case study

International Sales and Marketing Module - E-Commerce Case Study Questions 1. Based on your knowledge of the company after reviewing the case, what organizational gaps will Cheekies Kid Co. need to address prior to launching the Cheeky Mat in the U.K.? 2. The Canadian marketplace launch went very smoothly for the company. What steps would it have taken to ensure initial purchases on its Onlinemarketplace.ca page were successful? 3. What types of information should Diana and her team review to determine appropriate pricing for the U.K. market? Although based on research of actual events, organizations and/or individuals, this case study is fictional and is intended to support learning. Cases are not intended to serve as endorsements, sources of primary data or illustrations of effective or ineffective management, Open with Cheekies Kid Co.: An Expanding E-Commerce Marketplace U.S. Beginnings Diana Brittley is a mom of three young boys, wife of a stay-at-home dad, and CEO of Cheekies Kid Co. After having their twin boys, Diana and her husband, Gavin, were tired of cleaning up after mealtimes: bowls on the floor, food everywhere-it was exhausting. One day, Gavin came up with the idea of a placemat that also functioned as a plate and that could be made from material that would be safe for children and would not slide (or be pushed or thrown!) off the table. On that day, Cheekies Kid Co. was born. Diana had left her corporate employment as a marketing specialist to raise their three children and was, therefore, the natural choice of the two to launch a new business. With the help of a few of their friends, they sourced materials, had a prototype designed, created and tested, and then launched the Cheeky Mat using a Kickstarter campaign. Through the campaign, they raised USD 65,000, which they used to run their first production of the colourful mats. Since then, Cheekies Kid Co. has grown exponentially. The company offers the Cheeky Mat in eight different colours and two sizes. The mats are dishwasher, microwave and oven safe. bacteria resistant, and made of 100 percent food grade silicone that is BPA, PVC and lead free. With sales over USD 1 million Page fult ylar 5nd a team Qve i thouse employees and seven associates, Cheekies has established its online presence by opening a store on Cheekie X Case Study #7 (Questio X Case Study #7 (Questio X GWhat types of informat X C Search Textbooks c/MTAyODA2Nzg2NzQ0/a/MTE4MTQUODQ4NzMy/details Open with Although initially the Online Marketplace Grooms costlier than developing a custome commerce website and handling all shipping and logistics internally, Diana and Gavin completed a cost analysis and determined the time and ease of process gained made the hosted e- commerce solution presented by Online Marketplace the clear winner. By selecting this option, they felt they could be confident of the professional appearance of the online store, and because it comes with a built-in payment method, the ease with which their customers could find, purchase and receive their mats was invaluable. Next Step: U.K.? After the Canadian launch had been deemed successful and operations were running smoothly. Diana and her team took some time to conduct strategic planning sessions. The team acknowledged Cheekies Kid Co.'s first international endeavour had gone well partly because Canada was a friendly market. Canada and the U.S. share a great deal of commonality with regards to culture and buying practices; Canadians are well-accustomed to purchasing products from the U.S., pricing structures are very similar, and shipping across the U.S.-Canada border is fairly straightforward During their discussion of next steps for the company, Thomas Green, Cheekies' business development manager, made an excellent case for expanding sales to the U.K. by opening an Online Marketplace.co.uk marketplace. In Thomas' opinion, the UK, market is a logical export destination for the company for many reasons: a shared language, a direct and well-established trade route, a similar prevalence of an affluent upper middle class, and a large and growing market for children's products. Everyone on the team took away the task of investigating the proposal; when they reconvened a few weeks later, the team overwhelmingly voted to make selling the Cheeky Mat to the U.K. market the next big objective In spite of the similarities in the markets, there will be a great deal of information for Diana's team to research prior to launching on Online Marketplace.co.uk. All products have specific regulations, but children's products have extremely strict Standards of composition, safety, labelling and packaging, and they are different in every country. This will be one of the first areas Diana's team will begin investigating, because it will be critical to determine whether a U.K.-adapted Cheeky Mat prototype must be created and tested prior to the U.K. launch. With a great deal of work ahead, the Cheekies Kid Co. team is excited about the prospect of expanding the company Page 216 - a + Learning Outcomes o RH Overseas Study 7 (Cheekie x C Search Textbook Solut Case Study #7 (Ouesto X Case Study #7 (Questiox GWhat types of informat X m/u/0/c/MTAyODA2N292NzQ0/a/MTE4MTQOODQ4NzMy/details up with the idea of a placerat that also fu Open with ate and that could be made from material that would be safe for children and would not slide (or be pushed or thrownl) off the table. On that day, Cheekies Kid Co. was bom Diana had left her corporate employment as a marketing specialist to raise their three children and was therefore, the natural choice of the two to launch a new business. With the help of a few of their friends, they sourced materials, had a prototype designed, created and tested, and then launched the Cheeky Mat using a Kickstarter campaign. Through the campaign, they raised USD 65,000, which they used to run their first production of the colourful mats. Since then, Cheekies Kid Co. has grown exponentially. The company offers the Cheeky Mat in eight different colours and two sizes. The mats are dishwasher, microwave and oven safe, bacteria resistant, and made of 100 percent food grade silicone that is BPA, PVC and lead free With sales over USD 1 million in the first year and a team of five in-house employees and seven associates, Cheekies has established its online presence by opening a store on Online Marketplace's online merchant platform. Online Marketplace.com is an e-commerce platform through which independent retailers can sell online. It is an enormous company with online marketplaces operating in countries all over the world. Canadian Expansion The company began by selling only to U.S. customers and had good success. After receiving many email requests and often making sales to Canada via its U.S. marketplace, Diana opened a Canadian marketplace on Online Marketplace.ca. It began shipping the Cheeky Mat to Canadian customers via the Fulfillment by Online Marketplace (FBO) distribution service offered by the online retail company. Using FBO, Cheekies Kid Co. is able to ship a stockpile of product to a warehouse in Toronto, Canada, and Online Marketplace handles the picking, packing and shipping when an order is placed O FITT Page 1 a + o