MAR.255.M003 @ 3:30 Group B7: Chanelle Perez, Angel Munoz, John Lasso, Me Chan, Reece Congel, Trey Augliano, Isaiah Amezquita, & Chris Vigliotti The complete marketing plan will address these key areas: 1. Executive Summary - The strategic objective of this plan is to analyze Sears and reposition the company as a more relevant and appealing choice to this generation's young homeowners by focusing on customer engagement and modern retail practices. 2. Situation Analysis 2.1. Industry Overview and Analysis: Sears was one of the iconic retail giants. However, over time they are facing bankruptcy. Over time people started to prefer shopping online but Sears was not able to adapt to the change which then increased its chances of being gone. Another reason for its downfall is the selling of rights for top companies' products to hold which caused them to be less known by others due to them not having products of companies people know. The owner Edward S. Lampert is trying his best to bring back Sears by changing some things with its system and style. 2.2. Current Market Description i. Products/Service: clothing, bedding, bath, furniture, appliances, electronics, beauty products, footwear, tools, toys, automotive parts, etc. home services (cleaning, maintaining, improvement), appliance repair, etc. ii. Price: Appliance Repairs: $150-$900+, Goods range from $75-$100 on average iii. Distribution: Customers and clients can access the goods and services offered by Sears through its online website (Sears.com) or an in-person retail store, likely placed in malls across the United States. iv. Promotion: Sears promotes its products and services through traditional and digital strategies. The company uses sales events and discounts, loyalty programs such as Shop Your Way, credit/financing options, and online deals to promote. v. Additional considerations: Also to consider is brands that they get the rights and money to distribute in their store locations. vi. Competitive Analysis – Describe the competitive landscape in detail: In the competitor's sections there are multiple companies with similar products from Walmart, Target, Best Buy and Amazon. These companies have products that are better if not the same as Sears but they have one advantage against Sears which is a strong online presence and newer consumers. The field is where Target has a similar cheap pricing as Sears while Best Buy is great for electronics, Walmart is good for a range of products and Amazon has a large online store. All of this brings huge competition in every field Sears is in they have to do better. 2.3. Summary – Key information regarding internal and external issues (you can summarize the key findings from Stage 2, plus any changes / additional issues that you identify after completing Stage 2). Some internal issues are their lack of marketing towards the younger generation and expanding it. Another internal issue is their lack of adapting, lack of managing inventory evenly in all stores, and lastly, lack of leadership when changing constantly creating an imbalance. External issues are an Increase in competition that is able to change the game to better things, and online forms of shopping that appeal to younger audiences. VI. 3. Marketing Objectives – What quantifiable results will your plan achieve? We are looking for results in our plan to increase the traffic of the younger generation to buy things from Sears that they will want for their homes. 3.1. Key Issues - What are the problems/challenges/barriers ahead for the organization? One problem Sears will be facing is competition from other companies like Amazon, Target, and Walmart. Another challenge is adapting to going online and having an e-commerce store. Another problem is that Sears doesn't have an identity in the marketplace. 4. Marketing Strategy – What are your marketing recommendations? Our marketing strategy recommendations would be to try and focus our advertisements on younger homeowners. This can be accomplished by having a supply of modern home appliances and more. In addition, I feel like Sears should try and collaborate with different brands so that it can get its name out there and show people they are making an effort to reach out to other communities. 4.1. Target Market(s) and Positioning - Geographic, demographic, & psychographic characteristics. Some (or all) of the following questions may help you to focus on the key issues: For geographic, demographic, and psychographic characteristics Sears should focus on urban and suburban places that are owned by younger homeowners. In addition, we believe that the income level they should be focused on should be middle-income households. If they can maintain this demographic of people then they can make a bigger name for themselves. For the psychographic features, they should be worried about people who are intrigued with modern designs and things that can be sustainable. - How do consumers buy: what is the extent of the product information search and the criteria used for the search, who makes/influences decisions, what is the degree of brand loyalty, where the decision is made, and what are the level and type of risk? Consumers are able to buy by shopping online or through stores. They can get all of their information by reading reviews or looking at product ratings. Furthermore, they can gather information based on what social media influencers say about the products. I don't think that the risk level is significantly high I think it’s at a medium because the consumer would be expecting what they paid for. - Can the market be meaningfully segmented by demographics or psychographics? Yes, the market can be segmented because young homeowners seem to like modern and affordable products. This means segmenting both characteristics would be good from a marketing standpoint - What is the size of the market, and trends in sales? The trends are starting to become that young homeowners are now shopping more online so having a good e-commerce is a must. In addition, the home appliance market is estimated to be 55 billion dollars. - How is the industry structured? What are the number and concentration (relative shares) of competitors, and their strengths/weaknesses? This industry has many stong competitors such as Amazon, Target, and Home Depot. Amazon has its biggest strength in e-commerce. While its weakness is anything in person. On the other hand, Home Depot has a lot of services that help any type of homeowner with their home. 4.2. The Marketing Mix proposed: - Product: product feature and function, product positioning. Sears will offer high-quality durable home appliances that are modernized. They will position the products as affordable and stable. - Pricing: pricing strategy and the base of pricing policy. They will price their products at lower prices than their competitors so they can build up more customers then fluctuate the prices after gaining their customers. We can use odd-even pricing to create a psychological perception of a better deal for the customers/ - Place: channels of distribution used. Sears would definitely need a strong e-commerce since they are targeting a younger audience but an in-store experience is also needed so Sears can branch out to other demographics. - Promotion: promotional tools used and promotion expenditure (if available). We would use programs for loyal customers and have many social media campaigns to reach the demographic that we want. 5. Implementation of the Marketing Strategy 5.1. Campaigns/Programs – What overall programs are going to make this happen? - Transitioning into e-commerce by making Sears's online presence bigger and more modern to appeal to the younger generation and including interactive features that can make the shopping experience more convenient for customers. - Targeted marketing campaign Sears could switch to a digital marketing campaign in order to engage with Gen Z customers this could be done by using social media advertisements, partnering with trendy influencers, and maybe including more eco-friendly products. - Engagement with the community Sears could host more in-store events which can include product demonstrations and workshops that can help to build brand awareness, foster a community, and ultimately help to stimulate brand loyalty. 5.2. Actions/Tactics – What specific action-oriented tasks will support those programs? - Tasks that will support the E-commerce program is that Sears could redesign their website or revamp their application to appear more modern and include more advanced features such as introducing the use of AR technology so that customers can view what the products look like in real life without having to visit the actual store which can enhance the level of decision making. - Tasks that could support the targeted marketing campaign is that Sears could collaborate with influencers in home improvement, DIY, and lifestyle niches to promote Sears products on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube which can help them to reach a younger target audience. Run a social media ad campaign focused on affordability, convenience, and sustainability to highlight what makes their brand stand out in order to increase their brand awareness. Sears could also leverage email marketing to provide personalized recommendations, exclusive discounts, and reminders for upcoming sales events. - Tasks that could support the engagement with the community program are that Sears could Organize monthly workshops on home improvement projects, that feature the products that Sears sells in order to boost the sales on those products as well as give tutorials for customers on the different functions that the products can do. Sears could also host a promotional day for loyal customers that includes discounts, giveaways, and other loyalty program incentives as this can stimulate people’s urge to want to be a part of this program and enhance customer loyalty. Sears could also collaborate with local businesses within each Sears to perhaps co-host events to appeal to a different set of consumers and increase brand awareness. 5.3. Milestones – When do these start, when do they end, and how much will they cost? - Sears transitioning into E-commerce should start early at the beginning of the year in January so that this can ensure that customers have a platform that they can access for the whole year. Revamping websites, and applications and introducing AR would take some time so it could go on for around 6 months into June. This process could take up to $70,000 as AR would be an investment and Sears may have to hire people to revamp their online presence. - Sears' targeted marketing campaign can start around June after Sears has already transitioned into a more modern online presence as this will enhance Sears' targeted marketing campaign. Sears influencer collaborations should last for around 1-2 months and social media advertisements and personal email marketing should be an ongoing process. These tasks may not be as expensive as social media advertisements and email marketing does not require much financing however an influencer collaboration could have a big price range depending on how famous or the terms and conditions settled with the influencer. - Sears’ community engagement program can start as early as the beginning of the year for both the workshops and promotional days and should become an ongoing process that can be done monthly for the workshops and depending on the feedback of the customers for the promotional days Sears should adjust how regular they should host promotional days. The costs of these tasks can range around $100- $200 for Sears. 6. Financials 6.1. Sales Forecast – How much will we sell? (First year by month, year 2 and 3 annually.) - In recent years, Sears has been slowly declining in sales within their industry, as they have failed to go up against bigger competitors such as Target, Amazon, and Walmart. With our new marketing strategy, our sales forecast is projected to increase very slightly, as it will take some time for consumers to be introduced to Sears as a major competitor. Sears made 83.7 million in sales in 2024, from both their physical stores and their e-commerce website. Currently, the Sales that are being projected for Sears for January 2025 would be around 4.8 million dollars in sales, with the next years increasing slowly but steadily, with year 2 having around 85.8 million dollars in sales, and year 3 having around 89.1 million dollars in sales, as more customers shop with Sears. The small increase in sales is due to the low retention, low number of stores, and the lack of recognition that Sears has nowadays. 6.2. Expense Forecast – What is this all going to cost? - To push the Marketing Strategy that we have come up with, the expenses would be transitioning towards the E-Commerce side of the industry in hopes of competing with big retail Giants. For one, one expense would be $70,000 to introduce augmented reality to Sears, yet this expense can easily rise to the millions as this would be a heavy investment for all Sears locations and online purchases. We would also have to invest heavily in technology as that would be our main way of attracting younger generations, which is a hefty investment for Sears to make at this time. Simply put, the investment and capital needed to go ahead with this Marketing Strategy of bringing in younger generations and medium-income households would be around 5,000,000 dollars. 6.3. Breakeven Analysis – How much do you have to sell to cover the costs you will incur? - We would have to sell many units and products to break even by opening new stores in market-segmented areas such as younger generations and similar groups. In recent years, Sears has only been able to generate around 4-5 billion in revenue, since Sears continues to downsize and lose retention in consumers. Keeping in mind all the expenses that we would incur to move forward with our Marketing Strategy, the expected break-even point in Sales would be around 12,500,000 to 16,670,000 dollars in sales to break even given the small revenue and the large expenses that Sears incurs within a given year. 7. Controls & Contingency Plans—How will performance toward the stated objectives be measured? What are potential options if things do not go as anticipated? Controls: To measure performance, we will monitor website traffic and interaction metrics, such as page views and the number of people using AR features. We'll also track social media indicators (likes, shares, comments, and follower count) and online sales revenue. This data will be compared to previous years to provide insight into the campaigns' success. The effectiveness of marketing strategies, such as influencer collaborations and targeted social media ads, will be analyzed. Insight can be gained from email open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates. Online reviews and post-purchase surveys will be used to gauge customer happiness and loyalty. Contingency Plans: - If website traffic or AR adoption is not up to par, we will invest in revamping the website for improved usability and launching social media campaigns to show the advantages of AR in retail. SEO efforts will also be increased. If social media interaction is poor, we will switch to more interactive content initiatives like live Q&A sessions, contests, and partnerships with micro-influencers. To better connect with younger audiences, we must improve our messaging. If the sales growth exceeds expectations, we will implement more aggressive discounts and promotions. Products that don’t perform well will be reevaluated and moved to categories with greater demand. If the ROI falls short of expectations, marketing campaigns and augmented reality investments will be postponed. Additionally to optimize outcomes with limited resources, we will focus on low-cost, high-impact tactics like email marketing and social media engagement. These adjustments will also be guided by market trends and customer surveys to ensure we align with changing customer preferences. -To mitigate risks, AR features will be introduced gradually, backed by online tutorials to help users. This will guarantee that new technologies are implemented more effortlessly. To keep a competitive edge amid cheaper costs from competitors, Sears will highlight its advantages in customer service, loyalty plans, and unique product partnerships. Focus groups will be held to improve product offers and marketing tactics if younger customers do not show interest. 8. Reference and/or Appendix You also must include as your last page a list of sources or "Bibliography" which lists any references that you used in developing your Marketing Plan. This part does not have a page limit, but you should list only those materials which are relevant to your work. Bibliography https://pitchgrade.com/companies/sears-holdings https://www.sears.com/?sid=ISxHA0xSOxGGxRIx2020&trco_id=58700008816886793&ds_eid=700000 002115111&ds_agid=58700008816886793&ds_kids=p81153353667&utm_source=google&utm_medium =cpc&utm_campaign=Sears_Search_US_N_Core_N_Branded_Exact_Google_N&gad_source=1&gclid= CjwKCAiA0rW6BhAcEiwAQH28IolZfvk-sdk82cTjazry6BxCDWy_xi9kOgfDWJkIJnRIZISK4TWIzho CNK0QAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds Retail Is Courting Gen Z, Which Has a Spending Power of $143 Billion - Business Insider Sears Could've Been Amazon. Here's How It Blew Its Chances How Sears failed in the e‑commerce era even as it innovated online. Sears sells Craftsman to Stanley Black & Decker. Sears timeline: Rise, fall and restructuring of a Chicago icon over 130 years – The Morning Call
