Strategic Marketing Plan-Amazon Inc

Part A: Environmental Analysis and SWOT Analysis

Company Description

Amazon Inc. is a global American retail company. The company’s mission is to serve customers through physical stores and its online platform by offering convenience, affordable prices, and a wide selection of products. The vision statement is to be the most customer-centric company globally. The company operates in different countries worldwide by offering various product lines. Currently, the company’s product lines are apparel, media, consumer electronics, gourmet food, baby products, beauty products, health and personal care, groceries, kitchenware, scientific and industrial supplies, sporting items, jewelry, garden and lawn products, games and toys, and automotive products.

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Environmental Analysis

Competitive Forces

Amazon faces stiff competition from Walmart and Alibaba. The number of e-commerce retailers is also increasing, and small-scale retailers and brands are attracting a large customer base due to low switching costs. Walmart and Alibaba have also strategically increased their competitive advantage over Amazon. For example, Walmart uses click-and-collect to improve customer convenience by allowing customers to order products online and collect them at Walmart’s physical stores. Alibaba has created a network of dealers to increase customer reach. These strategic moves have affected Amazon’s market share by reducing it to approximately 37% of the e-commerce market in the United States as of June 2022 (Statista, 2022). However, Amazon has some critical competitive advantages that can be leveraged to increase market share. One of the advantages is free shipping, which attracts customers because they do not have to incur additional costs after they purchase a product. The second advantage is offering a wide range of products at a competitive price, thus attracting many customers across different demographics.

Economic Forces

One economic force that affects Amazon is the changes in currency exchange rates. For instance, if the dollar weakens relative to the currencies in the company’s global markets, the operating expense increases, prompting the company to increase sales. Another economic force is customer disposable income. An increase in disposable income increases the likelihood of customers purchasing Amazon products and services at specified prices. The financial stability of a country also affects Amazon’s operations. For instance, if a country experiences a recession, Amazon may be forced to adjust its pricing strategy because customers would have less disposable income, thus only purchasing essential products.

Political Forces

One of the political forces that affect Amazon is government laws regulating trade. The regulations dictate the products Amazon can import, sell, or import. The company also has to comply with the health guidelines provided by the government to guarantee customer safety. Government policies on licenses and taxes also affect Amazon’s profit margin. Another political force that affects Amazon is antitrust issues. For example, the company has conflicted with the United States government due to tax evasion concerns (Binoy, 2021). Such problems affect the company’s image, thus reducing market share.

Legal, Regulatory, and Ethical Issues

The main legal force that affects Amazon is customer privacy laws. The company collects confidential customer data such as credit card information and address, hence the need to abide by customer privacy laws to avoid legal issues that could not only destroy the company’s image but also impact the company financially due to fines. The second legal force is laws regulating the sale of counterfeit products. Amazon has to conduct a quality check on all its products to ensure no fake products. The company has also created an anti-counterfeit policy requiring all Amazon sellers to sell authentic products.

Technological Forces

The main technological force that affects Amazon is cybercrime. Amazon is among the companies targeted by hackers targeting customers’ bank details. This raises customer concerns about sensitive data, such as debit or credit card information, stored in the company’s database. Another technological force is the obsolescence of technology. Therefore, Amazon has to constantly update its technology by investing in research and development.

Social Forces

One social force affecting Amazon is the changes in customer purchasing behavior. The increase in online purchases creates an opportunity for Amazon because it has created a robust online platform that serves customers worldwide. Customers are also developing a preference for door delivery, thus prompting Amazon to adjust its distribution and delivery tactics. Another social force affecting Amazon is the preference for customized and personalized products that meet specific customer needs, thus prompting it to consider personalizing and customizing products in its product line, such as sports products.

Current Target Markets

Amazon’s current target market includes customers who frequently visit the internet. Most customers are between 35 and 44, but the company also has a significant number of customers between 20 and 34. The company has also extended its operations worldwide. Still, the United States remains the dominant market due to the large number of consumers and the variety of products purchased by customers in the United States. Amazon also targets individuals in the middle class with an average salary of $50,000. The company’s target market also includes opportunistic, loyal, and new customers who frequently shop for various products in the company’s product lines.

Review Current Marketing

Amazon’s marketing strategy involves digital and traditional marketing. The company’s traditional marketing strategies include print advertising, product placement, and sales promotions. The company uses an affiliate program to reach customers and partners. The company mainly relies on social media platforms, sponsored searches, associate programs, and email campaigns in digital marketing. Email campaigns include promoting recommended items and informing customers about new arrivals, discounts, and holiday sales. The company structures its marketing approaches based on customer demographics and psychographics (Lammenett, 2021). When considering psychographics, the company targets each customer individually by analyzing customer buying behavior and preferences while trying to convert one-time visitors into high-value, regular, and long-term customers. The company uses demographics to understand customer location and needs to be based on age and income, thus advertising products that meet those needs in the identified geographical area.

SWOT Analysis

Strengths

Amazon’s main strength is its firm brand name. The company has developed a good brand name in the e-commerce and retail industry due to its reputation for offering high-quality products and creating convenience for its customers. The brand name has played a vital role in increasing the company’s market share and sales. The second strength is the large number of third-party sellers. Amazon’s platform is accessed by many customers worldwide, thus attracting third-party sellers who join the platform to reach a large customer base. Amazon also has a good distribution and logistics system, enabling it to distribute products to customers worldwide.

Weaknesses

Amazon’s main weakness is a smaller brick-and-mortar presence. The company has emphasized e-commerce, thus limiting its offline presence because there are few physical stores in selected regions. The second weakness is the company’s overdependence on distributors. Amazon relies on distributors to get its products to customers, creating distribution issues such as delays because the company has no control over the distributors’ actions.

Opportunities

One of the opportunities that Amazon can leverage is opening more physical stores to reach customers who may not have a preference for e-commerce or those with limited access to the internet, especially in developing markets. The second opportunity is expanding into developing markets. Currently, many developing markets have access to the Internet, thus creating an opportunity for Amazon to introduce e-commerce in those countries and offer favorable prices that accommodate their economic conditions.

Threats

Amazon’s main threat is stiff competition from retail giants such as Walmart. Therefore, the company must constantly introduce new products and ideas and use innovation to create a competitive advantage. The second threat is controversies that affect the company’s image. For example, there have been a few controversies about the company’s tax compliance and employee working conditions. These controversies create a terrible company image, thus affecting the company’s sales and profitability.

Strengths to Opportunities & Converting Weaknesses and Threats

The marketing plan will focus on creating a competitive advantage by communicating the value of the company’s products and services and how they vary from what competitors offer, thus increasing competitiveness in the retail and e-commerce market. The marketing plan will also inform customers where they can collect the products they order on the company’s online platform to prevent delivery delays. The company will leverage its brand name to market its products and services in developing markets by informing customers about its reputation of offering high-quality products at affordable prices. The company will also use third-party sellers to market the brand name, thus increasing brand awareness. Given suppliers’ vital role in the company’s operations, it is essential to address supplier relationships to guarantee timely receipt of supplies and adherence to the company’s quality requirements. The company also needs to implement new technologies to align its operations with the recent trends in the e-commerce market.

Marketing Objectives

The company will increase its market share in developing markets by 15% within three months by increasing brand awareness and creating a good reputation for offering a wide range of products and services at affordable prices. The company will also increase its market share in the United States by 20% within three months by increasing its competitive advantage over competitors such as Walmart and Alibaba.

References

Binoy, A. M. (2021). Amazon controversy: Why is the retail giant in trouble with the U.S. government? The Bridge Chronicle. https://www.thebridgechronicle.com/busU.S.ess/amazon-controversy-retail-giant-lands-in-trouble-with-us-government-after-india-report

Lammenett, E. (2021). Amazon-marketing. Praxiswissen Online-Marketing, 297-332. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-32340-0_9

Statista. (2022). U.S. leading E-rEtailErs by market share 2022. https://www.statista.com/staU.S.ics/274255/market-share-of-the-leading-retailers-in-us-e-commerce/

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Question

Strategic Marketing Plan-Amazon Inc

This assessment starts with your Strategic Marketing Plan that will be used throughout the course.

Select an actual company to use for this project.

Note: It will benefit you to select a company whose company information is easily accessible. While you will base your plan on the actual company, parts of this assignment may require you to use your knowledge and resources to make an informed plan.

Company Description
Environmental Analysis
Competitive Forces
Economic Forces
Political Forces
Legal, Regulatory, and Ethical Issues
Technological Forces
Social Forces
Current Target Markets
Review Current Marketing
SWOT Analysis

Strengths
Weaknesses
Opportunities
Threats

Strengths to Opportunities & Converting Weaknesses and Threats

Marketing Objectives

Strategic Marketing Plan-Amazon Inc