Marketing and Management of Target Corporation †Free Samples

Question: Discuss about the Marketing Management of Target Corporation. Answer: Introduction Target Corporation was established in 1902. It is a general merchandiser and sells products through stores and digital channels. The company has online business at target.com. The company provides high quality and on trend merchandise at attractive prices (Wilson, 2017). The target corporation decided to set up its discount store in Saudi Arabia. The management of Target Corporation hiredMarketing manager for its operations in Saudi Arabia. Being a manger it is required to establishmarketing department from the analysis of market to formulate overall marketing goals, objectives, mission, vision and planning for the entire function. Marketing function of Target Corporation, Saudi Arabia Vision The vision of the company is committed to great value, community, diversity and the environment. It outlines what Target Corporation wants to be. It is a long term view and focuses on future. Mission: It is the mission of the company to make it most preferred destination in all channels. It also believes in delivering outstanding value and innovation. It fulfils brand promise that is expecting more and paying less. Along with the support to mission they are guided by commitments to great value, community and environment. Business objective The objective of the company is to make it profitable by making it preferable destination shopping destination by conveying outstanding value and continuous innovation. Product and type of services Target Corporation offers four product categories, household essentials, food and pet supplies, apparel and accessories and hardlines. The household essential denotes more than 20% of sales and includes pharmacy, personal care, baby care, beauty and paper products. The food and pet supplies is more than 20% of sales and consists of dairy products, dry grocery, beverages, candy, snacks and frozen food. The apparel and accessories generates 20% of sales and includes apparel for boys, girls, men and women, accessories and shoes. The hardlines are more than 15% of sales and offers electronic items, movies, books, computer software and toys. Marketing plan and SWOT analysis Target Corporation has already large scale operations and is the largest discount store in United States. The headquarter of Target Corporation is in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The company is thinking to launch its store in Saudi Arabia. The environment of Saudi Arabia is favorable which can make it one of the largest retailers in the country. It has massive buying power and can enforce low prices (Wagner Eggert, 2016). Statement of marketing goal Target aims at peoples contentment of looking good and feeling delighted. It can be made possible by the hygiene products and nutritious food along with health care. The company takes steps to keep in mind its value and long term profits and growth of company. SWOT analysis Strength Strong presence: The company has already strong presence in other countries which can help company to establish in Saudi Arabia. Target Corporation also has economies of scale which allows huge buying power and can also enforce low price strategy (Schuetz, 2015). Huge opportunities: Saudi Arabia has the largest industry. It is expected to grow constant in next few years. Target Corporation has massive opportunity to set up in Saudi Arabia as it is the perfect location for setting up and growing business. Differentiation: Target Corporation offers products at affordable prices and it can be the biggest advantage for the company in the economy of Saudi Arabia. The company has contact with various dealers to provide differentiated merchandise at comparable prices. Weakness Dependence of economy on public spending: The economy of Saudi Arabia is dependent on the spending done by public. More spending helps in generating more profits to company. Past legal cases: The past legal cases of Target Corporation can affect the brand image. In 2013 also company faced leakage of confidential data including information of customers credit and debit card. Opportunities Acquisition of smaller retail chains: Saudi Arabia has various small retail chains and Target Corporation can successfully acquire these chains. The chains which are already established know about the taste of people. So, it is beneficial for the company to acquire small retail chains. Strong presence on on-line market: Saudi Arabia has strong presence on online market considering changing behaviour of consumers. The e-commerce sales in country are increasing at rapid rate. Threat Rising labor costs: The labor costs in Saudi Arabia have been rising and as a result wages have been rising. It affects the profitability of country by increasing overall costs. Increasing competition and fluctuating economic scenarios: Various stores are opening in country which leads to increasing competition in the country. It not only increases competition but also changes economic scenarios. Competitors The competitors of Target Corporation are: Walmart Macys JCPennys Marketing objectives The marketing objectives of company include: The main objective is to mark profit of company 10% every year in a justified way by giving value to stakeholders and by maintaining loyalty of customers. Increase percentage of sales by increasing manufacturing rate of basic brands. Maintain significant amount of budget for advertisement and marketing. Introduce adaptive products by innovation and investing in research and development. Overall objective The overall objective of Target Corporation is to expand on global level. However the products of the company penetrate into local market. The company aims to attain loyalty from different market segments by making available innovative products. Target market segments The target market of Target Corporation consists of young, educated, sophisticated and fashionable people also who have healthy eating habits and are concerned about organic food items (Kauser, 2014). Marketing mix Product: The company makes available 40% home and apparel items and 20% consumables like food, healthy items and beauty items. Price: The price of the company is generally 1-2% lower than other supermarkets. Before deciding price of any article strategies of competitors are kept in mind. Place: The company decides place in urban locations or in the malls. Target Corporation is conducting its services in almost 100 countries and now it is planning to open discount store in Saudi Arabia. Promotion: The company spends 2.3% on advertisement and sponsorship. The advertisement is done through electronic and print media. The company also provides premium offers and sale to attract major segment of customers. Main strategies Market penetration This strategy of company runs along its extension towards north US and Europe by spreading its product range. The product innovation helps in stimulating the market and thus it helps in market penetration. Market Development Target Corporation can extend its market development strategy by innovation and research and development department for the development of new products. The company can focus on its expansion, acquisition and partnership. Diversification strategy The diversification strategy focuses on the North America and the emerging economies. The company is already serving in various countries and about to add more countries. Monitor and control The monitoring and control process is carried out by company through the balance control card method which focuses on the four perceptions: Financial perception Customer perception Internal perception Innovation and learning outlook Micro and Macro environment The micro environment factors are close to the firm. The supplier environment: It consists of other business firms or retailers who provide raw material, service and finished goods themselves. The retailers and manufacturers depend on the numerous suppliers. The distributive environment: Target Corporation makes sure that the products of company arrive at the final customer. The intermediaries such as agents and distributors take part in this process. The competitive environment: Target Corporation should be aware about the potential threat of competitors of similar products like Walmart. The company should have understanding of type, size and composition of competitive forces. Target Corporation will have greater opportunity to compete effectively in the market of Saudi Arabia (Yue, Rao Ingram, 2013). The macro environment includes the PEST Analysis which is uncontrollable factor of the company. Political factors: Target Corporation has a strong working connection with China because majority of the products of company come from China only. There is good terms between China and Saudi Arabia as various agreements are already made in both countries (Ju, Cheng, Hu, Lv Chen, 2015). It can positively affect Target Corporation operations. It is affected by taxation, tariffs and trade restrictions of the country where it is operating (Niblock Malik, 2007). Economic factors: Saudi Arabia makes effort to attract foreign investment and diversify its economy. The economy of country affects Target Corporation, but the company can be still a major shopping choice in the market of Saudi Arabia (Alghamedi, 2014). Social factors: The way company treat with employees, community and consumers gets support from shoppers. The website of the company gives access to the online catalogue. It also provides target financial services for the credit cards (Saudi Embassy, 2017). Technological factors: Target Corporation can talk to customers by using social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram. They have web pages for news and trends. Target Corporation can showcase its products by reviews and product images (Aljarboa, 2016). Establishment, development and enhancement of mutual beneficial relationships with customers and activities to establish customer sales Establishing, developing and enhancing relationship with customers helps to improve customer service. Listen: The customers should be paid attention and question should be asked instead of talking. The company can better serve customers with the knowledge shared by customers. Seek feedback: Feedback should be taken by customers as it can help company to serve need of customers in a better way. The customers will be more satisfied and efforts of the company will be appreciated. Provide an education: Along with understanding business of clients it is equally important to know what Target Corporation does. The information should be given to customers about background of organisation and what it strives to achieve. It is also explains that how products and services of company are better than other companies (Al Dossry, 2012). The activities to establish, develop, and maintain customer sales of Target Corporation in Saudi Arabia Learn about customers: The company should consider name, need and want of customers. A little research is required to be done on customers. The company can think about the ways to add value to the organisation. The company can easily differentiate itself by delivering best customer experience. Live for customer complaints: The customer complaints provide opportunity to company to know what customers think about the product and services of company. It helps to improve services and products. It also provides how to handle and monitor customer complaints (Forbes, 2011). Stay in regular contact with customers: The problems of customers can be identified by keeping regular contact. There are some ways by which regular contact can be keep with customers like follow up with customers via phone, email or social media, by sending customers friendly reminders about product and services of company. Various consumer decision processes The consumer decision process is also known as journey of buyers. It includes mainly these three processes: Recognising needs: The consumer making process initiates when the potential customer recognizes need or when they require solution to their problems. It can involve anything from wanting a new product to replacement of product. It is also noticed that customers do not realise what they need until the products are exposed by the company. Gathering information: Once Target Corporation realises the need of customers it soon starts to gather information through Google. The buying process can involve comparison of products or services. It depends on price, quality, convenience, suitability and location. The search provides various marketing channels including website, reviews and more. Resolving problem: After identifying the options and conducting proper research, the company can take decision. Once the efforts of Target Corporation reach to customers and have created awareness in their mind, the decision will include making purchase for company. Market research for making better decision to establish and enhance marketing There are various ways of market research by which Target Corporation can make better decision to establish and enhance marketing. Improve branding: Target Corporation can improve brand image by brand awareness. It will help customers to be aware and familiar with Target Corporation. The image of brand can also be improved by comparison with competitors. The personification helps to improve brand image by highlighting characteristics of company (Hughes, 2017). Measure effectiveness of marketing: Target Corporation does a better job for promoting company and generating sales. Market research is useful in providing information for the effectiveness of marketing efforts. Identify new opportunities: The market research helps to identify new market opportunities. It can also help to identify geographic regions for expansion of products and services of company. For instance, Target Corporation could be looking for the right location for opening its retail store in Saudi Arabia. The company also look for the distribution channels to determine how its decision is going to affect customer base. Insight into product features: At the time of launching Target Corporation in Saudi Arabia, the company like to know about the right features and packaging. Research helps company to know about insights of company which can be used to refine products. Evaluation of market segments by KSA and how it will create value preposition to meet requirement of target customers The target corporation can be categorised into the following segments: Household essentials: The household essential denotes more than 20% of sales in the economy of Saudi Arabia. It includes pharmacy, personal care, baby care, beauty and paper products. The preference of consumers for the healthy lifestyle is changing lifestyle of the population of Saudi Arabia (Opoku Abdul-Muhmin, 2010). Food and pet supplies: The food and pet contributes largest in terms of sale and holds 40% of retail market in Saudi Arabia. The food market continues to grow in country and it is giving opportunity to international retailers like target Corporation to expand its operations in country. The food and pet supplies is the best segment to serve as it can create value proposition to meet requirement of customers. The customers ageing 18-65 are targeted by Target Corporation, KSA as they are more conscious towards fitness and healthy lifestyle (Mordor Intelligence, 2017). Electronic items: Consumer electronics is one of the important segments of market. Saudi Arabia has registered growth for the demand of electronic items in the last few years (Business Wire, 2012). With the increasing income of population the demand for electronic items like mobile phones, laptops, tablets and television is continuously increasing (Hearn, Piesse Strange, 2012). Apparel and accessories: The segment of apparel is imported in Saudi Arabia from countries like Europe and US. The apparels and accessories have great demand in the country. It contributes to high disposable income (EuroMonitor International, 2018). How Target Corporation, KSA manage all products and services and steps taken for the best development process of new products Target Corporation uses roadmap to transform business. It helps company to manage products and services and creates path to grow. It includes: Channel-agnostic approach: The channel agnostic approach is used to grow business and driving experience across stores. The website generates more sales in comparison to store. The enhancement in technology creates better customer experience. It can help KSA to manage products better and generate more sales by online platform (Kwon, Baig Akoglu, 2017). Merchant categories target: kids and wellness are being prioritised. Target Corporation focuses on differentiation in these areas. This category accounted for more than a quarter sale of company. Other categories of target Corporation delivers better shopping experience. So, merchant category can better prioritise products related to the kids and wellness (Carlson Mowzoon, 2011). Guest centric approach: The company has created guest centric experience by tailoring relevant products with the other factors like climate, demography and locations. It can strengthen the data, analytics and technology. KSA can make use of this approach by understanding climate and demography of country. Store opening plan: The store opening plan of Target Corporation focuses on the innovative and flexible formats like TargetExpress and CityTarget. It can help KSA to open stores in the community it fits. Conclusion In the above report, the marketing plan for Target Corporation have been discussed for starting its discount store in Saudi Arabia. For this, the marketing function, marketing plan, micro and macro environment of Target Corporation has been discussed. The process of establishing, developing and enhancing beneficial relationship with customers has been explained. The market segments are also evaluated to serve in the best one. Finally, the steps taken to manage products and services of company have been explained. References Al Dossry, T.M., 2012. Consumer Culture in Saudi Arabia (A Qualitative Study among Heads of Household). Alghamedi, A., 2014. Lack of diversification is a challenge facing Saudi Arabia.Journal of Global Business Issues,8(2), p.57. Aljarboa, S. 2016. ONLINE SHOPPING IN SAUDI ARABIA: OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES, , [Online]. Available at: https://aircconline.com/ijmvsc/V7N4/7416ijmvsc01.pdf [Accessed on: 2 April 2018]. Business Wire. 2012. Research and Markets: Saudi Arabia Consumer Electronics Report Q2 2012, [Online]. Available at: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20120724006805/en/Research-Markets-Saudi-Arabia-Consumer-Electronics-Report [Accessed on: 2 April 2018]. 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