MARKET SEGMENTATION

Market Segmentation of 'The Body Shop'

Market Segmentation of 'The Body Shop'

Introduction

The Body Shop was founded in 1976 by ??Anita Roddick in Brighton. The Body Shop is a British chain of cosmetics products and a subsidiary of L'Oreal. It promotes the abandonment of animal experiments as well as compliance with other ethical principles. Worldwide, there were in 2010 more than 2,800 stores in 65 countries, in 2005 it achieved a turnover of € 606 million. The history of 'The Body Shop' is the rather unlikely story of a mom-and-pop-sized store, started in Brighton on the south coast of England in 1976, with quaint ideas about socially and environmentally responsible business practices having the potential to change the world. The Body Shop has been in the past often been criticized for making values ??and reality are apart. In particular, the aid program through fair trade was a mere public-relations exercise called no benefit to the supplier. (Steve, 2005, Pp. 80-83).

This paper discusses about the marketing perspective of The Body Shop, and integration of its marketing mix.

Discussion

The marketing mix for The Body Shop will comprise of the 4 P's of marketing and the market penetration for the chosen organization i.e. The Body Shop. Overall business profitability is linked to successful marketing strategy. A successful and dynamic marketing strategy makes use of all four P's of marketing. As The Body Shop is a manufacturing concern therefore the four P's of marketing are more relevant to them than the other three P's namely People, Process and Physical evidence. This paper discusses the four P's of marketing with reference to The Body Shop in detail.

4 P's of marketing for The Body Shop:

Product:

The Body Shop deals in variety of products, which comprise of:

Skincare products:

Cleansers;

Exfoliators and masks;

Toners;

Serums;

Moisturizers;

Eye care;

Lip care, and

Accessories.

Body care products:

Body cleansers;

Body scrubs;

Body moisturizers, and

Deodorants.

Accessories.

Hair care products:

Shampoo;

Conditioner, and

Brushes and combs.

Fragrances:

Body sprays;

Perfume oils;

Body mists;

Shower gel, and

Body wash.

Home fragrances:

Home fragrance oils;

Burners;

Diffusers and refills;

Candles, and

Sprays.

Make-up products.

Price:

The Body Shop has been paying fair trade prices that are significantly higher than market prices, and still manages to make a profit. The Body Shop flaunts itself as being environment-friendly company, therefore it has ethical dimension towards production. Environmentally friendly products or as they say Green products have relatively higher prices than normal products. For example a Green shaving brush costs around £3 that is slightly higher than ordinary shaving brush and on average Green perfume costs £20 being moderately higher than normal perfume products

Place:

The Body Shop has both physical and virtual presence in terms of sale points. The Body Shop stores are present on famous commercial points throughout UK and also in major malls and super markets. It also has home delivery sale schemes and internet websites from where customer can select from a variety of their products and opt to deliver products at their desired destinations.

Promotion:

Ethical cosmetics retailer 'The Body Shop' has strengthened its executive committee with a number of internal promotions. The Body Shop considers TV advertising to be a good tool for customer ...