Introduction
This paper explores how Kibsons, an online-based food delivery business, uses different marketing concepts to sustain its business. It includes an analysis of the main factors influencing the company’s business environment as presented in an article by Go Dubai (2018). Key tenets of this paper also investigate and identify the key forces in the company’s external environment and their role in improving its competitive position. Lastly, this paper contains discussions about how the UAE-based organization uses key marketing variables of place, price, promotion, and product to operate.
Some of the key terms and concepts used in this paper include SKU to mean stock-keeping units, UAE, which refers to the United Arab Emirates, and brick-and-mortar to symbolize the physical presence and operationalization of a business. An analysis of the key forces influencing the company’s external environment appears below.
Environment
The main environmental forces affecting Kibsons are natural, economic, demographic, social/cultural, and technological. Technology plays a vital role in the business’s operations because it provides a platform for interacting with customers. A change in this force could significantly affect the business’ operations because its entire operating model is hinged on it. Technology also emerges as a tool for Kibsons to gain a competitive advantage over its rivals because it reduces the operating costs of the business (Phadtare, 2014). Indeed, according to Go Dubai (2018), the company sells fresh produce to its customers at wholesale prices (as opposed to retail prices) because it does not incur brick-and-mortar costs.
Nature is another force affecting the business because it defines the products sold to the customers. Indeed, Kibsons sells organic produce to its customers as a differentiating factor because most of its rivals are not specialized in the sale of healthy foods. Thus, a variation in the natural environment would have an impact on the business because it would affect the supply of the same produce (Folsom & Boulware, 2014). Demographics also influence Kibsons’s operations because they define the company’s target market. This force could largely affect the affordability and demand of the company’s products (Kolb, 2013). Operating on a virtual platform allows the company to target a tech-savvy group of customers who leverage technology in their purchasing behavior.
The economy is also another significant force in Kibson’s operations because it defines the business’s market potential. In this regard, it may affect the demand for the company’s products and the nature of competitive rivalry in its business environment (Silver, Stevens, Wrenn, & Loudon, 2013). Social and cultural forces also exert a strong force on Kibsons’s operating environment because they affect the type of demand or service that customers want.
For example, shifting consumer tastes and preferences for organic and healthy foods is a driving force in the business because it defines the organic food brand associated with the business (Go Dubai, 2018). This social force helps the company to tap into a growing demand for healthy foods, which allows it to differentiate itself from its competitors. Collectively, technology, demographics, economy, nature, and social forces are relevant to the operations of Kibsons.
Marketing Mix Variables
The main marketing mix variables for business are defined by the 4Ps of product, place, price, and promotion. The same marketing mix elements are instrumental in the operations of Kibsons as outlined below.
Product
Kibsons’s product strategy is hinged on the provision of a wide range of organic and fresh foods. According to Go Dubai (2018), some of the products sold by the company include “fresh fruits, vegetables, meat, dairy, bread, nuts, drinks, and healthy foods” (p. 2). This array of products appeals to a health-conscious demographic. Based on this product strategy, the company’s range of organic products has grown to 100 SKUs in the past year alone (Go Dubai, 2018).
Place
Kibsons is a virtual business, which allows customers to order fresh produce online, and have their products delivered to them. Based on this business model, the company’s placement strategy is online. This component of its marketing plan is advantageous to the business because it is inexpensive and allows it to reach the target market with little effort (Baines, Fill, & Page, 2013). Furthermore, the business does not have to incur traditional costs associated with having a physical office or shop where the customers visit and pay for their groceries; instead, they can easily receive their deliveries from home. This place strategy appeals to customers because it is convenient.
Promotion
Kibsons’s promotion strategy is mainly hinged on fostering useful partnerships with other stakeholders in the organic food business. These partnerships are fostered at local and international levels because, according to Go Dubai (2018), the organization has demonstrated its commitment to fostering domestic and global partnerships. The company’s promotion strategy also involves a strong quest by the organization to educate people about the benefits of observing high nutritional health and wellness standards. The goal of following this promotion strategy is to create awareness about the company’s products and, by extension, create a buzz about the same, thereby increasing the demand for its products.
Price
Part of Kibsons’s vision is providing affordable products to hundreds of customers in the UAE. Its pricing strategy is based on this vision because the company adopts a wholesale pricing strategy, which makes its products affordable to customers. In this regard, more people get affordable fresh produce and have them conveniently supplied to their homes.
Overall, the findings of this paper show that Kibsons has an elaborate marketing strategy that employs key principles of marketing, such as the 4Ps variables. At the same time, technology, demographics, economy, nature, and social forces are relevant to the company’s operations because they influence the demand and supply components of the business.
References
Baines, P., Fill, C., & Page, K. (2013). Essentials of marketing. Oxford, UK: OUP Oxford.
Folsom, D., & Boulware, R. (2014). Encyclopedia of American business. New York, NY: Infobase Publishing.
Go Dubai. (2018). Kibsons proves its dedication to providing the best organic produce to the people of the UAE. Web.
Kolb, B. (2013). Marketing for cultural organizations: New strategies for attracting audiences (3rd ed.). London, UK: Routledge.
Phadtare, M. (2014). Industrial marketing (2nd ed.). New York, NY: PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd.
Silver, L., Stevens, R., Wrenn, B., & Loudon, D. (2013). The essentials of marketing Research (3rd ed.). London, UK: Routledge.