Trend: Online businesses opening physical locations

Trendy Products, which sells furniture online, has opened a 'digital concept showroom' in Cardiff. Trendy is, in fact, on trend, as more e-businesses add physical locations to allow customers to see and experience products, chat with salespeople, access digital catalogues and then make buying decisions.


Trendy has been in business for a decade, building a strong customer base. Now it plans to open more showrooms, expanding beyond digital to reach consumers who want to experience the product and consult with designers before they buy.

One reason for this trend is the availability of good retail locations. Many years of dismal economic growth and cautious consumer spending pushed a large number of stores into administration. Competition from online businesses has also caused retailers and other businesses to shutter some branches that weren't doing well. The result: vacancies in desirable shopping areas. And thanks to good space availability, some retail businesses are actually doing better.


Amazon, the pioneering e-tailer, arranged for space in sections of existing US retail stores for the 2017 holiday season. It owns the Whole Foods Market grocery chain, where it set up displays and sold products. But it also opened some mall stores and rented space in other department stores, enabling shoppers to see and trial Kindles and other products.

Alibaba, China's online retail giant, is adding a physical presence in key cities through partnerships and through, well, giant vending machines.

Each consumer-friendly Alibaba automated location (like the concept shown here) will sell Ford automobiles, starting with a test drive offered to consumers who qualify with sufficient credit to complete the purchase.

Most popular marketing posts ever

According to my blog's statistics, the most popular post ever in nearly nine years of blogging is 'Yes, competitors are stakeholders'. At left, the statistical count shows this post has been viewed more than 12,500 times since I wrote it five years ago.

One reason this post attracts so many views is that when you do a search for the phrase 'competitors as stakeholders' my post is the first result after the top three scholarly articles.

Although some experts believe that competitors should not be considered stakeholders, my post explains why competitors really are stakeholders (click here to view).

Other popular posts are about Tesco's marketing plan and strategy (which continue to evolve as the marketing environment changes), Christmas adverts and #GivingTuesday.

More blog posts are on the way for 2018, including additional ideas about competitors as stakeholders.

Unilever shakes up its product portfolio

Unilever recently sold off its spreads and margarine brands to concentrate on other, higher-potential products in its portfolio. The company's CEO explained: 'The announcement today marks a further step in reshaping and sharpening our portfolio for long term growth'.

Brands sold to KKR, a private equity firm, include Flora, ProActiv, Becel, Country Crock, I Can't Believe It's Not Butter and and Blueband.

Although the spreads business was profitable for Unilever, with margins of about 20%, the firm wants to concentrate its marketing resources on products that closely fit its vision.

In particular, Unilever has been growing formerly niche brands like Pukka Herbs tea into mainstream brands to accelerate growth. It's also investing in personal care brands that are growing quickly and launching a number of new products for highly targeted customer segments within specific geographic markets.

This updates the Unilever examples in Essential Guide to Marketing Planning 4th edn.

What's happening to the bank branch?

If you're banking with Virgin Money UK, you don't walk into a branch, you walk into a lounge. Above, a map showing some of the Virgin Money lounges open to customers who want to play billiards, listen to a jukebox, watch a movie, enjoy free coffee or complete a financial transaction.

Each lounge is unique, because the design and amenities fit the building. In Wales, the lounge is located in a former pizza restaurant. Naturally, Virgin Money is serving free pizza to customers.

If you're banking with Metro Bank UK, you don't walk into a branch, you walk into a store. The company keeps its stores open late and on weekends to allow customers plenty of time to have coins counted or bring dogs in for free water or even open a new account.

And despite the growing popularity of digital banking, branches still attract customers. Metro's data show that 55% of its customers go to its stores. Of course, its customers also use mobile banking and online services.

Yet looking at the UK bank industry overall, more than 700 bank branches around the UK were closed in 2017--the largest number of closures ever recorded in one year. Are banks going to carefully tailor branches for each community rather than have one-size-fits-all banking? Or will they shrink the size or number of branches to reduce costs while offering selected in-person services? Let's see what happens in 2018.

This post updates the Metro Bank example in Chapter 11 of Essential Guide to Marketing Planning.

The royal touch in marketing

Now that Prince Harry will marry Meghan Markle in May, royal-related marketing is going strong. Here are just a few examples of goods and services benefiting from the royal marketing connection.

• Engagement and wedding memorabilia were rushed into production as soon as the couple was engaged, in anticipation of high demand from UK and international customers. At left, mugs being produced by Emma Bridgewater.
• The luxe Strathberry handbag Ms. Markle carried at her first official appearance after the engagement was made public sold out within minutes. Her favoured dresses and coats have catapulted firms like Parosh and Joseph into the spotlight and increased sales.
• Paler lipstick is suddenly in vogue, thanks to Ms. Markle's preferences.
• Ms. Markle's stylish spectacle frames were an instant hit when she appeared in public with Prince Harry, giving brand marketer Finlay & Co an unexpected burst of sales.
• Tourism will, of course, get a big boost from the influx of UK visitors around the time of the royal wedding in May. 

Sainsbury's vs Domino's Pizza: Unexpected competition

When you think about competition, think not just about current rivals but also about potential rivals. Sainsbury's, for example, is testing a new pizza takeaway service that aims to add convenience during the busy holiday season. And this is the kind of unexpected competition that Domino's Pizza has to consider when writing a marketing plan and conducting SWOT analysis.

'By giving our customers the chance to pre-order personalised hot pizzas and pay at the counter, we are saving them time and giving them a great value takeaway experience', says a Sainsbury's exec.

To streamline the in-store preparation process, the grocery chain is initially offering only two sizes of pizza, with multiple toppings available, in three branches. Customers order in advance and then pick up in the store, paying at the pizza counter rather than joining the queue to pay. All in line with Sainsbury's strapline, live well for less.

Grocery retailers like Sainsbury's typically offer frozen pizza or ready-to-bake pizza, but it's not usual to sell made-to-order takeaway pizzas. Yet adding takeaway pizza makes sense because so many shoppers like to buy premade meals to eat at home. Will consumers get into the habit of buying pizza where they buy milk, juice and nappies?

Sainsbury's is popular on social media, with 1.6mm Facebook likes, 505k Twitter followers, 96k YouTube followers, 171k Instagram followers, and 39k Pinterest followers. Comments about the pizza trial on these social media sites will help Sainsbury's gauge interest, in addition to tallying sales.