INTRO

Office furniture provides comfort and convenience during working hours and are used in
commercial and industrial sectors as a part of a company’s work environment.

Growing Investment in Office interior Products to Increase Employee Efficiency

Key corporate houses and enterprises are investing huge amounts in interiors and furnishing their
office spaces to provide a productive and comfortable work environment to their employees.
Many office furniture manufacturers and designers offer chairs with better comfort to minimize
stress. Furthermore, increasing penetration of smart furniture is also boosting market growth. For
instance, advanced office desks are available in the market with installed sensors, where the
employee can manually measure their preference with respect to their comfort level. These
sensor attached chairs also guide the employee about the right posture during work hours.
Growing adoption of convenient and comfortable office furniture is expected to further drive the
market growth.

Mark`eting Strcategy can be defined as building and planning a long-term and forward-looking

approach with a well defined plan to attain the desired goals and objectives of accomplishing higher

sales, increased revenue generation for the company, retaining the loyal base of customers,

attracting the new set of customers, and gaining a competitive advantage in the market amongst

others.

It is very vital for the management of the company to have a well defined and aligned marketing

strategy in place having a team of expert professionals and talented in-house staff to attain the

overall aims and objectives plus enhance the brand value.

Our Marketing strategy will involve the marketing research, product selection, sales forecast, define

objective, marketing mix, sales force strategies for B2B market.

Marketing research

Market Research is a continuous process for collecting, investigating and interpreting information
about a particular market a company operates in or a product/service the company offers for selling

in that market, and also about potential and existing competitors and the past, present and potential

customers who purchase and consume the offered product/service.

Today it is nearly impossible to efficiently sell a product or service without having conducted market

research. The importance of market research is that a business company gains a suite of solutions for

developing business processes, increasing profits, improving company performance, investigating

competitors and getting more satisfied customers.

We have to look at the office furniture sector for understanding and analyzing it. The office furniture

sector includes companies involved in the manufacturing, distribution, and retail of office furniture.

Manufacturers of office furniture develop many different products that include desks, filing cabinets,

bookcases, chairs, and general cabinets. Sometimes, manufacturers of office furniture also develop

office and workspace fixtures like cafeteria equipment, counter tops, partitions, and many other

furniture parts.

Normally office furniture is created for optimal use in a workspace setting. As an example, computer

desks are developed with a priority of housing computers and computer accessories, while still

allowing enough space for good work. Sometimes, office furniture is directed to specialty work

rooms, as businesses differ in space design. Furniture developed for modular room sometimes may

be designed different than the pieces to be used in a high-rise building. Office furniture retail stores

and showrooms may provide clients with the option of buying furniture from a manufacturer that the

client is able to personally customize or design to be able to meet their needs and specific wants.

Office furniture may be distributed or delivered to clients in separate pieces that will then be needed

to be assembled, or as a complete, pre-assembled piece.

Products selection: After a getting good insight in office furniture sector we will choose the product

as per customer’s preference and our product will have a unique value proposition so as to create

product differentiation with the competitors.

Sale forecast: Marketing research will give us market potential. This will let us know that how good

is the scalability of the company. But to start with production we need to define the sales forecast.

Sales forecasting is the process of estimating future sales. Accurate sales forecasts enable companies

to make informed business decisions and predict short-term and long-term performance. Companies

can base their forecasts on past sales data, industry-wide comparisons, and economic trends.

It is easier for established companies to predict future sales based on years of past business data.

Newly founded companies have to base their forecasts on less-verified information, such as market

research and competitive intelligence to forecast their future business.

Sales forecasting gives insight into how a company should manage its workforce, cash flow, and

resources. In addition to helping a company allocate its internal resources effectively, predictive sales

data is important for businesses when looking to acquire investment capital.

Objective: business leaders must track performance in every part of their business to make sure

they're moving in the right direction.

We need to define our business objective which focuses on a short-term goal and long-term goals as

well. This will help the company move in right direction and guide the employee to achieve it.

Our objective could be related to 1)awareness, 2) sales growth, 3)customer statisfaction.

Marketing Mix: The marketing mix refers to the set of actions, or tactics, that a company uses to

promote its brand or product in the market. The 4Ps make up a typical marketing mix - Price,

Product, Promotion and Place.

Gathering the marketing mix is a crucial part of marketing task. Various decisions have to be made

such as -

 What is the most appropriate mix of the four P’s in a given situation

 What distribution channels are available and which one should be used

 What developmental strategy should be used in the target market

 How should the price structure be designed

We will have to plan a marketing mix depending upon the stage at which the product is in product

life cycle i.e. introduction, growth, maturation, decline.

product

Our product marketing has to emphasize the benefits of our unique combination of
technological expertise, ergonomics, and fine furniture craftsmanship. We need to sell
pride of ownership and workmanship, and prestige. That has to come out in our
packaging, finishing, shipping, and collaterals.

Product marketing's most important challenge is the problem of assembly and

packaging. We know we have the best product when we deliver it locally. That isn't
necessarily so when we send it in boxes to be assembled. We have to make sure that
the assembly is truly easy.

Pricing

The products are sold through the intermediaries/middlemen to the consumers 

based on the ―Price List‖ of the manufacturer or the maximum retail price 
(MRP) for the packaged products in consumer marketing. Sometimes, the 
retailer reduces the price by passing on to the consumer a part of his discount 
due to different degrees of intensity of the competition. In industrial marketing, 
price is less critical factors for purchase decisions. Competitive bidding and 
price negotiations are very common in industrial marketing and financing 
arrangements are often considered part of pricing package. 
For Furniture market 
We will maintain our pricing position as a premier provider. We are the best product
available, for the most discriminating consumer. We intend to maintain our separation
from the price competition at the lower end of the business. Our plan calls for no
significant changes in pricing.
Channels of Distribution

The four main manufacturers are selling direct to the office superstores and buying
discount clubs. This accounts for the main volume of distribution. The office furniture
customer seems to be growing steadily more comfortable with the retail buy in the chain
store.

The major corporate purchases are still made directly with manufacturers. Although this
is a major channel for some of the more traditional manufacturers, it is essentially
closed to new competition. The direct channel is dominated by two manufacturers and
two distributors. The distributors will occasionally take on a new line -- happily, this has
helped Willamette -- but the main growth is in retail.

Published research indicates that 51% of the total sales volume in the market goes
through the retail channel, most of that major national chains. Another 23% goes
through the direct sales channel, although in this case direct sales includes sales by
distributors who are buying from multiple manufacturers. Most of the remainder, 18%, is
sold directly to buyers by catalogs.

In the mainstream business, channels are critical to volume. The manufacturers with
impact in the national sales are going to win display space in the store, and most buyers
seem content to pick their product off the store floor. Price is critical, because the
channels take significant margins. Buyers are willing to settle for laminated quality and
serviceable design.

In direct sales to corporations, price and volume is critical. The corporate buyer wants
trouble-free buying in volume, at a great price. Reliable delivery is as important as
reliable quality.

In the high-end specialty market, particularly in our niche, features are very important.
Our target customer is not making selections based on price. The ergonomics, design,
accommodation of the computer features within the high-quality feel of good wood, is
much more important than mere price. We are also seeing that assembly is critical to
shipping and packing, but our customer doesn't accept any assembly problems. We
need to make sure that the piece comes together almost like magic, and as it does, it
presents a greater feel of quality than if it hadn't required assembly at all.

Promotion

Our promotion strategy is based mainly on making the right information available to the
right target customer. We can't afford to sell people on our expensive products, because
most don't have the budget. What we really do is make sure that those who have the
budget and appreciate the product know that it exists, and know where to find it.

The marketing has to convey the sense of quality in every picture, every promotion, and
every publication. We can't afford to appear in second-rate catalogs with poor
illustrations that make the product look less than it is. We also need to leverage our
presence using high-quality catalogs and specialty distributors.

Developing a Target:
A Product will not sell by itself; It needs the best of strategies. After drawing a strong strategy
plan, we need to develop a target market.

Targeting the market(s)

This would include 3 approaches in which a marketer can target its customers.

Undifferentiated

Concentrated

Multi-segmented (Differentiated)

Our segment definition is of itself strategic. We are not intending to satisfy all users of office
furniture intended for use with personal computers, but, rather, only those who are most
demanding. We are definitely out to address the needs of the high-end buyer, who is willing to
pay more for quality.

In our particular market, we also seek the buyer who appreciates two attributes: the quality of
furniture workmanship and the excellence of design, with an understanding of technology and
ergonomics built in.

The following are our market segments along with our reasoning for targeting each segment:
 Home Office - This segment is very large, and because most home offices now involve
people spending long hours on a computer, these people are prime targets for needing
ergonomic equipment. Since these offices are also in their home, they're more likely to
spend some money on nicer furniture and equipment they can use for both home and work
purposes.

 Small Business Managers - Most small businesses have a manager in charge of

equipment purchasing decisions. At some point, most of these managers usually have an
employee who suffers from a problem that can be solved with ergonomic equipment. Even if
they haven't, these people can usually be educated on the benefits of an ergonomically-
sound workplace. They are usually pretty careful with their money though, as most small
businesses try to keep their costs low. It's a good market, especially locally, because these
businesses often support other local small businesses.

 Large Business Purchase Managers - Large businesses usually have a purchase

manager who's sole job is making equipment and supply purchasers. It's usually harder to
reach these managers, and there are fewer large businesses, but they make for very
lucrative accounts. Once you can build a good relationship with a purchase manager, they
can be responsible for a lot of sales. Most purchasers buy equipment in bulk, and they
usually have budgets that allow them to buy good equipment.

 For office furniture we are using undifferentiated approach.

 This approach does not differentiate the market according to any variable. In this case a
Single Marketing Mix for the entire market identified is laid out. All customers have similar
needs for a specific kind of product.

Positioning:

A product's position is how potential buyers see the product. Positioning is expressed relative to
the position of competitors.
We focus on a special kind of customer, the person who wants very high quality office furniture
customized to work beautifully with modern technology including personal computers, scanners,
Internet connections, and other high-tech items.

Our customer might be in larger corporations, small or medium business, or in a home office
with or without a home-office business. What is important to the customer is elegance, fine
workmanship, ease of use, ergonomics, and practicality.

The product strategy is also based on quality, in this case the intersection of technical
understanding with very high quality woodworking and professional materials, and
workmanship.

An important competitive edge is our assembly strategy, which is based on interlocking wood
pieces of such high quality that assembly is not only a pleasure for our customers; it is actually a
feature that enhances the sense of quality.