An offering in business is the product or service a business offers to the consumers and its value (Symes, n.d.). There are four types of consumer offerings, namely; Convenience offerings, Shopping offerings, Specialty offerings, and Unsought offerings. Marketers use these offerings to segment consumers into groups based on their buying behaviors (Radu, 2020). This helps marketers understand the factors that influence consumers’ buying decisions. A company’s offering influences a consumer’s buying behavior. Basically, companies with a strong offering remain strategically competitive.
Chevy Traverse is a Mid-Size Sports Utility Vehicle manufactured by General Motors. The car has three variants the Equinox, Traverse, and Trax offering consumers a variety of choices. The car is suitable for families with active lifestyles. The car is affordable, high-powered, and includes additional family-friendly features. The car has an eye-catching design that makes it stand out as a brand. Likewise, the car has additional safety features that provide the occupants with safety and security. Apart from its iconic design, the car has a spacious interior that offers comfort. Moreover, the driving system provides the driver with the required comfort while on the wheels.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Chevy Traverse uses a specialty consumer offering in marketing its products. There are several SUV manufacturers in Europe; thus, the company tries its best to offer a product that stands amidst its competitors. In specialty offerings, companies use highly-differentiated offerings and produce unique brands that are availed to the consumers. The company can also use a shopping offering where the consumers compare brands before making a purchase. This can be done while targeting online customers. Some consumers go to the extent of searching online for reviews of various products before making a purchase. This approach would also change its marketing strategy by specializing in using social media platforms to advertise their products. It would also require the company to have an active forum and support to open new sales channels.
Sraders (2019) defines the product life cycle as “the process a product goes through from when it is first introduced into the market until it declines or is removed from the market” (p.1). Every product undergoes four stages in its life cycle: introduction, growth, maturity, and decline. The introduction stage occurs when the product is developed and introduced into the market. This stage is capital intensive as finances for development and marketing are required. Likewise, the product is unknown to consumers. The second stage of the product life cycle is growth, where the consumers start buying the product, and the company records increased sales. At this stage, the company may face unhealthy competition that would require an investment of funds in marketing. The third stage is maturity, where the product reaches its climax in sales. At this stage, the company might witness the sales drop. At this point, the market becomes saturated, and weak businesses are pushed out of the market; that is, the shake-out point (Okoye, 2015). This pressures the companies to embrace innovations to keep them afloat in the business. As technologies evolve, companies keep developing their products to meet the increasing market needs (Okoye, 2015). The decline is the last stage of the product life cycle, where sales drop significantly as consumers change their behaviors towards the brand.
Based on the four stages of the product life cycle Chevy Traverse is in its maturity stage. Due to the increased competition in the SUVs market, the company has to keep on innovating the product to stay in business; else, the product will be phased out of the market. Changing the consumer offering strategy would not change the lifecycle of the business. Since the automotive market is saturated, such a strategy would only increase the company's sales volume by tapping new customers but not affect the life cycle stage of the products.
Distribution channels play a crucial role in bridging the gap between the manufacturers and the consumers, regardless of the parties' geographical location. There are several types of marketing channels, namely direct selling, selling through intermediaries, dual distribution, and reverse channels (Blunt, 2019). Direct selling entails the company selling its products directly to the consumers. This includes having physical locations or the use of internet sales. Selling through intermediaries entails using middlemen in the distribution channel for the products to reach the consumers. On the other hand, dual distribution entails the combination of both direct and indirect distribution channels.
Chevy Traverse uses a dual distribution channel for marketing its products. The company has shop outlets where consumers can buy their products. Likewise, the company also makes direct sales through its website. On the other hand, the company has dealers worldwide that help the company make sales by marketing their products. Targeting more consumers through online platforms would not change the distribution channel used by the company. Continuing using a dual distribution channel would help the company increase its customer base. This strategy would help the company grow in the untapped markets as it would reach more customers both physically and through an online platform. However, the company would increase its direct sales as more customers would place orders online, which would be a key indicator that the company has successfully penetrated the new markets.
Several strategies can be used by businesses to sell their products or services. The marketing strategy chosen by the company depends on its situation. For instance, the company can use a pricing strategy that maximizes its profits, prevent new entrants from venturing into the market, among other reasons ( Decker, 2019) . Some of these pricing strategies include skimming, premium pricing, penetration pricing, value-based pricing, among other strategies.
Chevy Traverse currently uses a Cost-Plus Pricing Strategy, which focuses on the cost of production. The company adds a fixed percentage profit margin to their products such that the company earns pre-determined profits. This pricing strategy is effective since the company deals with tangible goods; the pricing strategy is not effective in companies offering services.
To venture into the newly targeted market, the company needs to change this pricing strategy and adopt a competitive pricing strategy. This pricing strategy focuses on using the competitor’s pricing as a point of reference. Since the SUVs' automotive industry is highly saturated, the company can slightly reduce the cost of its products to attract more customers. However, adopting this pricing strategy would also impact its pricing in the already existing markets. Thus, the company can use the competitive pricing strategy by offering discounts for sales made through their online platforms. Likewise, the company can also introduce a referral program where customers earn discounts for every purchase made through their recommendation.
References
Blunt, L. (2019). Types of Marketing Channels . Chron.Com. https://smallbusiness.chron.com/types-marketing-channels-21627.html
Decker, A. (2019). The Ultimate Guide to Pricing Strategies . Hubspot.Com. https://blog.hubspot.com/sales/pricing-strategy
Okoye, H. (2015, November 26). Product Life Cycle and How it Relates to Healthcare . Ausmed.Com; Ausmed Education Pty Ltd. https://www.ausmed.com/cpd/articles/product-life-cycle-relates-healthcare
RADU, V. (2019, November 26). Consumer behavior in marketing - patterns, types, segmentation - Omniconvert Blog . E-COMMERCE GROWTH Blog. https://www.omniconvert.com/blog/consumer-behavior-in-marketing-patterns-types-segmentation.html#:~:text=Studying%20consumer%20behavior%20is%20important
Sraders, A. (2019, March 4). What Is the Product Life Cycle? Stages and Examples . TheStreet; TheStreet. https://www.thestreet.com/markets/commodities/product-life-cycle-14882534
Symes, S. (n.d.). What Is an Offering in Marketing? Small Business - Chron.Com. Retrieved September 29, 2020, from https://smallbusiness.chron.com/offering-marketing-24088.html
