The COVID-19 pandemic and related government measures not only changed the order of life of many societies, foreign and domestic policies of countries but also the business climate and market conditions of the vast majority of economic zones. Indeed, this unique event generates interest in in-depth research and detailed analysis of all industries, especially those in the Canadian sector. The company that was chosen for this study is Tim Hortons, one of the largest players in “The Coffee and Snack Shops industry in Canada” (Couillard, 2020, p. 2). It is no secret that the industry and the restaurant business are one of the hardest hit by the stringent government restrictions associated with COVID-19 quarantine.
It can be said that the current conditions are giving rise to many concerns for Tim Hortons’ owners. However, the upcoming vaccination and the end of the lockdown could open up many opportunities for the company, especially in other regions. These marketing problems create new research topics for marketing researchers (Hair, Ortinau, & Harrison, 2020). The writer of this work surveyed the industry background and related speculations and developed a decision problem for Tim Hortons. The question is whether Tim Hortons should continue to expand into the European market after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Coffee & Snack Shops in Canada by Lucie Couillard Summary
In the course of data collection, many reports related to the topic of interest were analyzed. It is essential to clarify that the author of this paper could not find any recent works describing the Canadian coffee and snack shops industry, and Tim Hortons specifically, from the Canadian geographical region; that is why sources from the United States were used. The most informative and therefore worthy of mention is Coffee & Snack Shops in Canada by Lucie Couillard. The American Psychological Association (APA) citation format for this report is APA 7. In the report, she describes the state of the industry in Canada as of 2020 and provides readers with various market data (Couillard, 2020). Moreover, she observes market trends and the situation over the past five years and makes assumptions about the future of the Canadian coffee and snack shops industry.
Patient: Tim Hortons by Middleton, Roche, Kincaid, and Sklar Summary
More sources have been found exploring the coffee shop and restaurant industry in Canada. One of them is Patient: Tim Hortons, which was published in Marketing Magazine. In the article, several experts, namely David Kincaid, Alan Middleton, Geoff Roche, and Luke Sklar (2014), act as brand doctors who advise Tim Hortons. It is safe to say that the article will be useful to experienced economists and newcomers to business and economics. There is some helpful information on how old and large companies in the coffee shop and fast food restaurant industry should restructure their management systems and rebrand themselves. Experts note that the company needs to “build some excitement back in both traditional and digital media that invites trial in a “Tim’s brand” way that links into the Tim Hortons’ community stories” (Middleton et al., 2014, p. 52). Experts also talk about what techniques and strategies companies should get rid of in their mature stage. The bibliography format for this publication article is APA 7.
Burgertory by Mark Tatge Summary
Another article was found that is related to the topic of the proposed design problem. The article is called Burgertory, and it was written by Mark Tatge. The author describes Wendy’s overseas expansion strategy in the 90s and Tim Hortons’ place in it (Tatge, 2001). He also compares the company’s results with its then closest competitors. Surprisingly, overseas expansion is an extremely long-term and financially costly campaign even for the leaders of the fast-food restaurant industry. According to Tatge (2001), “McDonald’s and Burger King put up big bucks and expect to lose money for up to a decade as they saturate markets and fine-tune menus to regional tastes” (p. 76). It is worth noting that APA 7 is the citation format for this newspaper article.
Peter Hum’s News Article Analysis Summary
In his article, Hum describes many of the significant changes taking place in the fast-food restaurant industry in Ottawa, which may soon become a new norm throughout Canada. He says the competition in the Ottawa fast food market is intense and growing (Hum, 2020). He also describes fresh fast food and coffee shop trends associated primarily with demographic transition and millennial preferences (Hum, 2020).
According to Hum (2020), “…restaurant industry watchers say, franchise restaurants, both next generation and old guard, have expanded their presence in Canada, especially in urban centres, in sync with changing demographics and dining-out preferences” (para. 13). This article shows what will be popular in the near future. It is obvious that such information is crucial in business, as it gives companies additional time to adapt and, therefore, take a more significant share in the market. It can be said that this article relates to CREST / PESTL letters or factors, such as Competition and Sociocultural. APA 7 is the reference format for Hum’s newspaper article.
Three Research Decision Problems
The theoretical background obtained in the course of the library research described above allows the writer of this work to create three research decision questions for the developed decision question. First, whether it will be beneficial in the short term for Tim Hortons to expand into the European market. Secondly, whether it will be profitable in the long term for Tim Hortons to expand into the European market. The last question is whether Tim Hortons has unique products that the company can offer to European consumers outside of Spain and the United Kingdom to succeed in the European Union market. These are the top three questions for market research companies.
CREST / PESTL Table.
References
Couillard, L. (2020). Coffee & snack shops in Canada. Web.
Hair, J. F., Ortinau, D. J., & Harrison, D. E. (2020). Essentials of marketing research. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.
Hum, P. (2020). Rise of the modern franchise; Ottawa has no shortages of franchises like Tim Hortons or Milestones. But millennials and an increasingly culturally diverse population are creating demand for a new kind of franchise that feels very 2020. Peter Hum reports. The Ottawa Citizen.
Middleton, A., Roche, G., Kincaid, D., & Sklar, L. (2014). Patient: Tim Hortons. Marketing Magazine, 119(2), 52.
Tatge, M. (2001). Burgertory. Forbes, 176(14), p. 76.