Recommendations

Ukamaku’s proposed marketing plan will help define their brand and differentiate themselves from the broad market of online retailers.

Target Market: We propose that Ukamaku change their target market. They should target 18-40 year old women only, who are wealthy or have access to wealth. These women should be primarily Canadian, but they should also ship to the US, promoting themselves as a Canadian brand. All the women are stylish and physically fit.

Marketing Mix: Product: Ukamaku’s product strategy is strong. Posting products from local designers is a great idea, however we do have some recommendations regarding what products should be posted. Ukamaku should focus on one gender. Since they service primarily females, they should stick to women’s only. Once they have stabilized this market, an opportunity to extend into the male market may exist. Their product lineup is complete, from shoes to earrings, and we’d agree it’s a balanced line up of categories. However, some categories are more full than others. For example, their handbag category is higher in the taxonomy than jewellery, yet it has much less content. We would recommend either balancing the content of each category, or at least re-ordering them based on content size. Their supply chain is already slim, they sell, source, ship. Purchase orders are sent to local designers when an order comes in, Ukamaku assembles the orders, and ships them in Ukamaku packaging to the customer. No recommendation needed here. Finally, products have a very short product life cycle, and are not updated, eliminating any versioning issues or confusion customers may have.

Price: Ukamaku’s pricing is set high to match their target market. The strategy has been to exclude customers who cannot afford their brands and to improve how the brand is perceived. We don’t recommend any changes to their pricing strategy, as a decrease will offend their current customers. An increase will only reduce their target market further. However, having the odd $600 pair of pants on the website isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as even if nobody buys them, it improves the brand value perception.

Promotion: Ukamaku’s promotional strategy is fairly weak. They package all orders in their own packaging, and attend industry fashion/trade shows. While this helps promote their brand, it does little for encouraging customer retention/involvement. We recommend that Ukamaku create a small promotional kit that includes a tape measure, sizing specifications and coupon to give out to potential customers at these fashion shows. The kit could even be in a little handbag that everyone else at the show will see being carried around. This will act as an inexpensive promotional tool to improve brand awareness, while also allowing customers to size themselves properly and reduce the per item return rate. In addition, each shipped order should include a flyer that is created quarterly and outlines the various shows and events that Ukamaku will be attending. This approach is two-fold: 1) Customers will perceive Ukamaku as an industry fashion leader since they are at all of these events and 2) If customers are actually interested, they can attend these events.

Place: Ukamaku’s sales will all take place online. There is no physical location where customers can come to buy the products. Their warehouse will only house any inventory coming/going, and will provide a return address to customers. However, Ukamaku will regularly attend fashion/trade shows and promote their brand physically. As said above, they will give out free sizing kits to let women measure themselves and offer a free coupon to use the website.

Customer Retention: Ukamaku’s primary focus should be on customer retention. While most business’ would do this already since “it’s cheaper to keep the customers you have than find new ones”, Ukamaku is in a highly competitive market with many substitutes. Their best chance for success is retaining each one of their customers for “life”.

Referrals: Once someone has actually bought something from their site, Ukamaku knows they are in their niche target market. All Ukamaku has to do is keep them happy, and they will likely spread the word to their friends, who are likely also in this niche. Turning customers into brand ambassadors will be the key to their success in this tough online market. Relationship: We propose a customer relationship management enhancement to Ukamaku’s website in the form of a digital closet for each user. Ukamaku will remember each customer’s sizing and personal closet layout/design. Customer’s can then create a closet of items they purchase or want to purchase, and share the additions on Facebook. That way, their friends can see their digital closet of have/havenots, drastically increasing the exposure to the brand. In terms of the customer relationship, it will give the customer a reason to come back and “complete” their wardrobe/closet.

Recovery: Ukamaku’s return policy is limited. Like many clothing retailers, if you want to return something, you can, as long as it isn’t worn and the tags are still on (resalable). However, Ukamaku will only issue store credit for returns. We recommend that they allow customers to be eligible for their full money back, less shipping and handling both ways. They should also encourage returns at any of their fashion/trade shows, and at their head office. If any customer complains that this policy is too restrictive, Ukamaku should make every attempt to satisfy them, including paying for return shipping and even offering future coupons.

Time Details: Ukamaku should make these changes over the next four-month period. They can being resorting products on their website as soon as they approve our recommendations. After that, they’ll need to notify their suppliers of their product line up changes for the future. Any products that don’t fit with their new plan will not be ordered. Designing and creating the sizing kits will take upwards of a month. Ukamaku should create flyers for the next two quarters outlining the events they will be attending. While their schedule may not be set in stone, they can begin to print the first quarter’s flyers within the next month or two.