Competition
The main competitors are:
Nestle
Nestlé UK is one of the Britain's leading manufacturers of branded food and drink.
Nestlé's development owes much to its Swiss origins, which promotes a multicultural, multilingual and international outlook. Nestlé has been part of the British scene for longer than most UK companies, with a presence in Britain since 1868 just a year after the company was founded.
Nestlé SA, Nestlé UK Ltd's parent company, has over 500 factories operating in over 80 countries worldwide
The ice cream products available from Nestlé UK are:
- Mega Truffle
- Extreme Duo
- Montego
- Maxibon
- Zoom
- Bug Pops
- Fruit Pastil-Lolly
- Fab
Cadbury’s
Cadbury ice cream is manufactured and marketed in the UK under licence by Frederick's Dairies Ltd. Since Frederick's Dairies Ltd started producing Cadbury ice cream in 1998, the brand has enjoyed almost unprecedented success.
In 2003 their customers were able to choose from their most comprehensive and exciting product range yet and experience their best ever package of marketing support
Some of Cadbury’s most poular products of 2003 are:
- Dairy Milk - 120ml Stick ice cream
- Bournville - 120ml Stick ice cream
- Dream 120ml - Stick ice cream
- Caramel 120ml - Stick ice cream
- Flake 99 - 125ml ice cream cone
- Flake 99 Strawberry -125ml ice cream cone
- Bassetts Refreshers Push Ups - 95ml ice cream
- King Size Crunchieb - 75ml ice cream bar
- Orangina stick - 90ml Stick ice cream
- Orangina Fresh - 110ml Squeeze Up
Mars
At the end of 1988 Mars launched its ice cream in the UK and Ireland. The ongoing success of this product has led Mars to take advantage of its technological breakthrough to produce a wide variety of ice cream products. Here are just some of the brands produced by Mars:
- BOUNTY
- GALAXY DOVE
- MARS
- MILKY WAY
- OPAL FRUITS
- SNICKERS
- SPANGLES
- TWIX
Haagen Dazs
Since the beginning, Häagen-Dazs has sought to innovate and bring new frozen dessert experiences to its customers, including distinctive flavours such as Vanilla Swiss Almond, Butter Pecan and Dulce de Leche to name just a few. Häagen-Dazs was also the first to introduce the world to ice cream bars for a grown up palate, with the introduction of the Häagen-Dazs® ice cream bar line in 1986. Other super premium innovations followed, with Frozen Yogurt in 1991, Sorbet in 1993, and the Italian inspired Häagen-Dazs® Gelato line in 2000.
There is an unbelievable range of flavours from this competitor for example:
- Baileys Irish Cream
- Bananas Foster
- Belgian Chocolate
- Black Walnut
- Blueberry Cheesecake
- Butter Pecan
In the graph below you can see the current marget sgare of our competitors.
- Local companies e.g. Sargents and Blyton
Locally there are Sargents and Blyton ice cream parlours. They both make homemade ice cream from there own farms which you can visit as a member of the public. They are both small businesses with very little promotion and rely on beening locally known. A disadvantage of beening a small company is they have none or very little advertisement and they find it hard to compete with other ice cream companies such as Walls, Haagen Dazs and Nestle. Sargents have there own ice cream vans and Blyton sell take home products in local supermarkets. Sargents is approximately 8 miles from Scunthorpe town centre and Blyton is approximately 15 miles from Scunthorpe town centre. Although these parlours are not as nationally successful as the likes of walls ect they are extremely popular locally and should be taken just as seriously as the other competition.
Location
Choosing The Location
If Venetian Ices decides to build an ice cream parlour they need to consider the following;
The public’s access to the parlour is vitally important. It should have easy transport access and car parking on the premises or near by. It should be in a reasonably populated area with other shops and perhaps food retailers nearby.
It is important to consider the segments which will be visiting the parlour as you must allow disabled consumers and mothers with pushchairs easy access to the premises.
- Cost, size and type of land
The cost, type and size of the land is important when setting up an ice cream parlour. There are two different types of land one called brown field and one called green field. The brown is run down old buildings usually near to the centre of the city. The green is usually on the outskirts of a town or city and is a grassed area. The green field usually costs more than the brown field areas. The size of the land must also be taken into consideration as you may need land for parking facilities and if you wish to have a large parlour you will need a large piece of land. The cost of the land will obviously depend on the type and size of it.
It is important to decide weather being close to your suppliers or close to your market is your priority. If you are close to your supplier your product may cost less considering delivery fees. However if your are near your market then you are constantly in the publics eye.
If it has been decided that the parlour is going to be built there should be a reasonable amount of available builders nearby to perform the required task. Also to be taken into consideration is weather there are people willing to be employed as staff for the parlour to ensure there are enough workers. The staff serving the product will not need to be extremely skilled however you will also need the following:
If there is another ice cream parlour nearby there may be severe competition for the market and marketing strategies will have to be decided and carried out to ensure that the parlour has the majority of the market.
The rate of crime in an area might be of importance. High rates of crime such as theft and vandalism may deter a business from locating in particular area. Also insurance companies are much more likely to offer their services if the premises are located in a location with low crime rate. There are however solutions to the security problems such as cameras, alarms and security personnel.
The more central the site of the premises, the higher the rent and taxes will usually be. If a retail area is popular, there will be high demands for sites in this area therefore the cost is extremely high but property on the outskirts of the town will be lower as the property or land will not have such a large demand.
Conclusion To Choosing The Location
The chosen location must be accessible for the disabled and also push chairs. It should be near major roads and also be in a pedestrinasied area. There should be either the parlours own private car park our car parking nearby.
If a property is bought it should be brown field as these areas tend to have more retailers and consumers and the parlour will be in the public’s eye. If a property is to be built it should be built on a reasonably large section of green field land as the company will struggle to find land for building in the brown field areas as most of the land is already built on. The parlour should definitely be located near the market rather than the suppliers because the consumers will be much more interested in a parlour located nearby. There are many building firms in Scunthorpe who could build a parlour if that was chosen and there are quite a lot of people looking for work and the company could easily advertise the work through the local job centre or advertise in the Scunthorpe Evening Telegraph. There are no other ice cream parlous in Scunthorpe so competition doesn’t really come into choosing a location. Security may have to be considered Scunthorpe has a reasonably high rate of crime and vandalism. I would recommend security alarms a cctv cameras. The rent and tax will need to be taken into consideration when shopping around for the location.
Possible Locations
Here are the possible locations in Scunthorpe that I have considered for the parlour.
Scunthorpe High Street is a pedestrianised area but there is alot of nearby parking including a multi-storey car park. It is an extremely busy place with many retailers. On a Saturday afternoon it is at it peek flocks of retailers come to purchase goods from the market, visit many clothing retailers, enjoy food at the many bakeries and food retailers or even visit the local library which is located next to the market at the bottom of the high street. There are very few properties available in the lower area of the high street but there are many at the top. Many of the consumers do not bother at the top of the high steet.
Some of the most popular retailers on the high street are:
- Macdonald’s
- KFC
- Topman
- Whsmith
- Allsports
- Curtises
- Abby National
- Game
This area joins the high street to the parishes so anyone wishing to go from the parishes to the high street or vice versa will go past the stores. It is pedestrianised but as with the high street there is plenty of parking nearby. It is fully indoor therefore people will come here rather than the other locations when the weather is poor. It is extremely close to the bus station so it has good easy access. However at present there are no available properties.
Some of the most popular retailers in Southgate Mall are:
- JJB Sports
- Ethal Austins
- Kwicksave
- Jonathan James
A very new retail location which is majorly popular at the minute and is still being updated. This location is the one most in the public eye at the moment. It is pedestrianised but as with the high street and Southgate Mall there is a lot of parking nearby. There are still properties available here but no room for building.
Some of the most popular retailers here are:
- Woolworths
- HMV
- Littlewoods
- Uci
- Greggs
This area is very heavily congested with traffic and it isn’t easily accessible for pedestrians. An extremely busy location which always seems to be in motion. Good access from both the centre of town and from Ashby. It is right in front of Ashby ville which is a large pond and wildlife location. In good weather there are many people down there performing water sports and walking their dogs these could be considered as possible customers to the parlour if this location was chosen. There is a lot of available parking in this locations.
Some of the most popular retailers here are:
- Argos
- Currys
- Morrisons
- Macdonalds
- Burger King
- Comet
- Pondstretcher
This location has been drastically built up over the past two years alough the traffic is disastrous the area is highly popular. The location is right near the motorway so good access for the locals and also travellers. It is also outside the local football stadium which means there will be a lot of away fans coming out of the ground who may wish to purchase some food or an ice cream. At the moment there are no available buildings but there is room to consider building. There is a lot of parking spaces and some highly advertised retail outlets including:
- B&Q
- Toys’R’Us
- MacDonalds
- KFC
Ashby High Street is very congested and very popular for pedestrian shoppers. There are a few empty shops and there is a large local market which attracts many of the market segments on Thursdays. There is a vast amount of assorted retailers many of which have been located there for some time.
Some of the most popular outlets are:
- Wilkinsons
- Kwicksave
- Curtises
- Carvers
- Help The Aged
Although it was once a thieving retail location the popularity of skippingdale has decreased dramatically since Tesco moved their store to Gallagher Retail Park. There is now a large property for sale but it is much too large for an ice cream parlour. There is a great deal of free parking but as the location is rather out the way from pedestrianised areas this location is not recommended.
The retailers occupying this area are:
- £stretcher
- Target Pet Supplies
- Jonathan James
- MFI
Conclusion To Possible Locations
In the survey carried out in 2004 we asked the public where out of our possible locations they would prefer the parlour to be. Both the High Street and The Parishes where the strongest contenders both getting 29%. Ashby High Street, Gallagher Retail Park and Southgate mall where all very close with only 1% differences between them. Skippingdale got 0%, none of the public surveyed thought Skippingdale was an appropriate location. In 2001 Southgate mall was the strongest choice with 33% but I believe this was due to the fact that it had only just been built and was constantly in the public’s eye through advertisement and the news. The worst competitor in 2001 was Gallagher Retail Park with only 35 but the building of this location had only just begun.
Market Strategies
If Venetian Ices go ahead with the building of an ice cream parlour they will need to advertise and promote it. They could use the following:
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Television- The advantages of this is the adverts can be shown more than once in one night and can be booked for set times. The disadvantages of this are it cost a lot of money and people may not watch the adverts also the parlour is only in a small town so it would only be attractive to a small minority of viewers. It could be advertised on Yorkshire TV which may be beneficial to Venetian.
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Cinema- The Uci cinema in the Parishes would be ideal to advertise the new parlour. The advantage of this is that up to date technology can be used and that most of the people visiting the cinema will be local consumers. A disadvantage is it can only be seen by the cinema viewers.
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Newspapers- The advantages of this are it reaches a large number of people and it can be set out in a number of different fonts and styles. The Evening Telegraph and Target are the local papers and are read by large audience. Disadvantages with this method are they are usually in black and white and are static.
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Magazines- One advantage of advertising in a magazine is it reaches a specialist audience but it can be expensive to advertise in the best pages of a magazine. The disadvantage of this is that there is only one magazine for Scunthorpe, The Scunthorpe entertainer and I think this has a limited audience.
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Billboards- Advantages of Billboards are they are quite cheap and they can be large so they catch people’s eyes. There are many billboards all over town which could be used. I do not believe there are any disadvantages with billboards I think they are an extremely good advertising strategy.
To encourage customers we could consider offering the following incentives:
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Money off- This is often given to customers who buy in bulk.
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Discount vouchers- This usually gives money off one of the products from the company’s range of products of money off next time you purchase.
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Better value offers- This is where you get more for your money for example getting 15% extra free in a jar of coffee or 3 litres of Pepsi for the price of 2 litres.
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Free gifts- For example you can save tokens or vouchers to get free gifts or it could be saving points from a petrol station and you would then receive free petrol.
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Competitions- This attracts people to the parlour or to buy a certain product by having competitions where you could win free products or maybe even a holiday.
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PR promotions- This is helping to promoting another product which is relatively cheap this gives them a good image e.g. sponsoring a local football team or donating some money to charity for each item sold.
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Point of sale promotion- This increases the amount of sales by having posters, stands, boards, bins and many more things with the company logo or offers on it. This style of promotion is about having anything which will attract the consumer’s eyes and get them interested in purchasing.
Conclusion
From my research I have came to the conclusion that there is a large market for ice cream in Scunthorpe because 91% of the public questioned did infact eat ice cream. There was a larger percentage of women who eat ice cream and the 16 – 21 market segment was the strongest. So if I where to recommend opening a parlour I would recommend that it was aimed most importantly at females aged 16 – 21. In 2001 80% of the public had previously been to a parlour and 89% said they would go to a parlour in Scunthorpe, however in 2004 only 73% said that they would visit a local ice cream parlour which could show that the interest in ice cream parlours in Scunthorpe is dropping and may continue to drop. Although there are no parlours in Scunthorpe there will still be great competition from the large ice cream company’s impulse lines and take home products which are being sold from major supermarkets, corner shops, garages and from the increasingly unpopular ice cream vans. There will also be competition from the local competitors Sargents and Bylton as these are already well know and established retailers locally.
If I were to recemend that you opened a parlour in Scunthorpe I would choose Gallagher Retail Park as the location. It is the most appropriate location to me because of the popularity of the location. The access from travellers and the car parking is already available. I also think it would be best located here because there are a lot of travellers from outside of Scunthorpe visiting here because of the football stadium so the amount of consumers will be drastically increase. I would also consider a location not mentioned previously, Central park is an extremely good location except the it would be very seasonal there is a large park witch is visited by many people; parents with children, teenagers, rookie football teams and there supporters. There is also a play area for the children and paddling pools. But this location is only really used in the good weather so for optimum success this location would be no good.
The best methods of advertising in Scunthorpe would be:
- Billboards would be one of the most effective because they are constantly in the public’s eye.
- The UCI cinema would be a good choice as it advertises local businesses already and has a good audience, also the audience are mostly locals so the parlour may appeal to them
- The Scunthorpe Evening Telegraph is read by the majority of the local public and an add placed in here would be extremely successful.
The best incentives to gain consumers are:
- Perhaps a play area inside or outside the parlour to try and increase the amount of children brought to the parlour by their parents
- Maybe a mascot like Tony the tiger or Snap Crackle & Pop for example the company could have a mascot called Venetian Vince the polar bear or Victoria Venetian the penguin.
- A 15% off voucher with the advertisement placed in the Telegraph may have impressive repacutions.
- As my chosen location is Gallagher Retail Park I think the company should donate some money to the football club for PR promotion and this will also show that the company has local spirit.
- I think there should be a great deal of Point of sale promotion, in my opion Venetian Ices should try to get there logo on as many items as possible from the bowls to the bins, even so far as to the toilet paper. The more you get the company’s name into the publics head the larger the share in the market you will receive.
Recommendations
It is recommended that Venetian Ice should not build an ice cream parlour in Scunthorpe because I believe by comparing the two survey only two years apart that the interest in ice cream parlours in Scunthorpe is decreasing and that it will continue to decrease. I don’t think the parlour would be a success because I just don’t think there is the demand for the product. I don’t think that Venetian can grow as a business if they choose to build a parlour in Scunthorpe. I think they should consider locating their parlour in a bigger more populated location like a city even though there will be more competition there will be a large public want for the product. I do not think there will be any natural growth from this venture and I doubt it would increase the revenue of the company or the turnover very much because there just isn’t enough public demand. I do not think it is a case of money as Scunthorpe isn’t really a poor town for its size I just think that the popularity of getting all the family goods including ice cream from the supermarkets is just too strong in Scunthorpe.
I think the local competition because of its popularity would be hard to overcome. If Scunthorpe’s public want to go out for ice cream they are already accustomed to getting it from Sargents or Bylton and without a whole lot of promotion I doubt this will change.
I did think Gallagher Retail Park would be the most appropriate location however the congestion there is already atrocious. I thought that if Venetian Ices where to open a parlour this would be the location because I think over all this would be the location which would have the most ice cream consumers because of the football ground, nearby motorway and the other food retailers there.
I think further field research should be carried out before a decision is made. I do not think that I surveyed enough people to get accurate percentages. Also an error was made and the largest competitor Walls was left out of the survey. Test marketing could also be considered to see if Venetian ices can come up with any unique flavours that the consumers couldn’t acquire from the competition.
Overall my recommendation is that it would be a bad venture to open a parlour in Scunthorpe but I do believe more research is needed to make a final and accurate decision.
Signed: