Wesfarmers

Market Segmentation

Discuss about the Market segmentation of Wesfarmers.

Market segmentation refers to the process that is used in the division of a broad customer base or the business market that consists of the various potential as well as the existing customers of the concerned business organization. The market is divided into the various sub-groups or sub-divisions that are known as the segments of the concern. The division is generally based on the various platforms that seem to be common among the members who have been clubbed under one single category (Guo et al., 2013). These factors might include the similarity in the lifestyles of the people or in the demographic profiles of the concerned people. The other matters that are included in these factors are the common interests and the shared needs of the concerned members of the society. The major aim of the process of the segmentation is to put forth the creation and the identification of the various high yield segments of the market wherein the concerned company might have been operating. These high yield segments generally refer to the various areas that demonstrate the most likeliness in the profitability of the concern or might display the greater potential for the growth in the future. The major motive behind the selection of these areas is to pay special attention to these areas so that they might help the concerned company to grow in the positive direction (Rogerson, 2013). The segmentation of the market is generally based on various factors that might include the following.

• The resources of the company – The company might put forth the implementation of a competitive and the effective segmentation plan in the cases whenever there is a restriction in the amount of the resources that the concerned company might introduce.
• The variability of the products – The marketing approach of the products might be dependent on the uniformity and the differentiability of the various products that are manufactured by the concerned company (Kiel, 2014).
• The life-cycle of the products – The segmentation of the products tends to be necessary during the time wherein the company might have to deal with a huge number of the competitors for the concerned products.
• The characteristics of the operational market – The company needs to put forth the variety in the segmentation of the marketing approach wherein the various clients do depict the difference in their tastes.
• Competition in the market – The concerned company might need to depict the various segmentation approaches in the market wherein the competitors of the organization tend to put forth the application of the various segmentation approaches in order to strengthen their client base (Zolnowski, Weiß & Bohmann, 2014).

The segmentation of the concerned market might be dependent on the various factors like the factors that are related to the demography of the concerned market, the geographical location of the concerned market, the psychographical conditions of the customer and the behavioral tendencies of the given customers (Jary & Wileman, 2016). These factors tend to have a huge impact on the market segmentation approaches that are followed by the various business organizations.

The behavioral segmentation of the organization helps the company to deal with the various target clients on the basis of the behavior that they tend to put forth while purchasing a certain product or service. According to certain marketers, it might be said that the behavioral factors that are related to the segmentation of the concerned market are of higher value than the various matters that pertain to the demographical and the geographical factors that are necessary for the segmentation of the concerned market of the organization. The various factors that might be termed as the behavioral factors include the occasion of the purchase, the benefit that the concerned customer might seek from the concerned product or service, the status of the concerned user, the frequency of the purchase by the concerned buyer, the loyalty of the concerned client, the readiness of the concerned buyer, the attitude of the concerned client to the concerned service or product and the status of adoption that is demonstrated by the concerned client towards the product or service (Laudon & Traver, 2013). The behavioral segmentation as displayed by the Australian retail magnet, Wesfarmers, deals with the shoppers who majorly tend to buy the grocery items. The retail magnet is also observed to be catering to the various members who tend to shop for the products that are related to the products that might be needed for meeting the various requirements of the household and the lifestyle that is led by the concerned members of the clientele. The retail magnet, operative majorly on Australia, might also need to deal with the various shoppers who might be requiring the various parts that are needed for the proper functioning of the automobiles that are owned by the concerned company.

Factors Affecting Market Segmentation

The demographic segmentation of the market depends upon the various demographical variables that are exhibited by the various clients of the concerned organization. The experts who have been advocating for the demographic segmentation are of the opinion that the clients belonging to the demographic profile that bear similarity to each other might demonstrate similarity in their purchase patterns, interests, lifestyles and their motivational factors. These, according to the experts might in turn lead to the similarity in the preferences of the brands, products and the services that the various companies offer in the given market (Han et al., 2014). The various factors that might be considered to be the demographic factors might include the factors that pertain to the age of the client, the family size of the concerned client, the socio-economic status of the concerned clients, the financial status of the concerned client, the educational attainment of the concerned client, the marital status of the client, the ethnicity of the client, the religious background of the clients and other such factors. The demographic segmentation of the concerned company might require the intervention of the census collectors of the government and at times the various governmental bodies that deal with the records of the citizens of the country (Weinstein & Cahill, 2014). The demographic segmentation of the company might also be affected by the geographical segmentation of the country. The demographic segmentation of the company might use numerous amounts of the variables that might be related to the demography of the concerned country.

The geographical segmentation of the company might relate to the segmentation of the clients on the basis of the geographical criteria of the land. The geographical matters that might be used to segment the markets might broadly segment the markets on the basis of the countries wherein the client base if located and in the narrower spectrum might refer to the various neighborhoods and the postal codes of the areas wherein there is the majority of the target customers of the country (Wilkinson, 2013). The geographical matters pertaining to the segmentation of the client base of the company might be combined with the demographic factors in order to provide for better detailing of the target client profiles of the concerned company, Wesfarmers in this case.

The psychographic segmentation of the client base of the concerned company might refer to the segmentations that are based on the activities, the interests and the opinions that are maintained by the clientele of the concerned organization. The psychographic segmentation of the clientele is at times referred to as the lifestyle or the psychometric segmentation of the concerned client base of the organization. The psychographic segmentation is generally based on the preferences of the clients in terms of the ways that they choose in order to spend their leisure hours and the various external factors that might influence their decisions and preferences. The majority of the companies tend to abide by the psychographic segmentation of their clientele since it helps them in the identification of the market segment and thus helps them in forming a better understanding of the various matters that serve to be motivations for the given clientele of the concern.

Market Segmentation Approaches

The market targeting generally refers to the process of the selection of the target market from the entire market that exists for the concerned market. The target market of the concerned company might relate to the various groups of the clients the needs of whom the company aims to meet. The target market of the industry mostly includes the clients of company towards whom the various products are targeted, for whom the price of the concerned product is defined (Weinstein, 2014). The promotional activities are also directed towards this chosen potential clientele of the company. The various distributional channels of the company are also directed to the various chosen clientele of the concerned business organization. The activity of the market targeting might refer to the evaluation of the various segments of the market and thereafter choosing the most appropriate segment of the market that is best suited for the concerned business organization. Therefore, the market targeting might be defined as the activity of the division of the entire market into the various segments, the evaluation of the concerned segments and the selection of the most appropriate segment of the market as the target market of the concerned company (Hjort et al., 2013). The targeting of the market might involve a number of steps that are necessary for the selection of the most appropriate segment of the market that might help in the growth of the profits that are earned by the company. The process of the targeting of the market involves the conduction of the various explorative interviews that are to be conducted by the concerned research team of the concerned company in order to put forth an identification of the various factors that lead to the changes in the attitude, behavior and the motivations of the concerned customers (Lukic, 2013). The researchers are then advised to apply the analysis of the various factors in order to bring about a removal of the variables that tend to display a high correlation among themselves. This step is generally followed by the application of the analysis of the various clusters which help in the creation of the specification in the number of the segments that might be hugely different from each other. The final step involved in the process of the market targeting deals with the profiling of the concerned cluster in terms of the various distinguishable factors like the attitudes of the concerned clients, the behavior of the concerned clients, the demographics of the concerned clientele of the company that belong to the cluster, the psychographics that is displayed by the concerned group of the clients and the various patterns of the media that the concerned clientele might have access to.

Wesfarmers' Market Segmentation

In case of the concerned company, the target group of the clients that the company in discussion, Wesfarmers wants to serve are the various shoppers that seek the convenience in the matters that are related to their shopping. The various matters that might affect the target group of the customers relate to the variety of the products that are available at the retail stores that are managed by the concerned retail magnet of the country. In order to attract the various clients who, belong to the appropriate segments of the clientele, the company tends to offer various amounts of discounts and other complimentary services to the chosen clientele.

The market positioning refers to the place that is occupied by the concerned brand in the minds of the concerned clientele of the company. The positioning of the company might also refer to the factors that help in distinguishing the products of the concerned brand from those that are marketed by the competitors of the concerned organization (Varley, 2014). The companies are often observed to put forth the various distinguishing factors that help their products to stand out among the huge number of the products that are available in the market wherein the concerned business organization might be operating (Pantano, 2014). The market positioning of the company might also deal with the ways that are used by the organization in order to promote the various unique features of the products that are marketed by the company (Neirotti, Raguseo & Paolucci, 2016). This strategy might also be used by the concerned company in order to help in the creation of a long-lasting and suitable image of the brand that might help the company to strengthen its foot hold in the concerned market of the country (Vize et al, 2013). The market positioning of the concerned organization might also help the concern in its primary step to enter the foreign markets in the concerned industry.

The company in discussion, Wesfarmers is one of the major retail magnets that has been functional in the retail market of Australia. The company majorly deals with the various diversified materials that are needed in the fields of the chemicals, fertilizers, industrial as well as safety products. However, the major involvement of the company is observed in the fields of retail. The major competitors of the concern are the various retail stores that are owned by companies such as Coles, Bunnings Warehouse, Kmart, Target and Officeworks (Wesfarmers.com.au, 2018). The company in discussion, Wesfarmers however is considered to be one of major retail market dealers of the country. The strengths of the concerned company lie in the matters that pertain to the providing the clientele of the company with the needed convenience in the matters that deal with the shopping experience of the concerned shoppers of the company. The company is also known among its clientele for the great amount of the aftersales service that it extends to the concerned clientele of the company (Moatti et al., 2015). The company is also known for the importance that the company extends to the customers of the organization in terms of the performance of the products and the quality of these products. The perceptual map of a company generally refers to the diagrammatic representation of the mental image of the company that is registered in the minds of the concerned customers regarding the placement of the various brands and companies that are operating within the company (Armstrong et al., 2014).

Importance of Market Targeting

The perceptual map of Wesfarmers as shown above reveals that the concerned company is at an advantageous position in the Australian market. The organization might face some competition on the higher levels from the other retail chain organizations like Coles, Bunnings Warehouse and Target. The company might try to expand in the global market and in the developing countries wherein they might get hold of an attractive target client base.

The company in discussion, is advised to keep an eye out on the increase in the competition in the retail markets of Australia. The company might avoid the high competition due to the pricing strategy that is maintained by the competitors of the organization. The company might aim to provide their consumers with the higher quality products at reasonable prices that are low in comparison with the price that is set by the competitors of the same (Nagra & Gopal, 2013). The company might also be advised to innovate upon the products that already exist within the Australian market as well as the global market. This might help the company to attract higher amounts of the customers and thereby bring about a huge change in the financial profits of the concerned company as a result helping the concerned company to grow both financially and in terms of the client base that it holds.

References

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Wesfarmers.com.au. (2018). The Wesfarmers Way. Wesfarmers.com.au. Retrieved 4 April 2018, from https://www.wesfarmers.com.au/who-we-are/the-wesfarmers-way

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