Market analysis and planning
Introduction:
I’m going to be completing both primary and secondary research in order to see who my
target market is and if my business idea will be successful.
Primary Research:
I have completed primary research as a survey, in which I have received responses from 21
people in order to help me start-up and grow my business. I will now be discussing what
responses I gathered in my research
Question 1 -
For the first question, I received a
range of different responses, as a
mixed age group took part in my
survey. From this survey, I have
discovered that the most popular
age group for my sweet box
business is 16-20 year-olds, with
21-29 year-olds being the second
most popular age group, and
ages 30 and above being the
least likely to buy products from
my business. With 47.6% of
respondents being aged 16-20,
this shows that teenagers and
young adults are the main target
market for this business type.
From this information, I know that I need to advertise my business in places that teenagers
and young adults will notice, such as on social media, so I can attract the right people to my
business. I also know that I should adapt my business to current market trends, such as
selling new sweets which are popular among this age group, as this will appeal to my target
market and should result in my business getting new and returning customers within the
teenager to young adult age group.
Question 2 -
From the second question, I have
identified that the main gender that
is interested in purchasing
products from my business are
male, with 12 (57.1%) of
responses being from men.
,This information shows that, while I only collected responses from a small number of
respondents, I will need to make sure that my business appeals to male customers while
running my business, as this survey has shown that they will likely be the majority of my
customers. Therefore, I will need to make sure that I am advertising my business in places
that men are the most likely to see it, and getting the supplies I need to make products that
are ideal for them. However, as there is not a big majority of males over females, I will need
to make sure that my sweet boxes equally appeal to both genders.
Question 3 -
For my business to be successful,
I will need to sell products that
appeal to my target market. If a
large amount of my target market
only eat vegan food, then they will
be unlikely to buy from my
business if I do not have vegan
options and this will result in my
business missing out on
opportunities to expand into the
vegan market and miss out on
sales from potential customers
who are vegan. From the results
shown, 18 out of 21 people
(85.7%) said that they are not
vegan. This shows that selling
vegan products is not currently a priority for my business as under 1 in 5 of respondents said
that they are vegan, however, this could be a potential growth opportunity in the future if my
business is a success, as more people are becoming vegan this can help me gain new
customers and make more sales, leading to my business making more of a profit as both
vegan and non-vegan customers can purchase goods from my business.
Question 4 -
In order to find out where I
will be selling the majority of
my sweet boxes, I asked
customers where they are
located to get an idea of
how far I will need to send
products sold from my
business. From the results, I
have discovered that 19% of
respondents are located
locally to me, in Braintree.
With all of the answers
being within England, and
,the majority of answers being in Essex, which is where my business will be located. As my
business is online-only, the location of customers will not have much of an impact on me,
however having customers local to me will make it easier to run my business, as I will be
able to post or deliver products to customers quickly so they are satisfied with the delivery
time from my business which could give me a competitive advantage, and encourage
customers to return to my business in the future.
Question 5 -
I decided to ask the 21 people
that took part in my survey, if they
had purchased or considered
purchasing a sweet box online
before, to get an understanding of
what the demand for the sweet
boxes I will be selling is like. This
is important because if my
potential customers have
purchased sweet boxes online
before and have had a good
experience, or if my potential
customers have considered
purchasing a sweet box online
before, then they are likely to buy
one from my business, and this
will be important for me to begin
to make sales and break even
when I am starting up my business. From this survey, I know that there is a demand for
sweet boxes, as 57.1% (12 respondents) said that they have previously purchased or
considered purchasing a sweet box online before. It is important to know that there is a
demand for the products I will be selling before setting up my business to ensure that I can
make the sales that I need in order to pay suppliers and make a profit to keep my business
running smoothly in the future.
Question 6 -
In order to gain an
understanding of how often
customers would buy sweet
boxes from my business, I
asked respondents to rate
from 1 to 5 how regularly
they will be buying sweet
boxes in the future, with 1
being the least often, and 5
being the most often. This
also links with the fact that
, 52.4% of respondents said that they would like to order a weekly or monthly sweet box
subscription.
From this primary data, I can see that the majority of customers would buy sweet boxes fairly
regularly, with one-third of respondents (7) choosing 4 out of 5 for this question, and 28.6%
(6) respondents saying they would buy sweet boxes very regularly in the future. This shows
that demand for sweet boxes is high, from the small number of people I sent this survey to.
Demand for regular sweet boxes was mainly from those ages 10-15 and 16-20, which shows
that I will need to consider these age groups as the target market for my business.
Question 7 -
It is important to
understand what price my
potential customers will be
willing to pay when my
business is running, so that
I do not charge too high of
a price which could turn
customers away from my
business and make them
buy from a competitor’s
business instead. While I
aim to keep my business
prices competitive, it is
important to know what the
majority of the respondents
for my survey said that they
would be willing to pay so I
can make sure that customers feel like they are getting good value for money which will
make them more likely to return to my business, and possibly recommend my business to
their friends and family. From the result of this question on my survey, 66.7% (14
respondents) said that they would be willing to pay between £7 to £9.99, with 28.6% of
respondents saying that they would be willing to pay more than this between £10 to £11.99.
This shows that pricing my sweet boxes at £9.49 each, including delivery costs, will be
accepted by my potential customers, while still allowing my business to make a considerable
amount of revenue in order to pay for running costs, such as website fees, and revenue to
pay suppliers in order to buy more supplies to expand the range of products I offer, as
respondents have told me in this survey that they would like a variety of products to choose
from in their sweet boxes.
