Market

research report
A report of macro environment in
Australian pet wear market for Halter
company to launch new product
 Macro environment report 2020

Contents
Executive Summary.................................................................................................................3
Research Framework...............................................................................................................4
STEEP Analysis........................................................................................................................4
Recommendations....................................................................................................................6
References.................................................................................................................................7
 Macro environment report 2020

Executive Summary
The Market Research Report is a report guided by our consulting company Halter company
to enter Australian pet wear market. Halter is a New Zealand start up company planning to
enter Australian market using new product with innovative technology. Halter’s new
domestic pet wearable technology combines tracking, activity, calorie expenditure and heart
rate variability analysis for pets in one device. The advantage of this product is that it does
not require close skin contact to provide a range of technical data on the health and well-
being of the pet. Information is transmitted via Bluetooth to smartphone application. Despite
the potential of this product, Halter might still face some difficulties proposing it the market
due to the fact that wearables represent just a small segment of the overall pet care category.
The goals of the report are to:
 Provide information of macro environment of Australian pet wear market for Halter
 Deliver company’s recommendations for Halter business strategy to approach
Australian market
Overall, the writing will seek to provide important information and suggestions about
Australia pet wear industry for Halter to develop suitable objectives for their
marketing/business strategy.
 Macro environment report 2020

Research Framework
By using basic structure of environmental analysis developed by Craig et al, (2003), the
report will analyse the macro environment of Australian pet wear industry. Based on the
model in Figure 1, Halter business environment can be divided into three different levels: the
general environment, the operating environment, and the internal environment. The figure is
illustrating the connection and relation of each environment to each other and to the
organisation as a whole. In this report, we will focus on the general environment using
STEEP analysis. The operating environment and internal environment will be detailly
discussed in other report to justify the internal strength and weakness of Halter core business
(customers, suppliers, partners, etc) compared to its potential competitors.

INTERNAL

OPERATING
(Customers, suppliers,
competitors and
partners)

GENERAL
(STEEP)

Figure 1: The three levels of the Environment

STEEP Analysis
Political/Legal factors
The political component of the general environment illustrates government and public
attitudes toward various industries. The legal factors are related to law/regulation that
members of the society are expected to follow.
Australia is a well-known country for supporting start-up companies. Australian government
provides many initiatives to support start up business to manage cash flow issues and
 Macro environment report 2020
maintain employment forces[CITATION Inn20 \l 3081 ]. Additionally, there are also many
Australian government grants/programs that help offset R&D costs, provide expert advice for
market, and fund for incubators to assist start-ups to succeed in international markets, etc
[ CITATION Han20 \l 3081 ]. Moreover, Australian business environment is ranked 15 th out
of 190 economies in term of ease of doing business thanks to the country’s political stability
and transparency in regulatory system [CITATION Bus20 \n \l 3081 ]. Overall, thanks to the
stable and transparent political system, Halter will not face any political barrier while
operating in Australia. The company will also not face any financial problem because of the
support from the government’s grants.
A political issue needed to consider is the diplomatic relation between Australia and China.
In order to reduce the manufacturing and labour cost, Halter might consider let its products
being manufactured and finalised by outsourcing partners that are primarily from China
[ CITATION Gio18 \l 3081 ]. However, the tension between Australia and China in recent
months due to the trade war of US-Australian strategic ally and China can raise the tariff for
products manufactured in China and exported to Australia [ CITATION Eli20 \l 3081 ]. In
this case, Indonesia can be an alternative choice for Halter thanks to the inexpensive labour
cost, high manufacturing technology and most importantly, having free trade agreement with
Australia[CITATION Gio181 \t \l 3081 ].
In the legal aspect, Halter products are probably sold in Australian market thanks to the
Australian Animal Law. According to new animal laws passed in 2016 in Australia, all pet
needs to be microchipped and dogs and cats are required to wear collars with the registration
disc installed [ CITATION AWL20 \l 3081 ]. However, it is illegal for wearing electronic
collars for animal in three states namely ACT, NSW, and SA[ CITATION RSP201 \l 3081 ].
To address this issue, Halter needs to clearly clarify whether contain electricity or not to the
Australian government.
Social factors
The social component of the general environment describes characteristics of the social
context in which the organization exists. Australia is a country of pet owners and pet lovers
as 62% of Australian households own a pet [ CITATION Lou19 \l 3081 ]. Moreover,
Australian pet owners are willing to spend up big for their beloved pet [CITATION Aus18
\t \l 3081 ]. Consumer is the first sale target for Halter in Australian market.
In Australia, Dog Police Unit is an important unit formed by Australian State Police to
provide specialist services such as general purpose, drug, firearms/explosive detection and
human remains dogs[ CITATION Dog20 \l 3081 ]. In order to train those dogs, the trainers
need special device to track the dogs’ health and analyse their status. Police/Government is
the second sale target for Halter in Australian market.
Pet care centre is growing and become a big business in Australia[ CITATION Pet17 \l
3081 ]. The business owners are investing more and more money on equipment to attract
customers and to increase the service quality. These pet centres are the third sale target for
Halter in Australian market.
Economic factors
 Macro environment report 2020
Australian pet care industry is a very profitable industry as pet owners are estimated to spend
more than $12.2 billion on pet products and veterinary services [ CITATION Han17 \l
3081 ]. With the high rate of pet ownership and spending, Halter products with innovative
and cutting-edge technology can be easily accepted by Australian consumers. However, the
company should wait until 2021 to launch their product to enter Australian market because
the spending rates might be slow down due to the impact of Covid-19 pandemic on
Australian economy[ CITATION Eco20 \l 3081 ]. In fact, consumers are not willing to spend
much on high tech equipment for their pets.
Ecological factors
The business sustainability trend is an ecological factor linked to increasing favour among
businesses to adopt sustainable practices, based on concerns about the adverse environmental
impact of business operations. This ecological trend might offer the opportunity for Halter to
strengthen the company’s corporate image and business ethics by conducting rightful
cooperate social responsibility (CSR).
Technological factors
With 94% of the entire population of Australia has access to high-speed Internet and 60% of
them go online multiple times a day [ CITATION Dan181 \l 3081 ], online businesses such
as e-commerce websites is one of the most efficient channel to reach a very large scale of the
consumer. In fact, e-commerce is more cost effective compared to sales via traditional
channels (Chitty et al, 2018). Therefore, in order to sell more products to the customers,
Halter needs to consider setting up an e-commerce channel that is well optimised and
designed.

Recommendations
After analysing the macro environment, here are our recommendations for Halter
business/marketing strategy:
Halter might become a multinational company designing, manufacturing and selling
wearables for pet, and health tracking software worldwide. To create and bring the best
experiences to a user, Halter should manage and divide its business structure into the
different division which is defined as Strategic Business Unit (SBU). In the business
operation of Halter in Australia, there should be three different department and Strategic
Business Unit (SBU), which include Halter Consumer Sales, Halter Government Sales, and
Halter Small Business Sales. Every SBU has its mission and different market segment to
focus on. Halter Consumer Sales is an SBU which operate in the consumer market segment
and being responsible for planning, marketing, managing and selling products to consumers.
Halter Government Sales is another SBU operate in offering a technological solution to the
government. Halter Small Business Sales is SBU offering products and technological solution
to small and medium pet care business.
Halter should offer both direct and indirect sale channels which include Halter retail stores,
Halter online stores and retailers. E-commerce sales should be recognized by the company as
a massive source of value in terms of inbound logistics. However, the other channels should
 Macro environment report 2020
also be invested as the brand needs to increase the brand image and product recognition when
entering Australian market.
Halter outbound logistics system should comprise warehousing and distribution of finished
products offered by the company. Halter purchases components and materials from various
suppliers, then gets them shipped to the assembling factories in Indonesia. When products are
finished, they should be stored in Indonesia warehouse and delivered directly to consumers
(via UPS/Fedex) who purchased from Halter online store. For other distribution channels
such as retail stores and other distributors, Halter should store products at Sydney Port,
Australia (where central warehouse is located) and ships products from there. For the
warranty services, customer can bring products back to nearest Halter stores or dedicated
warranty facilities.

References
AWL. (2020). Dog Laws & Regulations. Retrieved from The Animal Welfare League of
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advice/dog-laws-regulations
Bay, I. (2020). (Long) List of Government support available for Australian startups.
Retrieved from Medium: https://medium.com/@innovationbay/long-list-of-
government-support-available-for-australian-startups-1675069dad69
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https://www.austrade.gov.au/International/Invest/Why-
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%20regulatory,a%20safe%2C%20secure%20business%20environment.
Dog Unit. (2020). Retrieved from Government of New South Wales:
https://www.police.nsw.gov.au/about_us/organisational_structure/units/dog_unit
Doherty, D. (2018). WHY E-COMMERCE IS A BOOMING BUSINESS IN AUSTRALIA.
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business-australia/
Economic Response to the Coronavirus. (2020). Retrieved from Australian Government:
https://treasury.gov.au/coronavirus
Grimmer, L. (2019). Australians love their pets, so why don’t more public places welcome
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love-their-pets-so-why-dont-more-public-places-welcome-them-112062
Kingston, H. (2020). Top five government grants for startups. Retrieved from Smart
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funding/five-top-government-grants/
NCAN. (2018). Australians are spending up big when it comes to pampering their pets.
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https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/home/pets/australians-are-spending-up-big-when-
it-comes-to-pampering-their-pets/news-story/ba2be56314cecae7e3c2ec8983a4f78a
 Macro environment report 2020
Pets are big business. (2017). Retrieved from Business View:
https://business.nab.com.au/pets-big-business-26344/
Pino, G. (2018). How Australia Benefits From the Free Trade Agreement with Indonesia.
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Pino, G. (2018). Why Does Apple Manufacture in China? Retrieved from Sourci:
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https://kb.rspca.org.au/knowledge-base/is-the-use-of-electronic-dog-collars-legal/
Visontay, E. (2020). China trade tension to hit Australian beef and wool exports. Retrieved
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tension-to-hit-australian-beef-and-wool-exports-rural-bank-says
Walmsley, H. (2017). Australian pet owners spent $12.2 billion on their furry family
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ownership/8651270

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