ABSTRACT

As we are re-positioning Yayvo.com, the purpose is to gain insights about the attitudes, preferences, decision-making, and life styles of the consumers by studying online behaviors of shoppers in Pakistan Through a frame work. The population considered for this study comprise of the educated urban consumers who belong to upper and upper-middle socio-economic classes. Within online shopping, there are two major popular categories, namely “Electronics” and “Clothing”. As per our analysis, the experience expected by both the categories is different. For purchasing a product offline, overall shopping experience is given more weightage by the consumer as opposed to convenience. But when it comes to online shopping convenience becomes more important part of consumer’s purchase journey compared to overall experience.

 Keywords: online, electronics, clothing, E-Retail, E-Commerce, Digital Analytics, Marketing research.

 

Table of Contents

Industry Overview

Company Overview …………………………………………………………………………….

Target Market, Objectives ………………………………………………………………………

Consumer Perspective ………………………………………………………………………….

Overall Marketing Strategy …………………………………………………………………….

Positioning Statements …………………………………………………………………………

Marketing Mix Strategy for Each Market Target ………………………………………………

Coordination with Other Business Functions ………………………………………………….

Sales Forecasts and Budgets …………………………………………………………………..

Contingency Plans ……………………………………………………………………………

1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

• Pakistan is facing a lot of boom/rise in the ecommerce industry, the rise of this is due to the increase in internet penetration since the population is based on large portion of younger population estimated at 70% this have made massive rise in online shopping trends and other ecommerce business.
• The booming trend of ecommerce business have also changed the buying behavior of the people as now more and more people are inclined towards convenient shopping.
• As Pakistan is considered as a late entrant in the ecommerce business, the industry experts believe e-commerce in Pakistan is still in its infancy – it is barely 0.2% of the overall retail market of Pakistan
• As the e-commerce industry of Pakistan is still in its growth stage numerous challenges to be seen and occur. There are some that can be highlighted and marked:

1. UNBANKED POPULACE
2. UNMAPPED AREAS
3. FULFILLMENT FAILURES

• Key ingredients for success in the e-retail industry are:

(1) VENDORS

(2) LOGISTICS

(3) PAYMENTS

(4) TECHNOLOGY

(5) TRUST

• The major event in the technology is experienced by the e-commerce industry the 3G internet feature in smartphones have escalated the numbers of revenue in the online market place.
• Yayvo.com is changing the way marketing is done here in Pakistan, they are making data and marketing research as a start pointing of every marketing initiative.
• Consumer concentric design is their end goal in everything they do.
• Currently Yayvo.com has positioned itself as an e-retailer which has something for everyone.
• We will reposition Yayvo.com into e-retailer which could pop in the minds of the customer whenever they will think about buying books online, Just like Amazon.
• Yayvo.com’s competitive advantage over other e-commerce players is that no other local e-commerce player has its own widely spread logistics and distribution network for handling shipment deliveries for them.
• If unexpected events occur than that of those assumed in the plan, then our contingency plan will be to first assess how unexpected those changes are compared to our assumptions in the plan and then do minor tweaking to the assumed plan to achieve the desired objectives.

2. INDUSTRY OVERVIEW

 

CURRENT SITUATION

Pakistan is facing a lot of boom/rise in the ecommerce industry, the rise of this is due to the increase in internet penetration since the population is based on large portion of younger population estimated at 70% this have made massive rise in online shopping trends and other ecommerce business. The booming trend of ecommerce business have also changed the buying behavior of the people as now more and more people are inclined towards convenient shopping. This have also created opportunity/ platform for many entrepreneurs to startup/pursue an online buying and selling on the internet. Ecommerce have eliminated the gap between the buyer and the seller and have bought them at same place that is the ecommerce portal. The business model for an ecommerce is classified as B2C, C2C, and B2B. There are many social platforms that are following different types of business models.

OVERALL INDUSTRY VALUE ESTIMATED

As Pakistan is considered as a late entrant in the ecommerce business, the industry experts believe e-commerce in Pakistan is still in its infancy – it is barely 0.2% of the overall market. However, with the rise in the internet penetration and smart phone users this percentage is likely to improve in near future. Currently the overall market share of Pakistan retail business stands $40 million out of which e-commerce is valued $8 million.

MAJOR PLAYERS IN THE MARKET

The ecommerce business is categorized into different tiers which are as follows:

TIER 1 (MULTI- RETAILER AND MULTI CATEGORY)

Table 1-1

Name	Daily orders on (Avg)	Daily Revenue on (Avg)	Monthly Revenue on (Avg)	Yearly Revenue on (Avg)	Market share
Daraz	1500	Rs. 0.4 Mn	Rs. 1.3 Bn	Rs. 15 Bn	37.5%
Kaymu	2500	Rs. 0.13 Mn	Rs 0.41 Mn	Rs 50.1 Mn	12.5%
Yayvo	1000	Rs  0.1 Mn	Rs 0.23 Mn	Rs 27.6 Mn	7%

TIER 2 (FOLLOWERS)

Table 1-2

Name	Daily Revenue on (Avg)	Monthly Revenue on (Avg)	Yearly Revenue on (Avg)	Market share
Well.pk	Rs 17.2 K	Rs 0.5 Mn	Rs 6 Mn	0.015%
GoTo	Rs 21.4 K	Rs 0.64 Mn	Rs 7.7 Mn	0.014%

TIER 3 (NICHE CATEGORY)

Facebook Stores/Group: Companies falling under this tier comprise of another considerably large segment with huge sales volume, examples of companies like Sheops taking top spot.

BRAND STORES: Includes e-retailer’s such as Khaadi, Ego and Gul Ahmed

FOOD/TAKEAWAY MODEL:

Table 1-3

Name	Daily Revenue on (Avg)	Monthly Revenue on (Avg)	Yearly Revenue on (Avg)	Market share
FoodPanda	Rs 21 K	Rs 0.64 Mn	Rs 7.75 Mn	0.019%
EatOye	Rs 15.9 K	Rs 0.477 Mn	Rs 5.72 Mn	0.136%

TRAVEL, TICKETING & HOLIDAY: Jovago sell hotel bookings and even PIA, Shaheen & AirBlue.

RIDE SHARING: This tier includes companies like Uber and Careem along with otrhers sites like Travly (giving local competition).

CLASSIFIED:

Table 1-4

Name	Daily Revenue on (Avg)	Monthly Revenue on (Avg)	Yearly Revenue on (Avg)	Market share
Pakwheels	Rs 0.41 Mn	Rs 12.5 Mn	Rs 0.15 Bn	0.4%
Zameen	Rs 0.15 Mn	Rs 4 Mn	Rs 54 Mn	0.136%
Rozee	Rs 0.47 Mn	Rs 14.3 Mn	Rs 0.177 Bn	0.429%
OLX	Rs 0.35 Mn	Rs 10.5 Mn	Rs 1 Bn	3.15%

INDSUTRY TRENDS

Previously people used to shop by visiting malls, shops or retailers as the shopping medium was constraint and no other shopping facilities were available. This costs time and money both and ease/ convenience for shopping was not present. People use to wait in long queue and have to wait for their turn to come and there were no such offers or promotions given to the customers on visiting the stores/malls.

Since the world have digitalized and the power of internet have made the world a global village many new and convenient shopping options have emerged. Particularly in Pakistan the emergence of ecommerce business have benefited people in a way it has introduced more flexible and easy shopping options, with tine and money saving. People nowadays can buy and sell a product while sitting in home, offices or elsewhere. This have also shortened the purchase process of  people as now people visit online, select a product, pay through credit card and check out and the product is available on their doorstep. Another benefit that have caused by the online shopping is the promotional offers and deals and have given a choice to consumer to select from several product category or range. Which have made the buyers response instant and quick.

It is just the beginning of the ecommerce in Pakistan since 70% of population of Pakistan is considered as youth the future for this industry is quite bright and with the increase in the smart phone and internet penetration, the ecommerce platform have and will take the Pakistan economy by the storm.

KEY CHALLENGES

As the e-commerce industry of Pakistan is still in its growth stage numerous challenges to be seen and occur. There are some that can be highlighted and marked.

1. UNBANKED POPULACE

The first challenge is Pakistan is still in the phase of economic development due to which majority of its population is unbanked. The people without a bank account cannot enjoy the online payment methods that are offered by the online retail stores.

2. UNMAPPED AREAS

The second most important challenge is the rural areas of the country that comes outside the metropolitan cities. As people living in places where there is difficult to track or locate the address its make difficulties for the logistics companies to reach the unmapped destinations. Customers tends to get frustrated and cancels there orders.

3. FULFILLMENT FAILURES

Failed deliveries due to cancellation of orders from the customers point or refuse to accept the orders. Online stores in Pakistan is still facing problems in making the product available 100% and online delivery time specified by the company. The customer representatives sometimes provides false stock information which tends to hurt the business as its decreases the repurchase rate and damages the overall company reputation.

KEY INGREDIENTS FOR SUCCESS

The objective of an online business is just to make the product available in the hands of the consumer as quickly as possible and to provide the customer with convenient and ease for shopping, to do so the company must be able to offer the great customer service and seamless experience by means of:

• VENDORS:

Vendors are crucial to marketplaces in particular as they make timely availability of the product.

• LOGISTICS:

Another essential element of e-commerce as the logistics delivers the right product, to the right person at right place.

• PAYMENTS:

Either through cash or credit the payment process system for the customer must be smooth and quick.

• TECHNOLOGY:

The backbone of the ecommerce site, technology is the most core element for the e-commerce business weather it’s about the inventory management, product delivery, tracking customer location etc. the company must be having the right technology for it to succeed in the competitive market arena.

• TRUST:

While managing the mentioned elements above the company will be in a position to deliver smooth and seamless customer experience this will however, tend to increase the repeat purchases and the conversion rates. The relationship hence will be build.

MAJOR EVENT

The major event in the technology is experienced by the e-commerce industry the 3G internet feature in smartphones have escalated the numbers of revenue in the online market place as people now orders “on the go” with just few clicks people are instantly placing orders which have generated and accelerated the business of online retail. Now the improvement is around the corner with the 4G/LTE which is an improved and much quicker smartphone internet feature. Thus, this can be expected that the 4G/LTE can be the turning point in terms of growth of an online business.

3. COMPANY OVERVIEW

• Company History and Background

Yayvo.com is a part of TCS E-COM (Pvt.) Ltd. offering an exciting online shopping experience, backed by TCS with a promise of reliability and speed

E-COM is an independent company of TCS (Private) Limited, with businesses such as Yayvo.com and Sentiments Express offering excellent customer experiences for online shoppers, as well as walk-in customers at the TCS Express Centers. E-COM brings together a team of dedicated professionals in the fields of digital and online media, content management, marketing, B2C and B2B business.

The portal was re-branded as Yayvo.com in September 2015, previously it was known as TCS Connect. TCS Connect was an online shopping portal owned by TCS Pvt Ltd. The e-commerce portal was launched in early 2012 and was among the early businesses to step into the emerging online stores in Pakistan.

• Management Philosophy

To continually strive to achieve excellence – both on and off the job.

• Vision, Mission and Values

Vision:

Delivering Beyond Customer Expectations.

Mission:

To direct all our organizational efforts at building upon the existing organizational strengths and brand recognition to achieve enhanced levels of profitable growth in the core business, and diversify into new areas that complement and supplement the core business, with the diversification aimed at achieving excellence and industry leader status in the new areas. The TCS People will however be encouraged to be open to unconventional ideas and services and recognize new trends at very early stages”.

Values

At TCS E-COM, they call the values “E-Commandments”. The E-Commandments are as follows:

1. Shock & Awe (Marketing Strategy)
2. Passionately Pagal People (Hiring Strategy)
3. We are nerds, Data is our passion & we ask, we seek, we learn, we do (Research Strategy)
4. Daydreaming fun loving folks with a no pain, no gain ethic (Culture)
5. We love what we do, & we don’t consider it work (Work hour)
6. Ticking time bomb (Delivery Strategy)
7. Yay bhi Vo bhi (Scope of Work)
8. Unbelievable & Never seen before (Service Strategy)
9. Stupidly Simple (Web Design)
10. Intelligent, Miserly & Profitability Drive

• Company Performance for last 3 -5 years Volume, Value Sales

 

We can’t calculate volume and value sales for last 3-5 years because the company itself is not even 2 years old (was launched in September 2015).

They didn’t give us the exact numbers when we went there for the interview but they said they can give us ball park figures which are as follows:

Monthly orders: 10,000

Monetary value of these order: around Rs. 2 Million

If we take the number of orders for one month and multiply it by 12 months, we get: 10,000 x 12= 120,000 yearly orders

And if take the value of per month order and multiply it by 12 months, we get: 2 Million x 12= 24 Million

• Product Wise Sales Value and Volume Data

 

They simply said “NO” to disclosing any sort of numbers for their product wise sales (value and volume) but they told us about their top product categories:

1. Fashion (clothes)
2. Electronics (Mobile Phone & Laptops)
3. Beauty & Grooming

• Key Challenges faced by the Organization

 

In an industry that’s still growing, there are always going to be numerous challenges. They said that some of these challenges are easy to identify while others are still harder to hone in on. The major issues that Yayvo.com is plagued with are as follows:

An Unbanked Populace

Pakistan is a country where unbanked population is something which is a major part of the total population. Then there are consumers who own a bank account but they cannot even use their debit/credit cards online. Why? Because by default these cards have a restriction from their banks from being used for online shopping.

Unmapped Areas

Another challenge is posed by the lack of identifiable locations. Customers living outside of the major cities of the country, at many times, fail to have specific addresses that identify the actual place of delivery. This can make life extremely difficult for logistic companies and many orders experience long delays due to this issue. Customers get understandably annoyed and many choose to abandon their orders.

Fulfillment Failures

The biggest challenge facing our industry is that of fulfillment failures. Failed deliveries occur as a result of customer cancellations and even refusals to accept order by customer at their own doorsteps.

• Strengths and Weaknesses of the Organization

Strengths:

• Backing of TCS courier’s nationwide delivery network penetration, which gives yayvo.com the advantage of fast and reliable shipment delivery over other e-retailers operation in Pakistan.
• Years of experience of warehouse management which comes handy in product fulfillment (product delivery)
• Years of customer trust in TCS courier’s services compliments Yayvo.com, as Yayvo.com is owned by TCS itself.
• a brick-and-mortar presence with over the 800 express centres provide reassurance that if customers need help or want to return an item, they can head to one of these centres, a facility neither Daraz nor any other competitor offers.

Weaknesses:

• User experience of the website is below par compared to other e-retailer’s websites.
• Low number of vendors compared to other e-retailers
• Relatively less experienced in terms of e-commerce Technology management compared to other E-retailers

• Competitor Analysis – SWOT for each competition

Key Competitors:

1. Daraz.pk
2. Kaymu.pk
3. Homeshopping.pk
4. Cheezemall.com

1. Daraz.pk

Strengths:

• As daraz.pk is a venture of Rocket Internet, which is a German Internet company headquartered in Berlin. The company builds online startups and owns shareholdings in various models of internet retail businesses. So, given the fact that daraz’s roots can be tracked back to a German company which has extensive experience with e-commerce management technology world over, it can be concluded that daraz.pk has better e-commerce technology and experience compared to other players.
• Greater number of vendors. Compared to other players
• Strategic partnerships with payment gateway providers in Pakistan.
• One of the pioneers of e-retail industry in Pakistan.

Weaknesses:

• Relatively less experienced in shipment delivery logistics.

Opportunities:

• Can build-up momentum by letting its own logistics company “AIG Express” partner with some 3PL provider, this will streamline their logistical operations and will end any competitive advantage Yayvo.com has over Daraz.pk
• Can have a brick n motor presence which will only compliment their online presence e.g. Best Buy in United States.

Threats:

• As e-commerce and e-retail is in a very nascent stage in Pakistan, threat of new entrants will always be there.
• Threat of an e-retail giant like Ali Express and Amazon, coming to Pakistan and cashing in on the growth of this already mushrooming industry.

2. Kaymu.pk

As Kaymu.pk is also a venture of Rocket Internet just like Daraz.pk, So the SWOT of Kaymu.pk is the same.

Strengths:

• As Kaymu.pk is a venture of Rocket Internet, which is a German Internet company headquartered in Berlin. The company builds online startups and owns shareholdings in various models of internet retail businesses. So, given the fact that Kaymu’s roots can be tracked back to a German company which has extensive experience with e-commerce management technology world over, it can be concluded that kaymu.pk has better e-commerce technology and experience compared to other players.
• Greater number of vendors. Compared to other players
• Strategic partnerships with payment gateway providers in Pakistan.
• One of the pioneers of e-retail industry in Pakistan.

Weaknesses:

• Relatively less experienced in shipment delivery logistics.

Opportunities:

• Can build-up momentum by letting its own logistics company “AIG Express” partner with some 3PL provider, this will streamline their logistical operations and will end any competitive advantage Yayvo.com has over Kaymu.pk
• Can have a brick n motor presence which will only compliment their online presence e.g. Best Buy in United States.

Threats:

• As e-commerce and e-retail is in a very nascent stage in Pakistan, threat of new entrants will always be there.
• Threat of an e-retail giant like Ali Express and Amazon, coming to Pakistan and cashing in on the growth of this already mushrooming industry.

3. Homeshopping.pk

Strengths:

• One of the pioneers of e-retail industry in Pakistan.
• Their competitive pricing strategy is their biggest advantage.
• Brick-and-motor presence of homeshopping in KLI (Karachi, Lahore, and Islamabad) just like best buy in United States.

Weaknesses:

• Relatively less experienced in shipment delivery logistics.
• Low number of vendors compared to other e-retailers (only offering products in the electronics category)
• Relatively less experienced in terms of e-commerce Technology management compared to other E-retailers

Opportunities:

• Can build-up momentum by partnering with some 4PL provider, this will streamline their logistical operations.
• Can bring vendors from other product categories on board.

Threats:

• As e-commerce and e-retail is in a very nascent stage in Pakistan, threat of new entrants will always be there.
• Threat of an e-retail giant like Ali Express and Amazon, coming to Pakistan and cashing in on the growth of this already mushrooming industry.
• Since homeshopping isn’t expanding its product choices from different product categories, this can shrink its market share.

4. Cheezemall.com

 

Strengths:

• Better web user experience compared to other players.
• It is also offering international and Chinese products along with local products.
• Its roots can be tracked back to AliBaba

Weaknesses:

• Relatively less experienced with Pakistani Market dynamics
• Relatively less experienced in shipment delivery logistics.
• Number of local vendors compared to other e-retailers are less.

Opportunities:

• Can really benefit by gaining more knowledge about Pakistani Market dynamics
• Can partner with a 4PL provider for streaming lining their logistics
• Increasing the number of local vendors can give them edge over other e-retailers, as other players don’t have many international and Chinese vendors on board.

Threats:

• Threat of an e-retail giant like Ali Express and Amazon, coming to Pakistan and cashing in on the growth of this already mushrooming industry.
• As e-commerce and e-retail is in a very nascent stage in Pakistan, threat of new entrants will always be there.

4. TARGET MARKET, OBJECTIVES

Yayvo.com hasn’t narrowed its target market on the bases of age, their ultimate goal is that people from all age group could come to their website and shop from there but given the lack of technological awareness and technological adaptability of the older generation (above 40 years of age), who are also known as digital immigrants, they are not yayvo’s primary target market. Yayvo’s primary focus is towards digital natives (from 14 to 40 years of age), because of their tech savviness and their ability to adapt technology. Yayvo has further segmented this target market into smaller chunks on the bases of user’s purchase behavior. This segmentation of target market created five consumer person’s for them which are as follows:

• Product Focused
• Browsers
• Researchers
• Bargain Hunters
• One-Time Shoppers

• Product Focused

This type of consumer comes to the website with his or her mind already made up about which product they want to buy, they know what product they are looking for and if they are not going to find that particular product or the price is a bit high, they will leave your website immediately.

So in order to cater to the needs of this segment the objectives are:

1. Product

You need to know what type of products this segment is constantly on the lookout for and make sure they are also available on your website.

2. Price

The price of the products should not be high compared to competitors.

3. Place/Distribution

Smooth & flawless website experience, and fast and reliable shipment delivery

4. Promotion

Need to do product remarketing for this segment. (Remarketing is a clever way to connect with visitors to your website who may not have made an immediate purchase or enquiry. It allows you to position targeted ads in front of a defined audience that had previously visited your website – as they browse elsewhere around the internet)

• Browsers

This type of consumer comes to the website for window shopping.

So in order to cater to the needs of this segment the objectives are:

1. Product

Give them as many products choices as you can because these types of window shoppers are also known to be impulse buyers

2. Price

Offer products at a competitive price

3. Place/Distribution

Smooth & flawless website experience, and fast and reliable shipment delivery

4. Promotion
   • Need to do remarketing for this segment
   • Make sure that this all the other digital marketing communications goes out to this segment e.g. updates about flash sales or updates about black Friday sales

• Researchers

This type of segment comes to the website to do a thorough research on the product they are looking for.

So in order to cater to the needs of this segment the objectives are:

1. Product

Product reviews and related information should be there on your website for these types of customers

2. Price

Competitive prices of the product.

3. Place/Distribution
   • Smooth & flawless website experience, and fast and reliable shipment delivery.
   • Product information should be easily accessible and the consumer should be able to search for the products without any hassle.

4. Promotion.
   • Need to provide great customer services in order to help customers with their product research.
   • Need to do remarketing for this segment.

• Bargain Hunters

These are the types of customers who are always on the lookout for some sort of bargain or sale. They would only buy things from your website, only if they will feel that they are saving considerable amount of money on buying it from you.

So in order to cater to the needs of this segment the objectives are:

1. Product

Make sure that there is always some sort of sale going on your website to make these type of consumers buy from you.

2. Price

Discounted pricing

3. Place/Distribution

Smooth & flawless website experience, and fast and reliable shipment delivery.

4. Promotion
   • Use remarketing on these types of customers only when you have a major sale coming up and remarket ads to this segment not with product ads but with sale ads in order to lure them to the website.
   • Promote extensively through all the digital marketing channels in order to lure as many of these type of customers.

• One-Time Shoppers

This type of shoppers are actually not so enthusiastic about online shopping but they still come to your website when they can’t find products elsewhere and they order from you if your website has what they can’t find elsewhere.

So in order to cater to the needs of this segment the objectives are:

1. Product

Product choice and product availability is a must for catering to the needs of this segment, and if you are able to leave a good experience on these type of customer then there is a very high probability of them turning into your frequent buyer and loyal customers.

2. Price

Competitive pricing

3. Place/Distribution,

Smooth & flawless website experience, and fast and reliable shipment delivery.

4. Promotion:
   • Need to give them constant reminders about your e-commerce platform through weekly or monthly e-mail shots (newsletters)
   • Need to get them to read customer reviews, via blogs and influencers.

Industry Opportunities and Threats –

Opportunities:

• E-commerce players need to partner with Telenor Bank (which is micro finance bank) and ask them to leverage easy paisa feature and allocate bank accounts on the basis of mobile numbers, so that an unbanked populace of this industry can do online shopping with the help of their Telenor bank accounts.

• E-commerce industry as whole needs to work with Google and leverage their google map tool to map these unmapped areas of Pakistan and then leverage google maps into the product check out process where you have to provide your  shipping address, this way e-commerce company can ask the user to pinpoint their current location with the help of google maps. This will the job easier for logistics companies and will result in less annoyed customers.

Threats:

• This industry is in its nascent stage and it’s highly likely that as it will grow govt. will come up with different policies and rules, without even understanding the ecosystem of Pakistan’s e-commerce industry and will result in the industry’s overall decline in growth. For example what Sindh govt. did with uber and careem by asking them to get registered and pay tax.

5. CONSUMER PERSPECTIVE

Since yayvo.com is an online e-retail portal of TCS. The perception that builds in the consumer’s mind of best service provider which can deliver right product, at right time, at right door step. The main advantage that yayvo.com has is the in-house distributor which can make the product available and delivered in the shortest time possible.

Brand awareness Vs convenience

After the Detail analysis consumers responses we come up the insights of consumer’s perception in the context of brand awareness VS convenience. If we put a glance to above perceptual mapping chart we can clearly identify that daraz.com has worked smart on their brand awareness, consumer also perceives daraz.com as most convenient brand. While rest of the brands kaymu.pk, yayvo.com, homeshooping.pk and cheezmall.com are least convenient and least aware in the eyes of consumers. One player daraz.com has capture market more effectively in this context.

Product choices offered VS customer service

One of the reasons of consumer’s attraction for online platforms is various product range they offer, from grocery to home appliance everything is officering under one roof and since e-commerce platforms are only virtual platforms no consumers have physical access to it so customers services mean a lot for this nature of business . So the second dimension we concluded for customer’s perceptual mapping is product choices offered VS customer’s services. After in-depth analysis we come up with the insights that over the whole online market only daraz.com is above the par value with the combination of customer services and product choices offered. Rest of the online platforms are still below the par value and don’t perceives as a good customer services and product choices in the mind of consumers.

Comfortable browsing experience VS reliable delivery services

The world is moving towards online shopping, Pakistan online market seems to be in growth from last couple of years. There are multiple of variables due to which consumers are showing their interest in online platforms, one of the reasons is easy access to product information and reach to desire products. To fulfill this experience effectively browsing experience is very important and so far reliable delivery also plays an important role to make consumers satisfy. If it take long to deliver the product, creates a negative perception in consumers mind so we had put any analysis based on consumers perceptual mapping, comfortable browsing experience VS reliable delivery services. It is clearly defined in above chart daraz.com once again perceives as good browsing experience but reliable delivery is the point where consumer seems to be not satisfied form all of the online platforms . Because value chain of online platforms are uncontrolled or we can say not effectively controlled. E-commerce retail business are depended of various vendors if some of the vendors do not perform sincerely ultimately it reflect the brand’s name.

Pricing VS reliable delivery services

It is a price game which creates consumers interest in online shopping, physical retail industry have comparatively high prices because they have to bear a fixed cost which creates increases in prices of products. Another factor is time, online shopping saves the time and energy of consumer but what effect it will create if the online shops do not deliver the product. To find the pricing VS delivery services we analyze the consumer perceptual mapping through their responses. Consumers perceive that kaymu.pk have comparatively offering low prices while rests of the platforms are almost on a same page.

6. OVERALL MARKETING STRATEGY

Having tag line “Ab Poori Qaum Yayvo.com symbolizes the message that every Pakistani prefers yayvo.com as an online retail portal. The marketing strategy of yayvo.com is based on two words reliability and speed. Reliability in terms of product, services, payment modes and speed refers to the on time delivery in the shortest time possible.

During launching period Yayvo used TV, Print, Web and Radio medium over 3 months for the campaign purpose.

The marketing challenge that Yayvo.com faced is about the branding of it people used to consider it as a product of TCS because on the website it is mentioned as Yayvo by TCS. However, it is linked with TCS but has its own identity.

CURRENT POSITIONING STATEMENT

Variety and quality at low price (ab puri quam yayvo.com)

Positioning statement: for people who use the internet who want a wide selection of quality, affordable items, yayvo.com is an online marketplace that provides reasonably priced items. Yayvo.com just focuses on customer centric values.

Repositioning statement:

Think about a book and it will be on your doorstep

Positioning statement: yayvo.com is only online platform where people can find their recommended books. Form standard to specialized, novels to magazines and science to social science every kind of book you can get at yayvo.com.

Target Market

All internet Users.

Since yayvo.com is a platform where we connects buyer with the seller, our aim is to entertain every customer, no matter which socioeconomic class from they are or which geographic regions they belong to. We focus on product choices which cater all the socioeconomic classification. That’s the reason who wants to continue with our current positing strategy in a long run. But due to the reason yayvo.com hasn’t positioned itself effectively in the eyes of consumers eyes and that reason is the reason we want yayvo.com familiar in any at least one category so consumers can easily associate with us. Example daraz.com in consumer’s eyes is more reliable for clothing category, most of the people go to buy clothes on daraz.com and put a glance to rest of categories. That’s the reason we want to associate yayvo.com as a platform where from school to university from fiction to self-help, from philosophy to science fiction every book is available, in the eyes of consumers. Once we affectively position yayvo.com in consumer’s eyes. Side wise we make consumers remember that yayvo.com is a platform with variety and quality at lower price.

8. MARKETING MIX STRATEGY FOR EACH MARKET TARGET

PRODUCT STRATEGY

Yayvo deals in extensive product categories and offers high end products with in those categories. Its product strategy comprises of 3 elements:

• Online portal where people can easily access and select the product of their choice.
• Product Availability also refers to the inventory management, it is important for them to have the product available on their web portal in order to make successful customer conversions.
• Safe Delivery, yayvo ensures to deliver the original product and is packed and shipped with an official warranty, backed by the TCS delivery promise.

PRICE STRATEGY

Yayvo does not promise low prices but yes it does have attractive flat discounts over a large range of categories.

DISTRIBUTION STRATEGY

The service ensures delivery within 60 minutes of ordering online right to the customer’s doorstep in Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad or Rawalpindi. The 60-minute online shopping model is the first of its kind in Pakistan. It faces challenge in delivering the product to the rural areas of Pakistan due to the unmapped locations/areas.

D. Promotion Strategy

Promotion strategy is used to initiate and maintain a flow of communication between the company and the market target. To assist in developing the communications program, the attributes or benefits of our product should be identified for each market target. How our product differs from competition (competitive advantage) should be listed. The sales force’s responsibilities in fulfilling the market plan must be integrated into the promotion strategy. Strategies should be listed for

As we have previously discussed that yayvo.com doesn’t believe in narrowing down its target market on any bases, they want yayvo.com to be used by every single Pakistani, but on the bases of the insights gained with the help of Google analytics they came to know that digital natives (from 14 to 40 years old)

are their more frequent buyers than any other so they developed consumer personas for their current user base, which is discussed in detail under the heading target market and objectives. So keeping the primary motive of e-retail’s business model in mind, they don’t want to differentiate for each target market separately, yes they have made customer persona’s and they do market to each segment with different techniques but their end goal has never been to position themselves differently in each target market’s mind.

Yayvo.com’s competitive advantage over other e-commerce players is that no other local e-commece player has its own massively spread logistics and distribution network handling deliveries for them – yayvo.com delivers in every nook and corner of Pakistan and in 230 countries across the world. People trust the name of TCS, and equate it with reliable customer service and timely delivery.

Pakistani customers tend to feel safer with a brick-and-mortar presence, even for an online business and the 800 express centres provide reassurance that if they need help or want to return an item, they can head to one of these centres, a facility neither Daraz nor any other competitor offers.

So these are Yayvo.com’s competitive advantage over its competitors

Product Focused

1) Personal Selling (Social Selling): in the online business, all the business interactions with its customers are carried out in the online world, so the concept of Personal selling changes into social selling, in social selling businesses try to interact with customers through different social channels (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+, Snapchat) and try to sell products to them while maintaining relationships with them as a part of sales process.

Yayvo.com’s social selling strategy for this segment is to keep their customer services engagement at maximum level in order to sell stuff to users just because of their great quality customer service, a successful example for this following this strategy is of Zappos.com

2) Advertising: Remarketing

3) Sales promotion: 10% off on first order after new sign up

4) Public relations: Paying top social media influencers (bloggers) to influence this segment in their purchase decision.

Browsers

1) Personal Selling (Social selling): same social strategy for this segment as it was for product focused

2) Advertising: Remarketing and continuous reminders about Flash & Seasonal sales

3) Sales promotion: 10% off on first order after new sign up and up to 75% discounts in flash sales

4) Public relations: Paying top social media influencers (bloggers) to influence this segment in their purchase decision by creating buzz about flash sales

Researchers

1) Personal Selling (Social selling): same social strategy for this segment as it was for product focused

2) Advertising: Remarketing and customer service assistance

3) Sales promotion: 10% off on first order after new sign up and up to 75% discounts in flash sales

4) Public relations: Paying top social media influencers (bloggers) to influence this segment in their purchase decision by writing in depth reviews about yayvo’s services.

Bargain Hunters

1) Personal Selling (Social selling): same social strategy for this segment as it was for product focused

2) Advertising: Remarketing and constant communications about upcoming flash sales

3) Sales promotion: 10% off on first order after new sign up and up to 75% discounts in flash sales and different discounts for prepayments with the help of certain payment gateway providers

4) Public relations: Paying top social media influencers (bloggers) to influence this segment in their purchase decision by creating buzz about flash sales

One-Time Shoppers

1) Personal Selling (Social selling): same social strategy for this segment as it was for product focused

2) Advertising: Remarketing and constant communications about positive reviews

3) Sales promotion: 10% off on first order after new sign up and up to 75% discounts in flash sales

4) Public relations: Paying top social media influencers (bloggers) to influence this segment in their purchase decision by writing in depth reviews about yayvo’s services.

E. Marketing Research

 

Right now yayvo.com is moving towards data driven approach from assumption based approach, in digital marketing, market research plays an important role, like for example you can’t do remarketing without data on users interaction behavior with a particular website.

Here is an illustration of Marketing Research Strategy followed by Yayvo.com

9. COORDINATION WITH OTHER BUSINESS FUNCTIONS

At yayvo.com or at any other e-retailer, the departments which have to carry out different responsibilities in order execute or implement the marketing plan are as follows:

Marketing Department: Responsible for building the marketing strategies, positioning strategies and brand building strategies

Vendor Management: Responsible for bringing discounted offers from different in conjunction with yayvo’s marketing, positioning and brand building strategies.

Technology and IT: Responsible for helping marketing disseminate communications leveraging different digital channels.

Customer Service: Responsible for answering customer queries related to marketing communications

Content Team: Responsible for developing content related to marketing communications.

10. SALES FORECAST & BUDGET

Table 10-1

YEAR	DAILY ORDERS (ON AVERAGE)	DAILY SALES (ON AVERAGE)	MARKET SHARE
2017	1000	0.5 MILLION	3.15%
2018	2000	1 MILLION	6.3%
2019	3000	2 MILLION	9.45%

11. CONTINGENCY PLANS

If unexpected events occur than that of those assumed in the plan, then our contingency plan will be to first assess how unexpected those changes are compared to our assumptions in the plan and then do minor tweaking to the assumed plan to achieve the desired objectives. For example if for some reason e-commerce market growth declines and with that yayvo’s growth also declines then we will cut back on out marketing budget and will try to find different creative ways of getting our message to the customers in a more cost effective way.

References

http://www.ibexmag.com/pakistan/it-news/tcs-powered-yayvo-com-ultimate-premium-shopping-experience/

https://www.techjuice.pk/yayvo-is-the-new-brand-name-of-formerly-known-tcs-connect-now/

http://www.worthofweb.com/website-value/yayvo.com/

https://propakistani.pk/2017/02/14/primed-growth-analysis-pakistans-ecommerce-market-2016/