Author Note
This research is being submitted on June 21, 2013, Professor JoDee Phillips, B323/GEB4410 Section 01 Advanced Principles of Marketing class.
Table of Contents
Executive Summary 3
Situation Analysis – Part 1 4
Situation Analysis – Part 2 7
Objectives and Issues 9
Marketing Strategy – Part 1 11
Marketing Strategy – Part 2 14
Marketing Strategy – Part 3 15
Action Programs 17
Budgets and Financials 20
Controls 21
Resources 26
Executive Summary
The Bountiful Basket will use experience, creativity, segmentation strategy and strong marketing to be the premier gift basket business that everyone goes to. Via our website we sell gift baskets for all occasions such as birthdays, anniversaries, graduations and even larger holidays such as Mother’s Day and Christmas. We opened the business in August of 2011 and are doing well. We have just become partners with my husband’s parents and our most recent accomplishment is opening a small store front in an active strip mall.
Our business activities include creating and wrapping gift baskets. Most that we sell are premade by us and available for sale on the website. We offer many products in our baskets from food items and trinkets to coffees and even small appliances. The Bountiful Basket has two distinct groups of customers, individuals and corporate customers we will target. Our service includes local hand delivery.
Our new product is customized baskets. We offer premade baskets now but we want the attention on our business to be able to customize baskets for our customers. Gift baskets can be customized to suit the giver, the recipient, the occasion and/or the desired price. In some circles, it has become a gift of choice for birthdays, weddings, special events, anniversaries, housewarmings, and romantic occasions. Businesses too, recognizing gift baskets’ versatility, are becoming part of the market. We believe that the benefit of our product will be the local and personal touch. If you are going to spend your hard earned money on a creative gift for someone it should be something beautiful they will remember. We want to offer not only custom basket contents but baskets too. We will make sure to offer a variety of actual baskets as well as boxes in different shapes, sizes and colors to make the gift stand out. Our ingredients will be the best for the money you want to spend. If it is a coffee basket you want we would make sure to have truly delicious coffees, not just the most popular. We want to give our customers a quality product at a fair price and will use our pricing strategy to do that as we watch costs every day.
The goal of our marketing plan is to grow our business and become profitable. With our new storefront and additional partners we hope to bring more customers to our business for face-to-face service and specialty attention to gifts wrapped in beautiful wrappings. Our partners will allow the time needed for a true marketing strategy so our detailed plan can be set into action. Their purchasing and creative design expertise will allow the business to grow in ways we had not previously thought possible. Focus on the customer is our main goal and we can do that with the team we have put in place now. The Bountiful Basket will communicate the message that they offer a higher quality, gourmet alternative of gift baskets then the baskets currently available. We want to be the premier gift basket business that everyone goes to.
Situation Analysis – Part 1
The Bountiful Basket is entering its second full year in business and therefore marketing is critical to its success and future profitability. The Bountiful Basket will be going after two distinct market segments, individuals and corporations. Both groups buy gift baskets as a goodwill gesture, typically for different reasons. Individuals typically buy the baskets as a present with over half
