Sports Retail Market

Introduction

Innovative startup companies purpose to come up with new products and services in the market whilst responding to the new technology, in order to take over the older businesses that are slow towards moving with the changing customer demands (Adler and Kwon, 2002). This paper presents a strategic business plan for a new venture and in this regard, the case involves a new company, Techports.com. Inc.

Techsports.com will enter the online retail market as an Internet Sports Entertainment Network, which offers sports programming, alongside clothing and equipment. Owing to the fact that a significant facet of merchandise online selling compels entertainment content, and thus inspires sales, the unique content of the company will purposely showcase new, as well as exciting entertaining, inclusive of its products, events, adventures, as well as services connected with sports programming. Based on the idea that this innovative business idea will offer an attractive experience of shopping, the channel will as well cater to a global-wide audience comprising of like-minded sports enthusiasts, in a bid to building a synergistic world sports entertainment community. It is also worth noting that Techsports.com will significantly create an internet-based brand, in which case, sports, equipment, as well as clothing industries will recognise it as the leader in terms of promotion, sale, as well as marketing of its products in an online retail market. This paper will look into the company mission, internal analysis, external environment, strategic analysis and choice, long-term objectives, functional tactic, policies that empower action, as well as strategic control and continuous improvement. Finally, this paper will present a definitive conclusion that presents the financial highlights of the company for the next one year.

Company mission

Techsports.com will purpose to provide a set of comprehensive valued-added customer services, which will specifically cater for its audience, as well as product sponsors. These include content/programming, personalisation, community, shopping, and buying. The main obligations of the company will be to provide unique shopping, as well as viewing experience to customers, offer unique content, and to provide a highly customised site, which builds a strong community for individuals across the globe. Moreover, it will be culture specific, as it will cater for all the needs of various global cultures, thus reflecting on specific tastes, as well as needs. Overall, it will purpose to build a value position, and leverage its technological investment, in order to create a sustainable and measurable marketing, as well as an e-commerce platform, which ensures measurability, integration, and also personalisation.

Internal analysis

SWOT analysis examines the environment of the company, based on its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, thus allowing it to focus on key issues, which are essential in formulating the business strategy (Andersen, 2004, cited in Hill and Westbrook, 1997).

Strengths

Firstly, Techsports.com will have continuous dealings with various publicists, and executives who will control and also have influence over their respective industries, thus giving it a critical, as well as powerful strategic advantage. Secondly, the company will significantly build a high quality management team that has an experience in technology, and sports. Thirdly, it will be a first mover in terms of technology as it will utilise a significant cutting edge technology in presenting its programming, and also providing a higher personalised service level to its customers. Finally, the company will be able to achieve its brand awareness through combining integrated advertisement, public relations, as well as strategic relationships.

Weaknesses

The company will experience a weakness in the following: first, inadequacy of various interactive services, which can aid in building a significant consumer community such as chat, and message boards. Secondly, it will focus on product sale, as well as provision of content without providing any form of reward experience to its customers.

The new technology enables a “rich” viewing experience for online consumers, thus encouraging more consumers to have the urge of having new shopping experiences. This provides an opportunity for Techsports.com to accrue more sales. Secondly, Techsports.com will have merging partners as e-tailors, and other online-oriented companies are merging, and thus partnering, in order to strengthen their offerings. Finally, the sports industry has been noted to technology-shy and this will provide Techsports.com will an opportunity of making changes within the evolving industry.

It is evident that traditional print magazines are purposing to build internet magazines to enhance interaction with consumers and this poses as a threat to Techsports.com.

Strategic analysis involves examining the external environment in which the company operated (Anderson, 1999). In this regard, a PESTEL analysis would assist in examining this process by examining the political economic, social, technological, legal, and environmental factors as provided below:

Techsports.com will purpose to distribute its products worldwide and as such, it will be required to extend their international supply chains whilst following various political procedures when selling their products online (Barney, 1991). In this regard, it will as well have to use political forces as a significant method for intervening towards counterfeit products. Each country has its taxation system and Techsports.com is required to work in accordance to those rules whilst selling their products. The laws include labour laws, product safety laws, and international trade agreements among others (Lave & Wenger, 1991).

There are many eTailors, selling their products on the internet presently. Most of them focus majorly on selling, as well as fulfilling their product category such as clothing, and discount merchandising (Bourdieu, 1986). Whilst these companies sell enormous products, it is worth noting that a significant piece of their business continually moves towards a focused integrated content, as well as shopping model, whereby the quality of a content takes significant precedence over the product volume that is offered. It is also clear that customers will customise their experience, and once they manage to be comfortable with Techsports.com, they will continually utilise their services.

It is clear that people have much value on online shopping experience. Although, it is evident that Techsports.com will have a challenge in providing a rich customised experience. There is a rapid growth of sports product consumers, and research also indicates that there are about 200million people globally online today and this figure is estimated to exceed 500 million come the next three years (DeTienne et al., 2001).

The industry supports online sales through social media and websites. Presently, technology innovation is popular within various companies and Techsports.com will purposely use various technological advancements to dive into new ventures, thus, developing a competitive edge over its competitors. The company will be a first mover in terms of technology as it will utilise a significant innovative technology in presenting its programming, and also providing a higher personalised service level to its customers (Drucker et al., 2001).

Techsports.com will have an ownership of its intellectual properties, as well as IP systems. It will as well design patents that defend its rights against infringement, as well as copiers. The patients as well serve as the company’s legal protection that would aid in ending counterfeit businesses (Grant, 2015). Owing to the fact that it will be a big company, it will have to have a trademark production. As such, it will have a full compliance with local, as well as national laws.

It is evident that having an online platform for business decreased environmental impact. As such, Techsports.com will be obligated to monitor hazardous substances and purpose to eliminate them. Online retailors follow an ethical business practice, thus ensuring that their supplies and sales follow the required regulations in all countries they operate within (Hall, 1992).

Product presentation, the design, service and marketing offered in the site are the essential elements that Techsports.com will use in establishing an online ambience, which purposes to rival the atmosphere both offline and online. However, having overly aggressive sales, accompanied by campaigns and creation of the brand overnight is not regarded as a key business strategy, which would bring forth the success of the brand (Jones and Hill, 2009). In this regard, Techsports.com should resist the temptation of hawking too loudly; rather, it should opt for a powerful representation of its brand, which would consequently compel purchases, even when there are no promotions.

To successfully execute the company’s business strategies To develop a high quality of content programming, in order to attract and also retain a worldwide audience via the internet To attract, retain, motivate, and also integrate the highest quality management team, personnel, as well as contractors.

The following strategies would assist the company in achieving its goals and thus becoming the top most branded Internet Sports Entertainment Network. First, creation of a compelling value position for customers (Mitleton–Kelly, 2003). Second, building a strong recognition of the brand whilst leveraging the equities of the brand. Third, developing key relationships with various pro-athletes, clothing manufacturers, as well as content syndication partners. Fourth, providing an attractive presentation of the products and content, in order to encourage repeated visits. Fifth, building an elite team, composed on executives, as well as industry professionals to develop the success of the business. Sixth, providing a high rank of personalised service and finally, leveraging its technological investments, for creating measurable marketing, as well as an e-commerce platform which enhances integration, measurability, as well as personalisation with the company sponsors (Morden, 2007).

To secure revenues from the advertisers, as well as sponsors of the company To build a practical, as well as sports-experienced management team that enhances the company’s critical advantage To provide a higher personalised service level

Techspots.com will be made easy-to-use, in which case, the navigation, as well as purchasing experience will be made effortless, and the site will as well present products, content, as well as its programming in a manner that is easy to view and also uncluttered (Pearce and Robinson, 2009; 2017). Moreover, Techsports.com will build a significantly strong community of individuals who have common interests in the programming and content. In this regard, the functional tactic is that there will be direct communication involved between the sponsors, customers, as well as celebrities, thus allowing for easy communication exchange, which in turn fosters consumer loyalty, and also repeated site use (Porter, 1996). Finally, Techsports.com will purposely deploy the latest advanced technologies, in order to enhance interactive browsing, with personalised shopping experience.

There are various policies, which Techsports.com should formulate, in order to empower action, which is significant for the success of the organisation. The first policy is responsible sourcing, as well as purchasing policy (Rastogi, 2002). This policy defines the approach of Techsports.com towards responsible sourcing, as well as purchasing practices. The company will commit itself towards working with its business partners, across the world, in order to ensure that its coursing and also purchasing decisions, in line with other supporting processes are not conflicting with the workplace standards of Techsports.com. Moreover, the policy governing the code of conduct for the employees requires that they should express the company values, in order to understand the ethical standards required, as well as the compliant decision-making, which will be essential at Techsports.com. This will be applicable for all the human resource, as well as the executive board members who will be required to live in accordance with the high expectations, which will be set in the company’s code of conduct (Wang and Ahmed, 2007).

In strategic control and continuous improvement, manager at Techsports.com will ensure that they focus on the internal changes in the company, as they are obligated to ensure that work is done effectively, and also efficiently, in order to make the overall business strategy to be successful (Wenger et al., 2002). They also need to re-cast the company in terms of its structure, leadership, reward systems, as well as culture, to enhance cost-effectiveness, as well as high quality, which is required in its strategies. These are various ways of enhancing control and continuous improvement at Techsports.com and this include allowing decisions to be made whenever there is need, creating policies in a manner that they pre-authorise, and increasing managerial effectiveness by enforcing routine decisions, and also empowering the discretion of managers, as well as subordinates whilst implementing on business strategies. Overall, continuous improvement provide effective ways for managers to enforce strategic control, which allows their business to respond proactively, as well as timely to various rapid developments in areas, which directly influence the success of the business (Wheelen & Hunger, 2012).

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