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E-commerce small business- Spa World Houston

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E-commerce small business- Spa World Houston

Small businesses are regarded as businesses with less than 500 employees, making up

99.9% of all firms in the United States. Today, the business world is shifting to digital, with

many businesses adopting an ecommerce model for selling products. According to Hardilawati et

al. (2019), Electronic Commerce purchases and sells products or services over the internet.

Customers are shifting to digital platforms since they want to buy their favorite products in the

comfort of their couches. In recent years, eCommerce websites have exploded, with many small

businesses developing their online stores. In fact, eCommerce is regarded as the most dominant

force in the modern world of technology and is revolutionizing how small businesses operate.

This paper discusses how small businesses have adopted the eCommerce model. Spa World

Houston is a small business located in Katy, Texas. The Spa World Houston opened its doors in

September 2020, but its growth rate is amazing (Spaworld, 2022). Consequently, Spa World

Houston is the first Korean Spa in Katy, Texas, to offer messages saunas, body treatments, and

traditional Korean wellness. Therefore, this paper uses Spa World Houston to answer questions

about eCommerce.

Identifying how a company performs a market analysis

According to Max (2022), market analysis is a vigorous assessment of a market in a

particular industry. The company tends to study the market dynamics before entering the

industry. For example, the company would want to know the target market or customer segment

that it will serve once it joins the industry. An industry can be saturated, meaning there is no

available market, so a company may not attract customers. Additionally, market analysis

involves conducting of feasibility study on demand. A firm would like to know if it will capture

enough market share to break its even point if it joins the industry. It also helps to determine the
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level of competition within an industry. An industry with many players normally has stiff

competition, and therefore, a company must implement effective marketing strategies to improve

its sales and revenues. It means that the level of competition in an industry determines the

implemented marketing strategy. Moreover, market analysis helps an organization understand an

industry's existing buying patterns. Max (2022) argues that marketing analysis is critical,

especially for a new business, since it reduces risks, identifies emerging trends in an industry,

and enhances project revenue. Market analysis also gives a business a greater understanding of

its audience and competition to build a more targeted marketing strategy. A company performs a

market analysis through seven simple steps that include; determining its purpose, conducting

research on the state of the industry, and identifying its target customers. Additionally, the

company understands its competition, gathers market data or statistics, analyzes the data, and

finally puts its analysis to work.

Spa World Houston performed its market analysis perfectly before joining the Spa

industry. According to Ana Torres, the Spa World Marketing Manager, the business was opened

in the fall of 2020 when the government lifted the lockdown and stay-at-home order (Kolanek et

al., 2021). Spa World Houston had done the market research to identify that many people were

tired of staying home during the Covid-19 pandemic. Therefore, they were more interested in

visiting relaxation places. Therefore, Spa World Houston saw the opportunity since there was

high demand for places to relax and breathe fresh air. During the interview with Lauren Kelly,

the World Marketing Manager explained that the business was established to promote relaxation

and well-being. Consequently, Spa World Houston was keen to identify its customer segment

during its market research. It is the first traditional Korean Spa in Katy, Texas. There was an

untapped market gap; therefore, Spa World Houston came to fill it by providing a traditional
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Korean Spa experience. Therefore, there was a ready market for Spa World Houston to serve in

Katy, Texas. Spa World Houston had done a feasibility study to understand. The spa business is

a common social pastime for friends and families in Korea, and it decided to bring such a Korean

experience to Katy, Texas (Kolanek et al., 2021). Ana Torres confirmed that the company

conducted a market feasibility study before its establishment.

Confirm the company's e-Marketing goals

According to Lin (2021), a marketing goal is a specific and measurable objective that

assists an organization in meeting its broader business goal. Many small businesses, such as Spa

World Houston, understand that internet marketing is important. However, firms can only

implement an e-marketing strategy with a clear goal on what it wants to achieve. Some of the

general e-marketing goals set by different small businesses across the globe include increasing

revenues, boosting brand engagement, increasing website traffic, effectively managing online

reputation, increasing brand awareness, generating high-quality leads, and increasing customer

value. Lin (2021) argues that the e-marking strategy is ultimately to increase revenues. However,

different companies have different e-marketing goals since some may want to strengthen their

online presence by boosting their brands, while others may want to attract new customers.

Consequently, it is important to note that an organization can achieve all its marketing goals

since the possibilities with internet marketing are plenty. A firm should have a dedicated internet

marketing team to achieve its e-marketing goals.

Consequently, Spa World Houston has adopted a digital marketing strategy using

electronic tools to market its services. It has created several social media platforms where its

market is services. Some of the e-marketing tools used by Spa World Houston include a Website,

E-mail, and Phone calls. Spa World Houston also has social media platforms that include
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Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter (Kolanek et al., 2021). The company ensures its E-

marketing platforms are active and updated with posters to keep engaging and interacting with

clients to achieve its goals (Spaworld, 2022). According to Ella, the Spa World Associate, the

company has created several online platforms since it wants to boost its online presence and thus

increase its revenues. Ella said the company relies largely on referrals and recommendations

from its clients and therefore has to boost its brand online.

How they evaluate electronic communications

According to Agarwal (2019), electronic communication uses electronic media to

transmit messages using telephone, video calls, computers, e-mail, and Fax machines. In other

words, electronic communications mean sending information via phone or the internet.

Technology advancement has brought different technological devices that can be used to

transmit information or communication. Companies have been adopting different electronic

media for communication. For example, some companies communicate via e-mails while others

use video or phone calls. Additionally, a company tends to consider different factors in selecting

the most appropriate electronic communication media to be adopted. Some of those factors

include convenience, reliability, and affordability.

On that note, the company evaluates the adopted electronic communication based on the

factors such as convenience, reliability, and accost of the adopted electronic media. Spa World

Houston values convenient communication with its customers (Kolanek et al., 2021). Therefore,

the company allows its customers to book services online through its website. It also encourages

the customers to make phone calls to the company and make bookings. Additionally, it has

availed its e-mail to the public for convenient communication (Spaworld, 2022).. Therefore,
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based on convenience, Spa World Houston evaluates its electronic communication through e-

mails, websites, and phone calls.

Identifying how a company identifies and reaches its target audience

According to Luo et al. (2018), a target audience is a specific group of consumers more

likely to purchase the company's products or services. Therefore, the target audience is the group

of people or customers that should see the company's ad campaigns and advertisements. Luo et

al. (2018) argues that the target audience can be dictated by gender, age, interest, location, and

income. Consequently, depending on the company's sales, the target audience can also be men,

women, teenagers, or children. However, it is important to note that there is a significant

difference between a target market and a target audience. According to Luo et al. (2018), a target

market is a set of consumers a firm plan to sell its products to or reach with its marking activities.

In contrast, a target audience is a group of people within a targeted market being served

advertisements. To identify its target audience, an organization must spend time analyzing the

data received from customer engagements, evaluating buying patterns, and optimizing any new

information. Consequently, there are six steps to identifying and reaching the target audience.

They include a company segmenting its audience, conducting market research, performing

competitor analysis, looking at industry trends, talking to its audience, and interpreting received

data.

Spa World Houston carried out a feasibility study to identify its targeted audience. After

the market research, Spa World Houston targeted Korean people who might want to take a trip to

Spa while in Katy, Texas (Spaworld, 2022). Therefore, the targeted audience of Spa World

Houston is the Korean people living in Katy. Additionally, the company targets customers from

other background who may want to experience traditional Korean Spa. Spa World Houston's
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operation manager stated that the company targets people aged between 15 and 65, which is why

it has invested heavily in E-marketing. However, Ms. Torres explained that Spa World Houston

is open to people who would like to have fun, relax, and learn about Korean Cultural traditions

and their health benefits Kolanek et al., 2021). Therefore, Spa World Houston identified its target

audience through a feasibility study and reaches it through online platforms such as Websites,

Facebook, and Twitter. 

Determine how a company designs and evaluates its customer feedback techniques

There are a few steps a company can use to design a sustainable feedback system for

responding to customer feedback. They include collecting feedback from different platforms,

tracking it, understanding its goal in listening to feedback, and automating its responses as much

as possible (Oliver, 2020). Additionally, there are different techniques for evaluating customer

feedback. They include social channels, live chat, on-site activity analysis, e-mails, polls and

surveys, and website feedback tools. There are seven steps to evaluating customer feedback:

Collect your data, determine how to categorize the feedback, get a quick overview, Code the

feedback, refine your coding, calculate how popular each Code is, and Summarize and share

(Oliver, 2020). Spa World Houston has running surveys on its website and social media

platforms, and sometimes it sends them to its customers via e-mail (Kolanek et al., 2021). It

designs its survey to be short and focused by ensuring it has less than three open-ended questions

to encourage its customers to participate. Additionally, Spa World Houston collects data from

customer reviews on its social channels and analyzes the data. The company is also active in

responding to reviews from customers.  

Conclusion
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Spa World Houston has invested heavily in e-marketing. The Spa industry has a high

level of competition; therefore, Spa World Houston has decided to focus on digital marketing to

increase its revenues. The company evaluates its electronic communication based on the

convenience of its communication tools. Spa World Houston also encourages customers to book

services through its website, e-mail, or phone calls for convenience. The company is also active

on social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. Additionally,

the company targeted audience is people of Korean origin or people who are interested in

experiencing Korean traditions. This is because the Spa World Houston is themed in Korean

culture and traditions.

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References

Lin, C. C. (2021). Investigating Complimentary E-Marketing Strategy for Small-and Medium-

Sized Enterprises at Growth Stage in Taiwan. Information, 12(9), 380.

Luo, J., Pan, X., Wang, S., & Huang, Y. (2018). Identifying target audience on enterprise social

network. Industrial management & data systems.

Hardilawati, W. L., Sandri, S. H., & Binangkit, I. D. (2019, December). The Role of Innovation

and E-Commerce in Small Business. In International Conference of CELSciTech 2019-Social

Sciences and Humanities track (ICCELST-SS 2019) (pp. 18-22). Atlantis Press.

Agarwal, T. (2019, August 26). What is an electronic communication and its types. ElProCus.

Retrieved December 9, 2022, from https://www.elprocus.com/electronic-communication-

and-its-types/

Oliver P. (2020, March 19). How to develop a customer feedback system for success: Process

street: Checklist, Workflow and SOP software. Process Street. (2021, June 16). Retrieved

December 9, 2022, from https://www.process.st/customer-feedback-system/

Kolanek, O., Kelly, L., & Shelton, P. (2021, November 27). A guide to spa world, Katy's

first traditional Korean spa. KPRC. Retrieved December 9, 2022, from

https://www.click2houston.com/houston-life/2021/11/26/a-guide-to-spa-world-katys-

first-traditional-korean-spa/

Max, F. (2022, August 25). How to conduct a business market analysis. Business News Daily.

Retrieved December 9, 2022, from https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/15751-conduct-

market-analysis.html
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Spaworld. (2022, October 25). Korean style spa & sauna houston TX: All day spa near me.

SPA WORLD | Relax Healing Spa Bath Massage Body Treatment. Retrieved December

9, 2022, from https://www.spaworldhouston.com/