SWOT Analysis
Forbidden City restaurant is positioned (according to price, quality, and experience) between fast food and casual dining. Since some busy customers are currently limited to hamburgers, sandwiches, pizzas, and Mexican food, when it comes to fast-served options, our fast casual Chinese restaurant offers a flavorful, fresh, fast, and fun dining experience. Besides, our competitive advantage lies in our ability to consistently deliver our brand promise of flavorful, fresh, fast, fun, and friendly, through every customer touch point. We will develop standardized kitchen and front-end operations, which will subsequently lower costs and enable us to develop a franchising model.
Chinese food is becoming one of the fastest growing food trends in the U.S. and is rapidly moving into the mainstream. It provides a great opportunity to Forbidden City restaurant. However, more and more competitors will exist at the same time. We have already had Yingyang Buffet and Liaohe fast food nearby. How to distinguish from these restaurants becomes our key objective in the future.
Market Segmentation
Target Market: Multi-segment Targeting (All kinds of people living nearby and also a lot Chinese students in Stony Brook University need their native food.)
Consumer Segmentation Variables
- Geography
Local residents; Stony Brook; Centereach, Smithtown and so on.
- Demographics
Young college students
Age 18- 24 would probably eat at Forbidden City
- Product Relatedness
Benefit consumers in pursuit of low calories and good taste in a low price.
- Psychographics
- Busy consumers
People demand fast, convenient food to fit their busy lifestyle. Many working Americans lead fast-paced lives with little time to prepare lunch or dinner. With the number of dual-income families on the rise, as well as longer working hours, eating lunch or dinner out is often the easiest and most convenient option.
- Increased emphasis on health and quality
The American culture is becoming more health-conscious. Low-carb, low-fat, and low-calorie crazes, have contributed to Americans’ demands for healthier and better quality food. Restaurants are responding to these demands by adding healthier food selections to their menus. For example, McDonald’s offers premium salads. According to our marketing survey and focus group, Forbidden City Chinese food is generally perceived as healthy.
Marketing Mix
Type of Product: Consumer and shopping product
Extended Product:
- Location
- Quality of food
Integrated Marketing Communication Program
Promotion:
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Advertisement: TV, radio, websites, newspaper, magazines.
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Publicity: TV, radio, local magazine, campus newspaper
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Print media: Local newspaper, magazines and student publications.
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Broadcast media: Local programming and campus radio stations.
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Local college: Communication with local colleges and advertise paper on the board.
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Direct mail: Mail menu and coupons to local students.
- Sales Promotions:
- A free bubble tea with any purchase above $50
- 10% off with any purchase above $100
- 15% off with a student ID
- 20% off with any purchase above $200 and get a VIP card for further discount
Pricing Objective: It is a typical profit- oriented pricing objective. Forbidden City restaurant sets those reasonable prices so that total revenue is as large as possible relative to our total costs.
- Starters/Soups: $2-3.5
- Appetizers: $2-$4
- Meat: $6-$8
- Chef’s Specialties: $10-20
- Lunch Special (Choice of Soup, meat, rice/noodle): $12
Placement:
Location: The first location will be selected opposite the Smith Heaven mall near the middle country road.
Open Hours: The restaurant will be open for lunch and dinner, daily. Service begins 10am to 11pm from Monday to Saturday, and 12am to 8pm on Sunday.
Distribution: Direct
Type of Distribution System: Exclusive
Control and Evaluation
Tracking sales:
There is always something to track and test, which involves keeping up to date information including the current sales, the profits earned, inventory management, etc. Tracking sales is a critical step while I am running my restaurant, as it tells me everything about our sales and products. It also pinpoints those products whose sales are on the high all the time and whose are not in order to help me in making better informed decision.
Marketing Research:
- Online Survey on our own website, Facebook
- Paper Survey in the newspaper
- Telephone Survey for selective customers
Sustainability of the Product
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Economic Benefits Criteria:
It is good for the U.S. economic that the restaurant will bring U.S. some job opportunities which the unemployment will be reduced and also bring U.S. more taxes.
Environmental Benefits Criteria:
To environment, the restaurant will only use recycled plastic box or plates that will not influence the eco system.
Social Benefits Criteria:
The fast growing development of China attract U.S. people to find out more about this mystery country, hence, food will be good thing for them know more about this country; as a result, there will be a large growing demands for Chinese and healthy food in the U.S. It will be a long time for the restaurant to develop and develop more subsidiaries.
Furthermore, the restaurant will also take some convenience to society, if people, who do not like cooking at home, can eat at the restaurant which brings them a lot convenience, after all, eating lunch and dinner is a necessary thing to do in everyone’s everyday life.