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Lall, Manjit, Dhage, Seemit, Gupta, Rahul and Manjee, Rizwan (2007) An Investigation of the Electrical Beauty Products Category for Boots.com. [Dissertation (University of Nottingham only)] (Unpublished)

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Abstract

The team of four MBA students were invited into Boots.com to investigate the performance of the Electrical Beauty products category within their online business. Whilst in the very early stages of the project, the group was introduced to the McKinsey Retail Model which Boots.com was using. The model contained five elements - Range Authority, Expertise, Experience, Convenience and Price. Under this model, it was proposed that to excel, organisations needed to be Best in Class in two elements and not negative in the other three.

Using this as the basis for the project, the group developed two statements as hypotheses which were to be answered through the study.

Hypothesis 1 [H1]: Boots.com is best in class in Range and Expertise.

Hypothesis 2 [H2]: Boots.com is not negative in Price, Experience and Convenience.

In order to answer the hypotheses questions, the group used a mixture of both quantitative and qualitative research methods. Internal analysis was undertaken using data provided by Boots.com on different aspects of business performance and previous market research that had already been undertaken. This was supported through a series of internal staff interviews which also included them completing a plot diagram on the positioning of Boots.com against the competitors against brand image and price perception.

External focus centred with the collecting of data on both customer perceptions and competitor activity. This was done through two questionnaire surveys and through the group's own analysis deemed the customer journey and competitor searches. The first questionnaire targeted existing Boots.com registered customers who were asked to complete the survey sent by e-mail and the second involved the MBA project team interviewing shoppers in Nottingham city centre who used the internet to purchase or browse for products including Electrical Beauty.

This was supported with market information to determine trends both past and future within the Electrical Beauty products market. This also was used to determine the relevant market position of Boots.

The results and finding were used to ascertain the validity of the hypotheses. It was found that Boots.com was perceived as not being Best in Class for Range and Expertise. With regard to the remaining three elements, Boots.com was seen as negative for Price but for the remaining two elements, the results were inconclusive.

Finally, the analysis and observations were used to compile future recommendations for Boots.com to improve their overall position in the market and to highlight the potential risks by failing to do so.

Item Type:	Dissertation (University of Nottingham only)
Depositing User:	EP, Services
Date Deposited:	21 Nov 2007
Last Modified:	15 Jan 2018 00:16
URI:	https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/id/eprint/20967

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