Strategic Marketing: Objective Planning for ShopNiche

ShopNiche Objective Planning
Your Name
Subject and Section
Professor’s Name Date
Table of Contents & Figures
Table of Contents
Introduction………………………………………………………………………………..4
Body……………………………………………………………………………………….4
Macrochallenges……………………………………………………………………...4
Platform Development…………………………………………………………...4
Organizational Structure…………………………………………………………5
Logistical Processes……………………………………………………………...6
Consumer Base Increase…………………………………………………………6
Macro-SWOTS……………………………………………………………………….6
Strengths…………………………………………………………………………7
Weaknesses………………………………………………………………………8
Opportunities……………………………………………………………………..8
Threats……………………………………………………………………………9
Positioning……………………………………………………………………………9
Positioning Statement……………………………………………………………9
Positioning by Benefits…………………………………………………………10
Positioning by Product Class…………………………………………………...10
Positioning against competitors………………………………………………...10
Market Segmentation………………………………………………………………..11
Segment Profiles…………………………………………………………………….11
Collectors for Social Status……………………………………………………..12
Hobbyists……………………………………………………………………….12
Resellers………………………………………………………………………...13
Microchallenges……………………………………………………………………..13
Micro-SWOTs……………………………………………………………………….14
Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………….15
References………………………………………………………………………………..16
Table of Figures
Table 1. Macro-SWOTs for ShopNiche Analysis…………………………………………6
Table 2. Micro-SWOTs for ShopNiche Analysis………………………………………..14
ShopNiche
ShopNiche Online Shopping Site for a variety of consumer products Understanding the importance of the internal dynamics of a company as well as the external circumstances that could affect its profitability is essential for any manager. It allows him to have a better overview of the company's chances of success and strategize on utilizing the company's product offering to optimally target a specific market need. In this article, the author would like to focus on creating an objective plan for ShopNiche. As stated before, ShopNiche is an eCommerce platform that focuses on a niche and specialized product categories that could not usually be found in other marketplaces like Amazon, eBay, and Walmart, among others. In order to conduct this analysis, the author would like to focus on the following aspects: (1) Macro challenges, (2) Macro SWOTs, (3) Positioning, (4) Market Segmentation, (5) Segment Profiles, (6) Micro Challenges, and (7) Micro SWOTs. Each of these instances will be discussed in great detail to cover possible contingencies and improve the company's probability of success.  

1. I.                   Macro Challenges

            The first thing to consider in the development of a new product/service is the Macro Challenges that must be addressed to start the business's operability. Accordingly, the author would provide the four critical macro-challenges with regards to ShopNiche's startup process, namely, (1) platform development, (2) organizational structure, and (3) logistical operations, and (4) consumer base increase. Each of these would be discussed in greater detail in the following sections.   1.1  Platform Development ü  Objective: We will launch our Minimum Viable Product (MVP) five (5) months after product development.             The first macro challenge for ShopNiche's startup is launching the minimum viable product, which is an application that would serve as the company's eCommerce platform. According to Yarmosh (2019), creating a medium-sized and complex application usually takes about 4 – 6 months of the development process. Accordingly, eCommerce platforms are considered medium to highly complex applications due to the number of features and systems they incorporate. On the one hand, the time frame of 5 months considers the company's preference over efficiency and speed-to-market approach on the part of the developers, since a very long time frame would increase both the principal costs and the risks of failure. On the other hand, the author also considered providing a one-month margin of error from the minimum time of producing an application (4 months) to make sure that the number of bugs could be reduced even in the minimum viable product to at least provide an excellent impression to beta users.  Nonetheless, this macro challenge's primary focus is to balance between speed-to-market approach and quality in developing the initial application that ShopNiche would release to the public.     1.2  Organizational Structure ü  Objective: Have a 'flat' organization with around 6 members working on a variety of tasks 5 months after product launch. The second objective for ShopNiche is to be able to form a flat organizational structure, with exactly 6 members, 5 months after the initial product launch. This objective is in line with the organization's focus on consistent innovation and open-communication aside from the speed-to-market approach and efficiency as provided above. First, the reason for limiting the number of initial members is to save on the company's operational costs. In one study done by Kumar and Petersen (2016), the authors found out that eCommerce startups that reduce their operating costs increase their chances of success in the long run for it improves the "level of their service offerings." Second, the preference on the use of a flat organizational structure aims to encourage product innovation through consistent feedback from other members (Arad, Hanson, & Schneider, 1997).   1.3  Logistical Processes ü  Objective: To partner with at least one (1) logistics company to reduce delivery times within one year of operations. This macro challenge focuses on improving the expediency of ShopNiche's delivery times. Generally, it must be noted that while delivery times for some companies (primarily Amazon) could be about a day or two, dropshipping websites (i.e., individual Shopify websites) could have delivery times that could be as long as two to three weeks (Oberlo.com, 2020). Although ShopNiche aims to reach same-day delivery services in the future, creating massive warehouses that could improve this process is not viable in both the short- and medium-term. Thus, in order to develop 'attainable' and 'consistent' results, one of the main challenges is to partner with logistic companies.     1.4. Consumer Base Increase ü  Objective:  To have at least five thousand (5000) active and recurring app users five-months after product launch. This macro challenge is in line with the company's goal to increase its consumer base as a part of the initial users of its minimum viable product. Five thousand users would be more than enough to gain sufficient feedback that is crucial for continuously improving and developing mobile applications for future users. However, since the marketing budget is still limited during this phase, the author hopes to utilize a 'word-of-mouth' approach by targeting strategic consumer segments looking for the products being sold by ShopNiche.  

1. 2.      Macro SWOTs 

Table 1 MACRO-SWOTs for ShopNiche Analysis

	Internal	External
Positive	Strengths ü  Members with multiple expertise ü  Innovative and user-friendly application ü  Crypto-currency payments enabled	Opportunities ü  If there is a consistent increase in consumers who use eCommerce, then there will be more consumer base that ShopNiche would be able to tap. ü  If there is an increase in the isolated niche and specialized marketplaces, then ShopNiche would be able to improve its profit margins relative to dominant competitors ü  If there is an increase in the use of crypto-currencies, then there will be more shoppers who would use the ShopNiche platform
Negative	Weaknesses ü  Lack of strong logistical network ü  Long delivery times ü  Lack of dedicated consumer support agents for client queries	Threats ü  If there are low barriers to entry, then more small and medium sellers could chip way from ShopNiche’s profit margins ü  In there is a difficulty in specialized and targeted marketing approaches, then both advertisement costs and return-on-advertisement (ROA) would increase. ü  If there would be more restrictive government regulations on eCommerce platforms, then ShopNiche’s operations might be hampered.

  2.1.Strengths             The Macro Strengths for ShopNiche are (1) organizational diversity, (2) Innovative and user-friendly application, and (3) options to pay using crypto-currency.             First, organizational diversity in terms of background, skills, and expertise would allow for ShopNiche's objectives of reducing operational costs, increasing innovation and 'speed-to-market' times, and increasing efficiency and collaboration within the workforce. This is in line with one study done by Kaiser and Mül...