Sydney Dry Cleaner Services Marketing Plan - Case Study Example

Running Head: Sydney Dry Cleaner Services Marketing Plan Name: Institution: Course Code: Date of Submission: Target Market Selection The Sydney Dry Cleaning Service is an individual business to be started in the Sydney city of Australia. The main services to be offered by the business will include garment alterations, dry cleaning, and laundry.For efficiency purposes, the services will be offered with regular home pick-up coupled with efficient and effective delivery services. A production facility for the business will be set up without necessarily having a retail shop front because it will be covered up by the efficient delivery and pick-up services. However, the company will purchase vans for picking and delivering items and the need for trained drivers will be inevitable. Customers will have a range of payment criteria to choose from. They will choose their preferred payment method either during each delivery through monthly or biweekly credit card billing. Contract customers will receive a report of their bills at the end of each payment period to be billed in their credit cards (Kerin, 2012). The Sydney Dry Cleaning business aims to provide its customers with a new door-to-door dry cleaning that surely will impress customers and attract bring in a new dimension in the dry cleaning industry. Customers with tight schedules for work and private business and might not have more extra time will find this idea very interesting and will want to try it as services are taken to their doorsteps. With high quality and convenient services, customers are likely to maintain a partnership with the company. When the patronage continue for a considerable period, the company will eventually consider them loyal customers and consider offering them discounts. With such services, loyal customers will most definitely recommend the company to their friends and thus increasing the business’ customer base (Kotler, Philip & Keller, 2012). With the great inflow of clients, Sydney Dry Cleaningreputation increases and thus translating to greater market share. Environmental Forces Technology Technology is very vital for the laundry industry as technology keep on changing and bringing in new washing machines that are very efficient and time saving. New methods of washing clothes may also arise and the business may suffer obsolesce (Olson &Hult, 2006). Technology will also help in easing communication between the company and clients. Customers can also book for services using the internet. Government Regulations Compliance with government regulations is mandatory for any business, the Sydney Dry cleaner Services will seek to adhere to government regulations that touch on taxation, employment, health and safety, breach of contract, and competition policies (Hult, 2005). Legal Changes Just like any other business, the Dry Cleaner Service business faces challenges of being subject to and legal change introduced by the regulatory bodies (Trommsdorff & Steinhoff, 2006). Changes in labor laws and employment policies, taxation policies, and advertising policies will force the business to shift from the pre-determined way of conduct. Social Cultural Socio-cultural environment is one of the most areas expected to affect the business by a large extend (Odies & Michael, 2010). The socio-cultural factors considered in this case include age distribution, levels of education, income levels, population growth, and expectation of society from the business. The business’s policy will be to take care of the environment with which it is operating and uphold the culture of the people. Members of the society will also have the opportunity for employment opportunities. Market Segment Table 1, Labor Labor Market Percentage (%) Males in full time employment 2013/2014 91 Males on part time employment 2013/2014 9 Females on full time employment 2013/2014 61.9 Females in part-time employment 2013/2014 38.1 Table 2, Economic changes Economic change Percentage (%) Individual change in GDP 39 Individual change in average monthly earnings (2005-2013 24.1 Total change in employment (2003-2013) 36.9 Table 1 indicates the percentage proportion of females and males employed and working part time and full time between the periods of 2013 to 2014. It is however clear that both males and females working full time are a lot higher than those working part-time are. Table 2 indicates that employment, income, and GDP continue to increase over the past few years and thus a very great opportunity for business success. These tables indicate that the standard of living within the city continues to increase rapidly but people are left with very little time to do their own home chores such as laundry. Arriving from work late and tired, people tend to hire people to do the laundry for them. Additionally, professional people experience the demand for expensive clothes that define class and wealth (Kotler, P. & Keller, K. L. 2009b). Having bought luxurious clothes, people are concerned with the care and cleanliness of such clothes and therefore the need for a high quality dry cleaning service. Therefore, Sydney dry Cleaning Services targets professionals as a segmented market. Positioning Sydney Dry Cleaning Services seeks to position itself as the prime dry cleaning company in Sydney City. The company will enjoy the vast population of wealthy individuals with little time to do their laundry or travel to dry cleaning centers by delivering the services right to their houses. Recommendations Since we have a plan of having a delivery van for pick-up and delivery services, the business will trade directly with customers as we pick items from customer’s houses and deliver them back. The idea of not interested in renting an office is to reduce our operational costs and thus allow us to serve our customers better. The Sydney Dry Cleaning Service will pick and return clothes and garments from and to customer’s houses. Cases that need urgent situations and deliveries will be accomplished with customers meeting a nominal fee charge. Uncharged pick-up and delivery of clothes from a customer’s house every 9am to 4pm twice a week depending on the day convenient to the customer. We also deliver all laundry services such as dry cleaning and garment alteration. At first, we shall set higher prices compared to that prevailing in the market. This will attract attention from customers, as they believe that anything expensive is rather of higher quality than the cheaper one. After testing the levels of our quality, we shall attain loyal customers who will then start enjoying monthly or yearly discounts (Kotler & Keller, 2009a). Advertising is obviously the most prominent way of advertising the business. We shall utilize local radio and television networks, local daily newspapers, magazines, and drop advertising material into families' mailboxes. Discount to loyal customers is another way of attracting new customers. Depth of Analysis and Research The depth of the market analysis and research is wide and satisfying.the analysis of prospective clients indicates the need for dry cleaning services within the Sydney City for individuals in full time employment since they lack enough time to perform their laundry on their own. Furthermore, lack of appropriate quality laundry services that offer indoor services within the region is a great opportunity for the business to thrive successfully. Reference List DevChekitan, S & Don, E 2005, In the Mix: A Customer-Focused Approach Can Bring the Current Marketing Mix into the 21st Century, Marketing Management, 14(1), p. 34-89. Douglas, C et al, 2010, Strategic Marketing: Creating Competitive Advantage, New York, Oxford University Press Harrington, A 2003, Who's afraid of a new product? Fortune, 148 (10), pp. 189-191. Hult, G 2005, The performance implications of fit among business strategy, marketing Organization structure, and strategic behavior, Journal of Marketing, 69 (3), p. 49-65 Humphrey, A 2005, SWOT Analysis for Management Consulting, SRI Alumni Newsletter (SRI International). Kerin, Roger A 2012, Marketing: The Core, McGaw-Hill Ryerson. Kotler, P & Keller, L 2012, Marketing Management 14e, Upper Saddle River NJ, Pearson Education. 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