Attachment

Responses to Other Students: Respond to at least 2 of your fellow classmates with at least a 100–200-word reply about their Primary Task Response regarding items you found to be compelling and enlightening. To help you with your discussion, please consider the following questions:

• What did you learn from your classmate’s posting?
• What additional questions do you have after reading the posting?
• What clarification do you need regarding the posting?
• What differences or similarities do you see between your posting and other classmates’ postings?

 

STUDENT 1:

A product I recently purchased online were shoes from Aldo. Aldo was founded in Canada in 1975 and is a company that sells men and women shoes, bags, and other accessories. I think online shopping has attained its dominant seller position by making it super easy for consumers to make purchases from the comfort of their homes. Another reason I believe online shopping has attained its dominant seller position is due to all products being offered online for sale verses going into your local store and certain products not being offered (so the variety is better online). Online shopping for me attained its position due to the variety the online world offers by a company. Personally, I like going into stores to shop for items – especially clothes and shoes, but what I noticed is that certain products are offered certain places depending on the demand. I see this a lot when I am shopping in luxury stores such as Gucci, Louis Vuitton, and Burberry.

 

For companies such as Aldo, I have noticed a lot of paid advertising. I see ads online when shopping or strolling on various social media platforms. I also see a lot of consumers providing feedback regarding their purchase(s) from the company, which helps the company as I do not notice a ton of negative feedback. Another paid advertising, I noticed with this company is from the models they use to promote their products.

 

 

STUDENT 2:

I do not do a lot of online shopping, but I have done some in the past. Most of my online shopping was done when I was deployed in Afghanistan. As I’m sure you can imagine, there are not a lot of easily accessible things when you’re deployed and I’m a huge gym rat, so I used to order supplements online at least once a month to get delivered to where I was stationed. The local post exchange (PX) had some supplements but not the brand that I liked and trusted so online ordering just made the most sense. Also, sometimes the PX was not able to keep their shelves stocked due to the fact of so many service members and civilians on the base that were all buying the same products. The trucks that would come in to resupply sometimes took weeks if not months to get to us so ordering not just supplements but anything online was usually easier and faster than waiting.

I think that online shopping has become so popular with consumers because it is a service that is very easy to use, normally has quick shipping and arrival dates, and you do not have to leave the comfort of your house to go and pick things up. There may also be some instances where you need a product quickly and the local stores don’t have those items in stock, and it would be faster to order them online. The way that online shopping made its way into my life was the convenience that it provided, and sometimes ordering things online can be cheaper than buying them from the store. When I was deployed it was a more efficient way of getting things delivered to the FOB (Forward Operating Base). On the civilian side I’m a complete introvert so the less that I have to be out in public and not dealing with people the better for me.

I think that most companies would use a combination of all three methods of brand marketing to maximize their exposure. Social media is a huge marketing tool that all companies should be using to help sell their brand. I know from there are a lot of ads that you can find all over Facebook and Instagram for basically anything you want. Fast food chains also use different marketing ideas for their companies, take sonic for example.

Sonic uses ads that they pay for on social media to promote their new food or beverages that they are introducing. They also pay money to have their company logo or food that they have put up on billboards around town as well as TV commercials that help sell their products. I can say from experience that I have driven by Sonic billboards while on long roads trips and had to make a stop because it sounded good. In my opinion Sonic has withheld their earned media pretty well and by that, I mean with staying consistent with their food. Everyone knows their brand already and has a good idea of what they will get when they stop by on their lunch break.

 

Responses to Other Students: Respond to at least 2 of your fellow classmates with at least a 100–200-word reply about their Primary Task Response regarding items you found to be compelling and enlightening. To help you with your discussion, please consider the following questions:

• What did you learn from your classmate’s posting?
• What additional questions do you have after reading the posting?
• What clarification do you need regarding the posting?
• What differences or similarities do you see between your posting and other classmates’ postings?

 

STUDENT 1:

Thinking Strategically

Starbucks, a global coffeehouse chain, faces numerous opportunities, weaknesses, and threats that require careful consideration and strategic planning. This response will address the prioritization of Ready-to-Drink (RTD) coffee products in the U.S., the first step to act on Starbucks’ expansion outside the U.S., and the strategy to monitor weather disasters that could impact the price of coffee beans. Conduct thorough market research to identify the demand and growth potential of RTD coffee products in the U.S. This research should include analyzing consumer preferences, competitor offerings, and market trends to understand the target market and develop tailored RTD coffee products. Brown (2022) states, “For many, its appeal is in its convenience: consumers can quickly stop somewhere and easily grab a pre-prepared RTD coffee out of a cooler or off a shelf, and then be on their way.” Based on the market research findings, Starbucks should focus on developing high-quality RTD coffee products that align with consumers’ evolving preferences. Flavors already offered that can be expanded on to seize an opportunity to grow would be cold brew and nitro brew. This would attract more specialty coffee and millennial consumers allowing Starbucks to strengthen its RTD coffee market. They could increase the amount they collaborate with other RTD coffee producers to enhance the distribution network and increase the availability of RTD coffee products.

For opportunities to expand, Starbucks can perform market analysis to identify countries with a high chance of success for expansion purposes. Prioritizing markets with favorable coffee culture, growing middle class, and untapped potential for specialty coffee consumption will give Starbucks a better chance at success when they expand to other countries. Prioritizing untapped potential for specialty coffee consumption will allow Starbucks to advertise its specialty nitro coffee. Proper use of marketing analysis will help Starbucks in expanding to other countries. According to Mbachu (2018),” In short, the process of this analysis is aimed at determining the suitability of products or services within a specified market and how the product can be sold.” Operating in another country means that tastes may vary compared to the existing locations; it would be best to cater to the local flavors of customers before doing specialty blends. Starbucks should create a decent pool of customers before they try to add their touch to foreign communities.

The threat of weather events in the coffee market is worrisome since untimely weather events can occur at any time and endanger coffee bean harvests. Establishing a solid relationship with Starbucks coffee bean suppliers will allow for open communication on complications that can impact the coffee bean supply. By having a diverse supply chain that spans multiple regions, Starbucks can mitigate the damage to its collection of coffee beans when weather conditions are not optimal for one region. Establishing a risk management team, if one still needs to be installed, would also be beneficial. According to Juneja (2022),” There are several skilled professionals that need to be recruited and maintain in order to ensure that the risks inherent in the business are being mitigated efficiently.” A risk management team can be costly, but it can help forecast issues that may arise and aid the organization in its growth. One threat that Starbucks has is the dependency of the profit margin on coffee bean prices. A risk management team can offer insight and devise a budgeting strategy to help combat coffee bean prices.

 

References:
Brown, A. (2022, January 17). Why have plant-based RTD coffee drinks become so popular? Perfect Daily Grind. https://perfectdailygrind.com/2022/01/why-have-plant-based-rtd-coffee-drinks-become-so-popular/#:~:text=As%20one%20of%20these%20many,then%20be%20on%20their%20way.

Juneja, P. (2022). Benefits of Risk Management. Management Study Guide. https://www.managementstudyguide.com/benefits-of-risk-management.htm

Mbachu, C. (2018, March 6). The Importance of Conducting Marketing Analysis – Calistus Mbachu – Medium. Medium. https://callygood.medium.com/the-importance-of-conducting-a-marketing-analysis-44140a9a4619

 

STUDENT 2:

SWOT analysis is used by most companies which helps identify the strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats a company faces. After reviewing the Starbucks 2020 SWOT Analysis there are many opportunities that can be prioritized in the strategic plan. One way that I would recommend Starbucks to prioritize Ready to Drink coffee products in the U.S. is by targeting its audience. According the to the opportunities listed for the Starbucks SWOT analysis, the market for RTD coffee is growing very fast. This means that Starbucks should sell RTD drinks at college campuses, and locations that attract a high volume of millennial consumers.

I believe research would be one of the first steps to take if you were thinking about expanding outside of the U.S. Things such as, a need, partnerships, and how you would function could all be researched. When expanding, it is important to keep in mind that you want to minimize your risk as much as possible. I think that expanding outside of the U.S. would work well because it is such a well-known company and almost everyone drinks coffee. Along with coffee, tea and other beverages should also be sold. In Asia and other countries, there are more people who drink tea as opposed to coffee. Expanding on the variety of tea drinks will do well in other countries.

It is important to be able to identify threats and work around them. Having a weather disaster that could drive up the price of coffee beans could have a significant impact on the company. In the case that a natural disaster happens, some ways you could plan could be by sourcing the coffee beans from other areas. Building green houses and planting certain tress around the farms to prevent significant rain fall could be another option. No matter the option, this would still cause the company money and ultimately, the price of coffee beans would go up which means the consumer would be paying more.

 

Reference

virtualstrategist. (2021, January 27). Putting your SWOT to use [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F61jgtEZLsA