Comprehensive International Marketing Plan For Woolworths In Bangladesh

Introduction of Woolworths in Bangladesh

Woolworths has selected Bangladesh to expand its business due to high customer base. The company, before entering into the market of Bangladesh, has conducted a thorough analysis of the market and address the issues that a retail company can face in that market. The customers, as well as managers of the existing retail companies in Bangladesh, are interviewed to gather information about the market response. Three different types of strategies are evaluated to enter into the market, which includes direct exporting, partnering and purchasing a company. Buying a company will be the most suitable mode of entry into the new market for the firm. The target market selected for the company is middle and high-income group falls between the age of 15 and 55. Multi-segmented marketing will be used for the chosen target market. The flexibility positioning strategy would be the appropriate positioning strategy for Woolworths because it enables the firm to manufacture products with new features that help to obtain competitive advantages in the foreign market.

Woolworths will use different marketing strategies to market its products in the new market. It is considered as one of the leading retailers in Australia and offers a variety of products to the customers. It will target the middle and high-income group people, along with the people comes under the age of 15 and 55. Hence, it will use different marketing mixes for each target market.

PLC

Product Life Cycle is an essential part of marketing that explains the various stages through which a product moves (Pulker, Scott & Pollard, 2018). Four phases in the product life cycle which includes introduction, growth, maturity along with decline. It is seen that Woolworths product is in the growth stage in PLC currently. At the growth stage, the firm sets a product line and improves its product quality. The maturity stage shows innovation in the product and sales are at a peak to maximize profitability. Decline stage represents the fall of demand for the product in a market. However, Woolworths will introduce its goods in the target market and establish the brand. It means the company is in the introduction stage as it capturing the market of Bangladesh.

Branding

Branding strategy is the action plan that will be used by the organization for differentiating its products from the competitors in the foreign market (Makhitha, 2016). Brand positioning strategy will be used by the organization to position its brand in the minds of the target audiences. The company will position the brand on product qualities such as quality, design and size. Moreover, the firm will position the brand on beliefs and values by engaging consumers on an emotional level.

Marketing Mix Strategy for Target Market

Packaging

It is the other important strategy that will be used by Woolworths for marketing the products in the new target market (Kienzler & Kowalkowski, 2017). Packaging will be used to motivate the target customers to buy the product. Woolworths will use this strategy to transmit information to the consumers about the product. The company will use numerous types of packaging products like cartons, bottles, containers, boxes, cans and bags. The most important use of packaging strategy is the protection of the products from environmental factors. It will assist the company in attracting many consumers in the new market.

Labelling

Labelling is crucial for the company to promote the product. The organization will use the labelling strategy for the recognition of the products and also give detailed information about the products. It helps the target customers to make buying decisions easily and quickly. Labelling communicate the way of handling or using the product to the consumers, and it means written information on the packages of the products (Davcik & Sharma, 2015).

Quality

It refers to the perception of the degree to which the products meet the expectations of the consumers (Cant, Wiid & Sephapo, 2016). Woolworths will improve the quality of the product to satisfy the target consumers. It is analyzed that if there is an absence of quality, then the company will not satisfy the customers. By improving product quality, Woolworths will fit its products as per the desires and expectations of the customers in the target marketplace.

Product Mix

It denotes to the total amount of product lines that a firm offer to its clients (Kireev et al., 2016). It consists of four components such as width, length, depth and consistency. Width means the enterprise needs to offer the quantity of product lines. The product mix of Woolworths is more than four products wide. The length is known to the total sum of products in the mix that means Woolworths has 6 production lines and 12 goods each for product lines and thus, the length will be 72 (Sultan, Wong & Sigala, 2018). Depth means the number of products within the product line. For instance, Woolworths has the number of products under the clothing product line. Consistency means the close connection of the products with each other.

Segments

Product segments refer to the strategy in which the business pull its product to appeal to the different market (Hollender, Zapkau & Schwens, 2017). It will help the company to work with the dynamic attributes of the products. Woolworths will make minor variations in some of the products and market the same to the target consumer group. Product segments will enable the organization to meet the necessities of the target crowds in the new market.

Product Life Cycle

Augmented services

It is the strategy in which the company adds value to the product without paying any premium (Kotabe & Kothari, 2016). Woolworths will offer discount coupons for purchasing the product to market its goods in the new market. The augmented product refers to the non-physical part of the product.

Penetration pricing strategy will be used by the company for attracting target customers to a different brand or product by offering a low price on the product. The primary motive behind this strategy is to attract buyers to try a new product and develop market share with a hope of retaining the new clients (Mahmood, 2018). Woolworths will advertise a buy one get one free campaign for attracting the clients to the retail store. Penetration pricing strategy will also help the company in gaining competitive advantage by selling products at a low cost.

Factors	Justification
Average income	Maximum people are in the category of income and the buyers are seen to be more price sensitive and thus, the average income should be considered.
GDP	GDP refer to total market value of the offered goods and service but the firm and thus, it is import to include while considering pricing strategies.
Tax	It can exploit the price sensitivity of the buyers and can promote the sales in particular geographic locations.
Currency exchange rate	Reduce supply in the market place and boost currency value
Average Competitors Price	Select strategic price for the products
Cost: – Production	Control the production process
– Distribution	Average distribution cost
– Labor	Determine overhead costs
– Material	Put control on the usage of materials
– Marketing	Enhance demand and improve competition
-Insurance	Improve bottom-line
– Travelling	Target the budget travel and control fluctuation of capital
– Shipping	Increase the price of the product
– Inventory	Manage the inventory and increase the running costs
– Advertising	Connect with number of consumers and improve customer loyalty

Channels

Marketing or distribution channels are the ways through which products are obtained by the consumer from the producer (Sv?tlík, 2017). Woolworths will use social media channels and business to consumer channel along with intermediaries for selling its products to the target group. The middlemen will help the firm to reach to the consumers and distribute the products over the large area. The place is considered as one of the critical parts of the marketing mix.

Preferred Intensity of Distribution

The selection of the level of intensity of distribution of products is affected by various aspects such as pricing policies, dimension of the target market and production capacity (Valos, Haji Habibi, Casidy, Driesener & Maplestone, 2016). Since the size of the target market is large, the company will use intensive distribution strategy for its products. The organization will use the intensive level of distribution because it enables the marketer to supply the products to all the target market.

Place of Retailers

Place includes operating hours, space and location of the stores. Woolworths will set 12 hours of operation in an offline store and 24 hours of operation in online stores for the customers. It will also select an area that can easily attract consumers.

IMC

Integrated Marketing Communication is known as the integration of all promotion communication tool that increases the impact on consumers (Bailey & Alexander, 2019). With of help of IMC, the company will bring a range of diverse communication tools to convey the note to the target clients.

Woolworths use the promotional mix through various ways which include TV, internet, direct mail, radio, outdoor and press classified. Several kinds of communication tools will be used for promoting the brand as well as the products, which comprises advertising, sales promotion, public relations, personal selling, direct and digital marketing (Bogomolova, Szabo & Kennedy, 2017). Woolworths will use advertising tool to promote the adoption of products in the target market. Because advertising assists in creating as well as maintaining brand equity that increase competitive advantages.

Branding Strategy

People 

Training

The personnel are an essential component of every organization. Woolworths will require several workforces for its stores in the new foreign market. As the company entered into a new market, it will provide effective training to the employees. Because the customers will face the workforces for purchasing a product and training will help the staffs to maintain quality of service. The personnel will be trained by visual aids, programs, teamwork and mentoring. Training will enhance the skills and knowledge of the workers to perform a particular task (Mani, Gunasekaran & Delgado, 2018).

Recruitment

It is the process of finding candidates, reviewing applicants and selecting effective personnel for the firm (Amendolagine, Presbitero, Rabellotti & Sanfilippo, 2019). Woolworths will recruit trained as well as skilled staffs for the retail stores in the market of Bangladesh. It will also employ candidates from the local areas of Bangladesh because they would have enough knowledge regarding the market behavior of the consumers. Moreover, the company will hire those employees who possess strong relationship management skills and communication skills.

Occupational health and safety laws

The primary law related to the occupational health and safety in Bangladesh is the Bangladesh Labor Act 2006 (Tasnim, Rahman, Rahman & Islam, 2016). The occupational health and safety laws are significant because it prevents injury along with illness in the workplace. Woolworths will abide by the act in order to promote the health and safety of the workers.

The objective of Woolworths is to obtain a 10% market share in 5 years. Therefore, the calculation of the total market is provided below:

Bangladesh has a total people of 163.05 million. Woolworths will mark initial adopters and innovators in the first two centuries and then, target the initial majority in the next year. Therefore, the entire market in the first two years is 163.05 million times (2.5% + 13.5% = 16%). It means 26.08 million is the whole market for the first two years. Woolworths will achieve 10% market segment so that the total market will be 26.08 million * 10% = 2.608 million.

The expected revenue is $26.08 million that the company will receive after five years.

In the first year, the corporation will have a 5% market share is equal to $13.04 million. In the second year, the firm will have 8% market share is equal to $20.864 million. In the third year, the firm will have a 10% market share, which is $26.08 million.

Packaging and Labelling Strategy

Ways to reduce the cost that could be acquired in the start-up

Costs	Reduction/Monitoring Process
– Production	The cost will be reduced by decreasing the material cost and eliminating non-value added processes (Rahman & Samiha, 2019)
– Distribution	It will be reduced by increasing efficiency
– Labor	Minimize overtime and invest in efficient technology
– Material	Eliminate unnecessary products and leverage suppliers
– Marketing	Adopt a strategic approach and analyze data
-Insurance	Raise the deductibles and decrease risk
– Travelling	Tighten up the corporate travel policy
– Shipping	Use online shipping
– Inventory	Ignore minimum order quantity and implement JIT inventory system
– Advertising	Create a focused advertising program

 

Activity	Responsible	July	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Market research
PESTLE	Marketing team	ü
Market Survey		ü
Research Analysis	ü	ü
Production Plan
Sourcing local producers	Production team	ü	ü	ü
Sourcing local dealers		ü	ü
Production sampling			ü
Analyzing the sample outcome	Production & Marketing team		ü	ü	ü
Marketing Plan
Market Analysis	Marketing team	ü	ü	ü
Competitors Analysis		ü	ü	ü	ü
Distribution research
Sourcing effective local distributors	Marketing team				ü	ü
Recruitment
Local employment	HR team	ü
Training
Training program	HR team		ü	ü	ü

Activity	Responsible	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Promotion Plan
Event sponsor scheduling	Marketing department		ü	ü
Social media creating			ü
Sale promotion planning	ü	ü	ü
Budgeting
Costs Analysis	Financial team			ü	ü
Pricing
Estimating Price	Financial team				ü	ü
Product Launch
Launching the Product into the market	Marketing manager				ü	ü	ü
Feedback
Gathering feedback of customer satisfaction and sale	Sales and marketing team					ü	ü
Annual report
Giving essential information for Annual report	Product manager						ü

 

Activity	Measurement	Responsible	Activity completion date(s)	Memo
Market Research (PESTLE)	Regulate macro-environmental opportunities that will benefit the company	Marketing Team	One year before release date	Opportunities must be reliable with company objectives
Market survey	Evaluate the wants and expectations of the consumers	Marketing team	One month	Meet the needs
Market Research and survey Analysis	Control demand for the products	Marketing team	Two months	Consistent with the product demands
Sourcing local manufacturers	Provide opportunities to make new contract with other businesses	Production team	Two months	Align with the company’s goals
Sourcing local suppliers	Develop better relationships and enrich local culture	Production team	One to three months	Develop better relationship
Production sampling	Determine the proportion of time spent in production	Production team	Six months	Constant production process with simple technique
Analyzing the sample result	Check the accuracy of the production process	Production and marketing team	One month	Meet the accuracy of outcomes
Market Analysis	Determine the attractiveness of the market	Marketing team	Three months	Constantly produce products to attract market
Competitors Analysis	Evaluate strengths and weaknesses of competitors	Marketing team	Two to three months	Grab competitive advantages
Sourcing effective local distributors	Consider the supply chain costs and bring revenue	Marketing team	One to two months	Distributing products efficiently
Local employee recruitment	Determine the marketing knowledge and opportunities	HR team	Six month	Skilled employee with expertise knowledge
Training	Evaluate skills and experience of employees	HR team	Three to four months	Enhance marketing skills
Marketing plan for Event sponsor, Social media and Sale promotion	Capture customers interest and establish measurable goals	Marketing team	Four to five months	Promote selling of products
Budgeting	Determine the performance of business	Financial team	One to two months	Set financial budget
Pricing	Determine the overall costs	Financial team	One month	Estimate low price for the products
Product launch	Evaluate the coverage of the products	Marketing manager	Two year	Cover the features
Collecting Feedback	Analyze the opinions and views of the consumers	Sales and marketing team	Six to seven months	Positive response
Annual Report	Determine the financial position and cash flow of the year	Product manager	One year	Strong financial position

Activity	Possible Issue	Prospect of occurrence	Modification
Sourcing local manufacturers	Quality	Miscommunication	Increase communication skills
Sourcing local suppliers	Poor communication	Poor communication skill	Enhance negotiation
Production sampling	Inadequate data	Inappropriate use of technique	Using advance technologies
Local employee recruitment	Less knowledge	Hiring wrong candidate	Selection of right candidates
Training	Lack of equipment	Insufficient supply	Use advance equipment
Budgeting	Lack of financial costs	Low budget	Set high budget
Product launch	Quality features	Improper planning	Advanced planning
Exit Strategy	Losing control	Misunderstanding	Keep control

 

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