3 Identifying demand for products or services at other locations:............................................8

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5. Research on pricing:....................................................................................................................8
5.1 Identifying attitudes towards prices:......................................................................................8
5.2 Identifying costs:...................................................................................................................9
5.3 Testing alternative pricing strategies:....................................................................................9
6. Research on products and services:...........................................................................................10
6.1 Evaluating competitors' products:........................................................................................10
6.2 Evaluating consumer attitudes towards presentation and packaging..................................10
6.3 Identifying potential new products or services or ones which may be at the end of their life
cycle:..........................................................................................................................................10
6.4 Measuring attitudes towards existing products or services:................................................11
7. Research on promotion:.............................................................................................................11
7.1 Measuring advertising and promotion effectiveness:..........................................................11
7.2 Testing alternative messages:..............................................................................................11
7.3 Testing and comparing different media options:.................................................................12
8. Data collection:..........................................................................................................................12
9. Time lines and costing:..............................................................................................................12
10. Conclusion:..............................................................................................................................12
References......................................................................................................................................13

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1. Introduction:
1.0 The company background:
Kmart Australia is a subsidiary business of Wesfarmers, Australia. It offers range of
products meeting the basic needs of kids, men and women. On a broader aspect, it offers
products related to home and entertainment, toys, and clothes for kids, men and women. Kmart
initially operated with strategy to offer discounts on every purchase. However, it effectively
moved now to everyday low price strategy wherein the company offers products at the most
affordable and competitive price range (Kmart.com.au, 2019). In doing so Kmart had to make a
lot of adjustment to its diverse business and operations-level strategies. These strategies include
reducing the stock levels to focus on in-demand products, streamlining the logistics operations
and rejuvenating the brand position (Kmart.com.au, 2019).
1.1 Statement:
This project constructs a “Market Research Plan” for Kmart. The findings of this research
plan will assist Kmart in furthering its operations efficiency.
1.2 Research objectives:
The research objectives are as under;
 To understand the importance of a marketing research plan
 To discuss its related and essential elements
1.3 Project scope:
The objectives of this project will be served using various elements as under;
 By comparing Kmart with its competitors on the selected list of variables

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 By researching on consumer attitudes, place, pricing, products and services, and
promotions strategies
2. Research on competition:
2.1 Comparing consumer attitudes:
Consumer attitudes to Kmart has been very positive. Consumers have clear understanding
on what they will be getting by visiting to a Kmart store. On the other hand, consumers land into
confusion when they head to a Myer store. It is because of Myers’ positioning strategy that does
not differentiate discount department store from an up-market store. Target despite having
performed exceptionally well is now running behind to Kmart for its less competent brand
positioning strategy (Kmart.com.au, 2019).
2.2 Services and those of competitors:
Kmart, Target and Myer are more or less alike in terms of range of services that these
organisations offer. The list of services include but not limited to like clothing for men, women
and kids (Kmart.com.au, 2019).
2.3 Identifying frequency of use of competitors' products and services:
Both Myer and Target has declining trend for revenue. The revenue for Myer in the fiscal
year 2017 stood at $3,100.6 million. It is due the total sales declined by 3.2% in the same fiscal
year (Myer.com.au, 2019). On the other hand, revenue for Target stood at $2,950m in the fiscal
year 2017. The sales declined by 14.6% than the last fiscal year (Wesfarmers.com.au, 2019).
However, Kmart is the only of these three organisations to have followed a progressive trend in
terms of generating the revenue. The revenue was $5,578m for the fiscal year 2017. Therefore,

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the company was able to register a growth in revenue by 7.5% (Wesfarmers.com.au, 2019).
These figures suggest that the frequency of consumers’ visiting to Kmart’s competitors’ stores is
less than it is for Kmart itself.
2.4 Identifying key competitors and their strengths:
Myer:
Myer has been strong in few areas like strong brand portfolio, capability to develop new
products, reliable suppliers, automation of activities and highly skilled workforce. It has also
received accolades for customer service standard (Myer.com.au, 2019).
Target:
Target is good at accommodating changes, which is also required to stay firm strong in
the competition. The performance was hit from its confusing brand positioning strategy in recent
time. The changed strategy should expectedly help Target regaining its market reputation as the
leader in department market industry (Wesfarmers.com.au, 2019).
2.5 Measuring awareness:
Brand awareness for Myer, Target and Kmart increased with age; however, not
significantly related correlated with many other variables. About 75% of women aged 25 to 36
have increased awareness with these hypermarket brands (Wesfarmers.com.au, 2019). However,
there are opportunities arising from Men’s clothing as Kmart ranked in 18th in attracting men.
About 66% of the awareness it generates from paid search (Wesfarmers.com.au, 2019).
3. Research on consumers:
3.1 Developing detailed consumer profiles:

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The consumer profiles for Australian discount department industry are changing. There is
an increasing inclusion of younger people in the buyers’ list. Those belonging to the colleges,
universities and job places are increasingly joining the list of discount department stores.
However, their attitudes and behaviour patterns are different from that of baby boomers and
other generations (Brace, 2018).
3.2 Identifying changes in attitudes and behaviour patterns:
Due to the change in consumer profiles there is also a change in consumer attitudes and
behaviour patterns. The attitudes of young people is more towards online purchase than
purchasing from physical stores. It is mainly due to the convenience of shopping online and
increased involvement in the purchase process. The shopping behaviour of these groups is more
inclined to click and collect. However, their buying experiences should be improved by offering
both a same day and next day delivery service (Zikmund et al., 2017).
3.3 Identifying existing, potential or lapsed consumers:
Existing consumers are those aged 25 to 36. They are in particular the women. Kmart is
also able to attract the men (Bumbudsanpharoke & Ko, 2015). The younger people are the
potential consumer groups. Their needs and expectations of shopping pattern should be met by
the Australian discount department store brands.
4. Research on place:
4.1 Identifying attitudes towards location:
Consumers now have multiple locations to shop from. Some consumers prefer shopping
online. They are significantly the younger age people. Few others still prefer shopping from the

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physical stores. It is due to many reasons such as it gives them an opportunity for an outing on
weekends or holidays, to thoroughly observe the products and to receive an instant delivery of
the products (Carey & Asbury, 2016).
4.2 Identifying cooperative opportunities for distribution of information or services:
Distribution of services is not just limited to the physical stores but has expanded to other
channels as well. Services nowadays are also being provided through the range of e-commerce
sites like Amazon or the company’s own e-commerce site. In addition, products are also sold
under private-label products both in physical stores and on e-commerce sites (McQuarrie, 2015).
Kmart itself uses these channels to sell the products. However, there is a need for an
improvement in selling the products through its e-commerce site. The delivery time strategy
should also include provision to deliver the orders on the same day or a day after the booking.
4.3 Identifying demand for products or services at other locations:
The list of other locations should include both the physical stores and e-commerce site.
However, new stores should have added attraction for attracting consumers of all age groups like
millennials, baby boomers and the younger age group. Added attractions would include but not
limited to reduced wait time at the cash counter, shelf management strategy and use of
technology wherever possible etc. Kmart’s e-commerce site should have large product portfolio
to give a wide array of product selection opportunity (McDONALD, 2016).
5. Research on pricing:
5.1 Identifying attitudes towards prices:

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It is important to identify the consumers’ attitude towards the pricing of the products and
services offered to them. Pricing can be broadly divided into three categories such as affordable
pricing, low pricing and competitive pricing. In some parts of the world majority of consumers
prefer the lower most pricing. For example, cheaper products have potential prospect in the
Asian countries. However, the American and UK consumers goes with value that they receive on
their purchase. The value in this context is a collective result of highest standard of quality and
the most competitive pricing (Hanssens & Pauwels, 2016). Without identifying the attitudes for
pricing the business may fail to attract the target consumers and suffer a loss in the hand of
established competitors. Instead, a thorough awareness of the pricing attitude will help to gain a
foothold in both a new marketplace and the existing.
5.2 Identifying costs:
Identifying the costs will help to know the competitors’ pricing strategy. Information on
such topic can be obtained from the suppliers, available secondary resources, market audit and
many others. The data thus obtained can be used to devise strategy for the costs. However, this
will require a proper identification of the critical success factors (CSFs) for attaining the
competitive cost (). CSFs will include but not limited to strong negotiating capacity with the
suppliers, increased usage of cost-efficient technology and effective HRM policy (McDonald &
Wilson, 2016).
5.3 Testing alternative pricing strategies:
Alternative pricing strategies provide opportunities to understand the pricing attitude of
the target market. This is required both for existing and the new marketplace. In the existing
marketplace, it is required to launch a new product. If reviews are mostly positive then the same

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pricing strategy would continue to work for the business unless being affected from a competitor
company. The competitor company by offering similar qualities at even lower price-range will
be able to outnumber the business (Bowie et al., 2016). Pricing strategies are required to be
tested also in a new marketplace. The scenarios affecting the strategy will be similar to the one
that has already been discussed in this paragraph.
6. Research on products and services:
6.1 Evaluating competitors' products:
Evaluating competitors’ products provides an opportunity to know the pricing and service
standard that has worked for the competitors. Moreover, the data thus obtained will help to
devise the pricing and service quality level to be needed to enter or penetrate the marketplace
(Malhotra, 2015).
6.2 Evaluating consumer attitudes towards presentation and packaging
Presentation of the products and services through thoughtful use of the contents and
effective promotion strategy is an essential part of launching a product or service. This must be
evaluated to be able to devise the presentation strategy to make the most of an impact by doing
it. The evaluation will require an understanding of how existing businesses have benefitted from
an effective use of the presentation (Lovelock & Patterson, 2015). Packaging helps to create a
psychological impact in the consumers’ mind. Packaging should be made attractive for the target
market. In this context, a study of the few existing brands through online surveys could help to
know the influence of packing on the consumers (Lovelock & Patterson, 2015).
6.3 Identifying potential new products or services or ones which may be at the end of their
life cycle:

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Identifying potential new services or products will help to understand the market
opportunity in the existing or a new marketplace. Moreover, the findings could be used to
produce a new product or service to take the advantage from the opportunities (Blythe & Martin,
2019).
On the other hand, it is also important to identify the product or service nearing the end of
their life cycle to be able to devise decisions on whether to continue with the product or service.
If a continuation is possible then this will bring modification along the pricing and quality aspect
of the product or service. On the other hand, the product or service could also be taken off from
the market (Blythe & Martin, 2019).
6.4 Measuring attitudes towards existing products or services:
Measuring attitudes towards existing products or services will help to identify the phase
of the life cycle through which the product or service is going through. Each of the life cycle
stage needs to be accompanied with distinguished strategy (Lovelock & Patterson, 2015). For an
example, the growing stage should be accompanied with added features to retain the competency
of the product or service. Similarly, the maturity stage requires decision-making on whether to
continue with the service or product.
7. Research on promotion:
7.1 Measuring advertising and promotion effectiveness:
Knowing the advertising and promotion effectiveness will provide an opportunity to add
more innovation to it to make it more influencing. This will help to complete the project within
the given deadline.

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7.2 Testing alternative messages:
Testing alternative messages will help to identify the least effective messages. Moreover,
this could later on withdrawn to put enhanced focus on activity that has the most impact.
7.3 Testing and comparing different media options:
Before a product launch it is important to identify the best way to communicate the target
consumer group. By testing and comparing the different media options as adopted by the
competitor companies will help to select the most appropriate of all media options (Lovelock &
Patterson, 2015).
8. Data collection:
This could be done through a marketing audit, referring to available secondary resources
and interacting with the suppliers.
9. Time lines and costing:
“Time lines” is one of the essentials of a marketing plan that helps to conduct each one of
the activities within the given timeframe. Costing, on the other hand, helps to identify the actual
estimate for a marketing plan. It prevents from unnecessary expenses (Zikmund et al., 2017).
10. Conclusion:
To conclude, it can be said that a marketing research plan is required to make the most of
an impact with the product or service. A robust marketing research does not just help on the type
of products and services to be offered to the target market but also teaches how to effectively
make an impact with this.

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References
Blythe, J., & Martin, J. (2019). Essentials of marketing. Pearson UK.
Bowie, D., Buttle, F., Brookes, M., & Mariussen, A. (2016). Hospitality marketing. Routledge.
Brace, I. (2018). Questionnaire design: How to plan, structure and write survey material for
effective market research. Kogan Page Publishers.
Bumbudsanpharoke, N., & Ko, S. (2015). Nano‐food packaging: an overview of market,
migration research, and safety regulations. Journal of food science, 80(5), R910-R923.
Carey, M. A., & Asbury, J. E. (2016). Focus group research. Routledge.
Hanssens, D. M., & Pauwels, K. H. (2016). Demonstrating the value of marketing. Journal of
Marketing, 80(6), 173-190.
Kmart.com.au. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.kmart.com.au/
Lovelock, C., & Patterson, P. (2015). Services marketing. Pearson Australia.
Malhotra, N. K. (2015). Essentials of marketing research: A hands-on orientation. Essex:
Pearson.
McDONALD, M. A. L. C. O. L. M. (2016). Strategic marketing planning: theory and practice.
In The marketing book (pp. 108-142). Routledge.
McDonald, M., & Wilson, H. (2016). Marketing Plans: How to prepare them, how to profit from
them. John Wiley & Sons.
McQuarrie, E. F. (2015). The market research toolbox: a concise guide for beginners. Sage
Publications.

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Myer.com.au. (2019). MYER | Shop Fashion, Homewares, Beauty, Toys & More. Retrieved
from https://www.myer.com.au/
Wesfarmers.com.au. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.wesfarmers.com.au/docs/default-
source/default-document-library/2017-annual-report.pdf?sfvrsn=0
Zikmund, W. G., D'Alessandro, S., Winzar, H., Lowe, B., & Babin, B. (2017). Marketing
Research: Asia-Pacific Edition. Cengage AU.