MARKETING DYNAMICS
Table of Contents
Marketing theory and application. 6
Human resource management of Matalan. 6
Customer relationship management of Matalan. 7
Recommendation and conclusion. 8
Evaluation of tools and techniques. 10
Introduction
From the day “Matalan” opened its doors in 1985 to the present day, more than thirty years later, the company’s objective has remained equal: to deliver modern families with great quality and reliability. Every day, Matalan takes the patience to pay attention, comprehend, and develop in order to meet the growing demands of modern families, always with just a focus on offering the greatest quality clothes and housewares at the most competitive prices. Every year, 12 million family groups in the United Kingdom place their confidence in Matalan to manage their household finances by providing customers with the choice, fashion, excellence, and price that they require to operate a lovely family environment. Matalan is a renowned U.K. and global omnichannel retail company that sells everything from women’s and men’s clothing to home accessories and furnishings (Zaim et al. 2020). Matalan caters to people of all ages and interests. At the end of April 2019, Matalan had impressive numbers of 230 UK locations and thirty different franchisees around Europe and the Middle East, all of which were backed by a rapidly expanding online medium. Customers enjoy purchasing at Matalan for a number of reasons, including their handy stores, late-night hours, easy car parks, “everything under one roof” offerings, and quick click-and-collect facilities.
Matalan is proud to support community members and charity organizations, with a special emphasis on the “NSPCC” and the “Alder Hey Children’s Hospital Charity”, among others. As a profitable family-owned company, Matalan aspires to change things for the better in people’s daily lives and to make a contribution by collecting funds and spreading awareness of the important work that charity performs. This clothing retail company announced significant strong digital growth in online platforms in its final results, and the store now wants to even further enhance its internet operation as the company recovers from a period of financial hardship. The company’s ability to boost sales digitally allowed it to achieve positive year-over-year results. However, it was unable to avoid a pre-tax deficit on the end result.
Marketing activities
Matalan made significant investments inside its mobile application and website, including its retail estate, throughout the course of the year, in addition to making shopping more convenient for customers. The company has concentrated its efforts on improving search, payment, and navigation, and it expects this concentration to remain as more of its consumers make purchases online either across several channels. The business has launched five additional stores, some of which are smaller capacity outlets in city centres, and has allowed its outlets to serve as collecting places for 3rd party shipments for merchants such as Amazon.com. It also featured in-store purchasing, which was facilitated by marketing staff members. Customers benefit from the gaze design, which provides them with increased ease and efficiency while also increasing their cost productivity (Rashid and Barnes, 2017). They want to implement this across the entire shop estate within the next year. Other improvements have included improved supply chain management, which was put into service this year and allowed customers to choose from a variety of online shipping alternatives. This has begun testing RFID for the completion of online purchases from shops, which will be extremely beneficial in increasing their digital capability while simultaneously lowering the fulfilment expenses of the online medium.
Figure 1: Matalan clothing products ranked by number of consumers
Source: (Statista, 2021)
Enhancing the trendiness of the offering is proven to become a difficult task, given that Matalan caters to the entire family and must accommodate a larger spectrum of interests. However, if the company’s performance keeps improving, there appears to become a potential to increase Matalan’s share of the market once again. Matalan is increasing its visibility on the main street with the establishment of smaller size outlets in city centres, and the company is also ramping up its digital presence to promote the multimedia expansion of the business. As being one of the earliest merchants to begin selling clothes from the far megastores, Matalan has lately expanded its reach to include central city locations. According to the company, upgrades to its apparel collection have allowed more costly sites practical while also allowing the company to better benefit from its multimedia advantages by growing brand recognition. It thinks it can distinguish itself from competition in its base fundamentals line by offering superior quality. However, its more stylish categories are supplied at costs that are intended to attract people in the middle of the market. Omni-channel marketing is a new norm (Baum, 2018). It is imperative that the complete supply chain from research to purchase to delivery is put at the user’s convenience. Decreased foot traffic in brick-and-mortar businesses is prompting some organizations to link their websites and physical stores, as well as their inventories in warehouses, in terms of giving products to consumers as quickly as feasible.
Adding in-store transactions to the consumer’s previous online purchasing experiences can also assist build trust. Therefore, Matalan also integrated their inventory management system in an effective manner to run the business more efficiently and increase consumers’ trust and loyalty. The use of product alerts is one of the most effective techniques of informing clients about the items they need in order to do their duties effectively. Marketing tools such as price alerts for existing customers, promotional discounts, and back-in-stock notifications will assist marketers in targeting consumers who have previously been involved with particular items and automating high-conversion messages to boost conversion rates. Matalan Retail Company also provides all details about products and services, such as product details and pricing among their potential consumers. This would also allow businesses to inform customers about the availability of their favourite goods in the store and, as a consequence, encourage them to return to their establishments in the future. A result of being unable to leave the house for more than two months as a result of an uncertain circumstance has led to a rise in web-based information technology.
The majority of people opted to do their “window shopping” from the comfort of their own homes during this period of time. For businesses looking to draw customers to their physical stores, identifying consumers who have bookmarked items in specific categories and notifying them when these items become available at the most competitive pricing may be beneficial. Big businesses may provide a range of promotional discounts to their offline customers in an effort to boost demand and generate traffic. These deals may include freebies and price reductions, among other things. It is possible for businesses to provide their devoted customers with an appointment-based buying experience that is exclusive to them, allowing them to purchase from their chosen brands with lower chances of encountering other consumers during that time period. In order to make the business more effective, this retail company uses a competitive pricing strategy to remain competitive in the large scale of the market. Moreover, a competitive pricing strategy is also helpful to attract and engage more customers towards the business.
Therefore, the business profitability of Matalan also increases gradually. Along with that, the marketing activities of this particular company also increase customer loyalty and trust towards the business. In addition, this company is also adopting the latest technology in their business activities. They are using chatbotschatbots for customer interaction purposes 24/7 to assist all the potential consumers throughout their journey. Additionally, artificial intelligence helps the company to analyses the purchasing behaviours of customers. Based on this analysis, this particular company can understand the overall demands and needs of the consumers and their interests. Therefore, it can create new innovative products or customize existing products to meet the demands of the customers. In this way, they built up a long term beneficial relationship with their consumers.
Marketing theory and application
As part of its efforts to give its consumers an integrated experience both online as well as offline, Matalan is rearranging its product offerings to prioritize customers over channels. The need for merchants to be omnichannel was never more important. In the United Kingdom, 95 per cent of buyers connect with a business through numerous channels, implying that there is currently only a tiny percentage of consumers who adhere to a single line of communication. It’s true that Matalan is still devoted to getting to know its consumers and developing closer working ties with individuals.
Human resource management of Matalan
Managing human resources is a critical job in every firm. It has become more and more critical than it has ever been. Frontline managers are constantly increasingly engaged in “human resource management”, while supervisors are increasingly becoming responsible for the overall management. Additionally, everybody in the business may contribute positively to managing people while also contributing to the overall performance of the company. “Human resource management” encompasses a wide range of processes and projects. In every firm, employees are a valuable resource. Specifically, this is evident in the retail business, which employs a huge number of people and offers a full range of products to its clients. The retail human capital climate is unique in that it includes a large number of staff, long shifts, high visibility staff, a significant number of part-time coworkers, and fluctuations in client demand, among other things. These characteristics also provide issues for merchants. High turnover rate, lack of performance, tardiness, and absences are all possible consequences of having a large amount of unskilled and component employees in a retail organization (Javed and Cheema, 2017). This really is probably a combination of seasonal factors. Untrained employees can apply for retail jobs such as verification clerks, wrappers, equity clerks, and some kinds of sales representatives, which do not demand a solid education, coaching, or talent. Another advantage is that retail roles do not demand a high level of education, mentoring, or expertise.
Some other factor is that people who work for retailing firms are likely to reside in close proximity to the establishments they work for. Furthermore, part-time employees have a relatively simple time quitting their positions. Furthermore, lengthy working time may necessitate the necessity for stores to hire two sessions of personnel. In light of the growing trend toward extended opening hours (evenings and weekends), merchants may consider hiring more employees for evening and night hours. Staff who are very noticeable implies that merchants must keep a careful eye on their performance. Because consumers presently play an increasingly critical function in the retail business and because staff are very accessible to users, merchants must properly choose and educate their workers, paying particular attention to their demeanor and look.
Customer relationship management of Matalan
Customers’ latest transactions, business cards, and contact information are all stored in “Customer Relationship Management”. This assists to keep track of each user’s history, so that the business can learn more about them and their requirements and demands. It is possible to sort clients into different categories so that the retail organization may better serve them by using the data it has gathered about individuals. Market segmentation can be accomplished in this manner. Family, kids, vegetarians and non-vegetarians are just a few of the groups of people that might be in the store. The market’s division aids businesses in developing more effective strategies for serving their clients. The use of CRM software allows a firm to keep track of each and every one of its clients. With this data, it is easy to see which consumers are valuable to a company and which ones are not. Consumers who are loyal and those who aren’t. As a result, the business may better serve its existing clients and, on occasion, reward those who have remained loyal, both of which help to maintain consumer loyalty and attract new consumers (Ahani et al. 2017). As each consumer is tracked through promotions, the firm is able to see what they’re searching for and add an offer for those goods in their email in order to better reach the right customers. When a retail organization uses CRM, managers can keep an eye on the preferences of each individual consumer and see whether the thing they purchased had any issues or was damaged.
In the event that a product is damaged or defective, the company would be able to replace the identical thing at a cheaper price or even deliver free service for customers in order to enhance customer satisfaction rate. It enables the most cost-effective management of consumers. The company can also quickly send out mass messages and emails to keep customers informed about impending sales and promotions, and it also enables them to be treated personally by concentrating on their specific requirements. As a result of the reduced number of employees and assets required to run a CRM, the organization is able to save money.
Recommendation and conclusion
Investment in both digital and offline platforms is extremely important to the merchant, who places equal emphasis on each channel. The fact that 71 percent of U.K. buyers now use the internet to research products and 51 percent use showrooms means that merchants have little space to be selective. In order to develop and improve trends in customer purchasing behavior and better satisfy the requirements and needs of those consumers, Matalan made the decision to implement an omni – channel strategy in the year 2016 to best serve such consumers. In the field of virtual business strategic marketing planning and competitive marketing analysis are extremely important. Each and every organization has their own set of objectives and organizational goals. As the organization grew more the business activities became more difficult in nature. Retail marketing is concerned with the categorization, aiming, placing, and advertising of a retail business, as well as the ways through which this information is communicated to the customer.
The retailer marketing mix refers to the combination of marketing techniques which a retail organization uses in order to achieve its marketing goals. There are six elements that make up the retail marketing mix: the product, the pricing, the location, the promotions, the appearance, the individuals involved, and the quality of customer service. It is necessary to understand the retail business models in order to build a suitable marketing plan for the shop based on the target demographic that will be served. The marketplace is wide and diverse, and the demands of the clients are also diverse. STP marketing is the term used to describe the marketing strategy that emerged as a consequence of segment, target, and position efforts. The appearance of the shop is dictated by the company’s segmentation, target audience, and promotional strategies, all of which are determined by the merchant. This, in turn, determines the kinds of communication mixture that the shop will use to interact with the customers.
The company’s marketing plan is not complete without effective communication. Communications is mainly used to tell consumers about the business, the products, and the services provided by the store. It also functions as a technique for establishing the company’s identity among customers. The store may communicate with customers through a variety of platforms and methods. Publicity, marketing promotion, media affairs, exposure, and direct marketing are some of the most commonly used methods. A retailer is a firm that sells items or services to customers for their personal or professional use. Retailers may be found in every industry. Retailers make an effort to meet the demands of their customers by providing the appropriate item, at the appropriate cost, in the correct place, and also at the time of their choosing. Retailers also serve as marketplaces for manufacturers to sell their goods. In a supply system that connects producers with customers.
A channel of distribution is a group of companies that involve the transfer of goods from one place of source to the final purchase to the end customer. The Matalan retail company can use the marketing mix strategy to increase their business growth in the large scale of the market (Gil-Gomez et al. 2020). Moreover, STP marketing strategy is also helpful for this retail company to increase their product sales among the potential customer. In this study there is a brief of overall human resource management and customer relationship management that are beneficial for this company to develop and improve their different marketing strategy. Moreover, this report indicates that the company is investing more funds in their digital marketing and advertising purposes to attract more consumers towards the business. A well-structured human resource management helps the retail company to engage more talent and expert employees that obviously enhances the quality of different kinds of business activities. In addition, Matalan is using artificial intelligence and chatbotschatbots to increase customer interaction in an effective way. Moreover, artificial intelligence is also analyzing the customer’s purchasing behavior to generate information about their preferences and taste. Therefore, this particular company is able to make new innovative products. They also customize existing products to meet the demands and needs of the customers. Along with that, with demographic and psychographic analysis this company is gathering information about the market trend and market position. Competitive pricing strategy is one of the most effective steps taken by Matalan.
This company is maintaining their competitive market position through competitive pricing strategy. The primary objective of this company is to provide good quality products at lower cost than other competitors. Most importantly, Matalan always pays attention to their loyal and potential customers and develops a long-term beneficial relationship. Good connection with customers, exclusive service, and lower price increases the customer satisfaction rate and loyalty and attracts more loyal customers towards the business.
Evaluation of tools and techniques
Everything else that constitutes a contemporary kind of business of Matlana company is ineffective unless it is based on human endeavor, as well as the management’s ability to lead all aspects of the organization’s activities.
Regardless of the sort of cooperative project, it is impossible to overstate the value of the individual aspect. It’s well-known that a company’s ability to function effectively rests less all over Matlana company’s material overall financial resources than on its pool of capable and willing workers (Tehseen et al. 2020). It is because of the unique properties of the human component that it is so important. This is the sole resource that is capable of generating an output that exceeds its own consumption. Humans alone have the ability to generate more than the sum of their parts through a motivated creative process. There isn’t anything else that can accomplish this. As time passes, the value of human capital rises. As time goes on, individuals grow more knowledgeable and adept. When it comes to other resources, this is not the case.
Humans are the most complicated and unpredictable of all the resources we have at our disposal. In order for a manager to encourage their employees, there is no one-size-fits-all recipe. Employee enthusiasm, innovation, loyalty and dedication cannot be bought; they can only be earned (Siras, and Sharma, 2019). A manager may purchase time, physical presence and expert muscular movements but he cannot buy employee initiative, enthusiasm, loyalty as well as devotion; they can only be earned. Every person has a unique story to tell. As a result, each person has a unique set of mental frames. So they can’t even be used interchangeably, let alone standardized. Basically, this means that no one in an organization may be treated the same way.
It is important for managers to adjust their approach to each employee’s behaviors, attitudes, requirements and desires in order to get them to perform at their best. This is a huge undertaking, and one that must be met head-on.the use of funds and resources to achieve organizational goals is ensured (Siras, and Sharma, 2019). Matlana company’s goals will not be met without human endeavor. Everything that goes on in a business is a direct result of the people who are making it up. Plants, computers, mechanized equipment, along with all the factors that make up a modern firm are ineffective unless they are directed and controlled by people.
As a result, managers are held to a higher standard than their subordinates when it comes to their own behavior and performance. Managers are assigned at multiple levels that manage as well as coordinate the actions of their team members or coworkers (Baban, 2021). Individuals have varied functions inside this hierarchy of authority: some are now at the highest management, and others are in the upper and lower levels of something like the management company. Organizational hierarchy dictates that lower-level employees be held accountable for their actions. The more effectively an organization functions, the more dedicated its members are to the organization’s goals.
“Customer relationship management” (CRM) aspects may be mined based on consumers’ inclination to match their outfits. Using descriptive factors, customer desire to match their outfits, and aspects of customer relationships, consumers are grouped together. The female clients under the age of 30 who have earned a bachelor’s degree and are now unmarried are motivated by outfit matching and like customer interaction features (Neussner, Kryvinska, and Markl, 2019). The most important aspect of CRM for customers who don’t conduct outfit matching is a long-term engagement. Customers’ purchase habits that impact their proclivity for outfit matching were then studied using association rules. The fashion sector can benefit from these findings. High levels of competition have been a significant task in unexpected marketplaces in recent years. Retile alternatives have increased competition in the market, making it more challenging for designers.
In addition, as fashion trends shift, goods in the fashion sector could no longer be lucrative or interesting to customers. For over 60 years, consumer behavior experts and marketers have been fascinated by the idea of impulsive purchases (Alam, , Azeem, and Rahman, 2021). A common strategy used by Matalan Company to differentiate themselves from their competitors in this circumstance is to identify consumers’ needs and buying habits. It is impossible to understand the above-mentioned issues without a proper segmentation of clients.
CRM is a useful tool for incorporating the preferences and attitudes of your customers into your business operations. No one can agree on a single definition of CRM, but a comprehensive plan and method for gaining, keeping, and working with loyal customers in order to produce more value for companies and customers may be defined as CRM. The ability to innovate and gain a sustainable competitive edge are two of the many benefits of having a CRM that works well. Customers are also known to dress in complementary colors and styles, which is an interesting trait. Sorting and cataloging one’s clothing is essential for customers who want to make sure they never run out of fresh and creative ways to use their outfits.
“Customer relationship management” (CRM) aids firms in cultivating and maintaining relationships with their consumers. A company’s income is affected by both customer satisfaction as well as revenue, hence CRM seems to be a management method that boosts earnings (Zaim, Ramdani, and Haddi, 2020). With a CRM solution, firms may scale their ability to recognize and engage with their consumers by creating a simple interface for gathering data.
In order to be successful, a company must master the art of client relationship management. As a result, I.T. solutions that expressly handle the challenges of engaging with consumers on a regular basis are becoming increasingly popular. Technology alone does not define customer relationship management (CRM). Even so, gaining a better understanding of your clients’ wants and requirements is an important part of building lasting partnerships. Helping businesses better serve their clients necessitates more of an approach than a technological solution. Nevertheless, the utilization of technology is critical to a successful CRM strategy. In light of the epidemic, it’s become more difficult than ever before to keep in touch with satisfied clients, and this is likely to persist in the period of blended work. Forever, your sales team’s methods of customer communication, as well as what your consumers desire from them, will evolve. Customers will have difficulty communicating with numerous firms as a result, which might lead to revenue as well as marketing issues.
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