Exam techniques - AQARecommend/Advise vs evaluate

Yanna’s Bikes could open an e-commerce store. This is because many consumers now make purchases online for all items, including bikes and other cycling equipment. This could lead to the cycling business having a larger target audience, therefore increasing its sales and revenue. However, opening an e-commerce store to sell cycling equipment would cost money and take a lot of time to manage.

Yanna’s Bikes could also open more cycling shops, for example in Manchester, Leeds and Birmingham. This would lead to more potential customers purchasing bikes, cycling clothes and cycling accessories, and may therefore increase revenue and the potential to expand further. However, opening more cycling shops would be expensive, and Yanna may not have knowledge of the local areas.

Overall, I recommend opening an e-commerce store. This is because shopping online is becoming increasingly common and many people no longer buy bikes and cycling equipment on the high street. The final choice of option depends on whether Yanna is able to employ staff to manage the online element of the business and set up a distribution network. The most important point is that sales online are increasing all of the time.

Mate’s Bakery could move towards a flatter organisational structure to reduce the layers of management in the baked goods business. This would lead to better communication and a shorter chain of command in the business. Therefore, there would be less risk of poor communication and employees would be likely to feel more valued. However, a flatter organisational structure would provide less support for employees.

Mate’s Bakery could move towards a taller organisational structure to increase the layers of management in the bakery business, which has been operating for five years. This would lead to more support for employees and fewer mistakes being made when producing baked goods. However, with more management, employees might feel less trusted and may move to another business in the bakery industry, such as Cheap Bakes.

Overall, I recommend moving towards a flatter organisational structure. This is because a flatter structure provides employees (particularly at lower levels, such as bakers) with more responsibility and increased motivation. However, the final choice of option depends on whether the bakers and other staff at the business are capable of making important business decisions or whether they need close supervision to complete the job properly. The most important point is whether employees at the bakery business could cope with the additional decision-making responsibility.

As it is a small business, promotion is very important to Sarma’s Café. This is because if the café business doesn’t promote itself effectively, it is likely to miss out on customers to one of the other cafés in the local area. This could lead to the recent increase in demand slowing down and the café losing customers. Therefore, the current expansion plans may not be possible. However, conducting lots of promotion could increase costs for the café, meaning that it could have to increase the prices of its exotic coffee.

It could be argued that promotion is not the most important element of the marketing mix, because the café specialises in exotic coffees sourced from around the world. Therefore, the product could be considered to be the most important element of the marketing mix for the café, especially because it is considering starting to sell food as well. However, promotion is extremely important for a business with a niche unique selling point (USP) in a busy town centre.

Overall, I believe that promotion is not the most effective element of the marketing mix for Sarma’s Café. This is because elements such as product and price are vital in a busy town centre with lots of other cafés. Also, with the business having such a strong USP, product may be the most important element of the marketing mix. Whether promotion is considered to be the most effective element of the marketing mix for Sarma’s Café depends on whether consumers within the local area value the USP of exotic coffees, or whether they simply want any coffee available from a café. The most important point is that Sarma’s Café is a business that thrives on having a USP.