Essay Sample on Business Expansion Plan to the UK

Introduction

L' Empire du Biscuit is a multinational company that specializes in the production and selling of cookies, candy, and premium chocolate. L' Empire du Biscuit has managed to sustain a product portfolio that has been successful. When the company started, its growth rate was high the company could accommodate. Secondly, it divulged into franchising and was significantly affected by the recession period 2008-2013 in Europe since it sold premium products. Though it had to close some stores after the recession, some of its stores had to be closed, L' Empire du Biscuit current strategy has been successful. It has streamlined its supply chain, operation and reduced cost by making online sales. However, its online platform has not been successful. Franchising has been a critical strategy for the expansion for L' Empire du Biscuit in European countries. Some of these plans can also be implemented in the UK. It should venture into the UK market as the region provides a potential clientele for L' Empire du Biscuit should open stores in the UK market as it provides growth opportunities for the firm. .

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Strategy According to Riches (a survey in 2016), Britons are potential consumers of biscuits and crunchy cookies. The review notes that a significant percentageortion of Britons purchases biscuits and related products at least once a week. L' Empire du Biscuit has a potential market in the UK. Depending on the finances available for expansion, L' Empire du Biscuit can implement different strategies. First, it should franchise its product to a corporation in the UK region. Franchising allows the L' Empire du Biscuit to access the profit margins in the region and determine whether it wants to either open operation in the area. AdditionallySecondly, franchising creates brand awareness for its products allowing the company to establish brand loyalty (Verbeke, 2013). It is an approach that will lead to stability of profits and sustainability in the UK market.

Secondly, L' Empire du Biscuit should export its products to different grocery stores and retailers in the UK. This indirecThet export strategy allows L' Empire du Biscuit brand to gain exposure. However, this strategy is highly dependent on that UK consumers have exploratory psychographic traits. These consumers will be willing to try new products that they find on the retail shelves. L' Empire du Biscuit needs to initiate consumersuch curiosity of its products through marketing to ensure that consumers are willing to purchase its biscuitsproducts. Consequently, L' Empire du Biscuit can also switch to direct exports. It involves shipping consumers directly . Since L' Empire du Biscuit products will have gained brand awareness in the UK market, it is possible for L' Empire du Biscuit to make direct exports (Verbeke, 2013). The low shipping costs between France and the UK makes direct selling a beneficial approach for L' Empire du Biscuit. Nonetheless, this approach should be limited to consumers who purchase in bulk. It reduces costs involved in transportation and logistics.

Franchising and exporting strategies are the initial strategies that L' Empire du Biscuit can implement for two reasons. First, they limit the cost involved in expanding into the UK market. Franchises and local retailers have an understanding of the local market and are less likely to face legal requirements to operate in the market. Secondly, these two approaches provide brand exposure for L' Empire du Biscuit products. As a company that has not sold its products in the UK market, these approaches allow the company to gain the needed brand exposure that creates stable profits and brand loyalty in the market (Verbeke, 2013). However, some challenges may be involved. As noted in other franchises and retail stores, they did not market L' Empire du Biscuit products and minimized the company's overall profit margin. Besides, L' Empire du Biscuit loses control of how its product is marketed in the region. Therefore, athe third strategy may be proposed.

L' Empire du Biscuit should also open operations in the UK. Like with the case in the USA where a former client proposed to run a store, L' Empire du Biscuit can also choose this approach. It can open company-owned stores in the UK (Verbeke, 2013). To ensure they are successful, it should expatriate some of its loyal employees to ensure that the stores are managed successfully. It should also train local employees to add to its expatriated personnel. However, unlike other strategies that L' Empire du Biscuit has been using, opening operations will take time and may encounter some issues. First, L' Empire du Biscuit has to gain a license to operate, which includes different legal requirements in the UK market. Secondly, it needs to brace for cultural differences. It has to train its expatriate employees on cultural differences and align its corporate culture with the national values in the UK to enhance a smooth transition (Trompenaars, &and Hampden-Turner, 2011). Finally, it has to source funds for this expansion strategy. These finances should incorporate the wage rates in the UK, store rental expenses among other utilities that will be involved. It could be capital intensive but it will ensures that L' Empire du Biscuit has control in brand exposure of its products and profits.

Marketing and Sales

According to Riches (2016), on the an article published in Express UK, approximately ninety-three percent of the country's consumers eat biscuitss and cookies biscuits. The number is high since crunchy biscuits are common accompaniments with tea and coffee. The numbers are higher in Manchester (Riches, 2016). The article, following the results of a survey, notes that depending on the region of a consumer, the type of biscuits consumed changes. However, the rising need for a healthy diet seems to result in consumers balancing between sweet biscuits and low-calorie cookies. The variety of tastes and preferences in the region provide a diverse market for L' Empire du Biscuit in the UK market. It can segment its market based on the type of cookies and geographic areas (Riches, 2016).

The most common biscuits are the sweet ones and in different flavors. The survey showed that despite the increasing focus on dietary habits, many a significant portion of biscuit consumers are indifferent to the trend. Secondly, L' Empire du Biscuit may segment the UK market based on consumers who prefer chocolate chip biscuits and low-calorie cookie biscuits (Riches, 2016). The marketing segmentation based on taste and preferences allows L' Empire du Biscuit to control its production process by evaluating which cookies are more preferred, thus ensuring that its supply matches demand. Secondly, L' Empire du Biscuit may also segment the UK market based on its geography. For instances, the North West region is known for the high consumption of chocolate biscuits compared to other areas. With such statistics, L' Empire du Biscuit should decide the appropriate regions it should open more stores in the U.K. and how it's going to allocate its products. It ensures that the company gains brand equity in these regions.L' Empire du Biscuit has two categories of consumer its can target. First, the end consumer is a potential client for the company. CAs noted, clients in the UK have a high preference for sweet, chocolate, and low-calorie biscuits. In this case, L' Empire du Biscuit can reach this end consumer through direct selling, online sales, and through retailers (Christopher, 2016). An integrated distribution strategy will increase the availability of L' Empire du Biscuit cookies and drive its sales. Besides, the portion of end consumers provides a stable consumer base. Secondly, L' Empire du Biscuit can target organization such as charities among other social institutions that hold social events and deal with a large population. These organizations will purchase in large bulk and offer L' Empire du Biscuit cookies as delicacies during its social events.

L' Empire du Biscuit has focused its operations mainly in France and Belgium and has only started to venture into other countries such as the USA. Its marketing mix in France is very different from its international marketing mix. The. First, L' Empire du Biscuit has to comprehend that operating in the global marketing mix is requires that the company is to be sensitive to cultural differences while implementing a marketing strategy (Czinkota, &and Ronkainen, 2013). Secondly, L' Empire du Biscuit has the option of using a global or hybrid marketing strategy. A global marketing mix strategy does not emphasize social variations but chooses to market the same product with similar strategies in all markets. This strategy is adequate where the target consumers are in regions that share common values and norms. However, for L' Empire du Biscuit , the most appropriate approach would be a hybrid marketing mix strategy. L' Empire du Biscuit maintains a standard product portfolio in all countries. However, it will design marketing approaches based on the practices of the individual nations. As such, it will focus on language differences and respect cultural differences while refraining from using offensive stereotypes (Czinkota, & and Ronkainen, 2013). L' Empire du Biscuit will attract a significant market share in the UK. since the consumption of biscuits is a stable trade. Operations and Supply Cchain MmanagementOne of the areas that L' Empire du Biscuit can gain a competitive advantage through in is in operations and supply chain management. A mix of three strategies can be used to expand L' Empire du Biscuit presence in the UK. For franchising, direct and indirect exporting the supply chain varies. Currently, L' Empire du Biscuit relies on retailers and company-owned stores to distribute its products. The approach has enabled the company to reach as many customers as possible (Christopher, 2016). For the franchising , it eliminates the burden of fixed costs involved in running the franchise by shifting it to the franchise. It is a similar case in using retailers to distribute its products. However, each of these approaches limits L' Empire du Biscuit's control of the marketing and profit margin made.

Alternatively, L' Empire du Bi...