ASA Trading Insight Report
TEAM 9 E-Concept
Development Semester 1
Project 1
Group 2
ASA Wholesale 02/03/2014
Meet the GROUP
Philip Schlenzig
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Katariina Pertola
22523519 / p_play@hotmail.com
24463469 / kattyish@gmail.com
Hi, my name is Philip, I’m 22 years old. I live in Cph NV not far from BI5. I like to travel and explore the world, create something from nothing with graphic design and evolve my people skills through social interaction...and gaming.
Hi, I’m Katariina, or Kat for short, and I’m a 22-yearold girl from Finland. I’ve worked as a graphic designer for about four years and spend my spare time reading, painting and dreaming of having the money to travel.
Sandra Molin
Charlotte Ratje
53584342 / smolion@hotmail.com
28115272 / charlotteratje@hotmail.com
Hi, My name is Sandra, I’m from Denmark and I’m 25 years old. I studied fashion design at KEA and I love everything about design and being creative. Music has always been a big part of my life and I could not live without it.
Hi, I’m Charlotte, and i’m 25 years old. I love design, music and i sing everyday. My favorite quote is Live, Love, Learn and that’s what life is all about for me.
Abel Alazo
Eduard Arnautu
26716069 / abel.alazo@gmail.com
26946282 / edgitarra@yahoo.com
My name is Abel Alazo im from Havana, Cuba living between Copenhagen and New York and I can’t remember when I was 22 but I love music, design and everything good about life!
My name is Eduard Marius Arnautu, I am 21 years old, I am from Romania and what I try to do daily is to gather knowledge and live.
Hanna Ella Sandvik
31715197 / me@hannaella.dk Hi my name is Hanna, I’m part Norwegian, part Danish and 24 years old. I have my own graphic design company and review rock music in my spare time.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
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Meet the Group...................................................................2 Table of Contents................................................................4 Preface................................................................................5 Client Goals.........................................................................6 Problem Area......................................................................6 Problem Formulation...........................................................6 Constraints..........................................................................7 Analysis...............................................................................8 Desktop Research........................................................8 Field Research..............................................................9 Expert Interview..........................................................11 SEO Analysis..............................................................13 Conclusion........................................................................14 Future Opportunities.........................................................15 Appendix 1.......................................................................16 Appendix 2.......................................................................18 Appendix 3.......................................................................19
PREFACE Although the company both own asaspice.dk and asatrading.dk their CVR registered name is “Asa Trading APS”. Hence we will refer to the company through-out the report as “Asa Trading” or for short “Asa”. When working professionally with a company it’s important to call the company by its rightful name in spite of what customers, users or even themselves call the company colloquially.
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CLIENT GOAL Asa Trading want to increase their B2B sales.
PROBLEM AREA Asa Trading want to delve into the B2B market more actively. For this, they have considered different options like including B2B sales into their current webshop, creating an external webshop or creating an external webshop under a different name. Common, for all the potential solutions, is that they want some sort of login-function. This is a wish because wholesale prices are substantially lower than retail prices and readily available wholesale prices could potentially affect B2C sales. The client has considered naming the B2B section “Hope Trading” (“Asa” means “hope” in hindu) to separate the two business models. Asa Trading already has existing B2B clients and the solution should follow in line with them instead of contradicting these efforts. Asa Trading has a clear company philosophy and although it’s not what they want to be the primary selling point of the B2B endeavour, it should be congruent with the B2C philosophy.
PROBLEM FORMULATION - Should Asa Trading have a B2B concept under a different name? - Should Asa Trading have a separate B2B-site or include it in their current webshop? - How do we make it easier for B2B clients to access Asa Tradings offers for businesses? - How do we exemplify the usability in Asa Trading’s B2B concept? - How do we create a concept that makes cooperation or even co-branding lucrative for B2B clients?
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- Who do we expect to be the B2B customers and how do we target them?
CLIENT CONSTRAINTS The client had several constraints/need-to-haves. Need-to-haves are constraints in the sense, that they constrain us to include certain aspects. To start with they did not want us to act on behalf of the brand. In practical terms that means we can’t approach people during research on behalf of Asa Trading. The budget was non-descriptive, but Julian said “for a good project there would be funds”. However Asa Trading had a turnover of 50.000 last year, so it’s fair to assume we’re within that price range. The client also wanted a separate solution either by a different site or even a different name for the B2B solution. This constraint came from Asa Trading’s hypothesis that prices of wholesale goods should never be available for regular B2C, as the prices are relatively lower for B2B and this could damage their current main sales.
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ANALYSIS We have chosen to work with a number of different methods to get a wide range of knowledge, both working with qualitative and quantitative methods. These are the methods we are going to use: Desktop research, field research, expert interview and SEO analyses. By using these methods we make sure that we can gather some useful knowledge within our timeframe and collect insights about the B2B market/spice market.
DESKTOP RESEARCH Gathers data about other spice companies in Denmark that either has physical shops, web shops or both and evaluate how big of a threat they are to Asa Trading. Please refer to “APPENDIX 1” for a complete list of research sources used. After conducting a desktop research regarding the marked threats to Asa Trading we can conclude the following: Asa Trading stands as one of the most authentic quality spice brands in the current spice market in Denmark, but being authentic have proven not to be the only selling point, in which food companies find most interesting and attractive, when buying spices. Please refer to “APPENDIX 2” for a positioning quadrant for Asa and their competitors.
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The data about other spice companies shows us that several others promote their spice products with the word quality and not authenticity, while others doesn’t promote their spices directly, but instead sell them at very low and affordable prices. Having read on forums, how ordinary spice consumers find and buy their spices, the majority of answers point in the direction of finding spices in ordinary cheap ‘importer’ shops. Asa Trading’s current target group stands as a promising source of B2C customers, because of the attractive essence Asa Trading represent. Without having a defined target group scope for the B2B, we can only assume the motivation from which the ordinary customers buy the spices, doesn’t deviate too much. This being the history and goals behind their company, which are not only are authenticity and high quality spices, but more importantly the wish to support and aid the communities, where the Asa Trading originates from.
FIELD RESEARCH Pre-research We decided to conduct a field research at Asa Trading has we had never been instore Before the field research we decided on different artefacts we wanted to give special notice when we visited the store: Packaging Sizes of packaging One shots The look and feel of the shop We have conducted a Field Research on the Asa Shop, and collected first-hand information on their products, display and quality of their offering. We acquired a lot of new knowledge by visiting the shop such as their clerk was extremely welcoming and helpful. We had the chance to try some of their chai blends and learn about their different spices origins flavours and mixes. The shop in itself is a very nice space with glass jars filled with spices, mushrooms, dry nuts. It was like visiting an exotic oasis in the middle of the market. “The fragrance of worldwide spices fill your nose when entering the store of Asa and eco-friendly looking bags are all aligned on the shelves. All the different spices are displayed in wooden boxes so you can touch, smell and even taste them before buying a product.�
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FIELD RESEARCH POST-research Our field research results can be concentrated in some keywords about the Asa shop: Transparency Authenticity Product knowledge Warm atmosphere Welcoming Kindness Openness
Field research conclusion We consider that our field research were very helpful for us to understand the product, and the business. We got a very inspiring impression of the company. And with these results we are positive that we will be able to translate it into a B2B model of e-commerce. Keywords such as transparency, knowledge and authenticity are also core keywords in any e-commerce franchise. In the case of Asa Tra-ding we can apply the knowledge acquired to create a solid platform for business to be more in touch with the physical shop and get in contact with all their products. By doing this, possible stakeholders can try the product first hand and visits can add value to the business proposition for Asa Trading’s line of products.
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EXPERT INTERVIEW Because the project focuses on B2B solutions, conducting expert interviews is a crucial part of the user research. As the problem revolves around increasing B2B activity and sales it is important to know exactly what the businesses want and need in order for Asa Tradings to cater to them properly. From expert interviews we can gain valuable insight from businesses that buy spices in bulk - like what are they looking for in a trade website, or what are their preferences when it comes to buying spices. Once we have information on the businesses buying habits and what problems they face when buying spices, we can use this information to design a solution that caters to the needs of the businesses and makes buying spices simpler, easier, and more user friendly, which in turn can convince them that Asa Trading is the best option out there.
INTERVIEW QUESTIONS Please refer to “APPENDIX 3� for interview questions used.
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INTERVIEW RESULTS From the interview, we found that the respondent buys her spices both online and in-store, depending on what she is looking for. If she could taste the spices before she buys any spice products online, she would more than be happy to buy them all online, but if she can’t taste a sample before ordering, she won’t buy online as she doesn’t know if it’s the correct taste or quality she needs. She buys her spices where ever she can get them, and has narrowed them to the places she knows have the spices she needs. One place might have one specific thing and another place a whole other selection, so she tries to get around to the different shops, so she for instance knows where to get the mustard powder she prefers most. The respondent buys bulk amounts of spices she uses the most, such as mustard powder, ecological raw vanilla and cumin among a few other spices. These bulk purchases usually happen once a year, or sometimes more if she is out of a spice used in a many recipes. For her, it is quality that matters the most, although good service is also important, particularly in terms of answering her questions that may arise when she is buying online. Additionally she noted that when buying online the process should be simple and fast. When it comes to using spices, she usually mixes different spices together in a mortar, depending on the food she is making. She also has mixes of more common spices together that go onto the food like rock salt, white pepper and organic liquorice powder. When asked if she would use an online spice mixer before purchasing, she said she “would very much do so, if [she] would have the possibility to taste the different spices [she] would like to mix together before buying the mix”. In her opinion having a feature for making your own mixes online is a great idea that could be very useful and would spark interest in her and many alike. In conclusion we found that he respondent buys some spices engross and values this option. She mentions quality, but not price, which means that here quality ranks higher than spices. It’s important for the client to go to the store to experience the spices pre-purchase, but if she doesn’t have the option to go to the store, the web solution should be very easy to use. The respondent also expressed interest and excitement about being able to create her own spice mixes online.
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SEO ANALYSIS Although a wonderful product solution is important in itself, many underestimate the fact, that these solutions are hard to find for their users. That’s where SEO comes in as a great tool to get the right users in the right circumstances to the right site. We have analysed Asa’s keywords to see how they rank. We have also chosen some more generic words for their general ranking in comparison to indirect competition. For the tracking, we used “Ranktracker” that is a program allowing us to track the rank of both Asa and their primary competitors on different words. If the client chooses to go into a SEO-strategy it would be possible to get even more information by adding an AdWords-account.
Ranks
(Actual ranks on the google page, below AdWord-adds. Rank one is 1st result, rank two is 2nd and so on - rank 10 is the last result on page 1).
Rank 1 words: “Krydderier torvehallerne” “Børne Masala” “Hel kamilleblomst” “Cassia stødt” “Kanelblade”
Rank 2 words: “ASA” Rank 3 words: “Køb krydderi København” Rank 4 words: “Køb krydderi Danmark”
Rank 5-10 words: “Jerk krydderi” “Kanel blade” “køb krydderier København” “køb krydderier Danmark”
We found that Asaspices.dk actually ranks quite high in both generic terms like “Buy spices Copenhagen” but as expected ranked very high in the quite specific names of different spices. Competition on specific words is usually lower - i.e. the number of searches will probably be lower. However, it is a viable strategy to focus on specific words if the competition on generic searches. In this case the competition is at a mid-level, so the strategy could easily be mixed or generic. For a more B2B strategy words like “krydderi engros” or “krydderi wholesale” would be good words to optimize for. Asa Trading is not currently on page one in these searches. Also searches focused on “mix din egen krydderblanding” could also be looked into further. B2B-wise they rank very low, which is to be expected as they do not currently have anything about B2B on asaspices.dk or asatrading.dk. The competitors hedebogaard. dk and Karlsen Krydderier rank respectively 3 and 7 on these. That tells us, that the direct competition is not that severe. Hence it is recommendable to create a B2B SEO strategy as well for the new solution.
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CONCLUSION After analysing the results of our research we have reached some important findings to our initial problem formulation. We can positively conclude that to ease the clients acquisition Asa needs to think in creative terms like a “mix your own spice”-feature and maybe focus more on getting the clients in contact with their spices, for example by sending small samples. Another important question in our problem formulation was how to generate awareness of possible stakeholders. We have found, that is extremely important for Asa to keep the physical shop as an active point of contact for the online B2B operation kick-off and develop. The presentation of their product in a professional manner at the physical shop could be an effective action towards awareness. The shop is conveniently located in the center of one of the busiest markets for food and quality goods in Copenhagen. The concept of becoming the preferable provider for authentic organic and exotics spices will find a solid acceptance in the B2B market. No other competitor focus on the authenticity of their goods as much. An important finding is the social responsability of Asa who work closely to improve the quality life in some of the communities where their products originate. This is relevant because it reflects on the transparency of their business model and global consciousness with which potential stakeholders can positively relate to. Another important finding is that on the SEO strategic aspect of an online B2B solution the possibilities are potentially positive. Is quite possible for Asa to conduct a strategy to target both product specific keywords as well as contextual phrases that imply better organic results on a B2B site rank performance. Although the obvious choice for a B2B-solution is to target chefs and restaurants, we’ve realized there is a niche market of wholesale to wholesale we think is more lucrative for Asa. Before the presentation on Friday we will try to gather more information on this strategy. By “wholesale to wholesale” we mean selling to B2C wholesalers like Aarstiderne and different meat producers. It’s a steady income with many potential clients. It may take longer to establish the deal, but we think this should be Asa’s focus. By creating an easy-to-navigate webshop, other clients like restaurants and canteens can order hassle-free, but for the “bigger” W2W we want them to either use the “mix your own”-option or come down to the shop to set up regular buys.
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FUTURE OPPORTUNITIES With the right initiative and a well-planned trajectory, Asa Trading can go beyond their current status regarding future opportunities. Since we live in a world that is nowadays strongly connected, creativity is an essential factor to make Asa Trading known on a wider scale. As far as future opportunities are concerned, Asa Trading can make use of their present popularity in India where they already have established 4 spice shops and a 5th one in development; India is a big country with a great culture and also an amazing traditional gastronomic background, factor that can contribute to the expansion of Asa Trading in India and evidently creating a greater bond with the locals: as an example India sustains a major number of festivals, cultural manifestations which are usually connected with promoting foods and dishes of all kinds. These dishes can have the chance to be prepared with the Asa Trading spices, and it is just enough to get well known on the market out there. Restaurants are present everywhere on this planet; each continent is striving for excellence in this case, and to become the best, they need high quality chosen ingredients and not only a fine service. With the right attitude Asa Trading can promote itself as a condiment producer/distributor to get higher on the hierarchy, to become a main leader in spice production and selection. In some scenarios, we need to get back to the roots; it is important to take care of our health in an environment that can hinder our well-being; it is a great chance for Asa Trading to actually promote itself on a wide scale as a provider of natural/eco spices and to inform people about what choices they can take to protect their health situation.
FOOD BLOGGERS It could be a great idea for Asa Trading to collaborate with food bloggers. Food blogs are very popular in Denmark and the interest about food, in general, is huge. At madblogs.dk you can follow up to 500 food bloggers. It would be very beneficial for Asa Trading to get attention at food blogs both to be mentioned by name or to have a picture of the spices on the blogs or even have a link to their website or webshop. It is a great opportunity to promote the brand and get people to go to the shop.
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APPENDIX 1
COMPETITORS - http://www.grenes.dk/ (Sells a few spices but are cheap and a well-known shop) - http://www.urtekram.dk/3763/ (Premium quality brand physical shops) - http://www.karlsenskrydderier.dk/shop/frontpage.html (webshop / engro for specialists) - http://www.millmortar.com/ (physical and website - Being sold all over Denmark in selected shops) - http://www.hedebogaard.dk/ (webshop) - http://www.tikrydderier.dk/ (physical shop + webshop) - http://www.tiger.dk/tigers_bolighus/krydderier.html (Not only a spiceshop, but cheap spices / physical shop all over Denmark) - http://www.e-deli.dk/shop/krydderier-60s.html (webshop) - http://www.krydderier-engros.dk/#!__krydderishop (Engro spice shop /webshop) - http://www.santamariaworld.com/da/produkter/tex-mex/#!/organic-taco-spice-mix/
ARTICLES AND FORUMS ABOUT THE SPICES UNIVERSE Asa tradings: http://karen-westberg.blogspot.dk/2013/11/asa-kologiske-krydderier.html Mill&Mortar: http://www.ivaerksaetteren.dk/flx/artikler/16/en-krydret-succes-892/ Santa Maria: http://jyllands-posten.dk/livsstil/madvin/ECE4416402/her-er-danmarks-populaereste-krydderi/
Where do people get their spices in general (forum post) http://grillguru.dk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=81&p=143593 (I want to try something new) http://grillklubben.dk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=53&t=566 (Where do you buy your spices) http://www.heste-nettet.dk/forum/1/1349835/1349835/ (I need to buy cheap spices with power)
ONLY WEBSHOPS http://www.karlsenskrydderier.dk/shop/frontpage.html http://www.e-deli.dk/shop/krydderier-60s.html http://www.hedebogaard.dk/ http://www.krydderier-engros.dk/#!__krydderishop (Bulk purchase spices) http://www.helsam.dk/templates/productlist.asp?heGroupGuid=3120 (site for herbal stuff, but have a lot of delicate spices, many of them are organic as well).
ONLY PHYSICAL SHOPS
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http://www.tiger.dk/tigers_bolighus/krydderier.html (Sells tons of different cheap stuff) http://www.urtekram.dk/3763/ (Being sold all over Denmark in selected shops) http://www.grenes.dk/
APPENDIX 1
PhySICAL AND ONLINE SHOP http://www.tikrydderier.dk/ http://www.millmortar.com/ http://www.santamariaworld.com/da/ (being sold all over Denmark in most supermarkeds)
DEFINITION OF QUALITY SPICES http://www.kiranto.dk/Portals/126/Fokus%204.pdf
What you need to know when buying spices (Spices 101 expert article) http://www.kiranto.dk/Portals/126/Fokus%204.pdf
PREMIUM SPICE BRANDS http://www.karlsenskrydderier.dk/shop/frontpage.html http://www.millmortar.com/ http://www.e-deli.dk/shop/krydderier-60s.html
STANDARD SPICE BRANDS http://www.tiger.dk/tigers_bolighus/krydderier.html http://www.santamariaworld.com/da/produkter/tex-mex/#!/organic-taco-spice-mix/ http://www.grenes.dk/ http://www.krydderier-engros.dk/#!__krydderishop
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APPENDIX 2 ASA trading in comparison to competitors
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APPENDIX 3
Interview questions
(All questions were translated into Danish for the respondent) 1. Do you usually buy your spices online or in-store? Why? (Follow up if “in-store”) What would convince you to buy online? 2. Do you buy all your spices from the same place? Why/Why not? 3. How much do you usually buy at a time? 4. How often do you buy spices in bulk? 5. What is most important to you when buying spices? Easy/quick to buy? Quality? Delivery time? Company ethics? 6. Do you make your own spice mixes from the spices you purchase or do you just “mix as you cook”? (Follow up) Would you make your own spice mixes if you could make a mix on the trade website and order your own specialized mixes?
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