The global retail industry has seen a significant shift in the customer preferences in the recent years. The specialty retail industry focuses on catering to one specific retail market and comprises of products including automotive, specialty stores, and fuel retailing. The industry at large is fragmented and relies on factors such as increasing disposable income, rising consumer spending, and relative growth in the GDP to gain a sustainable growth in the market. Also, a stipulated market growth is showcased by the Asia-Pacific region as it comprises 31% of the global market share. Although the specialty retail market is witnessing a considerable growth owing to the increasing growth of middle-class population, the industry will face challenges due to certain factors including:
- Changing customer demands: With the latest innovations in the specialty retail space, the consumers’ demands have been changing as they look for convenience in their product offerings. In this digital-era, retaining customers has become a major concern for organizations than acquiring customers. Also, the explosion of social media and mobile devices is creating awareness among the customers about the brands and products they require.
- Supply chain: Today, the consumers are more informed than ever before and expect impeccable service. To meet the rising demands of the target audience, retailers are coming up with possible ways to minimize the operational cost without comprising the quality of the products offered. In addition, the organizations need to ensure that right products are delivered to the customers at the right time.
To address these challenges and deliver personalized offerings to the relevant target audiences, organizations are in need of a marketing strategy.
The Business Challenge
- The Client: Specialty retail firm
- Area of Engagement: Marketing strategy
A prominent specialty retail client with a considerable number of stores spread globally wanted to refine their marketing models and develop a marketing strategy to attract customers. The client wanted to ensure that the products and services meet the customer demands and develop long-term profitable relationships with the customers. The client wanted to leverage the use of marketing strategy to respond to changes in customer perceptions and demand. The primary concern for the engagement was to identify and communicate the benefits of the business offering to the target market. Through the engagement, the client also wanted to develop a SWOT analysis to identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats in the specialty retail space.
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The Journey
To compete with sophisticated specialty retailers, the marketing strategy experts at Infiniti carried out extensive interviews and discussions with leading stakeholders in the industry. To deliver personalized brand experiences, Infiniti’s marketing strategy experts also compiled information across a wide array of secondary sources such as paid industry databases, trade shows, company presentations, and industry forums in the retail industry.
The Solution Benefits and the Business Impact
The marketing strategy solution offered by Infiniti helped the specialty retail client develop a marketing campaign that resonates with the target audience. The engagement also helped the client gain actionable insights on the unique selling points and choose the right price for the products and services offered. The engagement also sought ways to position the product in the marketplace and generate better returns on the investment. In addition, the marketing strategy also assisted the client to develop a retail marketing mix to differentiate the products with that of the competitors.
The Future
The future of specialty retail industry will be marked by innovations such as mobile payment solutions. With a considerable number of mobile users, it is estimated that 70 percent of mobile users in the United States will prefer making mobile payments. In addition, on an average, the mobile payment is estimated to account for $500 million by 2020.
