BSBMKG506 Task I Market Research Proposal

By Eduardo Dominguez

Market Research Proposal for D.A. Garden Supplies

Dear David & Alison:

I would like to thank you beforehand for having approached our company. Our company can help you
understand the root causes of what is impeding your business to grow as expected. Market research is
focus on understanding the relationship between a target market and the given product to supply that
target market. Hence, we will gather information based on what you have provided to us and analyze
the variables in place. This should help us determine the obstacle(s) to your business’ development and
as a result we will be able to provide you with sound feedback –that is, with our feedback, you should be
able to adjust accordingly to obtain the desired results for your business.

The research your business requires (based on the information you have provided), will not require
much depth. That is, we will look at your internal data (sales reports, customers’ feedback, trading
hours, etc.) and we will analyze the variables you’ve mentioned (we seem to be of importance) in the
past three years. Hence, we have opted for a Causal Research Method –given your target markets
(which are a combination of markets) and given the numbers you have provided, we strongly believe
there is a correlation between variables –cause and effect.

We will define what management is lacking; understand the research obstacles; find the cause of the
management’s weaknesses; and provide with a hypothesis.

This is how our work will look like:

Methodology –Causal

Data: Internal and some external resources

Data collection: internal quantitative and external observation

End goal is to determine what caused for your profits to drop by 5% in your biggest trade

Lastly I would like to mention that all information is secured and will not be disclosed. Our practices are
legally bound (by the Government of New South Wales) and ethical in nature aiming to benefit our
clients within legal and ethical boundaries.

Sincerely yours,

Eduardo Dominguez
BSBMKG506 Task II Market Research Plan
By Eduardo Dominguez

D.A. Garden Supplies Market Research Plan

At a glance:

Management
Our review indicates that D.A Garden Supplies is lacking organization. That is, there are four different
trades that your business is targeting without focusing on one or two in particular.

Your business seems to employ people that may not necessarily be needed at the times currently
employed. This is a consequence of lacking focus on addressing your business’ competition and lacking
understanding on what they are doing.

The solution is restructure your business management structure so that is focused on your target
market and act accordingly.

Competition
D.A. Garden Supplies is involved in four different businesses. However, there seem to be two main
competitors for two different markets. These are: the coffee shop on the business strip; and the
Bunning’s. The solution we offer is to gain a better understanding of what they are doing right and what
your business can (feasibly) do in order to increase your market share with the competition.

Consumer trends
Given the data provided and from analyzing the consumer patterns from observation and some surveys,
we cannot see an actual trend from going from one coffee shop to another; however, we will help you
understand how to allocate your hours better in order to improve your market share.

Place
Thanks to the history of your business (and your customer service) your customer base does not seem to
be afflicted by your location; nevertheless, hours can (and should) be improved.

Pricing
Fortunately, your customer base does not seem to be driven by price in three of your trades. From our
point of view, having Bunning’s close to you means there will be certain items on which your business
will not be able to compete simply because of size –they can buy more and gain marginally on volume
whereas your business would spend too much money on stocking inventory that your business cannot
actually afford.

Products & services

It is our understanding that you have a customer base that remains loyal (and growing). This allows us to
infer that your products and services are good enough. We can help you make them work better for
you.
Promotion
The best promotion you have used over the past years has been building rapport, getting to know your
customers, which leads to your customers spreading the word –in other words, the only promotion used
so far has been “word to mouth.” However, we propose that little advertising might be advantageous.

The Plan

I. Addressing the main issue

Lacking focus on a given trade; however, if downsizing will not suit your business (as we believe you
might not want to downsize) the next best option is to understand your competition and trading hours.

This will not require much time on your part; the implementation, should you follow our advice, may
take a few days to a few weeks –depending on how quickly you choose to allocate your resources to
your new trading hours given the gained understanding on your competition for the same (or similar)
markets.

II. The objective

The objective of our market research plan is to provide you with awareness so that you may be able to
increase revenue over the coming months.

III. Our requirements

In order to provide the soundest advice we will require time and resources to do a proper research of
the market(s) in question. Nevertheless, your case is very clear and as a result we will be brief and
effective.

We will need six to eight weeks of two market researchers working full time (Monday to Friday) an
average of 38 to 40 hours. They will be working on-site, that is at your location and your competition’s
location observing, applying surveys, and testing. Most of the time though will be spent at our offices
once they have gathered enough information that leads them to a conclusion.

IV. Research methodology

Causal

Gathering data from internal and some external resources

Data analysis from internal quantitative and external observation

End goal is to determine what caused for your profits to drop by 5% in your biggest trade and provide
you with awareness so that you may be able to increase revenue and regain some of your market share.
 V. Documentation

To make our research as effective as possible, we will need your help and for that we will need for you
to provide us the best snapshots of your business. That is, whatever reports you may use in order to
track your business ability to create revenue and profit over the past three years (to date) will be
beneficial; any data of promotional activity, or changes made to your trade will be beneficial as well.

We will, then, compile all the information provided and analyze it in a timeline. We will compare your
date against the data we may be able to draw (ethically and legally) from your competitors and draw a
conclusion –which we will provide to you.

VI. Implementation

To sum up, we will need six to eight weeks of two full-time researchers working on your case. Each is
paid a rate of $40 AUD per hour.

•Our researchers look at all documentation provided from your business and
meet with you to find out whatever information that may not be documented.
Week 1 All of this information will be transcribed for our analysis.

•We will then do research on your competitors, look up as much infrmation as

possible from them. Given that your competitors are not likely to talk to us
openly, we will be observant, apply non-intrusive surveys, and do online
Week 2-3 research adhering to ethical and legal standards.

•Having all the data gathered we will then analyse it and draw conclusions as
to what points out to be the cause for the drop in your sales. We will build
scenarios for you and present them to you as part of our research . Lastly we
Week 4-8* will meet with you and present you our findingd and provide our advice

Keep in mind that we already have a fairly good idea on what needs to be done to get your business
back on track from the following data we have summarized as follows:

Please note look at the differences we have spotted

Opprotunity Cost Analysis

Café Nursery Garden Supplies Landscaping
Opportunity Breakfast Separate from Café Customer service Employ better staff
Cost Open earlier Unknown Train staff Hiring a new person
 Dave & Alison's Current Trading Hours
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday
9am - 6 pm 9am - 6 pm 9am - 6 pm 9am - 9pm 9am - 9pm 8am - 6pm 10am - 6pm
9hrs 9hrs 9hrs 12hrs 12hrs 10hrs 8hrs

Café Competition Trading Hours

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday
7am - 3pm 7am - 3pm 7am - 3pm 7am - 3pm 7am - 3pm NA NA
8hrs 8hrs 8hrs 8hrs 8hrs - -

Bunning's On-Site Trading Hours

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday
7am - 5pm 7am - 5pm 7am - 5pm 7am - 5pm 7am - 5pm NA NA
10hrs 10hrs 10hrs 10hrs 10hrs - -

Bunning's Onlne Store Operatin Hours

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday
12am - 12am - 12am - 12am - 12am - 12am - 12am -
12am 12am 12am 12am 12am 12am 12am
24hrs 24hrs 24hrs 24hrs 24hrs 24hrs 24hrs

Dave & Alison's Profitability by trade

Nursery Garden Supply Landscaping Café

15%

10% 41%

34%