Customer Analysis, IKEA Case Study, and Marketing Strategies for Sigma

This assignment delves into the critical aspects of customer analysis and marketing strategies through the lens of Sigma and a case study of IKEA. The assignment analyzes how businesses can identify and target their most valuable customers, emphasizing the importance of understanding customer demographics, behaviors, and preferences. It explores various methods for gathering customer data, including IT software and market research. Furthermore, the assignment discusses employee retention strategies, highlighting the role of social media recruitment, competitive compensation, and internal recruitment. The IKEA case study examines factors contributing to the company's success, such as its customer-centric approach, low-cost strategy, and strong brand identity. The assignment also addresses how IKEA's strategies can be adapted to new markets. The document also covers how to build strong customer relationships and sustain low-cost strategies, offering insights into the success of the IKEA business model.

ANSWER 1:-
Customers are very important to the success of any organization.it should be necessary for the
organization to focus on their valuable customers. Sigma can achieve its overall growth only by
satisfying its available consumers. But it is very difficult for the organization to find the target
consumers. Every business finds that some consumers have great value than others. This can be
because of various reasons. Successful businesses are generally those who find their most
valuable customers at a time. (Hollensen, 2015) When sigma is engaged in producing a particular
product than during its processing it should focus on their target customers. For this Sigma
should collect all necessary information about their customers, all this information helps Sigma
to build a useful profile of their customers. This includes the followings:-
 Who they are: - it includes the age and gender of individual consumers or industry and
size of the organization for customers.
 What customers think and believe: - it includes the interest of the particular consumers
and opinion regarding any product.
 Purchasing behavior of employees: - this helps the Sigma in identifying what consumers
prefer? And from where they want to buy? Or how much they want to pay?
Profiling customers in this manner helps the Sigma in grouping their customers into
different segments, each of then can be satisfied easily as per their wants. Sigma can also
use IT software's to collect the data regarding the customers and then for analyzing all
information for concluding result. By using it, Sigma can be effectively successful in
satisfying their target consumers and growth in future.
1

ANSWER 2:-
Sigma has limited resources so; it should utilize its resources in the best manner. It is
necessary for Sigma to identify their target customers if it wants to maximize their sale in
future. There can be following initiatives which Sigma can take to identify their target
customers:-
 Draw a picture of target customers in mind: - Sigma should develop a picture of their
potential customers for which it is producing goods. (Schoenfeld, 2014) Once Sigma
develops a picture, it can position all its customers in different segments.
 Think about its Market:- Sigma should conduct a research of their market for identifying
the needs of the customers this helps in developing the product as per their needs and
then identifying the potential buyers for that product. Conducted market research gives
them knowledge about different market trends.
 Look internally: - the most important step Sigma should perform is to identify their
strength and weaknesses. This aware the organization about their potential opportunities
and then build ideas to grip all these available opportunities. the internal analysis gives
the answers to the following:-
o Do Sigma have areas of expertise
o Does sigma have enough knowledge about a specific area?
All these things help the Sigma in identifying their potential customers. Bu using it Sigma can
create the attractive offering for their customers. All initiatives require more expert services or
2

proper utilization of available resources. If Sigma performs all his initiatives by the proper care,
it can achieve success in the marketplace and then it determines that firm has the capability to
perform better.
Answer 3:-
Employees today is considered not only the factors of production, but they are considered as the
human resources. It is vital for the success if the organization that it should retain their
employees in the organization for a long time. All this was saving the cost of recruitment. Sigma
faces problem in retaining their staff for a long time. Now it should adopt following strategies to
recruit new potential employees:-
1. Use social media: - Social media is getting very popular nowadays. It can be the best
alternative for the organization to give their advertisement of the vacancy on social
media. This helps the organization in generating a pool of talented employees. Social
media sites like: Twitter, LinkedIn, or Facebook can be used by an organization.
2. Market its compensation Package: - Money can be the best way to attracting talented
employees. Sigma should offer the handsome salary to new employees; this forces the
candidates to be the member of the Sigma.( King,2014)
3. Internal recruitment: - the best way of hiring the talented employees for the Sigma is to
hire from within the organization. This helps in saving the extra cost in the recruitment
process. Internal candidates aware all, about the functions of the organizations, this
brings many additional benefits to the organization.
3

Hiring employees is not a big task, but the main important task in front of the
organization is managing them. Proper management should be there this would reduce
the employee's turnover, and they want to be the member of the organization for a long
time. Sigma should work for facilitating their employees.
ANSWER 4:-
IKEA is the organization which is dealing in the self-assemble furniture business. IKEA is the
world largest organization which is dealing in furniture. IKEA's forward- thinking strategy is
considered as the main factor in its success. There are following factors which contribute to the
success of IKEA:-
o Solving the worst part of buying behavior: - Before the existence of the IKEA, there is no
any other organization because they think furniture business as an investment for more
than 20 years. Ikea builds product which was designed in a great manner, which is not
available at any other furniture organization.
o Hitting the demographic in a right manner: - IKEA works with the right peoples.
Products developed by IKEA is clean. IKEA is known in the market by its living wage
structure to people's or transparency in the production process.
o Not expensive but not too cheap: - Price structure of the Ikea is perfect. IKEA is not
charging too high value of their product; it is on affordable price. This helps the IKEA in
improving its goodwill in the market and being different from their competitors.
In today scenario, a customer is very important to the success of the organization. There are
following ways which help in building strong customer relationship in US:-
4

 Organization should communicate with their customers as a human being.
 Organization should take an initiative to learn about tastes of their existing customers.
 US organization should resolve all the customers’ complaints immediately without
creating any hurdle.
ANSWER 5:-
IKEA is the most successful organization in the world. The reason for its success can be its
location or expertise marketing team. The efficiency of their employees enables the organization
in tailored fit taste as per the US market. There are following aspects which add more value to its
product or services:-
 A strong and attractive global brand which attracts all the consumers groups towards the
organization.
 A Strong vision of the company that is "to create a better everyday life for many people".
 A more focused strategy which is based on a concept of offering a wide range of
designed products at lower prices.( Tiwari,2015)
 A strong democratic design which establishes a proper balance between design, quality,
and functions.
 IKEA uses “Cost Consciousness” strategy which means that low prices are taken into
account.
All these features of the IKEA organization help it in attracting more customers toward
their product. Low-cost strategy of the IKEA organization is sustainable in a long time
because of following reasons:-
5

 Higher profitability: - A great benefit for the low-cost operators in an industry is high-
profit margins.
 Increase market share
 Sustainability: - Ikea organization have low-cost leadership which helps it in developing
the sustainable business position. All companies which are performing its business
operations at lower cost have a better chance in future of survival.
ANSWER 6:-
IKEA wants to open its outlet in our area. This can prove successful step for the IKEA
organization. Let us consider that we live in a particular area and the organization can effectively
launch their outlet in that area. Here, the large number of customers are existing which are
demanding high-quality products and ready to pay higher prices. The local demand of our
customers is that they requires the high standard in the society and for showing it they wants to
use only branded and luxurious goods. This can be a better scope for the IKEA to expand its
business by opening a new outlet here. (Komassi, 2015) All types of consumers like: youngsters,
middle age people lived here which can be the effective target customers for an organization. All
this helps the whole organization in the effective launching of their outlet and serve a large
number of customers which are preferring only high-quality goods and more conscious towards
their living standard. The new store can be successful only if the organization serving in the best
manner to all the target customers and should always try to innovate something new in their
creations. This lead high economic growth and also enhance the Goodwill of the organization.
REFERENCES:-
6

Hollensen, S. (2015). Marketing management: A relationship approach. Pearson Education.
Schoenfeld, E. R., Hyman, L., Simpson, L. L., Michalowicz, B., Reddy, M., Gelato, M., ... &
Lenton, P. (2014). An evaluation of recruitment methods utilized for a clinical trial with
periodontal and diabetes enrollment criteria: the Diabetes and Periodontal Therapy
Trial. Clinical investigation, 4(12), 1065-1081.
King, D. B., O’Rourke, N., & DeLongis, A. (2014). Social media recruitment and online data
collection: A beginner’s guide and best practices for accessing low-prevalence and hard-to-reach
populations. Canadian Psychology/Psychologie canadienne, 55(4), 240.
Sebhatu, S. P., & Enquist, B. (2014). Are Corporate Governance and Corporate Social
Responsibility having a role for sustainable Service Business?: An explorative study of IKEA,
Starbucks and H& M. In The 17th QMOD conference, September 3-5, Prague Tjeckien.
Tiwari, S. (2015). Standardized marketing strategies: a solution to the global competition? A
case study of IKEA in Norway, Sweden, France and China.
Komassi, E., & Pal, R. (2015). 1.6 Investigating short term strategies in product sustainability
index implementation, a case study at IKEA.
7