29 Jun BUSINESS 500-Marketing Plan for Mountain Rider
Question
Running head: MOUNTAIN RIDER 1 Arthur Dillard
Marketing Plan for Mountain Rider
Strayer University Running head: MOUNTAIN RIDERS 2 Introduction
Mountain Riders is a wholesale distributor that serves the retail bicycle industry offering
occasional and seasonal discounts and special deals. The company offers a wide range of high
end mountain bikes and accessories. As prices continue to rise, more and more people are
attracted to finding good deals. This trend will allow the Mountain Riders Company to generate
sufficient profit to achieve its goals. Many retailers frequently use price promotions to attract
customers. It common to see stores advertising 50 to 70% off on their products in hopes of
attracting consumers’ dollars (Gupta, 2012).
Economic Analysis
The national economy has been strong and gaining momentum for the last two years. The
local unemployment rate has been hanging at around 6.4%, a somewhat low level, for two years.
Most experts featured on the Center Star in the April 2014 issue of Economic of Today project
stable and increasing corporate earnings. The city of Dothan continues to experience rapid
expansion and affluence. Being a rising city near the beach, the younger generation has
especially taken interest in Dothan. According to the latest issue of The Minor Tribune, the
average number of applications submitted to University of Alabama and other colleges in
Alabama has increased by 10% over the last year. The increase is expected to rise more over the
next five years.
Legal and Political Analysis:
Like every outdoor sport the sport of cycling may cause many type of injuries if safety
precautions were not followed. Several bike stores have faced many cases in recent years. In
these lawsuits users are accusing them of negligence. Mountain Riders believes that their current
full service approach and emphasis on safety gear provides protection from potential suits related Running head: MOUNTAIN RIDERS 3 to safety issues. In the past years many states have passed legislation requiring all bikers to wear
head gear and the trend seems to be increasing. Mountain Riders is an outspoken supporter of
head gear legislation. To promote this, Mountain Riders offers safety gear as well as up-to –date
information regarding biking safety. They also offer helmets at half price when bikes are
purchased. Competitive Analysis
In nearly any retail business a specialty shop will be slightly more expensive than a mass
retailer, due to the higher prices charged by suppliers. Mountain Riders is no exception. The
prices we charge for bicycles, parts, and accessories may seem higher than the prices charged by
our competitors or by mail-order. The major competitors are Rikers Bikes and Downey
Outdoors. Rikers Bikes is a state level distributor having several warehouses across the state.
Ride high sells high end mountain bikes and dirt bikes; however these sells are very small part of
their business. Downey Outdoors is a high end bike national wholesaler but they have only one
warehouse in the state. What we do offer, which these large retail outlets cannot match, is
friendly, knowledgeable service. We are passionate about bicycles. People do not go into the
bicycle business because they want to get rich quickly. They enter the bicycle industry because
they love bicycles. That kind of passion and commitment comes across to customers when they
find a sales person who can fit them to a bicycle so they feel comfortable and want to ride it.
Someone who recognizes you and remembers your name is a welcome feature at a specialty
store such as Mountain Riders. Running head: MOUNTAIN RIDERS 4 Socio-Cultural Analysis
In the last years a distinct awareness towards outdoor sporting and environmental issues
like global warming has emerged .With this increasing awareness of the physical risks associated
with stress, more and more people are getting involved in outdoor activities. Biking has become
a popular means for accomplish both the physical fitness and reducing global warming ,a
secondary source for local transportation, and a way for the average person to get involved in the
thrill of sporting competition. The biking trend has seen a favorable increase over the last years
and is broadening to include new market segments, such as the female market. A recent market
analysis has shown that the bikes are getting popular in all age groups. With the ongoing
enhancements to the design and comfort level of bicycles, retailers are keeping their eye on these
new market segments.
Technological Analysis:
The design of high- end bikes is constantly evolving. The designers and suppliers in the
biking industry constantly survey and fulfill the market’s needs; the biking vendors endeavor to
keep up with the improvements in biking design. The outcome of these efforts is lightweight
handling, comfort, fast speed and better performance bikes. These technological advances affect
both the low and high end bike lines which keep the price variance constant Mountain Riders has
revolutionized the mountain bike experience by developing our Beat the Road (BTR) inventory
structure is a direct result of the ongoing technological advances in the industry. The fewer
inventories our store has, the less the company will find it necessary to discount prices to sell
obsolete merchandise.
Primary and Secondary Target Markets Running head: MOUNTAIN RIDERS 5 There are two segments of the market which Mountain Riders target. These groups are on
campus college students and University/college professors as well as short distance daily
commuters. College students would be under graduate and college students, they will ensure at
least constant 25% turnover. There is a new enthusiasm seen among them for feature rich high
end bikes. The group of professors and instructors is small but constant group and has proven to
be is pretty stable, on the other hand there are daily commuters are inconsistent. Both groups
want high performance bikes which look stylish and are comfortable for daily use.
Positioning
Mount Riders is the only bike shop in the city that takes care of the students as well as
daily commuter and professors/teachers, through discount programs, student financing, recycled
packaging, sales promotions and colored employee shirts in the university colors, Mount Riders
will succeed in its endeavor to be the shop of choice among students and professors/teachers.
Segmentation
Segmentation is the marketing concepts in which market places are segmented into the
parts and Mountain rider have the marketing strategy for each segment of the market. Each
market segment has some unique opportunity and need some specific effort to settle business in
particular market segment. For the effective business it is required to make the segment centric
marketing approach to offer something lucrative for customer in each market segment. Running head: MOUNTAIN RIDERS 6 Products Offered
Mount Riders provides a wide range of brands for high end bikes for avid bikers and
outdoors and for those who are fans of the great outdoors. Mountain Riders carry brands that are
mostly demanded and recommended by professional bikers and outdoor fanatics. The store is
tailored to meet the needs of any biking or outdoor activity a person could dream of. Some
products offered include bikes, accessories, clothing, tents, bike parts, safety equipment and
shoes.
Pricing
Considering both the targeted markets the bikes are offered on reasonable prices .The
price range for the bikes is $250 to $550, depending on the quality of the bike and accessories
ranges from $9 to $99. The customer has an option for one year financing at 15% finance charge.
Promotion
Mountain Riders’ promotion efforts include monthly newspaper ads (local and
university), radio spots on local stations, print advertising in the brochures and flyers which are
housed in the student union on campus and distributed to student mail boxes.. To better reach the
increasing number of students, Mountain Riders would like to expand their efforts by creating an
Internet web site (which is a cost effective way to reach a large number of customers). Seasonal
biking events will be organized from time to time to promote the bike riding.
5C’s Concept of the marketing
5C’s concept of marketing is customer, company, context, collaboration and competitor.
Each marketing strategy should be based on the customer centric approach in which dedicated
group of customer should be targeted to achieve the high market share. Marketing strategy Running head: MOUNTAIN RIDERS 7 should be based in the collaboration, and when any good business opportunity come by the
collaboration then company have to grab it to create the business. In marketing strategy
competitor offering and competency should be taken care so that a better product than the
competitor can be offered to its customer. SWOT Analysis
The following swat analysis captures the key strengths, existing weaknesses,
opportunities and possible threats that may be faced by Mountain Riders.
Strengths: Having strong and good relationship with manufacturers, which may result in
negotiated distribution deals? Staff that are well trained and have appealing looks which promotes enthusiastic
biking. A wide range of high end mountain bikes. Offers limited time maintenance on the purchased bikes. Offers excellent customer service and training manual Only store in the city which offers customization of the bikes as per customers’
needs. Store is located in the center of the city which results in increase of foot traffic. Running head: MOUNTAIN RIDERS 8 Weakness: Prices of high end mountain bikes are relatively high Being a seasonal business, sales may not be linear and may experience up and
downs throughout the year. Predicting which product has a higher rate of sale if difficult. Opportunities: Increasing trend of environmental awareness and active life style. University of Louisville is just 2 miles away from the store. Most of the industries are affected by the nature of the economy and bike industry
is no exception but the economy doesn’t impact the sales as there are many people
who will ride bikes regardless of the economy. Profit margins can be increased by spreading the fixed cost over a large area as
sales increase. Threats: Below are listed some threats which can hamper the business opportunity of the
Mountain Rider Bikes Online retail store and catalogue sales Pressure from large discount chains A new trend where the manufacturers show interest in selling their products directly to
mail order houses instead of selling them to wholesalers. Reference
Franses, P., & Paap, R. (2004). Quantitative Models in Marketing Research. CAMBRIDGE
UNIVERSITY PRESS. Running head: MOUNTAIN RIDERS 9 Farris, P., Bendle, N., Pfeifer, P., & Reibstein, D. (2010). Marketing Metrics. Pearson Education.
McDonald, M. (2007). Marketing Plans: How to Prepare Them, how to Use Them (Sixth Edition
ed.). Elsevier.
A Brief History of the Mountain Bike by Jobst Brandt (A Brief History of the Mountain Bike by
Jobst Brandt). Retrieved from, http://sheldonbrown.com/brandt/mtb-history.html
Secondary Research – Mountain Biking Market Profiles. (2010).
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