MRKT20057 Elkie and Ark Analysis Assignment Sample

Global Marketing

Contents

Introduction.

Market Selection.

Mode of Entry.

Competitive Strategy.

Marketing Mix Strategy.

Product strategy.

Pricing Strategy.

Place Strategy.

Promotion Strategy.

Conclusion.

Reference.

Introduction to Elkie and Ark Analysis

Elkie & Ark as the target organization for the study is a home décor and bedding firm dealing in different verticals of decorative products for home and households is a USA based business firm that has maintained its appearance on the online market rather than the physical presence establishment (Elkie & Ark, 2020).

The company Elkie & Ark seeks to provide its customers with high quality, rich-textured, organic, untreated, and chemical-free textile products for the decorative purpose of home and furnishings that generally utilize untreated cotton and linen as the major deals of the brand’s products. Established as an online business firm, the company runs from the USA as a center region and has a higher operative force and reach in the other countries as well as Australia, India, Belgium, etc.

The report proposed considers the brand Elkie & Ark to be the focused brand and industry with the aim to study and analyze the relevance and validation of it in regard to the market selection, mode of entry used, its competitive strategy, and also the marketing mix strategies inhibited by the brand along with the identifiable recommendations that might serve constructive for the firm.

Market Selection

Elkie & Ark covering a large market area by online and digital means has established itself in the domain of décor and home bedding fabrics and products deals in the service of providing the world’s most sustainable and ethical bedding and home décor products in a variety of verticals such as mentioned below (Leischnig et al., 2016).

• Bedroom organic décor products like sheets, cushions, cover sets, pillowcases, quilt covers, etc.
• Varieties of blankets and throws such as cotton blankets, cotton throws, wool throws, etc.
• Organic and eco-friendly loungewear products including robes, lounge shorts, totes, and many more.

The Elkie & Ark company focuses in providing its visitors and customers with a delightful experience of visiting their online presence and also by the purchase of the products made by recycling the products and types of denim, use of non-toxic bleaching and techniques on the fabric, considering the eco-friendly practices and hence organic clothing and fabrics (Elkie & Ark, 2020).

According to Kusters et al. (2017), the textile and décor industry has seen vivid progress and upsurge in the recent decades, especially with the advent of the technological revolution and digital transformations that have provided the pace for the online platform for supply and operations management of the company. Hence, the Elkie & Ark at the stage of current digital elevations has been in the right cell of market selection for a prospective performance that can further accelerate its market selection by inheriting the home furnishing products.

Mode of Entry

Elkie & Ark seeks to utilize the online digital platforms for the marketing and operations of its overall business. The company has its establishment only as an online or social platform placed shopping center operative from the USA with null involvement or establishment of any physical store.

Chen et al. (2019) support that online shopping via a mode of digital platforms and internet connectivity has become the most common and expanded practice of fulfillment of the needs and requirements of people in almost every corner of the world. Elkie & Ark, the leading online home bedding and décor business company with its institution from the USA seeks to utilize the online platform in order to achieve greater brand awareness and expansion. Elkie & Ark finds the online digital business services to have the potentiality to generate and accumulate greater customer force and thus higher financial and brand profitability in terms of operations management, capital requirements, ROI, and so on.

However, robust prospective forces always come along a few challenges and issues, hence this is the case for the online market. The online shopping domain has witnessed various gaps in processes such as cyber and online frauds, lack of product tangibility especially in the case of fabricated products, shipping charges and risk of steeped pricing, and many more (Drahosova & Balco, 2017). The adoption of online shopping as an option for increasing market reach can be considered as a common idea in recent generations. Nevertheless, the physical institution of such brands and businesses is again vital because of the following reasons.

• It provides the ease of accessibility and authenticity to the business company.
• Physical stores have a higher chance for customer attraction at the target place as having an observable or visible store makes a higher difference than the others.
• Also, it provides for the tangibility of the product, i.e. allows the respected sectorial customers to enable the identification of the quality of products before purchase (Schmid & Axhausen, 2019).

Competitive Strategy

At the heart of competitive advantage and strategy, the firm’s internal inherited practices are the compliance of overall results. Developing an economical in addition to an exclusive strategy or business and functional design is crucial for the development of the competitive advantage and position in the industry (Danso et al., 2019).

Elkie & Arch suppose to utilize certain such acts and measures in its business functionality for the sake of maintaining sustenance, organicity, and also corporate social responsibility factor out of its performance. The company aims to identify the use of 100% organic and non-toxic products and textiles that are ethically made from the non-use of formaldehyde, pesticides, bleaches, etc. making it to become organically standard product (Elkie & Arch, 2020).

Also, the use of natural fiber and high-grade textile qualities and forms of linen and fabrics has been in the revelation of acute social responsibilities’ policy and hence sustainable development in the business context, leading to the formation of a competitive edge.

Marketing Mix Strategy

The utilization of a marketing mix strategy has a vital significance in the understanding and acknowledgment of the target market, industry, and people for the sake of effective profitability and resultant productivity of the business and its services (Wu & Li, 2018).

Product Strategy

The Elkie & Ark as a USA based home décor textile dealing company seeks to develop a mix of varieties of products in different verticals under the home décor and living essentials umbrella. In order to create the sustainable and 100% organic fabrics and fabricated products of the textiles for home essentials, the firm uses 100% Fairtrade cotton imported from various corners of the country to support the trend of utilization of high sustainable products in the everyday living (Elkie & Aek, 2020).

Pricing Strategy

The home décor and bedding industry are one of the potentially growing yet converged industries in the world. Elkie & Ark as the players in the field of the home décor and bedding derive to provide a great sense of innovation and unique propensities in the bedding market by the provision of unique organic bedding products and details leading to serve at a comparable higher pricing of its products and goods among the competitors.

For the withdrawal of extra charges or prices implacable on the Elkie & Ark products, the brand seeks to inherit only the online business platform with a lower shipping cost incurred and also provides for various offers and discounts to maximize customer visits and retention (Wu & Li, 2018).

Place Strategy

The target company i.e. Elkie & Ark has set up its business and service portfolio on the digital market platforms, an emergent modern technique of marketing and technological business advancements rather than the adoption of the traditional technique of maintaining a physical presence at any specific location.

According to the study of Technavio (2019), the online home décor and bedding portfolio industry are at the competent development level where an expectation is to observe a rapid growth by USD 83.32 billion within the upcoming early decade. Hence the firm seeks to utilize optimum digital benefits that it can so as to eliminate the need for managing the physical localized activities.

Promotion Strategy

In the face of radical shifts in the business practices from conventional to transformative digital upgradations have shifted the promotional techniques to par. According to Wu & Li (2018), utilization of strategies like social media marketing, display and video advertising, e-public relations, email marketing, sales promotion, and many more have been in the profound use of the brand Elkie & Ark. 

Having established the business only on the sole platform i.e. digital platforms incorporates a well-defined need for most progressive and elevated digital promotional tools.

Conclusion on Elkie and Ark Analysis

Elkie & Ark as a textile catalyst brand can be said to be the most technology-friendly firm in the respective industry as it incorporates a prominent indulgence of the emergent tools of digital transformations and online serviceability. The company’s selection of market, its mode of entry, and strategies for efficient marketing success along with the development of competitive edge among the players in the field have proved to be proficient enough to provide the company with the outcomes of success aimed.

In addition to this, certain recommendations such as the institution of a physical appearance of the firm that assists in the brand authenticity, use of public relations, and direct marketing have been propounded to provide with the optimum possible degrees of competitive advantages Elkie & Ark can enjoy.

Reference for Elkie and Ark Analysis

Chen, X., Liu, C., & Li, S. (2019). The role of supply chain finance in improving the competitive advantage of online retailing enterprises. Electronic Commerce Research and Applications, 33, 100821. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.elerap.2018.100821.

Danso, A., Adomako, S., Amankwah?Amoah, J., Owusu?Agyei, S., & Konadu, R. (2019). Environmental sustainability orientation, competitive strategy, and financial performance. Business Strategy and the Environment, 28(5), 885-895. https://doi.org/10.1108/IntR-08-2016-0250.

Drahošová, M., & Balco, P. (2017). The analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of the use of social media in the European Union. Procedia Computer Science, 109, 1005-1009. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procs.2017.05.446.

Elkie & Ark. (2020) Our story. Retrieved from: https://elkieark.com/collections/organic-bed-linen.

Elkie & Ark. (n.d.). A letter from us. Retrieved from: https://www.elkieark.com/pages/organic-bed-linen-about-us.

Küsters, D., Prab, N., & Gloy, Y. S. (2017). Textile Learning Factory 4.0–Preparing Germany's Textile Industry for the Digital Future. Procedia Manufacturing, 9, 214-221. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.promfg.2017.04.035.

Leischnig, A., Woelfl, S., & Ivens, B. (2016). When does digital business strategy matter to market performance?. Retrieved from: https://aisel.aisnet.org/icis2016/ISStrategy/Presentations/13/.

Schmid, B., & Axhausen, K. W. (2019). In-store or online shopping of search and experience goods: A hybrid choice approach. Journal of choice modeling, 31, 156-180. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jocm.2018.03.001.

Technavio. (2019). Online home décor market by product and geography: Forecast and Analysis 2020-2024. Retrieved from: https://www.technavio.com/report/online-home-decor-market-industry-analysis.

Wu, Y. L., & Li, E. Y. (2018). The marketing mix, customer value, and customer loyalty in social commerce. Internet Research. https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.2291.

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