Developing and Implementing a Marketing Plan for Houzit in Australia

This report presents a comprehensive marketing plan developed for Houzit, an Australian home wares retailer. It begins with an executive summary, followed by a detailed SWOT analysis to assess Houzit's internal strengths and weaknesses and external opportunities and threats. The marketing objectives focus on increasing sales, customer loyalty, and embracing sustainable business practices. The report then outlines the marketing strategies employed, including cost leadership, differentiation, and value chain analysis, all within the framework of the marketing mix (product, price, place, promotion). The implementation process, along with a value chain analysis, is also included. The report concludes by summarizing the key findings and recommendations for Houzit to achieve its strategic goals, improve brand recognition, and ensure long-term success in the competitive Australian market. The report emphasizes the importance of adapting to changing customer needs and environmental concerns, with a focus on sustainable approaches.

Running head: DEVELOP A MARKETING PLAN
Develop a Marketing Plan
Name of student
Name of University
Author note

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DEVELOP A MARKETING PLAN
Executive summary
The SWOT analysis was done for conducting the organizational overview and this helped
in identifying the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats faced by the organisation
Houzit in Australia. The marketing objectives were to increase sales, generate more loyal
customers and embrace sustainable approaches for succeeding in business and maintain
ecological balance in nature too. The strategies implemented were cost leadership strategy,
differentiation strategy and value chain analysis, all of which were done by analyzing the major
aspects of the marketing mix strategy. All these aspects had been covered in this report for
ensuring that a perfect marketing plan could be prepared.
Table of Content

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s
Introduction......................................................................................................................................4
SWOT analysis................................................................................................................................4
Marketing objectives.......................................................................................................................6
Strategies..........................................................................................................................................7
Implementation process...................................................................................................................9
Value chain analysis strategy.....................................................................................................10
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................11
References......................................................................................................................................12

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Introduction
The report is prepared to focus on the development of a marketing plan considering the
business organisation Houzit in Australia. The business organisation offers wide range of house
wares that are required for bathroom fittings, bedroom fittings, mirrors and for various
decoration purposes within houses. There are more than 15 stores all over Brisbane, Australia, all
of which are managed by the head office located at Milton. Presently, I have been appointed as a
marketing manager to review the organisation and analyse the most important aspects to design a
proper marketing plan and then implement strategies for moving towards the strategic goals and
objectives with ease and effectiveness (Ahi and Searcy 2013). The report will include the various
market opportunities that are required for achieving the business aims and objectives and then
make suitable recommendations for producing the desired positive outcomes. This not only
ensures successful business functioning, but will also allow the company to gain enhanced level
of profit and competitive advantage in business (houzitfurniture.co.uk 2017).
SWOT analysis
The SWOT analysis is an effective tool for obtaining relevant information about the
market by assessing the strengths and weaknesses of the company, furthermore determine the
most suitable opportunities too. This would help in developing several marketing strategies and
take advantage of these for sustaining in the marketplace with ease. The determining of
opportunities would also help to move in the right strategic direction and accomplish the goals
and objectives properly (Akgün, Keskin and Ayar 2014).

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The SWOT analysis would help in identifying the major strengths of Houzit, its weaknesses,
opportunities and threats faced by the company too.
Strengths
The strengths of the company included skilled workers and staffs who have relevant
knowledge and expertise to manage the house wares. The company, being one of the major home
ware retail chains in Australia has maintained a great retail space, which is bright, attractive and
has remained functional for a commercial urban district (Yu-Jia 2012). The customers are loyal
and trustworthy, because of which, they have kept on purchasing the products and services of
Houzit on a consistent basis. The products and services offered by the company are far better
than the other company products in terms of quality, accessibility and range (Armstrong et al.
2014). Other strengths of the organisation included good brand image and name, which had
allowed Houzit to create a sustainable place in the market.
Weaknesses
The budget for managing the marketing activities is limited, which has deteriorated the
ability to enhance brand awareness and thus customers have also decreased. It has become
difficult for Houzit to provide sufficient amount of fund for the re-payments that have been taken
by the customers (Valipour, Birjandi and Honarbakhsh 2012). There are sales performance issues
too along with high traffic, which has deprived many of the customers to get the best quality
services like others. The warehouses are located near the capacity, because of which, there are
service, inventory and issues related to distribution of products and services (Armstrong et al.
2015).
Opportunities

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With the growth in population and local economy, the local market has been dominant.
The sales and transactions are managed both offline and online, which has created enough scopes
for the organisation to enhance brand awareness. There is growth of production and with the
growing market, the demands have also increased, furthermore making many people not aware
of the offers made by Houzit. The sales scopes and opportunities increased outside the target area
in Brisbane (Elgazzar et al. 2012).
Threats
The most important threat could be the presence of competitive rivalries in business.
There were certain cases where the competition from the local retailers resulted in lowering the
prices of products. Due to the economic crisis, the spending of customers decreased largely with
amounts of disposable income spent. The company though manages an online shopping website;
still the sales have decreased largely, because of the customers’ preferences over purchasing
products and services from the retail shop (Fearne, Garcia Martinez and Dent 2012).
Marketing objectives
The objectives of marketing are to fulfill the needs and requirements of the customers and
deliver them with an unique range of good quality home wares. It is also part of the marketing
activities to ensure that the payment plans are managed properly and establish itself as one of the
major retail chains in every cities of Australia. The objectives also included enhancement of
sales from $15 million per year to more than $20 million for the few upcoming years (Helm and
Gritsch 2014). There are more than 10,000 loyal customers and the company wants to increase
its customers to over 15,000. Another marketing objective is to develop brand recognition in
Brisbane, make people aware of the brand for generating more traffic flow, and increase the level

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of productivity and profit as well. Nowadays, customers’ needs are changing from time to time
and it has become essential for Houzit to adopt sustainable approaches for preventing
environmental issues through management of wastes and conserve energy. The retail chain also
wants to improve its infrastructure, though without creating any negative impacts on the
environment, which is another important objective too (Hollensen 2015).
Strategies
Marketing mix strategy is one of the most effective strategies that has been implemented
for successful running of the business and gaining of good amounts of revenue in business with
ease and effectiveness. Based on the scopes and opportunities including the growing market area,
increased sales opportunities and fifth successful year of functioning, the organisation has
delivered good quality house wares along with easy to manage payment terms and conditions.
The high quality products and services have made customers prefer the house wares to other
company products and services (houzitfurniture.co.uk 2017). The location of the organisation is
commercial, suburban neighborhood and few of the retail chains are also located at urban retail
districts. The size of the company is quite good and each of the stores has over 20 full time
staffs. The transactions are managed by cash and can be done through long term repayment plans
too. There are other opportunities like signing the customers to the loyalty program and ensuring
that they are provided with the right kinds of products and services. Marketing mix strategy is
implemented by Houzit to identify the products, price, place and promotions done (Järvinen et
al. 2012).
Products

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The products of the organisation are the home ware items, furniture products and other
items that are used for decorating homes. It is a retail chain and so it serves most of the cities in
Australia, because of which, the wide range of products are considered as a major part of the
marketing mix. The outdoor furniture items, bathroom stages, desks, mirrors, bedroom
furnishing items, bathroom fittings, etc. fall under the product category of the marketing mix
strategy (Kumar and Mirchandani 2012).
Price
Houzit competes with various other retail chains, because of which, the prices are kept
competitive. The low prices that are set for the products and services of Houzit constitute the
vision, concept, idea and strategy of the business. The products are offered at lower prices,
though without compromising on the good quality of the products and services delivered. The
controlling of cost and business operations have been assessed consistently to keep the prices of
products and services lower and ensure successful global expansion too (McDaniel and Gates
2012).
Place
Houzit has placed its stores in good places that are well populated and the strategy of
distribution has ensured that the products and services are distributed at the right places to attract
more customers. The place where the company is situated has helped in managing the product
distribution and increase the volumes of products too. With the help of the global distribution
network, the organisation has managed to enhance its business operations and processes and the
materials have been procured in proximity with the supply chains too (McDonald and Wilson
2016). This has decreased the costs of transportation and enhanced the efficiency of the

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strategies that have been implemented at Houzit. The placement of products has also allowed the
company to decrease the carbon footprints and products manufactured by the company are
directly transferred to the retail chain stores from the suppliers (Morgan 2012).
Promotion
Houzit focused on the marketing activities by utilizing various promotional tools such as
TV, prints, online advertisements and billboards, which are considered as major components of
the promotion of marketing mix strategy adopted. Social media involvement also helped in
creating brand awareness and ensured that the products and services delivered could result in
word of mouth promotions too. Online advertising and promotional campaigns were also used to
promote the brand and target various market segments for attracting new customers and make
them know about the offerings (Salar and Salar 2014). This could influence their buying
behaviours and make them purchase the products and services consistently, rather than
purchasing those from any other companies.
Implementation process
The process of implementation helps in implementing the most suitable strategies and
ensures that the products and services are delivered to the targeted mark segments properly. The
marketing mix strategy is implemented to identify the products, prices, place and promotion
along with the communication procedures that are followed manage good relationship between
the various business stakeholders. The business stakeholders are customers, employees,
suppliers, shareholders and managers (Singh 2012). The cost leadership strategy is implemented
to manage manufacturing and production of products at lower prices when compared with the
competitors while the differentiation strategy has helped in differentiating the products and

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services of Houzit from the other company products and services. The customization strategy is
customer oriented and has helped in maintaining flexible production to adapt to the needs and
requirements of the customers and keep them satisfied properly. The global expansion strategy
has helped in embracing the new culture of global market places and ensures that the global
market opportunities are grabbed and more revenue generation is possible for Houzit, Australia
(Solomon 2014).
Value chain analysis strategy
The value chain analysis strategy was successful for Houzit because of the distribution of
products in many retail chain stores all over Australia. The outbound logistics enabled to transfer
the products by the customers whereas the operations included vast range of business operations
that were managed in Australia and other countries. The marketing and sales helped in targeting
the families with lower level income and the prices were kept competitive. The services included
information provided on the basis of catalogues and displays, self help services, support
activities and skilled staffs to improve the organisation’s productivity and gain profit too
(Sørensen 2012).

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Conclusion
The report was developed to focus on the preparing of an effective marketing plan for
Houzit, Australia. The strategic objectives of the organisation were to increase the sales revenue,
increase customer loyalty and establish a positive brand name and image to increase profit level
and ensure customer satisfaction too. Based on the case study, the vision was to fulfill the needs
and preferences of the customers and enable business growth and development. The SWOT
analysis tool showed the strengths of the company including the good quality products at lower
prices, loyal customers, etc whereas the weaknesses included the limited budget, lack of brand
awareness, etc. The marketing mix strategy components helped in making the business
successful while the implementation of various strategies such as cost leadership strategy and
value chain analysis further helped the company to gain profit and competitive advantage in
business.

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References
Ahi, P. and Searcy, C., 2013. A comparative literature analysis of definitions for green and
sustainable supply chain management. Journal of Cleaner Production, 52, pp.329-341.
Akgün, A.E., Keskin, H. and Ayar, H., 2014. Standardization and adaptation of international
marketing mix activities: A case study. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 150, pp.609-
618.
Armstrong, G., Adam, S., Denize, S. and Kotler, P., 2014. Principles of marketing. Pearson
Australia.
Armstrong, G., Kotler, P., Harker, M. and Brennan, R., 2015. Marketing: an introduction.
Pearson Education.
Elgazzar, S.H., Tipi, N.S., Hubbard, N.J. and Leach, D.Z., 2012. Linking supply chain processes’
performance to a company’s financial strategic objectives. European Journal of Operational
Research, 223(1), pp.276-289.
Fearne, A., Garcia Martinez, M. and Dent, B., 2012. Dimensions of sustainable value chains:
implications for value chain analysis. Supply Chain Management: An International
Journal, 17(6), pp.575-581.
Helm, R. and Gritsch, S., 2014. Examining the influence of uncertainty on marketing mix
strategy elements in emerging business to business export-markets. International Business
Review, 23(2), pp.418-428.
Hollensen, S., 2015. Marketing management: A relationship approach. Pearson Education.