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Dollar Shave Club Post Unilever
Student Name
Institutional Affiliation
Dollar Shave Club Post Unilever
Since 2011, Dollar Shave Club has focused on male personal grooming. In 2016, Unilever acquired Dollar Club for $1 billion (Wade, 2016). While this may appear as an attempt by a large company to overpay for a small company, an examination of the acquisition indicates both strategic and tactical benefits that accrue to Unilever. In the U.S., Gillette and Schick are the dominant players in the razor industry, with a combined market share of 80%. Before the acquisition, the business owned about 10% of the market. Unilever was not an important participant in the razor industry, hence it termed the acquisition of the company as an entry point to the lucrative market. The following is an analysis of segmentation and targeting of the Dollar Shave Club Company post-Unilever acquisition.
Step 1: Defining and Value Drivers for the Category
The key value drivers for Dollar Shave Club are loyalty, product-market fit, flexibility, customer experience, and price. The company uses these values to increase its market share in the razor market. Over the years, company has used these value drivers to increase sales. For instance, through the subscription model, clients can a restock box when they run out of the products (Trivedi, 2017). Building stronger customer loyalty has enabled the company to increase sales and retain clients. Further, Dollar Shave Club has identified its primary market to be men. Step 2: Segmenting the market
The segmentation of Dollar Shave Club’s products falls under two major categories; retail and consumer segmentation. The retailers are involved in the selling of the products to the final consumers. This segment is critical for the company because the retailers link the company with the consumers. The second category comprises of consumers. These purchase the razors for personal use. The major target group in this category are the men who form 80% of the customers.
Value Analysis Matrix
Attributes
Consumer
Retail
Loyalty
High
Low
Product-market fit
Low
Medium-High
Flexibility
Low
High
Customer experience
High
Medium-High
Price
High
High
Step 3: Assessing the Segment Attractiveness
Both the retail and consumer segments are attractive to Dollar Shave Club. The attractiveness of the consumer segment is high due to the increasing demand for products from the company. While the company entered into a market that was dominated by major players like Gillette, it has been received well by clients. At the same time, retailers have been instrumental in distributing the products to the clients. The company uses them to access the market.
Step 4: Assessing Segment Compatibility
Segment compatibility indicates the degrees at which a company can create superior value for the segment. As a result, evaluating the competition is critical in determining how consumers evaluate the offerings of the company (Chernev, 2018). The main competitor for Dollar Shave Club is Gillette which hold approximately 54% of the razor market. Other companies in the market include Schick and Bic. The table below indicates the comparability analysis for the consumer segment.
Attributes
Dollar Shave Club
Gillette
Schick
Bic
Loyalty
Medium
High
Medium
Medium
Product-market fit
High
High
Low
High
Flexibility
High
Medium
Medium
Medium
Customer experience
Medium
High
Low
Low
Price
High
Low
Low
Medium
The analysis demonstrates that the company has done well in terms of offering favorable prices, product-market fit and flexibility. However, the company needs ...