Answer :

MARKETING INTELLIGENCE

Introduction

LO1: Understanding consumer behavior and the purchase decision-making process

1.1. Describing the major stages of the purchase decision-making process

1.2. Explaining theories of buyer behavior by means of individuals and markets

1.3. Explaining the factors that influence buyer behavior

1.4. Evaluating the relationship between brand loyalty, corporate image and repeat purchasing

LO2: Using marketing research techniques

This task focuses on analysing different types of research techniques, various sources of secondary data and the process of analysing the validity and reliability of a market research. 

2.1. Evaluating various sorts of market research techniques-200

Before evaluating different types of market research techniques, few objectives of the research are developed:

• To identify the requirements of customers regarding trendy clothes
• To critically measure the market size and competition level in the fashion retail industry of the UK
• To understand the opinions of the customers of Zara regarding the products and service quality of the firm

Marketing research refers to the process, which connects the manufacturers and customers to the dealer through information utilised to recognise and describe marketing opportunities and difficulties; produce, improve, and assess marketing activities; screen marketing performance; and expand understanding of marketing (Buckley and Casson, 2016). 

Clark (2016) has pointed out the roles and importance of marketing research. Marketing research helps to reveal the major aspects of the products and services offered by the competitors, their marketing strategies, and target markets. This information is useful for any company within its marketing campaigns, as it helps to develop a strong competitive position within the market over h competitors and add value to the brand or business. 

Two major types of market research techniques include, quantitative and qualitative. The quantitative technique is based on statistical data and hard facts rather than the viewpoint or feelings of the consumers. This type of research technique is helpful in primary and secondary marketing research. The examples of the quantitative research are surveys, shopping-bag survey, on-site fieldwork, and questionnaire, researching research papers and financial reports that help to identify the market size (Babin and Zikmund, 2015). On the other hand, Qualitative technique considers the feelings and viewpoints of the customers related to the products and services. This research mainly focuses on understanding whether the customers are satisfied with the quality of products or services or they are searching for something else. Face-to-face interview and focus group discussion are some examples of qualitative research (Fan et al 2015). 

2.2. Using sources of secondary data to obtain the objectives of marketing research

Secondary data are the data that is gathered by someone, who is not the user. This data can be collected from different secondary sources like journals, articles, websites, books or other publications (Armstrong et al. 2015). 

The two marketing objectives are:

• To identify the competitive position of Zara
• To analyse the market demand for the products of Zara

The websites and journals can be used as secondary data sources for achieving the marketing objectives of Zara. Since its establishment in the year 1975, Zara continues to expand in business in different regions for obtaining competitive position in the market. As of 2016, the firm earned +10 earning as compared to 2014. It created 15000 employments in the world and to strengthen its competitive position, it is going to open 330 new stores in different locations of the world (Zara.com, 2017). The market demand of Zara is increasing day by day. However, to sustain the demand, the company needs to focus on creativity in terms of offering products and services to its customers, so that it can beat its competitors like Uniqlo and H&M. 

2.3. Assessing the reliability and validity of findings of market research

Time and money were the major limitations of the research. Due to lack of time and financial resources, the adequate amount of data could not be collected and analysed, which could have enhanced the quality of the research outcome. 

Reliability refers to the authenticity of the research process. An appropriate sample would be selected and no respondent would be forced or manipulated to complete the survey. This would ensure the reliability of the collected data.

Validity refers to the extent to which the research is sound. By selecting appropriate research methods and design, the validity of the findings is assured. 

2.4. Preparing a marketing research plan to acquire information in a given situation

Background- Zara is one of the biggest global fashion retail organisations. Customers are at the heart of the business of Zara. As fashion trend changes very quickly now a day, therefore, the firm wants to analyse the contemporary customers’ preferences, market size and level of competition and customer opinions about Zara, hence the present study is conducted. 

Rationale- Zara is facing issues due to the high level of market competition. Therefore, now the company is focused on identifying and fulfilling consumer preferences related to fashion (Zara.com, 2017). 

Research objectives-

• To identify the requirements of customers regarding trendy clothes
• To critically measure the market size and competition level in the fashion retail industry of the UK
• To understand the opinions of the customers of Zara regarding the products and service quality of the firm

Methodology- For conducting the research, primary data are collected through carrying out a survey with 90 customers of Zara, UK, who are selected through simple random sampling. The secondary data is collected from previously published books, articles, journals and websites, Industry Bodies and Pressure Groups. Quantitative data are collected from the survey and qualitative data are accumulated from secondary sources. 

Data analysis- The collected data from the survey would be calculated and analysed through Microsoft Excel and the result would be represented through tables and graphs. 

Timeframe- (Refer to Appendix 1) 

Budget section-

Table 2: Budget of the research

(Source: Created by the learner)

LO3: Assessing market size and future demand

3.1. Assessing market size, trends within a given market

3.2. Planning and carrying out a competitor analysis for a Zara, UK

3.3. Evaluating Zara’s opportunities and threats for a given product or service

LO4: Evaluating customer satisfaction  

This task involves analysing different techniques for assessing customer satisfaction and developing and accomplishing a customer satisfaction survey and reviewing its success.

4.1. Evaluating techniques for measuring customer response 

Table 3: Techniques of measuring customer response

(Source: Leeflang et al. 2014)

Some techniques are effective for some specific situations. For example, data mining assists government agency by collecting and analysing records related to financial transactions to make patterns for spotting criminal activities and money laundering (Baker, 2014).

4.2. Designing and completing a customer satisfaction survey

Demographic:

1. Which gender do you belong to?

Table 1: Gender of respondents

Figure 1: Gender of respondents

2. Which age group do you belong to?

Table 2: Age of respondents

Figure 2: Age of respondents

These questions are helpful in identifying the demographic characteristics of Zara.

About the service and product quality:

3. How far do you satisfy with the quality of clothes offered by Zara?

Table 3: Quality of clothes at Zara

Figure 3: Quality of clothes at Zara

4. How far do you agree that Zara has a fair return policy?

Table 4: Return policy of Zara

Figure 4: Return policy of Zara

5. How far do you satisfy with the post sale services provided by Zara?

Table 5: Post-sale services at Zara

Figure 5: Post-sale services at Zara

6. Do you think that Zara offers a trending collection of clothes?

Table 6: Collections of Zara

Figure 6: Collections of Zara

7. How far do you satisfy with the process, your problems/complaints are solved?

Table 7: Problem solving process of Zara

Figure 7: Problem solving process of Zara

8. How far do you agree that the staffs of Zara are helpful, friendly and knowledgeable?

Table 8: Staff behavior at Zara

Figure 8: Staff behavior at Zara

9. How likely would you suggest Zara to your family or friends?

Table 9: Recommending Zara to others

Figure 9: Recommending Zara to others

10. From which other fashion retailer, you would like to buy clothes apart from Zara?

Table 10: Competitors of Zara

Figure 10: Competitors of Zara

These questions are specifically developed with the aim of understanding the opinions of customers regarding the products and service quality of Zara and measuring their satisfaction level. 

4.3. Reviewing the success of a completed survey

The survey, conducted with the 90 customers of Zara, has helped to understand their views regarding the different aspects of the business of the firm. From the survey result, it is found that most of the customers of the company are female, therefore, the firm needs to introduce more fashionable cloth ranges for men, so that it can increase the number of male customers positively. The customers in terms of age are dominated by the age group of 18 to 25 years. Hence, to retain and attract younger customers, Zara needs to put the focus on offering newer and up-to-date cloth ranges. This will definitely help the firm to increase its sales rate and profitability. The survey shows that most of the customers of Zara are satisfied with the clothes' quality, design, organisational return policy, post-sale services and problem-solving services. However, it also found that a significant number of customers are there, who are not fully satisfied with the quality of products and customer services provided by Zara. Therefore, the firm should consider the viewpoints of its unsatisfied customers positively, as they help the firm to identify the flaws of the company. Working on the flaws may help Zara to enhance its service and product quality and eventually, increase customer satisfaction and loyalty to the firm. Moreover, the company needs to arrange effective training and development programs for its staffs in order to ensure continuous improvement. It may enable the representatives to provide better service to the customers by solving their queries and helping them to choose the best-suited products for them. Zara must consider the strategies followed by its competitors like Uniqlo and H&M, so that it can develop its customer care strategies more effective in satisfying the demands and expectations of the customers appropriately. As, in some of the questions, some of the respondents remained neutral, therefore, the objectives of some questions could not be achieved properly. Hence, the survey is partially successful. 

It is important to measure customer response through applying appropriate techniques. It helps firms to identify the areas, which need improvement for maintaining competitiveness and obtaining customer satisfaction.

Figure 10: Competitors of Zara

These questions are specifically developed with the aim of understanding the opinions of customers regarding the products and service quality of Zara and measuring their satisfaction level. 

4.3. Reviewing the success of a completed survey

The survey, conducted with the 90 customers of Zara, has helped to understand their views regarding the different aspects of the business of the firm. From the survey result, it is found that most of the customers of the company are female, therefore, the firm needs to introduce more fashionable cloth ranges for men, so that it can increase the number of male customers positively. The customers in terms of age are dominated by the age group of 18 to 25 years. Hence, to retain and attract younger customers, Zara needs to put the focus on offering newer and up-to-date cloth ranges. This will definitely help the firm to increase its sales rate and profitability. The survey shows that most of the customers of Zara are satisfied with the clothes' quality, design, organisational return policy, post-sale services and problem-solving services. However, it also found that a significant number of customers are there, who are not fully satisfied with the quality of products and customer services provided by Zara. Therefore, the firm should consider the viewpoints of its unsatisfied customers positively, as they help the firm to identify the flaws of the company. Working on the flaws may help Zara to enhance its service and product quality and eventually, increase customer satisfaction and loyalty to the firm. Moreover, the company needs to arrange effective training and development programs for its staffs in order to ensure continuous improvement. It may enable the representatives to provide better service to the customers by solving their queries and helping them to choose the best-suited products for them. Zara must consider the strategies followed by its competitors like Uniqlo and H&M, so that it can develop its customer care strategies more effective in satisfying the demands and expectations of the customers appropriately. As, in some of the questions, some of the respondents remained neutral, therefore, the objectives of some questions could not be achieved properly. Hence, the survey is partially successful. 

It is important to measure customer response through applying appropriate techniques. It helps firms to identify the areas, which need improvement for maintaining competitiveness and obtaining customer satisfaction.