SHR037-6: Developing a Marketing Plan for SPAR Oman

This report delivers a comprehensive marketing plan for SPAR in Oman, beginning with an introduction to the company and its recent expansion into the Middle Eastern market. It employs analytical models such as SWOT, PEST, and Porter’s Five Forces to evaluate both the external market conditions and SPAR's internal capabilities. The analysis informs strategic recommendations aimed at effectively developing SPAR's market presence in Oman, focusing on key areas like market segmentation targeting regular retail consumers and high-end product demand, setting measurable marketing objectives using the SMART framework, and recommending a marketing mix strategy encompassing product, price, place, and promotion. Furthermore, the report outlines evaluation and control mechanisms using Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to monitor progress, customer feedback, and operational cost-effectiveness, supported by a detailed budget. The conclusion highlights SPAR’s opportunity to capitalize on Oman’s growing market demand and emphasizes the importance of consolidating its market position through well-aligned placement strategies and leveraging the favorable political, social, and market environment.

Running head: MARKETING PLAN: SPAR, OMAN
MARKETING PLAN: SPAR, OMAN
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1MARKETING PLAN: SPAR, OMAN
Executive Summary
The report is focused towards forming effective marketing plan for Spar in Oman. The
organization has been introduced to begin with. Moving forward the analytical models for
external and internal situational evaluation of the company has been used. The tools like SWOT,
PEST and Porter’s Five Forces analysis have been used in the study. Moving forward the results
that have emerged from the analysis have been used to provide essential recommendations for
the effective market development of Spar in Oman. The subsequent mechanisms that can be
implemented for evaluation and control have been given. The future effectiveness of the
marketing aspects of the company have been given strong focus in the study. It was found that
the company has strong developmental opportunities in the future.

2MARKETING PLAN: SPAR, OMAN
Table of Contents
Introduction and Objectives.............................................................................................................3
Current Situational Analysis............................................................................................................3
Porter’s Five Forces.....................................................................................................................3
PEST............................................................................................................................................4
SWOT..........................................................................................................................................5
Market Segmentation.......................................................................................................................6
Marketing Plan Objectives..............................................................................................................7
Recommended Marketing Mix strategy..........................................................................................8
Evaluation and Control....................................................................................................................9
Budget..............................................................................................................................................9
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................10
References......................................................................................................................................11

3MARKETING PLAN: SPAR, OMAN
Introduction and Objectives
The report focuses on the marketing aspects of Spar Company in Oman. Spar is a US
based international predominantly retail and merchandising company. The company is
headquartered in New York. The company had started its operations in the Middle Eastern
region recently. The various factors that can affect its marketing functions in the region need to
be analyzed significantly in order to enable the effective implementation of better marketing
techniques in the future. The marketing conditions, aspects and function of the company in
Oman is being considered for the study. The company has an 80 year old history and has around
12 thousand stores across the world in as many as 40 countries (SPAR - Global Leader in
Merchandising Solutions 2018). It is the largest voluntary food retailer in the world. The
company has recently signed a permanent license agreement with Khimji Ramdas LLC. The
company has had a successful initiation of operations in the country and is planning to further
increase its customer base by the end of the present year. The company wants to establish
minimum 21 stores across Oman by the beginning of 2019.
Current Situational Analysis
Porter’s Five Forces
Bargaining power of Buyers
In a country like Oman the bargaining power of the buyers is significantly large. Buyers
are affluent and choose from a large number of stores to buy from. This is particularly a high risk
factor.
Bargaining Power of Suppliers

4MARKETING PLAN: SPAR, OMAN
Bargaining power of the suppliers range between medium to high. Some of the suppliers
are based outside Oman. However, Spar already has a good network and partnering with Khimji
Ramdas can help it to ease pressure of the Suppliers (SPAR - Global Leader in Merchandising
Solutions 2018).
Threat of Substitutes
Substitutes are freely available in case of local items. However, for products that are not
locally produced there are not much substitutes. The local neighborhood markets can act as
significant substitutes.
Threat of New Entrants
Threat of New Entrants are significantly low as the concept of neighborhood
supermarkets are not much common in the country. Hence there is much low threat of new
entrants.
Competition
The main competitors will be Carrefour and Almeera. However, since the company has
sided with Khimji Ramdas, the competition will be lower to some extent.
PEST
Political
Oman is a sultanate with strict laws in regards to the items that can be sold in the country.
Apart from this the political climate is relatively stable (Aaker and McLoughlin 2010). The
country follows the system of constitutional monarchy and is much liberal considering the other

5MARKETING PLAN: SPAR, OMAN
Middle Eastern countries in the region. The business scope of the country is fairly large and
opportunistic.
Economic
The country is economically very stable. This is mainly because the country has large oil
and natural gas reserves. A substantial part of the population is affluent and the GDP of the
country is good and influenced largely by the industrial sector.
Social
The country has an Islamic society. This means that the supermarkets have to be aware of
the Islamic values and products that are normally considered to be haram should not be sold.
However, the country has a large expatriate population which can be targeted for selling varied
range of products.
Technological
There is ample scope for the usage of better technology to enhance the functions of the
country. Oman has already has a good environment for the application of technology.
Technology is easily available in the country (Wippel 2016).
SWOT
Strength

6MARKETING PLAN: SPAR, OMAN
International expertise is a significant strength of the company. Spar has a large international
network that it can use to its advantage while providing newer products to the customer. The
initial success generated is also an essential strength.
Weakness
The weakness of the company is the relative inexperience in the market conditions of the Middle
East. Another significant weakness is lack of wide supply network in Oman.
Opportunity
The company has the opportunity to further consolidate its position in the market of Oman. The
company can become a successful venture due to the new value it adds for the Omani customer
base.
Threat
Operational costs can increase due to the supply chain functions of the enterprise. The company
can face issues related to taxation if taxes are imposed on foreign supplies in the future.
Market Segmentation
Market segmentation for Spar needs to be done on the basis of the types of customers that
the organization have to serve. The significant market base of the company will be divided into
the consumers with regular retail demands and customers with demand for high end products
(SPAR - Global Leader in Merchandising Solutions 2018). The customer base will depend on

7MARKETING PLAN: SPAR, OMAN
these two major market segmentations. The retail customers will essentially be everyday
customers with everyday needs. They need more discounts as they will return to the shop. The
high end customer segment will be sizeable given the large number of affluent people in the
country. Moving forward the customer segment can be divided further to include the expatriate
populations and the young Omanis. The company should focus more on catering to the needs of
the middle and higher classes of the society without disregarding the lower income group. It is
also important to segment the market on the basis of age as the younger generations are more
inclined towards buying from newer supermarkets. One of the main reasons behind the initial
success of the company is due to the inclination of the emerging customer base of the country
towards Spar. Given the international recognition of the brand these segmentations need to be
effectively managed.
Marketing Plan Objectives
The Smart framework can be applied in order to form the marketing objectives of Spar.
Specific- The specific objectives will be to increase the customer base of the Spar in Oman. The
newer customers need to be completely utilized by Spar. The company will like to expand its
consumer base across the country in order to better reach people.
Measurable- The goals of the company need to be measurable. Hence, the company will aim
towards doubling its revenue in the first year. The company will like to greatly increase its
profitability in the first few months.
Attainable- The Company will aim towards specific goals that it needs to achieve within a
certain period of time. The company will focus on gaining a significant customer base in each of
the four monthly quarters in a given year.

8MARKETING PLAN: SPAR, OMAN
Realistic- The Company will aim toward gaining significant momentum in the market before
consolidating its position further. Spar will focus on customer satisfaction primarily before
taking decisions to expand. The company will want to expand to only the major cities of Oman
before moving on to the other areas.
Timely- The Company will set a five year growth plan that will be divided into quarters, half-
years and years. This way the company can keep a track of the time and also provide offers to
customers accordingly.
Recommended Marketing Mix strategy
Product- Spar sells a wide range of products through its Supermarkets chains in Oman. The
effective strategy should be towards selling as many products as possible in the stores. This will
draw more customers. The focus should be towards selling branded and quality products to
customers.
Price- The pricing strategy should be reasonable and divided in accordance with the market
segmentations (Aaker and McLoughlin 2010). The regular retail customers will be given more
discounts concerning the food, utility and other retail products.
Place- The place will need to be both offline and online. The shops will need to be located
around the large marketplaces in the major cities. This will make sure that the people are
attracted more towards the company at places that are most visited. The shops need to be located
at central city areas. The online placement should also be present as Oman has a fast growing
number of internet literate people.
Promotion- The promotion would be done through the use of multichannel marketing. Hence, the
promotional aspects will be enhanced through the use of various media (Chaffey and Ellis-

9MARKETING PLAN: SPAR, OMAN
Chadwick 2012). The focus will be towards promoting the new value that the customers can get
through Spar. Initial offer coupons and discount cards will be distributed. Khimji Ramdas will
collaborate in the promotion process. This will help towards the better promotion of the
supermarket.
Evaluation and Control
The evaluation and control need to be done through the Key Performance Indicators. The
company will use data management systems to monitor the progress of the company. The most
important KPI in the initial months of the supermarket will be revenue growth and market
growth. The company will focus towards measuring the customer numbers in order to evaluate
the initial growth of the organization. The cost effectiveness of operations will also be a
significant KPI. Initial revenue targets will be selected on the basis of which the achievements of
Spar will be effectively measured. Customer feedback mechanism will also be used in order to
gain significant understanding of customer satisfaction and demand.

10MARKETING PLAN: SPAR, OMAN
Budget
Source of revenue OMR Expenditure OMR
Sources of finances 412000000 Products 27000000
Pricing and place 3520000
Promotion 12500000
Property 20000000
Equipments 1000000
Furniture 8000000
Vehicles 1000000
Depreciation 103799700
Legal 200000
Interests on loan 500000
Employee salary 2000000
Internet and
telephone 50000
Electricity 100000
Water and other
amenities 200000
Total expenditure 179869700
Budget surplus 232130300
Total 412000000 Total 412000000
Conclusion
In conclusion, it can be said that Spar has a very good opportunity to capitalize on the
market of Oman. The country is growing in terms of the market demand being generated. This
can be well understood through the initial success of the organization. Hence, Spar, Oman has to
focus toward further consolidating its position. The placement strategy is in line with the results
that have been generated from the PEST, Porters Five and SWOT analysis. It was found that
Oman is an emerging market and the prospects for growth for Spar is good due to the feasibility
of the political, social and market environment.

11MARKETING PLAN: SPAR, OMAN
References
Aaker, D.A. and McLoughlin, D., 2010. Strategic market management: global perspectives.
John Wiley & Sons.
Bichou, K., 2013. An empirical study of the impacts of operating and market conditions on
container-port efficiency and benchmarking. Research in Transportation Economics, 42(1),
pp.28-37.
Chaffey, D. and Ellis-Chadwick, F., 2012. Digital marketing: strategy, implementation and
practice (Vol. 5). Harlow: Pearson.
Dibb, S., Simkin, L., Pride, W.M. and Ferrell, O.C., 2005. Marketing: Concepts and
strategies (p. 850). Houghton Mifflin.
SPAR - Global Leader in Merchandising Solutions. (2018). Leaders in Retail Merchandising |
New Store Sets, Assembly & Installation | SPAR. [online] Available at: https://sparinc.com/
taxsummaries.pwc.com, (2018). [online] Available at: http://taxsummaries.pwc.com/ID/Oman-
Corporate-Deductions
Tollin, K. and Carù, A., 2008. Strategic market creation. A new Perspective on Marketing and
Innovation Management. Wiley.
Wilson, R.M. and Gilligan, C., 2012. Strategic marketing management. Routledge.
Wippel, S., 2016. Port and Tourism Development in Oman: Between Economic Diversication
and Global Branding. In Under Construction: Logics of Urbanism in the Gulf Region(pp. 125-
142). Routledge.