Contemporary Business Issues for Patterns- myassignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about theContemporary Business Issues for Purchasing Patterns. Answer: Introduction Contemporary business issues examine the contemporary and emerging issues faced by an organization (Smallbone, Welter and Ateljevic 2014). This study will assess the contemporary business issues faced by Wesfarmers in its global business markets. From the analysis of Assignment Part A, it can be found that changing purchasing pattern of the customers can have negative effect on the business performance of Wesfarmers. It has been found that changing purchasing pattern of the customers may hamper the sales volume of the organization. Such social changes can minimize the sales volume of the organization. The study will assess the factors behind the changing purchasing pattern of the customers and their impact on the business performance of Wesfarmers. The study will also provide some suitable recommendation for overcoming the issues of changing purchasing pattern of the customers. Factors behind the Issue of Changing Consumer Purchasing Patterns Domestic Factor and Its Impact The consumers aged over 65 and older has increased s the world. Naser et al. (2013) pointed out that the trend is also expected to continue through 2050, where the share of senior citizen is expected to increase by 25%. Such trends in the social trend can be harmful for the business growth of Wesfarmers. Moreover, older generations are always encouraged to show their interest in traditional marketing. In such situation, the modern marketing techniques of Wesfarmers may be failure towards attracting old generation customers. On the other hand, Baesens et al. (2014) opined that there is an increasing trend of nuclear family among the customers. In such situation, the members of nuclear families are not making bulk purchase for meeting their daily needs. In such situation, the small purchase from the consumers can hamper the overall sales volume of Wesfarmers. Shifting towards Online Shopping and Its Impact According to Dyllick and Muff (2016), the purchasing patterns of the customers have been changed completely due to online channels. People are getting highly busy day by day due to their work pressure. In such situation, they do not have much time to go physically in any retail shop and purchase their required products. Therefore, such customers are highly inclined towards online shopping for purchasing their required products. Wesfarmers also has initiated their online shopping facilities for their customers. However, the system of Wesfarmerss online shopping is not much improved. On the other hand, Bilgihan, Kandampully and Zhang (2016) opined that customers are highly interested to use the click-and-collect facilities provided by the online retailers. However, Wesfarmers is still lagging behind the online retailers towards provide such quick online services. Therefore, such lack of facilities can hamper the sales volume of the organization. Changes in Quality Perception of Consumers and Its Impact According to Delgado-Ballester et al. (2014), customers in modern society are becoming less sensitive for the price of the products. Moreover, the customers are highly concerned about quality of the products. In the economically developed counties, people are now quite confident upon their spending power having increased disposable income. In such situation, they are only concerned about the quality of the products even for premium prices. On the other hand, Yoon et al. (2014) opined that people in modern society are also having high level of sophistication in their life. Therefore, they always seek high quality in their required products. In such situation, the customers are not being highly satisfied with the quality of the products of Wesfarmers. Therefore, the high level of quality perception of the customers may hamper the sales volume of Wesfarmers. Benefit Seeking Tendency and Its Impact Pchelin and Howell (2014) pointed out that wide availability alternate options like independent retails, hypermarkets, supermarkets, grocery shops and others has increased the bargaining power of the buyers. Moreover, increased bargaining power of the customers has increased the competition of Wesfarmers with other organizations in terms of providing offers and discounts. On the other hand, Amos, Holmes and Keneson (2014) opined that customers are becoming more inclined towards seeking benefit in purchasing their required products due to wide availability of alternate purchasing options. In this way, the benefit-seeking tendency of the customers can actually increase the competitive pressure of Wesfarmers in near future. Recommendations for Mitigating the Issue Personalized Marketing for Old Customers The numbers of old customer are expected to increase by 25% by the year 2050. Old customers are not high tech-obsessed and use their mobiles towards searching for required information regarding the products, which want to buy (Tran 2017). In such situation, it can be too much difficult for Wesfarmers to encourage the old customers through digitalized information about their products. In such situation, Wesfarmers should be much more concentrated on personalized marketing for attracting the old customers. Moreover, mobile messaging with simple marketing tone will attract the old customer groups. Improve Online Shopping Facilities Wesfarmers already has high level of online presence for increasing its sales through online shopping system. However, the organization is still lagging behind the online retailers in terms of providing the services like click-and-collect (Bilgihan 2016). Moreover, the organization is not fast enough towards delivering the products and services to the customers. Such delay in delivery system often dissatisfies the customers, which can hamper the loyalty level of the customers. Therefore, the organization should immediately improve its online shopping facilities through concentrating on click-and-collect services. It will help in gaining high level of customer loyalty through fast product and service delivery. Improved Product Quality With high level of spending power, the customers are now being much concerned about the quality of the products rather than the price of the products. Moreover, customers are willing to purchase premium quality products even for high prices. In such situation, low quality or moderate quality of the products and services may hamper the buying behaviour of the customers. Therefore, Wesfarmers should be highly concerned about enhancing the quality of the products. High quality of the products will enhance the loyalty level of the customers, which will enable Wesfarmers towards gaining competitive edge over the rivals. Discounts and Offering on Bulk Purchase Increasing numbers nuclear family are more inclined to purchase little amount of products. In this way, lack of bulk purchase is ultimately hampering the sales volume of Wesfarmers (Sharma 2014). Therefore, the organization should provide attractive offerings and discounts on bulk purchase. Such attractive offerings and discounts will attract even the nuclear families towards making bulk purchase of products. This will ultimately increase the sales volume of the organization through huge sales to the customers. Conclusion While concluding the study, it can be said that it has been found that changing purchasing pattern of the consumer can be harmful for Wesfarmers. The increasing numbers of older customers may not be encouraged with the modern marketing techniques. The improved facilities of online retailers like click and collect can be competitive for the organization. The customers are more inclined towards using the online shopping system of online retailers for getting fast delivery of products and services. It can actually hamper the sales volume of the organization. Furthermore, the benefit-seeking customers are more willing to seek alternative options for getting discounts and offerings. In such situation, the organization should increase its offerings on bulk purchase for encouraging the customers towards bud purchase and increased sales volume. Furthermore, the organization should also improve its online shopping facilities. It will enhance the loyalty level of the customers towards Wesfarme rs. Reference List Amos, C., Holmes, G.R. and Keneson, W.C., 2014. A meta-analysis of consumer impulse buying.Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services,21(2), pp.86-97. Baesens, B., Bapna, R., Marsden, J.R., Vanthienen, J. and Zhao, J.L., 2014. 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