E-MARKETING PLAN FOR A FRESH

FRUIT DELIVERY BUSINESS IN

QATAR:
Contents

Introduction.................................................................................................................................. 3

Changing consumer behavior towards online fruit shops is a really good business opportunity:

................................................................................................................................................. 3

Market research to support the E-Marketing Plan:...................................................................4

Crucial technological infrastructure for promoting efficiency and effectiveness in the business:

................................................................................................................................................. 5

Actions, strategies, and tactics:...................................................................................................5

References.................................................................................................................................. 8
Introduction

Online marketing or web is achieving greater importance in agricultural products and

their trade. With the increase in comprehension of artificial intelligence, the population of

this digital world is at the edge to prefer everything at just one click, on their desktops,

mobile phones, or any other media devices. Commencement of Digital Markets that is

E-Marketing can be constructive only with the genuine strategical organization.

Changing consumer behavior towards online fruit shops is an excellent business

opportunity: 

Consumer behaviour is not just about purchasing a specific product. Still, it involves

selecting, buying, consuming, or disposing of an idea, product, experience, or service

primarily to satisfy desires and needs. The behaviour of consumers has changed

because now the people are more concerned about the delivery time, quality, and

overall experience with the product, i.e., online food in this case (Solomon et al. 2012)

with an increase in digital literacy of the people of Qatar. Also, with the current work-life

in this fast-moving world, consumers are looking for quick, easy, and high-quality

options to place their orders for fruits. Another change in the consumer behavior can

happen due to an increase in the high earning population's level and the high level of

mobile phone penetration. Thus, the shift in consumer behavior creates an excellent

opportunity for the online fruit business.

Figure 1. Yearly comparison of online fruit shop.

Sourced from: Marie, 2020.

This graph showable that online shopping for fruits was continuously growing before the

COVID-19 pandemic. But the online shopping for fruits went down during COVID due to

government restrictions, and the demand started to increase again after the removal of

lockdown. 

Market research to support the E-Marketing Plan:

There have been several studies and researches in the online fruit business to support

the E-Marketing Plan. Research done by Amir Fikri, Muhammad Najib, Rita Nurmalina,

and Megawati Simanjuntak shows that the consumer who buys fruits online needs to be

connected with the business emotionally. The reputation of the company and emotional

connection with the consumer can generate more business and engage customers in

repurchasing fruits (Nurmalina et al. 2019). The online fruit market is ready to reap the

increase in the number of youngsters in the population as per the research by

Vaghasiya and MG Thakkar. This study shows how consumers expect the optimum

quality of fruits while ordering online. Also, the new generation wants payment

convenience with more than just one payment option. And the consumer expects the

best price because they can no longer bargain at the local fruit vendor (Vaghasiya et al.

2019). Secondary data would be an excellent option for market research as the data is

already uploaded on the internet. The study of those data can help create an E-

Marketing Plan. In the end, everything depends on how well a company can market

itself to the customer. Another literature review from Radha shows that consumers get

most influenced by the brand promotion for making any online purchase of fruits

(Radha, 2012).

Crucial technological infrastructure for promoting efficiency and

effectiveness in the business:

The combination of software and hardware to enable the performance of the business is

known as their technological infrastructure. The required technology infrastructure

includes multiple computer systems to integrate into business operations, a successful

Integrated Security System, the TCP/IP protocol suite, fiber optic cables for internet,

Switches for connectivity, RJ-45 connectors, Routers, LAN network architecture. The

companies work operations can integrate the website with the help of a developer.

Actions, strategies, and tactics:

1. Determining the business objectives: The business objective is to provide the fresh

fruit available at the customer's doorsteps with the most competitive and high-quality

fruits.
2. After conducting thorough research of market prices: Qatar is one of the highest-

earning countries around the world, and the costs of competitors are thoroughly

analyzed. The prices will be very competitive, so we will try to keep an additional 5-7%

off our prices to attract more customers.

3. Customers' preferences: Customers want fresh, economical, and high-quality fruits

delivered at their place while expecting fast delivery. 

4. Alternatives available for the end consumers: Many brands are entering into online

fruit delivery business such as get it. Qa, luluhypemarket.com, carrefourqatar.com, etc.,

all of these are alternatives for our clients.

5. Prices of the direct and indirect competitors to be studied, and value-based pricing

adopted.

6. Designing the website: A well-designed website forms the first impression of our

organization on every digital customer. Website navigation made it more accessible for

the customers to get what they want on its home page. All of the products accessible

are adorned and presented with their price and included on the website's home page.

7. Exigent benefit of online business: The E-Market has an uninformed advantage to the

customers after the pandemic. That is, they can ensure sanitized and hygiene delivery

of the products at their doorstep. It is also less expensive to initiate a business plan, as

E-Market would require a significantly less number of workers.

8. Providing better service for customers: The service provided should be a step better

and sufficient for the customers compared to the competitors. We have planned to give

away certain items to reach the limit of orders.

9. Advertisement and Promotion of online business: Planning to set an advertisement

page on every social media platform like Facebook, Instagram, and more is our idea,

along with advertising business on the different websites. We are also setting up a

WhatsApp Business portfolio to keep the customers informed and provide personalized

benefits according to their needs. 

Marketing Plan

Product Offered-

The online sales and delivery of fresh fruits to homes/offices/another workplace. Only

high-quality fresh fruits raised in organic farms should be used. Another option is the

basket with fruits, ideal for homes and standard eatery sections at offices. And the final

product is a gift box of seasonal and premium quality fruits. 

Targeted Market:

 As people of all ages consume fruits, the target market in Qatar is everybody. Due to

the attribute of selling online, the target market reduces to mostly youngsters who buy

groceries and fruits for their homes, offices who keep the fruit in the workplace for a

quick bite, and people looking for fruits to gift to someone.

The factor of Differentiation:

Our brand offers gift options to customers. The delivery of our fruits will take no longer

than just 30 minutes because we understand the importance of time in the lives of our

customers. The main point of Differentiation can be the freshness of the product as we

are sure that our fruits will always be better than any fruit available at supermarkets.

Plus points to the Customers:

Customers get the convenience of shopping from their devices regardless of their

locations. The customer receives fresher fruit than they buy at any supermarket

because customers can't bargain online, which motivates us to keep the pricing most

competitive in the Qatar market.

Evaluation of customer:

Customer for this business remains there all year long because fruit consumed

throughout the year may change the type of fruit, but it still is a fruit that we sell.

E-Marketing Strategy:

As covered in the previous section of Advertising and promotion, E-Marketing strategy

is an effective initiative.

Pricing strategy:

We plan to keep our prices highly competitive, i.e., whatever our competitors' prices are

offering; we will provide a further discount at 5-7%.

Message from marketing:

You can get fresher fruits than the local market at even lower prices, delivered to your

home.

Media:

Media includes social media marketing, YouTube marketing, promotion from the

application, etc.

Profit and Loss Projection:

We maintain a fast-moving stock-pile of the fruits, and the cost of fruits, including the

cost of inventory and technological infrastructure, is 11,300QA. With a profit margin of

20% and 15 % after the competitive pricing, It'll take just about a year to recover the

cost, considering all seasons are not identical in terms of sales.

References

Marie, A. (2020). Fresh vegetable sales accelerated, fruit sales growth back to single

digits - Fruit Growers News. Fruit Growers News. Retrieved 27 October 2021, from

https://fruitgrowersnews.com/news/fresh-vegetable-sales-accelerated-fruit-sales-

growth-back-to-single-digits/.

Solomon, M., Russell-Bennett, R., & Previte, J. (2012). Consumer behavior. Pearson

Higher Education AU.

Nurmalina, R., Najib, M., & Megawati Simanjuntak, D. The Determinants of Online

Vegetables/Fruits Repurchase Intention: Stimulus-Organism-Response Model and

Theory of Planned Behaviour.

Vaghasiya, R. N., Lathiya, A. R., Bhimani, V. R., & Limbachiya, P. V. (2019). Customer

buying behavior and reasons of customer attrition in online shopping of fruits and

vegetables in Surat city. Journal of Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry, 8(4), 745-751.

Radha, D. S. (2012). Consumer Purchasing Behavior Towards Fresh Fruits and

Vegetables: A Literature Review.