BSBMKG506 Task I Market Research Proposal

By Eduardo Dominguez

Market Research Proposal for D.A. Garden Supplies

Dear David & Alison:

I would like to thank you beforehand for having approached our company. Our
company can help you understand the root causes of what is impeding your
business to grow as expected. Market research is focus on understanding the
relationship between a target market and the given product to supply that target
market. Hence, we will gather information based on what you have provided to us
and analyze the variables in place. This should help us determine the obstacle(s) to
your business development and as a result we will be able to provide you with
sound feedback that is, with our feedback, you should be able to adjust accordingly
to obtain the desired results for your business.
The research your business requires (based on the information you have provided),
will not require much depth. That is, we will look at your internal data (sales reports,
customers feedback, trading hours, etc.) and we will analyze the variables youve
mentioned (we seem to be of importance) in the past three years. Hence, we have
opted for a Causal Research Method given your target markets (which are a
combination of markets) and given the numbers you have provided, we strongly
believe there is a correlation between variables cause and effect.
We will define what management is lacking; understand the research obstacles; find
the cause of the managements weaknesses; and provide with a hypothesis.
This is how our work will look like:
Methodology Causal
Data: Internal and some external resources
Data collection: internal quantitative and external observation
End goal is to determine what caused for your profits to drop by 5% in your biggest
trade
Lastly I would like to mention that all information is secured and will not be
disclosed. Our practices are legally bound (by the Government of New South Wales)
and ethical in nature aiming to benefit our clients within legal and ethical
boundaries.

Sincerely yours,

Eduardo Dominguez
BSBMKG506 Task II Market Research Plan
By Eduardo Dominguez

D.A. Garden Supplies Market Research Plan

At a glance:
Management
Our review indicates that D.A Garden Supplies is lacking organization. That is, there
are four different trades that your business is targeting without focusing on one or
two in particular.
Your business seems to employ people that may not necessarily be needed at the
times currently employed. This is a consequence of lacking focus on addressing
your business competition and lacking understanding on what they are doing.
The solution is restructure your business management structure so that is focused
on your target market and act accordingly.
Competition
D.A. Garden Supplies is involved in four different businesses. However, there seem
to be two main competitors for two different markets. These are: the coffee shop on
the business strip; and the Bunnings. The solution we offer is to gain a better
understanding of what they are doing right and what your business can (feasibly) do
in order to increase your market share with the competition.
Consumer trends
Given the data provided and from analyzing the consumer patterns from
observation and some surveys, we cannot see an actual trend from going from one
coffee shop to another; however, we will help you understand how to allocate your
hours better in order to improve your market share.
Place
Thanks to the history of your business (and your customer service) your customer
base does not seem to be afflicted by your location; nevertheless, hours can (and
should) be improved.
Pricing
Fortunately, your customer base does not seem to be driven by price in three of
your trades. From our point of view, having Bunnings close to you means there will
be certain items on which your business will not be able to compete simply because

of size they can buy more and gain marginally on volume whereas your business
would spend too much money on stocking inventory that your business cannot
actually afford.
Products & services
It is our understanding that you have a customer base that remains loyal (and
growing). This allows us to infer that your products and services are good enough.
We can help you make them work better for you.
Promotion
The best promotion you have used over the past years has been building rapport,
getting to know your customers, which leads to your customers spreading the word
in other words, the only promotion used so far has been word to mouth.
However, we propose that little advertising might be advantageous.
The Plan
I.

Addressing the main issue

Lacking focus on a given trade; however, if downsizing will not suit your business
(as we believe you might not want to downsize) the next best option is to
understand your competition and trading hours.
This will not require much time on your part; the implementation, should you follow
our advice, may take a few days to a few weeks depending on how quickly you
choose to allocate your resources to your new trading hours given the gained
understanding on your competition for the same (or similar) markets.
II.

The objective

The objective of our market research plan is to provide you with awareness so that
you may be able to increase revenue over the coming months.
III.

Our requirements

In order to provide the soundest advice we will require time and resources to do a
proper research of the market(s) in question. Nevertheless, your case is very clear
and as a result we will be brief and effective.
We will need six to eight weeks of two market researchers working full time
(Monday to Friday) an average of 38 to 40 hours. They will be working on-site, that
is at your location and your competitions location observing, applying surveys, and
testing. Most of the time though will be spent at our offices once they have
gathered enough information that leads them to a conclusion.
IV.
Causal

Research methodology

Gathering data from internal and some external resources

Data analysis from internal quantitative and external observation
End goal is to determine what caused for your profits to drop by 5% in your biggest
trade and provide you with awareness so that you may be able to increase revenue
and regain some of your market share.

V.

Documentation

To make our research as effective as possible, we will need your help and for that
we will need for you to provide us the best snapshots of your business. That is,
whatever reports you may use in order to track your business ability to create
revenue and profit over the past three years (to date) will be beneficial; any data of
promotional activity, or changes made to your trade will be beneficial as well.
We will, then, compile all the information provided and analyze it in a timeline. We
will compare your date against the data we may be able to draw (ethically and
legally) from your competitors and draw a conclusion which we will provide to you.
VI.

Implementation

To sum up, we will need six to eight weeks of two full-time researchers working on
your case. Each is paid a rate of $40 AUD per hour.

Week 1

Our researchers look at all documentation provided from your

business and meet with you to find out whatever information
that may not be documented. All of this information will be
transcribed for our analysis.

Week 23

We will then do research on your competitors, look up as much

infrmation as possible from them. Given that your competitors
are not likely to talk to us openly, we will be observant, apply
non-intrusive surveys, and do online research adhering to
ethical and legal standards.

Week 48*

Having all the data gathered we will then analyse it and draw
conclusions as to what points out to be the cause for the drop
in your sales. We will build scenarios for you and present them
to you as part of our research . Lastly we will meet with you
and present you our findingd and provide our advice

Keep in mind that we already have a fairly good idea on what needs to be done to
get your business back on track from the following data we have summarized as
follows:
Please note look at the differences we have spotted

Caf
Opportun
ity
Cost

Monday
9am - 6
pm
9hrs

Breakfast
Open
earlier

Opprotunity Cost Analysis

Garden
Nursery
Supplies
Separate from
Customer
Caf
service
Unknown

Train staff

Dave & Alison's Current Trading Hours

Wednes
Thursd
Saturda
Tuesday
day
ay
Friday
y
9am - 6
9am - 6
9am 9am 8am pm
pm
9pm
9pm
6pm
9hrs
9hrs
12hrs
12hrs
10hrs

Monday
7am 3pm
8hrs

Caf Competition Trading Hours

Wednesd Thursda
Tuesday
ay
y
Friday
7am 7am 7am 3pm
7am - 3pm
3pm
3pm
8hrs
8hrs
8hrs
8hrs

Monday
7am 5pm
10hrs

Bunning's On-Site Trading

Wednesd Thursda
Tuesday
ay
y
7am 7am 5pm
7am - 5pm
5pm
10hrs
10hrs
10hrs

Monday
12am 12am
24hrs

Landscaping
Employ better
staff
Hiring a new
person

Sunday
10am 6pm
8hrs

Saturd
ay

Sund
ay

NA
-

NA
-

Saturd
ay

Sund
ay

NA
-

NA
-

Hours
Friday
7am 5pm
10hrs

Bunning's Onlne Store Operatin Hours

Wednes Thursda
Saturda
Tuesday
day
y
Friday
y
12am 12am 12am 12am 12am 12am
12am
12am
12am
12am
24hrs
24hrs
24hrs
24hrs
24hrs

Sunday
12am 12am
24hrs

Dave & Alison's Profitability by trade

Nursery

Garden Supply

Landscaping

15%
10%

41%

34%

Caf