Retail Marketing Mix in Australia - Essay Example

? Marketing Overview Owing to its significance, the effective implications of globalization have also brought a revolutionary change in the retail sector all over the world in the 21st century emerging as a pillar to socio-economic developments; thus, motivating governmental regulations to control the rapid growth and outflow of the retail sector in the benefits of the consumers and the economy on the whole (Australian Government Productivity commission, n.d.). This study will focus on a brief analysis of the current retail marketing strategy commonly followed within Australia, captivating various parameters i.e. retail format, pricing strategy, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) or Customer Loyalty Program (CLP), merchandising strategy as well as effective communication strategies among others. Jurlique has been considered as an example for defining these parameters. It is one of the leading skincare brands of the Australia presently. The organization currently retails a varied range of more than 560 products that include skin care products, perfumes, hair care oils, facials as well as baby creams among others (Jurlique, 2013). Retail format The term, ‘retail format’ refers to the integrated supply chain system which is used by organisations to distribute the products to the ultimate customers. In today’s tumultuous business world, to achieve the desired success, retailers have to be abreast of the latest retail trends to get it imbibed in their retail format. Recognizing this global change, as per the report published by Australian Centre for Retail Studies (ACRC), innovation and compliance with customer needs can be regarded as the key attributes or success factors with respect to retail format where store locations as well as its decor play a vital role in persuading customers towards purchase (Australian Centre for Retail Studies, 2007). Therefore, concerning on these various parameters of the current global retailing trends, Jurlique has been focused on applying a multi-channel strategy for its retail format, bringing innovation in its supply chain for the effective distribution of its products. The product distribution of the company includes concept stores or outlets owned by Jurlique as well as franchises, luxury spas, departmental stores, travel retail outlets, stockists as well as online retail shops among others in its retail format (Packaging Covenant, 2010). Source: Landini Associates (n.d.) In the current day scenario, market places are shaping as per global trend focusing on the profound changes in the modern retail sector. The locations of the retail stores thus become a vital parameter to attain the attention of the targeted consumers. Notably, when assessing the location strategies of Jurlique, it can be observed that the polices of the organization principally focuses on the types as well as size of the store, merchandising applications, merchandise mix as well as customer service providing methods among others (Jurlique, 2013). Effective segmentation of the product also helps to identify the target market needs and therefore avail the organisation with an opportunity to obtain greater customer loyalty (Mendes & Themido, 2004). In the context, the strategies applied by Jurlique when selecting its retail store locations can be identified to be focused on the traffic flow and accessibility of the outlets which helps to increase the awareness of the consumers regarding the brand as well as the products. To be specific, Jurlique has been operating its stores in various locations in Australia including the Bondi Beach and many other crowded, metropolitan cities of New South Wales, Glenside and many other shopping hubs in South Australia as well as Melverne East and Melbourne in Victoria among others (Jurlique, 2013). Assessing the economic conditions and geographic potentialities of these stores it can be observed that these areas have deciphered significant growth in terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) (Ai Group Economics and Research Team, 2013). Not only customers, but such locations can also be observed to reward the company with added advantages of effortless human resource availability and transportation benefits which on the whole assists in reducing the operational costs required to be incurred by the company in its retail format strategies. However, focusing on these key areas, Jurlique also has to face significant competitive challenges which are often regarded as another important factor when selecting on locations. It is in this context that a substantial number of beauty care brand from the national and international markets can be identified in these areas driven by the aforementioned advantages which Jurlique has been keen to acquire. Taken into the concern of these factors, to differentiate its products from that of the customers, Jurlique includes concept stores as well as franchises. Besides, to serve the masses, the company has focused on innovatively designing its various retail stores as per the social configuration of the store locations with luxury spas, departmental stores, travel retail outlets as well as online shopping sites (Forbes, 2012). Source: Jurlique (2013) Retail Mix ‘Retail marketing mix’ is conceptualised as a contemporary marketing term that includes an assortment of various attributes such as merchandise, price, store layout and design, advertising and promotion, customer service and selling as well as store location. Effective retail marketing mix defines meeting the expectations of the targeted consumers and therefore ensuring greater customer loyalty for the company (Sullivan & Adcock, 2002). At the present time retailing has become very competitive as well as challenging not only in the global periphery but also in the national contexts as it has been vastly impacted for the increasing cultural as well as demographic diversity. Therefore, to sustain in the competitive business world, retail marketers often tend to offer innovative merchandise assortment as well as variety to the consumer (Madaan 2009). Concerning these rudimental factors of retail mix in the increasingly diverse and complex industrial scenario, Jurlique also offers a huge variety of products in the market to grasp the attention of the masses. With an unremitting research, the organization, i.e. Jurlique has developed enormous product range with special focus on natural elements which are widely preferred in beauty products grounded on the belief that such herbal beauty-care products impose less negative side-effects and therefore are more quality assured. The organization offers around 560 products divided into various segmentations that include skin care, bath and body, scents, hair care oils, facials as well as baby creams among others. Jurlique has also been strategically focused to develop each product using the effective combination of extracted elements from the aromatic plants and flowers harvested in the company’s organic as well as biodynamic farms in South Australia (Jurlique, 2013). This particular strategy can further be observed to enhance the quality assurance of the product and easily attract the attention of its targeted consumers (Ross & Holland, 2004). The term merchandizing is divided into several dimensions, such as staple, assortments, fashion, seasonal as well as fad. Among of these dimensions, Jurlique principally focused on two types of merchandising, namely staple and fashion merchandising. Staple merchandising is also known as basic as well as initial merchandising that includes regular products wherein the demand of the product extended over a large period. On the other hand, fashion merchandizing is often described as a type of seasonal merchandising. In this context, the products offered by Jurlique have cyclical sales due to changing lifestyle in the dynamic world. Contextually, when applying the strategy of fashion merchandizing, promotion as well as innovation is deemed to be quite crucial by Jurlique having an enormous impact for the success of this concept. It is in this context that Jurlique offers few of its products targeted to special categories as per target customers’ preferences such as youth defence, age repair, hydration, brightness, oily skin, dry skin as well as winter skin care among others (Jurlique, 2013). Pricing Strategy Price strategies, as applied by modern day retail organisations, focus on cost, profitability, status as well as incentives among others. Cost of the product specially depends on the availability and price of the raw materials. Besides the logistic process, warehousing strategy, outlet locations as well as distribution methods also impose effective impacts on the cost of the product and the ultimate profitability of the organization (Mills, 2002). Contextually, in its pricing strategies, Jurlique has been focused on competitive pricing tactics as per the convenience and purchase behaviour of the targeted customers. Therefore, to obtain substantial control on the ultimate price charged for its products, Jurlique focuses on the reduction of raw materials cost wherein the company develops the natural ingredients in its wholly owned organic as well as biodynamic farms in South Australia. Jurlique develops each product using the effective combination of extracting natural products in these farms with cost effectiveness as well as quality assurance accumulated with the effective utilization of the sciences. Besides, for the large number of outlets in Australia, the average distribution as well as promotional costs is also observed to be low for Jurlique which further facilitates it to maintain a margin of competitive pricing for its offered products (Jurlique, 2013). Quality of the Customer Service Customer service, aimed at satisfying the consumers strongly depends largely on staff capabilities, effectiveness as well as efficiencies, availability of raw materials and other resources, customer staff interaction process efficacy as well as internal marketing stability. In this context, it can be highlighted that Jurlique has been one of the principal brand in natural skin care discipline for more than 25 years in the Australian market applying advance technologies to the bio-dynamic ingredients. For this reason the products of Jurlique had to witness minimum challenges in comparison to its chemical based products retailing contenders. To be precise, Jurlique can be argued as being one step ahead of other commercial brands being completely focused on the unique blend of herbal and chemical based products which can easily create trust among the consumers. Besides for the quality customer service and increasing the effective communication with the consumers, the organization has also recruited qualified employees who are well acquainted with the product features and therefore are capable enough to inform the customers adequately regarding the brand qualities assuring better quality customer services. In addition, Jurlique has also adopted online marketing strategies for effectively competing with the global leaders as well as for the better enrichment of its consumer base (Martin, 2001). Customer Relationship Management (CRM) or Customer Loyalty Program (CLP) Customer Relationship Management (CRM) depicts a complex business philosophy wherein the vision of the organization tends to be focused towards the development of a transparent, reliable and cost effective dealing process with the consumers. Effective CRM is often accepted as one of the most important aspects for increasing of customer loyalty as well as sales of the organization. It is in this context that successful customer loyalty program through the CRM approach depends on the proper analysis of the consumer data. It includes tracking the consumer behaviour and rewarding the consumers as per the statistics of the behavioural study. The various loyalty programs adopted by the modern corporate world further help to motivate consumers to increasing the presence of the consumer in the outlets and get associated with a particular brand (Jha, 2008). Captivating into the concern of Jurlique rendered towards Customer the CRM approach through Customer Loyalty Program (CLP), the organization can be observed to aim at upholding a long run relationship with its consumers. With this concern, the company has been strategically focusing towards various special offers for the existing as well as new consumers. In this context, for the new customers, the organization has been observed to have designed a special volume for discount offer, i.e. if a customer purchases 2 items a discount of 1 percent is allowed on the total purchased amount. Similarly, if 3 items are purchased 2 percent discount is offered to the total purchase. In this process, a consumer can also obtain up to 10 percent of discount on the total purchase which in turn not only ensure greater customer satisfaction but enhanced customer loyalty to the brand. The organization has also designed a loyalty program emphasising on maintaining the data base of the consumers’ preferences and serving them each time they visit the stores. Likewise, through the special loyalty discount offer, customers are served with more reliance and discounts to maintain a long-run relationship with them which in turn contributes to the brand value of Jurlique (Jurlique 2013). It has often been argued in this regard that every retailing strategy implemented in the business must maintain a balance between the needs of the consumers and the profitability interests of the business. In this context, the implementation of CRM or CLP by Jurlique can be observed to possess significant advantages as well as disadvantages. The various advantages as per the company perspective with respect to the applied CRM or CLP strategies can be observed in terms of increased volume of sales, enhanced customer loyalty, facilitated brand value along with consumer base and market share which accumulatively contribute towards greater profitability. The applied CLP strategies by Jurlique also assist customers to obtain greater value through their purchases each time they visit Jurlique stores. On the other hand, the disadvantages and challenges which the company has to face coincide with the confidentiality issues of customers as the CLP strategies of the company focuses on preserving the data base of the every consumer which also involves huge technology assistance and costs for the organization. Similarly, from the point of view of customers, after few transactions, when the discount level becomes static, consumers might switch to other brands compromising minimum costs. It can therefore be affirmed that the CLP strategies applied by Jurlique fails to develop a long-run effective mechanism to preserve customer loyalty (Bligh & Turk, 2004). Source: Jurlique (2013) Communication Mix Communication mix particularly includes the various parameters of advertising management, promotional mix, sales endorsement, direct marketing, public relations and interacting marketing strategies among others. Communication with the consumers of the organization may be direct or indirect. Contextually, advertising is often regarded as one of the effective indirect communication method that helps to grab the consumers’ attention about the products. With concern to this particular aspect, Jurlique has been quite effective in maintaining a quality relationship with its consumers with the aid of advertising (Dahlen, Lange & Smith, 2010). It is worth mentioning in this context that Jurlique has been focused on marketing its products through extensive advertising in popular mass media channels including television, internet and print magazines. In this regard, the company has been focused on developing strong relation with its targeted customers through mass media involving two-way communication process. Store Design, Website Layout, Design and Visual Merchandising Focusing on the retail marketing and communication strategies of Jurlique, it can be observed that store and website layouts are two of the most significant concerns of the company for attracting the consumers’ attention. Taking these factors into concern, Jurlique has designed concept stores as well as franchises to extend its reachability to customers and persuade a greater mass of buyers to purchase the product. Besides, to serve the masses the company has also designed various types of stores as per the economic and demographic features of the location in terms of luxury spas, departmental stores, travel retail outlets as well as online shops to register direct internet orders and to reach the customers successfully informing them about the value of the product. Emphasising on merchandising aspects, the designs of the outlets owned by Jurlique is also maintained as a significant concerning factor for increasing the traffic in the stores. In addition, merchandising also includes branding, packaging, product featuring and informing the customers about the benefits of the products, quality assurance as well as after sales services among others. On the other hand, the website layout of Jurlique is also considered as an effective method to communicate with the consumers and provide them with the required information about the products and the discounts offered by the company. As can be apparently witnessed, these factors have significantly contributed towards the growth of the company over the long run rewarding it with a secured position in the industrial context (Ebster & Garaus, 2011) Effectiveness of the Current Retail Market Strategies by Jurlique Retail marketing strategy defines the procedure of reaching the target customers, implementing the various marketing as well as merchandising strategies to persuade the attention of the customers for ultimate purchases. Effective utilization of the strategy hereby helps to increase the sales of the organization and achieve the ultimate goal along with ensuring greater sustainability in terms of customer loyalty and satisfaction. For captivating of the target market customers, innovation as well as differentiation is considered as key attributes in the retail marketing strategies of Jurlique. As per the current trends observed in the retail industry, effective utilization of merchandising is often argued as one of the most important attributes. In this context, store locations as well as outlet designs are therefore taken into the immense consideration by Jurlique in its current retail market. Besides, for the effectual enlargement as well as popularity of online trading in Australia the nature of the retail business scenario has also effectively changed in the present context influencing the marketing strategies of Jurlique at large. Especially, the technological developments as well as the rise in the concept of organized retail have stimulated a significant change in the business of the local retail sector in Australia wherein Jurlique has also been observed to imbibe new methods of Information Communication Technology (ICT) in its retailing strategies. These strategies have further assisted Jurlique for effectively competing with the global leaders as well as for the better enrichment of the consumers’ value obtained through the purchase. Jurlique has therefore been focused on three key factors i.e. price, range as well as convenience to obtain sustainability benefits in the present era (Krafft & Mantrala, 2010). Recommendations In the context of Australian retail statistics, there are around 140,000 retail businesses operating at present in different states. The sector also employs approximately 1.2 million people, which is further account to be around 10.7% of the total working population in Australia. As a result, the retail sector has emerged as one of the economic growth drivers in Australia at present making significant contributions in the trade and industry productivity. For this reason, Australian government is also strongly concerned for the future development of this sector wherein regulatory reformations have been strongly influencing the retail market strategies applied by organisations such as Jurlique. Besides, changing trends among the consumers with regard to social and economic prospects also imposes positive influences for the future growth of organized retail sector (Australian Bureau of Statistics, n.d.). Focusing on these variations currently being witnessed in the national retail sector of Australia, Jurlique should consider developing a flexible retail marketing framework which shall be appropriate in imbibing and serving the changing markets needs with minimum effects to company sustainability and growth. Also, from the above discussion, it was observed that the company faces significance challenges in terms of its CLP strategies wherein customers are observed to decipher declined brand loyalty when discounts become static. 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