Introduction 2
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Aims and objectives 2
Market research 3
Competitor analysis 4
Findings 7
Conclusion and recommendations 7
References 9
Appendix 10
Introduction:
Preston market is a famous market in Lancaster County, UK. It is an innovative market that operates with the concept of box market. It started its business in 1875 and had various types of business category, such as, groceries, fish, poultry, delicatessens, meat shops, and big assortment of small stores of clothes, accessories and toys (Preston Guild City 2018). It was renovated and refurbished in 2018 and currently presents a new Market Hall along with refurbished second hand and outdoor markets. The Preston Box Market is built under some parts of the 1920s Fish Market Canopy that uses shipping containers as trading stores, which make the market as the box market of Preston (Preston City Council 2018). This paper presents a consultancy plan for venture development over the Preston market in Lancaster. The paper will contain research over the present conditions of the Preston market and will also contain other elements that are significant for suggesting further recommendations for further development of the Preston Box Market. Both the primary and secondary research will be conducted for the venture development plan. Primary data for the study will be collected through a survey and the secondary data on the Preston Box Market will be collected from various secondary sources, such as, journals, books, newspaper articles, annual reports and websites. The internal and competitor analysis will also be done to showcase the competitiveness of the market.
Aims and objectives
The aim of the venture development plan by Sterling Consultancy is to gather extensive knowledge about the environmental aspect of the Preston market, which would be used for developing a further improvement plan for the market for both B2B and B2C business. A strategic plan will be developed by considering the research findings from both the primary and secondary data on the environment and competitive situation of the Preston Market.
The objectives of this research by Sterling Consultancy are:
To evaluate the current marketing environment for the Preston box market
To examine the potential ways, which can be used to further develop the market for the B2b and B2C business
To find out the potential barrier or challenges in the path of further development of the box market in Preston
To recommend potential solution to overcome the challenges or barriers in further development
Market research
Primary research
Primary research has been conducted through a market survey on some consumers of the market to find out the pros and cons of the Preston market. The research is assumed to beneficial for gathering outcome on various aspects of the market and to find out the loopholes that need to be addressed by the traders to improve their services for both the B2B and B2C businesses.
Secondary research
The Preston Box Market in Lancaster County, UK has gone through various changes in terms of operations and renovations. Once the market was started as a local market, and in the latter half of the past century, the market was renovated and refurbished. The shipping containers are now used as the trading stores and since mid-February 2018, the market has been operating under some parts of the fish market canopy (Preston Guild City 2018). There are two areas of the renovated market, indoor and outdoor. The indoor section of the market contains two parts, the box market and the market hall. The box market has gained immense curiosity among the local residents and the traders are providing some best trading experiences to the consumers (Preston City Council 2018). This report aims to gather information from the consumers as a primary data and provide suggestions to the traders to make improvements in their services.
The market offers both the fresh produce and some refurbished product types, such as, furniture, phones, electronics etc. Gathering customers for these type of products was a challenge for the market as majority of the consumers prefer first hand products than the second hand products (BBC.com 2013). Return or exchange policy regarding these products are also not clear and unambiguous, which makes some of the consumers apprehensive about the purchases. Thus, the traders have the responsibility to assure the consumers about the refurbished products and thus, various marketing strategies should be adopted.
Competitor analysis
Porter’s five forces tool was applied by Sterling Consultancy for the competitor analysis for the Preston market. The analysis is as follows.
Threat of new entrants: The concept of the market is not much innovative except for the use of the shipping containers and opening a space for the refurbished products. Any new player can enter the market with similar product offering and attractive pricing and promotional activities. This would affect both the B2B and B2C business. Thus, this threat is high .
Threat of substitutes: This threat is quite high , as with increasing number of shopping malls, supermarkets and online shopping sites that sell the similar fresh as well as refurbished products, the B2B and B2C businesses are getting affected for the Preston market.
Bargaining power of buyers: As mentioned above, the buyers now have access to various shopping channels for the fresh foods and refurbished products, which can be more convenient for them in terms of price, location, availability, condition, and quality, and thus, the bargaining power of the buyers, that is, B2C businesses are high .
Bargaining power of suppliers: The market has mostly local suppliers, especially for the food items, who do not have much bargaining powers. The competitors of the Preston market are quite large and have a larger supply network than the Preston market. Hence, the bargaining power of the suppliers is quite low .
Industry rivalry: There are various supermarkets and grocery stores in the UK, such as, Tesco, Aldi, Waitrose etc., which have opened chain stores to make the access convenient for both the B2B and B2C businesses, and those stores offer similar products and sometimes at a cheaper price. Thus, industry rivalry for Preston market is high .
Sterling Consultancy has applied the SWOT analysis for assessing the environment of the Preston Box Market. This analytical tool is beneficial for identifying the possible strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the Preston market and the findings would be useful for providing recommendation to the market authorities for improving the services (Bull et al. 2016).
Strengths
High historical significance with a market history of around 200 years
Highly advanced architectural design after renovation
Located in the middle of the Preston town and thus has geographical advantage
Easy transport and parking facilities
Access to a wide variety of locally grown produce and organic fresh food products, such as, fruits and vegetables, dairy products, meat etc
Weaknesses
Open area market space is not suitable during harsh weather conditions
Lack of hygienic sanitation facilities
Lack of proper signage and cleanliness in some of the box shops, that turns off the customers
Opportunities
Preston was named the most improved city in the UK (Partington 2018) as the city is growing rapidly and hence the market has got the potential to become one of the leading markets in that region.
The neighborhood supermarkets and grocery stores do not offer food for special communities, such as, the Halal foods, which this market can offer and gain popularity among the Muslim Communities.
There is a large student population in the Preston area, which can be beneficial for the growth if tapped correctly
Threats
Lack of proper marketing activities by the traders to increase awareness of the consumers and gain more popularity among new target markets
Lack of promotional and discount offers during the festive occasions, which other competitors offer
Deficiency in the hygiene maintenance
Findings
From both the primary and secondary research, it has been found that the customers, both the B2B and B2C categories, need to be aware about the product quality, especially in case of the refurbished products. The customers are mostly unaware about the new products that the suppliers bring in the market due to lack of proper marketing activity. Many customers are unsure about the warrantee and maintenance services for the refurbished products, which make them apprehensive about the purchases. Furthermore, many customers do not like the unhygienic sanitation of the market and hence, the footfalls are decreasing. Lack of discount or festive offers is also another factor that makes the customers go to other competitors.
Conclusion and recommendations
From the above analysis, it can be concluded that Preston Box Market has quite a few opportunities to grow and increase their popularity between both the B2B and B2C businesses. O improve their business, following are the recommendations that should be followed by the Preston market.
The market should engage in more competitive marketing strategies to reach out to both the B2B and B2C businesses. Promotional activities should be taken into consideration for attracting both the business and individual customers. Both the indoor and outdoor traders in the Preston market should engage into organizing events during the weekends and festive seasons to increase customer awareness as well as popularity.
They should also give discount pricing to attract the students of the neighboring region.
There should be warrantee for the products to assure the customers regarding maintenance service.
Furthermore, the market development authority should focus on maintaining a more hygienic sanitation throughout the market area and more advanced technique for maintenance of the new infrastructure.
References
Partington, R., 2018. Preston named as most improved city in UK. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/nov/01/preston-named-as-most-most-improved-city-in-uk [Accessed 8 Jan. 2019].
Preston City Council, 2018. Box Market – Preston Markets. [online] Available at: www.preston.gov.uk: https://www.preston.gov.uk/properties/property/139/ [Accessed 8 Jan. 2019].
Preston Guild City, 2018. Preston Markets. [online] Available at: www.prestonguildcity.co.uk: http://www.prestonguildcity.co.uk/visit/shopping/preston-markets/ [Accessed 8 Jan. 2019].
Bbc.com, 2013. New proposals for Preston’s market hall. BBC. [online] Available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-lancashire-22456485 [Accessed 8 Jan. 2019].
Bull, J.W., Jobstvogt, N., Böhnke-Henrichs, A., Mascarenhas, A., Sitas, N., Baulcomb, C., Lambini, C.K., Rawlins, M., Baral, H., Zähringer, J. and Carter-Silk, E., 2016. Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats: A SWOT analysis of the ecosystem services framework. Ecosystem Services , 17 , pp.99-111.
Appendix
Preston Box Market Survey
Preston Box Market wants to serve the customers better and hence, this survey is being conducted in order to find out what you think about the market and how the services can be improved in the future. Please spare some of your valuable time to give your feedback. Thank you.
Are you a resident of the Preston area?
Yes
No
Do you visit Preston box market frequently?
Yes
No
How well Preston market fulfills you needs?
Extremely well
Very well
Somewhat well
Not so well
Not at all well
How likely do you prefer to purchase fresh foods from the Preston market?
Highly likely
Likely
Neutral
Unlikely
Highly unlikely
How likely do you prefer to purchase refurbished goods from the Preston market?
Highly likely
Likely
Neutral
Unlikely
Highly unlikely
To what extent you are satisfied with the sanitation facility at the market?
Highly satisfied
Satisfied
Neutral
Dissatisfied
Highly dissatisfied
Do you have any suggestion or review for us where we can take improvement measures?