Sales Development & Merchandising: Burj Al Arab Case Analysis

This report analyzes sales development and merchandising strategies, primarily focusing on the Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai. Task 1 evaluates key components of the product, including core benefits, actual product, and augmented product, and discusses the elements of the product mix (length, breadth, depth, consistency) and their contributions to sales and profit. It also assesses how market segmentation contributes to sales maximization and discusses factors affecting buyer behavior, such as cultural, social, and personal factors. Furthermore, it evaluates appropriate advertising media, including public relations, television broadcasting, and social media, for sales development situations. Task 2 assesses how design and layout might affect customer spend at the Arabian Travel Market Exhibition, reviewing internal merchandising materials for Burj Al Arab, and evaluates the role of staff in maximizing sales. The report concludes with recommendations for improving customer retention and relationships.

Sales Development and Merchandising
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Task 1: Individual written report.....................................................................................................3
Understanding of elements of the product in a business and services context............................3
Understanding of external sales development techniques...........................................................6
Task 2: Event planning report, role play and post evaluation report...............................................9
Understand the tools and techniques of internal sales promotion and merchandising................9
Be able to evaluate the role of staff in maximising sales...........................................................11
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................13
References List..............................................................................................................................14
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Introduction
In the recent times, sales development has become one of the most important procedures that are
being adopted by most of the established organisations worldwide. The presented report is
divided into two tasks. The first task will focus on the evaluation of elements of a product in the
business of The Burj Al Arab, a luxury hotel in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, also known as the
third tallest hotel in the world (Visitdubai.com, 2018). This hotel has attracted most of the
tourists from all over the world. The report will also elaborate the external sales techniques of
this hotel by discussing the factors of buying behaviour as well as requirement of appropriate
advertising resources for sales development. The sales executive of this hotel will have to fulfil
the above criteria within his report.
Arabian Travel Market Exhibition 2018 is quite a big event and therefore it is a good prospect
for Burj Al Arab to gain tremendous market exposure. Therefore, the presentation in the event
needs a coherent planning. The report in the second task shed light on various factors involved in
planning the sales promotional and merchandising of the event of the hotel.
Task 1: Individual written report
Understanding of elements of the product in a business and services context
1.1 Evaluate the key components of the product.
A product is a good that serve the requirements of the market. The main components of a
product are namely,
a. Core Benefits
It is necessary for any product that is manufactured or offered, to offer benefits to the customers.
The Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai, UAE offers lavish guest rooms and suites to the customer who
comes to visit the national tourist attractions. The people with higher living standard and lavish
lifestyles experience high benefits while spending time in this hotel. The rooms and banquets in
this hotel offer a higher level of luxury and this is considered as the core benefit of the
organisation (Stark, 2015).
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b. Actual Product
The core benefits are offered so that the actual products are purchased by the customers. The
actual products are treated as main services by the business according to the consuming priorities
of the customers. These actual products include decisions related to the product features,
branding, packaging, labelling and others (Stark, 2015). The rooms and suites are the actual
products of the business of the Burj Al Arab therefore there is a necessity of developing core
benefits in these products so that the organisation has the distinguishable characteristics
compared to its competitors.
c. Augmented Product
The augmented product consists of some of the product features: Guarantee, warranty, Customer
service, complementary products and accessibility. The customers buying behaviour is largely
dependent on the above-mentioned features towards the particular product of the business.
Failure on any of the above features will reduce the sale margin of the products. The Burj Al
Arab is one of the renowned hotels all around the globe because it provides guarantee of service
as the primary augmentation in their products (Stark, 2015). The hotel also provides excellent
customer service so that there is a reduction of customer retention in any of their products and
services. The organisation also offers complementary items and services to the customer who
comes to stay such as free ride and tour of the region in chauffeur-driven Rolls-Royces and
more.
1.2 Discuss the range of contributions to sales and profit of elements in the product mix.
Product mix is defined as the total number of products lined by the business for their sale among
the customers. The elements of product mix are:
Length
This element of the product mix refers to the number of products in a particular product line
generated by the business. With the increase in the length of the product line increases the
options and accessibility towards larger assortment. The Burj Al Arab in Dubai, UAE has great
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number of rooms, lounges, suites, and dining areas which enables larger attraction of the tourists
from all over the globe (Ciriković, 2014).
Breadth
This element of the product mix refers to the number of products line or rather varieties
generated by the business. The manufacturer increases the breadth of their product line so that to
reduce obsolete risks in a particular product (Ciriković, 2014). The Burj Al Arab offers spacious
rooms, luxurious lounges, finest delicacies and royal dining facilities that help the hotel to serve
the customers who prefers high standard of lifestyle. The hotel has maintained and regularly
improves the services that it offers since the time of its establishment.
Depth
This element of the product mix refers to the number of ways available to purchase a particular
product. With the increase in number of accessible ways increases or rather fastens the supply of
the product to the customers. The Burj Al Arab uses a number of promotional strategies such as
TV broadcastings, Public relation and advertisements through social media to make the tourists
aware about the facilities that are being offered in their hotel (Ciriković, 2014).
Consistency
This element is the combination of length and depth of the product in a given business
(Ciriković, 2014). The Burj Al Arab has uniquely combined the varieties of its facilities through
the promotional strategies.
1.3 Assess how market segmentation contributes to sales maximisation
The officials of the Burj Al Arab have to adopt proper market segmentation strategy so that it
can attract more amount of tourist in comparison to its existing records. Based on the
combination of behavioural and psychographic segmentation, the hotel attracts mainly the higher
class customer from the different society by providing lavish facilities, lush suites, finest
delicacies and more (Díaz et al., 2013). The hotel is situated in Dubai, UAE where there are
many tourist spots that are famous all over the world therefore the career of this hotel will
continue to attract customers in the future. The people who have higher standards in the society
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prefer luxurious lifestyle and want to spend their leisure period from their workaholic live hood.
The people with this psychology are often seen to spend some quality time in this lavish hotel.
This is how the market segmentation has helped the hotel to maximize the sales of the hotel.
Understanding of external sales development techniques
2.1 Discuss the factors affecting buyer behaviour.
The consumer behaviour in Burj Al Arab is dependent on the following factors:
a. Cultural factors
Mostly the high standards people have preference to stay in the luxurious hotels all over the
world. They choose the lavish hotel with the reason that their cultural lifestyle of standardised
living in the society is not hampered (Fall Diallo et al., 2013).
b. Social Factors
The factor decides the social image of citizens who visits the luxurious hotel (Fall Diallo et al.,
2013). The customer who stays in these hotels usually does so that they can brag about being a
part of lavish hotel even for once in their lifetime, among their family, friend circle, neighbours
and co-workers.
c. Roles and Status
To maintain prestige and social status, the high standard customers goes to the luxury hotels and
restaurants (Fall Diallo et al., 2013).
d. Personal factors
The people who have the tendency to brag about their luxurious lifestyle and outings mostly
include adults and adolescents who are earning in reputed companies with extremely high pay
scale (Fall Diallo et al., 2013).
2.2 Assess appropriate advertising media for sales development situations
The Burj Al Arab uses these advertising techniques:
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a. Public Relations
The hotel has adopted public relations as one of its promotional strategy. It is completely
different from usual advertisement. With the help of public relations, the hotel is able to enhance
their marketing network and public image in the market (Moriarty iet al., 2014). The strategy has
created special awareness among the customers all around the globe towards this luxurious hotel.
b. Broadcasting in Television
Recently, the hotel has shifted towards TV broadcasts for advertisement of the facilities it
actually offers within its lavish boundaries. They have consulted with most of the high marketing
channels of broadcasting such as BBC, CNBC, Star network and others for its promotional
strategy (Moriarty iet al., 2014).
c. Social media
In recent times, the hotel has adopted social media platforms such as YouTube, Facebook,
Twitter and others for the advertisement purposes (Moriarty iet al., 2014). With the help of this
strategy, the hotel is now able to aware the customers all around the globe in less time.
2.3 Evaluate the role of external merchandising in maximising customer volumes.
The Burj Al Arab has a long list of superlative merchandising that makes it one of the most
renowned hotels all around the globe. The hotel offers dining at underwater aquarium restaurant
to the customer. This particular merchandising technique has attracted high customer volumes
from all over the world.
The hotel is located in a man-made triangular island and the view from the buildings of the hotel
is extremely beautiful. The hotel has used the scenic beauty of the area to attract maximum
customer volume (Hassan et al., 2013). The hotel provides the customers with chauffeur-driven
Rolls-Royces and allows them to arrive in the helipad section as Tiger Woods, Roger Federer
and other personalities do.
Recommendations
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 The managers working in the hotel should investigate the reason for any kind of customer
retention.
 The hotel will have to use relationship marketing strategy so that there is a scope of
further improvement in customer relationship.
 The organisation will be able to develop the customer relation by adopting E-marketing.
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Task 2: Event planning report, role play and post evaluation report
Understand the tools and techniques of internal sales promotion and merchandising.
3.1. Assessing how design and layout might affect customer spend
Arabian Travel Market Exhibition is one of the biggest events in the nation as it grabs the
attention of opulent customers all over the world (Arabian Travel Market, 2018). Thus, it is a
leading marketing platform for Burj Al Arab to unfold their business potential. Therefore, it
clearly entail that the design and layout of the event will have a deep impact on customers. The
spending decision of the customers is influenced by the way, in which the hotels are presenting
the attractive features they have to offer to the visitors (Acar, et al., 2012). In order to influence
the ergonomics of the customers, the stall of Burj Al Arab will have its lights and sound as per
the theme of ‘Heart of Dubai’.
The theme of the stall will present the beauty of Dubai and caparisoned accordingly. The visitors
will be welcomed with folk dance of Dubai so that customers from different countries are
mesmerised by it and remain engaged in the stall for a longer time. Furthermore, the
representatives in the stall enlighten the visitors on the features of the hotel and underpin the
luxurious features of the hotel (Singh and Kumar, 2015). The representatives will further
highlight the superlatives of the hotel by introducing the customers on the fine range of cuisines
offered by the hotel. The hotel offers the customers with a scintillating experience of dining in an
underwater aquarium (excerpted from case study). In addition to this, the customers will also be
educated on several kinds of packages offered by the hotel. For instance, one such package will
provide the guest with the privilege of riding a chauffeur driven Rolls Royce so that they can
arrive in style from the helipad (excerpted from case study).
3.2 Reviewing and evaluate internal merchandising materials for Burj Al Arab
Visual merchandising is one of the most consequential factors in grabbing the attention of the
customers. This is because, once the visitor is convinced to visit the stall of Burj Al Arab, the
internal caparison should synchronize with the theme created outside the stall.
Figure 1: Internal Merchandising
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(Source: Created by Author)
Therefore, the internal signage of the stall will be designed with handicrafts of Dubai. The entire
stall will be decoration of the stall will have the essence of Dubai (Morrison, 2013). The male
and female representatives in the stall will be dressed in traditional Dubai wear, which are ghutra
and abaya respectively.
In addition to this, visual aid of the electronic sales aids of Burj Al Arab will have both booklet
and power point presentation. Since the superlatives of the hotels include a number of factors,
the guests will be provided with a well-designed and informative booklet and the staff will
further elaborate them through ppt. This will helps the customers to have a detailed insight on the
features and benefits of visiting the hotel and the visual effects will keep them engaged (Taylor,
2012). The brochure and booklets that will be proved to the customers will have all the detailed
information about the hotel and the kinds of facilities provided it. In addition to this, the booklets
will also highlight the testimonials that will convey stories of the happy customers. This will
encourage the guests to take visit the hotel.
3.3. Evaluating promotional activities for different scenarios, making
recommendations for improvement
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Inte r nalSig na ge
Sal esMa te rial sEle ct roni cSal es Aid s

Burj Al Arab needs to develop certain effectual promotional approaches that will help it to reach
out to an improved target market.
Figure 2: Promotional Approaches
(Source: Created by Author)
The most important approach of marketing that should be considered by the hotel is travel
agencies and tour operators. This will be best for grabbing the seasonal opportunities. This
implies that Dubai hold several kinds of events during the winters that attract visitors from all
over the world. In order to grab the attention of customers, it is recommended that the hotel ask
the tour operators to educate the visitors on the offers and packages offered by Burj Al Arab
during these seasons, which will augment the customer base of the hotel (Acar, et al., 2012).
In addition to this, one of the most effective promotional activities that can be adopted by the
hotel is value added promotions. Customers always want to feel valued thus in this scenario, the
hotels should offer different kinds reward points, credits points, or other valued added facilities
to acknowledge the loyalty of the customer (Morrison, 2013). It can be further recommended
that these promotional activities should be mentioned on the official website of the hotel. This
will help the hotel to retain the existing customers and attract the prospective ones (Singh and
Kumar, 2015).
Be able to evaluate the role of staff in maximising sales
4.1 Evaluating personal selling techniques, making recommendations for improvement
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Travel
Agencies
Seosonal
Opportunities
Value added
Promotion

Customers develop an inclination to avail the products and service of a company when they
share a good rapport with the employees of the organisation. Since the staff represent the
organisation to the customers, it is important that they leave a pleasant and strong impact on the
minds of the customers (Wang, et al., 2012). In this context, Burj Al Arab needs to contemplate
on the approach of personal selling technique to attract more visitors. First, the employees need
to have extremely amiable, pleasant and cordial body language so that the customers feel
comfortable talking to them. By the means of professional and pleasant gestures, the staffs need
to focus on up-selling techniques. This implies that the employees should be able to induce the
existing guests to upgrade their package and convince the prospective visitors to avail the most
expensive packages of the hotel (Shannahan, et al., 2013).
In addition to this, it is highly recommended that the each employee have details about the taste,
preference, needs and wants of each of the guests and cater them properly. All the employees
should have a deep insight on all the packages and the facilities offered by the hotels so that they
can educate the guests on the same. It is very important for Burj Al Arab to take feedback from
the customers so that the potentials and pitfalls of the hotels can be identified. In order to make
up to the grievances of the guests, the hotel will have to focus on repeat business strategy and
provide them with gifts vouchers or other offers (Shannahan, et al., 2013).
4.2 Discussing the influence of operational design on sales revenue
Burj Al Arab is one of the most lavish and luxurious hotel in Dubai, which implies that it,
functions on several departments making its operational process intricate. However, it is
important that the hotel improve its operational design so that it can be made more agile and
improve sales revenue. In order to make the operational process more effective, the hotel needs
to introduce ergonomics so that fewer injuries can be ensured inside the workplace and
efficiencies can be increased (Kalkis, et al., 2014). When the employees will be healthy and fit,
they would deliver better service that will retain existing customer and attract the prospective
ones. This will ultimately increase the sales revenue. Therefore, the hotel will have to design the
jobs properly and allocate the right candidate for it. In addition, the hotel needs to employ the
latest technologies so that the world of the employees is made easy and less dangerous. For
example, the hotel should use supply carts for the housekeeping department so that they do not
hurt themselves while carrying heavy materials. In addition, the hotels needs to have latest
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