Business Analysis of Watson Group
S. Watson Group, which in turn is part f the world wide company Hutchison Hamper Ltd. The company currently operates over 2,200 stores and 900 pharmacies In Asia, and has for the third year running been voted the No. 1 In retail- Pharmacy and Drugstore category of Sais’s top 1,000 brands. (Watson,2010) Watson began as a small dispensary in Guanos, China in 1828, providing free medical aid to the poor. By 1841, the company had moved to Hong Kong and established the Hong Kong Dispensary. Through decades of expansion, it offers more than 25,000 products in over 1,700 outlets now.
Products range from medicines, cosmetics and toiletries to fashion items, confectionery, cards ND toys. There are 14 stores In Generous today, and most of them are located near the big supermarket, business center or office building. Body Marketing management philosophy Marketing is a societal process by which individuals and groups obtain what they need and want through creating, offering, and freely exchanging products and services of value with others. (Kettle & Keller, 2011) Companies should identify the needs of the customer and satisfied those needs better than competitors.
With the require for the shopping fun as well as some intangible things like service and brand. Therefore, Watson’ pledge to be “Your Personal Store”- at the heart of their business. It is committed to serving and enriching customers’ lives by helping them look good, feel great and have fun. Whether it is providing personalized beauty and health advice, or continually updating their wide range of quality and innovative products, customers’ needs are always at the first place of Watson.
Marketing Orientation The marketing approach of Watson is marketing orientation. The idea based on the belief that satisfied customer supports the company and its own goals. It is focused n marketing rather than selling and consumer’s needs and wants will always be the key elements. Therefore, these companies usually first determines what the consumer wants, then produces what the consumer wants, and then sell the consumer what it wants. After carefully observation, Watson selected their target customers are women who aged 18-40 years.
In order to satisfied their target customers, Watson established their own management philosophy. Through the ingenuity of the products to provide consumers and elegant shopping environment, and professional IT services to convey a positive idea of a better life, to assist love life, Ochs on quality people to shape their own inner beauty and outer beauty of unity. Watson Your Personal Store continually make adjustments to their business to ensure they meet the needs of their target market. That may be the key reason for their success and popularity in Chinese mainland markets.
Marketing environment Macro external environment Demographics Name Area Population Economy Technology Changes in technology brings the risk to the traditional business. Many companies, such as Taboo, Jimmie and Loafs are popular in recent years. Consumers can get what they want in a more effective and economic way. These e-commerce poses great risks to the retailers in the offline world . Though Watson launched the business on the Internet, these popular e-commerce are still the strongest competitor to the company. Society and culture Nowadays, an increased interest in health and physical fitness has become important in many people’s lives.
And eating habits have changed as a result of the increased concern for personal health. The company insist on the idea of “look good, feel great and have fun”, which exactly suit the current trend. Therefore, this is the great opportunity of Watson. Micro internal environment Personnel & Skills Watson has more than 200 pharmacists and health and fitness advisers, providing personal and professional advice on medicine and health supplements. Through offering free health assessments, health advise and prescription remainders, Watson gives customers a personalized and all-around healthcare support.
Location Ares or office building. These places usually have more people who can afford the extra expense. Company image & brands The Watson brand is popular among young people. Consumers think that Watson can provide variety products with good quality. SOOT analysis Strengths Product diversification Acceptable price and good quality Change with the market Dowdily distributed in major cities brands with good reputations Weakness Alack of qualified pharmacists the major customers are young ladies, can’t attract men and children majority of products supplied by the supplier, lace of own brand products.
Opportunity Omen willing to spend more on beauty, health and fun the economy developed fast in central parts of China Easy to spend world market Threats Competitors increased a lot, like e-commerce, supermarket and groceries Consumers have high demands in recent years Alack of professional image Marketing Research There are three types of marketing research: exploratory research, descriptive research and casual research. Exploratory research is a type of research conducted for a problem that has not been clearly defined.
It helps marketers to gain a greater understanding of something that they don’t know enough about. Watson Your Personal Store usually use exploratory research in their business. For example, if a shampoo popular among consumers, they may interested in the reason why it is selling well than the other, is it have special functions or the advertisement is attractive. After this research, they can know well about their customers’ needs and produce what exactly they want. Customer Analysis Consumer Buying Behavior There are four different types of consumer buying behaviors.
Watson Your Personal Store is a famous retailer, selling medicines, cosmetics , soft drinks, snack foods and other fashion items. As a result, the major consumer have routine response behavior. This type of behavior need very little search and decision effort and purchased almost automatically What’s more, consumers usually do not experience need recognition until they can see the product or see an advertisement. Because consumers frequently purchase these low cost items, Watson need some efforts to make it special and meet the public needs.
Targeting Customers Watson’ target customers are located in the spending power (two thousand and five more in monthly income) to accept new things but also the middle class (age 18-40 years) Watson in the research found that Asian women will use more time to go shopping, and they are willing to invest a lot of time to find cheaper or better spirit. They like to use the best products and seek new experiences, fashion, willing to show themselves in front of friends. They are more willing to use the money to bring big changes for their willingness to carry out various new attempts.
The reason that they are more concerned about consumers under the age of 40 is that older women already have their own brand and lifestyle, so it’s difficult to fixed. In this comfortable shopping environment, Watson provide customers with a variety of products. According to the different benefits the consumers seek from the products. Marketing mix Positioning Positioning is all about perception. Marketers use a positioning strategy to distinguish their firm’s product or service from those of competitors and to create remissions that express the desired position.
Watson Your Personal Store, the largest health and beauty retailer in the world, wants to make their consumers look good, feel great and have fun. The company position itself as the “Personal Care Experts”, and make great effort to provide consumers with products of affordable price, high quality and elegant atmosphere of the business environment. The Four Product strategies Watson convey their management ideas”Health, Good & Fun” by their products. Drug and health care reserve the characteristic since the store was founded and advocate health.
Hairdressing and care has biggest proportion and the most varieties, expressing the concept that is beauty. The unique funny doll and the candy convey optimistic life attitude. To match with the three management ideas, there are many lovely marks like “heart” “smiling” and “lip” at the shelves, cashier and shopping bags, giving consumers a warm, pleasant and interesting feeling. Price Strategies Watson believed that quality is more important than price in today’s competition, so the company try to achieve price and market demands. Watson attract consumers through fashion styles and good quality rather than competitive price.
Place Place refers to how you will sell your products to your customers. What it is you are selling will directly influence how you distribute it, and it affects mainly those business that are in production. Watson think supply chain is important to retailers. For the good reputation, the company have excellent suppliers and sell to the consumers directly at a lower price. Today, with the development of Internet, Watson also established its own e-commerce to attract more people. Furthermore, the company began to enter second cities and the western regions, actively expand ales channels and promote the market to enhance competition.
Promotion Promotion is a process of informing your customers of your company’s products. Watson is good at researching of customers’ thought. They have many effective ways to promote their products. For example, the PIP card, their members can have additional discount and gift when they are shopping. Except that, Watson often have interesting activities on special days to attract consumers. Conclusion and Watson Your Personal Store is committed to serving and enriching customers’ lives by helping them look good, feel great and have fun.
Whether it is providing personalized beauty and health advice, or continually updating their wide range of quality and innovative products, customers’ needs are always at the heart of all they do. Therefore, Watson gains good reputations among consumers and will have strong competitive ability in the future. In the future, Watson should continue to emphasis its “Your Personal Care” image among consumers and provide variety of products to the market. The company not only have to enhance the channel of supplier, but also need to produce its own products with their brands.
