Marketing, competition and the customer

Question 1

Marketing

Answer 1

Identifying customer wants and satisfying them profitably

Question 2

Customer

Answer 2

A person, business or other organisation which buys goods or services from a business

Question 3

What does the sales team do?

Answer 3

The sales team is responsible for the sales of the product

Question 4

What does the market research section do?

Answer 4

The market research section is responsible for finding out customers’ needs, market changes and the impact of competitors’ actions

Question 5

What does the promotion section do?

Answer 5

The promotion section deals with organising the advertising for products

Question 6

What does distribution team do?

Answer 6

The distribution team transports the products to the market

Question 7

What does the role of marketing undertake?

Answer 7

Identifying customer needs
Satisfying customer needs
Maintain customer loyalty
Gain information about customers
Anticipate changes in customer needs

Question 8

Customer loyalty

Answer 8

When existing customers continually buy products from the same business

Question 9

Customer relationships

Answer 9

Communicating with customers to encourage them to become loyal to the business and its products

Question 10

Market share

Answer 10

The percentage of total market sales held by one brand or business

Question 11

Consumer

Answer 11

Buys goods or services for personal use, not to re-sell

Question 12

Why customer/consumer spending patterns change

Answer 12

Consumer tastes and fashions change
Changes in technology
Change in incomes
Ageing populations

Question 13

Why have some markets become more competitive

Answer 13

Globalisation of markets
Transportation improvements
Internet allows consumers to buy from overseas markets

Question 14

How can businesses respond to changing spending patterns and increased competition?

Answer 14

Maintain good customer relationships
Keep improving its existing product
Bring out new products to keep customers’ interest
Keep costs low to maintain competitiveness

Question 15

Mass market

Answer 15

Where there is a very large number of sales of a product

Question 16

Advantages of selling to a mass market

Answer 16

Total sales in these markets are very high
The business can benefit from economies of scale
Risks can be spread, if one variety of the product fails then the other products may still sell well
Opportunities for growth of the business due to large potential sales

Question 17

Disadvantages of selling to a mass market

Answer 17

High levels of competition between businesses selling similar products
High costs of advertising and promotion
Standardised products or services are produced and so may not meet the specific needs of all customers or potential customers, therefore leading to lost sales

Question 18

Niche market

Answer 18

Small, usually specialised, segment of a much larger market

Question 19

Advantages of being able to identify and supply a niche market

Answer 19

Small businesses may be able to sell successfully in niche markets as larger businesses may not have identified them but concentrated on the mass markets instead. This will reduce competition from the larger businesses in niche markets.

The needs of consumers can be more closely focussed on, and therefore targeted, by businesses in a niche market. This may lead to high levels of consumer loyalty and good customer relations.

Question 20

Disadvantages to operating in a niche market

Answer 20

Niche markets are usually relatively small and therefore have limited sales potential. This means that it is likely only small businesses can operate profitably in these markets. If the business wants to grow, it will need to look outside the niche market to develop products for mass markets.

Often businesses in a niche market will specialise in just one product. This means that if the product is no longer in demand, the business will fail as the business has not spread its risks. Producing several products rather than just one product means that if one fails, there are other products which are still in demand and the business carries on trading.