yankee.ie

Contents

II

Group Case Study

Assignment

Yankee.ie

Contents

III

Contents

1 Analysis ..................................................................................................................... 1

1.1 The Macro-Environment analysis: SLEPT or PESTEL ...................................... 1

1.1.1 Social ............................................................................................................ 1

1.1.2 Legal and ethical ........................................................................................... 1

1.1.3 Economic ...................................................................................................... 2

1.1.4 Political ......................................................................................................... 3

1.2 The Micro-Environment analysis: Porter five forces .......................................... 3

1.2.1 Power of suppliers ........................................................................................ 3

1.2.2 Bargaining powers of customers ................................................................... 3

1.2.3 Threat of substitutes ...................................................................................... 4

1.2.4 Threats of new entrants ................................................................................. 4

1.2.5 Extent of rivalry between competitors .......................................................... 4

2 The Marketing Mix.................................................................................................... 5

2.1 Product ................................................................................................................. 5

2.2 Price ..................................................................................................................... 6

2.3 Place .................................................................................................................... 6

2.4 Promotion ............................................................................................................ 6

2.5 People .................................................................................................................. 8

2.6 Physical evidence ................................................................................................ 8

2.7 Process ................................................................................................................. 9

3 Recommendation and Future Outlook ..................................................................... 10

3.1 SWOT analysis .................................................................................................. 10

3.1.1 Mobile App ................................................................................................. 11

3.1.2 YouTube ..................................................................................................... 12

4 Appendices .............................................................................................................. 13

5 References ............................................................................................................... 15

1 Analysis

1

1 Analysis

1.1 The Macro-Environment analysis: SLEPT or PESTEL

1.1.1 Social

In 2013, 54,10% (2,583,806) of the Irish population was between 25 and 64 years old.

The median age was 35.1 years for male and 35.8 years for female. The population

growth rate was 1.16 %. 1

According to a study made by Eurostat in 2013, 82% of Irish households have access to

the Internet, which is used of 62% of the population every day.2

1.1.2 Legal and ethical

In Ireland, both Irish and European laws protect consumers rights. Those laws try to

ensure minimum information about the price and the quality of a product or a service

before buying it. The Sale of Goods and Supply of Service Act, 1980, protect the

consumer contracts. The Consumer Protection Act 2007 protects consumers from false

or misleading claim about goods. 3

The European directive about online business (2000/31/CE)4 rules online commerce.

Companies have to provide the consumers with a lot of information like name, address,

email address and company registration number.

The Distance selling Directive (Directive 97/7/EC) protects the consumers from online

fraud. Consumers have the right to change their mind, to have clear information, to ask

to refund for delayed or non-delivery as well as to redress in case of faulty goods. The

sale of Goods and Associated Guarantees Directive 99/44/EC assures that the goods are

in conformity with the contract of sale. 5

1 Cf. CIA World Factbook

2 Cf. Urhausen 2013, S. 1

3 Cf. National Consumer Agency

4 Cf. Official Journal of the European Communities

5 Cf. European Consumer Centre Ireland

1 Analysis

2

1.1.3 Economic

The unemployment rate dropped from 12.4% in December 2013 to 12.3% in January

2014.

Figure 1 Ireland unemployment rate, percentage of the labour force 6

In 2013 the Irish GDP rate was 1.5%, 0.50% higher than in 2012.

Figure 2 Ireland GDP growth rate 7

During the second semester of 2013, Irish consumers have spent 21 EUR million more

money than during the first semester. 8

6 Cf. Trading Economics



1 Analysis

3

Ireland business confidence is 14% higher in the fourth quarter of 2013 than in the third.

This is a helpful tool to anticipate the future consumption.

Figure 3 Ireland business confidence 9

1.1.4 Political

The ministry for jobs, enterprise and innovation launched on Friday, 31 May 2013, a

175 million Seed and Venture Capital Scheme 2013-2018. 10 The idea of the plan is

to help Irish companies to create export sales and to generate jobs.

1.2 The Micro-Environment analysis: Porter five forces

1.2.1 Power of suppliers

Candles are composed by wax, a wick and for some of them of a glass jar. Yankee

needs several suppliers to produce those parts of the candles. The row materials used for

the candles are not subject to high increases of their prices. Therefore suppliers have

limited power over Yankee.ie.

1.2.2 Bargaining powers of customers

The power of the consumers is higher than ever before. Consumers can both, visit

online and offline stores, to compare the products and the prices. They can try and smell

the candles in the offline stores and buy it on the website, if it is less expensive.


10 Cf. Eileen Banks

1 Analysis

4

Moreover consumer can easily compare the Yankee candles with candles from the

competitors.

1.2.3 Threat of substitutes

If the threat of substitutes has significantly increased online for some products as books

or films, it is not really the case for candles. No digital technology is able to replace the

smell or the light of a Yankee Candle yet. The substitutes might be lamps, perfume

diffuser etc.

1.2.4 Threats of new entrants

Thanks to Internet, there are less and less barriers to entry. Companies do not need

physical stores to sell physical products.

1.2.5 Extent of rivalry between competitors

While searching for Candles on Google.ie, Yankee.ie is the first result of the list. The

second company is Thecandleshop.id. The following are Amazon.co.uk, Ikea.com,

Candlesonline.ie, Torccandles.com, Keepsakecandles.ie and Kerrycandle.ie.

2 The Marketing Mix

5

2 The Marketing Mix

The marketing mix is a helpful tool to plan a marketing strategy as it gives a checklist of

decisions and points, marketers must beware. The 7Ps of the marketing mix, Product,

Price, Place, Promotion, People, Physical evidence and Process serve to concrete

implement a companys marketing approach (see figure 4 of the appendix).

In the following section, the digital marketing strategies of Yankee.ie shall be analysed

and assessed with the help of the 7Ps marketing mix framework. This includes the

companys steps while handling the key challenges of an increasing digital

environment. Digital marketing can be defined as: Achieving marketing objectives

through applying digital technologies.11

2.1 Product

The first P Product is all about adding value to the customer in order to give them the

experience of Yankee Candle products. In the wide range of candles and accessories,

customer can order products in various colours and sizes. Apart to the traditional

candles, Yankee.ie also offers car fragrances as well as wedding and other event

favours.

The website enables free delivery of their products with orders over 39 in 2012 and 49

in 2014. The charges for European delivery service are dependent on the destination

area and starts with charges from 9.95 . The returns policy so called no quibbles

guarantee allows the consumer, to return the product within 30 days if he isnt satisfied.

Defective Items can also be returned to Yankee.ie.

To generate digital value to the customer, Yankee.ie focused primarily on immediacy,

interactivity and faster delivery for the customer, who buys online. Furthermore, the

visitor and potential buyer gets more information online, not only from Yankee.ie but

also from other clients experiences, which are listed under the field Testimonials. As

the shop of Yankee Candles isnt situated directly in Dublins city centre, the online

store provides a simple way for collecting information as well as buying products, not

only for Irish, but also for all European consumers.

11

Chaffey und Ellis-Chadwick 2012, S. 10

2 The Marketing Mix

6

2.2 Price

With a high price transparency, Yankee.ie publishes all of their prices including

delivery fees and product price-list on the website. Since buyer compares prices, the

company has decided to offer same prices in offline and online stores.12

Retail prices for

small jars are starting from 11.50, for medium jars from 21.50 and for large jars from

26.50. The promotional offers, weather online and offline are adjusted to each other to

maintain the uniform business model from Yankee Candles. In order to integrate new

pricing models, Yankee.ie uses the payment tool Realex payments to generate a

securely and easy payment for the customers.13

2.3 Place

In connection with the P Place, it should be mentioned, that the company currently

opened their fifths offline store in Killarney. The stores are open 7 days a week.

Of major significance for an effective digital strategy is the alignment to the companys

business strategy in the way of same initiatives, goals and priorities. Online and offline

stores, so called multi-channels for distribution, serve to enlarge the companys

awareness level to as many ideal customers as possible.14

There are the offline stores for

the traditional purchasing consumers, who prefer to go in a real store and having a

social interaction with the staff while looking for goods. On the other hand, the

opportunity to have a quick look on the online store to make a fast shopping, often

appeals the younger generation.

The company is responsible for a warm, inviting home and a personal relationship to

their customers.15

However the people favour to shop offline or online, Yankee Candles

are widely represented to be available for different groups of customers.

2.4 Promotion

While visiting Yankee.ie, the customer receives a coloured, user-friendly design which

operates self-descriptive (see figure 5 of the appendix). The navigation goes across the

12

Cf. Chaffey und Smith 2008, S. 65 13

Cf. Unlimited Fragrances Ltd 14


Cf. Yankee Candle Europe Ltd 2014

2 The Marketing Mix

7

top and left of the page and includes an interactive postcard banner, which presents new

season products and offers. The open search field, as well as the customers personal

account and shopping card, are placed at the upper right of all pages. The utility

variation, at the very bottom of the pages, constitutes the lower end. According to Jakob

Nielsen16

, a user prefers to work with a page in the same way, as all the other sites he

already worked with. 17

The difficulty in this approach lies in the point, that companies

want their websites to be unique, to stick out of the mass. On the other hand,

standardized functions and a recognition factor are hugely important. Yankee.ie not

only infuses the norms of standardization, but also gets personalization with constantly

product and service updates. Moreover the customer can make evaluations in a live chat

on the webpage, or changes to Twitter and Facebook, where Yankee Candle is already

represented. To be eligible for a free newsletter of Yankee.ie, the visitor has to sign in

online with his email address and can therefore stay informed about new offers, events

and discount campaigns.

Yankee.ie entered into Facebook in March 2011 and has over 25.985 Likes, as well as

962 ratings.18

Besides their website, the company uses this social media to promote their

products and services in the same way, as it informs the customers about their shops and

opening hours. While analysing the page, it comes up that Yankee Candles posts weekly

newsletters, short stories as well as videos on their page to awake and hold the

customers interest. The target is to grow the audience online while appealing the crowd.

Yankee.ie is also well represented in Twitter, with over 99 Tweets and 176

followers.19

One way to build the customers loyalty is to reward them. Yankee.ie makes use of the

Yankee Points Loyalty scheme, which gives points to customers at each time they

purchase from the website. For 1 spent, the customer receives 1 point and is able to

exchange the minimum of 200 collected points for a 12 gift certificate.

16

web usability consultant born 1957 (five quality components of "Usability Goals") 17


Cf. Unlimited Fragrances Ltd 19

Cf. Unlimited Fragrances Ltd

2 The Marketing Mix

8

2.5 People

30 employees strive daily to improve the business of Yankee.ie, especially 3 of which

working on the online store. Twice a week, one person is in charge of doing Search

Engine Marketing (SEM) as well as Search Engine Optimization (SEO). The need of

optimization arises from the constantly increasing competition for the companies to

present their products and services more easily, visible and frequently. In addition,

Yankee.ie replaces their banners on the website every 2-3 weeks to keep them up to

date.

On the other hand to import a digital marketing strategy, it is necessary to know exactly

who the audience is and how they use digital media. With the help of customer traffic

patterns and site usage, the company is able to improve the concepts of the stores to

create more value for the customer and respond to their demand. In this context, web

analytics software like Facebook insights and Google Analytics, are often used to get a

detailed overview about user performances on different websites.

2.6 Physical evidence

The signs of a serious website can quickly be recognized. First main characteristics are

a high quality design as well as an easy handling of the website. The terms &

conditions, the company registration number or the privacy policies are all integral parts

of the websites physical evidence. To provide reassurance, Yankee.ie uses the secure

payment tool Realex payments (see above) as well as it provides support via phone,

email or directly in store, not only for their customers, but also for anyones questions

about the Yankee Candles.

The customer value proposition needs to be internalized as well as communicated to the

customer.20

Therefore the company offers product back-up, the guarantee that an item

can always be exchanged if it no complies with the customers requirements. The

consumer can rely on the value of the candles, as well as on the service he will get

before, during and after the sale. Moreover he can check the comments of further

consumers directly on Yankee.ie, Facebook or Twitter.

20

Cf. Chaffey und Ellis-Chadwick 2012, S. 14

2 The Marketing Mix

9

Besides the price and the picture, a prospective customer gets a review of the selected

candle in terms of a maximum of five stars which can be scored for the product.

All of these points provide the visitors of Yankee.ie the impressions, of a comfortable

and secure variation to shop online. As a further cue for reassurance, Yankee.ie was a

finalist in the Retail Excellence Ireland award 2012 in the category website of the

year.21

2.7 Process

Contrary to the most popular policies for hybrid companies, Yankee.ie is specialised in

online sales. To generate availability of products the concern practices picking systems,

as well as it has separated stocks for online and offline products. This policy enables to

have 95% of the 800 items listed on their website in stock. Through Yankee.ie, the

customer can check availability and the exact number of the selected item in stock.

Unfortunately it is not possible to find out when a product will be available again if it is

out of stock.22

The default carrier for deliveries in Ireland is An Post with the advantages of the

drivers local knowledge. Cross border deliveries are handled by DPD, which enables

customers to track the location of their order all the way from ordering to delivery.

Orders are usually shipped within 24 hours to their customers. As a result of the web

server updating, Yankee.ie can now handle 20,000 orders in one day.

.

21

Cf. Retail Excellence Ireland 2013 22


3 Recommendation and Future Outlook

10


The business concept of Yankee Candle, selling premium priced candles and

accessories, is easy but successful. The reason is the specialisation in online sales as

well as their high motivated staff, picking-systems and separated stock to the stores.

Nevertheless the company must be further improved and developed to keep operating

effective in the competitive marketplace. The recommendations take place in the

opportunities part of the following SWOT analysis. Two main opportunities will be

described in more detail in 3.1.1 and 3.1.2.

3.1 SWOT analysis

Strengths

- Peter Mc Auley : 20 years

experience in the gift and

online/offline retail trade

- Dedicated Yankee Candle site

- Premier online retailer of

Yankee Candle products &

- accessories

- 2011: 1,2 million euros in

turnover. 1,6% of Yankee

Candle European sales

- Website updated on a daily

basis

- The mixology (consumers can

create their own fragrance)

Weaknesses

- Underrepresented in

different social media

channels like social

publishing zones or social

entertainment zones

- Few or no traditional,

printed marketing

- Excessive delivery fees

- No overview when out of

stock candles will be

available again

Opportunities

- Population growth

- Purchasing power growth

- Entry in new digital markets

Threats

- The barriers to enter the

market are low

- Competitors like Dunnes


11

and social networks like

Flickr, Pinterest, YouTube,

LinkedIn, Google +

- Create an Mobile App

- Making posts on different

platforms more frequent +

reply to individual comments

on Facebook more

interaction with customer

stores, Penney, Ikea also sell

candles cheaper candles

- Increasing power and claims

of customers as they have an

extensive selection of online

as well as offline shops

offering candles

3.1.1 Mobile App

One new tactic to entre in the zone of social blogging is to build a Mobile App of

Yankee.ie. Nearly every website has a separate mobile and tablet app to response to the

customer needs. These days consumers want to have it as simple as possible in the

way of purchasing new goods. According to the market research The state of the global

mobile consumer, 2013 of Deloitte Touch Tohmatsu Limited, more than 2 billion

smartphones and 300 tablets are expected to be in use globally by the end of 2013. 23

The potential is tremendous for implementing a Yankee.ie App, which is still available

from the American counterpart Yankeecandle.com.

To achieve a uniform public appearance and to increase the recognition value, the

mobile/tablet App should be work and look like the online store. The customer, who is

familiar with Yankee.ie, can handle the different steps from the first visit to the final

purchase easier. He would be able to have access from anywhere, even without a

computer. Besides the offerings, the consumer could get information about Yankee

Candles offline stores locations, as well as create his own account and wish list (see

figure 6 of the appendix).

In order to transfer these from theory to practice, the company has to take decisions

about their internal resources, responsibilities and personal skills.24

As in previous

challenges shown, Yankee.ie has the industry expertise and can draw on their digital

marketing experiences to develop independently a Yankee.ie App. To promptly

23

Cf. Calugar-Pop und Lee 2013, S. 3 24

Cf. Chaffey und Ellis-Chadwick 2012, S. 199


12

establish the App, the company has to start as soon as possible with the developing and

the following marketing.

Following the introduction, it is of great importance for a successful market presence to

monitor the performance. This includes researches about how well the App is accepted

by the market, as well as how competitors react to them.

3.1.2 YouTube

Another tool to win additional customers is YouTube, according to Dave Chaffey, a

photo and video sharing platform which enables social streaming.25

Currently Yankee.ie

neither has uploaded videos, nor does it have its own individual channel. But especially

videos can give customers the feeling of a cosy atmosphere, which they will get with

Yankee candles.

The videos dont have to be in long length, as well as produced in a perfect high quality.

It is all about being present in different digital marketing platforms. Once again,

Yankee.ie can take another Yankee website as an example. Yankeecandle.co.uk has an

own channel with 228 followers and 20.084 views.26

Twice a week, Yankee.ie could give a quick overview about their new offers, events

and special sales campaigns in the form of short clips. This could be compiled from

pictures, customer interviews or short extracts from offline stores. Furthermore, new

product campaigns can be spread much faster, as YouTube is almost known all over the

world.

A number of features allow user to give a feedback, not only to each video, but also to

the candles in general. With direct connection to Facebook and Twitter, the videos can

be shared with other consumers and friends.

The success of an own Yankee.ie YouTube channel can be easy measured with the rise

in the number of followers.

This provides an ideal opportunity to develop a cheap and promisingly new digital

marketing strategy, as well as it generates new jobs.

25

Cf. Chaffey 26

Cf. yankee.co.uk

4 Appendices

13

4 Appendices

Figure 4 Keys aspects of the 7Ps of the classic marketing mix 27

Figure 5 Yankee.ie 28

27



4 Appendices

14

Figure 6 Mobile App Yankeecandle.com 29

29

Cf. The Yankee Candle Company

5 References

15

5 References

Calugar-Pop, Cornelia; Lee, Paul (2013): The state of the global mobile consumer,

2013. Divergence deepens. Hg. v. Deloitte Touch Tohmatsu Limited.

Chaffey, Dave: Digital Marketing Radar. Hg. v. Smartinsights.com. Online verfgbar

unter http://www.smartinsights.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/Digital-Marketing-

Radar-SmartInsight-2010.png.

Chaffey, Dave; Ellis-Chadwick, Fiona (2012): Digital marketing. Strategy,

implementation and practice. 5. Aufl. Harlow: Pearson Education.

Chaffey, Dave; Smith, P. R. (2008): eMarketing eXcellence. Planning and optimizing

your digital marketing. 3. Aufl. Amsterdam, London: Butterworth-Heinemann

(Emarketing essentials).

CIA World Factbook (Hg.): Ireland Demographics Profile 2013. Online verfgbar unter

www.indexmundi.com/ireland/demographics_profile.html.

Eileen Banks: New 175 million Government Seed and Venture Capital Scheme targets high-growth Irish companies - Minister Bruton. Unter Mitarbeit von Enterprise and

Innovation. Online verfgbar unter www.enterprise-

ireland.com/en/news/pressreleases/2013-press-releases/new-%E2%82%AC175million-

government-seed-and-venture-capital-scheme-targets-high-growth-irish-companies-

minister-bruton.html, zuletzt geprft am 23.02.2014.

European Consumer Centre Ireland (Hg.): Shopping Online. Online verfgbar unter

www.eccireland.ie/popular-consumer-topics/shopping-online/.

National Consumer Agency (Hg.): Your rights as a consumer in Ireland. Online

verfgbar unter

www.citizensinformation.ie/en/consumer_affairs/consumer_protection/consumer_rights

/consumers_and_the_law_in_ireland.html, zuletzt geprft am 23.02.2014.

Official Journal of the European Communities (Hg.): DIRECTIVE 2000/31/EC OF

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL. Online verfgbar unter

www.eur-

lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2000:178:0001:0016:EN:PDF,

zuletzt geprft am 23.02.2014.

5 References

16

Retail Excellence Ireland 2013. Hg. v. Retail Excellence Ireland 2013. Online verfgbar

unter http://www.retailexcellence.ie/, zuletzt geprft am 20.02.2014.

The Yankee Candle Company, Inc: Mobile App.

Trading Economics (Hg.). Online verfgbar unter www.tradingeconomics.com/ireland,


Unlimited Fragrances Ltd. Hg. v. Unlimited Fragrances Ltd. Online verfgbar unter

www.yankee.ie, zuletzt geprft am 10.02.2014.

Unlimited Fragrances Ltd. Hg. v. Facebook Inc. Online verfgbar unter

www.facebook.com/yankeeireland, zuletzt geprft am 10.02.2014.

Unlimited Fragrances Ltd. Hg. v. Inc Twitter. Online verfgbar unter

www.twitter.com/yankeeireland, zuletzt geprft am 10.02.2014.

Urhausen, Julia (2013): Internet access and use in 2013. Hg. v. Eurostat Press Office.

Online verfgbar unter http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_STAT-13-199_en.htm,


Yankee Candle Europe Ltd (2014). Online verfgbar unter

www.yankeecandle.co.uk/en/uk/page/about, zuletzt aktualisiert am 11.02.2014.

yankee.co.uk. Hg. v. L. L.C. YouTube. Online verfgbar unter

www.youtube.com/user/yankeecandlesuk/about, zuletzt geprft am 21.02.2014.

yankee.ie

Documents

environment analysis

swot analysis

group case study assignment

bargaining powers of

threats of new entrants

extent of rivalry

future outlook

power of suppliers