Edible Arrangements Product Development Strategy

Edible Arrangements Product Development Strategy 

Product Development Strategy

Edible Arrangements’ marketing department has the sole responsibility of developing services that will not only see the company retain its current customers and attract new ones, but also ensure that customers always consider Edible Arrangements’ products an first priority when buying (Krum, 1969).   That role is achieved through development of a marketing strategy, and putting in place all the necessary needs to have it implemented to enable the company to achieve its primary objectives, that is increase sales and subsequently profits (Krum, 1969).

In addition to the presentation that is due to be presented to the company CEO, the introduction, and issuance of coupons will help promote the marketing activities enabling the business to achieve its objectives. 

Introducing In-store Promotional Coupons

Other than the integral marketing strategy, the introduction of coupons in the market is likely to stimulate demand, as well as provide a platform to fast sale products that risk expiration while in our possession. Coupons are tickets that can be redeemed at specific outlets for company products, with a discount or commission attached to it (Kaufman, 1991).

The introduction of coupons at Edible Arrangements looks beyond having customers make purchases at their primary places of residences, with the coupon they can just buy from any outlet even while in overseas markets with the full benefits. Edible Arrangements has for several years of its operations noted that outside what the company specializes in the offering, there have been other products that go hand in hand. It is therefore in the best interest of the company to facilitate its clients in easily getting these products. Thus, the coupons will also be applicable in selected businesses to purchase specific services and goods that compliment or supplement Edible Arrangement’s products (Kaufman, 1991). This is majorly aimed at creating value addition to the customers, and installing the sense that as a company we care about customers which in the long run will increase customer loyalty (Dhar & Winer, 2013)..

The service will have some experience attributes that will enable customers to use it with ease. First, is to give it easy accessibility such that anyone who qualifies for it gets it without undue hindrances. It can be available online, and the conditions of qualifying for one is to register and be a regular customer for some time (Kaufman, 1991). For the service to be appealing to the customers, it must have great features that include being usable at the most convenient period to the customer (Dhar & Winer, 2013). The marketing team, through its customer relations section, will ensure it offers the best assistance whenever needed to ensure the customers have the best experience with the service.

Use of Technology to Promote the Service.

Technology is today’s nerve center for any business offering, particularly services ("Technology-Driven Online Marketing Performance Measurement", 2014). Unlike tangible products, services can be offered by the use of technology, improving efficiency, quickness, and convenience. Coupons can come in many forms, as tickets or even as numbers that can be fed into computers to enable a customer to redeem his or her product.

It is, therefore, worth noting that technology is central to all these. First, it specifies that numbers can use the coupon online by redeeming the unique coupon code at check-out. Other than that, technology particularly the internet will be central in obtaining these coupons ("Technology-Driven Online Marketing Performance Measurement", 2014). Customers do not need to appear in person in any store to get them, they can apply online and after being reviewed, the customers can be given unique numbers to redeem the coupon or special online.  Customers will not have to go into the stores, but can make use of virtual shopping through apps and promotional coupons available on their smart phones (Dhar & Winer, 2013).

Quality of Service. One of the Marketing Team’s roles is to conduct market research in its broadest manner. The main essence of market research is to find out what customers expect what they get (Freeman & Dart, 1993). Measuring the quality of coupons will be necessary to ascertain its effectiveness and the value it brings to the company considering it is something that comes with costs.

Customers will be provided with a platform to give their feedback, and other avenues will be created from time to time to survey the actual perception among customers about the new service (Dhar & Winer, 2013). Among the service qualities that will give the product a thumbs up is how reliable will it be. Efficiency in reliability means that the product can be used conveniently as per the needs of the customers (Freeman & Dart, 1993). Generally, a positive feedback from customers will mean good service quality.

Challenges in Globalizing the Coupons. Developments in technology have made it easy for coupons to be globalized by companies operating outside their native countries. But is not to mean there have been no challenges. Being based on discounts, commissions, and offers, offering it in a global market presents such a challenge since it is a very expensive service to run (Dee Zive, 1981). Other than that, lack of standardization in global prices due to different environments in different countries will also compromise on the offers. There exist price discriminations based on respective’ countries business environment, and offering coupons on a global scale will mean different clients may have different offers.

With information readily available in the distribution channels about the different offerings, customers’ loyalty is likely to be compromised in the long run.  It will be important for coupons to limit the scope or geographic location of redemption.

Strategies to Implement the Service. The specific product, in this case, is the coupon. It is a product that is majorly being built for the already existing customers and potential ones. Due to its features that include enabling the customer to claim offers, buy at discounts and commissions, it is set to be a success (Dee Zive, 1981). The other major issue is the price, which in this case is the cost it will cost the company to offer the product. The said cost to the company is the price enjoyed by the customers. Due to the fact that it cuts down the price by allowing discounts and commissions, it is likely to stimulate demand. Edible Arrangements will bank on more sales to cover up the huge discounts and commissions. Coupons will have several different impacts when launched.  People that regularly purchase Edible Arrangements’ products will be enticed to purchase sooner with the discount, people will be persuaded to make a purchase they may otherwise waited to make, regular customers will use the coupons as a bonus, and competitors’ customers may switch to Edible Arrangements because of the coupon (Dhar & Winer, 2013).

Edible Arrangements operates on a global scale, and therefore its place of the offer is in all its global markets. One of the strategies to offer is to avail them online, where customers can claim the coupons and use them later in their respective stores (“Technology-Driven Online Marketing Performance Measurement”, 2014). Lastly, it is the promotional method that will be used to popularize the product. There is nothing that can come out of a good product if customers do not know about it. It is under such notion that Edible Arrangements has to undertake deliberate promotional activities that will enable customers to take maximum advantage of the coupons. Exploiting media channels like social media and online advertisement can go a long way it popularizing the coupons. Other promotional activities like instore and strategically placed banners and billboards can also play an important role.

Conclusion. Developing a marketing strategy, that involves coming up with specific services to achieve the primary objective of the company is central to the market team’s roles. The roles encompass all activities including but not limited to the creation of services, identifying the likely challenges, devising ways to measure quality and effectiveness to implementing them (Dhar & Winer, 2013).

References

Dhar, Russ Winer and R. Marketing Management, VitalSource for Kaplan University, 4th Edition. Pearson Learning Solutions, 2013. VitalBook file.

 Dee Zive, J. (1981). Solving Marketing Problems through: Creative Promotions. Cornell Hotel And Restaurant Administration Quarterly, 22(3), 57-61. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/001088048102200314

Freeman, K. & Dart, J. (1993). Measuring the perceived quality of professional business services. Services Marketing Quart., 9(1), 27-47. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15332969.1993.9985072

Kaufman, C. (1991). Coupon use in ethnic markets: implications from a retail perspective. Journal Of Consumer Marketing, 8(1), 41-51. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/07363769110034956

Krum, J. (1969). Perceptions and Evaluation of the Role of the Corporate Marketing Research Department. Journal Of Marketing Research, 6(4), 459. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/3150083

Technology-Driven Online Marketing Performance Measurement:. (2014). International Journal Of Online Marketing, 4(4), 0-0. http://dx.doi.org/10.4018/ijom.2014100101