Target market and competitors

Sephora is a world leading beauty products producer and manufacturing company that is located in France. It is expanding to the healthy foods and supplements industry and through its strategy of utilizing both innovation and technology in producing and offering their customers the best products it has the best chances of success in the UK (Singh, 2012). It targets customers who are women between the age of 18 and 40 who are seeking to be confident or are confident about their looks (Golan and Unnevehr, 2018). Sephora has an opportunity from the current market research into what customers felt about enhancing their beauty with natural products. Most customers felt that they needed a natural remedy that has less or no effects at all and healthy foods and supplements was the solution the company offered (Wardle et al., 2004). This report intends to give the overview of the company and the products it offers. Also, the report will be highlighting and analyzing the environment in which the company is operating and selling its products. Also, it will be discussing the segmentation, targeting, and positioning of the company and its products in the market. It will also discuss the market mix that the company will be utilizing in the market. The sources that will be used are internet sources, journals, and books.

The company has identified the target market as the women of ages between 18 and 50. These women are careful about what they eat and how they look (Wardle et al., 2004). Also, they want to remain confident through their youthful days till old age. There are many competitors in this industry which includes companies like Neolife international, healthy food manufacturers association and now foods.

There are strengths and weaknesses that the company has explored within itself that have given it the green light to extend into the healthy foods and supplements industry. Being an internationally recognized brand, the company has identified some reasons for choosing the extension by examining its strengths and weaknesses.

Sephora has an extensive network and coverage across the world, and it is widely known for its beauty products in almost all the world. The advantage it has is that the product can easily reach the target market anywhere in the world through its networks and distribution channels.

Having a large customer base in over 2300 locations across the world, Sephora has the best chance of conducting any research on the products and getting the right feedback from its existing customers and the potential customers.

Strengths and weaknesses of Sephora

People across the world have known the brand and have trusted its product. Introducing the new line under the same name will not be strange to the existing customers who are loyal and committed to the company.

The company is far stretched with the staff because of expanding its beauty products line in most parts of the world. Therefore, introducing the new products will require the existing number of staff to work extra hard and also it will cost more to add new staff to the already existing.

Since the company will be selling through the existing networks and distribution channels, it will incur more costs in distribution since it’s a new product and will require more marketing and promotion to reach the target market.

The UK has been experiencing the surge of health concerns, and more people are concerned about what they eat and drink. Also, the aspect of beauty is shifting to organic products which have less or zero effects on the body (Köster, 2009). More people are moving into healthy foods especially women to maintain their bodies and beauty and also supplements because some foods are hard to get.

The barriers of entry into this industry are relatively lower, and many industries are entering the market (Armstrong et al., 2014). Within a few years, the industry will be flooded, and the hopes of making the best profits will be hindered.

As more companies are entering and flowing into the market, the level of competition is growing, and chances of getting a large share of the market will be slim as time elapses (Ramiah, Pham and Moosa, 2017). Competitors are growing stronger with the exit of Britain from the EU which will be making the company extra innovative.

Sephora has done extensive research on the demographic and geographic factors that will help in identifying the target customers. Therefore, the segmentation is a mix of demographics and geographic. Under geographic segmentation, it has identified regions which have the most number of customers who might be interested in the products. Most of the targeted customer’s region wise are in cities and large towns. The choice of those customers is because of their position in society. Most young people and the women between those ages of 18 to 50 are found in cities and towns because they are either working or doing businesses in cities. They are targeted because they cannot access most agricultural and natural foods from farms. A small number of the target market are in the regions outside town and cities. 

Market research and opportunities

The other segmentation is the demographic base which has many bases like income level, education, age and gender (Natter et al., 2008). The women of between 18 and 50 years are the age group and the gender that is targeted. They are confident about what they what and how they want to look. They realize their beauty, and they are conscious about their body and what they consume.  Those who are educated know the value of healthy eating and using supplements, and they will be easy to reach. Also because they will not need a lot of marketing and promotion because they know the products and the benefits (Stokes, 2000). Also, those with an income are targeted because they can afford the product and can use the products often. Also, the targeted group is connected and can also make it easy to market the product within their circles and the social media where the number of potential customers in vast.

The targeting will be depending on the two segmentation bases to enable the company to make profits and increase its revenue within a short period. It will also follow the differentiated marketing in the segments where different ages will have different foods to eat and supplements which will be marketed. Each segment will have a specific marketing strategy and promotion strategy (Tanner and Raymond, 2015). For example, students in the university and colleges will get the adverts through the social media where they are mostly engaged like Facebook and Pinterest.

There are two factors that the company has chosen to concentrate and make efforts in reaching and impacting the target market. It will be using the cost and flexibility positioning. Cost positioning will allow it to produce products that are affordable to the target market (Shank and Lyberger, 2014). It will be using fewer processes in producing the product thus cutting the costs involved in the production and thus making the product cheaper and affordable. The flexibility positioning will allow it to manufacture many products like what the other competitors are producing (Moore and Pareek, 2009). It will also be making products based on the expectations of the market, the industry requires flexibility and having a positioning that is flexible gives the company the added advantage above its competitors.

Healthy foods and supplements are the ideal lines of extension for the company for many reasons. The target market is the youths and the adults, and the product suits this group because the youths have the desire to maintain their bodies and remain in shape all through their growing period until they come to the old age. They are confident, and they can go to extra lengths to look beautiful. The adults are those who have means of accessing the products, and they prefer natural products with the minimal side effect (Chrysochou, 2010). The products are ideal because the gender desires them in all the ages. When the younger women start having families, they concentrate more on their families and prefer to give their families healthy foods and not the typical junk foods that most young people eat. They all stay in cities, and when the natural foods cannot be found, supplements are available to close the gap and serve the same purpose. This product will help reduce the cases of obesity and will offer another better option besides junk foods.

Segmentation bases

Most women would be willing to get anything that would improve their health and enhance their looks. Therefore, they will be willing to pay more for the product if it serves them and meets the expectations. The market entry price is selected for the product, and the products will be selling at 4% less than what the other competitors will be selling. The research has surveyed and learned that the market is willing to pay lower for the goods (Armstrong et al., 2014). For example, vitamin supplements are sold at 7 pounds, but Sephora will be selling at 6.7 pounds and when the customer buys more products. The prices are meant to stimulate sales and win many customers in the market and retain them in the long run.

The target market is often on the internet looking for news, new products, and window shopping among others. Therefore, the company has considered the best promotion mix as social media and television marketing. Sephora wants to inform the customer, persuade and influence using the following promotion strategies. Social media is direct, and customers are easy to find and get their attention using this strategy (Tanner and Raymond, 2015). Social media is more relaxed, and most customers are either talking or discussing the products with friends and family. It has a large number of potential customers who are ready to listen and be impressed by marketers. The best platforms that have been selected for this purpose are Facebook and Pinterest which has most of the target customers (Constantinides, 2006). Besides that, some give-a-ways and discounts will be used to impress the customers. For example, when a customer buys a certain quantity of healthy foods, he/she is given an extra supplement as a give-a-way. Also, customers who have been buying beauty products and have shifted to healthy foods and supplements will be given loyalty discounts.

Sephora has over 2300 distribution points across the world which will also be used to distribute healthy foods and supplements (Singh, 2012). The target market has been looking for this product on the internet, and the best way to get the product to them is through e-commerce channels. Customers will be able to order the product online, and it will be delivered to them in real time. Also, the products will be sold in its retail outlets where its beauty products are sold. The products will also be sold through middlemen like retail stores and pharmacies in the UK. Customers who are fond of going to shop in the retail store will be reached, and also those who prefer online will have their products closer.

Targeting and positioning

Conclusion

Sephora is a leading company in designing and manufacturing of beauty products with over 2300 stores and locations across the world. The company has noticed and identified an opportunity to divert and extend into the healthy foods and supplements which are in high demand. Their motivation is to increase the investor’s income and grow their market share around the markets around the world. Sephora has identified that women between the ages of 18 and 50n are conscious about their looks and prone to care for what they eat. Healthy living which includes foods and supplements appeals for this target market who are in two different segment bases, the geographic and demographic.  The company has analyzed it internal and external environment and realized that their strengths which include the brand name and extensive network of distribution are critical to their success. The positioning of the company takes after the flexible and cost positioning which gives it an advantage over its competition.

Additionally, it has a sound market mix which utilized social media and discounts for its promotions and e-commerce, intermediaries and retail outlets for its distribution. Customers will be drawn to this products because of their appeal it gives to their lifestyles and looks. The prices that are recommended are the market entry price which is lower than the ones charged by the competition.

References

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