Market Environment and Research
One of the most common ways that people spend their free time is through recreation. This is a way of refreshing the body after having a long day at work. Some of the recreational activities include mountain climbing, swimming, nature walks, dancing, fishing, and others. All these activities are done for pleasure or enjoyment (Tatar, 2019). With recreational activities in place, there was a need for people to wear the right attires depending on the recreational activities. This is what made Lloyd and Mary introduce REI. This is a retail shop that supplies travel equipment, sporting goods, clothing, and camping gear. It also offers outdoor activities and courses.
When looking at the U.S economy, it impacts significantly on this company’s operations. The time for recreational activities is limited, which means that people have a little time to enjoy themselves and have fun. The reason why this time is limited is because of an increased number of working hours, which implies that before a working day comes to an end, there are a few hours left for enjoyment. People spend most of their time earning an income. The recreational company is also benefiting from the economy because people have the disposable income to use. Since REI is the primary recreational firm in the United States, it befits from the U.S economic stability.
Additionally, the characteristics of a global economy affect the company’s retail operations in a significant way. One way that the business is affected is that it can increase sales and gets more profit. Venturing into international markets means that there are new customers, and the organization keeps growing. The company revenue and market share are boosted by international markets (Yu et al., 2018). As a result, the organization ends up having a competitive advantage in the market. As the REI ventures into other markets, this is a way of boosting both the domestic economy and the marketing economy. An example, when products from the U.S are sold in Africa, it means that the U.S market will grow because of the export and African will also benefit from the products.
When it comes to legal and regulatory forces that affect REI in the United States, safety is one of them. This is a legal requirement in the recreational industry. This means that the organization has to ensure safety for all its customers. Despite the fact that the company ensures people have fun, it also has a responsibility to ensure they are safe when having fun. An example, when looking at the U.S, one of the recreational activities is biking. Thus, the company has to ensure that those who use their bicycles are provided with protective attires such as helmets. The second thing is about taxes. Paying tax is one of the legal requirements for retail shops. When looking at the economy of the United States, retailers pay the highest corporate tax rate. This is what is used to grow the economy. The tax which is paid by the retailers is what determines the price of their goods and services.
Furthermore, technology has not only changed the world but also impacted on the retail operations. One way that REI has benefited from technology is through e-commerce, where everything is done online. All this is made possible by the internet. The customers can select the goods they want to purchase without necessarily going to the stores (Linzbach et al., 2019). The most important thing is that chatbots are available where text messages are used to communicate with the suppliers. Thus, in case of any question, the customers can get instant feedback. Technology has also been a threat to REI through cybercrimes, such as data leakage. Hackers are using technology to steal data from these organizations.
Another aspect that needs to be considered is the integration of the marketing plan. Marketing plan is having a strategy to reach out to more customers. One of the secondary sources that can be used to develop an integrated marketing plan is the company’s internal data. This is the information about the sales records, customer accounts, and previously used marketing research (Hansen & Juslin, 2018). All these resources can be located in the organization’s database. Another resource is from the government and non-governmental organizations. These organizations provide free data that is used for marketing purposes. More information can be obtained from professional journals. Some of the business experts have written journals that can be useful when designing a marketing plan for a retail shop. Another important source is the media. This can be magazines, radio, or television.
The secondary sources are valuable when it comes to economic business success. This is because they provide information on how businesses can reach more people and the best advertising channels. An example, it is through these sources that businesses can identify the best platforms to use when advertising their products. As a result of these advertisements, the products can reach more customers (Jain, 2019). This source also enables the organizations to have a competitive advantage in the market because they can see what their competitors are doing and easily identify any gap in the market.
References
Tatar, Y. (2019). Sports and Recreational Adaptations for Amputee Hand. In Hand Function (pp. 279-289). Springer, Cham.
Yu, H., Sedlezky, S., Wong, K., Hernandez, T., Larsen, P., & Stephenson, G. (2018). Stakeholders of Pop-Up Retail Operations. Pop-up Retail Strategies in an Omnichannel Context.
Hansen, E., & Juslin, H. (2018). Putting together a Marketing Plan. Strategic Marketing in the Global Forest Industries.
Jain, K. (2019). Marketing Customer engagement & Social media Advertisement. NOLEGEIN-Journal of Advertising and Brand Management, 1-18.