Strategic Plan

Marketing Segment

Marketing Strategies

Steps & Stages will succeed by offering consumers high quality products, with personal services at a competitive price. Step & Stages main focus is gaining new customers, getting customers to spend more and come back more often. Establishing a loyal customer base is of a paramount importance since such customer core will not only generate most of the sales but also will provide favorable referrals.

Steps & Stages will offer products and services to a wide range of customers at the best price-value available on the market. With this best value strategy, we aim to offer customers a range of products and services at the lowest price available compared to a rival’s products with similar attributes.

Action Plan

Steps & Stages plans to achieve its goals by the following:

· To always satisfy and provide our customers with one of the best customer services when they come to our store: This will be by engaging with our customers and training our employees regularly.

· To provide ever- changing new hottest fashion on a day to day basis: This will be done by working with top show rooms and manufactures to have the hottest trends as soon as they hit the market.

· Partnering with Inter-Health Canada: This will be done by schedule meetings to discuss plans on how the process will be executed.

Target Customers

Steps & Stages will be catering to all the needs of pregnant mothers, children and teenagers of all different nationalities in the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Industry Analysis

While the Turks and Caicos Economy is booming and growing upward, although it is 2021 there are many things that the communities lack. The stores here are mostly Groceries, Household Supplies and Building Supplies Stores. While you may find items for pregnant mothers, children and teens, the availability of getting everything one time is scattered. Residents cannot find the perfect one stop spot to carter to their children’s need. Even pregnant mother cannot find Maternity needs or new born baby needs without having to order for their items online and have to wait days or weeks before they can enjoy their purchase at their leisure.

Steps & Stages will be a retail store and online entity. Over the years we personally experience the lack of stores that caters to the needs of pregnant mothers, children and teens. While online shopping is not a bad thing we do think it is time for Turks and Caicos to upgrade and experience a new feel to shopping for their kids. When shopping here the top complaints from Residents is you can never find what you want, you have to go to multiple places to get a complete shopping list ticked off.

After reviewing the market and the shortage it had even for needs as a mother, we concluded that a business such as this would perform remarkably. We must pay attention to the demographics, for the past few years there have been over 350 new births. Steps & Stages would have every item available for them and the following years as they get older.

Marketing Plan

Many people have the notion that the Islands do not have the variety or option that would exist in the United States. Our plan is to change that perception, win over new clients and keep them. We have taken a close observation on the current and past state of the Turks and Caicos Islands market. We took key notes of the shortages of our competitors. When assessed, our end result gave us the notable areas we must strive to maintain in order to win over prospective customers.

Wining Perspective Customers

1. Steps & Stages plan to attract the prospective customers with the use of Target ads. We plan to advertise through billboards on frequently used streets, radio stations, social media, flyers and television. We chose to do moderate advertising to make people aware of us while not making them tired of seeing us. Because we cater to babies, little children and teenage we plan to advertise at key locations where they frequently go. Doing this will allow kids to see eye catching advertisement that will cause them to demand the seen products from their parents. We plan to advertise in other languages so we can continue attracting new clients of the different cultures. When advertising we will study the zones understanding who are the majority in the area, when we know who we want to attract we can advertise to them in their understanding language.

2. Engage in affiliate programs with key organizations that will drive customer to our company. We are currently working on an endorsement and affiliation deal with both Inter-Health Canada hospitals, this will not only allow our products to be used in the nursery but also allow new mothers to receive our products from the first date of giving birth.

3. There are two notable vendor shows in the Turks and Caicos Islands one on Grand Turk Yearly and One on Providenciales yearly, we will use both of these events as a medium to interact with people who never heard of us. Showcasing our products from maternity stage, babies, and teenagers will allow them to get a preview of what we carry.

4. Create first time buyers’ promotions, when new clients sign up for newsletters they will receive a discount code for their purchase. Doing this will encourage prospective buyers to use their discount.

Converting New Customers to Lifetime Customers

1. Steps & Stages will carry our follow procedures for certain interactions with customers. We will be fully staffed with persons from different nationalities who are bilingual so these follow ups can take place with all our customers. Carrying out this follow up procedure not only will make customers feel that we care but it also will inform us of our short comings.

2. Steps & Stages plans to send regular newsletters to keep customers inform with new promotions. Doing this will allow customers to stay connected with us just so they will not miss out on upcoming promotions.

3. We will ensure to keep the customers aware of our product how they work, with real local customers this will promote the word of mouth to other customers and eventually they will always remain with us because of the quality product we sell.

4. Give our customers a unique shopping experience that they don’t get to receive at other local stores, reminders about services that requires checkups, birthday reminders and a friendly shopping experience.

Sales Strategy

Steps & Stages will advertise its business and services on Radio Turks and Caicos (RTC), and all the social media platform which is the focus of Steps & Stages target customer group.

Steps & Stages will have a grand opening event to introduce the business and products to the market and to its clientele and also host various of events to help boost sales such as back-to-school sales, Easter sale, Christmas sales and baby shower gift registry.

Figure 1

Figure 2

Sales Forecast

	Yr1	Yr2	Yr3
Sales Forecast
Maternity Items	$41,850	$49,500	$156,350
Baby Item	$59,150	$80,000	$234,650
Kids Clothing	$58,500	$70,000	$219,500
Total Sales	$159,500	$199,500	$610,500
Direct Cost of Sales
Maternity Items	$7,360	$10,000	$13,000
Baby Item	$20,500	$36,000	$41,000
Kids Clothing	$13,400	$16,000	$19,000
Subtotal Direct Cost of Sales	$41,260	$62,000	$73,000

The chart below depicts the birth rate in the Turks and Caicos Islands by ages less that 15-50 years and over.

In the year 2019 there was 487 live birth in the Turks and Caicos Islands, 24 of those live births were by girls between the ages of 15-19 and 77 are girls around the age 20-24 (Statistics Department Turks and Caicos Islands, n.d.). These young teenagers and young adults are girls who are fresh out of high school and college, and most likely do not have a job, or still living and depending on their parents for support. This is where Steps & Stages Department store will step in, our store would be there to provide all of their need as a pregnant mom and also as a new mother. Our store would make the purchasing of item easy and affordable, it would reduce cost by having to travel aboard or ordering online to purchase all the maternity and baby items which is needed and also travel expenses such as freight and custom duty.

Figure 3

Monthly Sales

Maternity Items Month 1 Month 2 Month 3 Month 4 Month 5 Month 6 Month 7 Month 8 Month 9 Month 10 Month 11 Month 12 1350 2000 3000 2500 4000 5500 5500 4000 4500 2000 3500 4000 Baby Items Month 1 Month 2 Month 3 Month 4 Month 5 Month 6 Month 7 Month 8 Month 9 Month 10 Month 11 Month 12 2150 3500 3000 4000 6000 7000 7000 7000 5000 3000 4500 7000 Kids Clothing Month 1 Month 2 Month 3 Month 4 Month 5 Month 6 Month 7 Month 8 Month 9 Month 10 Month 11 Month 12 1500 2000 3000 3500 4500 6000 6000 9000 6000 3500 4500 9000 Total Month 1 Month 2 Month 3 Month 4 Month 5 Month 6 Month 7 Month 8 Month 9 Month 10 Month 11 Month 12 5000 7500 9000 10000 14500 18500 18500 20000 15500 8500 12500 20000

Yearly Sales

Maternity Items Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 41850 49500 65000 Baby Items Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 59150 80000 95500 Kids Clothing Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 58500 70500 90500 Total Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 159500 200000 251000