Marketing Across Boundaries Assignment Sample

Marketing Across Boundaries

1. Introduction-Marketing Across Boundaries

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In the era of digitalization, no establishment is self-sufficient; it is based in a complicated world. As a result, every management should invest time in learning about the impact of these elements on their business. As a result, a competent marketing strategy is essential to analyze what is occurring in the marketplace. Taking into account, Reliance retail limited is a major company with multiple subsidiary firms (Sheth, 2021). The organization has always prioritized the requirements and desires of their clients, which has aided in the expansion of its reputation. Numerous marketing techniques are available for evaluating a firm's extensive promotional climate (Ali & Anwar, 2021).

Every business management choice made by the corporation is under the watchful eye of this committee. By clearly defining the duties, responsibilities, and interests of every employee in the firm, helps establish a culture of honesty and responsibility among the organization's top executives. An in-depth exploration of the underlying element in marketing strategy and systematic methodologies is presented in this paper. Reliance, India's largest retail chain, will be examined in connection to this overall setting (Relianceretail.com. 2019)

Figure 1: Reliance Retail Logo

(Source: Relianceretail.com. 2019)

2. Situation Analysis

2.1 Importance of Situational Analysis

The situation analysis has amalgamated the various tools that help a business to enhance their business strategy based on the internal and external factors. The proper way of situational analysis will help the company to understand the current situation of the company.

Analyzing the risks and advantages of the project and its stakeholders can give valuable information on how the process will affect the businesses involved. In this instance, it portrays a company or situation and the current state of affairs (Zingg Pittet, and Allegranzi, 2021).

As an added benefit, the research may help uncover an organization's capability to meet strategic marketing needs, which may then be used to formulate and execute transformational changes before they are implemented. It also helps identify aspects of the program that will need to be modified to adapt for current or learned how to manage (Bekmatov and Bekmatov?, 2021). It is possible to pinpoint areas of the transformation program where things are not going as smoothly as they should be by conducting regular analyses.

Once a strategy is defined, it is important to know and understand the strategy's purpose and objectives. As simple as alerting all of the firm's stockholders, or as complex as contacting out to specific different stakeholders, having a specific roundtable discussion, or even gaining momentum to propel the company ahead, which is only possible after a thorough review of the current situation.

2.2 Impact of Situational Analysis to get the marketing objectives

An evaluation is a group of techniques used to examine the elements affecting an organization. It enables businesses to do market research in order to forecast the future growth, identify the target clients, examine company competition, and assess the status of the organization. A situational analysis, which is based on economic research, identifies possible clients, examines predicted development, assesses rivals, and gives a realistic perspective of a firm. Addressing particular business objectives while also identifying elements that either assist or impede those goals is what this process comprises (Savina, 2021). On the other hand, the situational analysis also helps an organization to elevate the functionalities of the market and choose the proper positioning of the market.

It has been seen that from the many companies that when they have analyzed the situation of their business from several aspects then it has gone faster than than the previous position. Therefore, from the vast industrial galleries of Mukesh Ambani the overall reliance industry is going in a very advanced way (Kalaignanam et al., 2021). Now, recently, they have initiated the "reliance mart" which serves the retail products to the customers that are now constantly improving their marketing tactics.

Figure 2: Reliance Retail Supermarket Complex

(Source: Relianceretail.com. 2019)

2.3 SWOT Analysis

SWOT Analysis is a tried-and-true management approach that helps companies like Reliance Retail evaluate their firm and its results in comparison to that of their competitors (Houben, Lenie and Vanhoof, 1999). Reliance Retail is a world leader in the recreational and retail industries, with operations in more than 100 countries.

Strengths	Weakness
It is an Indian retail business with more than 900 outlets spread over 80 cities in the country. Suit, footwear and jewelry repairing, washing, and other services are available at this big supermarket with 95000 markets. It is the owner of several private label brands (Ril.com. 2019). It has a robust distribution network, with 1600 channels in rural areas, for example. It enjoys the support of the parent corporation in a big way.	Days inventory is larger than that of competitors, necessitating the company's search for extra dollars to invest in the channel. This could have a negative impact on the long-term growth of Reliance Retail. There is scope for growth in the marketing of the commodities. Despite the fact that the item has been a financial success, its location and unique selling proposition are still developing, making it vulnerable to competing threats in this market. However, when product variety is available, further SKUs are not available due to insufficient back-end technology and poor stock management at certain store outlets in the retail industry (Ril.com. 2019).
Opportunities	Threats
Reliance's retail sector may now pursue a differential pricing strategy in the emerging market thanks to the unique technologies. It will assist the organization in retaining current customers and attracting new customers through a variety of value-added offerings. Clients recruited via the web - The company has invested heavily in the online network during the previous few years. This breakthrough has provided Reliance Retail with additional income sources (Ril.com. 2019). In the next several years, the company may capitalize on this opportunity by using data analytics to help understand and identify the needs of its consumers.	Demand for highly profitable items is seasonal, and any unforeseen occurrence during the peak tourist season may have an adverse effect on the bank's earnings in the short to mid-term. Imitation of counterfeit and substandard products also poses a challenge to Reliance's retail sector, particularly in emerging and low-income nations. The corporation faces stiff competition internationally from Carrefour, Metro AG, and Tesco. On the other side, operation costs are prohibitively expensive. Walmart is the market leader in the worldwide market in terms of sourcing and backward direction.

2.4 PESTLE Analysis

Reliance retail's PESTLE analysis examines the brand's commercial approaches. Principal Place of business' PESTLE Study analyses the numerous external aspects affecting its company, as well as environmental and legal considerations (Perera, 2017). The PESTLE Analysis identifies the various extrinsic circumstances that have an effect on the company's operations.

Factors	Description
Political	Political stability is critical for the movement of resources and the maintenance of a best-in-class distribution chain. Political unrest results in more frequent legislative changes. Given the vast scale of the firm, it becomes tough for Reliance Retailing segments to respond to so frequent legislative changes (Reporter, 2021). Government legislation governing contracts, taxation, and intellectual property rights must be in existence. Additionally, the nations where Reliance Industries has established a product base through supermarkets, product development.
Economic	The nation's inflation rate determines the government's purchasing power. Inflation is undesirable for corporate profitability since it raises the cost of raw materials and hence the end version. Borrowing costs hurt both company and the consumer (Reporter, 2021). Businesses like Reliance retail sector take out loans from lenders to fund their operations, while consumers take out loans to start buying items. However, rising interest rates impede both productivity and purchasing power. Stability in the financial sector and currency prices is critical for business growth. The country's population forecasts future company growth.
Social	The purchasing power of consumers has expanded considerably in the twenty-first century. This has compelled corporations such as Reliance retail to provide a diverse choice of items at a variety of pricing ranges. Currently, people are increasingly socially conscious and seek fashionable brands in clothing and electronics. The internet has evolved into a need. The region's economic status imbalance must be rectified. It is futile to promote expensive things to those who cannot buy them. People are becoming more aware of the threats that commodities pose to their health and environment.
Technological	The state of technology is always changing. All of Reliance Industries Limited's operations benefit from the use of technology, which has been implemented successfully. It talks about anything from e-commerce and improved ERP functionality to sophisticated social media advertising and technological advancements in the telecoms industry, such as 5G technology and fibernet internet (Reporter, 2021). New tech is producing disruptions in business operations and the production of goods and services.
Environmental	The emissions that are emitted into the atmosphere must meet or exceed the norms set by the government. Carbon dioxide emissions in excess of what is needed lead to the depletion of the ozone layer and the rise in global temperatures. Plastic rubbish that has been generated cannot be thrown off in water bodies, as previously stated. A large number of abandoned things are eliminated from the retailing industry on the other hand, which has a direct impact on the normal entire ecosystem.
Legal	The company's current legislation must accord with labour regulations protecting fundamental rights such as minimum wages. Environmental legislation and industrial sewage treatment requirements control their total activities (www.ril.com. n.d.). Contractual laws, business regulations, and business norms must be followed. A distinct legal department oversees all laws that must be matched and implemented into their company. Health and safety rules are stricter now that the public knows of product substance and performance.

3. Objectives

It has been observed in an extensive manner that the expansion of reliance on retail over the past few years has been able to activate a great socio-economic revolution on an unexpected scale in India. As a matter of fact, this industry is considered the fastest rising retailer around the globe. Moreover, the company has more than 150 million dependable consumers buying crossways all its formats. Reliance retail has to initiate multiple marketing techniques in order to achieve these marketing objectives (Sangodapo, 2021). The impact of the COVID19 pandemic has not been able to influence much on the profitability of this company, though the company requires modifying some of its marketing strategies for better improvement. Thus, the marketing objectives will be fulfilled in an effective manner. The appliance of SMART objectives will help in the process of illustrating the fact how these marketing objectives can be achieved.

These are the following objectives:

• To evaluate the significance of targeting marketing of Reliance Retail Limited.
• To enhance the sale up to by 5% almost in 12 months
• To analysis the market and then apply effective marketing strategies

In terms of increasing the market share of the company and gaining a competitive advantage, Reliance Retail Limited requires a range of marketing objectives (Shenoy, 2017). Through mitigating the various issue involved in the marketing and therefore by implications of specific marketing objectives Reliance Retail Limited might be able to enhance the sale in an efficient manner. Lowering of the operational cost, enhancement of the delivery process, creating differentiation to its major competitors, and managing of the poor inventory system is the major marketing objectives (Sharma & Avasthi, 2019). Fulfilling these objectives might be able to obtain a competitive advantage for the company.

In terms of operating cost, it needed to be decreased due to the matter of focusing on large base of customers. Otherwise, maintenance of a reasonable price might not be fulfilled for an elevated amount of operating cost. The more will be the operating cost decreases, the more will the revenue margin will be higher (BEULA, 2018). Therefore, the delivery or distribution process has to be smooth and way faster than any other online grocery store. Establishing frequent stores will be extremely accommodating for the customers of Reliance Retail Limited. The availability of each and every item also indeed necessary so that people cannot shift or change towards other brands. As a matter of fact, by maintaining these two factors Reliance Retail Limited will be able to create differentiation among its major competitors. Also, managing the poor inventory system might be helpful in establishing a competitive advantage for the company (Joshua, 2020).

The implementation of technological improvements might be able to lower the rate of operational cost along with saving much time (Sharma & Avasthi, 2019). Furthermore, identification of the inefficiencies and therefore mitigating them can be accommodating for lowering the operational cost. The formation of a quick delivery process can be possible through appointing a major workforce. Also, the availability of multiple products is indeed necessary for an exceptional distributional channel (BEULA, 2018). Maintenance of reasonable price along with sustaining product quality might be competent to create differentiation among its competitors. However, managing of a poor inventory system can be problematic and a time lengthy procedure.

It is indeed necessary for the company to identify each and every information of fulfilling the objectives (Shenoy, 2017). Sometimes completing the marketing objectives can be hampered in many ways. As a matter of fact, measuring of appropriate resources whether human or financial has always been considered responsible for accomplishing the objectives. Thus, by investigating each and every necessary information, the relevance of the task should be checked (Jangde & Sharma, 2017).

Time table is considered to be as the most important factor. Without having a proper schedule might be hampering sustaining the efficiency of the company (Jangde & Sharma, 2017). Therefore, it is indeed true that a slight difference in time can create a major problem in achieving the objectives. Regarding the fact of lowering the operational cost, it might need 3 to 4 months. In terms of the distribution process, it will also take some time as it takes in the time of operating cost. The more quickly theses will be fulfilled the less time will be required for creating differentiation among its competitors (Kumar, Sajid, & BIST, 2018). 

1. Segmentation and targeting

In terms of segmentation, it basically refers to the process of dividing the target market. Therefore, it has been observed that reliance on retail limited requires various ranges of consumer segments along within its elevated range of products. Moreover, the company exploits a huge range of segmentation variables in order to stay competitive in the marketplace.

Promotional strategy

The promotion has been able to lead the company towards achieving the greatest success. The promotional strategy of the company covers various methods such as:

• The retail brands of reliance such as Footprints, Ajio and fresh consist of their own social media sites and thus it is quite easy for the customers to follow the websites and gather valuable information from them. People in today's generation want to spent more time on social media sites rather than engaging in that offline store. Regarding these issue, online shopping has been measured as the best option for them to avoid going on the offline stores (Joshua, 2020).
• In terms of offline strategies, the company has utilized Newspaper and Television as the most important offline standard of promotion and also comprises of renowned stars as their brand ambassadors such as Janvi Kapoor and Vicky Kaushal.
• The discount offers in clothes and footwear have been able to create a center of attraction towards lots of potential customers. Getting accessories and fashion items during the time of major festivals has been proved to be accommodating for the customers to shop more from the reliance stores (Prema, 2019).
• It is indeed true that big hoardings in the cities have been seen almost everywhere. This is an appropriate offline marketing technique that has been competent to create visual attraction towards the customers to go to the offline stores.
• It is indeed true that The Reliance Fresh almost every time give offers which are frequently on their various products on 30% to 50% discount. Therefore, theses offer often considered very eye-catching numbers in order to pamper viewers (Sahu, 2017). As a matter of fact, the more reasonable price will be able to clutch more audience than any other retail store.

Pricing strategy

The role of pricing is considered as an essential part of the reliance retail sectors and that will play an important part in the process of differentiation. In a country like India, customers look forward to getting quality products at minimum reasonable prices. As a matter of fact, reliance has been able to provide reasonable prices which are measured considerably lower than any other retail shops in India.

• In terms of the grocery section, it has been observed that the pricing is extremely competitive and frequently provides offers specifically on Jio mart. Regarding this fact, customers always look forward to purchasing items from online stores (Prema, 2019).
• Therefore, the pricing strategies of the electronic division are based on the products of multiple companies. Reliance Retail has very little pricing impact on this segment (Sahu, 2017).
• On the basis of different customers, Reliance Retail provides mid-range to premium pricing in order to attract an elevated range of customers. Through this the organization will be able to increase its sales up to 5% in 12 months.

Targeting

In terms of the target market, it is extremely interrelated to obtain the organizational objectives along with adding value to the customers. As a matter of fact, product differentiating can be a targeting approach and by implementing of Key Differentiating Features (KDF), Reliance Retail Limited will be able to congregate the requirements of the target market and propose customer value. In this section, there will be a demonstration of the major features which might be able to create differentiation to the competitors of Reliance Retail Limited.

• Competitive pricing: In a country like India where almost 65% of the people belong to a middle-class background, pricing plays an important role here. The company maintains a competitive pricing strategy but in order to be on top it needed to focus more on pricing (Rathore & Rathore, 2019). The impact of the coronavirus has been competent to create a major hole in the economic system of each and every country; India is not an exception of that. Regarding this fact or issue, the purchasing rates of the customers have decreased due to the financial downturn. The ultimate strategy is to provide the consumers with lower prices compared to the general grocery stores. In terms of clothing and footwear, Reliance Retail offered premium pricing which requires being lower than any other retail store. When people come to know about the low pricing strategy initiated by the company, they will look forward to shop on offline stores (Sangodapo, 2021). It will be effective for the company to gain a competitive advantage in the market and to create a major customer value chain along with fulfilling the target as well as helping to gain sales almost 5 %
• Product distribution: Distributing in terms of 750 cities in India is quite difficult. As a matter of fact, the primal focus of the company is to keep a closer look on the medium to elevated earning part of the society which in terms covers 50% of people in India (Sangodapo, 2021). But in order to stay competitive in the marketplace, they needed to focus on the rural sectors which are often ignored. It is therefore the concern of the company to establish their stores on the rural sectors to successfully run the process of distribution. Through an exceptional distribution process, the company will be able to create a potential customer base and will be able to meet the requirements of the target market. It is indeed true that through spreading the store across large area and sometimes not taking delivery charges might be able to create a value to the customers in terms of target market (Rathore & Rathore, 2019).

The implementation of these major differentiating features might be able to facilitate in the process drawing attention towards a vast majority of customers. As a matter of fact, the company needs to focus more on creating a competitive advantage through providing offers in a frequent manner. On the other hand, not taking delivery charges on special delivery might be able to create a specific attraction towards the customers to order more. Thus, by implication of these strategies Reliance Retail Limited will be able to create a competitive advantage along within creating value to the customers. 

5. Communications

5.1 The importance of understanding the consumer buying process

Customer purchasing behaviour analysis is critical for marketers because it enables them to comprehend consumer expectations. It is indeed beneficial to know what motivates a buyer to purchase a product. Advertisers may ascertain consumer preferences and build marketing strategies accordingly.

Figure 3: Procedure to build health consumer relationship

(Source: Zollo et al., 2021)

A wide range of scenarios is investigated in consumer purchase consumer behavior research. These include what consumers order, why they buy, how they buy, how often they buy, and for what reason they buy (Zollo et al., 2021). When launching new products to the market, it is vital to discover what sorts of goods consumers will be interested in purchasing. Customer demands may be determined by marketers, and marketing tactics can be developed in response. Consumer behavior is studied more extensively in industries that are oversaturated with competition and have a high level of competition. FMCG, durables, retailing, and e-commerce are all industries in which a big number of people are employed only for the purpose of studying and influencing client behavior, as opposed to other purposes.

5.2 Kapferer’s brand identity prism

Jean-Noel Kapferer's Corporate Branding Prism is a framework that helps organizations develop powerful, durable company brands that represent their underlying values (ARHANCHIAGUE, 2021). The Kapferer Brand Image Prism is composed of six distinct brand identification components. Physical appearance, personality, culture, connection, reflection, and self-image are the six aspects.

Figure 4: Kapferer’s brand identity prism

(Source: ARHANCHIAGUE, 2021)

Physic	In that case, this retail company has to merge the best possible solution that may be attractive for the customers when they are purchasing the products from the retail shops.
Personality	In that case, as like the previous, the products are still for all ages and it is available with all types of products for all types of customers.
Relationship	The quality of the product is good and affordable in price. It is easily affordable for everyone.
Reflection	In that case, the products are suitable for everyone and it is customized based on the current market demand that has employed a great impact on the mind of the customers.
Culture	The production is based on mixed culture. This retail business has no specific criteria regarding the culture but mainly it has originated from Indian culture.
Self-image	The services are tech-driven which is very trendy among the customers. It has quietly maintained the culture that has helped the business to constantly enhance in the competitive business market.

(Source: Laskar, 2021)

6. Conclusion

The ultimate purpose of Retail Marketing is to focus on the segmentation, targeting, positioning and branding of a retail store and thus they will be able to interact with the customers in a significant way. On the other hand, the implication of situational analysis also plays an important role in terms of decision-making progress of segmentation and targeting. Reliance Retail Limited is the leading and considered as highest increasing private sector businesses in India, along with business behaviors encircling almost all foremost expansion sectors in terms of the Indian financial system. The company produces extensive amount of products with market leadership in approximately all its businesses. On the other hand, Customer decision-making process in terms of buying has to go through a rage of significant process. By fulfilling various marketing objectives, the company will be able to make easier of the process of decision making for purchasing the product. Thus, by fulfilling the objectives Reliance Retail Limited will be able to create differentiation among its major competitors. 

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