Car Repair Shop Marketing Mix: Product, Price, Promotion, People, Process - Essay Sample

Abstract

The report entails a group marketing project. In the present stage of the marketing plan, the report explains the marketing mix that the car repair shop will use to reach its customers and sell the services to the target market. The main points given priority in this stage of marketing plan include the product, price, promotion, people, and process deliverables of the marketing mix. The core product of the small business is car repairs that will be augmented to increase the services that clients can access within the business premises. The product's price is based on the type of the target market, whereby the car repair shop will serve both price-sensitive and non-price sensitive clients. The promotion strategy is the use of online services to advertise the company car repairs it provides to customers. Apart from creating a website for the company, the shop will use social media pages to promote its services to clients. The social media plan will serve as the main word of mouth strategy important in achieving many customers for the business. Using the online services, the shop will promote the business message regarding its services, the physical car parts for sale, and videos of the staff performing repair services to customers. The people and process of the marketing mix are explained to show their alignment and support with the marketing strategy.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

Introduction

The chosen organization is a small business in the Australian market and operates in the car repair services industry. It is a car repair shop that is competing with other car repair and modification shops online and offline. It serves customers in need of car repairs to provide timely and cost-effective repair services. The target market entails both price-sensitive and non-price sensitive customers. The car repair shop offers more benefits to customers when compared to other sellers in the industry as it considers each client based on their needs to be fulfilled. There is a repair solution even to the lowest income earners. The marketing project involves an examination of the marketing mix. It explains the product or service mix of the chosen organization, the pricing strategy used to achieve success in the target market, and the promotion efforts, tools, and tactics that the car repair shop will use to reach and communicate to the customers. The 7Ps of the marketing mix have been considered useful in analyzing the chosen small business in the Australian market. The "People" and "Process" elements are evaluated on how best they align and support the marketing strategy. The marketing mix reveals a transparent process through which the car repair shop will realize the marketing strategy.

Marketing Mix Plans

Product:

A product entails anything that can be provided in the market to customers for use, attention, consumption, or acquisition with the capacity of satisfying a need or a want (Masterson et al., 2017). The firm is a small Australian car repair shop offering service as the product that consumers will be getting from the business. Verma (2007) defined a service product as an activity that a company offers to satisfy customer needs or wants. The small business within the Australian market will be offering car repairs, modifications, and courier tracking services. The car repair shop will also provide customers with services of changing the car paint color, and sell different car color brands to the clients. The core product for the small business will be offering car repairs to clients based on the nature of the company.

The core service will be augmented by expanding the service mix to offer more related services to customers. In that case, more car services to customers will entail car parts selling whereby the shop will sell auto parts through online and offline platforms as well as internal decoration selling. The car repair shop will also expand to include an auto wash, salon, and car inspection services within the business unit. It is a way of tapping more customers to buy their services while visiting the premises. The car inspection services will be offered as a pre-purchase, after-purchase, and other self-demanded car inspection services that clients may require. Car repair services will include car engine and parts repairs and maintenance. Modification of cars will involve servicing the car body, paint, and interiors.

There are features of the business that will be most critical to success in attracting more clients. The service package will entail intangible products with four elements: supporting facilities and facilitation of implicit and explicit car repair services. Therefore, the small business will provide package services that are customer friendly. For instance, staff in the shop will assist the clients with inspecting their cars, a discounted upgrade package for inspection such as fixing or modifying any identified defects, based on the customer’s interest. Verma (2007) stated that a service package involves four components: facilitating goods, express service, implicit service, and supporting facility.

The small business, car repair shop will be competing with other similar ventures in the Australian markets. The competitors will include other car repair shops, other car parts retailers, and motor vehicle dealers, professional car inspection service providers including States Roads Vehicle Inspection, and other car-selling related car sales websites and platforms providing more services such as inspection for clients. The features that differentiate the car repair services offered in the shop from the competitors entail registering all the customers through a loyalty membership program. All the customers getting assistance from the shop will become members and will gain points by coming for car repair services in the small business. That makes the company stand out from the competition as the clients will feel part of the business. By getting a service, clients will not only pay for it but also have a possibility of obtaining rewards from their purchases. The provision of special online services will also help the shop stand out from its competitors. The particular online services will be free for all clients and used to attract more clients. They will entail providing modification preview and repair/modification process as well as tracking services through the shop service.

The wow factors for the small business will be creating a brand that stands out from the competitors (Aaker, 2012). The shop will be physical and online on the websites. The physical shop will have a mix of colors, and car repair pictures, and car parts drawn on the walls. The sites will also include all the services names accompanied by their photographs for clients to see the variety of what they can get from the small business. The car garage will be designed using modern technology to ensure clients can get all repairs, modification and inspection services effectively and within the shortest time possible. As stated earlier, an extra service of helping the customers to inspect their cars will be provided at a discount. These features will also serve to differentiate the small business in the Australian market from other competing car repair shops in the industry.

Like other small shops, the business will sell car spare parts, and this is the point of parity it will be with the other car repair service providers in the Australian market. The positions of difference will be defined by the loyalty membership program provided to clients, extra service, and encouraging all clients to enter into the car repair club. More clients will be attracted to the business through the point system whereby they can redeem automatically gained points for a certain period in exchange for a gift service. For example, a client with 1,000 positions will be able to redeem in exchange for a bottle of car glass water or given a free car wash service. The club services will ensure all customers have a profile on the small business website where they can express their experience with the service provision. The services' extra features will provide more benefits to the clients that differentiate the car repair service from the competitor and help the business attain an increased market share.

The unique selling point for the car repair shop will be in the provision of other services to clients whereby the services and quality are aligned. A focus on offering customer value for their money is a significant focus for the car repair shop. Unique selling points in a business are highly derived from providing additional services or branding (Masterson et al., 2017). The small business will allow its customers to apply for free replacement of the corresponding parts when their cars have a quality problem. That is due to non-human reasons and under normal conditions within 60 days after issuing the invoice or within a mileage of 3,000 kilometers. Customers experiencing quality problems related to the car interior within a half year after releasing the invoice or within a distance of 10,000 kilometers can apply for a free replacement of the corresponding parts.

The car repair shop brand is the services provided by the small business. The car repair services will define the brand by offering unique extra services to clients. Emphasizing on brand value is key to determining the car repair shop (Aaker, 2012). Through the car repair services, the small business will achieve many loyal customers who will associate with the brand for reliability and excellent customer car repair service. The websites will have designed revenue models where customers can choose the type of service they want with corresponding service fees, the car parts, and other products sold in the shop. The websites will also provide an advertisement slot where different businesses can advertise their services and products at an affordable fee on the sites or in the shop. An online booking service will be provided to increase the brand uniqueness and accessibility to customers as well as increase the volume of sales.

Pricing

According to Masterson et al. (2017), the price of a product gives a critical message to the clients who make purchase decisions based on the set prices from the goods and services. Strydom (2004) stated that price sensitivity provides constraints to the pricing of products and services in the target market. Therefore, considering how the customer is price sensitive is critical in setting the price. Factors to consider include knowledge about the prices in the market, income levels, need for spending on a service or product, and the need for quality. The car repair shop is anticipated to offer cost-effective services to customers. There are two types of customers for the car repair shop in the target market when considering the pricing of the facilities, including the price-sensitive and non-price sensitive clients. Therefore, a customer value-based pricing strategy will be used by viewing the desired benefits of the target market (Claessens, 2015).

Consumers are sensitive to prices depending on different factors (Al-Mamun, et al., 2014). The price-sensitive target market for the car repair shop will entail clients with mature consumption habits of car repair services. These customers tend to select services depending on their needs, income levels, service quality, and other comprehensive factors. Their focus is pursuing the cost performance. In meeting the needs of the price-sensitive clients, the car repair shop will provide different services at various prices. High-quality car repair services will be provided at a higher cost. Those requiring a few repairs and not major ones will be charged based on each repair service provided. That will meet the...