Myer Company: Marketing of a Chain Store - Research Proposal Example

Marketing Research Proposal for Myer Content Marketing Research Proposal for Myer 1 Executive summary 3 1.0 Introduction 3 2.0 Problem Statement 4 3.0 Research Objectives 5 4.0 Proposed Research Methods 5 4.1 Sample Plan 6 4.1.1 Population 6 4.1.2 Sample Frame 6 4.1.3 Sample size calculation 7 4.1.4 Sampling Methods 8 4.1.5 Sample Validation 8 4.2 Qualitative research 9 4.3 Quantitative Research 10 4.3.1 Sample Questionnaire 11 5.0 Ethical considerations 13 6.0 Proposed Timetable 15 7.0 Proposed Budget 16 Phase 16 Description 16 Amount 16 Preliminary Research 16 10 hours supervisor executive 16 20 hours junior executive 16 1500 pounds for research on information about Myer Stores 16 3,500 pounds 16 Qualitative research 16 Five focus groups 16 8,000 pounds 16 Quantitative research 16 5000 CATI interview 16 10, 000 pounds 16 Miscellaneous 16 Report preparation and Printing 16 7000 16 Total Amount 16 28500 pounds 16 8.0 Summary and Recommendation 16 References 18 Executive summary Myer is a company that owns departmental store in different parts of Australia. Through these stores it sells a variety of products to the customers Recent years have seen the company being faced by challenges that threatens to reduce its market share in Australia (Caplan 2000). This research is aimed to helping the Myer understand the needs of its customers so that it can put appropriate measure in strengthening its relationship with the customers. Use of qualitative and quantitative research is proposed. Qualitative research shall be carried out using interview while quantitative research shall be carried out using online survey. The research shall focus on the population of Australia. The sample frame shall be online customers and customers in Sydney and Melbourne. Sample validation, sampling methods and sample size calculations are developed to ensure there is impartiality in analysis of the data collected. Ethics shall be observed throughout the research process to ensure that all the participants of the research and the research process itself are not negatively affected by the process. The project will take approximately 16 weeks and will cost about 28,500 pounds. 1.0 Introduction Myer is a Chain which that has departmental stores which retails different products which ranges from travel goods, confectionery, books and stationary, toys, beddings, furniture, electrical, home wares, fragrance, cosmetics footwear and all form of clothing (Myer 2012).. Customers range from individuals, small and medium businesses, corporations and institutions. Myer stocks large volume of products which are of different variety and therefore it is able to attract different form of customers. Since its establishment, Myer retail group have opened different branches in different parts of Australia. In the recent years, the company has experienced high level of completion from other upcoming companies. In order to make sure that it retains its high number of customers, the company wishes to implement a strategy that ensures all the customers are satisfied with its products and services. The company has identified availability of all the products that the customer needs as one of the reason that leads to customer satisfaction. To achieve this objective, it is critical that this company find out what the customers are looking for in their stores. The information that will be got from this research will be vital in determining how successful the business will be. This is because the information got from the research will be used in deciding the products that needs to be included in the stores. 2.0 Problem Statement Though Myer has been growing steadily for the entire period the business have been in operational, in the last five years, there have been notable reduction in the rate of growth. One of the reasons that have been attributed for this reduction is increase in the number of competitors in the market offering similar services. But by the fact that the Myer business have been in operation for longer period of time, it feels that it stands a better position of retaining and attracting customers than any of their competitors. Myer has not been having enough customers because it has not stocked enough products which the competitors are stocking. The business therefore needs to identify all the kind of products that the customers are interested to find in their stores for them to retain the customers. 3.0 Research Objectives Myer identified and agreed that the research should focus on the following objectives i. To identify which customers visits the stores ii. To identify the internal and external features of a store that the customers look when deciding to do shopping in a store. iii. To explore the psychology of the market for the consumers while choosing which store he or she goes shopping. This includes the market features and the price of the items that the company stocks. iv. To determine what features the competitors of Myer have which makes them to do well. 4.0 Proposed Research Methods Our research method will seek to identify and come up with a research method that will be able to capture all the objectives that are specific to Myre Company. The research will be carried in three phases; preliminary study, qualitative research and quantitative research. The preliminary study will involve identification of the pros that have propelled the business over years to reach the state it is in now. In this case, we will gather information from secondary sources on the cultural trend that Myer have set and how it relates to the overall growth of store industry. This trend of data shall be very important in identifying the status of the company with respect to the market status in the business. At this stage we shall rely on the previous research that has been done by the company which made it to make decisions on stocking, capacity and organization of their store. When equipped with this information, the research will then carry out qualitative and quantitative research. The participants that have been carefully chosen from the population shall then be subjected to in-depth interview on their awareness and choice of shopping stores. In the cause of the research, the interviewers will look at the orderliness of storage and availability of products. 4.1 Sample Plan 4.1.1 Population The population that is of interest in this research is all potential and current customers of Myer stores in all the locations of Australia. Myer has 9 stores in which are in different areas of Australia. At the time of the establishment of each of these stores, various factors are put into consideration, the most significant one being the population of the potential customers. The minimum threshold population for a fully equipped store with all the major departments is 20,000 people. Additionally, through its fully interactive website, the company attracts unlimited number of online customers. 4.1.2 Sample Frame Obviously it is not possible to ask each and every individual about their thoughts Myre stores. We shall therefore rely on survey research whereby a sample population which represents the entire population shall be used. In the case of Qualitative research, interviews shall be used (Gary, Tage, M & Per, 2004). The sample participant of this survey shall be drawn from Melbourne and Sydney. The main reason for choice of this sample frame is because these areas have high population and many competitors. Therefore, these two areas would be ideal for representing the current population and the future competition scenarios that is likely to be experienced in the coming other areas. In each of these towns, 10 participants shall be interviewed. The participants shall be from 18 years to 65 year. Care shall be taken when selecting the participants to ensure that all age groups and both gender are represented. Quantitative survey on the other hand shall rely on the use of online software survey through questionnaires to collect data. At the moment, the number of online shoppers of Myer products is slightly higher than those who make direct orders from the stores. Moreover, the number of persons visiting our website in a day is very high. Some of the customers who purchases direct from our stores would first find the information on the Myer website before purchasing the actual item. We therefore propose to use questionnaire on computer assisted telephone interviewing. We intend to take 5000 samples from the internet users. 4.1.3 Sample size calculation We propose to use 20 participants for qualitative research and 5000 participants for the qualitative research. After conducting interviews during qualitative research, the data shall be analyzed based on the similarities and differences during the research. Out of this data, conclusions shall be made on the areas where majority of customers showed rhyming of information. In quantitative analysis, the initial questions in the questionnaires shall be used to sort the customers based on gender and age. Tabulation and calculations of the data shall be done using statistical analysis software. After this, discussions and conclusions shall be made based on this analysis. 4.1.4 Sampling Methods We intend to use both non-probability sampling and probability sampling while carrying out the research. For the interviews done used in qualitative research, we shall use non probability sampling. The difference between the two sampling methods is that in non-probability sampling, samples are selected randomly while in probability sampling involves random selection (Streubert & Carpenter 2008). The choice of the participant to be interviewed in qualitative research is one of the main factors to be considered in this research. All the samples must be evenly distributed in terms of gender and age and therefore non probability sampling will be used. From the interview, we intend to get the opinion of the customers and potential customers regarding the services and goods in our stores. But, since the different ages and gender have different views that need to be catered for out of this research, some samples may be rejected or accepted due to this criterion. In quantitative research which shall use online software survey, all the samples shall be accepted. Information requesting the participant to give gender and age details shall be included in the questionnaire. These will be part of the details that shall be used in sorting the data used in the research. 4.1.5 Sample Validation In both phases of research, validity of the data collected shall be very critical in ensuring that the whole operation is successful. In the first phase, the validity of age and gender of the participants shall be determined by the national identity cards. In-depth interview shall be carried out and therefore the chances of having valid information from the research will be high (Hutchinson, Wilson & Wilson 2001). In the second phase of the research where we shall use online survey, the validity of the information may not be guaranteed. However, it shall be possible to establish the validity of the information due to the following reasons:- All the information will be analyzed using computerized statistical analysis tools (Forsgren & Hagstrom 2007). Prior to the analysis, the data shall be represented in normal distribution curve. In this case the general trend of the data that is extreme from the normal distribution shall be rejected. Wrong data or information given by online participants is likely to be inconsistent from the rest of the information given by serious participants (Wilkinson & Cheng 2003).Through use of software survey, computerized statistical tools are likely to point out these situations and data rejected where there is enough evidence. 4.2 Qualitative research Since some of the objectives of our research are exploratory in nature, we intend to provide detailed qualitative information. In this case focused research shall be used to understand the needs of the customers whenever they visit stores. We propose to use in depth interviews with our customers who are familiar with stores determine the exact thing that the customers look for in the store. In qualitative research phase, the research will aim to probe and find out the following i. How aware the all form of customers are about stores ii. How easy it is for the customers who visit these stores to find the product they are looking for. iii. The quantity and amount any customer shopping at stores is willing to spend iv. Whether Myer stores matches with those of the competitors. Why a customer would wish to buy in Myer store rather than any other store. Why also the customer would be willing to buy from other stores and not Myer store. 4.3 Quantitative Research The intention of this phase of the research is to get the specific things that make the customers associate or fail to want to associate with the products in Myer stores. It is at this phase we shall use computer assisted telephone interviewing (CATI). According to Australian Bureau of Statistics (2000), this is an online survey method that is of low cost which is capable of reaching very number of participants. Other forms of data collection such as personal interviewing are likely to use a lot of money which will result to high cost of carrying out the research. In this phase we shall use 5000 participants. The questions that will be used in this research shall be developed from some of the issues observed during the qualitative research. Since the survey will be done online, the survey shall be developed in a way that the participant responds to the issues in less than 10 minutes. 4.3.1 Sample Questionnaire 1. What is your rating of Myer stores outlet a. Excellent b. Good c. Satisfactory d. Average e. Poor Please give us your reason for the response ……………………………………………….. 2. Would you recommend Myer stores to a family members or friends a. Definitely b. Perhaps c. Not sure d. No e. Never 3. What are your chances of going to Myer stores next time you need to shop a. Very high b. Likely c. Unlikely d. Never 4. How would you rate your experience with Myer store a. Excellent b. Good c. Average d. Poor 5. How satisfied were you on the availability of the products you wanted from the stores a. Extremely Satisfied b. Fair c. Dissatisfied d. Extremely dissatisfied 6. What is the price range of the products at Myer stores? a. Excessive b. Slightly high c. Reasonable d. Affordable e. Low 7. Does Myer Stores offer value for money? a. Yes b. No Please give the reason for your answer…………………………………………. In addition to the above questions, there will be questions requiring the participant to verify the age and gender details. Additionally, there are likely to be questions that would have arisen from the qualitative survey. These questions shall also be included in the questionnaire. 5.0 Ethical considerations In the cause of carrying out the research, there are ethical issues that present themselves which arises from the relationship between the researcher, research methods and the participants. Ethical issues may either affect the participants of the research, or the research process itself (Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs 2006). Where the participants are affected by the research process, there are likely to result to conflicts between the parties involved. Where the research process is affected, result of the research may be affected in a state where wrong conclusions are made (Kimberly, Jeff & Joan 2006). In qualitative research, interview method shall be used to gather data from the customers. In this case several ethical issues need to be considered relating between the interviewer and the participants. Though the research will use in-depth interview, the researcher should ensure that he or she does not violate any of the human right especially that which relates to the customer. There is possibility of ethical conflicts arising concerning how the researcher is going to access the information from the group or community (Kvale 2003). Moreover, the researcher may have an effect on the way the customer view the products of the Myer products and those of the competitors. In cause of the research, the researcher should raise the issues in such a way that such issues are not going to cause issues between Myer and its competitors (Kocak & Abimbola 2009). There are three types of problems that are likely to affect qualitative research; the relationship between the researcher and the participant, the way the researcher is going to interpret the data, and the entire procedure that is going to be used to collect the data. In qualitative research, it is difficult to tell the extent at which the data will be collected and the depth to which the research is carried. Some of the participant may give wrong information. Some of the issues being raised may be very sensitive to the customers themselves which may result to customer feeling being harassed. These issues independently or collectively may contribute to the lowering of the quality of data that is going to be collected during the research process. Wilkinson & Cheng (2003) further observes that the researchers should be aware of all these facts so that they can make proper procedures that will maintain good relationship between all the components involved in the research while ensuring the quality of research itself is high. In quantitative research, online surveys shall be used. In this case it is unlikely that anyone may feel offended by the questions or negatively reacting to the questions being asked. However, the quality of information gathered during the research may be lower than the required standard. In online survey, it is difficult to tell whether the correspondent is giving the right information or not. Some people may participate while they know too well they are not qualified to participate in the research. To ensure that the results of the data are as trustworthy as possible, the procedure for analyzing the data should include means through which false data can be detected and filtered from the system. The conclusions made from the research should be such that the concepts that result to arriving of the conclusion are under intense enquiry. All the data and information gathered during the research and the documentations that are used to explain the analysis done on these data should only be used for the research. If the information is used for other activities, it may end up raising negative issues among the all the associate of the research process (Schreiber & Lenson 2001). 6.0 Proposed Timetable Weeks Activity 1-3 Preliminary research 3-7 Qualitative research (Field work) 8 Analysis of Qualitative analysis data Development of Qualitative analysis report. 9 Development of questionnaires to be used in Quantitative research 10-11 Coding of the questionnaires and preparation of the way online system will handle the data 12-14 Analysis of the data 15-16 Preparation and presentation of the final report. From the above proposed timetable, the project shall take 16 weeks. To ensure that the activities fall within the specified timelines, at the end of every week of the research, there shall be a special meeting with all the main researchers to review on the progress. During the review time, through appropriate strategies, adjustments shall be made which shall ensure that the process remains on track. 7.0 Proposed Budget Phase Description Amount Preliminary Research 10 hours supervisor executive 20 hours junior executive 1500 pounds for research on information about Myer Stores 3,500 pounds Qualitative research Five focus groups 8,000 pounds Quantitative research 5000 CATI interview 10, 000 pounds Miscellaneous Report preparation and Printing 7000 Total Amount 28500 pounds The research will use approximately 28500 pounds. Changes in the budget are likely to be observed operating environment remains favorable to carry out the research. Whenever changes will require to be made, the overall amount involved to carry out the research will change by a similar magnitude. 8.0 Summary and Recommendation In conclusion the research proposal aims to helping Myer Company to understand the needs of its customers. This way it will be able to offer better services to its customers. The research is going. Quantitative and qualitative analysis are the recommended form of research. The research will take a period of 16 weeks and will cost approximately 28,500 pounds. To ensure that the entire process is successful, every stage should have a control strategy to ensure that as the research is being carried out the objectives of the research are always maintained. References Australian Bureau of Statistics. 2000, Australian Standard Classification of Cultural and Ethnic, Groups, ABS Catalogue No. 1249.0. Caplan, A 2000 ‘Chain stores development in Australia’, Hastings Center Report, Vol. 1no.1, pp. 68-73. Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA). 2006. Business Case Study: Australia’s Halal Food Industry. Available from www.diversityaustralia.gov.au/_inc/doc_pdf/halal.pdf, accessed 27 April 2012. Forsgren, M & Hagstrom, P 2007, ‘Online Survey, Marketing Research, Vol. 3, no. 3, pp. 291-305. Gary, K, Tage, M & Per, S 2004, ‘Interviews,’ Marketing Research, Vol. 21, no. 6, pp. 645-665. Hutchinson, S, Wilson, E, & Wilson, H 2001. ‘Benefits of participating in research interviews’. Journal of Marketing, Vol. 19, no.21, pp. 628-723. Kimberly, G, Jeff, M & Joan, 2006, W ‘Operating characteristics, risk, and performance of born-global firms,’ International Journal of Managerial Finance, Vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 96-120.Kvale, S 2003, ‘ Interviews’ An introduction to qualitative research interviewing. CA: Sage. Kocak, A & Abimbola, T 2009, ‘The effects of entrepreneurial marketing on born global performance’, International Marketing Review, Vol. 26, no. 4/5, pp. 439-452. Myer 2012, Myer official Website, Updated 2 August 2011, viewed 27 April 2012, . Schreiber, A & Lenson, B 2001. Multicultural Marketing: Selling to the New America, IL: NTC Business Books. Streubert, H, & Carpenter, E 2008. Qualitative research in nursing. Advancing the Humanistic imperative, Philadelphia: Lippincott. Wilkinson & Cheng, 2003. “Multicultural Marketing”, Cross-Cultural Marketing, South Melbourne: Thomson. Read More