Marketing Plan: LIDL's Expansion into the Indian Market

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Marketing Plan: LIDL for India
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Executive Summary
The market plans are the documents of the business which outline the market strategies as well
as the tactics of the company. Such marketing plan is generally specified for a set period and it
also covers different types of marketing-related details of the company such as the marketing
strategies, budgets, goals as well as the action steps. The report will highlight the marketing plan
for the Germany based supermarket chain LIDL to expand its business activities in India by
using joint venture strategies. The main objective of this report is to promote the business in
India to expand its business operations. This marketing plan will help the company to expand its
business into the international market and effectively promote its product and business there.
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Table of Contents
Executive Summary.........................................................................................................................2
Introduction......................................................................................................................................4
Purpose of the marketing plan.........................................................................................................5
Mission............................................................................................................................................5
Marketing Objectives.......................................................................................................................5
Financial Objectives........................................................................................................................5
Marketing Strategy..........................................................................................................................6
Target Market..................................................................................................................................6
Marketing Segmentation..................................................................................................................6
Business Positioning Strategy..........................................................................................................7
Marketing Research.........................................................................................................................8
Marketing Mix Strategies................................................................................................................9
Timelines and milestones..............................................................................................................10
Budget for the marketing...............................................................................................................11
Control...........................................................................................................................................11
Ethical Consideration.....................................................................................................................12
Recommendation...........................................................................................................................13
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................14
References......................................................................................................................................15
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Introduction
The marketing plan is prepared for the organization LIDL which is a German supermarket chain
looking forward to expanding its business activities in India. The LIDL is a global supermarket
chain which operates over 10,000 stores across the United States and Europe. The company
wants to expand its business in India through adopting different strategies and for such purpose,
it is required to prepare the market plan. This market plan will include the situational analysis of
the company extracted from the previous assessment, the marketing strategies as well as the
marketing mix of the company. The target market, segmentation and the positioning strategies of
the company will also be discussed in this marketing plan.
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Purpose of the marketing plan
The main objective of this marketing plan is to formulate the strategies for the business to
expand it in the Indian market. A marketing plan is a document which covers all the financial
aspects as well as the marketing strategies of business to enter into the new market. This
marketing plan will be helpful for the company to set a path to develop the business in the
international market and provide the best quality products of the company (Le, 2018).
Mission
The mission of the company is to enhance the quality of the lives of its customers. The company
is aimed to provide quality products at the leading value in the market and keeping the
customer's satisfaction at the top priority.
Marketing Objectives
 To establish the joint venture with some of the reputed retailers in India
 To capture 20% of the market share in India by the end of the year 2022
 To be able to cater to the demands of the customers appropriately.
Financial Objectives
 To be able to generate sales of $100000 by the end of the first year of expansion
 To maintain the contribution margin with 20% every year
 To maintain the liquidity within the business of $30000 at the end of the financial year
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Marketing Strategy
There will be used the effective marketing strategy by the business to promote their products in
the market of India. The marketing strategy will be helpful for the customers to easily access the
products offered by the company. The company will use effective promotional campaigns and
marketing advertisements to promote the products in the market of India and achieve a
competitive market in the market. The company will be bringing awareness among the people of
India through the marketing campaigns and the work- of- mouth marketing. The company will
use digital media platforms to promote the products and bring awareness about the brand in the
Indian market (Butunoi, 2016).
Target Market
To develop the effective performance of the company as well as increase the profitability of the
company, every company has the objective of developing and setting the target market for the
products of the company. The company is going to hit the market in India. Without targeting the
customers in the Indian market, the company will not be able to effectively develop market
segmentation strategies. Targeting a perfect market provides the better results for the
organization and the LIDL Company is going to target the market in such a way that those
customers have the requirement of such products and they can easily access to such products.
The company is required to analyze the age of the customers who can be interested in such
products provided by the supermarket. Further, there is also required to analyze the income level
of the customers in India so that suitable customers can be targeted by the company. The age
group between 24 and 60 will be interested in purchasing grocery products and household items
from such supermarkets. The middle-income level and the upper-middle-income level household
will be interested in the products offered by LIDL as per the pricing strategies of such company.
To target such groups of the customers the company is required to provide the quality products to
the customers on the most effective prices.
Marketing Segmentation
The grocery products offered by the company can attract more and more customers into the
Indian market (Stead & Hastings, 2018). The company is required to effectively segment the
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market for the targeted customers of the company. This market segmentation strategy will assist
the company in retaining the existing customers within the market. The market segmentation is
considered as the process of dividing the customers into the individuals having similar
requirements and traits within the market which is also helpful in targeting the market in efficient
ways. The company is required to set the marketing objectives for the company to measure its
performance as well as to analyze all the aspects related to the market so that the customers of
the company can be satisfied in an appropriate manner. The company should apply the
benchmarking model in their business in order to identify the position and performance of the
competitors in the Indian market. The segmentation is helpful for the businesses in developing
better strategies as well as the techniques so that effective market segmentation for the business
can be made in comparison to the other competitors. The market segmentation is helpful in
reducing the factors of the risk for the business of the failure of the campaigns made the
marketers of the company. This is helpful in the development of an important chain in the market
which is helpful in maintaining the performance of the company. The objective of LIDL here is
to segment the market into different target groups in order to provide them effective services and
better quality products.
Business Positioning Strategy
The business strategies also play an important role in the companies and the companies are
required to develop the defective positioning strategies for the businesses. These strategies are
useful in enhancing ten sustainability of the business increase the competitive advantage for the
company. The strategies of the business are helpful in the implementation of the techniques in
order to develop the quality of the products as well as the services offered by the company. It
helps in increasing customer retention within the organizations and comparing the strengths as
well as the weaknesses of the company with other competitors (Stead & Hastings, 2018). There
are many important parts of the positioning strategies which are helpful for the businesses in
engaging various customers for the products of the business and also improving the performance
of the business through utilizing the available resources effectively. Following are some of the
essential aspects of the positioning strategy of the company:
Cost positioning strategy
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This strategy is helpful in deciding the costs to be involved in the supermarket chain by
comparing different numbers of the pricing factors of different other grocery stores in the market
of India. Many companies are investing huge financial and human resources in the development
of the quality as well as quantity of their products and services and for such purpose, they are
also required to increase the prices of their products. This may lead to the failure of the company
in pursuing the marketing objectives of the company (e Castro, et. al., 2018).
Quality positioning strategy
The quality of the products is very important to be managed in order to attract new customers in
the foreign market and retaining them doe lifetime. One the trust of the customers is built on the
quality of the product, the company achieves the loyalty of such customer. The quality
positioning strategy is helpful for the businesses are setting up the quality of the products as per
the requirement of the customers (Rastogi & Trivedi, 2016).
Flexibility Positioning Strategy
It is very essential to maintain flexibility in the organization. The flexibility in the company is
considered to maintain great management after making several changes within the organization.
This strategy is helpful for the business in developing the flexibility within the organization. All
the changes can be analyzed identified in the external environment of the organization in order to
bring flexibility in the company.
These all are considered as the most important aspects of the business positioning strategies
which can be helpful for LIDL Company in analyzing their target market in the market of India.
Hence it can be said that the business positioning strategy plays an important role in the
development of target market and segmenting the market (Scott and Scott, 2016).
Marketing Research
The marketing research has been conducted by collecting the data from the websites of
competitors and analyzing the feedbacks of the customers (Wu & Li, 2018). The customers in
India are being asked the questions regarding the products requirements and the current position
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of the Indian Market. There can also be used in-store comment cards on which the customers can
put their feedbacks in order to conduct the market research (Hanssens, et. al., 2014).
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Marketing Mix Strategies
The marketing mix strategies rely on the promotional activities of the company. The unique
methods of the promotions are helpful for the company in increasing the sales and profitability of
the organization (Morgan, et. al., 2016). The prices offered by the organizations are required to
be competitive. Products Company is selling should be as per the requirements of the customers.
Following are different elements of the marketing mix strategy developed by the LIDL
supermarket chain to enter into the market of India:
Product
The company is offering a wide range of grocery and home decor products for the customers.
The company is required for such products with maintained qualities as per the requirements of
the customers. The products should follow all the specifications required by the customers in
their products. It will help in attracting a wide range of customers for the newly established
company in India. The products must be manufactured after considering the priorities of the
customers.
Price
The prices of the products should be decided after considering the income level of the Indians.
The prices should be of such type that the customers in India can easily afford such products.
The competitive prices should be set by the company after considering the prices of other
competitors in the market. There must not be much difference between these process and the
customers should feel satisfied while paying such prices for the products (Fransen, et. al., 2015).
Promotions
There are different modes to promote the products as well as the services of any company. One
of the most effective methods of promotion that can be used by the company is social media.
Most of the people are using social media platforms and it will be the best way to post the
advertisements of social networking sites in order to promote the expansion of the business in the
Indian market. The other methods that can be used by the company to promote its products are
the television advertisements, newspaper articles as well as other promotional and marketing
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campaigns (Morgan, et. al., 2016). These promotional activities can prove to be very useful for
the organization in the development of the company within the new market. The brand
awareness can be brought through this and more and more customers will be attracted towards
the products of the company.
Distribution
The distribution channels are also very useful and effective elements of the company's expanding
its business into the new markets. The products will be available in the stores as well as the
online websites of the company so that the customers can easily access such products offered by
the company. The demands of the products can be handled by the company through a dual
distribution channel.
Timelines and milestones
Activities Time Duration Costs (AUD)
1. The advertisements through
the trade shows
1 week 1000
2. Music connects to launch the
business stores
2 week 2000
3. Selection of the distributors
and supply chain
3 weeks 2000
4. Rewards to be provided to the
distributors
1 Weeks 1000
5. marketing campaigns and
concerts
3 Week 600
6. Advertisemnets in TV,
newspapers
2 Weeks 2000
Gantt Chart
Activities Wee
k 1
Wee
k 2
Wee
k 3
Wee
k 4
Wee
k 5
Wee
k 6
Wee
k 7
Wee
k 8
Wee
k 9
Wee
k 10
Wee
k 11
Wee
k 12
1. The
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advertiseme
nts through
the trade
shows
2. Music
connects to
launch the
business
stores
3. Selection
of the
distributors
and supply
chain
4. Rewards
to be
provided to
the
distributors
5. marketing
campaigns
and concerts
6.
Advertisem
nets in TV,
newspapers
Budget for the marketing
Number Particulars Amount (AUD) Sources
1. Social media marketing 2000 Outsourced
2. Advertisement related expenses 1000 Outsourced
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