Mobile Auto Repairing Market in the United States of America - Assignment Example

? New Project Table of Contents Introduction 3 Industry overview 4 Profile 6 Target Market 8 Reference 10 Introduction In today’s era of rapid globalization and increasing competition, the firms are continuously striving for capturing and expanding the market with their products and services. In recent times, the world has become a marketplace and the entire population of the world has turned into customers, thanks to technology. Even a few decades back, it used to be a complex job to sell clothing and accessories in a cross country or cross border market. Today the advancement of technology has made it possible to bring the customers across the world at the virtual shop where they are allowed to browse, select, try and make payments without being physically present at the store. The increased level of consumer awareness, because of globalization has become the centre stage of triggering of new kinds of demands from the consumers all around the world. Naturally, the new kinds of consumer demands are helping in the process of evolution of significant business opportunity in various markets around the world. Witnessing the demand for new products and services in various international markets, companies headquartered in foreign locations are also entering into many new markets. In many cases, the organizations record a significant growth in business profits by entering in to new markets, while facing stagnant growth levels in the domestic and home markets. Talking in regards to the issues of market entry by various global and multinational organizations, it has to be stated that the presence of multiple organizations in various global markets lead to the rise of homogeneous products that are available in those markets. The growth of homogeneous products in any specific market raises the choice of products available to the consumers and thereby raises the level of competition that exists in the marketplace. To increasing differentiate the product and service offerings of a company in the case of high competition; the factor of innovation is used. In this case, the focus is on a new project which uses the concept of mobile mechanics. The main idea of this project is to provide mechanic services to the target customers for their cars in the mobile format. The unique selling proposition of this idea is that the cars and vehicles of the target audience will be serviced at the customer’s place of convenience which may range from their own workplaces to other locations preferred by the customer. Industry overview While trying to understand the industry of mobile auto repairing market in the United States of America, it is very important to develop a holistic understanding for the entire auto repairing sector existing in the United States. The auto repair market of the United States is largely dependent on the national as well as global automotive industry. The presence of various national as well as international car manufacturers present in the market of the United States has a strong influence in creating the demand for auto repairs. The presence of the multiple car manufacturers in the region also creates a strong level of competition for the auto repair market as more and more customers focus on the process of buying new customers rather than opting for repairing of their old and used cars. It is very important to consider that the national economic condition of the United States of America is a major influencer for the auto repairing industry of the region. In the current times, the fluctuating economic performance of the nation along with the rise of other supporting industries has resulted in the process of growth of the auto repair sector of the United States (Jubileeresearch.org, 2012). It is important to state that the industry of auto repairing in the United States comprises of four segments like general automotive repair, automotive transmission repair and maintenance, other repairs and automotive exhaust repair. It has to be stated that around 85% of the auto repairing industry is comprised of general automotive repair market. 6% of the total market is comprised of automotive transmission repair and maintenance while around 5% of the market is comprised of other repairs for the auto sector. Only 2% of the mobile sector is dedicated towards automotive exhaust repair market (Western Washington University, n.d., p. 1). In discussing about the auto mechanic market in the United States, it can be stated that as of the year 2013, the sector is estimated at a value of around 52 billion USD. It is relevant to highlight that the growth rate for the period from 2008 to 2013 for this particular sector declined by around 0.4% (Ibisworld.com, 2013). However, it has been projected that the demand for the auto repair market in the United States is supposed to grow in the upcoming years. As of the year 2012, it was forecasted that the auto repair market of the United States will be growing on an average annual growth rate of around 1.2% for the period of next five years till the year 2017. The lines of growth will be on the basis of a recovering economy of the United States as well as increase in disposable income and probable fall in unemployment rate. As of the year 2017, the overall valuation of the auto repairs sector in the United States will stand at over 54.5 billion USD (sbdcnet.org, 2013). While discussing about the auto repair industry of the United States, it is important to talk about the trends that are prevalent in this particular sector. A large majority of the players belonging to the auto repair sector in the United States stresses highly on the factor of providing high satisfaction to the customers. By providing the customers with high customer satisfaction, they focus on competing with their rivals by winning the trust of the customers and word of mouth promotion and recommendation for the services provided by them. The customer referrals as well as the word of mouth promotion are the two tactics that are commonly used by the players belonging to the auto repair sector for the purpose of communicating the value of the services offered by them to the new customers existing in a particular geographical location (University of Georgia, 2001, p. 1). Also, the auto repair industry is highly dependent on key critical factors like keeping pace with the changing and developing automobile technology as well as recruiting high skilled technicians. It is important to state that the auto repair industry in the United States faces a high crunch in regards to finding new and skilled technicians as youngsters in the American market are increasingly shifting their interest to other white collar as well as lifestyle specific jobs and services. Customer Profile While deciding on the customer profile, it needs to be highlighted that it is a direct outcome of the segmentation, targeting and positioning (STP) strategy adopted by the various marketers and organizations. In explaining in a brief manner about the STP, it has to be stated that it is a three step process. The segmentation of the market is the process of splitting the entire target market into smaller clusters, the masses of which has similar needs. The targeting is the process of designing customized marketing mix so as to cater to the needs of the segmented customers. The positioning is the process of placing the product or service as per the perception of the customers and target audience so that they can derive a greater value from it (Botha and et.al, 2005, p. 61). The process of customer profiling is largely on the basis of information available in regards to the customer. As a result, the customer profiling can be done either on the basis of demographic information or the information on consumption trend. In discussing in an expansive manner, it needs to be mentioned that when customer profiling is done on the basis of demographic information, it helps in understanding the background of the customers and target audience in regards to age, sex, racial profile etc. It also helps in a great extent in mapping the background information of the customers with that of information of product and service usage behaviour. The practice of customer profiling on the basis of demographic information is largely applicable for the organizations and marketers whose business model is of business to consumer (B2C) category. On the other hand, the customer profiling on the basis of consumption profile of a particular product or service is instrumental as it helps in providing a clear picture of the perceived benefits and values prioritised by the customers along with the factor of cost which is handled by the customer to acquire them. The customer profiling done on the basis of consumption trend of the audience helps in understanding the process by which a product or service is acquired, consumed as well as finally disposed off by the consumer (John, 2003, p. 61-62). Generally, the practices of customer profiling on the basis of customer trends is being done by organization and marketer who are targeting the business to business (B2B) customers. In this particular case, it needs to be highlighted that the customer profiling is done on the basis of consumption trends of the customer. Talking in a detailed manner, it can be stated that the business Mobile Mechanic is targeting the companies and organizations present in the various locations of the United States. The business organizations and corporations are targeted by the company ‘Mobile Mechanic’ as the services offered by the company will provide a unique value proposition to the employees working in those organizations and corporations. In elaborating about the unique value proposition, it is important to highlight that the company will be providing repair services to the automobiles owned by the employees of the companies and corporation at their own workplaces, thereby providing them with the factor of convenience. The employees can simply hand over the vehicles for repair works and maintenance of various kinds to the repairing workmen of Mobile Mechanics. The Mobile Mechanics will thus save the pain of the employees working in various large companies and corporations in regards to driving their cars and vehicles back and forth to and from the garage after a long and exhausting work day. Target Market Now while discussing about the target market, the focus has to be given on studying their characteristics as well as their basic lifestyle trends. The target market mainly comprises of the employees of various companies and organization present in the multiple centralized business locations of the United States. In discussing about the characteristics of the target market, it has to be said that a majority of the employees own cars which might be either new or used in nature. Because of the increasing economic uncertainties happening in the global business environment, there is also a significant impact happening in regards to the pay scales of the employees who are either experiencing a freeze in hikes or are experiencing very little hikes. Because of the constrained growth in compensation packages of the employees, a majority of the employees working in various organizations in the United States are opting for second hand used cars. However despite the fact of whether the cars are new or used in nature, all of them require a periodic servicing so as to provide the best performance to the car owners. Every now and then, there is someone out there who faces a pretty traumatic situation with their cars when they simply fail to start. The employees of various companies who are the targeted car owners for this particular business of Mobile Mechanic cannot have the option of facing the situation where their cars own start because of lack of timely maintenance as well as repair works. Facing such a situation simply means that they will be delayed for their important engagement or might have to take a very hectic and alternative means of transport to their respective workplaces (entrepreneur.com, 2013). As a result, it can be forecasted that the target market will be highly willing to opt for the services offered by the company Mobile Mechanic. Reference Jubileeresearch.org. (2012) The Impact Of Thriving Auto Repair Industry In The Economy. Retrieved from: http://www.jubileeresearch.org/blog/the-impact-of-thriving-auto-repair-industry-in-the-economy entrepreneur.com. (2013) Business Idea Center: Mobile Mechanic. Retrieved from: http://www.entrepreneur.com/businessideas/mobile-mechanic John, J. (2003) Fundamentals of Customer-focused Management: Competing Through Service. USA: Greenwood Publishing Group. Western Washington University. (n.d.) Auto Repair Shops : Industry Snapshot. Retrieved from: http://www.pacificedc.org/Library%20Docs/Auto%20Repair%20Shop%20Industry%20Report.pdf Botha, J. and et.al. (2005) Introduction to Marketing. South Africa: Juta and Company Ltd. Ibisworld.com. (2013). Auto Mechanics in the US: Market Research Report. Retrieved from: http://www.ibisworld.com/industry/default.aspx?indid=1689 University of Georgia. (2001). Industry Fact Sheets—Mechanical Automobile Repair (NAICS 8111). Retrieved from: http://www.georgiasbdc.org/pdfs/automotive.pdf sbdcnet.org. (2013). Auto Repair Business 2012. Retrieved from: http://www.sbdcnet.org/small-business-research-reports/auto-repair-business-2012 Read More