Introduction
Another name for target market is target audience. A target market is a particular group of consumers that a business targets. Businesses normally want to draw consumers closer and sell to them their goods and services. Factors that influence characteristics of a target market include economic class, age, location, gender, sexual orientation or ethnicity.
Socio-economic classes enable business organizations to come up with a specific type of client who is likely to buy goods or services from the company. This means that businesses do not build goods and services randomly, without having specific target customers in mind. Target marketing enables businesses to locate their customers within a given population (Saunders 153).
Identifying a market is an essential step for any form of business for its operation in the long term. A business needs to identify its potential clients before taking steps of building the business in other areas. A business ought to define the most important traits of potential clients and identify the major ways in which the new business organization can fulfill the needs of the customer. This way it can easily spot a customer’s base (Maxwell 75).
Background Information
The study will take place between 15 February 2013 and 28 February 2013 with a view to establish a target market for “Willow” Creeks store. Willow Creeks store is a business that deals in home décor and furnishing at Yong and Egling areas both located in Toronto. Managers at Willow Creeks store postulate that the target market for Willow are women aged from 25 to 35 who are newly married, who need to furnish their home. This study aims to confirm, or nullify this hypothesis.
Overall Purpose of the Research
The main purpose of this research will be to determine the target market for Willow stores. That is, to find out who will buy the products that the company intends to sell in the stores as well as determine whether there is a large customer base for the proposed business.
Research Objectives
The main objective of this research will be to determine the target group of potential buyers. Postulated information indicates that most potential customers are women who range from 25 to 35 years, and this research aims at confirming or nullifying this postulation.
The research will also aim at grouping the target customers according to their characteristics such as gender, income level, values, lifestyles, attitudes, hobbies, interests and marital status. Another objective will be identifying the location of its target market, particularly, whether they will be the newlyweds located in the urban area or those that live in the rural area.
The last objective of this study will be to find out various techniques that competitors in the town use to sell their products, and the price at which competitors sell their products.
Research Problems
Businesses have to identify the right target customers for their products and services for them to prosper. However, distinguishing a particular segment from others is very technical and that is why most managers prefer to use surveys to ease the task.
Research Questions
- What is the gender of the target market for new retro home accessory store “Willow” located on Yong& Eglinton area?
- What is the age of the target market for new retro home accessory store “Willow” located on Yong& Eglinton area?
- What is the income level of the target market for new retro home accessory store “Willow” located on Yong& Eglinton area?
- What is the marital status of the target market for new retro home accessory store “Willow” located on Yong& Eglinton area?
- How well do the products and services offered at new retro home accessory store “Willow” located on Yong& Eglinton area meet the needs of customers?
- What are the personal values, interests and hobbies of the target market?
- What is the lifestyle and behavior of the target market?
- What is the location of the target market for new retro home accessory store “Willow” located on Yong& Eglinton area?
- What is the location of Ethnic background of the target market for new retro home accessory store “Willow” located on Yong& Eglinton area?
- What is the target market for our competitors?
Research Methodology
Research Design
This research will obtain qualitative data using the questionnaires.. Qualitative method will be suitable for this study because the study aims at determining the target market for Willow stores. In other words, qualitative analysis is suitable for this study as it can offer a descriptive analysis of potential buyers, unlike quantitative analysis.
Qualitative versus Quantitative Analysis
Qualitative method collects data mainly in the form of open-ended questions, interviews and observations. Conversely, quantitative methods collect numerical data. The outcomes from quantitative research are easy to generalize. Nevertheless, the information formed by this method can be abstract and may not mirror a specific population, individual or circumstance.
Qualitative method offers a better perception of the research problem through analyzing the first person experience, thus require only a smaller sample size to generate a more accurate result. Qualitative research is sufficient to describe complex events and offers case-by-case information that makes them suitable for cross case evaluation and analysis. To gain from advantages of each method this study will employ a mixed method.
Instruments
Instruments refer to tools used in data collection. In this research, Instruments will be participants, surveys, as well as, open ended and multiple-choice questions.
Questionnaire Procedure
The researcher will give a questionnaire to each participant. The questionnaires will have pictures of the already set up Willow store and questions about the market that the store is likely to attract. Questions will be both open ended and multiple choice and they will aim at verifying whether most customers in the target group are newly, wed women aged between 25 and 35 years. The researcher will ask each participant to provide relevant answers to questions in the questionnaire.
Data Analysis and Interpretation
Data for analysis will come from responses in the questionnaires. The first stage in the analysis of data will be data reduction. Data reduction involves selecting and conceptualizing data that comes from fieldwork observations. The interviewer will examine the questions and responses, in order to identify consistencies and differences among responses.
After data examination, coding will occur for easier retrieval based on how each data set helps meet the research objectives. Coding shall involve demarcation of various segments in the data collected (Saunders 43). Last will be conclusion drawing. Conclusions and other interpretations will be in the form of tables and charts.
Sampling Procedure
The population for the research will be potential customers of new retro home accessory store “Willow” located on Yong & Eglinton area. Due to the large size of the population, only a sample of 150 potential customers will take part, to ease collection of data. Selection of the sample will occur in the streets of Toronto, in the area of the store’s location and in suburb areas.
Although most participants will be in the store’s area, Youge and Eglington, inclusion of a few participants from other parts will be necessary, for comparison purposes. Besides, this will be important, as not all newlyweds live in the city, but still choose to go to the city to shop for more styles than the basic ones offered in the suburbs.
Selection of the 150 people to participate in the research will take place through ransom sampling. This sampling technique is preferable because any potential customer can give reliable information on the target market. Sample survey will occur at different days of the week and different times, in order to obtain impartial data.
Data Sources
Primary Research
In this study, primary research will use in-person surveys around the 150 potential customers. The survey will focus on female shoppers. Questionnaire survey will contain multiple choice and open-ended questions in collecting data.
Secondary Research
In this study, secondary research will employ journal articles, newspapers, business articles and research papers. Examination and evaluation of these sources will take place accordingly. Data from secondary research will be essential, as it will help to analyze the results of primary research.
Observation
The researcher in this study will observe and take a note of current customer’s as well as potential customers buying behavior. Observations will have the same weight as data from primary and secondary sources when drawing conclusions.
Works Cited
Maxwell, Scott. The Missing Ingredients: Strategic Marketing to the “Money Guyz”. Business Insider, 15Aug. 2011.Web.
Saunders, Elizabeth, G. If Your Target Market doesn’t Bite, Fish Somewhere Else. Business Insider, 22 Aug. 2010. Web.