Bindle Marketing Plan – Retail Store Marketing Plan Assignment Help
INDUSTRY OVERVIEW
Online retailing and online shopping has changed the Australian Retail Trade division. It represents a paradigm shift in the way the consumers have been transacting. The online retailing industry has been dramatically growing over the past five years and has become the vital part of mainstream Retail Trade Division. Retailers in the industry operates the website that enable the consumers to purchase from a broad range of products including homeware and domestic appliances, clothing, footwear, groceries, gifts, liquor, recreational goods, cosmetics, fragrances, toiletries, computers, electronic goods and other products (IBISWorld, 2016).
MAJOR PLAYERS
The major players of the online retail industry includes Amazon.com and Direct Group Limited. Interhampers is also Australia’s largest hamper company with its operations in Australia and New Zealand (Euromonitor, 2016).
GROWTH TRENDS
Australians have been continuously switching from home shopping to internet retailing due to which many of the companies that were primarily home shopping retailers are expanding online. The market trends has been encouraging customers to use online websites for meeting their requirements. Since online orders and payments provide several advantages for the companies, so it benefits the consumers that choose internet retailing over home shopping (Euromonitor, 2016).
The positive growth trend in internet retailing market is specifically due to strong Australian dollar that attracts the local consumers who are looking for better prices at overseas websites (IBISWorld, 2016). Internet retailing is expected to grow by 8% value i.e. CAGR at constant 2015 prices over next five years (Euromonitor, 2016). According to report by Euromonitor (2016), the number of internet users is expected to grow from 19.2 million in 2015 to 22.2 million in 2020, which will drive up the growth of internet retailing.
Latest data from Roy Morgan Research (2015) revealed that the online shopping trend in Australia is continued in its upward trajectory since the past few years. Australians with 14+ age buy one or more than one products through internet in four weeks on an average. Top 10 online retail business has been gaining popularity since 2011 (IBISWorld, 2016). The most popular industry category has been food and beverages while the second category is the Fashion accessories. In 2014, the most popular online shopping product were entertainment and leisure, reading materials and fashion accessories (as shown in the figure below). The population buying fashion accessories has topped from 1,062,000 to 1,936,000 people in just 3 years following 2012 till 2015 (Roy Morgan, 2015).
BINDLE’S BACKGROUND
Bindle is an online Australian gift store which aims at blending the sustainability with style. The gift hampers styled by Bindle are customized for specific occasions and themes. The company has stretched its operations throughout Melbourne and wider Australia. Bindle deals in hampering the gifts for men, women, mothers, corporate clients and babies (Bindle, 2016). Each box created by Bindle contains Australian tailored goodies. Bindle has gained recognition for using recycled paper while customizing the gifts for its customers. The gifts designed by Bindle work are completely hand crafted in signature gift boxes and perfectly wrapped in high quality gift papers (Mason, 2015). These gift boxes work as an excellent alternative to traditional gift hampers.
MAIN PRODUCTS
Bindle offers customized gift hampers that meet the criteria of a specific occasion. May it be Christmas, New Year or Birthday, Bindle has a pre-customized gift hampers to meet the taste. Each Bindle is compiled up by several talented individuals that stir in his or her own creativity and personality. Bindles specifically offers Bathroom products, BBQ products, new born Baby’s stuff, Blokes, Breakfast products, Body cleansers, Coffee hampers, Special culinary extras for kitchen, Christmas hamper, Gifts for Him and Her, Travel pack, Get well soon gift hampers, Housewarming presents, Wedding gift hampers, Gifts for mom to be, High Tea products, Business traveler pack, Gifts for newlywed and products that reduce stress like plants and candles (Campos, 2016). Hampers usually contains hand wash, body cleansers, BBQ sauces, roasted spices, ties, beers, wines, honey, hot chocolate, fair trade cocoa powder, fully roasted aromatic coffee, Bath salts, Body Oils, Henry Landon black pepper, body mists and flavored candles (Bindle, 2016).
EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT ANALYSIS
External environmental analysis is a strategic tool to identify all the external and internal elements of a company that can affect the performance and profitability of an organization. The analysis helps the managers to assess the level of threat or opportunity that might affect the company’s ongoing performance.
MACRO FACTORS
The macro environment in which Bindle is operating can be looked through the PESTLE lens. PESTLE analysis is a framework that is used for thoroughly scanning the external environment in which the organization operates (Brassington & Pettitt, 2005). The acronym stands for Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal and Environmental factors.
POLITICAL
The political factors for the retail industry includes the interest rates, political stability, and consumer protection and foreign exchange rates. The government policies play an important role in ensuring that competition amongst the retail companies are not restricted and that the regulations related to online business do not unnecessarily hinder the firms from addressing the issues that are their responsibility. The falling Australian dollar has helped the online retail industry to capture 75% of the total online spending. The Australian dollar fell below US$0.80 late in 2014 and has continued to face downward trend. Some of the analysts are predicting that the dollar will fall further over next 12 months (Ferrier Hodgson, 2015). Due to this, the online shopping trend is increasing.
ECONOMIC
At the end of the mining boom and in the middle of the housing boom, Australian consumers are still struggling to spend. The green indicators of the economy has been the modest GDP growth rate, escalating prices of houses, low interest rates and volatile stock market. Australians aging more than 14 years makes up 40% of the total population of Australia (Ferrier Hodgson, 2015). Australians aged 14+ are showing most interest in buying one or more products via internet, according to Roy Morgan Research (2015).
TECHNOLOGICAL
Social media, Smart Phones and Smart Wearables technology has changed the retail industry immensely throughout the globe. According to the research conducted by Ferrier Hodgson (2015), 79% of the Australians researched a product or service to buy the products through their smartphones. 25% of the consumers engaged themselves in shopping online through their phones. Social channels like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest have revolutionized the way shopping is done. 41% of the population was seen to use social media for researching the gift ideas while 37% of the people directly ask their friends and family for gift ideas through social channels (Read, Min, 2014). Search engines, emails from websites and website visits are common ways through which people find online stores easily.
ENVIRONMENTAL
Bindle is an online gift service that engages the local artisans for producing the hand-made gift hampers. As Bindle belongs to online retailing industry acting as boutique gift service, so it is naturally affected by the environmental concerns regarding waste and discarding of gift papers (IBISWorld, 2016). Australians are increasingly concerned about the environment due to which retailers are ensuring sustainability in their supply chain process. In a global report conducted by Nielsen (2014), 55% of the respondents of survey were willing to pay extra for earth friendly products. Much of the emphasis was put on the role of sustainability in paper products specifically the gift papers.
Reusing, recycling and deforestation-free materials are gaining popularity in the paper industry which has fundamentally shifted the critical marketplace. Many manufacturers have been focusing on delivering the attractive products made up of recycled paper and packaging. The increasing demand for environmental friendly products and sustainably sourced paper packaging have acted as significant implication for retailers (Nielsen, 2014).
LEGAL
Australia has been following the footsteps of United States and European countries by placing in a law namely Illegal Logging Prohibition Act in 2012 (Australian Government, 2011). This law prohibits the import or sale of the illegally sourced forest products that includes packaging and paper. Reasonable due diligence is required by the importers while importing the products that include paper packaging. The laws under the act will hit the paper packaging industry and the gift packing companies. The Aussie companies with primary business in gift wrapping will be hugely affected by the Illegal Logging Prohibition Act. Furthermore, the requirements by government to obtain Endorsement of Forestry Certification (PEFC) have also been set up for ensuring that the products that use paper prior selling to final consumers are sustainable at all levels of the supply chain (Australian Government, 2011).
MICRO FACTORS
COMPANY
Bindle blends the sustainability with style wherein each bindle is a total compilation of talented individuals that stir in their own personality and creativity while wrapping up the gifts. In a unique sense, Bindle is a term that is used for describing a bag or carrying device. While in a modern way, Bindle is a creative gift box comprising of variety of products (Bindle, 2016).
CUSTOMERS
The customers of Bindle are the online shoppers that want their gifts to be customized and attractively packed with ease. Bindle treats its customers in a special way as it the gifts are all wrapped up in the perfect little Bindle way. The gift hampers are creatively packed while incorporating a variety of products that complement one another. The consumers find the creativeness packed into recycled yet stylish gift papers by which Bindle is blending both sustainability and style togethe (Bindle, 2016)r.
SUPPLIERS
Bindle has collaborated with Agero Group for dynamic building and designing of Bindle gifts. Agero Group pay acute attention while packing up the products (Bindle, 2016). All the products that are incorporated into Bindle are originally sourced within Australia. The products are designed, manufactured and packaged within Australia. This shows that Bindle source all of its products from Australian suppliers and creatively wrap them up in Australian boxes with the help of Australian workers.
MARKET SEGMENTATION
Market segmentation refers to as the marketing strategy that involves division of broad target market into subsets of businesses, consumers or even countries. Market segmentation identifies the portions of market that are different from one another. It also allows he firms to satisfy the needs of the potential consumers (Groucutt, Leadley, & Forsyth, 2004). Put simply, it is the process of subdividing the large homogeneous market into clearly identifiable segments.
Bindle has segmented its market on psychographic bases. The psychographic segmentation is based on variables like values, attitudes and lifestyle. The psychographic segmentation helps Bindle to delve deeper into people’s lifestyles and behaviors including their interests and values. The environmental friendly or green consumers are the ones that are willing to buy products from sustainable producer. This shows that Bindle has chosen the green consumers as its market segmentation on basis of the value that green consumers have for sustainable products made up from raw material sourced from ethical suppliers. Furthermore, Bindle has also used psychographic segmentation factor i.e. Tech-savvy consumers. Bindle deals in “online” gift market wherein an Australian made gift is sent to the recipients in an easy yet stylish manner.
Bindle has also segmented the market based on behavioral factors mainly occasion. The behavioral segmentation is considered to be most favorable segmentation tool as it uses the variables that are closely related to the products itself (Brassington & Pettitt, 2005). It has special gift hampers tailored to fulfill the demands on occasions like Get Well Soon, Christmas, New Year, Corporate Meeting, Birthday, Mom to Be, Wedding Ceremonies and New Born Baby. Special promotions are given on specific occasions and special products.
MARKET TARGETING AND CONSUMER PROFILING
Target market is a group of consumers that a business decides to aim for its marketing efforts and ultimately sells its products to. A well-defined target market is the basis of perfect marketing strategy. Target market is the group of people who are most likely to buy the products that a company focusses on selling. After segmenting the market, a target segment is chosen to sell the products to.
Bindle has targeted the eco-friendly and green consumers based on values and lifestyle of its market segment. Furthermore, Bindle has chosen the target market to be the tech-savvy consumers who know how to use internet and how to search for products. The payment is made through PayPal which requires the customers to have a valid PayPal account (Bindle, 2016). Narrowing down, the two different target markets are identified i.e. tech savvy and green consumers.
Bindle targets consumers in a way such that there is a gift for every occasion, whether it is wedding, recovery from sickness, Father’s day, Mother’s day, New Year or birthdays. Occasion based segmentation has long been applied in the offline marketing system but is now used widely in online marketing of products as well. An ideal customer for Bindle is:
DIFFERENTIATION AND POSITIONING
Bindle is the true depiction of eco-friendly yet fashionable gift wrapping service provider. It has fulfilled the need of people looking for an inspired gift for friends and family for milestone occasions. The idea of Bindle was born to support the local producers in Australia as all things in Bindle Box are manufactured in Australia. Second point of differentiation is based on “eco-friendly” attribute (Campos, 2016).
Bindle has differentiated itself on basis of both “local gift wrapper” and “eco-friendly gift wrapping”. Every part of the Bindle creation reflects Australia – the products within the Bindles; the boxes that contain them and the hands that wrapped them. Bindle positions itself as the company that incorporate all the products into Bindle that are sourced within Australia. Majority of them are sourced from Melbourne, Victoria (Campos, 2016).
Bindle has positioned itself as a leader in sustainable gift wrapping industry. It has successfully blended eco-design with trendiness. The mission of Bindle is to create a sense of place whilst celebrating various talent at people’s doorstep (Campos, 2016). Bindle has presented a new approach to gifting by reflecting an important social responsibility and has left a lasting impression on the consumers.
CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATION
Based on the detailed analysis of both Bindle and retail industry in Australia, it is seen that Bindle has successfully differentiated itself as an eco-friendly gift wrapper coupled with style. The market trend has also supported Bindle to attract the consumers. As much of the population in Australia is becoming ecofriendly so targeting consumers on basis of green gift wrapping service has worked for Bindle.
By scrutinizing the external environment, it can be considered that Bindle can use its current position to market new products or to start a new service. Since Bindle is targeting green consumers so it can collaborate with green producers and manufacturers to achieve its aim of sustainable gifting. A new area of interest can be entering the market of “gift cards”.
References
Australian Government. (2011, November 4). Economic Structure and Performance of the Australian Retail Industry. Retrieved July 25, 2016, from http://www.pc.gov.au/inquiries/completed/retail-industry/report/retail-industry.pdf
Bindle. (2016, April 2). Blogs. Retrieved July 25, 2016, from http://bindle.com.au/blogs/bindle/114439941-life-s-too-short-to-have-boring-parties
Bindle. (2016, July 1). Collections. Retrieved July 25, 2016, from http://bindle.com.au/collections/browse-all
Brassington, F., & Pettitt, S. (2005). Principles of Marketing. F. T. Prentice Hall.
Campos, L. (2016, July 1). Bindle, a great eco-friendly gift to spoil your loved ones. Retrieved July 25, 2016, from http://blog.sherpa.net.au/bindle-a-great-eco-friendly-gift/
Euromonitor. (2016, January). Homeshopping in Australia. Retrieved from http://www.euromonitor.com/homeshopping-in-australia/report
Ferrier Hodgson. (2015, February). Australian retail 2015: Welcome to the Hunger Games! Retrieved July 25, 2016, from http://www.ferrierhodgson.com/~/media/Ferrier/Files/Documents/Publications/Retail/2015/AustralianRetail_2015_Welcome%20to%20the%20Hunger%20Games.pdf
Groucutt, J., Leadley, P., & Forsyth, P. (2004). Marketing: Essential principles, new realities. Kogan Publishers.
IBISWorld. (2016, March). Online Shopping in Australia: Market Research Report. Retrieved July 25, 2016, from http://www.ibisworld.com.au/industry/default.aspx?indid=1837
Mason, N. (2015, March 21). All wrapped up in the perfect little Bindle. Retrieved July 25, 2016, from http://www.nourishmelbourne.com.au/bindle/#.V5Tlivl97IV
Nielsen. (2014, June 17). GLOBAL CONSUMERS ARE WILLING TO PUT THEIR MONEY WHERE THEIR HEART IS WHEN IT COMES TO GOODS AND SERVICES FROM COMPANIES COMMITTED TO SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY. Retrieved July 25, 2016, from http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/press-room/2014/global-consumers-are-willing-to-put-their-money-where-their-heart-is.html
Read, Min. (2014, January 10). Infographic: How Australians made online gift purchases this Christmas. Retrieved July 7, 2016, from https://www.marketingmag.com.au/news-c/infographic-how-australians-made-online-gift-purchases-this-christmas/
Roy Morgan. (2015, March 19). Online shopping on the rise for most retail categories. Retrieved July 25, 2016, from http://www.roymorgan.com/findings/6095-online-shopping-on-rise-201503182332