E-marketing Strategies: A Comparison of Mighty Ape and Flipkart

This essay analyzes the e-marketing strategies employed by Mighty Ape, a New Zealand-based online retailer, and Flipkart, a major Indian e-commerce platform. The essay begins with an introduction to the impact of the internet on business and the rise of e-commerce, highlighting the competitive landscape. It then delves into a discussion of the marketing principles applied by both companies, including specialization, differentiation, segmentation, and concentration. A comparative analysis of the e-marketing mix, encompassing product, price, place, and promotion, is presented, contrasting e-marketing with traditional marketing approaches. The essay further explores the application of relationship marketing in brand building, examining the strategies of reactive and accountable marketing used by Mighty Ape and Flipkart. The essay concludes by summarizing the key findings and comparing the e-marketing strategies of these two prominent online retailers. The analysis provides insights into how these companies leverage e-marketing to achieve competitive advantages in their respective markets.

E-marketing
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Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Discussion........................................................................................................................................3
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................10
References......................................................................................................................................11
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Introduction
The internet has helped in revolutionizing the way, business organizations does business. The
popularity of internet has made various companies to rethink their business strategy and
accordingly they started to operate their business through the internet leading to the widespread
popularity of e-commerce. Moreover internet helps enterprises acquire market information and
data based on which these firms analyse and build better and effective platforms for product
distribution and delivery so as to increase user experience in shopping. There are various
retailers who conduct their business through the internet only while there are some internet
retailers who operate both on ecommerce platforms and also physically. As such internet
platforms have empowered retailers use their business efficaciously to deliver customers right
kind of products on time by analysing their buying habits through new and innovative business
models. Mighty Ape is one such retailer based in new Zealand, which operates only through
Internet and it is the most popular and reputed internet retailer in New Zealand which is not
afraid to take on global giant Amazon. The current report focuses on the e-marketing strategies
and approaches taken by the company in order to remain competitive in nature and compares it
with an Indian internet retailer named Flipkart.
Discussion
1. Application of the marketing principles
a. The key marketing principles of Mighty Ape is as follows:
Specialization- Mighty Ape specializes in providing a range of products to the customers to
choose from at competitive prices and delivers products to the customers at the quickest possible
time.
Differentiation- The differentiation approach which is followed by Mighty Ape involves
delivering the products to the customers in the lowest possible time limit which cannot be
achieved by any other retailers.
Segmentation- As opined by Lo, Hsieh & Chiu (2014) the segmentation approach which is
followed by Mighty Ape involves segmenting the customers based on their demography and
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psychographics. The target customer of Mighty Ape are mainly youths who remain interested in
videogames consoles and computer games and seek faster delivery of their preferred products
not withstanding any discounts provided by the company.
Concentration- In order to keep hold of the targeted customers, Mighty Ape relies on relationship
marketing strategies which helps them in maintaining brand image and brand loyalty. They also
utilize social media platforms to maintain communication with their targeted and intended
customers.
The marketing principles influences the practices and strategic decision of Mighty Ape to a large
extend as these principles guide e-marketing strategies and relationship marketing approach
taken by them and also forms the basis for future strategic decisions.
The key marketing principles of Flipkart is as follows:
Specialization- Flipkart specializes in providing a wide range of products to the customers to
choose from at the lowest possible prices.
Differentiation- The differentiation approach which is followed by Flipkart involves offering
multiple alternatives of a single product at the least possible prices.
Segmentation- The segmentation approach which is followed by Flipkart involves segmenting
the customers based on their demography and behaviour. The target customer are mainly the
customers who seek large variety of products at the least possible prices and at the least possible
time.
Concentration- In order to keep hold of the targeted customers, Flipkart relies on relationship
marketing strategies which helps them in maintaining brand image and brand loyalty. They also
utilize social media platforms to maintain communication with their target and intended
customers. In order to keep hold of their target customers, Flipkart also relies on traditional and
internet marketing and provides attractive discounts to the customers.
The marketing principles influences the practices and strategic decision of Flipkart to a large
extent as these principles guide their marketing approaches and also acts as a basis for the
strategic decisions.
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b. Mighty Ape and Flipkart are similar in their approach regarding the positioning of their
products and services to their targeted markets as both follow the approach of multi-segment
positioning to position their products and services to their targeted market which involves
exploiting more than one segment at the same time as both the companies offers a wide variety
of products and services to their customers and accordingly appeals to the need and wants of a
wide range of customer segment.
2. The e-marketing mix compared to traditional marketing
a. The marketing mix of Mighty Ape is as follows:
Product- Mighty Ape began its operations as a brick and mortar video game store named
GameZone in 1994. They started operating an e-commerce only operation for the last 10 years
from 2008, under the name of Mighty Ape. The main product range which is offered by Mighty
Ape is centred around entertainment and merchandize but they also sell supplements, food,
clothing and beauty products to a large numbers of customers based in New Zealand and
Australia.
Price- As stated by Jin-Feng, Chang Yan & De-Lin (2019) Mighty Ape uses competitive pricing
strategy for selling all its products throughout its platform. The competitive pricing strategy
helps them to remain competitive in the market and to compete successfully with other major e-
commerce companies. As Mighty Ape does not posses large financial capacity, therefore it
cannot take advantage of its financial position for offering the products at lower prices than their
competitors.
Place- Mighty Ape sell all their products and services through their website and mobile
application. The products offered by Mighty Ape are available throughout New Zealand and
Australia. They have a warehouse from where all the orders of the company are processed and as
a result of increased demand and popularity among the customers, Mighty Ape has planned to
shift their operations to a bigger warehouse which is currently under process so as to handle
increased orders from the customers.
Promotion- According to Ing-Long & Wu (2015) the main promotional tool which Mighty Ape
relies on to promote awareness among the customers is word of mouth marketing as they believe
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that if they delight one customer, then the customer will promote the company to their near and
dear ones. Mighty Ape does not rely on traditional advertising model but instead spend majority
of its marketing budget in below-the-line digital marketing. In order to remain connected with
their customers, Mighty Ape relies on social networking platforms such as Facebook and Twitter
which also enables them to promote their products and services.
The marketing mix of Flipkart is as follows:
Product- After the establishment of Flipkart in 2007, they sold books through its website. Slowly
the company increased its product portfolio and at present they sells over 80 categories of
products and services through its website and mobile application. The major product categories
for Flipkart are electronics, laptops and computer, beauty products, baby care products,
household products, pet products, lifestyle items, clothing and accessories. In addition to these,
Flipkart has also tied up with various companies through which the products of the company are
exclusively available in the online market place of Flipkart.
Price- As stated by Kimpel & Friedrich (2015) Flipkart follows a flexible price policy to
compete with other retailers and e-commerce platforms. They follow the marketplace model and
reduce the prices of the products offered. Flipkart earns half of its revenue through the sale of
books and electronic goods. The pricing strategy which Flipkart follows to attract customers is
cost leadership strategy by virtue of which it focuses on providing the products to the customers
at the lowest possible price. Flipkart does not charge any delivery fee upon orders above Rs. 500
from their customers and charge additional delivery fees for quicker delivery options.
Place- Flipkart sells their product through online mode via their website and mobile application
and do not have any physical stores of the company till date. Flipkart is based in India and
operates in India only. They started its operation on consignment rules but later opened its
warehouse in various major cities of India and majority of the orders of the company are
operated from its warehouses. Flipkart has highly effective delivery system which is spread in
multiple cities of India.
Promotion- Flipkart sells its brands to the customers through the application of aggressive
marketing strategies. As opined by Chen, Yang & Wang (2016) Flipkart mostly relies on word of
mouth publicity for the promotion of the company among the customers. Other than word of
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mouth publicity, they also create brand awareness among their customers through entertaining
advertisements through newspaper, television and outdoor advertisements. Flipkart also
organizes Big Billion Days as promotional tools where heavy discounts are offered to the
customers on majority of the products offered in their platform.
b. The e-marketing strategy which is followed by Mighty Ape is maintaining communication
with the customers through various social networking platforms which helps them to interact
with the customers and develop a brand image among them. As opined by Bucher (2015) the
other e-marketing strategy of Mighty Ape involves below the line digital marketing to interact
and develop communication with a large number of customers within a very short time and at a
much lower costs than traditional marketing strategies.
As stated by Goswami (2015) the e-marketing strategy which is followed by Flipkart involves
advertising the products offered through its platform from various social media platforms and
networks. They even build communication and rapport with their customers through various
posts in social media platforms through brand account. The other e-marketing strategy which is
followed by Flipkart is email marketing, content marketing and paid search in which the
company pays a considerable amount of money to various search engines to display the search
results whenever users search for related products which are offered by Flipkart.
E-marketing campaigns are considered to be more effective than traditional marketing
approaches as these strategies and campaigns enjoys various advantages over traditional
marketing campaigns in the form of higher level of customer engagement, ease of measuring
results, bigger range of audience and less expensive and more effective in nature.
3. The application of relationship marketing in brand building
a. Mighty Ape uses the relationship strategies of reactive marketing in which they ask for
feedback from the customers and encourage them to leave their reviews regarding their product
experience. As stated by Walsh & Brylla (2017) the reactive marketing strategy of Mighty Ape
helps them to develop loyal customer base and also helps them to retain customers. Further,
reactive marketing strategy of Mighty Ape also involves developing a relationship with the
customers through various social media platforms which also allows them to develop awareness
among the customers regarding their products and services. Mighty Ape also uses the
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relationship strategy of accountable marketing in which they allow the customers to make direct
phone calls to the company regarding any query or concern or regarding receiving latest news of
the company. The above mentioned types of relationship strategy which is implemented by
Mighty Ape enables them to develop their brand image and also helps in maintaining brand
loyalty.
As stated by Wen-Yu (2018) Flipkart also uses the relationship strategy of reactive marketing in
which they also allow their customers to post their feedback and review regarding the product
they have purchased and provide rating accordingly based on their usage experience. Flipkart
also allows their customers to post photos so that they can share honest review regarding the
product. The reviews and ratings posted by the users assists the customers of Flipkart regarding
their buying decision of any of the products which helps in improving the brand image and also
helps in maintaining brand loyalty. In addition to that Flipkart certifies their product based on
their quality and importance to assist the customers in the decision making process which further
helps them in enhancing their brand image and loyalty. The other relationship marketing strategy
which Flipkart follows is accountable marketing in which they remind the customers of their past
purchases and accordingly provide product suggestion to the customers based on their purchase
history and search preferences. This strategy of Flipkart also helps in maintaining brand image
and brand loyalty for the company.
b. The main benefit which is associated with the relationship marketing approach of both the
companies is that it helps in building a rapport with the customers which in turn helps in
increasing the brand image and brand loyalty. The other benefit which is associated with this
marketing approach of both Mighty Ape and Flipkart is that it helps in understand the product
expectations and requirements of the customers through their reviews and feedback and therefore
the companies can take adequate steps in improving their product quality and service quality.
The other benefit which is associated with the relationship marketing approach of both the
companies is that it helps in gaining idea regarding the preferred channel for marketing and
promotion of the customers and accordingly adopt marketing strategies.
As stated by Cummins, Peltier, Schibrowsky & Nill (2014) the main drawback which is
associated with the relationship marketing approach of both the companies is that it fails to
collaborate with the customers regarding designing of products and services which can fulfil the
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expectations and requirements of the customers. The other drawback which is associated is that it
can harm the reputation or image of companies and its products if the customers post negative
reviews and feedback regarding the product or regarding its usage experience. The other
drawback which is associated with is that it is time consuming in nature as it requires a
considerable amount of time to develop relationship with the customers.
4. Internet environment
a. The micro and macro internet environments impact the communication strategies of both the
companies to a large extent. According to Vinerean, Cetina & Dumitrescu (2014) the micro
environments of internet comprise of factors such as competitors, customers, intermediaries and
online buying behaviour of the customers and thus the communication strategy of an e-
commerce company is largely influenced by the competitive scenario of the market, the online
buying behaviour of the customers, the impact of intermediaries in the promotional process and
the strategies which are adopted by the competitors. Therefore the communication strategies
adopted by the e-commerce companies depend on the current state of the micro-environment
factors.
As stated by Akroush & Al-Debei (2015) the macro-environment of internet comprise of factors
such as social factor, technological factors, legal and ethical issues, economic factors and
political factors and therefore the communication strategy adopted by e-commerce companies
are largely influenced by these factors. The social factor determines the effect of culture and
demographical factor regarding the use of internet by the population, the legal and ethical issue
determines the laws and regulations regarding data privacy, the technological factor determines
the level of technological diffusion in the country, the economic factor determines the purchasing
power of the customers and the preferred mode of transaction and the political factor determines
the legislations regarding internet usage as well as tax structure. Therefore the communication
strategies of e-commerce companies are prepared by keeping in mind the impact of their macro-
environment.
b. The opportunities which Mighty Ape and Flipkart will face in the future if they are to remain
competitive in the future is to open brick and mortar stores in the countries in which they operate
to provide stiff competition to other established internet retailers in the market who have physical
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presence as well such as Amazon. The other opportunity which Mighty Ape and Flipkart will
face in the future if they are to remain competitive in the market is by expanding their operations
to other countries and gaining market shares which will help them in enhancing their
competitiveness in the e-commerce market. The other opportunity which Might Ape and Flipkart
will face in the future is expanding their product portfolios to cater to the increased needs of the
customers and to earn more revenues which will help them to enhance their competitive position
in the market. Another opportunity which Mighty Ape and Flipkart will face if they are to remain
competitive in the market is to optimize their supply chain and delivery process to deliver
products at a faster rate than their competitors which will enable them to sustain competition and
remain competitive in the e-commerce which is fast changing with the advancement of
technology. Another opportunity which both companies can face in the future if they are to
remain competitive is advancement in their technology which will allow these e-commerce
retailers to enhance the shopping experience of their customers by implementing technological
advancements.
As stated by Čavoški & Markovic (2015) the major challenge which Mighty Ape and Flipkart
will face in the future if they are to remain competitive in the future is stiff competition from
other internet retailers as a result of increased product varieties and also because of existence of
physical stores of the major competitors. The competition is further likely to increase as more
and more companies are venturing into the e-commerce field so as to increase their sales and
revenue. As stated by Kansal (2014) the other challenge which both the companies will face in
the future if they are to remain competitive is increase in government regulations regarding
foreign direct investment in the retail sector and regarding multi-branding retail. Changes in
regulations of the government regarding data privacy, taxation and regarding the sale of products
on online platforms can pose serious challenges for both Mighty Ape and Flipkart in the future in
their quest of remaining competitive. The other challenge which Mighty Ape and Flipkart can
face if they are to remain competitive is changing preferences of the customers regarding online
shopping which directly impacts their buying behaviour.
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Conclusion
From the above report it can be concluded that the internet marketing strategies and approach
which are adopted by Mighty Ape has contributed to the growth and development of the
company in Australia and New Zealand and has provided stiff competition to both domestic and
global competitors. Moreover it can also be stated that the marketing mix approach of the
company and the strategies adopted to maintain relation with the customers also contributed
towards the increasing loyalty of the customers towards Mighty Ape.
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References
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