Mkt00720 Marketing Answers Assessment Answers

Your task in this case analysis is to answer two questions by critically analysing Amazon Australia’s market situation. Please do not just describe events, although you should read Amazon Australia’s history to understand the background to your analysis. You should use the principles and concepts that you have learned throughout the unit to answer the following two questions:

1.What marketing strategy or strategies has Amazon Australia has adopted since it was created? Answer this question by applying one or more of the theoretical approaches discussed in the course.

2.What marketing options can you describe for Amazon Australia if it wishes to remain a successful organisation throughout the next decade? Answer this question based on the circumstances that exist in 2018 and your best forecasts of relevant future industry factors.

These are wide-ranging questions and you should undertake extensive independent research into Amazon Australia and its industry. You should explore different aspects of these issues and incorporate them into your report. This is a practical assessment of a real company, but you need to show an understanding of theory and research in your evaluation and suggestions.

Process

1.Begin to gather information about Amazon Australia and its marketing-related strategies. There are a range of sources you can make use including the company’s own corporate website and related publications, academic journals, business press and media and so on. The quality business press such as Forbes or Business Week or the Economist are in some ways good places to start.

Answer:

Introduction 

Strategies form an integral part of the overall process used by a particular business enterprises and the kind of business strategies that a particular organization utilizes for the process of their business operations determines to a large extent the prospects of the concerned organizations (Grant 2016). The organizations need to formulate the strategies that they are likely to use for the process of their business on the basis of a thorough analysis of the business environment in which it is operational and also after a detailed analysis of the key competencies of their organization (Grant 2016). Furthermore, the strategies adopted by a particular organization should be aimed to mitigate the threats that the concerned organization faces in the business and at the same time to effectively utilize the opportunities which are being presented by the concerned business environment (Spender 2014). Thus, it would be apt to say that the diverse kinds of business strategies adopted by the business enterprises play a significant part in the business operations of a particular organization. This report will discuss about the business strategies that are being used by the organization Amazon for the process of their business operations.

Amazon 

The organization Amazon.com founded by Jeff Bezos in 1994 is the 209^th largest organization of the world with a net market worth of $777.8 billion (Forbes.com 2018). The organization is one of the largest online shopping websites of the world and offers a range of products or services to the customers starting from books, furniture, electronics to various other products or services (Amazon.com 2018). Furthermore, recently the organization has started a new service called Amazon Prime wherein the customers can watch their favorite movies, TV series and others at any time they want by paying a small subscription fee (Amazon.com 2018). The organization initially started its business in Seattle, Washington, USA however currently it is operational in almost all the major nations of the world. Furthermore, the organization has even overtaken some of the largest retail stores of the world like Woolworths Limited, Tesco Plc and others not only in terms of the number of products or the services sold by it on yearly basis but at the same in terms of the net revenue generated by it as well (Amazon.com 2018). The organization under discussion as per the data released by it in the year 2017 employs more than 566,000 employees from the diverse countries of the world and the net profit earned by it for the same year was an impressive US$177.86 billion which was much higher than its competitors like Woolworths Limited, Tesco Plc, Aldi and others for the same year (Amazon.com 2018). Furthermore, the e-commerce facilities offered by the concerned organization have been much appreciated by the customers from the different nations of the world.

Market Analysis 

The process of market analysis has become very important for the various business enterprises of the present times since they not provide an overview of the position of the organization in the business market but at the same time offer an insight to the concerned organization about the threats and the opportunities that they face in the business market (Dobni and Sand 2018). Furthermore, an effective knowledge about these factors is important since they help the organizations to devise strategies which can help them in a significant manner not only mitigate the adverse effects that they face in the business market but at the same time to utilize the opportunities presented by the business market (Dobni and Sand 2018). In addition to these, the various kinds of market analysis at the same time helps the organizations to understand the demands and the expectations of the customers in the best possible manner and also to align the products or the services as per the results of these analyses.

Nature of Amazon Australia’s Marketing Strategies    

Ritala, Golnam and Wegmann (2014) hold the viewpoint that the major factor which determines the success or the failure of a particular business enterprise is the kind of strategy that it follows for the process of their business operations. It is pertinent to note that the organization Amazon since the year of its foundation has followed the strategy of e-commerce and at the same time needs to be said that the effective usage of this particular strategy has helped the concerned organization to gain a significant amount of success in the recent times (Ritala, Golnam and Wegmann 2014). Furthermore, through the effective usage of this particular strategy the concerned organization has been able to provide online shopping services to the customers from the diverse parts of the world since the year of its foundation.

The majority of the retail business enterprises of the world like Woolworths Limited, Wesfarmers, Tesco Plc and others since the year of their foundation have been using the “brick and the mortar” model of business and operate manual stores wherein they sell their products or services (Winn 2016). However, in the present times it is seen that with the rise of the internet and the lack of time which the majority of the customers have because of the hectic nature of their schedule makes the e-commerce model of business much more convenient for them (Stott, Stone and Fae 2016). The organization under discussion here since the very year of its foundation has depended on the effective usage of this particular strategy for the process of their business. Furthermore, through the effective use of this particular strategy they provide the opportunity to the customers to not only place the orders for the products or the services that they require but at the same time to get the products or the services ordered by them at their doorsteps without having to step outside the comfort of their home (Chaffey 2015).

The organization under discussion here is known for taking the help of promotional strategies for the promotion of the products or the services offered by them to customers (Charles Jr, Schmidheiny and Watts 2017). For example, it is seen that the concerned organization takes the help of the process of social media marketing and through the effective use of this particular process tries to provide the required information to the customers about the products or the services that they offer to the customers over the social media itself (Charles Jr, Schmidheiny and Watts 2017). Furthermore, at the same time it is seen that the concerned organization at the same time take the help of the tool of social media marketing to provide information to the customers about the products or the services that they would selling in the near future (Halal 2015). The use of this particular process helps them to build anticipation among the customers and thereby to bank on it for the sale of the products or the services that they offer in future (Rothaermel 2015).

Another important strategy which has helped the organization under discussion here in a significant manner is the effective usage of the strategy of providing discounted offers and also taking the help of process of offering regular discounted sales (Chaffey 2015). It is pertinent to note that the concerned organization conducts regular sales wherein they offer the products or the services to the customers at discounted prices (Wieland, Hartmann and Vargo 2017). In addition to this, the fact that customers can get the products or the services manufactured by the different top brands of the world under one website or organization has at the same time helped the concerned organization to gain a significant amount of success over the years (Wieland, Hartmann and Vargo 2017).

Strategic Marketing Options for Amazon Australia moving forward 

The organization under discussion holds the monopoly over more than 44% e-commerce business of the world and this just represents the amount of success that the concerned organization has been able to attain within a very short time the effective usage of the strategy e-commerce (Amazon.com 2018). However, at the same time it is seen that the concerned is trying to take the help of the “omni-channel business strategy” and offer “brick and mortar” manual services to the customers. One of the major pitfalls of the e-commerce model of business that the company is known is using for the process of their business is the fact that the customers need to be accustomed with the use of the various platforms of internet and at the same time be willing to use the internet for the process of shopping (Dobni and Sand 2018). However, it is seen that not all the people of the world are technologically savvy and in addition to this there are many people who still like do their shopping from the various manual stores (Spender 2014). The major customer base of the concerned organization belongs to the age bracket of 20-50 years, that is, the ones who belong to the category of the technologically savvy section (Dobni and Sand 2018). However, the focus of this particular age bracket considerably narrows down the prospects of the business of the concerned organization since it misses out on the customers belonging to the other age bracket (Spender 2014). These are some of the major reasons why the concerned organization needs to use the “omni-channel business strategy” for the process of their business. The effective use of this particular strategy will not only allow the concerned company to focus on the people who do not like the use the e-commerce mode of shopping but at the same time would increase the annual profit of the organization in a significant manner as well.

Conclusion

To conclude, the strategies that a particular organization uses for the process of their business wields a considerable influence on the entire process of their business and in the majority of the cases it is seen that the success or the failure of a particular organization depends to a large extent on the kind of strategies that it is using for the process of its business. Furthermore, at the same time the organizations need to ensure the fact the strategies that they are using should be based on the results of the market and environmental analysis that they performed and should help them to not mitigate the business threats that they face within the business market but at the same time help them to make the most of the business opportunities that are being presented to them by the business market.

References 

Chaffey, D., 2015. Digital business and e-commerce management. Pearson Education Limited.

Charles Jr, O.H., Schmidheiny, S. and Watts, P., 2017. Walking the talk: The business case for sustainable development. Routledge.

Dobni, C.B. and Sand, C., 2018. Strategy shift: Integrating strategy and the firm’s capability to innovate. Business Horizons, 61(5), pp.797-808.

Forbes.com. 2018. Forbes.com [online] Available at: https://www.forbes.com/companies/amazon/#3af95de76fb8 [Accessed 12 Sep. 2018].

Grant, R.M., 2016. Contemporary strategy analysis: Text and cases edition. John Wiley & Sons.

Halal, W.E., 2015. Business strategy for the technology revolution: competing at the edge of creative destruction. Journal of the Knowledge Economy, 6(1), pp.31-47.

Madsen, T.L. and Walker, G., 2015. Modern competitive strategy. McGraw Hill.

Ritala, P., Golnam, A. and Wegmann, A., 2014. Coopetition-based business models: The case of Amazon. com. Industrial Marketing Management, 43(2), pp.236-249.

Rothaermel, F.T., 2015. Strategic management. McGraw-Hill Education.

Services.amazon.com. 2018. Build your business with Amazon Services - Amazon.com. [online] Available at: https://services.amazon.com/ [Accessed 12 Sep. 2018].

Spender, J.C., 2014. Business strategy: Managing uncertainty, opportunity, and enterprise. Oxford University Press.

Stott, R.N., Stone, M. and Fae, J., 2016. Business models in the business-to-business and business-to-consumer worlds–what can each world learn from the other?. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 31(8), pp.943-954.

Wieland, H., Hartmann, N.N. and Vargo, S.L., 2017. Business models as service strategy. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 45(6), pp.925-943.

Winn, J.K., 2016. The secession of the successful: The rise of Amazon as private global consumer protection regulator. Ariz. L. Rev., 58, p.i.