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Die Niceshops GmbH ist ein E-Commerce-Unternehmen aus der Steiermark, welches in Österreich auch als das steirische Amazon bekannt ist. Die Niceshops betreibt international über 450 Onlineshops für Dritte, und führt eine Handvoll komplett eigenständig mit eigenen Marken (z.B. Geero, pool.shop oder JAKE). Täglich werden über 20.000 Pakete abgewickelt und versandt, die Exportquote beträgt dabei ca. 80%.
Durch den geplanten Börsengang versucht die Niceshops, sich zu diversifizieren um sich somit für potenzielle Investoren attraktiver zu gestallten. Ziel dieser Diversifizierung ist es, mit der neu aufgestellten Datenkraft GmbH ein Kernkompetenzzentrum für Logistik SaaS-Lösungen aufzubauen und Softwareprodukte für Unternehmen zu entwickeln und zu vertreiben. Der Niceshops kommt dabei die jahrelange Erfahrung bei der Einzelsendungsabwicklung von Paketen zugute. Dieses breite Knowhow soll ausgebaut und durch die Entwicklung von SaaS-Lösungen monetarisiert werden.
Derzeit besteht noch kein Neukundenakquise-Konzept für den Bereich SaaS-Lösungen in der Logistik. Dieses ist jedoch zwingend notwendig, um dem Erfolg des Diversifizierungsprozesses zu gewährleisten. Diese Masterarbeit beschäftigt sich daher mit den theoretischen Grundlagen des B2B Vertriebs von SaaS-Lösungen, den Anforderungen an Dienstleistungsunternehmen, der Auswahl der passenden Vertriebsstrategie, der Erstellung eines Neukundenakquise-Konzepts inklusive Vertriebsbudget, Maßnahmen und Erfolgskontrollen sowie Handlungsempfehlungen. Der theoretische Teil wird durch 15 Einzelexplorationen von potenziellen Kunden abgerundet.
Market Entry Concept for the US Beauty & Personal Care Market on the Example of Luxury Cosmetics Ltd
(2022)
The theoretical and practical aspects of the internationalisation of small companies and the market entrance into the American Beauty and Personal Care industry are presented in this thesis. This thesis aims to create a market entry concept for Luxury Cosmetics Ltd, a Croatian beauty company based in the coastal city of Rijeka. The company hopes to grow its operations outside of Europe using the sugar paste brand called Cleopatra Professional. As a result, the concept focuses on the beauty and personal care industry in the United States and the internationalisation of small and medium-sized enterprises. Additionally, the aim of the thesis is to select the most appropriate market entry mode and communication activities that accompany the entry mode. To acquire further information, a secondary and primary research were conducted based on the literature. In the primary research, eight experts in the field of internationalisation and seven experts in the field of communication participated in the study. The market entry concept is based on the literature and findings of the primary and secondary market research. It follows the phases that are established in strategic marketing and provides recommendations on the chosen market entry mode and the communication activities. The findings in this thesis show that the most appropriate market entry mode would be direct export in form of distributors.
The past two years have shown the importance of online retail for companies worldwide. Alongside the trend towards increasing online shopping activities, the importance of online advertising also rose drastically. Therefore, the competition in the field of online advertising experienced a tremendous upswing. Thus, companies need to improve the efficiency of their online advertising measures and specifically tailor them towards the target audience. The so-called full funnel advertising is a popular tool to reach potential customers along all steps of their customer journey and to specifically target and retarget the right audiences. As Cosmeterie lacks such an advertising concept at the moment, the aim of this master thesis is to develop a full funnel social media advertising concept for Cosmeterie in the UK. Therefore, the first part of this thesis will focus on the theoretical background of the cosmetics market and social media advertising in general. For this purpose, the characteristics of the cosmetics market and its target group are discussed in detail. Moreover, social media advertising is described with regards to its goals, characteristics and current trends in the cosmetics industry. Additionally, several social media advertising platforms are reviewed, as well as the targeting and advertising possibilities on the individual platforms. Following, the use of the marketing funnel in social media advertising is elaborated. As a result, a general valid social media advertising concept will be developed, based on the results of the literary research. Within the practical part, a SWOT analysis, a social media advertising audit and a target group analysis is conducted. To find out how to best address potential customers, a quantitative survey amongst them has been carried out. As a result, the afore gained insights are bundled and a full funnel social media advertising concept is developed for Cosmeterie in the UK including measures of action, budget, timetable and controlling. The implementation of the advertising concept should support Cosmeterie in reaching their company objectives of increasing the retargeting audience in the UK as well as the number of active customers.
Due to increasing globalisation and the growing trade volume associated with it, many companies are forced to develop internationally and enter new markets. An international market entry can lead to the desired success of many companies. However, this is associated with risks and costs. Especially for small companies, this step is very daring and presents them with great challenges due to their lack of international experience. Therefore, it is crucial to plan an international market entry well and to develop a systematic market entry concept, which includes a detailed analysis and planning phase, as well as a subsequent implementation and control phase. In the context of this master thesis, a market entry of small and medium-sized enterprises into the clothing market, both in theory and practice, is examined. The aim is to develop a market entry concept for the FoF OG, which wants to enter the Israeli market with the clothing brand Bolao. After the most important findings for developing a market entry concept have been presented by means of extensive literature research, the practical part is based on a qualitative market analysis. For this purpose, 15 expert interviews were conducted with experienced people in the Israeli clothing industry, by companies that have already entered the Israeli market, and with representatives of Footvolley Israel. The experts confirmed the theoretical findings that for a small company like the FoF OG, with few financial and human resources, as well as a lack of access to the Israeli market, direct exporting via a local distributer is the most advisable market entry mode. In this context, it is relevant to find a trustworthy partner in the Israeli market on a long-term basis. In addition, due to increasing competition, it is important to enter the Israeli market as soon as possible in order to position Bolao right in the market and to increase the brand awareness in Israel. For this purpose, a partnership with a footvolley school should be established and a cooperation with local footvolley teams should be started. To achieve the company’s objectives, the branding of a footvolley arena, the translation of Bolao’s website into Hebrew and the targeting of potential customers via social media should be realised. Furthermore, it is a major goal to establish the Bolao Bonus programme on the Israeli market.
The nautical market in Croatia is in constant growth, for which the general reason is a well-developed coastline of more than 5.000 km in length. The waterway infrastructure is being challenged with many potential issues for the environment that comes with the larger presence of the vessels over the summer season period. During this period many accidents are occurring, mostly because of careless skippers, bad weather, or even a combination of both. Therefore, Sea Tow aims to launch the product Sea Spill, a service for cleaning and preventing water pollution from hazardous substances, on the Croatian market. Sea Tow would be the first on-water, towing and salvage private organisation, as a pioneer in providing such innovative service. In relation, this thesis develops the concept for the launch of the service Sea Spill, with a focus on communication within the B2B segment, and aiming for insurance companies as customers. The thesis has three main segments. The first segment is the theoretical part discussing the concept development on a strategic level. The second segment includes the secondary and primary market research approach and results. Finally, the third segment develops the product launch concept suggestion for Sea Spill, based on the previous two thesis segment results. The results of the research suggest that the market is ready for such a service and would be supported by the insurance companies. However, as the Croatian nautical market is small and WoM has great power, it is expected that the acceptance of the state service organizations such as SAR is necessary. The results also suggest that there is a potential in the education of the customers of insurers, as well as raising the environmental awareness. The information collected should be taken into account when developing the communication strategy.
As the elderly population is constantly growing, the functional decline of elderly people constitutes a major concern within the global health care industry. Especially the Republic of North Macedonia is struggling with one of the highest growth rates in Europe but lacks in the provision of appropriate public care services for older adults. Therefore, the Red Cross of the Republic of North Macedonia aims to close this gap by offering a novel Personal Emergency Response Service (PERS), providing rapid medical help in emergency situations. In relation to this, a new brand should be established, positioning the new service as market leader and, concomitantly, fostering an increased brand awareness within the local population. As a result, this thesis presents a brand building concept for the new PERS service brand, containing six main steps as follows: 1. Preliminary market research including the situation analysis and primary research illustrating the basis for further strategic considerations 2. Definition of brand identity and strategic brand values 3. Definition of strategic brand positioning including the development of a new positioning category as basis for the market leadership position 4. Implementation of brand positioning through the creation of brand name, brand logo, slogan as well as evaluation of relevant brand touchpoints 5. Derivation of integrated communication measures including the selection of instruments as well as recommendations for actions summarized within an integrated communication plan 6. Establishment of controlling instruments to measure the concept’s success. The concept has been established by theoretical brand management principles and has afterwards been complemented by results from qualitative primary research containing relevant expert inputs on the given topic. In summary, the brand building concept follows a low-cost and step-by-step approach, focusing on building the brand with trusted PR and word-of-mouth measures, implementing advertising only at a later stage. Furthermore, it puts an emphasis on the visual connection to the Red Cross brand to leverage from its positive image and trust towards the organization, which comes right after the most central customer need of feeling safe at all times – the most central criteria for the establishment of the PERS service brand.
Considering the next years, the traditional, European e-learning sector will be challenged by several influences, starting with innovative start-ups with new online training approaches to North American providers penetrating the European Market. bit media e-solutions as one of these strong e-learning players on European ground with more than 16 years of experience therefore currently is looking for future B2C market potentials within the field of emerging markets to finally distribute their product portfolio there. As bit media e-solutions does not own any standardized tool to systemically screen foreign markets concerning their long-term market potential, this master thesis provides the company such a reusable market selection model to screen emerging B2C markets. To proof the sustainable usefulness of the developed model, the author moreover provides bit media e-solutions a ranking of the three highest attractive emerging markets at the end, initially starting with the markets Albania, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Kenya, Macedonia, Nigeria, Russia, Turkey and Vietnam. While the first part of the master thesis is focusing on the theoretical input for developing a market selection model, the core part is considered as the practical section, where a tailor-made model for bit media e-solutions is developed and applied. Moreover, and as an important prerequisite, potential criteria were internally defined and externally verified and weighted to reduce the subjectivity of the model. The final model consists of two stages and three steps, at end of every step inappropriate markets were knocked out. While emerging markets show high growth potential but also high risk uncertainty, the preliminary screening was executed by help of the checklist method with a focus on political and economic risks. The indept screening was carried out by using the scoring method as well as selected and weighted attractiveness, barriers and risk criteria. After this first phase the markets Indonesia, Macedonia and Vietnam showed the highest overall market potential for bit media e-solutions and therefore were visualized in a market portfolio analysis as final step. After the execution of expert interviews the market Indonesia is finally recommended as market with the highest market attractiveness, followed by Vietnam and Macedonia. The concluding chapter deals with concrete recommendations as well as a general critical reflection for bit media e-solutions as scientific base for their further business expansion strategy finally.
Development of an international internal communication concept with a focus on social intranets
(2017)
Today, companies steadily try to consider latest trends affecting the business and industry in order to grow and make profits. Unfortunately, they often forget to keep an eye on trends regarding internal communication. Often it is also the main area for which companies want to save expenses, albeit internal communication is very important to make employees communicate and collaborate. Furthermore, it is a central business function that is needed to get things done by indirectly influencing the company’s external image and reputation. Accordingly, it is essential to carry out research and develop an international internal communication concept for a company’s positive change. Having said that, the present master thesis deals with the elaboration of internal communication by outlining its significance and possibilities. As a wide range of instruments is already offered, it is vital for companies to know which communication instruments and tools can be applied for which purpose, and, additionally, to provide what internal stakeholders require. Even for an international active company the right choice of its communication activities can determine its long-term success, because this affects the way employees from different locations work together. In this context, new media and new technologies become more and more important to ensure a state-of-the-art working environment that turns into a more digital and social place. As a result, the thesis focuses on social intranets as collaborative internal communication tools. These platforms allow businesses to increase interaction and productivity by promoting efficient two-way communication. They support to redesign communication structure, reduce unnecessary correspondence and provide everything from one-source in real-time. However, various differences in terms of culture, language, etc. influence and determine a company’s internal communication. Although the requirements from company and user end may vary a lot, the main research results show that the commissioning company’s internal stakeholders are open for change and willing to use a social intranet to improve its situation. Thus, the primary dots are connected by developing an international internal communication concept with a focus on social intranets for RECOM. It provides an explanation as to how the company can achieve its communication goals making corporate life easier.
New products are pushing on the market within a very short period of time, which is also known as the fast fashion phenomenon, but long lead-times contrast the short life cycle of products. For retailers, it is getting more difficult to make predictions about new trends and forecast the demand of new fashion products, due to the shortening of the product lifecycle and also the fast changing customers buying behavior. Therefore, it is crucial for retailers in the fast living fashion industry to develop a forecasting model for predicting the demand of new fashion products. That is, why L&S AG is aiming for a forecasting model, which can be applied in the future for making better product decisions. The main purpose of this master thesis is the suggestion of an appropriate forecasting technique and the development of an online questionnaire, which provides the necessary data to implement a demand forecasting model. First, an extensive literature research about the most important aspects of the fashion retail industry, the customers buying behavior, forecasting in general and demand forecasting in the fashion retail industry is performed. Within a primary research insights are gained about the customers buying behavior, online survey methods as well as forecasting techniques. Expert interviews helped to define the questions for the online survey. To be able to suggest an appropriate forecasting technique for demand forecasting, a value-benefit analysis is performed to evaluate different forecasting methods. According to the findings from the literature research and the primary market research, the author suggests a combination of two forecasting techniques, a regression analysis and an appearance rating, to implement a concrete forecasting model. Using the presented online questionnaire for data collection and the forecasting model based on the suggested forecasting methods offers L&S AG the possibility to reach the defined company goals.
Companies have to continuously focus on innovation in order to survive. Especially in the software industry it is important to do so due to rapid technological change and shorter product life cycles. To guarantee the success of an innovation, a structured innovation process is needed. In addition, it is recommended to integrate marketing from the beginning in order to ensure that customer and market orientation are being considered and incorporated throughout the entire innovation process. The aim of this master thesis is to elaborate a marketing-oriented software innovation process. Therefore, the theoretical part deals with the structure of an innovation process and how marketing can contribute to the different phases of an innovation process. The structure of an innovation process needs to be able to respond to company-specific factors. This is the reason why four process approaches are valid for the software industry. These are the spiral model, the Stage-Gate process, the V-Model, and the waterfall model. Currently, the marketing department of AVL´s business unit Advanced Simulation Technologies (AST) is solely involved at the end of the innovation process by creating marketing material for the promotion of the software release. To discover how the AST marketing department can support the different phases of an innovation process from the idea generation to the software release, 15 individual explorations with employees from international software companies are carried out. These interviewees also provide insights into their organization’s innovation process. The outcome of these explorations serves as a basis for an internal focus group in which selected AST employees are asked to share their opinion about how the AST marketing department could be integrated in the different phases of the innovation process. As a next step, a marketing-oriented innovation process must be defined for AST. Therefore, it is discovered which of the four mentioned innovation processes is most likely to integrate marketing from the beginning and to fulfill further process criteria. As a result, a recommended innovation process as well as marketing tasks for the different phases of the selected process are introduced.
INFRAENERGIE is an Austrian manufacturer and trader of innovative and tailormade infrared heating systems. Currently, their products are only sold in Austria but in the future, they intend to enter the northern Italian market through indirect distribution. Many producers sell their products to intermediaries that subsequently resell the goods to other vendors or end customers. For manufacturers that aim to exploit new sales potentials it is essential to win enough profitable sales partners. However, in practice it could be quite challenging to attract new partners and to motivate them to engage in a cooperation. Therefore, a communication concept that accordingly addresses the targeted intermediaries and convinces them of the value of a sales partnership is required. In the initial chapters the theoretical background of a communication concept that focuses on the acquisition of sales partners is outlined. In the beginning important aspects of sales partner marketing and the acquisition process are described. After providing insights into business-to-business (B2B) and sales partner marketing communications, the steps for developing the concept are explained in detail. At first, possibilities for the situation analysis and potential objectives are presented, followed by the target group planning and presentation of strategy alternatives. Secondly, the operational planning of communication concepts is discussed. This chapter focuses on the message formulation, planning of measures, budgeting and controlling. As a basis for the development of the communication concept the internal situation and external environment of the company was investigated. Within the primary market research, a workshop with employees of INFRAENERGIE and qualitative interviews with intermediaries and manufacturers operating in the Italian heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) industry were conducted. The research revealed that Italian intermediaries must be approached differently than those from Austria. Italy is characterized by a long distribution channel where trusting relationships and reliability play a decisive role. After formulating the strategy for the concept, the operational planning was done. This included the planning of measures, contents, budget and the definition of key performance indicators (KPIs) for controlling. Finally, recommendations for further action are provided.
Countries in the Asian Pacific region are increasingly attractive for companies to do business with, especially China. However, just because companies enter specific markets does not necessarily mean that these countries are also potential markets for other companies. The Asian Pacific market consists of various countries that could be potential markets. In order to select the market with the highest potential among these countries, a structured market selection process is essential. LOGICDATA finds itself at this point. It has already preselected three potential markets, Japan, China, and Australia. However, the organization can only enter one of these markets due to the availability of resources. Additionally, LOGICDATA does not have enough market intelligence in these countries to choose the most promising market independently. Therefore, the objective of this Master’s Thesis is the elaboration of a B2B market selection concept for the company LOGICDATA, in relation to its aims of entering the APAC region. The market selection concept is based on a one-stage market selection method. This means that all three countries are screened based on the same criteria and to the same extent. This method is especially appropriate when the number of potential countries is small. In contrast, if a company considers more than five countries, a multistage method is better-suited to market selection. In order to compare the different markets, it is necessary to define relevant market selection criteria related to market attractiveness, market barriers to entry, and market risk. Throughout this thesis, secondary market research is performed for collecting the required market data, which serves as a basis for the evaluation of each country. Furthermore, expert interviews are conducted to gain additional information and verify the findings of the secondary research. The comparison of the three preselected countries resulted an outcome that was not beyond doubt. Japan and Australia achieved a similar score, which meant that a clear recommendation on which market to enter was not possible. Nevertheless, the thesis includes derived recommendations for LOGICDATA, including which further actions are necessary in order to select the market with the highest potential.
Nowadays people tend to recollect on their physical needs as health is given again a high priority. Thus, it is no surprise, that the demand and supply for health offers constantly increase – online and offline. An industry that thereby profits from, is the health tourism industry. Therefore, it is no surprise that also the competition in Austria is tough and it thus plays a key role to stand out and attract potential guests. Thereby, it is of specific interest to generate brand awareness and be set in customer’s mindsets. An instrument, that thereby offers great opportunities due to its possibility to communicate with people worldwide without hardly any boundaries, is social media. Therefore, this master thesis strives to develop a social media concept for the health tourism industry on the example of the Gesundheitsresort Königsberg to increase the supported brand awareness in the target market Hungary. The first part of the thesis strives to gain know-how about the health tourism industry, brand awareness as well as social media and concludes with the theoretical social media concept to increase the supported brand awareness. The second part initiates with a short secondary analysis about the differences between the target market Hungary and the home market Austria. Further, within the practical part, a social media concept with the objective to increase the supported brand awareness was developed based on a primary research. The thereby conducted online survey questioned 130 Hungarian social media users with special interest in health / healthy lifestyle inter alia about their health as well as social media behaviour. The concept commences with a situation analysis as well as a SWOT analysis, followed by strategical decisions regarding positioning and SWOT norm strategies. Based on the findings and decisions of the research, the recommendations for the implementation were given with special focus on social media channels, content and resources needed. The last step of the concept defines necessary KPIs for the company that should be tracked to reach the objective. The master thesis concludes with a summary about the recommended actions that need to be followed and later controlled to reach the objective to increase the supported brand awareness with social media.
The fast-moving era of digitalisation has changed people’s behaviour but also economy and many businesses in the whole world. In fact entering a new market or establishing a new business online is nowadays much easier and more efficiently than in the past but of course also more competitive. A-WARE is a start-up based in Austria offering natural protein made of hemp. Currently the company is only operating in Austria. Their products are available in the own online shop and in selected premium stores but the company wants to digitally exploit new markets across the borders of Austria and as a consequence increase revenue. Due to the fact that the United Kingdom is an attractive market for sports nutrition and superfood, the company has determined the UK as a new target market for 2019. Therefore the aim of this thesis is to develop a B2C digital communication concept to boost international direct online sales with a special focus on the UK. For this purpose, a profound analysis of literature has been carried out and the newest insights regarding digital communication as well as contents of a digital communication concept have been elaborated. The author also found out important success factors in digital communication and the most efficient marketing tools to acquire new visitors from abroad. Furthermore secondary and primary market research has been conducted in order to validate the findings in theory but also to gain more insights from experts to be able to elaborate a digital communication concept. Within the practical part of this master thesis, a digital communication concept on the example of A-WARE has been developed. It comprises a situation analysis, communication objectives, the personas, strategy and of course the most efficient online activities to attract new visitors from the UK. Furthermore it consists of valuable recommendations, a budgeting plan and appropriate key performance indicators in order to be able to control the digital communication activities.
A fast internationalization process is of special interest for small businesses in the field of B2C, as the operating income can be increased faster through operating in various markets with a rather small and suitable for the massmarket product portfolio. Especially young brands in the F&B industry often start directly with online marketing activities and direct e-commerce, which is not bound to traditional geographical borders. Thus, speed in processes is required, which often leads to missing conceptual approaches in social media marketing. In order to successfully support a fast internationalization process, a concept for a brand’s social media appearance and to maximize reach is required. Such a concept is relevant for the beverages brand waterdrop, as the brand is currently planning to enter the market of UK. The goal of the concept is to accelerate the planned turnover target gathered out of social media in UK through the use of a conceptual approach aiming to reach virality with the brand’s social media activities. Hence, the theoretical part of this thesis deals with latest insights from literature, which delivers the basics for a strong social media appearance. On the one hand, important drivers of consumer behavior and e-commerce requirements, as well as market conditions in the F&B industry are discussed. On the other hand, the strategic framework for a social media concept is outlined in the theoretical section. Above that, crucial aspects and the meaning of channels, community, influencers, and content requirements for social media are discussed. In order to differentiate on a cost-effective scale through social media, mechanisms of virality are of special interest for the respective social media concept. Theoretical pillars of a SMM concept lead over to the practical section of this thesis, which researches success factors for a social media concept with virality aims through case studies and 17 expert interviews. The findings from theory represent the basis for the market research. The findings from the market research are summarized in topic-related sections, which lead to a customer-centric and internationalization-direct social media marketing concept for the brand waterdrop.
The Baumschule Steiner GmbH is a family owned nursery situated in Hochburg-Ach in Upper Austria. The nursery was founded in 1989. From the beginning they focused on a production of high quality plants. The company has been exporting for over 25 years and has now an export quote of 18%.
Today the family cultivates hedge and heath plants on six hectares. For a successful future they know that it is important to stay innovative and curious. Hermann Steiner, the chief executive officer, is constantly looking for new opportunities to generate sustainable growth. The latest product extension, the ilex crenata Robustico, has been successfully launched to the Austrian market. Based on this, the company wants to introduce this box substitute to the United Kingdom.
The aim of this master thesis is to support the Austrian nursery in its internationalisation process. This thesis provides a concept to enter the horticultural market of the United Kingdom successfully.
The main aspects of the theoretical section are the market entry as a small and medium sized enterprise, the selection of the entry mode, and the communication during the market entry. First, the characteristics of a small and medium sized enterprise during their internationalisation are determined. Based on this, different market entry concepts are described and the most suitable market entry concept is selected. Ultimately, a closer look is taken at the entry mode decision as well as the designing of the global marketing programme with the focus on communication.
To gain further information, a secondary and a primary research were conducted in the practical part. During the primary research eight experts in the field of internationalisation, as well as seven experts in the field of the horticultural industry in the United Kingdom were interviewed. The findings of the secondary research and the opinion of the experts were combined for the market entry concept of Baumschule Steiner GmbH. It consists of recommendations on the selected entry mode, recommendations on the communication, and an action plan. The last part of this master thesis contains further recommendations on the marketing mix, as well as on the implementation.
Development of a Market Selection Concept for the B2B Segment of C.O.W. Handels & Marketing KG
(2017)
Advertising specialties, from simple calendars to small electronic devices such as USB drives, constitute one of the classic and one of the oldest advertising media. The advertising specialties industry is a profitable but fiercely competitive B2B market where innovative ideas are the key to success. C.O.W. Handels & Marketing KG, a manufacturer of jewellery and other accessories made from wood, leather and steel, entered this market with the launch of its Cowstyle Corporate Designs segment in 2014. After initial success in Austria, the Central and Eastern European (CEE) region was identified as a potentially profitable target for expansion of the segment. However, the company lacks international business experience in this region. Sixteen CEE countries were identified as potential expansion candidates, and this high number makes selection of the right target market even more difficult. Therefore, the goal of this thesis is to develop a market selection concept for the Cowstyle B2B segment for use in the CEE region. Consequently, a market selection analysis was carried out to identify the most attractive country markets for the segment in this region. In the theoretical part of the thesis, all relevant elements of the market selection concept were illustrated to define the theoretical market selection concept for companies in the advertising specialties industry. In the practical part, a selection concept tailored to Cowstyle Corporate Designs was developed based on the theory in the previous part. Market selection criteria were defined and weighted and a four-stage selection procedure with different evaluation methods was created. The first stage subjected all 16 countries to an elimination procedure using the checklist method to eliminate countries which did not meet specific minimum requirements. The next two stages evaluated the remaining countries based on both macroeconomic and industryspecific criteria using the scoring method. In the last stage, on the basis of qualitative expert interviews, the top three countries from the previous stages were ranked in the categories of market attractiveness, market risks and barriers, as well as strategic advantages. The three most promising countries in this analysis are the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Estonia, in that order. In the final chapters, specific recommendations for action are presented based on the analysis results. Furthermore, the procedures and methods used in the market selection concept are critically discussed to further improve the concept for future use by Cowstyle.
Nowadays, more and more companies are forced to internationalise due to the increasing globalisation and the need to remain competitive. Especially for small firms, an international expansion could lead to cost savings and the establishment of greater know-how and competencies. However, many firms fail in going international due to a poor entry planning. Thus, companies have to consider the importance of a well-developed market entry concept, which requires a thorough analysis, planning, implementation and control phase. In this master thesis, the market entry of small-scale enterprises in the British software market will, on both a theoretical and practical level, be investigated. The thesis aims to develop a market entry concept for Koerbler GmbH, a small Austrian web agency situated in the south of Styria. Based on one already existing customer in the UK, the company wants to expand its business there by entering the British software market with its CRM software brand KundenMeister. Therefore, this concept focuses on SMEs, the B2B sector as well as on the UK software market. In order to gain greater insights into the UK business environment, 15 qualitative expert interviews with internationalisation institutions, B2B/service companies already entered the UK market, and with companies selling their software in the UK are carried out. A comparison of theory and practice suggests that due to great cultural differences in the business etiquette of Austria and the UK as well as the limited financial and personnel resources of Koerbler, the company should enter the UK market via direct export by using a distributor. Furthermore, the highly competitive market area requires a so-called ‘verticalisation’ of the firm’s CRM software by focusing on specific industry sectors, which are in the case of Koerbler the consultancy and health sector. Thus, target groups of the firm are primarily distribution partners, but also SMEs operating in those industries. In order to differentiate from other CRM software firms, Koerbler GmbH should position itself as solution-oriented and dynamic company in the UK market. This positioning should be emphasised by defining a stellar USP that is communicated uniformly across all means. In this context, communication instruments suitable for the UK are personnel selling, a website with .co.uk domain, trade fairs and social media, in particular LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. Finally, as a certain level of trust is needed in UK business deals, branding, references and building up a wide network of partners are necessary entry measures.
Nowadays, more and more companies are forced to enter new markets due to globalisation and in order to remain competitive. These internationalisations offer advantages such as cost-savings or establishment of new competencies and knowhow. On the other hand, there are disadvantages or challenges, which can hinder or complicate a market entry, such as the wrong evaluation of own skills and competencies or the target market. Furthermore, especially small firms tend to underestimate and spend too little time and money on a thorough and systematic market entry planning. Every market entry concept requires after a careful analysis a planning, implementation and controlling phase, which lay the foundation for a successful market development. The aim of the present master thesis is the development of a market entry concept for siin life, an Austrian cosmetics company located in Graz. Thereby, the focus is put on the theoretical and practical investigation of the market entry into the Chinese cosmetics market. Based on first test trials through CBEC platforms in China, the company wants to enter the market, after the registration of the products of their brand “siin Edition Edelweiss”. Therefore, the developed concept focuses on SME’s, the B2C sector and the Chinese cosmetics market. After a comprehensive literature research on the different existing market entry concepts, the practical part is built upon a qualitative market research. In order to gain greater knowledge, 17 interviews with experts in internationalisation, from B2C companies that already entered China and companies selling cosmetics in China, were carried out. The experts confirm that due to great cultural differences of Austria and China in addition to lack of personnel and financial resources, the market should be entered via direct export with a local Chinese partner. In this context, building trustworthy relationships with business partner in China is a necessary step for a successful market entry. The market communication in China shall be executed and steered by the local Chinese partner in order to position the company as a high-quality producer of skin care. In this regard, siin life can take supportive action by focusing on a strong and uniform branding across all means and to communicate the brand recognition through references of already existing domestic customers and partners.
Every customer contact at each customer touchpoint impacts the customer’s experience in a positive or a negative way. Due to the internet and social media the number of these touchpoints reached a new peak. Simultaneously, there is a shift in consumer behaviour. Consumers are more connected than ever and actively build communities which are strongly influenced by opinion leaders who play an especially crucial role in the fashion industry. Consequently, the provision of a seamless and consistent customer journey is essential in order to devote financial as well as personal resources to touchpoints preferably used by a company’s target audience. This is especially crucial for companies like New One who want to intensify their business within the UK market, the most developed online retail market within Europe. Based on these facts, this master thesis deals with the elaboration of an online customer experience concept for New One with focus on the UK market. The initial chapters of the following thesis illustrate characteristics of both ecommerce as well as the fashion industry. Thereby, current e-commerce trends, characteristics of an online fashion shopper as well as fashion shopping motives are highlighted before explaining the fundamentals of online customer experience management. Subsequently, all covered topics are theoretically combined in an online customer experience concept. As a next step, a detailed situation analysis including an empirical study is executed to gain culture specific knowledge as well as information about the target group’s online shopping habits and preferences. Results show that the target group has high expectations regarding usability standards and tends to impulsive shopping behaviour as well as variety seeking. Additionally, it shares rather masculine and individualistic values and is open to new technology. These findings lead to the elaboration of multiple key online customer journey constellations used within fashion industry. Taking this information into account an online customer experience concept for New One with focus on the UK market is developed which defines the company’s online customer experience strategy and recommended online customer experience actions.