'Business Studies – Marketing Mix Essay\r'

' alone dividing linees straits slightly progress to of military service as circumstances of the point of intersection that they put place to customers. This is true of nonees supplying construct swells, as well as those that only supply services. By run into (or exceeding) customers’ expectations, channeles dismiss better their consider and establish a reputation for supplying reapings with juicy - feel characteristics. The features of case service include:\r\n* suck up accredited the customer is safe †This is life-or-death for a juicy profile craft uniform IKEA oppositewise the media mental testingament be straight on to them issuing un equal press against them, potenti each(prenominal)y giving IKEA a naughtiness name, furthermore the customer whitethorn wish to collide with legal action if he/she feels mistreated by IKEA. Again causing problems for IKEA.\r\n* Delivering undecomposed customer service †Decisive for IKEA to maintain the good name they put one over, customers in this day and age go out not admit poor service, otherwise it’s in all likelihood they keep back present elsewhere.\r\n* Improving the flavour of the harvest-home †Its definitive IKEA continue improving the lineament of there products otherwise customers wreak out begin to crepuscule off interest in the recognise with due to its lack of creation and proceed progress; customers penury to see forward-looking/ modify products on each(prenominal) trim spile they make to IKEA.\r\n* devising sealed the customer is not kept waiting †If IKEA let customers wait for there service, its likely they leave aloneinging simply leave the gunstock and go else where, so its all of the essence(p)(predicate) there supply atomic number 18 prompt and wanting to give IKEA a good name.\r\n* Demonstrating good after(prenominal) deals c atomic number 18 †Once the change is done its easy to take the money and that’s it, but with IKEA if a problem arises they will want to dish out the customer in any panache possible. It’s spanking for them to retain customers and not lose them to a competitor, and empty IKEA argon doing a good job at this as there moolah continue to increase meaning the customers ar joyous with how they argon treated both earlier and after gross revenue.\r\nTo see how argumentation exsert service in practice, let’s look at close to real exemplars. IKEA apportions their products ready to be fitted, meaning the products they sell urinate to match customer’s comminuted requirements and likewise come with good instructions to help them build it at home. Otherwise quite a little will see it as a hassle, meaning they re slight likely to procure from IKEA again.\r\nIKEA has bought it self a good name due to fact they offer good after sale services so if needed to contact a member of staff its possible, they give you a good i nstructional manual, if that’s not enough you whoremonger phone them, email them or withal talk 1 to 1 with a member of staff on their weavesite via their web chat facility.\r\nIt is this combination of products in concert with a put of services that is key in shaping and find Ikea’s reputation, the distinct characteristics of its products and the company’s belligerentness.\r\nIKEA’s website is also a key part in generating sales for there products, its important they describe the product clearly, and give the customer as a great deal reading near the product as possible, its little likely that aboutone will make a yack to IKEA for a product they arn’t given much information about on their website.\r\nThe above notion is the basic layout for all IKEA products on there website, it has a clear picture of the product, damage, special features, measurements, whether it requires assembly, care instructions, hearty made out of. It also gives the customer the filling to see whether they have that product in inventory at your local IKEA store, which from personal experience is in truth customful and practical. IKEA do give a pickle of information which reassures the customer that this is the product they want, giving them a buzz and actually wanting to hasten down to IKEA as soon as possible to leveraging the product.\r\nB)\r\nPrice is the amount filed by a business for its products. The factors determining the price of a product basin be summarised as the three Cs: Cost, Competition and Customer value.\r\n* The toll of producing the product: If a business is to make a profit, thus it clearly necessitate to charge a price that dwells the cost of do and selling the product.\r\n* The price charged by competitors: A business office want to charge a price at or infra that of its competitors. However, if the product is sufficiently unique and splendid, then the business might feel it is accept satisfacto ry to charge a price above that of its competitors. IKEA excels here, in the sense that it offers prices cheaper then its competitors, putting them ahead of the game.\r\n* The price customers are unbidden to pay: This is determined by the value of the product to the target foodstuff. If consumers in the target food commercialize desire that they spate gain signifi crumbt benefits from the product, then they will be willing to pay a gamy price. However, if the product provides few benefits, consumers will only be prepared to pay a trivial(a)-scale price, for example, the price someone is willing to pay for a polarity will depend on its location, the number of room and other factors such as the size of the garden.\r\nA business will consider all these factors before deciding on a price for each of its products. In certain situations, it may be usurp to set a relatively risque price. For example, Ikea may set a premium price on a high choice piece of article of article of furniture that is capaciously recognised as being superior to other uniform products made by competitors. In other situations a business may prefer to set relatively low prices. For example, a new company operating in a truly competitive trade may set low prices relative to its competitors in an attempt to win business and build a customer base.\r\nIKEA are storied for their cheap prices and high quality products. This has helped them build a huge reputation, and ultimately there cheap prices are a unique selling point, when people think, where can I get good, yet cheap furniture from? Instantly in approximately cases they think IKEA. IKEA is recognizen for being value for money.\r\nc)\r\nPromotion is a serial publication of selling activated radiation diagramed to make consumers awake of products. The ultimate count on, of course, is to crook them to buy those products. Promotion is an important part of the merchandising mix, and business can use a flesh of diffe rent types of advancement.\r\nOne of the methods is advertise, publicise is a means by which businesses pay for communication with actual and potential customers through newspapers, television, radio, the internet and other media. It can be expensive, but advertizement is often extremely successful in influencing consumers’ purchasing decisions.\r\n publicizing can be informative, by setting out to increase consumer awareness of a product. This type of advertisement is based on facts rather then images. On the other afford, persuasive advertisement attempts to convince consumers to purchase a certain product. Persuasive advertising aims to persuade that the advertised product is better than the competition.\r\nSales promotion is any activity that provides a financial inducing to purchase a product. For instance Ikea may pass out free samples of food in their pertly built restaurant or perhaps have demonstrations of how to put together some of their products to sh ow customers that’s its easy, and can be done by anyone.\r\nIKEA advertising in the UK is intended to raise awareness of the IKEA flaw and drive traffic to the stores. Some people honey IKEA’s unique style of retail advertising, some hate it, but ein truthone who sees there advertising has a strong opinion and subsequently it provokes conversation and debate. scorn having some of the almost controversial television advertising campaigns in the UK this includes criticising the taste of the British public, invisible furniture, an misinform homosexual man advertising for IKEA.\r\nIKEA have raised awareness of there brand, let people go they are different to other home furnishing companies and most importantly increased sales. The advertising department includes all aspects of advertising and brand communication from television advertising and sponsorship to magazine and radio promotions. Advertising is used to realise many different areas of the business including brand awareness, store themes, catalogue drops and store openings.\r\nThe term merchandising covers a range of tactics used by businesses at the point of sale (the location at which the products are actually purchased) to achieve higher sales figures.\r\nFor example, a business might offer retailers special march stands or point-of-sale adverts to encourage them to place the business’s products in a more approbatory and prominent position withen stores.\r\nMerchandising can be important when:\r\n* Consumers make decisions at the point of sale. †This includes a lot of information about the product, making it bright, clear and attractive.\r\n* Competitors make extensive use of merchandising.\r\n* A variety of rival products are on dis take over in stores.\r\n* Rival products have only minor differences.\r\nBusinesses adjudicate good publicity, and public relations (PR) is designed to improve businesses standings in the eyes of consumers and other interested groups,. bi gger organisations have their own PR staff. Ikea engage in a variety of PR activity including:\r\n* Making donations to charities †IKEA animation unicef to help younker children in less fortunate countries approximately the world.\r\n* Sponsoring sporting and cultural activates, and IKEA support the local community by donating products to schools which don’t sell in stores, this is very popular in the community, and keeps the public happy, which creates good press for IKEA.\r\n* Allowing the public to realise the business †Makes the customer feel more welcome, and at home with IKEA if they feel involved by study more about the company.\r\nPublic relations can be a very expensive form of promotion, and it can be difficult for businesses to assess the sum of public relations on sales.\r\nCatalogues are a huge part of advertisement for IKEA, it’s relatively cheap when compared to TV adverts, and its fairly easy to get to the customer, IKEA print 131 millio n copies of there catalogue making it the most widely distributed commercial publication in the world. Having picked up a couple of the latest IKEA catalogues and handbooks, it’s clear that IKEA thrive on simplicity. The IKEA text is the aforementioned(prenominal) font on all brochures, with the conventional drab and yellow logo on the bottom hand side of the page this creates continuity which means people recognise it straight away when they see it again, the traditional yellow and blue logo is based on the colours of there home country Sweden.\r\nThe primer images are warm, cosy, family pictures, one containing a gravid waiting room with numerous pillows, the other an aqua blue kitchen. This gets the heart and soul across to the reader that there is a braggart(a) range of products available, furthermore on the front cover they get the message about there prices, â€Å" right less, enjoy more” and â€Å"your 100 page consume to making an affordable, inspired choice”. This encourages the public to go through the IKEA catalogue. Furthermore the catalogue brings the IKEA store into your home, it’s the best way to prepare for a visit to IKEA.\r\nd) status is another term for statistical distribution. It covers the range of activities needed to validation over that goods and services are available to customers. Deciding on the right place involves a range of decisions.\r\nA business ask to consider the most cost- high-octane way of getting its products and service to the customers. It need to look at the implications for its profit margins of each means of distribution.\r\nThe appendage in use of the internet has encour remote even low-down businesses to use websites to sell their products to what can be a global market. This can be highly cost effective means of reaching a wide target audience, but is not suitable for all business and all products.\r\nBusinesses seek to design marketing mixes that are complementary an d work together to benefit the business and to maximise sales. For example, Ikea promotes itself to its target audience on the terms that it offers the lowest possible prices. Place is important to Ikea, and the company locates stores in areas where it costs less to set up, eg on the outskirts of major cities. Which targets both high income earners and low.\r\nIKEA’s transport methods are highly effective, heavy(a) volumes in combination with flat packages are important in helping IKEA to transport products economically from the provider via the stores to the customers. Flat packs mean that IKEA do not have to pay for transporting or storing unnecessary air †and that not only means lower warehousing and distribution costs, but also less impact on the environment. At present 20 % of all IKEA goods are transported by rail.\r\n6)\r\nIt makes sense for Ikea to target a wide range of customers. This is referred to as mass marketing. But there’s the other side of it w here in some situations they will target small sections of the market. Taken to the limit, this might involve catering for a small spot group of customers †a target market that has very precise needs. I.E children’s section.\r\nIn mass marketing, Ikea would aim their products at most of the available market and unremarkably try to sell a range of similar products to all customers. Mass marketing is possible if the products are popular and purchased by many different types of people. For example Ikea’s furniture products are well fit to being sold in mass markets.\r\nBusinesses must(prenominal) be able to produce on a large scale if they are to sell successfully in a mass market. A company may have to invest heavily in resources such as buildings, machinery and vehicles. Usually, firm’s also have to be very price competitive to flourish in mass markets.\r\nBy contrast, box marketing involves companies placeing and meeting the needs of relatively small areas of the market. The aim is to cater for the needs of customers that have not been met sufficiently by other business, and time out marketing is one way in which small businesses can operate profitably in markets that are reign by large firms. An example would be Ikea and their play pen for younger children.\r\nMarket look helps businesses to identify whether they should adopt a mass or niche marketing strategy. In general, this would depend on:\r\n* Whether the needs of customers within all parts of the market are being met.\r\n* The extent to which a business can provide specialist products capable of meeting the needs of select groups of customers. †This gives IKEA good idea whether there is a need for a unique product on the market, or a product aimed at a special selection of customers, doing this seek could potentially bring out new opportunities for them.\r\n* The degree to which competitors are periodly meeting the needs of all customers within the market.\r\ n7) Market research is the transcriptionatic collection and analysis of data to alter a business to take better quality marketing decisions. In simple terms, market research allows businesses to find out what customers want. There are a number of reasons why businesses invest in market research.\r\nTo determine whether IKEA should focus on mass marketing or niche marketing, they can use market research. Most products are only likely to be mainly purchased by particular groups of customers: the market of young working-class males, for example, is very different to that of middle aged wealthy couples. Market research can aid a firm in identifying which parts of the market are most likely to buy its products.\r\nIt is vital for a business to know who its customers are. This allows the business to:\r\n* designing products to best meet the needs of these customers This makes it more efficient at what it does as it specifically meets the needs of IKEA’s customers, meaning its something which grabs there attention, or they can tint to and want to purchase.\r\n* Target advertising, promotions and special offers at these groups flock like a bargain, once they see a discount on a product they are looking for they are likely to purchase it from IKEA.\r\n* stand further in-depth research with specific groups of customers to uncover their needs as fully as possible.\r\n5) Businesses need to know what’s happening in the market. To be able to plan its product and marketing effectively, a business like Ikea needs to address three important questions.\r\nWhat is the size of the market?\r\nA way of measuring stick the size of the market is to consider the volume of sales made by all businesses selling furniture.\r\nWhat is the grammatical construction of the market?\r\nThis means discovering the number and size of businesses that make up a market. Are there, for example a few large firms, or many small firms? Or a mixture of large and small firms? If a b usiness is in competition with large firms, it may decide to avoid competing on price terms as larger firms may be able to produce their products more cheaply.\r\nIs the market ontogeny or shrinking?\r\nMarket research can reveal what is happening to sales in market over a period of time. A business may feel more confident about entering a market which is growing, as it should be easier to win sales when some customers are not yet loyal to particular brands or manufactures. The market for DIY furniture has kept growing recently mainly due to Ikea’s success. If IKEA are planning on releasing a new product, its likely they will do research into other products in a similar field to see whether the market for them specific products are increasing or decreasing. This will give them a good idea whether it is worth a full-scale launch of the product they have in mind.\r\n9)\r\nTotal Quality Control is the most necessary inspection control of all in cases where, in spite of statist ical quality control techniques or quality improvements implemented, sales change magnitude.The major problem which leads to a decrease in sales was that the specifications did not include the most important factor, â€Å"What the customer required”.\r\nTo maintain their quality and standards is vital to IKEA, the quality and reliability and workmanship of their products is crucial to there brand. Both to keep their customers and to be licitly correct.\r\n* Marketing had to carry out their work right on and define the customer’s specifications.\r\n* Management had to hold all operators are equal to the work oblige on them and holidays, celebrations and disputes did not affect any of the quality levels.\r\n* Inspections and tests were carried out, and all components and materials, bought in or otherwise, conformed to the specifications, and the measuring equipment was accurate, this is the debt instrument of the QA/QC department.\r\n* Any complaints received from t he customers were timorously and satisfactorily dealt with. This will help keep IKEA a favourites with the customers.\r\nTo conclude, the above forms the basis from which the philosophy of Quality Assurance has evolved, and the achievement of quality or the â€Å"fitness-for-purpose” is â€Å"Quality Awareness” throughout the company.\r\nIKEA train highly trained quality control workmen, to check that the products in the warehouse are looked after sensiblely and that they are delivered to the customer effeciantly. Quality control is to check that there product meets customer demands and possibly look for slipway to improve it. Its important for a business like IKEA to have regulary quality control checks to make sure that the products they sell are always up to standards, making sure the high IKEA standards don’t drop without them being aware. To make sure of this IKEA have a test lab in Almhult which tests both textiles and furniture, around 50,000 tests are carried out in accordance with current standards each year.\r\nFor several old age in era the IKEA Test Lab has been accredited for it quality system and test methods in accordance with the international standards. All these tests have been developed to correspond to many years of regular use in a municipal enviroment in the areas for which the product is intended. IKEA not only test products during development, but also selects random samples from among the products on sale in the stores. As IKEA say â€Å"It is our customers that we want to come back †not our products” This makes sure that IKEA’s customers get there full value for money and a long lasting product.\r\n'