亞洲美食城成立于1990年的印度/巴基斯坦，是一個中等大小的食品連鎖店，企業主要經營亞大陸食品。雖然擁有一個良好的開端，但是后來這家公司隨著時間的推移，漸漸減少了盈利和市場份額。根據市場的總體狀況來看，我覺得有必要進行兩個分析技術，一個是PEST分析另一個是SWOT分析，讓我們從PEST分析開始。

 

PEST分析
 

PEST分析將有助于了解整個食品行業特別是亞大陸食品市場，下面是PEST分析。
 

政治因素
 

政府和政治因素影響著食品行業，政府用適用于英國的高標準在管理并監視著食品行業；此外，健康是一個敏感的問題，這個行業必須適應官方檢查的苛刻條件，因此食品業就成為了一個敏感的行業。
 

經濟因素
 

亞洲食品行業的潛在客戶都是移民，他們都只用便宜的食物來解決饑餓問題，他們就是想花很少的錢買到更多的東西。這就是為什么這個國家的整體經濟狀況是這樣的原因。更具體地說，移民在購買決策中發揮的作用以及原材料價格的增加都會影響成本結構，同時經營成本的增加也是影響經濟的考慮因素。
 

Asian food palace is a medium sized Indian/Pakistani food chain established in 1990, the organization deals mainly in sub-continental food. After a good start now this food company is losing its revenue and market share with the passage of time.To have an over view of the overall market situation there is need to perform two analysis techniques, one is PEST analysis and the other is SWOT analysis, let’s start with PEST analysis.
 

PEST分析———PEST Analysis:
 

PEST analysis will help in understanding the overall food industry and specifically the sub-continental food market, below is presented the PEST analysis.
 

政治因素———Political Factors:
 

There are Governmental and political factor influencing the food industry as it is governed and watched by high standards in U.K; moreover heath being a sensitive issue, this industry has to face tough conditions in terms of official checks, making it a sensitive industry.
 

經濟因素———Economic Factors:
 

The potential customers to Asian food industry are immigrants that seek less expensive food to satisfy their hunger, they want more quantity & want to spend less, that is why the overall economic conditions of the country and, more specifically, of immigrants plays their role in the purchase decision, the increasing prices of raw material also affect the cost structure, the increasing operating cost are also there to be taken into consideration.#p#分頁標題#e#
 

社會因素———Social Factors:
 

It has been already discussed that Asian foods have the customer which are mainly migrants from Asian or more importantly sub-continental countries, resulting in the major groups of Muslims and Hindus. Muslims want to eat Hilal food and Hindus are more willing to eat Vegetarian food. The other social factors that influence this industry is that, for Asians, food is not just the killing of hunger, it is also an occasion of get together and fun. These are the two social factor, if handled properly can turn into the key success factor and a value proposition for the company. Handling the social needs precisely can work well for Asian food and they can achieve more.
 

技術因素———Technological Factors:
 

The food industry has started using the technological advancements and tools, the large multinational food chains, the fast food companies, are introducing and using new processes of production, in supply chain management, in customer relationship management, in order delivery management, for example there is a shift in order management, it is being transformed from manual to automated and now it is being web based. These MNC chains are changing the ways things are done, the use of technology and automation is making them more efficient in using resources and more effective in making decisions, that is why the dynamics of the whole industry is being changed and every player in the game has to adopt the changes and increase the use of technology.
 

SWOT 分析———SWOT Analysis:
 

After having a look on food industry let’s see what are the strengths and weaknesses of the said organization in the case, for this reason we have to perform the SWOT analysis, this will help in understanding the current position of the company with respect to competition.
 

優點———Strengths:
 

Asian food palace is a small sized organization which is dealing in sub-continental food, its small size give it required flexibility to make quick decision and implement them faster, this firm can easily decentralize its decision making. The originality of taste can give them the competitive advantage in segment of Vegetarian and Hilal food seeking immigrants.
 

缺點———Weakness:
 

The company is small and do not possess much resources to expand its business, it is also not adapting to the changing needs of the customers and dynamic market factors. The organization is only present in London, where as it can expand its business in other cities as well, company do not have mechanism of management of customers, and do not maintain any database for better customer relationships, they do not offer any kind of order delivery services and no promotion or loyalty cards options are there. They have not tried to invest in brand so that brand loyalty can be achieved.#p#分頁標題#e#
 

機遇———Opportunities:
 

There is immense growth in immigrant segments in other parts on U.K that is why company has opportunity of growth in other geographical regions, company can establish its brand by investing in brand and earn great brand loyalty, they can expand their menu and make them in line with emerging taste needs, they can also add fast food item with Asian touch in their menu. There is opportunity of increasing market share if philosophy of managing relations with customers is understood and applied. They can also win customer preference by introducing home delivery services.
 

威脅———Threats:
 

If Asian food do not change their mind set then there is a threat of continuous business loss and dropping of revenue, to cater the need of customers other players can also enter into the same market, or existing competitors can also improve their offering by adopting to modern practices and ultimately they can win the business. The young generations of Asian food customers have more adaptability towards fast food who is also offering the economical and tasty food solution, if not exploited, they can loss the younger generation segment and will be out from the competition.
 

對客戶的理解———Understanding the Customer:
 

When we think about the target market and start understanding them then there are certain fact that needs to be kept in mind and should be taken care of, as we know that their major target segment are the people who want the sub-continental food, more of them are immigrants, they have two need factor, one is taste factor and the other is psychological factor, let’s talk about it one by one.
 

Considering the taste factor, the target customer want the original taste of the sub-continent, they are not adapted to the local food available in U.K and their taste buds are different, they want the same menu that is available in the homeland’s restaurants and in their home, they cook the same in food in their homes and when want to have food from outside they do not want to have the British food.
 

Now talking about the psyche, Muslims want Hilal food and Hindus want Vegetarian food, that’s why they avoid local food and go to the restaurants like Asian Food Palace, more over food ,for Asians, is a fun factor, an occasion of meeting friends and family and getting social. They also seek cost effective food is the above mention qualities, that’s why chains like Asian Food Palace is there, but need of the time to understand the psyche of the customer and act accordingly.
 

關系營銷，文獻綜述———Relationship Marketing, Literature Review:
 

Before moving forward let’s see what marketing literature says about relationship marketing:#p#分頁標題#e#
 

Relationship marketing is a form of marketing that evolved from direct response marketing in the 1960s and emerged in the 1980s, in which emphasis is placed on building longer term relationships with customers rather than on individual transactions. It involves understanding the customers’ needs as they go through their life cycles. It emphasizes providing a range of products or services to existing customers as they need them (Morgan, Hunt 1994).
 

Traditional marketing has emphasized the importance of acquiring new customers, whereas relationship marketing has put a more overt emphasis on the importance of developing long term supportive relationships with existing customers and posits that energy and resources are better spent on (Gronroos, 1997).
 

關系營銷的好處———Benefits of Relationship Marketing:
 

The marketing world is witnessing a change, a change in practices and change in inclination towards the relationship marketing, which alone has many benefits, winning the loyalty of customers’ results in benefits to company in many ways. Number one being the reduction in marketing cost and increase in marketing ROI, loyal customers are easy to retain and hard to lose, they are so loyal to brand that become a marketer themselves for the brand and bring more customers with them, one loyal customer can bring up to 10 more customers with zero cost. Loyal customers have more patience if brand disappoint them once in a blue moon and they do not spread bad word of mouth so easily. It is proved by research that cost of retaining a customer is much cheaper then cost of making a new customer. Customer loyalty is its self switching barrier, in intense competition loyal customers do not switch.
 

亞洲美食城的建議———Recommendations for Asian Food Palace:
 

Having PEST and SWOT analysis in mind and knowing the company and the market, also keeping modern relationship marketing requirements in consideration below are few recommendations for Asian Food Palace that can improve their current standing in business, and also improve their market share and revenue.
 

Company should go for customization of the products, for every customer there should be unique product, for example production should be made so flexible that every offer in the menu should be able to have such flexibility that product can be modified according to the taste of the customer, they should be able to have the taste according their own taste buds keeping the main product standardized with some modification according to the customer. This step can help win the customer loyalty.
 

The company should make their website equipped with data management tools; the website should be able to get customer data, their feedback and preferences, and should also be able to process orders online and home delivery should be made possible through this website. The data gathered from this website should be processed in knowledge management software, and reports gathered can be used in further improvement in processes, new offers, changes in products and their presentation. Today’s buzz word is social media marketing, that is almost free of cost, it can give you great insights about customer attitudes and help in better decision making.#p#分頁標題#e#
 

Asian Food Palace should adopt Customer Relationship Management software, which will help them store customer data, their demographics and purchase behavior, this data can be used in business intelligence and business intelligence and knowledge management can give more precise information about customer understanding, and that will improve decision making. After having this information in hand company can add more products in portfolio and bring more marketing promotions accordingly.
 

Asian Food Palace should start their own loyalty program in the shape of discount card or special membership cards. Any customer having these cards should be able to avail discounts. Personalized mails/email and one to one marketing is one good example on which Asian Food Palace can also work; this will help in increase in relevance from customer’s end and also help build the relationships.
 

Asian Food Palace should be focus on community building programs, they should come up with an Asian Food Club, where all Asian food lovers can get together, and share ideas, they should invest in increasing awareness about taste of Asian food so the non-users can first become customers and then they remain as loyal customers.
 

The application of relationship marketing concepts and philosophy is important for the organization to cope with modern business, without the application of modern practices and coping with the changing needs of customers today’s business cannot survive and compete with large MNCs. If above mentioned suggestions are worked on and applied there a bright chance that organization will grow its market share.