John Lewis Furniture: Market Analysis And Expansion Strategies

Product Offerings and Target Demographics

John Lewis is known for providing varieties for furniture along with the bathroom fittings. In order to fulfil its target audience’s demands and requirements, Joh Lewis has hired some experts who visit site in order to analyse the space available for furniture fittings before providing suggestions in relevance with the suitability of furniture. Apart from this, John Lewis has also posted several crucial tips on their official website through which customers could get an idea in relation with the buying furniture. They provide furniture for every field i.e. bedroom furniture as well as furniture for home and offices. Their major target market is UK and their headquarters is situated at London. In addition, Joh Lewis provides a full fleshed 10 year guarantee on their furniture to its customers. This strategy is very effective in relation with developing relationship with the target audience along with developing a feeling of reliability (John Lewis, 2018).

This policy plays crucial role in terms of enhancing demand for organizational products along with increasing the chances for growth and success for the organization in the target market. Company’s direct competitors in London are Capital Bedrooms and Kitchens Ltd., Rhino Bedrooms, Strachan, Sandbone, etc. Furniture market is bit wide and due to huge competition in the market, it is necessary for every organization to adopt some USPs in order to make separate image from its competitors. With relation to this, current target market segment for John Lewis Furniture store are all segments of people i.e. they have varieties of furniture for varieties of customers. In relation with approaching to its target demographics, organization has added quality and service in its operations with regards to enhance the goodwill in the target market. Apart from this, crucial objective for adding quality and service in the operations is to gain competitive advantage. As UK market is known as the largest homewares market, thus, there are huge opportunities for the organization in relevance with the attainment of desired goals and objectives. But due to intense competition in the furniture industry in UK, John Lewis’ management requires to adopt certain effective measures so that competitive advantage could be attained adequately. 

SWOT analysis is the tool to analyse the internal and external environmental conditions with regards to the operations of an organization. SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Amongst these factors, strengths and weaknesses are considered as internal environmental factors for an organization whereas opportunities and threats are considered as external environmental factors.

Strengths · Huge market share Save Time On Research and Writing Hire a Pro to Write You a 100% Plagiarism-Free Paper. Get My Paper · Strong brand value (Paranque & Willmott, 2014). · Increasing global presence · Considered as reliable brand · Effective employee partnership schemes · Huge product offering.	Weaknesses · High cost is required for adaptation of new technologies · Unreliable economic conditions of UK market · Market saturation · Rapid changes in customer’s trends and behaviours.
Opportunities · Enhancing reachability and approachability · Expansion of new sites · Increasing global recognition · Diversifying channels of distribution · Introduction of new and enhanced qualitative products (Terpstra, Foley & Sarathy, 2012).	Threats · Rapid conflict situation arises amongst the partners · Recalling of products · Less profit margin · Threat of new entrants in the market · Aggressive promotional strategies implemented by existing companies.

SWOT Analysis

Product offering of John Lewis Furniture includes home furnishing, décor, bedroom designing, wardrobe accessories, etc. Its main attraction is that its designs are globally influenced style that inspires the senses with its rich tapestry of colour, pattern and texture. With regards to the target demographics, organization will approach to the newly built homes, offices, newly married couples, people aged 25-50. The main motive of targeting these groups is high demand of furniture and related products amongst them. Apart from this, UK market is being bit complex market and due to sufficient purchasing power of citizens of UK, people could easily afford furniture (Helms & Nixon, 2010). 

John Lewis furniture is known for its expertise work and most appropriate suggestions, thus, with this regard, they provide best solution as per the availability of space. Apart from this, due to extraordinary shift in the consumer behaviour, demand for furniture is changing rapidly. Technology and increasing disposable incomes are two major factors responsible for huge shift in consumer behaviour (John Lewis, 2017).  

Asia-Pacific region would be most perfect destination for John Lewis Furniture with regards to accomplish its desired goals and objectives. Along with this, the major objective of organization is to expand its business in other global parts along with increasing market share, customer base, revenues as well as profitability. Asia-Pacific region is considered as the crucial region due to emerging marketing conditions. This is generating various opportunities for the multi-national companies to set up their business in emerging marketing conditions which will ultimately affect organizational performance in positive manner along with the attainment of desired goals and objectives would also be an easy task (van Wijngaarden, Scholten & van Wijk, 2012). 

John Lewis has developed its strong brand image in the local market as well as in the international market. John Lewis partnership holds various subsidiaries companies and John Lewis Furniture is one of them and with unique designs and quality products and services, organization has developed an effective image in the international furniture industry. Their furniture products are quality assured, organization has made reliable image in the target market and this has lead the organization to acquire almost 30% market share in UK. With regards to maintain this achieved position in the market, organization should adopt few of marketing and defensive strategies. This will help the organization to maintain its acquired position along with determining the chances for uplifting its position in the target market. In relation with maintaining the acquired position in the furniture industry, management of organization could focus over some effective strategies such as pricing strategy, maintaining quality of their products and making continuous improvements in their products in order to get separated from the competitors (Andreu, Sánchez & Mele, 2010).

Expansion Strategies for the Asia-Pacific Market

The product range currently offered in UK will differ from the product range which will be offered in Asian-Pacific region in initial period of time. However, the primary of the organization will be on developing product positioning. Product positioning is the term used to define the customer’s perception for the product in comparison with the competitor’s products. In relation to expand the business of organization along with increasing the chances of success and growth, huge investment is required (Armstrong, et. al., 2015).

John Lewis will adopt premium pricing strategy for initial period in order to distinguish its furniture’s quality in comparison with the existing companies in the Asia-Pacific region. Premium pricing strategy will also define the quality offered with organizational products and this will act as the crucial factor for attracting target audience.

Place defines the distribution area from which consumers will be able to get the products. In order to enhance the customer’s engagement at John Lewis’ furniture stores, it is necessary to open stores at centralised and attractive locations which will be easily reachable for the target demographics (Huang & Sarigöllü, 2014).

This element holds huge weightage in the marketing mix strategy. This is because organization would be able to spread awareness amongst its target audience using promotional strategies in relation to the products introduced by the organization in new market.

Joh Lewis major product segments include home, office, kitchen, living, dining and other readymade furniture products such as sofa-set, sofa-cum-bed, bed, table, chair, dining table, etc. Nowadays, furniture is now being counted in the luxurious and exhibitionist goods. People spend more money and time on those sections of the home which are more visited by visitors. With this regard, organization has highlighted its unique furniture products in-store and on online stores with the view to promise its target audience towards quality and responsible sourcing. In 2016, company was awarded as the ‘Best Furniture Retailer’ (Harrison & Reilly, 2011). 

Question marks High growth market and low market share: · Small sofas for children · Multi-coloured furniture · Décor inspired by Brazilian culture	Stars Product with huge growth rate requires huge investment: · Leisured products for international market · Airframe white desk
Dogs Low growth markets with low market share: · Bookcases (Wedel & Kamakura, 2012). · Hanging chair	Cash Cows Low growth markets with high market share: · Customised furniture · Multi-coloured attractive designs

In order to expand the business in new market, it is necessary to determine the internal as well as external factors which may affect organizational performance. This analysis is necessary with the motive of developing effective strategies so as to perform the functionalities in an appropriate manner. Environmental threats are mainly responsible for adopting change in the existing organizational strategies. While developing strategies in terms of achieving future goals, it is necessary for the organization to consider the long term growth objectives along with the future increments in costs and wages. Increment in costs of raw materials and wage rate is noticeable, thus, they should be considered to maintain the profitability margin as well as desired goals and objectives could be attained appropriately (Weinstein, 2013).

Marketing Mix Strategy

Asia-Pacific region has been chosen for the purpose of expansion of JLP’s furniture section considering the emerging economy and low cost of land labour factors. Along with the consideration of positive factors, negative factors present in the new target market should also be considered. Apart from this, market entry options also plays crucial role in the growth and success of an international company to enter into a new market. All the market entry options must be determined along with all hindered factors so that investment cost could not exceed and the desired goals could be attained in an appropriate manner (Kone?ný & Zinecker, 2015).

Major barriers for growth and profits are huge cost for new machineries and cost of new technologies and product development. Lack of knowledge regarding the local market environment and existence of local competitors in the market could affect organizational performance in negative manner. Along with these, there are certain other factors which generate various opportunities for the organization to attain success and growth. Consumer wants, desires and the market trends are some of those factors which generate opportunities for the organization to expand its business appropriately in the target market (Tao & Shi, 2016). 

Major objectives for John Lewis Furniture are to extend their global presence, gaining competitive advantage, developing positive image amongst the target audience and establishing new sources for growth. SMART objective strategy has been adopted by the organization so that the desired goals could be attained in an effective manner. Below is the segregation of SMART objectives of John Lewis Furniture:

Specific	Measurable	Achievable	Realistic	Timed
Expansion in product range	Emerging economic conditions in Asia-Pacific regions	Goodwill of brand	Good experience in the field	Achievable in next 10 years
Increasing retailing on offline and online mediums	Enhancing global market share	Product positioning	Choosing the appropriate option amongst the available market entry options	Achievable in next 10 years
Expansion of brand (Fouskas & Drossos, 2010).	Chances for growth in international market	Positive brand image	Coordinating with local brands	Achievable in next 10 years

Every country has its own culture, values, market trends, customers’ requirements, etc. Thus, before entering into a new market, it is necessary for the organization to enhance its capabilities so that the desired goals and objectives could be fulfilled. Apart from this, John Lewis Furniture is required to reduce the impact of its weaknesses so that they could be converted into opportunities for the organization. This will help the organization to uplift its market share in the new market along with the successful expansion in the market (McDaniel & Gates, 2013). 

With regards to enhance the market share of the organization in the new target market, it is necessary for the marketing team of the organization to analyse all the needs and wants of the target audience with the objective to attain success and growth. 

Market Development: Market development strategy is known for expanding new market through existing product offerings. This strategy is useful for the new market segments along with the existing product offerings (Phil & Jim, 2010).

Market Penetration: This strategy is useful for enhancing the market share through existing product offerings in the existing markets. Price decrease, modest product refinements, etc. are certain elements through which market penetration strategy could be implemented (Wilfried, 2014).

Product development: Under this strategy, organization launches new products and services to approach its existing markets with the objective of achieving growth and success (Mascia, et. al., 2014).

Diversification: Under this strategy, organization tries to increase its market share by launching new products and services for new target markets. Joint ventures, investing in research and development section, etc. are certain factors which plays crucial role in relation with uplifting the market share of the organization (Stavrakantonakis, et. al., 2012).

Apart from the Ansoff Matrix, John Lewis could also adopt various other marketing strategies. Before adopting other marketing strategies, it is required to analyse certain factors such as the customer’s requirements, latest market trends, etc. so that the desired goals and objectives could be adopted. 

Effective monitoring and controlling measures plays crucial role in order to determine the effectiveness of adopted strategies. This helps the organization to detect errors, issues and other negative points which are present in the adopted strategies. This helps the organization to enhance its effectiveness along with the upliftment of desired goals and objectives. In terms of evaluating organizational performance, organization must adopt effective controlling and monitoring strategies. Apart from this, another effective measure for improving organizational performance is adaptation of Total Quality Management technique. With regards to the operations of Total Quality Management of John Lewis, most appropriate technique will be taking feedback from its target demographics. This ensures success and growth for the organization along with the attainment of desired goals and objectives (?u?ek, Klemeš & Kravanja, 2012).

Conclusion

From the above discussion, it could be concluded that the strategies discussed under this marketing plan are effective enough in order to attain desired objectives. John Lewis Furniture is a subsidiary company of JLP (John Lewis Partnership) which is based in United Kingdom. Along with this, they are also distributing their qualitative furniture products in United States, New Zealand, Australia, etc. In this manner, situational analysis, marketing mix techniques, analysis of threat and opportunities, objectives and issues of John Lewis has also been discussed under this report. 

References 

Andreu, L., Sánchez, I. and Mele, C., 2010. Value co-creation among retailers and consumers: New insights into the furniture market. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 17(4), pp.241-250.

Armstrong, G., Kotler, P., Harker, M. and Brennan, R., 2015. Marketing: an introduction. Pearson Education.

?u?ek, L., Klemeš, J.J. and Kravanja, Z., 2012. A review of footprint analysis tools for monitoring impacts on sustainability. Journal of Cleaner Production, 34, pp.9-20.

Fouskas, K.G. and Drossos, D.A., 2010. The role of industry perceptions in competitive responses. Industrial Management & Data Systems, 110(4), pp.477-494.

Harrison, R.L. and Reilly, T.M., 2011. Mixed methods designs in marketing research. Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal, 14(1), pp.7-26.

Helms, M.M. and Nixon, J., 2010. Exploring SWOT analysis–where are we now? A review of academic research from the last decade. Journal of strategy and management, 3(3), pp.215-251.

Huang, R. and Sarigöllü, E., 2014. How brand awareness relates to market outcome, brand equity, and the marketing mix. In Fashion Branding and Consumer Behaviors (pp. 113-132). Springer, New York, NY.

John Lewis, 2018. Furniture & Lights. Accessed from: https://www.johnlewis.com/furniture-lights/c9780211221?rdr=1 [Online]. [20^th April, 2018].

Kone?ný, Z. and Zinecker, M., 2015. Using the Boston Matrix at Identification of the Corporate Life Cycle Stage. Acta Universitatis Agriculturae et Silviculturae Mendelianae Brunensis, 63(1), pp.235-243.

Mascia, M.B., Pailler, S., Thieme, M.L., Rowe, A., Bottrill, M.C., Danielsen, F., Geldmann, J., Naidoo, R., Pullin, A.S. and Burgess, N.D., 2014. Commonalities and complementarities among approaches to conservation monitoring and evaluation. Biological Conservation, 169, pp.258-267.

McDaniel, C. and Gates, R., 2013. Marketing research. Singapore.

Paranque, B. and Willmott, H., 2014. Cooperatives—saviours or gravediggers of capitalism? Critical performativity and the John Lewis Partnership. Organization, 21(5), pp.604-625.

Phil, M. and Jim, B., 2010. Marketing planning: strategy, environment and context. Harlow: Financial Times Prentice Hall.

Stavrakantonakis, I., Gagiu, A.E., Kasper, H., Toma, I. and Thalhammer, A., 2012. An approach for evaluation of social media monitoring tools. Common Value Management, 52(1), pp.52-64.

Tao, Z.Q. and Shi, A.M., 2016. Application of Boston matrix combined with SWOT analysis on operational development and evaluations of hospital development. European review for medical and pharmacological sciences, 20(10), pp.2131-2139.

Terpstra, V., Foley, J. and Sarathy, R., 2012. International marketing. Naper Press.

van Wijngaarden, J.D., Scholten, G.R. and van Wijk, K.P., 2012. Strategic analysis for health care organizations: the suitability of the SWOT?analysis. The International journal of health planning and management, 27(1), pp.34-49.

Wedel, M. and Kamakura, W.A., 2012. Market segmentation: Conceptual and methodological foundations (Vol. 8). Springer Science & Business Media.

Weinstein, A., 2013. Handbook of market segmentation: Strategic targeting for business and technology firms. Routledge.

Wilfried, L., 2014. Integrated Performance Management strategy, risk and sustainability Management. Review of Business and Economics Studies, (1).