印度巴基斯坦食品连锁店的Marketing Essay

成立于1990年的亚洲美食城就像是一个中型的印度/巴基斯坦的食品连锁店，但它在消费者基础和收益方面做得还不够完善。
 

SWOT 分析
 

我们应当先为公司做一个SWOT分析，这样我们才可以更好地理解公司的现状。
 

优势
 

这是一个中等大小的组织，这样的组织规模将有助于公司快速做出决策。
印度/巴基斯坦的食物正是亚大陆社会所需要的。
公司遍布伦敦地区，可以方便地访问客户。
 

劣势
 

财政资源缺乏和较低的市场质量水平。
公司无法满足不断变化和日益增长的客户需求和要求。
公司无法理解客户关系管理的重要性。

公司无法营业快餐连锁店，得到了亚大陆社区的关注的同时也受到了希拉尔食品企业的威胁。
 

机遇
 

公司可以扩大其业务，占据更大的市场份额来满足客户不断变化的要求。
公司可以通过建立客户关系管理和关系营销计划来赢得客户的信任，这将是获得更好的市场份额和收入的关键。
通过理解和采纳客户对公司的要求，并不断改进公司服务方式，公司将会获得更多顾客的信任的。
 

Asian food palace is a medium sized Indian/Pakistani food chain established in 1990 and currently not doing well in terms of customer base and revenues.
 

SWOT 分析———SWOT Analysis
 

We shall start with doing SWOT analysis for the company so that we can have better understanding of organization’s current standing.
 

优势———Strengths
 

A medium sized organization, size of organization will help in quick decision making

Indian/Pakistani food, to serve the need of Sub-continental community

Geographically spread in London, giving easy access to customers
 

劣势———Weakness
 

Lack of financial resources to operate and market on mass level

Company was unable to understand the changing and increasing customer needs and demands

Company was unable to understand the importance or customer relationship management

Company was unable to respond to fast food chains that are also getting attention of sub continental community and also coming into Hilal Food business
 

机遇———Opportunities
 

Company can grow its business and get larger market share my adopting and recognizing changing customer needs

Company can win customer loyalty by establishing a customer relationship management, and relationship marketing programs, that will ultimately result in better market share and revenues

By understanding and adopting to customers need company can also modify and modernize its menu, that will result in more loyal customers
 

挑战 ———Threats
 

Failure to adopt the changing market dynamics can result in continuous drop in business

More players can enter into market with better marketing and similar products and can win the larger market share

Diverse needs and demand of younger generation, if unmet, can take the whole market share to fast food chains.
 

PEST分析———PEST Analysis
 

We shall also perform the PEST analysis to see what this industry is all about and what are external factors influencing the decision making and customer dynamics in this industry.
 

政治因素———Political Factors
 

Food industry being health sensitive industry is highly influenced by Governmental regulations.
 

经济因素———Economic Factors
 

As target market being price sensitive, economic conditions are relevant to purchase behavior of the consumer. Economic condition also effect on the operating costs and raw material cost.
 

社会因素———Social Factors
 

If we talk about the marketing of Asian food, there are groups of people who want to eat traditional food, the kind of food which is made in their home land, there are also group of people who want to have food as reason for getting together and there is also a major significant group who want to have “Hilal” or “Vegetarian” food, these are group of people who are willing to stay connected to their values. And these are the customers of Asian foods.
 

技术因素———Technological Factors
 

By the introduction of free home delivery, CRM tools, web based customer management and order delivery tools, this industry is also being effected and being transformed into a technology user industry. Automation of food making processes, supply chain management, and practices by large fast food chains have also pushed the small player to adopt the current advancements and bring in technology into play and start using modern tool such as CRM.
 

This is inevitable that any food chain whether small, medium or large cannot operate efficiently and effectively without having its self transformed and adapted to such practices. Reason behind is that customer is more educated, demanding and conscious then ever.#p#分页标题#e#
 

客户分析———Customer Analysis
 

Customer of Asian food is price conscious and well as taste conscious, such customer are more demanding in terms of variety of food and originality of the taste, these customers also have the choice and acceptability of taking local food such as fast food, that also gives them more convenience. The target market of Asian food is also the one who want to stick to Hilal Food or who is Vegetarian, more over there is also a group of European people who want to try and adopt Asian food, and this is the market segment which can also become a growing market and profit proposition for the company.
 

Keeping these dynamics in mind we can portrait the customer of Asian Food Palace as more demanding in terms of variety and taste, as well they will also be having an eye on the price, the convenience factor can also play the role for winning their loyalty.
 

关系营销的原因———Why Relationship Marketing
 

The marketing commentators now have started saying that there is a shift in the marketing landscape, now customers are different, they have more control over what they think and how they perceive and react to different offerings, now there is shift in marketing strategies of organizations in a way that there is a diversion towards relationship marketing, which is more cost effective, creative and defensive strategy, resulting in lower costs of acquiring new customers, and saving by retaining the loyal customers. Winning the loyalty of customers has many advantages, such as loyal customers are the advocators of the product and bring more customers along with no marketing cost (Kotler & Armstrong, 2007). They are also ready to pay premium prices; loyalty also increases the switching barriers, so winning the loyalty of customer is always a safe bet.
 

Various researches have also shown that loyal customers are more profitable and cost of retaining a customer is much cheaper then cost of bringing a new customer, researches have also shown that a little increase in customer retentions as low as 5% can increase the profit by 25% to 85% depending upon the industry.
 

关系营销理论———Relationship Marketing Theory
 

Here we will discuss various relationship marketing theories that applicable to food industry; let’s first see that what relationship marketing is.Customer relationship marketing is a framework of one-on-one relationships that starts after a customer has been acquired to create lifelong partners (Best, 2009; Peppers & Rogers, 2006).
 

Here we can see that relationship marketing take a defensive approach in contrast to offensive marketing; having a focus on building a one-on-one relationship with customers and thus increasing the time for which customer is loyal with the brand.#p#分页标题#e#
 

This theory also suggests that all the functions of the organizations should be stream lined in a way that they should create maximum value for the customer by building relationship, and engaging consumers. There are two parts of relationship marketing theory, Satisfaction and Retention.
 

留置———Retention
 

Retention is the key component of relationship marketing, through the programs that are mutually beneficial for the customer and company (Coyles & Gokey, 2002). Whereas “many companies in competing markets will redirect or allocate large amounts of resources or attention towards customer retention as in markets with increasing competition it may cost 5 times more to attract new customers than it would to retain current customers, as direct or "offensive" marketing requires much more extensive resources to cause defection from competitors. However, it is suggested that because of the extensive classic marketing theories center on means of attracting customers and creating transactions rather than maintaining them, the majority usage of direct marketing used in the past is now gradually being used more alongside relationship marketing as its importance becomes more recognizable (Coyles & Gokey, 2002).
 

Traditional marketing and relationship marketing can be practiced side by side, balance can be made between the focus on creating on new customers and as well as managing and retaining the old customers. This balancing approach can also result in maximum profit and revenue objectives.
 

Talking about food industry which we are discussing in our case study, we can see that relationship marketing can be practiced in small food chain as well like the one Asian Food Palace. CRM can be a very helpful tool to achieve such objectives. Technology plays a key role in relationship marketing, after the Internet revolution it is not only easy to manage relationships with customers but Internet has made this relationship more interactive, however there is also a challenge associated with it, according to research most of the customers do not put the correct information in web portal and tend to hide the actual information. The challenge is to create and maintain the level of trust between the company and customer that can also be achieved by having and trusted brand name and winning the brand loyalty in the longer run. Call centers, personalized mails direct marketing are also the tools that can help achieve relationship building.
 

对亚洲美食城的建议———Recommendations for Asian Food Palace
 

Keeping in mind the food industry and organizational dynamics, we have made some recommendations that can help Asian Food Palace build the relationship with their customers and also help them achieve their business objectives.
 

Starting from application of CRM software, where customer’s data such as age, gender, and buying pattern, comments and preferences can be stored, this data will help in modifying the product, customization of product and have a better decision making regarding upcoming promotions.
 

Asian Food Palace should introduce the mass customization for their products, a program where their customers can customize their standard product with their variety of tastes, more over they can also order their own food depending on their taste, that customization will help them build more loyalty with the food chain and will provide the company with competitive edge.
 

Company should also have their online presence, where they can interact with customers, get their feedback, educate them for new and upcoming offerings, improve their products by getting the taste feedback from customers. Company can use its own website to have the online order management system that should also facilitate free home delivery. Company should also use social media marketing to build relationships with customers.
 

Moving forward company can start loyalty programs where customers can be given loyalty cards, and that cards then later be used to avail discounts. Customers referral programs can also be made in which customers who refer other customers can avail further discounts.
 

Company can also start special recognition programs where very loyal customers can be given gifts or free vouchers for the family, this recognition may be given to very frequent visitors. Company can also start a community building program where different community member can get together in one or two restaurants of the company and share ideas related to Asian food, they can also bring their European friends to get them used to the taste of Asian foods, they can also share food ideas and these ideas can also be made part of the menu, the best idea of the month can win a price. This active involvement of the community can also win the loyalty and also will increase the relevance with the brand that will not only result in customer retention but also bring new customers.
 

One step ahead on relationship building company can start education program for their customers where they can teach customers about the high hygienic value and nutritional value of Asian foods. A dedicated call center can also be established to cater on phone orders and every order’s database should be maintained to recognized the buying pattern, this database can also be used for one to one, highly personalized marketing for upcoming offering, more over such databases are also useful for personal marketing and cold calls.
 

These are a few examples where Asian Food Palace can work on and build a relationship marketing base, however possibilities are unlimited and only need is to understand the importance of relationship building and work in the same direction.#p#分页标题#e#