BUSI-1620-M01-2021-22

Business Creation Project

ID:001066855

Meow Shop

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Table of Contents

1. Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 4

2. Business Idea and Value Proposition .............................................................................................. 5

2.1 Business Idea ................................................................................................................................ 5

2.2 Value Proposition.......................................................................................................................... 5

3. Industry Vulnerabilities and Market Dependencies ...................................................................... 7

3.1 Macro-Environment Analysis ....................................................................................................... 7

3.2 Micro-Environment Analysis........................................................................................................ 8

4. Customer Requirements ................................................................................................................... 9

5. Business Strategy ............................................................................................................................ 10

5.1 Main Objectives .......................................................................................................................... 11

5.2 Implementation ........................................................................................................................... 11

6. Marketing Strategy ......................................................................................................................... 12

6.1 Target Market.............................................................................................................................. 12

6.2 Routes to Market ......................................................................................................................... 12

6.2.1 Social Media Marketing ....................................................................................................... 12

6.2.2 Social Media Influencers ..................................................................................................... 13

6.2.3 Advertisement ...................................................................................................................... 13

6.2.4 Search Engine Optimization ................................................................................................ 13

6.2.5 Online Store ......................................................................................................................... 13

7. Finance and Revenue Model .......................................................................................................... 14

7.1 Financing..................................................................................................................................... 14

7.2 Revenue Model ........................................................................................................................... 14

8. Suppliers and Partners ................................................................................................................... 15

9. Team ................................................................................................................................................. 16

10. Conclusions .................................................................................................................................... 16

References ............................................................................................................................................ 17

Appendix .............................................................................................................................................. 21

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Appendix 1 – Competitor Analysis ................................................................................................... 21

Appendix 2 - Pestel Analysis ............................................................................................................ 22

Appendix 3 - Porter’s 5 Forces ......................................................................................................... 23

Appendix 4 – AIDA Model .............................................................................................................. 23

Appendix 5 – Primary Research Results........................................................................................... 24

Appendix 6 – Cashflow Statement.................................................................................................... 28

Appendix 7 – Task Responsibilities.................................................................................................. 28

Appendix 8 – Job Description........................................................................................................... 29

Appendix 9 – Enterprise Challenge and Received Mentoring Evidence .......................................... 30

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1. Introduction

Cats are one of the most popular pets around the world. In 2021 there were around 10.8 million
owned cats in the UK which was an increase of 600,000 cats from the previous year (Cat’s Protection,
2021). Cats are also very popular on the internet as there are thousands of cat groups and cat videos
on different social media channels. These pages demonstrate how cats are not just pets but family
members. The passion that many individuals have for cats was the inspiration behind Meow Shop, an
online shop for cat lovers and their cats.

This report investigates Meow Shop’s value proposition and analyses the viability of the business
idea. To better understand the market and customer needs, primary and secondary data are used
throughout the analysis. The report starts by analysing the business idea and value proposition,
followed by a discussion about the main macro and micro environmental dependencies. After that, the
requirements of the customers are analysed by using data from the primary research. The strategic
direction of the business is evaluated and followed by the marketing strategy and the finance
estimates. Finally, the report highlights the main partners and discusses the team. Conclusions
summarise the main aspects and discuss the next steps of the business.

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2. Business Idea and Value Proposition

2.1 Business Idea

The global pet care market size was USD 207.90 billion in 2020 and it is expected to grow in the next
years (Fortune Business Insight, 2021). One important trend in the pet industry is pet humanization in
which pets are treated as family members rather than just animals (Fox and Gee, 2017). That drives
pet owners to spend more money on their pets and means that there could be increased interest in cat
care products. As was mentioned in the introduction, there are plenty of cat owners who are very
passionate about cats and they could be interested to purchase cat-themed products for themselves.
Therefore, there could be a need for a shop that sells products for cats but also cat-themed items for
cat lovers so they can express their love for cats.

Meow Shop offers an answer to the customers’ pain as it is an online store dedicated to cat lovers and
their cats. The store focus on selling cat-themed products, such as clothes and accessories with cat-
themed prints on them. However, the store also sells cat care items such as collars, beds and toys for
cats. Meow Shop is based on print-on-demand and drop shipping models. Dropshipping is a form of
e-commerce where the retailer promotes the products to consumers and transfers customer orders to
the suppliers who fulfil the orders (Kim et al., 2022). Meow Shop provides worldwide shipping,
which makes it a great shopping destination for cat lovers around the world.

2.2 Value Proposition

Competitor analysis was created to analyse how Meow Shop can benchmark against the competitors
(Appendix 1). One of the main issues is that all the competitor stores sell very similar products.
However, the web pages vary from each other. The analysis highlighted the importance of a visually
pleasing and functional website as some of the stores did not have a professional interface. Some of
the competitors did not provide much information about the products, which cause the customers are
less informed about the products. All the shops seemed to offer customer service but many of them
were not highlighting it. It can mean that it is not the core way of creating value for customers in these
companies. Many of these competitor stores have a significant follower base on social media channels
which helps to drive traffic to their websites which is a competitive advantage for them.

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The competitor analysis was used as a base for creating a value proposition for Meow Shop. When
looking into more details of how Meow Shop creates value, the main factors are an easy shopping
experience, quality products, customer service and promotion on social media. Firstly, all the products
in the shop are carefully selected, focusing on good quality items which meet the quality expectations
of the customers. Product descriptions are accurate to make sure the customers are informed about
product qualifications before the purchase, which also can increase trust. Secondly, the store offers an
easy and safe shopping experience through a professional-looking website. That is important because
the layout and secure payment methods have an impact on customers’ attitudinal loyalty (Tankovic
and Benazic, 2018). Shopify is used as the website platform and additional applications are used for
creating a fluent shopping experience. Products are categorised in relevant category groups and all
product images have a similar style background. Payments are processed through secure payments
processors which increases the trust. Thirdly, Meow Shop offers excellent and fast customer service
before and after the purchase via the website, email, and social media channels. Finally, the store is
promoted to the customers on social media channels, in which value is provided by sharing
informative cat-related content but also cat-themed memes that bring joy to the customers.

All of the aspects mentioned above create value and thus have an impact on the overall customer
experience, which can make customers choose Meow Shop over the competitors. To summarise,
Meow Shop’s value proposition is to help cat lovers express their love for cats by offering them cat-
themed items that bring joy accompanied by top-class customer service.

Mission: To sell affordable cat-themed products that bring joy to cat lovers and their cats.

Vision: To create a strong cat lovers’ brand that creates profit and donates 10% of the profit to cat
charities in England

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3. Industry Vulnerabilities and Market Dependencies

3.1 Macro-Environment Analysis

Meow Shop operates in an online retail environment but more specifically in the fashion and pet care
industries as it sells clothes, accessories, and cat care products. Pestel analysis was created to analyse
the macro-environment and how it is affecting these industries (Appendix 2). Based on the pestel
analysis there are a few main drivers affecting Meow Shop.

Firstly, sustainability is a big topic as customers are becoming more conscious of the environmental
and ethical issues related to the manufacturing of products. One of the sustainability issues related to
the fashion industry is that every year millions of tons of garments end up in the land field. As Meow
Shop sells clothes and accessories, these items must be made of good quality materials to avoid them
ending up in the land field. Consumers are also aware of the ethical issues and they want to know
where the garments are made and by whom, such as if child labour has been used. Monitoring of the
manufacturing conditions is challenging task for Meow Shop due to the business model. However,
ethical issues are taken very seriously, and Meow Shop aims to find suppliers that provide ethical
working conditions. As recycling is increasingly becoming important, Meow Shop should inform the
customers of how to recycle the products and packaging.

Secondly, the Pestel analysis highlighted that more people have access to the internet and
smartphones, making it very important ensuring the website is optimised for different screen sizes.
Thirdly, customers have right to return certain goods that they have bought online. According to Butel
(2021), over 50% of online buyers had returned products within the last year. Meow Shop aims to
avoid returns by providing clear descriptions for each product. When looking specifically at the pet
industry, the pandemic resulted in growth in the pet market, which benefits Meow Shop with more
potential customers.

Finally, rising living costs mean that consumers might have less disposable income to spend on
products that are not necessary. This needs to be considered in pricing the items to ensure consumers
can afford to buy Meow Shop products.

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3.2 Micro-Environment Analysis

Porter’s Five Forces was used to analyse which of the five forces are affecting Meow Shop and how
significant these factors are (Porter, 1979). The framework emphasized that few factors have a high
impact on the company (Appendix 3). The barriers to entering the market are low such as the low
starting costs of online stores which is why new entrants can be expected. However, many businesses
also exit the market quickly. In 2019 in the UK, 11.7% of new enterprises did not survive less than
one year in business (Statista, 2021a). The market is very saturated as many brands sell cat-themed
items and imitation between the brands is common. Therefore, the threat of substitutes is high. The
high competition forces companies to find their own niches and build strong brands to gain more
market share. Buyers have more bargaining power than suppliers because there are multiple options
available and the switching costs are low.

Based on the analysis, entering the market can be difficult for Meow Shop and there are no
guaranteed profits due to the high competition. However, due to the popularity of cats and considering
the fact that the pet product market is large and is estimated to grow, the market has space for Meow
Shop and it is possible to make a profit. Meow Shop can achieve that by focusing on providing a high
amount of value to its niche. The niche that the store tries to attract is low cost with a high amount of
differentiation and it is further explained in chapter 5.

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4. Customer Requirements

Primary research was conducted to study the purchasing behaviour of cat-related items among cat
lovers (Appendix 4). Overall, 610 cat lovers participated in the online survey and 89% of them owned
a cat. Based on the sample, 76% of the cat owners said that when they buy new items for their cats,
functionality is a more important factor affecting their buying decision compared to design. Only 16%
said design is more important. These results suggest that Meow Shop should only sell products that
are functional, and which meet good quality standards. However, design-led pet products are a
growing trend among pet owners (Armasanti, 2021). Therefore, the store will also sell a collection of
aesthetically pleasing cat products, to answer the growing interest in these items.

The survey found that of all the respondents 75% owned cat-themed items. The respondents then
provided open answers describing the cat-themed products that they own. These 459 open responses
were coded and each product mentioned was divided into one of the 8 categories. The results
highlighted that home decoration was the most popular category of cat-themed products owned by cat
lovers, followed by daywear clothes, and dining ware. The most popular products in the home
decoration category were cat statues, wall art, and cushions. From the daywear category, the most
popular products were cat-themed shirts and socks. From dining ware, the single most popular
product was a tea mug.

When the respondents were asked what kind of cat-themed items they would be interested to buy in
the future, the five most popular categories were drinkware, home decoration items, nightwear
clothing, accessories, and daywear clothing. All these categories received over 50% response rate.
The results varied from what the participants currently own. Daywear clothes were the second most
popular products owned by cat owners but only the fifth most popular when asked what the
participants would like to buy. However, the reason behind these results can be that the respondents
already own these products, so they possibly do not need any more of them. The same argument
applies to nightwear as they were less owned by the respondents, but they would be interested to buy
them maybe because they do not yet own cat pyjamas. After seeing both of the results it seems that
the respondents are not interested in cat-themed outwear clothes, as it was the least popular category
in both charts.

Based on these results, Meow Shop will focus on the five most popular categories. That includes
home decoration items, fun dining ware like mugs and water bottles, comfortable nightwear, stylish
daywear clothes, and accessories.

Consumers' interest in sustainably manufactured items is increasing (Sender Ceron, 2021). Therefore,
Meow Shop prioritizes eco-certificated clothes. Customers want fast shipping, and a long delivery

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time can reduce the buying intention (Ma, 2017). For dropshipping and print-on-demand businesses
this is a difficult factor to consider as the suppliers fulfil the orders which reduces Meow Shop’s
control of the shipping time. However, Meow Shop reduces this risk by partnering with suppliers who
offer guaranteed fast shipping.

5. Business Strategy

Successful strategy consists of a clear analysis of the current state of business and the available
resources, and an understanding of what the competitors do, but it also includes setting up long-term
goals and objectives to achieve them (Whittington et al. 2021). The strategy should be tailored to the
niche that the company is trying to attract. Based on Bowman’s strategy clock, Meow Shop follows
the hybrid strategy which combines cost leadership and differentiation (Bowman and Faulkner, 1996).

The products are priced in a way that they are not the cheapest on the market as that could either mean
gaining fewer profits or providing lower quality products to customers. However, good quality items
are an important part of creating value and thus, the quality is not compromised. However, the product
pricing is competitive, and Meow Shop aims to promote the value the customers are getting.

In terms of differentiation, Meow Shop differentiates itself from competitors by providing a wide
variety of products, aiming to have a product portfolio of at least 300 products. Among the stores that
were used for competitor analysis, only one store had over 300 products (Appendix 1). Thus, having
more products than competitors could be a competitive advantage. The differentiation can also be
seen in the unique products that Meow Shop sells. The prints for these products are created by
designers, without copying the competitors' prints.

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5.1 Main Objectives

• Making a profit and donating at least £500 pounds to cat charities by the end of the
first year by using social media channels to grow the brand and SEO to make sure
customers find the store.

• Increasing social media following to over 1000 followers on Instagram, Facebook and
Tik Tok by the end of the first year, which can be done by sharing relevant content
daily and interacting with the follower to build the bond.

• To have a product portfolio of over 300 products by the end of the first year, which is
achieved by partnering with suppliers and gradually increasing the portfolio

5.2 Implementation

Implementation plays an important part in a successful strategy. It links to the behaviour of the
managers and the activities that are needed to implement the strategy (Friesl et al., 2021). Meow Shop
can successfully implement the strategy by focusing on providing value for customers. That is done
by building relationships with suppliers and partners to ensure the quality of products is high and that
the prices stay competitive. Engaging with customers and listening to their feedback is important to
analyse how customers perceive the value that they get and if there is something that could be
improved. Monitoring and analysing the business performance is also an important part of the
implementation to ensure the business can respond to changing environment (Vera-Baquero et al.,
2016). Therefore, Meow Shop aims to use analytic tools to analyse the website traffic, sales, and
social media statistics, and the efficacy of the marketing campaign, but also the new trends.

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6. Marketing Strategy

6.1 Target Market

The target market for Meow Shop is 18-55-year-old women who own cats and engage daily with cat-
related content on social media channels. This was chosen as the target group because according to
the statistics this group uses more social media (Statista, 2022a; Statista, 2022b; Statista, 2021b). It is
important for Meow Shop as the shop is mainly promoted through social media channels. The target
customers are cat owners because they are more likely to be interested in cat-themed products than the
people who do not own cats.

6.2 Routes to Market

Meow Shop is an online store and does not have a physical location, which is why the marketing is
completely digital. The marketing budget is minimal, which leads to the focus on building the brand
and growing the number of followers on social media channels, who then could be converted into
customers. Meow Shop aims to use relationship marketing and integrated marketing communications
to build trust and bond with the customers. AIDA-model in the appendix provides more information
on how Meow Shop is promoted to the customers (Appendix 4).

6.2.1 Social Media Marketing

The primary research asked what social media channels the participants use to engage with cat-related
content and the results highlighted Facebook as the most popular channel for cat-related content
(Appendix 5). However, the survey results contain a limitation because the survey was mainly
distributed through Facebook groups. That has likely contributed to Facebook being the most popular
channel for cat-related content. Other than Facebook, Instagram and YouTube were among the top
three social media channels.

TikTok also provides a good platform for promoting Meow Shop and the competitors have fewer
followers on Tik Tok, which means it could be a great opportunity for Meow Shop brand growth
(Appendix 1). To grow the brand, Meow Shop creates consistent and relevant posts such as informing
about new products and sales. But the posts can be memes or informative posts about cats. To convert
these followers into customers a call to action is included in the content with a link to the store.

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6.2.2 Social Media Influencers

Cat influencers are used to promote Meow Shop’s products because their follower base is likely to be
interested in Meow Shop's product offerings. Influencers act as word-of-mouth which can increase the
consumers' trust and positive attitude toward the brand (Jin et al., 2019). These endorsed consumers
could then be turned into customers for example by offering a discount.

6.2.3 Advertisement

Sponsored posts are created on Facebook, Instagram and Tik Tok, to create awareness of the brand.
The adverts also aim to target the existing customers to make a repeat purchase and thus increase the
customer lifetime value.

6.2.4 Search Engine Optimization

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is an essential part of ensuring that Meow Shop will rank in the
top results in the search engine and get more visitors to the website. It is important as research has
shown that 90% of individuals do not go beyond the first page on Google results (Matta et al., 2020).

6.2.5 Online Store

According to research, website features that help create flow, have a positive effect on conversion rate
(McDowell et al., 2016). That is why Meow Shop’s online store is a visual experience and easy to
navigate, which creates an effortless shopping experience. To further increase the probability of
visitors making a purchase the store has integrated calls to action. These include for example a
shopping cart button on every page and a buy now button on each of the product pages.

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7. Finance and Revenue Model

7.1 Financing

A cash flow forecast was created to estimate the income and expenses for Meow Shop’s first year
(Appendix 6). Starting costs of the business are relatively low as the business does not require any
physical premises. However, there are several set-up costs such as website set-up, creating the prints
for the products, and legal set-up. Financially the business set-up could be done with an investment of
£1000, which is funded by the founder. Running costs after the launch includes salaries, marketing
costs, Shopify platform, and additional application costs. Material costs are variable costs as the shop
does not hold any inventory, which means that the material costs depend on the sales. New prints are
created three times per year by freelancers. Accounting also causes some expenses. From the profit
that is made during the first year, 10% of it is donated to cat charities.

The store is subject to seasonal fluctuations in sales, which are caused by the different holidays during
the year. The main seasonal peaks for Meow Shop are from June to August and from October to
December. Especially the latter is known as the main peak time among retailers as it includes Black
Friday, Cyber Monday, and Christmas (Patil et al., 2021). January is expected to be the quietest month
of the year as customers are likely to have less disposable income after the holidays.

7.2 Revenue Model

The business only has one revenue stream which is the sale of goods. The cost of goods is
approximately 40% depending on the product. One concern with the dropshipping and print-on-
demand business models is that the products are bought from the supplier at a retail price and
therefore it is difficult to get a very high-profit margin. However, the business aims to source products
from suppliers who can provide quality items at low costs. There are also other ways to increase profit
margin such as increasing the product price for the customers. However, if the prices are too high, the
customers might choose to buy from the competitors' stores. Operational costs contribute toward
profitability and these costs should be minimised. Thus, Meow Shop analyses the operational costs
weekly to ensure only necessary resources are used and if changes are needed, actions can be taken
immediately.

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8. Suppliers and Partners

Selecting suppliers is one of the most significant activities in supply chain management (SMC) and
the main reason for SCM is to improve the satisfaction level of customers (Izadikhah and Saen, 2019).
Therefore, Meow Shop is putting a lot of effort into finding reliable suppliers, potentially for a long-
term partnership. Due to the increasing awareness of sustainability, it is necessary to analyse the
environmental, economic and social factors of the potential suppliers (Ghoushchi, Milan and Rezaee,
2017).

Printful is the main supplier for the print-on-demand collection. This supplier was chosen due to
several reasons. Firstly, they provide easy integration with Shopify and clear pricing. Secondly, they
have fulfilment centres in various places, which allows shorter shipping time to the customers.
Thirdly, the company provides a wide range of products, including eco-certified garments. Printful
also provides warehouse and fulfilment services, which use could be used to create branded packaging
(Printful, 2022).

In order to have a large product portfolio and to keep the quality of products high, Meow Shop
partners with various suppliers. However, using multiple suppliers cause some issues for both the
customers and the brand. Depending on what the customer orders, the products might arrive in several
packets at different times. That can lead to a negative customer experience and thus reduce repeat
purchases. This approach also reduces profitability due to the increased shipping costs. Therefore,
split shipment is not an ideal long-term solution and Meow Shop needs to consider other options.

Other than suppliers, Meow Shop also partners with cat charities to donate money. During the first
year, the possible cat charities will locate in England and customers are able to vote on which charity
should be chosen to get the donation of 10% of the profits.

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9. Team

Team is an extremely important part of an organisation and has an impact on implementing strategies.
There are several activities and responsibilities that are needed to run Meow Shop and all these
activities need someone to complete them (Appendix 7). In the beginning, the business is likely to
make a relatively small number of sales which means that there is no need for other permanent team
members. However, when the sales numbers increase it could be possible to hire someone to do
activities such as customer service or content creation. The first hire for the company will be a
freelancer designer to create a logo for the brand and cat-themed prints, that are used for the print-on-
demand products. The freelancer for this role could be hired through platforms such as Upwork or
Fiverr. When hiring for permanent roles, some factors are considered such as the needed skills for the
role, the company culture, the skills and the motivation of the candidate, and how all these aspects
work together. A job description for the role of content creator is provided in the appendix (Appendix
8). After hiring, Meow Shop provides opportunities to learn more and further develop skills.
Competitive salary, extra benefits and rewards encourage team members to work hard and to bring
better results.

10. Conclusions

The research and analysis suggested that there is interest and demand for cat themed items. However,
the store might face difficulties to make a lot of profit due to the highly saturated market and the
threat of new entrants. The research highlighted suppliers as a key factor in achieving customer
satisfaction and thus, Meow Shop needs to do further research to find suppliers who can provide good
quality items with fast shipping times. Other than providing good quality items, value for customers is
created by offering an easy shopping experience, excellent customer service, and by creating engaging
cat-related content on social media. Finally, based on the financial forecast, Meow Shop will make a
profit during the first year and donate over £500 to cat charities in England.

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Appendix

Appendix 1 – Competitor Analysis

Shop name Number Social media Where the Do they sell Monthly Other
of pages company is customised
17/02/2022 Traffic
products located products

Meowingtons 339 Instagram United States Yes 48k Neat, playful website, mention
of eco- friendly products, some
(692k)
pictures with a white
Facebook(1,5m) background

TikTok(860)

Kittenfy 115 Instagram United Stated Yes 22k Neat, a lot of clever
customised products for
(2,5k)
people, similar backgrounds

Facebook(1,2k)

Kadonimo 65 Facebook (31k) Belgium Yes 13k Slightly messy website, also
sells items for dogs, cheap
Instagram (24k)
look
TikTok (2k)

Pawsome 297 Instagram Ireland Yes 8.2k Very stylish website, items
Couture look good quality due to neat
(161k)
same style background
Facebook (138k)

Arthemis 138 Instagram Canada Yes 17k Website design slightly messy,
items also for dogs
Clothing (99k)

Facebook (64k)

TikTok (761)

Crazy Cat 259 Instagram (14.2k) Hong Kong Yes 13k Website looks low quality
Shop
Facebook (86k)

Source: (Meowingtons, 2022; Kittenfy, 2022; Kadonimo, 2022; Pawsome Couture, 2022; Arthemis
Clothing, 2022; Crazy Cat Shop, 2022 and Salesource, 2022)

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Appendix 2 - Pestel Analysis

Political • Global climate agreements such as Paris Agreement and COP26 encouraging countries and
companies to lower emissions (United Nations, 2021)
Economical • World population growing (United Nations, 2022)
• Rising inflation, which can affect purchasing behaviour (Romei and Smith, 2022)
Socio-cultural • Interest towards sustainably produced items growing (Khandual and Pradhan, 2018)
• Customers more concerned about ethical issues related to fashion manufacturing (Stringer et al.,
2020)
• Slow fashion and circular fashion growing interest (Vehmas et al., 2018)
• Customers want fast shipping (Ma, 2017)
• Individuals owning pets increasing
• In 2021 in the UK, it is estimated that there were 12 million cats and approximately 27% of
households owned a cat (Pet Food Manufacturers’ Association, 2022)
• Design-led pet products becoming more popular (Amasanti, 2022)
Technological • Easy shopping experience through online shopping
• Smartphones becoming more important when purchasing (Coppola, 2021)
• -> websites need to be screen size optimised as it affect on usability (Parlakkiliç, 2021)
• AI helping in retail such as chatbots.
• Technology such as internet of things helping in online retailers to show accurate quantity of stock
on their websites (Caro and Sadr, 2019)
• Database marketing allowing marketing directly to customers
Ecological • Recycling becoming essential
• Fashion industry creates millions of tons of waste to landfills every year (Beall, 2020)
• Sustainable textile certifications such as Oekotex certificate providing information about
sustainably manufactured textiles (OEKO-TEX, 2022)
• Vegan sustainable materials such as mushroom leather (Mycoworks, 2022)
• Low emission options for shipping
• Reusable, recyclable and compostable packaging materials
Legal • Taxes and tariffs
• Work condition laws
• Customers have right to return products (GOV.UK, 2022)
• Privacy policy (GOV.UK, 2018)

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Appendix 3 - Porter’s 5 Forces

Force Factors Significance

Threat of Entrants The competition is high and there are several big competitors High
which can act as a barrier due to the risk of lower profits.
However as online shopping is increasing popularity and the
starting costs of an online business are low, it encourages new
entrants coming on the market.
Bargaining Power of There are a high number of suppliers which means that the Low
Suppliers bargaining power of suppliers is low.
Bargaining Power of Buyers have plenty of options to choose from with low price Medium
Buyer differences, which results the buyers having more bargaining
power than the suppliers.
Threat of Substitutes New products can be created with low budget and imitation is High
also very common. Many brands sell cat themed items.
Therefore, the risk of substitutes is very high.
Competition Rivalry There are many competitors on the market. The companies need High
to find their own niches and create a brand, or otherwise the risk
of failure is even more significant.

Appendix 4 – AIDA Model

Attention: Maintaining social media channels and utilizing SEO to make sure individuals can find the
store.

Interest: Promoting the products on Facebook, Instagram and Tik Tok. Sharing informative and fun
cat related content to create interest towards the brand.

Desire: Sharing pictures of happy customers and using social media cat influencers to promote Meow
Shop products

Action: Offering discount such as 20% off from the first order and special discounts to the social
media followers. Adding call to action on every channel with a link to the website.

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Appendix 5 – Primary Research Results

24
25
 Cat themed items divided into 8 categories
600

500

400
Quantity

300

200

100

0
Category name

Nighwear Daywear Outwear Accessories

Jewellery Diningware Home decoration Other

26
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Appendix 6 – Cashflow Statement

Appendix 7 – Task Responsibilities

Responsibilities:

• Product and supplier research

• Communicating with suppliers
• Maintaining product portfolio
• Market research/ Competitor analysis -> To keep the prices competitive
• Designing and maintaining the website
• Planning and creating content on social media channels
• Planning and implementing marketing strategies
• Customer service on different channels
• Analysing sales and marketing statistics
• Bookkeeping and accounting
• Creating cat themed prints

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• Designing new products
• Logo design
• Ensuring legal aspects are done correctly

Appendix 8 – Job Description

Part-time Content Creator for Meow Shop

Meow Shop is an online store dedicated for cat lovers. We are currently looking for a passionate
content creator to create engaging content for our Instagram, Tik Tok and Facebook accounts. The
role is fully remote.

Responsibilities:

• Planning tailored content on the different social media channels

• Producing creative content such as pictures, videos and text
• Communicating with followers and responding to comments and queries
• Communicating with the management
• Staying on top of the current trends on social media

Requirements:

• Excellent written and verbal skills

• Experience in creating content on different social media channels
• Graphic design skills
• Ability to use picture and video editing tools
• Excellent time management skills
• Able to work independently

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Appendix 9 – Enterprise Challenge and Received Mentoring Evidence

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