BUSINESS CASE STUDY ANALYSIS: ASSESSMENT 1: EXPLORATION OF MARKET EXPANSION APPROACHES FOR SMALL E-COMMERCE COMPANIES

BUSINESS CASE STUDY ANALYSIS

ASSESSMENT 1: EXPLORATION OF MARKET EXPANSION APPROACHES FOR SMALL E-COMMERCE COMPANIES

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INTRODUCTION

The increased popularity of e-commerce platforms has attracted small companies by offering them great opportunities to increase their sales and ultimately marketing of their goods and services. The new market opportunities give rise to new challenges, especially for small online businesses with less capital and knowledge. This research by Insight Research Company Ltd seeks to define the key strategies that the small companies of the e-commerce sector can easily expand their market. Learning the nature of market development is important to the survival of small e-commerce companies facing stiff competition in the global market (Zenkina, 2022, p. 68).

The research client therefore aims at identifying workable and realistic strategies that the small e-commerce firms can adopt in their expansion to new markets. Big businesses have properly framed mechanisms for growth, but small businesses, on the other hand, suffer from such constraints like inadequate data, low marketing expenditures and lower reach to new markets. However, factors such as ethical issues of privacy, and business owners' unwillingness to disclose certain information about their strategies also pose a challenge to the research (Hånell et al., 2020, p. 516-518).

RESEARCH AIM AND OBJECTIVES

The main purpose of this research is to explore best practices for small e-commerce organisations to diversify into new markets. To achieve this, the research will deploy several objectives:

To select the research design that incorporates both quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis methods in the study.

To analyse the data obtained from both primary and secondary research and interpret the results.

To examine the success of the primary data collection techniques through surveys and interviews and their applicability to acquiring valuable information from business owners and customers.

To study the impact of ethical concerns and confidentiality required in collecting sensitive information about business organisations.

POSSIBLE ETHICAL CONCERNS DURING THE COLLECTION OF DATA

Several ethical issues are bound to arise in the manner in which business-sensitive information is collected for research. It is obvious that while making inquiries with regard to market expansion strategies, business owners may be very reluctant to share such information, for example about their operational factors, profit margins or competitive advantages with other e-commerce firms as such information may be exploited by rivals. Such fear of data sharing presents a problem in getting authentic and relevant information (Hair et al., 2019).

As far the privacy is concerned, there are also customers whose data are often considered during market research, thus, the question of how Personally Identifiable Information (PII) is processed, retrieved, and analysed remains another concern of the business owners. When not properly protected due to poor data collection practise, it can interfere with the trust that people have in the organisation and hence can face legal consequences under data protection laws like the UK Data Protection Act and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (Hoofnagle et al., 2019).

To resolve this issue of ethical standards in the research several measures need to be considered during research. Firstly, the informed consent of the participants will be considered and explained to them about the study, and utilisation of their data, and also be informed that they can declare themselves from the study at any time during the research. This consent process will also be clear because the participants will be informed clearly on the anonymity of the information they reveal. Both the business owners and customers will be informed that their identity will not be revealed by name and that only results will be generated and presented in a manner that protects the company’s strategies or an individual’s information.

Also, measures to ensure that any information acquired will be safely stored in order to prevent any unauthorised persons access to the information. This will comprise of encrypted storage systems and only allow a few people to access this information. Transparency is also important as they will be told how long their data will be stored, how the data will be protected and details of the process that will be followed during the research. It also retains legal compliance with the guidelines while also nurturing the trust of the participants as well as the honest data collection methods (Kang and Hwang, 2021, p. 5-10).

EVALUATION OF PRIMARY RESEARCH METHODS

Surveys: Surveys using the Questionnaire method are a preferred way of collecting primary data because of their vast coverage of participants and real quantitative data that can be subjected to statistical testing. Due to the possibility of conducting surveys through the Internet using Google Forms, surveys are economical to administer and can reach a very large number of participants with varying demographics. Surveys are also very time-saving because participants provide their responses whenever they have the time. Surveys are quantitative methods of data collection and therefore can easily provide basic and comparable data that can be used to explain trends and patterns in market expansion strategies (Nayak and Narayan, 2019).

The limitations are that it can offer biases to the responses of the participants which means they do not answer questions truthfully or may select options randomly. It is considered as a most generalised method that does not give a clear picture of the issues of the research conducted. Besides, low response rates can at times be a problem and where sensitive business information is involved, the originality of the data is not obtained (Nayak and Narayan, 2019).

Interviews: This qualitative method of data collection is more flexible and provides authentic and in-depth knowledge about the participant's experience and opinions. This method offers the opportunity for the interviewers to ask additional questions in order to get more knowledge about the research topics and the major issues associated with the research. However, interviews are very time-consuming and resource-intensive. Interviews involve the process of arranging the times for interviews, lengthy data analysis methods and collecting of relevant participants, which would unnecessarily add up to the time needed as well as the costs of the research. Yet another issue concerns the access to participants as the owners of businesses might be either reluctant to disclose certain information or otherwise unable to allocate time for an interview (Namey et al., 2020, p. 59-61).

Ways to overcome constraints in participant access: The reluctancy of the participants to participate in the research can be overcome by deploying various strategies. It can be done by maintaining transparency and anonymity with the participants by making them believe that their personal information and data will not be disclosed to outsiders at any cost. Another method can be by incentivising the participants through certain gift cards, cashback or discounts on their purchases, so that they are ready to participate in the study (Afkinich and Blachman-Demner, 2020, p. 204-209).

ASSESSMENT OF SECONDARY RESEARCH SOURCES

Some of the main sources of secondary data include industry reports, case studies, market research and analysis academic research and scholarly articles which can offer plenty of information regarding various market expansion strategies for small e-commerce businesses. The benefit of secondary research is the fact that it provides a generalised background about the industry and a brief idea about its competitors and consumer behaviour.

Meanwhile, there are some problems with considering only secondary data within the research. A major risk of using secondary data is that it does not have the current information and practices of the organisation that are currently followed, it is a significant point of consideration increasingly because the present topics involve the e-commerce sector. Moreover, these secondary sources tend to be inclined towards the trends followed in the multi-national corporations that may not be suitable for small e-commerce businesses as they lack major resources and skills (Bell et al., 2022).

COMBINING BOTH PRIMARY AND SECONDARY DATA

However, it is important to summarise both primary and secondary data in order to present a clear picture of market expansion and its strategies. Primary research involves surveys and interviews that aim to offer detailed and timely data on new market ventures that are collected from small business owners and customers, themselves. Such data is specific to the research context and can provide information that is missing from secondary sources of data that are available in the journals of the authors. For example, while secondary data may tell definite trends in the market, primary data may help to determine them within small e-commerce firms (Bell et al., 2022).

Secondary data provides an additional approach to the focus of the study by combining the results obtained from the primary research and comparing them with the results of an industry or market. For example, it can be assumed that in primary research there needs identification of a trend of small organisations using digital marketing for expansion then secondary data can provide how it fits into the overall plans of the industry and whether it matches with the practice of the large market players. Primary and secondary data combine to give a comprehensive approach to surveys by offering detailed and contemporary data while on the other hand, the secondary data gives a broader analysis necessary to give an overall view of the best strategies for market expansion (Hair et al., 2018).

APPLICATION OF SUITABLE RESEARCH DESIGN

The present research framework for this project involves the use of both quantitative and qualitative data collection techniques to capture a rich understanding of market expansion strategies. The research will include primary sources of data collection which will be conducted using questionnaires and a small number of business owners will be interviewed. Interviews and questionnaires will be conducted among small e-business owners and consumers, which will result in obtaining estimated quantitative measures reflecting key factors influencing the market. This will help the research to have a general idea of the various behaviours, choices, and challenges that companies and their customers experience with expansion. Semi-structured interviews with a purposive sample of the business owners will provide a qualitative value-added, focusing on the detailed examination of strategies and responses of selected firms operating directly in the market expansion (Sileyew, 2019).

For the secondary research, the cases of already developed e-commerce companies will be reviewed and checked to identify the major strengths and weaknesses in market expansion. These case studies will help in establishing a context-specific understanding of the working approach of the sector as well as enable comparison of given approaches, providing a balance of both qualitative and quantitative data drawn from the primary research.

The use of both quantitative data and qualitative data provides a broader view of the expansion strategies of small e-commerce firms and gives detailed insights into a specific small e-commerce firm. Quantitative surveys achieve measurable data from a large population which can facilitate the discovery of many trends, issues and opportunities shared by a population in that study. This provides breadth for the purpose of recognising patterns across the entire sector. However, what sets the qualitative interviews apart is that they go beyond the general experienced by the business and explore the specific, giving the interviewer and researcher a richness of experience and context-driven insights. Using both approaches together, the research obtains a probable picture with figures that indicate important trends as well as qualitative insight into the rationale and processes for market extension decisions (Johnson and Christensen, 2024).

SAMPLING STRATEGY

This step is an essential process in the case study as it determines various factors that must be considered during the analysis of the research. It is important to determine the current size of the business based on its annual turnover, key operational markets, factors that attract small business owners during the market expansion, probable constraints during the market expansion, preferred approaches adopted by them, level of digital marketing expertise of the small business owners, effectiveness of the strategies adopted and also the ethical concerns related to the data sharing aspects by the small business owners. These factors can be included in the survey questionnaires to get insights about the market expansion factors. The interviews aim to frame certain questions to determine factors of expansion cost and locations, size of the market, taste of the target customers and their competitive realm that can be considered during the marketing expansion process. It may also analyse the importance of digital marketing strategies during the expansion of the e-commerce sector in the new market.

In order to reduce sources of systematic bias in the data collected a purposive sample technique known as the stratified random sample technique will be used. This method entails dividing the target population that matches the study objectives and then taking samples from different categories randomly like the size of business, industry and geography. This helps to reduce the probability of sampling bias because different e-commerce organisations have different characteristics that may affect the survey’s results if not included in the sample. To further address the issue of bias, the study will try to recruit participants via more than one method and hence the concerns of its reliability and validity will always be preserved (Nanjundeswaraswamy and Divakar, 2021).

DATA ANALYSIS PLAN

The survey outcomes will be summarised employing basic statistical techniques through the use of averages, frequency distributions and percentages to determine the patterns of small e-commerce companies and their market expansion strategies. It helps in the analysis of the raw data. The data obtained through the survey can be divided based on the size of the market, its annual turnover, key operational markets, factors that attract them, probable constraints, preferred approaches adopted and the level of digital marketing expertise of the small business owners, the effectiveness of the strategies adopted and also the ethical concerns, which makes it easier to compare results and visualise them. Frequency distributions will help in the determination of difficulties and approaches that are most often found among business owners.

Some of the essential tools like the data visualisation tools in MS Excel such as the bar charts or pie charts will enable analysis of the data obtained. In so doing, it will be easier for clients to achieve a higher level of understanding of how factors affect the choice of expansion strategies in different e-business ventures. Standard deviation methods involving calculation of mean, and median will help to describe important numerical data including investment costs for market entry (Bell et al., 2022).

INTEGRATION OF QUALITATIVE DATA

Thematic analysis will be the data analysis method used to study the qualitative data collected through interviews with business owners. This method of data analysis includes looking at patterns in participants’ responses, including the emerging patterns of challenges that the owners face when entering a new market, probable risk-tackling methods and the way digital marketing strategies help the e-commerce business advertise their products and services. In this way, interview results that are obtained are classified based on the applicable themes in order to provide a well-structured research report. For example, data will be divided into specific categories enabling the researchers to study the trend of the e-commerce market and its feasibility to expand in the new market. Thus, in this way, the qualitative data from the interviews will serve the purpose of providing a qualitative perspective as to why certain trends exist in the survey data (Hair et al., 2018).

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

In conclusion, the case study related to market expansion strategies adopted by e-commerce SMEs has provided important information about the issues and the successful ways of entering new markets for these firms. In this context, the study presents both quantitative survey data and qualitative interview findings that provide a comprehensive view of the crucial factors for market development. The incorporation of logical analytical approaches including quantitative as well as qualitative analysis along with the use of such simple statistical techniques and thematic analysis will help to identify the various strategies with reference to competition, cost and customer preference used by small businesses logically.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Maintaining Ethical Compliance: Businesses must ensure that they ethically comply with the policies while dealing with the data of customers or even working with local firms. The e-commerce business owners will gain confidence in research when they follow clear data collection methods, informed consent forms and high confidentiality measures in considerations that comply with acceptable ethical policies (Hair et al., 2019).

Conducting Comprehensive Market Research: It is very important for small business to first evaluate it before beginning any expansion into another market in order to develop a basis to understand the competition sphere, the customer’s preference and any possible risks that can be faced. Primary research using questionnaires and interviews and secondary data collection through industrial reports is an efficient way of identifying the feasibility of a market (McDaniel and Gates, 2018).

Managing Costs Effectively: Growth will only occur when the businesses are ready to invest some costs so it must ensure that the strategies are implemented logically to cope with the financial constraints during the market expansion process. Appropriate cost reduction strategies for example lean operational systems, outsourcing or local sourcing as strategic partners assist in avoiding unpredictable circumstances that may arise during market entry.

Investing in Targeted Digital Marketing: Small e-commerce businesses should try to improve their existing marketing mix to target new markets. Marketing and advertising on SEO and social media content will be useful for brand promotion and attracting potential directly through new markets. This way, the potential for success is higher when current strategies are adjusted to better fit each market, including cultural factors and trends.

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