1. Introduction Popular Holdings is a Singapore-based company that is listed on the Singapore Exchange. Popular is best known for its concatenation of Popular Bookshops under the Retail and Distribution unit. The Group presently carries out its publication activities through subordinates runing in states such as Singapore. Malaysia. Hong Kong. Macau. Taiwan and Canada. Its bookshop operations have a web of over 90 Popular Bookshops and 360 Popular managed bookshops with its nucleus concerns in retail. distribution. publication and e-learning.
2. History of the Company |1924 |Popular started in Singapore under the trade name of Cheng Hing Company. established by the late Mr Chou Sing Chu. It distributed | | |Chinese storybooks. | |1930 |Established World Book Company in Singapore to administer Chinese books and subsequently moved into the publication concern. | |1936 |Established Popular Book Company in Singapore to sell Chinese books. | |1949 |Incorporated World Publishing Company in Hong Kong to print magazines and Chinese books for both local and Asiatic markets.
| |1952 |Set up United Publishing House Pte Ltd in Singapore and Malaysia to print text editions. | |1975 |Started offering English rubrics in Singapore and was positioned as “The Bilingual Bookshop” . Business grew dramatically. | |1984 |Opened the first bilingual bookstore in Malaysia. | |1990 |Introduced the POPULAR Card to cultivate client trueness. | |1993 |Expanded the concern range by retailing music merchandises and audio accoutrements under the trade name name of “CD-RAMA” . | |1997 |Listed Popular Retentions Limited ( “POPULAR” ) on the Singapore Exchange.
| |2000 |Set up joint venture. EdnoLand ( HK ) Limited. to supply synergistic larning programmes to preschool kids. This signified the start | | |of the Group’s e-learning enterprises. | |2002 |Entered the e-learning market of Mainland China | |2003 |Incorporated a wholly-owned subordinate. Popular Digital Products ( Shenzhen ) Ltd in January. go forthing the first footmark in Mainland | | |China’s printing market. | |2003 |Ventured into Taiwan printing market. | |2006 |Successfully organized the inaugural [ electronic mail protected ]and [ email protected ]. pulling over 400. 000 visitants.
| |2008 |Successfully organized the inaugural [ electronic mail protected ]Kong 2008. | |2009 |Launched “UrbanWrite”—a lifestyle letter paper construct shop that goes beyond the rudimentss. | |2009 |Opened a new construct bilingual bookstore { prologue } at ION Orchard. | |2010 |Celebrated the fifth day of remembrance of [ electronic mail protected ]and [ email protected ]Both BookFests managed to accomplish record turnouts of over | | |half a million visitants each. | 3. Management Structure Popular Holdings has a centralised organisational construction. Mr Chou Cheng Ngok is the Executive Chairman of the Board.
In position of the Group’s individual leading construction. Mr Vangatharaman Ramayah was appointed as the Independent Director to take and organize the activities of non-executive managers in fortunes where it would be inappropriate for the Chairman to function in such capacity. The Independent Directors. Mr Vangatharaman Ramayah and Mrs Lim Soon Tze guarantee that there is a good balance of power and authorization to enable independent exercising of nonsubjective opinion of corporate personal businesss. All major determinations made by the Chairman are reviewed by the Audit Committee ( chaired by Mr Vangatharaman Ramayah ) .
The Nominating Committee ( chaired by Mrs Lim Soon Tze ) reviews his public presentation sporadically and the Remuneration Committee ( chaired by Mr Vangatharaman Ramayah ) reviews his wage bundle. Hence. the Board believes that there are equal precautions against an uneven concentration of power and authorization in a individual person. For direction intents. the Group is organised on a world-wide footing into concern units based on their merchandises and services. and has four operating sections as follows: Retail and Distribution. Publication and E-Learning. Property Development and Corporate.
Ms Lim Lee Ngoh and Mr Poon Chi Wai Ponch are the Executive Directors who are in charge of the public presentation of the concerns. [ movie ] 4. Markets Served 4. 1 Countries Served As of 30 April 2012. Popular had 148 bookshops – 63 in Singapore. 70 in Malaysia and 15 in Hong Kong. Popular is the biggest book retail merchant in Singapore. Malaysia and Hong Kong ( Chairman’s Statement. Annual Report 2012 ) . Popular is doing fast and extended inroads into the Greater China market. particularly in China and Taiwan. There have been marketing offices and subordinates set up in Beijing. Shenzhen. Guangzhou and Taipei. 4.
2 Customer Groups Served Due to the assorted subdivisions in its nucleus concern and the assortment of merchandises offered at retail shops. Popular serves different clients of all ages. including pupils who constitute a big part of their client base. Popular’s clients range from single consumers to corporate groups. 5. Merchandises Offered Popular has its nucleus concerns in retail. distribution. publication and E-learning. As stated in the 2012 Annual Report. “though the book concern is frequently labelled a sundown industry. retail and distribution [ of books ] are one of Popular’s strong nucleus businesses” .
Popular’s bookshops have merchandises such as books ( text editions. appraisal books. storybooks. mention books ) . Cadmiums. DVDs. educational package. computing machine accoutrements. art stuffs. letter paper. electronics. playthings. games and gifts. 6. Recent Performance of the Company Popular Bookstore has been accomplishing increasing turnovers for 3 back-to-back old ages. As seen in Fig 1. 1. Popular achieved a turnover of S $ 439 million in 2011 in its Retailing and Distribution sector. bettering from the past consequences of 2010 and 2011.
The addition in turnover in the Retail and Distribution section is chiefly due to 9 new mercantile establishments opening in assorted locations in Singapore. Malaysia and Hong Kong and the book verifier programme held in Malaysia. where Malayan pupils were each given a book verifier deserving RM $ 200 each as portion of Malaysia’s authorities budget in the instruction sector. Besides. the increased turnover is due to cut down costs – In 2010. Popular reduced costs by cut downing its retail shop infinite from15200m2 in 2009 to 13700m2 in 2010. Its Publication and E-Learning sector is making good every bit good. with its turnover increasing from S $ 69 million in 2011 to S $ 72 million in 2012.
Go-Easel is one of Popular’s enterprises which led to this addition in turnover. Go-Easel characteristics digitalised appraisal books which provides instant marker and measure by measure solutions. It gained popularity among pupils and parents due to its convenient and effectual manner in assisting pupils academically. [ pic ] Profits before revenue enhancement ( PBT ) in the Retail & A ; Distribution of Popular Bookstore experienced a positive growing as shown in Figure 1. 2. with PBT of S $ 29 million in 2012. bettering from S $ 19. 1 and S $ 10. 9 million in 2011 and 2010 severally. However. there was a bead in PBT in the Publishing & A ; E-Learning sector. diminishing about 24.
7 % . from S $ 9. 7 million in 2011 to S $ 7. 3 million in 2012. This was due to the shutting of one of its magazine distribution concern due to reconstituting. However. because this closing is merely a one-off cost. the chances of the Publishing & A ; E-Learning sector in Popular Bookstore still remains hopeful for future growing and greater net incomes. [ movie ] 7. Macro-Environment Analysis 7. 1 Political Forces Education policies implemented by the authorities can better Popular’s gross revenues. For illustration. in Malaysia. as portion of the budget allocated by the authorities in 2012. every pupil in Malaysia received a erstwhile book verifier deserving RM $ 200.
This policy led to greater disbursement in bookshops by the Malaysian community. Popular was the biggest bookshop company with 70 bookshops in Malaysia. and so Popular experienced an increased turnover in 2012. However. governmental ordinances may restrict demand and cut down net income for Popular Bookstore. The Media Development Authority in Singapore prohibits any import of books. publication. audio stuffs that contains content that may be “objectionable on moral. racial or spiritual evidences. or deemed damaging to Singapore’s national involvement.
” ( MDA. 2011 ) Therefore. Popular Bookstore is restricted in their scope of books and media as it has to follow with these ordinances. doing it to lose some of its competitory border to online E-books retail merchants. Book readers in Singapore may be able to buy the restricted stuffs from these retail merchants. as these retail merchants are based abroad and are non restricted by the Singapore jurisprudence. 7. 2 Economic Forces The comparatively high rising prices rate in Singapore ( 4. 1 % ) and Hong Kong ( 4.
0 % ) in 2012 and the bleak planetary economic mentality is fortuitously. non much of a stumbling block for Popular Bookstore. with it accomplishing positive growing in its Retail and Distribution sector. This could besides be attributed to the points that Popular sells. which are largely books ( Eg. Assessment books. text editions ) and letter paper. The demand for these points has a little. positive value of income-elasticity because they are necessities and normal goods for pupils. Hence. a lessening in incomes due to hapless economic conditions consequences in a less than proportionate lessening in demand for Popular’s books. therefore Popular has non been severely affected.
7. 3 Social Forces In today’s universe. many deem instruction as an of import tool towards a better paying occupation and a better life. Therefore. the disbursement on instruction. which includes disbursement on text editions. letter paper and appraisal books. is increasing. For illustration. in Singapore. the consumer disbursement on instruction has been increasing at a steady rate. from US $ 84. 1 million in 2008 to US $ 155. 4 million in 2011. ( GMID. 2012 ) . This shows that Singaporeans are increasing willing to pass on education-related points. such as text editions and assessment books. to supplement the acquisition.
As a bookshop with a niche merchandise market of assessment books and text editions. Popular Bookstore is able to profit from this tendency of increased disbursement in instruction. With the comparatively high rising prices rates. particularly in Singapore and Hong Kong. consumers are going more value witting. Popular Bookstore has done good to provide to the demands of the consumers and projecting a ‘value for money’ image. by offering rank cards and publicities on their points on a regular footing. One of such publicities is the back-to-school publicity. leting pupils and their parents to buy letter paper and books at discounted monetary values.
7. 4 Technological Forces The increasing connectivity of the Internet island broad ( e. g. 4G nomadic web and OpenNet in Singapore ) has led to more on-line consumers. The size of the on-line shopping market is big. making S $ 1. 1 billion in 2010. and is expected to make S $ 4. 4 billion in 2015. ( Techinasia. 2011 ) . This could perchance intend that clients who normally purchase from brick-and-mortar stores like Popular would now shop at on-line bookshops such as Amazon or Barnes & A ; Noble. While Popular does hold an online bookshop. it is non well-known or often-used.
Therefore. the presence of well-established international online bookstores become a replacement to Popular Bookstores. Besides. the affordability of e-books can present a menace to Popular’s gross revenues of hardcopy books. The monetary value of Kindle Fire. an e-book reader manufactured by Amazon. dropped to US $ 159. doing it more low-cost for consumers. Amazon uses the pricing scheme of loss leader. which involves puting the monetary value of Kindle Fire at cost monetary value. and doing important net income from the sale of e-books. Therefore. e-books have now become a replacement of hard-copy books. such as those sold by Popular.
7. 5 Legal Forces The debut of the Lemon Law in Singapore in September 2012 could impact Popular Bookstores. With the lemon jurisprudence. consumers can inquire for an exchange or even a full refund if goods “do non fitting criterions of quality and public presentation. ” ( CASE. 2012 ) . This could intend reduced net incomes for Popular Bookstore if consumers keep returning to the bookshops to interchange their purchased goods. Without proper enforcement or monitoring. the Lemon Law could even be abused by consumers who repeatedly demand for an exchange or refund. taking to a loss of efficiency and net incomes.
However. Popular is improbable to be threatened by the Lemon Law. as it already has an exchange policy in topographic point. where it allows its clients to interchange faulty merchandises within 7 yearss of purchase. 7. 6 Impact of Macro-Environment Forces on Popular Bookstores Popular Bookstore still remains a strong name in the book industry. The fact that it has the bulk of the market portion in Singapore and that the company’s PBT has been steadily increasing proves that the company has been remaining competitory despite the immense figure of macroenvironment factors it faces. 8. Market. Industry and Competitive Analysis for Book Buyers in Singapore
Our selected market is the market of book purchasers in Singapore. These include clients who buy books from both physical bookshops and on-line bookshops. 8. 1 Market Size The market for book-buyers is that of an oligopoly. with few incumbent houses. Hardcopy book format is still a multi-million dollar industry in Singapore traveling strong in the face of stiff competition from on-line book shops. The entire market size of brick-and-mortar shops is deserving about $ 165million. In 2011. Popular Bookshops hold about 62. 5 % of the entire market portion. with Kinokuniya ( 25 % ) and Times Bookstores ( 12. 5 % ) as Popular’s chief rivals. 8. 2 Market Trends.
Popular Bookstores is still sing a turning tendency as its value gross revenues grew from $ 4. 106 million in 2006 to $ 5. 107 million in 2011. This may be due to the turning richness of the Singaporean population. ensuing in higher demand for books for both leisure reading and instruction. However. this tendency might non go on in the hereafter. This is in visible radiation of stiff competition faced from e-books and on-line shops such as Amazon. Book Depository. Fortunately. Bookshops like Boundary lines and Page One have all exited the Singapore market and therefore there is less competition from these big. well-established houses with Popular Bookshops.
8. 3 Industry SWOT Analysis for Book Buyers in Singapore | |Positive Effect |Negative Effect | |Interna|Strengths |Weaknesses | |l |Popular has a widespread concatenation of shops throughout Singapore. |Low assortment of books as compared to other bookshops such as | |Factors|especially in the heartlands. This makes it really accessible and |Kinokuniya | | |convenient for the clients. |Lack of consciousness of its online bookshop | | |Wide scope of text editions and letter paper with really strong monopoly power |“Limited choice” of books on its online bookshop ( e. g. Twilight. | | |over appraisal books and textbooks |Lord of the Rings. Animal Farm ) | | |
Being of { prologue } and Epilogue ( a book coffeehouse located in { |“Poor interface” ( Survey. 2012 ) of online bookshop | | |prologue } ) to supply an alternate book-buying experience: ‘a novel|Absence of a proper feedback system on its online bookshop | | |brand of book retail therapy. distinctively designed to give a made-to-order |Under-utilization of Facebook page ensuing in inaction and | | |multifaceted lifestyle experience’ .
|unresponsiveness | | | { prologue } was awarded the Premium Service GEM Award for the Books | | | |and Stationery Category by the Singapore Retailers Association in | | | |recognition of POPULAR’s attempt in presenting first-class client | | | |service. ( Chairman’s Statement. Annual Report 2012 ) | | |Externa|Opportunities |Threats | |l |
Turning incomes of book-buyers lead to greater demand for books for |Local brick-and-mortar rivals such as Kinokuniya are seeking | |Factors|leisure and instruction |to improve their presence by puting up a 4th shop in Jurong | | |Many of the mark audience are tech-savvy but have yet to buy |East MRT ( JEM ) to make out to more clients.
| | |e-book readers such as Kindle or Nook |Due to technological promotion. the Popularity and accessibility| | |Well-established houses like Borders and Page One have antecedently left |of online bookshops ( Amazon. Barnes & A ; Noble. Book Depository ) and| | |the Singapore market. cut downing the sum of competition |e-books is diminishing the demand for hardcopy books at physical | | | |stores | |
8. 4 Detailed Industry Analysis of Bookstores | | |Physical Stores |Online Stores | | |Kinokuniya |Second-hand Bookstores |Amazon/Barnes & A ; Baronial |Book Depository | |Description |Kinokuniya bookshops are located in cardinal metropolis |Various second-hand bookshops in Singapore |Both Amazon and Barnes & A ; Noble are American online retail |Book Depository is a UK-based | | |locations. with its flagship shop located at Ngee Ann |sell many authoritative and modern-day rubrics at |giants specialized in selling books in both hardcopy and |independent online bookshop | | |City. Kinokuniya offers a broad scope of rubrics and besides a |extremely inexpensive monetary values.
|e-book formats. They are grouped discussed together in this |which sells chiefly hardcopy | | |cafe within its shop. |There are many second-hand bookshops in Bras|table due to their similar features. |formats. | | | |Basah Complex. ( Eg. Evernew Bookstore. Pro | | | | | |Saint Bookstore. Book Point. Knowledge Book | | | | | |Centre ) | | | |Strengths |Offers a broad choice of rubrics in assorted linguistic communications | Highly inexpensive monetary values will pull |They own an ecosystem of their ain through their Kindle and |Provides free transportation services. | | |including English. Chinese. Nipponese. Gallic. and German |consumers looking for a good read.
|Nook tablet merchandises that allow readers to purchase e-books and |which allows monetary values of books to | | |Successfully marketed itself as a premium bookshop in |Good for insouciant reading. if the reader is not|download it to their tablet reader instantly. |remain inexpensive | | |Singapore with bulk of its shops in the metropolis country. |looking for a peculiar rubric |Online shops result in reduced operational fixed costs such|Occasional price reductions of up to 90 % | | |Niche market focal point on insouciant book readers | |as lease charges and staffing costs compared to |makes books really inexpensive | | |
Premium rank scheme i. e. More expensive membership| |brick-and-mortar shops. Therefore. they are able to sell | | | |card ( $ 21 ) offering limited price reductions to lure consumers | |both e-books and hardcopy formats at a discounted rate. | | | |to purchase more rubrics to acquire back their money’s worth. | |Extremely broad aggregation of rubrics. | | | | | |It is easy to seek for rubrics because the hunt procedure is | | | | | |automated.
| | |Weaknesses |Books are priced higher than its rivals due to its |Limited scope of rubrics. particularly newer |Penetration of their several ecosystems are non widespread |It is comparatively unknown to the | | |premium stigmatization and higher lease costs in the metropolis |titles. consumers looking for specific books |in Asia |crowd in Singapore. | | |Limited market incursion due to its limited figure of |may non be able to happen what they want. |Shipping costs and waiting clip negates the benefits of online| | | |stores.
| |shopping as monetary value of transporting from America is normally high. | | | | | |Asian rubrics are non as diverse / rich as they are | | | | | |America-based. | | 8. 5 Competitive Analysis –Using Porter’s Five Forces 8. 5. 1 Menace of New Entrants The menace of new entrants in the physical bookshop industry is comparatively low because there are low barriers to entry. This is due to strong client trueness to established participants like Popular and Kinokuniya ruling the market. high sunk costs and economic systems of graduated table scene in late.
Besides. the book industry is besides deemed as a “sunset industry” . which is less attractive to houses as this is associated with low profitableness. so houses are less likely to come in the market. However. these low barriers to entry merely use to the industry of physical bookshops. Popular still faces a different sort of competition from online bookshops. which are close rivals with physical bookshops. 8. 5. 2 Degree of Substitutes There is a high grade of replaceability.
In footings of physical bookshops. book purchasers in Singapore have many options to turn to – such as large industry participants like Kinokuniya and Times and second-hand shops at Bras Basah Complex. Kinokuniya and Times are strong rivals because they offer a greater assortment of books from different states. and have marketed themselves as premium bookshops due to their location in the metropolis country. Second-hand bookshops at Bras Basah Complex ( Eg. Evernew Bookstore. Pro Saint Bookstore. Book Point. Knowledge Book Centre ) are besides a menace because they offer really inexpensive books.
Besides physical shops. online bookshops like Amazon. Barnes & A ; Noble and Book Depository are ruling the book-buying market in Singapore. These on-line bookshops offer a speedy and easy manner to buy books without being physically at the shop. and the benefit of holding purchases delivered to customers’ doorsills. E-businesses can besides offer more competitively-priced books than Popular because there is no demand to pay for lease. which takes up a immense proportion of fixed cost. For illustration. Amazon sells a book titled “Act of Valour” at $ 9. 99. whereas Popular sells the same book at $ 17.
00. Furthermore. with an increased entree to fast and free cyberspace services such as those offered by [ electronic mail protected ]. and the handiness of safe and convenient electronic payment. e-businesses are going closer replacements to physical bookshops than of all time before. 8. 5. 3 Dickering Power of Buyers The bargaining powers of purchasers are comparatively low in footings of physical book shops. They have small entree to information such as the monetary values of books. because physical bookshops do non openly print their monetary values online. except when there are publicities.
Besides. most bookshops located in a certain part would sell books at similar monetary values. so clients who are unwilling to go would hold a low inclination to exchange to other physical bookshops if the shift cost exceeds the nest eggs gained from merely somewhat cheaper books. However. the increased popularity of on-line bookshops is likely to increase the dickering power of purchasers. Buyers become less dependent on bing channels ( Internet Explorer. Physical bookshops ) and can now exchange to buying books on-line alternatively. 8. 5.
4 Bargaining Power of Suppliers There is low dickering power of providers. In footings of the book-buying market. Popular Bookstores’ providers are chiefly publishing houses. Because there are many providers in the market that engage in publication work. there is a low provider to tauten ratio. This means that Popular Bookstore can exchange providers easy. Furthermore. there is low exchanging costs for Popular because they can easy turn to their ain subordinates such as Novum Organum Publishing House Pte Ltd and Educational Publishing House Pte Ltd.
Besides. there is low supplier competition because it is difficult for providers to vertically incorporate and sell the merchandises to purchasers straight. Therefore. providers have a low bargaining power. which strengthens Popular’s place and authorization. 8. 5. 5 Degree of Market Rivalry Amongst Existing Competitors There is a strong strength of market competition amongst bing rivals like Times. Kinokuniya. and second-hand bookshops. This is because there is a batch of room for distinction in footings of the four elements in the selling mix.
Product distinction can come in the signifier of the assortment of books. in footings of the capable affair and state of beginning. Price distinction can besides be present as some bookshops have higher priced books due to their well-known trade name name or location. Topographic point distinction can be in footings of the shop environment and shop location. while publicity distinction can be in footings of degree of advertisement. frequence of price reductions. client entree to promotion stuffs and staff service criterions.
Therefore. bookshops face much competition amongst themselves because there are so many ways that they can distinguish themselves in supplying the optimum book-buying experience for book-buyers in Singapore. 9. Customer Analysis and Segmentation for Book Buyers in Singapore 9. 1 Customer Profile: Book Buyers in Singapore The selected market of focal point for Popular is book purchasers in Singapore. Potential book purchasers are any literate clients in the state. from 6 years-old onwards ( Stuart. 2010 ) .
This client base is continuously turning. albeit at a slow rate due to the low birthrate rate in Singapore ( Wong. 2012 ) . Majority of Singaporeans are literate ( Department of Statistics Singapore. 2012 ) as they have basic primary instruction which is compulsory for all citizens ( Ministry of Education Singapore. 2011 ) . In add-on. an inflow of foreign endowments from other states to back up Singapore’s substructure and economic system ( Yeoh & A ; Lin. 2012 ) besides increases the figure of book purchasers in Singapore. The incomes of book purchasers can be inferred from the Singapore Department of Statistics.
The mean monthly family from work including employer CPF parts among resident employed families in 2011 was S $ 9. 618. while the mean monthly family income from work per family member including employer’s CPF parts among resident employed families was S $ 2. 925. These incomes have a by and large increasing tendency from past old ages. and were the highest in 2011. reflecting the increasing richness of book purchasers. Because books are normal goods. an increasing income of clients would increase the demand for books.
However. since the selected market of focal point is entirely mentioning to persons. concerns or organisations are non included and grosss are non considered. To develop an effectual selling scheme. it is indispensable to understand the targeted client base and its sections. Comprehensive profiles of a company’s mark clients are frequently required. and this is done by using resources to section these mark clients. Book purchasers can be segmented harmonizing to demographic and psychographic factors. 9.
2 Demographic Segmentation Popular segments its market by cardinal variables such as gender. age. instruction. race. nationality and the household life rhythm. For the designation variable of gender. books associating to beauty and the domestic domain such as formula books cater more to adult females. while the genre of athleticss and autos appeal more to work forces. In footings of age. cleavage is characterized by one’s life rhythm. as exemplified by pre-school books. kids books. teenage fiction and magazines. grownup fiction and self-help books. etc.
The company’s doctrine of cognition and instruction ( Chua. 2010 ) has been manifested in the common sentiment that Popular’s niche is in assessment books and text editions ( Survey. 2012 ) and is a big part of the client base of book purchasers. This demonstrates how the market is segmented by instruction. as books are tailored to the demands of pupils in each phase of instruction – primary. secondary and third. and besides for pupils in different subjects – concern. finance. direction. etc. The market is besides segmented by race. as there are books in different linguistic communications such as English. Chinese. Malay and Tamil.
The assortment of books in the Singapore & A ; South East Asia and Asiatic Collections besides show that the market is at the same time segmented by nationality every bit good. Finally. the household life rhythm is besides an of import variable as Popular’s books cater to the demands of different households at different parts of the rhythm. supplying books on athleticss and leisure for households without kids. and books on rearing and wellness for households with kids. etc. 9. 3 Psychographic Segmentation The designation variables of personality. life style and societal category besides come into drama for the selected market of book purchasers.
Based on the assortment of genres provided by Popular such as fiction. classics and literature. cartoon strips and temper. star divination and new age and self-reformation. it can be seen that Popular designs its catalogue to appeal to different people with distinguishable personalities. Likewise. in the culturally diverse Singapore with an built-in cosmopolite life style. Popular recognizes the importance of accommodating the demands of assorted persons by offering a choice of books for every life style. such as books on cookery or nutrient and vino. out-of-doorss and nature. picture taking. travel. etc.
The different societal categories have besides led to Popular’s enlargement in the market. as illustrated by the fresh trade name of book retail therapy seen in { prologue } ( Popular Holdings Limited. 2009 ) to provide to the higher-income category. which has an “upscale identity” that is “quite different from the family-oriented. fluorescent-lit heartlander expression and experience that Popular bookshops have come to embody” ( Lui. 2009 ) . 10. Marketing Aims Popular’s chief aim is to set up a strong regional presence by going a Central Clearing House for both English and Chinese books in the Asia Pacific Region ( Popular’s Strategic Vision 2012 ) .
As such. their selling aim is to offer a broad assortment of books with relevant. unique. and good quality content at value-for-money monetary values. ( Popular’s Strategic Vision. 2012 ) . Following. Popular purposes to distinguish itself from both brick-and-mortar bookshops and online bookshops which both serve the same book-buying market. This is particularly of import because Popular is in an oligopolistic market and faces strong competition. These brick-and-mortar bookshops include the well-established Kinokuniya. Times and Big Bookshop. and second-handbook shops. while on-line bookshops include Amazon and Barnes & A ; Noble.
Therefore. Popular’s selling aim is to capture a larger market portion through distinction. Last. in footings of the assortment of books. Popular purposes to be the largest and most advanced publishing house of bilingual books ( Popular’s Strategic Vision. 2012 ) . It attracts publishing houses like Seashore Publishing ( M ) Sdn. Bhd. to Singapore. which dominates the market for bilingual cookery book and general-interest Mandarin books. Through its books. Popular besides intends to advance the Chinese linguistic communication. heritage and civilization.
For case. Popular organised the National Chinese Creative Reading Competition during the [ electronic mail protected ]2011 to ‘make pupils more cognizant [ of ] and excite their involvement in Chinese civilization and heritage through originative reading’ ( Chairman’s Statement. Annual Report 2012 ) 11. Marketing Strategy / Mix 11. 1 Branding and positioning Popular portrays an image that it is a one-stop station where consumers are able to happen whatever they need. This image is particularly relevant since Popular’s chief mark group is the multitudes who normally read best-selling books written by well-known writers.
To capture a larger consumer market and set up a strong regional presence. Popular has besides ventured into abroad markets such as Malaysia. Mainland China. Taiwan and Hong Kong. 11. 2 Price Popular has adopted different pricing schemes for Popular and Prologue. Prologue has adopted a premium monetary value place for their merchandises. This scheme of prestigiousness pricing is appropriate as Prologue is targeted at the higher terminal consumers who would be willing to pay higher monetary values. On the other manus. Popular has adopted mainstream monetary value place for their merchandises.
The merchandises offered by Popular is at a instead low-cost monetary value since it is chiefly aiming the bulk of the population. Furthermore. Popular offers merchandises at competitory monetary values compared to other bookshops. With its rank card. Popular offers further price reductions on the monetary values of its merchandises and this farther enhances its fight in the industry. In add-on. Popular’s rank card can be acquired at a low cost ( e. g. $ 20 for 3-year rank for pupils ) . as compared to other bookshops. such as Kinokuniya ( $ 55. 60 for 3-year rank ) .
11. 3 Product Popular believes that in order to remain relevant with altering consumers’ gustatory sensation and penchants. they should go on to introduce by selling new merchandises. Hence. in 2009. Popular opened ‘UrbanWrite’ and ‘ { prologue } ’ . UrbanWrite. “a lifestyle letter paper construct shop that goes beyond the basics” . offer somewhat different merchandises such as scrap book stuffs. stationaries that are non available at Popular Bookstore. With new construct shops under Popular. such as { prologue } and UrbanWrite. it is pertinent to guarantee that Popular does non lose its individuality as a one-stop station to avoid confusion amongst its consumers.
