Target Market Analysis:
Team 1 chose to actively focus on selling the Quartz to developers. While this is a lucrative market, there are several downfalls. More specifically, the price point is often too high for developers.
While the developers are an important market segment, we must also focus on the general market and the plumbers.
Currently, the U.K. has 10,000 plumbers, all of which are in high demand. These plumbers typically install 40 to 50 showers a year, totaling in 400,000 to 500,000 showers a year, respectively. Since plumbers recommend products to their customers, this is a great way to boost sales, and additionally, product/brand awareness. Since this is a low-involvement purchasing process, we believe that this is the best route for selling the Quartz product.
Since Quartz is a new product and thus hard to accept by consumers, we understand why Team 1 chose not to actively promote to this target market. However, the general consumer market is also a lucrative market, because it creates the potential for Quartz to be a widely accessible product and not just a niche product. While DIY stores carry value products, the Quartz’s easy installation is a great option for DIYers. While they pay a premium price for the Quartz, consumers will save on plumber fees.
Consumer Behavior Analysis:
While team 1 was indeed correct about the developers’ needs, we also need to consider the needs of the other market segments. Quartz is a quality, innovative product that meets the needs of the other market segments.
Plumbers’ needs
As Team 1 correctly identified, plumbers have the basic needs for safety in their products in order to make a living. Additionally, plumbers are a high involvement consumer when purchasing showers for their clientele. Because of this, information, reviews, and tutorials about the product are important to the plumbers.
Customers’ needs
Customers have a basic need within their physiological needs, which is the need for water in which to bathe in.
Customers’ wants
One area that Team 1 touched upon briefly was the wants from the customers. Wants are the alternative to solve needs. Customers want a shower that provides water in the proper pressure and temperature, and they want a shower that is aesthetically pleasing to the eye to boot.
Customers use plumbers as a reference group, which is a trusted source of information for this particular product.
While Team 1 did not mention warranties in their recommendations, we believe that warranties are an efficient way of gaining trust in customers, appealing to their safety needs, and aiding their post purchase evaluation.
Justification:
As previously mentioned, our team challenges the presenting team’s conclusion that the target segment for Aqualisa is the developers. Instead, we believe that the target segment should be the independent plumbers who install these showerheads.
The reasoning behind this is because there is substantial evidence that shows us that plumbers have a larger effect on consumer influence in purchasing a showerhead than developers do.
According to Exhibit 4, 20% of consumers say they were influenced by their plumber on just the type of shower, 28% stated they take advice from a plumber on the type of brand and shower, and another 25% said that they let the plumber make the decision of brand for them. If you add them up, we conclude that plumbers have influenced 73% of consumers who purchase showerheads, and Aqualisa can take advantage of this market.
In addition, Exhibit 5 of the Aqualisa article shows that 54% of installations in the shower market are done by
