Marketing Research of Burlington Coat Factory : Burlington Coat Factory Warehouse Corporation is a national department store retailer focusing on clothing and shoes, with over 450 stores in 45 states and Puerto Rico.(as of 2010). In 2006, it was acquired by Bain Capital, LLC in a take-private transaction.[1] The company's corporate headquarters are located in Burlington Township, New

THE PROCESS

Today, competitive intelligence is an important activity within corporations, serving all areas of business functioning: research and development, human resources, sales, etc. A recent survey by The Futures Group found that 80 percent of large, U.S.-based organizations have a formal, in-house, competitive intelligence department. In the future, competitive intelligence activities will become standard. The wide availability of information on the Web makes competitive intelligence more accessible to medium-size and small firms. Software tools to analyze and disseminate intelligence also make it easier to implement competitive intelligence tools. The process of competitive intelligence is outlined in the following steps:

Setting intelligence objectives (i.e., designing the requirements)
Collecting and organizing data about the industry and competitors
Analyzing and interpreting the data
Disseminating the intelligence
SETTING THE OBJECTIVES.

A clear statement of the intelligence needs of the organization should be outlined by management. If this step is ignored, the competitive intelligence department will be bogged down with too much information and possibly distracted by ad-hoc requests for data. This step is necessary regardless of where in the organization the competitive intelligence department is located. Some corporations have competitive intelligence report directly to the CEO; in others, it is located in marketing or in research and development. The role of any competitive intelligence program should be driven by the needs of the corporation, especially areas that have key performance consequences.

COLLECTING AND ORGANIZING THE DATA.

The online revolution has enhanced ease in collecting and obtaining information, but the competitive intelligence expert must constantly be alert to new sources and places for finding information. The most obvious data collection sources include trade magazine and newspaper articles, company Web sites, newswires, chat forums, and Web search engines. Free information is available on industries via census data on government Web pages. Similarly, free public company information from U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings, such as the 10-K and 10-Q report, can be easily obtained on the Web. These corporate reports yield detailed financial and product information and also identify mergers, acquisitions, and legal proceedings against the company. Other channels for fee-based data are information aggregators such as Factiva, Lexis Nexis, Hoover's Online, MergentOnline and Standard and Poors's databases. Analyst reports and market research reports from companies such as Jupiter, Forrester Research, and Frost and Sullivan, although usually quite expensive to acquire, provide detailed analyses on companies and industries.

ANALYZING AND INTERPRETING THE DATA.

Analysis and interpretation is the real core of competitive intelligence. Collected data must be transformed into "qualitative" information (i.e., intelligence). One way to analyze data obtained from the Web is to use a Spider. There are competitive intelligence Spiders available that index and categorize documents found though Web searchers. Whether a Spider is used or not, the next step is to interpret the information. Lehmann and Winer outline four important aspects competitive intelligence professionals need to interpret about competitors: their current and future objectives, their current strategies, their resources, and their future strategies. Once this assessment is complete, competitive intelligence professionals measure their companies in comparison to competitors; this is known as benchmarking. From the benchmarking process, trend identification and prediction can be made.

DISSEMINATING THE INFORMATION.

Dissemination is the delivery of current, real-time intelligence to the decision makers in the firm at the time they need it. Timely dissemination is essential if the intelligence is to be perceived as trustworthy. The current philosophy is that delivering to people at all levels in the organization enhances competitive advantages.
Every business organization needs to take the time to plan for the future. Indeed, successful planning should envision that future, and plan the strategy and tactics to make it a reality. It is important to identify the unique attributes and advantages of the firm’s offer to the marketplace, while developing a strategy to leverage the firm's strengths and opportunities. Strategic marketing planning process should be worked upon. Goals must be identified, and work on building a roadmap to reach them. Then at the end of the planning process, a comprehensive strategy will be formulated for growing the business, together with an implementation plan that will produce concrete results.
Market research is an integral part of the planning process. There are things that need to be done like the client satisfaction surveys, studying the competition, test brand recognition and then analyze market trends. In order to build future marketing programs and putting the company at a significant competitive edge, better information about an organization’s business environment should be established. The purpose of this paper is to tackle and understand deeply how consumers make purchase decisions in order to choose one appropriate target market. The “needs” and how these needs fit within the states of the consumer behavior model will be discussed and how the product/service target market and competition is being applied.
However, marketing is an energetic activity, and information has to be kept up to date and the need for deep and detailed research becomes vital (Chisnall, 2003). Part of the process of developing a Comprehensive Strategic Marketing Plan is audience and competition. An internal consensus should be achieved, which is a critical factor in the ultimate success of any carefully designed plan.

Target Audience and Competition

It is very important that the target audience will be determined first. In knowing the prospects and competition, it is important that the target audience will be identified. Competition on the other hand, provides understanding on who influences the market and the choices of the prospects (Ceonex, 2004). Moreover, information about the target audience should be familiarize, in order to understand it’s behavior, need’s and know-how to be able to market them better. By learning their needs and preferences, the marketing strategy and the target audience will be narrowed. It should be given importance that there is always something to learn in the success and failures of the competitor. Knowing and understanding the target audience will determine why the competition has succeeded or failed. It is necessary to determine the decision making process that consumers go through as they make a purchase in different buying stations and the diversity of customer needs. The determinants (psychological, sociologic and economic) that affect the consumption and customer behaviors must be clearly defined.
 
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Marketing Research of Burlington Coat Factory : Burlington Coat Factory Warehouse Corporation is a national department store retailer focusing on clothing and shoes, with over 450 stores in 45 states and Puerto Rico.(as of 2010). In 2006, it was acquired by Bain Capital, LLC in a take-private transaction.[1] The company's corporate headquarters are located in Burlington Township, New

THE PROCESS

Today, competitive intelligence is an important activity within corporations, serving all areas of business functioning: research and development, human resources, sales, etc. A recent survey by The Futures Group found that 80 percent of large, U.S.-based organizations have a formal, in-house, competitive intelligence department. In the future, competitive intelligence activities will become standard. The wide availability of information on the Web makes competitive intelligence more accessible to medium-size and small firms. Software tools to analyze and disseminate intelligence also make it easier to implement competitive intelligence tools. The process of competitive intelligence is outlined in the following steps:

Setting intelligence objectives (i.e., designing the requirements)
Collecting and organizing data about the industry and competitors
Analyzing and interpreting the data
Disseminating the intelligence
SETTING THE OBJECTIVES.

A clear statement of the intelligence needs of the organization should be outlined by management. If this step is ignored, the competitive intelligence department will be bogged down with too much information and possibly distracted by ad-hoc requests for data. This step is necessary regardless of where in the organization the competitive intelligence department is located. Some corporations have competitive intelligence report directly to the CEO; in others, it is located in marketing or in research and development. The role of any competitive intelligence program should be driven by the needs of the corporation, especially areas that have key performance consequences.

COLLECTING AND ORGANIZING THE DATA.

The online revolution has enhanced ease in collecting and obtaining information, but the competitive intelligence expert must constantly be alert to new sources and places for finding information. The most obvious data collection sources include trade magazine and newspaper articles, company Web sites, newswires, chat forums, and Web search engines. Free information is available on industries via census data on government Web pages. Similarly, free public company information from U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings, such as the 10-K and 10-Q report, can be easily obtained on the Web. These corporate reports yield detailed financial and product information and also identify mergers, acquisitions, and legal proceedings against the company. Other channels for fee-based data are information aggregators such as Factiva, Lexis Nexis, Hoover's Online, MergentOnline and Standard and Poors's databases. Analyst reports and market research reports from companies such as Jupiter, Forrester Research, and Frost and Sullivan, although usually quite expensive to acquire, provide detailed analyses on companies and industries.

ANALYZING AND INTERPRETING THE DATA.

Analysis and interpretation is the real core of competitive intelligence. Collected data must be transformed into "qualitative" information (i.e., intelligence). One way to analyze data obtained from the Web is to use a Spider. There are competitive intelligence Spiders available that index and categorize documents found though Web searchers. Whether a Spider is used or not, the next step is to interpret the information. Lehmann and Winer outline four important aspects competitive intelligence professionals need to interpret about competitors: their current and future objectives, their current strategies, their resources, and their future strategies. Once this assessment is complete, competitive intelligence professionals measure their companies in comparison to competitors; this is known as benchmarking. From the benchmarking process, trend identification and prediction can be made.

DISSEMINATING THE INFORMATION.

Dissemination is the delivery of current, real-time intelligence to the decision makers in the firm at the time they need it. Timely dissemination is essential if the intelligence is to be perceived as trustworthy. The current philosophy is that delivering to people at all levels in the organization enhances competitive advantages.
Every business organization needs to take the time to plan for the future. Indeed, successful planning should envision that future, and plan the strategy and tactics to make it a reality. It is important to identify the unique attributes and advantages of the firm’s offer to the marketplace, while developing a strategy to leverage the firm's strengths and opportunities. Strategic marketing planning process should be worked upon. Goals must be identified, and work on building a roadmap to reach them. Then at the end of the planning process, a comprehensive strategy will be formulated for growing the business, together with an implementation plan that will produce concrete results.
Market research is an integral part of the planning process. There are things that need to be done like the client satisfaction surveys, studying the competition, test brand recognition and then analyze market trends. In order to build future marketing programs and putting the company at a significant competitive edge, better information about an organization’s business environment should be established. The purpose of this paper is to tackle and understand deeply how consumers make purchase decisions in order to choose one appropriate target market. The “needs” and how these needs fit within the states of the consumer behavior model will be discussed and how the product/service target market and competition is being applied.
However, marketing is an energetic activity, and information has to be kept up to date and the need for deep and detailed research becomes vital (Chisnall, 2003). Part of the process of developing a Comprehensive Strategic Marketing Plan is audience and competition. An internal consensus should be achieved, which is a critical factor in the ultimate success of any carefully designed plan.

Target Audience and Competition

It is very important that the target audience will be determined first. In knowing the prospects and competition, it is important that the target audience will be identified. Competition on the other hand, provides understanding on who influences the market and the choices of the prospects (Ceonex, 2004). Moreover, information about the target audience should be familiarize, in order to understand it’s behavior, need’s and know-how to be able to market them better. By learning their needs and preferences, the marketing strategy and the target audience will be narrowed. It should be given importance that there is always something to learn in the success and failures of the competitor. Knowing and understanding the target audience will determine why the competition has succeeded or failed. It is necessary to determine the decision making process that consumers go through as they make a purchase in different buying stations and the diversity of customer needs. The determinants (psychological, sociologic and economic) that affect the consumption and customer behaviors must be clearly defined.

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