Start with market research, but when cross-border e-commerce companies do market strategy planning, it is not recommended to start with untargeted market research. Because most B-end sellers have their own familiar fields and customers, this aspect constitutes a strong constraint, so it is recommended to start with an inventory of their own resources. Following the thinking mode of the 13N1 model, market strategy planning is a multi-layer cycle, from rough to fine, from vague to clear. Below, taking Jack’s golf training simulator entrepreneurial project as an example, a brief description of the general process of market strategy planning.
(1) Self-assessment – discover advantages or make up your mind to create differentiation. For example, Jack has been engaged in foreign trade procurement for 10 years. The main products he is responsible for are golf balls and peripherals. He also likes to play golf. So when he decided to start a business, he naturally thought about golf balls and peripherals. After evaluation, Jack decided to choose a golf training simulator.
(2) Determine the benchmark – quickly understand the market from the situation of the benchmarking company. Jack learned that the sales of American XX golf training simulators on Amazon.com were very good, with annual sales of about 40,000 pieces and a very high market share, which was predicted to reach about 20%. The annual growth rate has remained at about 30% in the past three years. Based on this, it is judged that the market segment of trainers with radar monitoring equipment is roughly in the late stage of rapid development (no consumer education is required). Jack analyzed the products, customers, channels, pricing and brands. Combining his experience in the industry, Jack had some ideas about the market.
(3) Preset market – roughly describe the market from the aspects of customer demand, product differentiation, brand positioning, channel/regional preset, etc. Because the golf simulator market is small, the 2C market share of the benchmarking company is high and it is in a monopoly position, so Jack decided to start from Alibaba International Station, targeting small and medium-sized offline retailers, and directly impacting the North American market occupied by the benchmarking company. Each step after this step is actually a verification or correction of the previous three steps.
(4) Market research – purposefully conduct market research in the preset market scope and obtain a SWOT matrix. The opportunities Jack faces are mainly in the post-COVID-19 era, coupled with the chip war and the high costs of benchmark companies (benchmark companies have raised prices three times in the past six months). An informed friend in the United States also confirmed this speculation. Jack’s competitive advantage is mainly the product and its supply chain. The major shareholder of the supplier is a middle school classmate. It has invested 30 million yuan in research and development, mainly in Korean technology upgrades. The supply chain is stable and cross-border e-commerce has not been launched. Jack is very eager to cooperate with Jack and let Jack be fully responsible for the cross-border e-commerce channel, including the price setting system. The cost of the main product is about 20% of the retail price of the same-grade product of the benchmark company, and the simulator can use PAD and mobile phone terminals to intuitively present the movement trajectory, which is better than the competing products in terms of visual experience.
(5) Segmentation and target market – try to segment the market one by one using certain standards (some) and strive to find the target market. Jack used to be a purchasing manager at an American golf club and is familiar with American golf clubs of various levels. Jack segmented the market through the channels to reach customers and selected golf training grounds and clubs as the target market. The end customers are the company’s middle and senior management beginners.
(6) Brand positioning: Find the brand’s differentiated mental model in the target market. Because Jack’s classmate wanted to enter the field of golf training services, and the same brand’s products include large-scale monitoring equipment specifically for golf training grounds, Jack agreed to help his classmate start a business in the Silicon Valley Bay Area to start an equipment rental service model. The equipment is free for training grounds, and only a small amount of training station rental fees are charged. The equipment provides accurate quantitative data for practicing customers, including ball angle, flight curve, landing distance, etc., so the brand is expected to leave a professional image for beginners. Jack decided to position the main product as a professional, cost-effective portable training auxiliary product, and to strengthen this positioning through price, so that the retail price level is comparable to that of the benchmark company’s products, and is 20 US dollars higher than the benchmark product when purchased separately, but can provide customers with greater added value by giving away training grounds or coaching services. At the same time, the product sales are bundled with training ground salesmen and coaches, and a higher sales commission reward is set. The above is a simple market strategy planning process, with the determination of brand positioning as the end point.