Small Business Management - Assignment Example

Studying the data of the online sales of large chain stores like Gap cannot provide an accurate assessment of the situation faced by startup ventures in the E commerce. A better approach would be to case study analysis on small vendors who are operating in the same kind of clothing categories as the planned clothing store and see the strategies they have picked out which led to either success or failure. Further secondary information can be gathered from analysis done by research companies on E-commerce, expectation of profitability for online clothing stores and such topic for a prescribed fee.

Some primary research can also be conducted either on the marketing strategy or the tastes and preferences of customers through interviews or surveys. These would indicate what type of apparel are the customers looking for, what kind of service they expect from an online store and help judge how far can you satisfy their need. The research is an essential component of designing a suitable marketing strategy and more extensive research would steer the strategy towards success. Any cost incurred in conducting the research should be considered as investment. 2. In designing the marketing strategy the first question is what kind of segmentation the clothing line is going to target.

After the strategy has been identified, it becomes easier to organize resources and marketing campaigns towards your core customers increasing the chances of customer acquirement and retention: Unsegmented strategy: Followed by clothing stores with either a uniform range of clothes (plain Jeans or category like headwear) or with large margins available to cater to the masses; their customers could be from all walks of life but some characteristics could be as follows: Availability of disposable income not necessary.

Single individuals or Families in need of regular new clothes Comfortable with social outings (like shopping) Have an interest in advertising, can be persuaded for a trial purchase Multisegment Strategy: In this strategy, the clothing line would be designed to appeal to certain different kind of segments only and these are the customers that will be targeted by the company. Considering a clothing line with economical, casual clothes as well as trendy clothes for ‘tweens’ there can be two different groups of customers targeted: A.

Economical, casual clothes B. Trendy clothes for ‘tweens’ Middle aged males or females Most probably part of a family unit, with kids Working full time or part time Have a casual social life, with kids or family Mid tier income level Emergency savings but low amount of disposable income Time conscious Would be persuaded to purchase clothes if it is convenient and seems like a good bargain Children and teenagers from ages 11-16 Coming for mid and upper tier income families Have a monthly allowance Allowed to choose own clothes Interested in pop culture and latest fashions Concerned about their image their clothing portrays Parents are primary earners May be able to use ‘nag factor’ to persuade parents Single-segment strategy: Also known as ‘concentrated’ or ‘niche’ strategy it is adopted by firms with a low amount of recourses to spend on marketing or a unique product which can only be marketed to a single segment of customers.