4ever By Chandani Bandara PDF

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This report provides a brief idea about how 4Ever Skin Naturals (Pvt).Ltd By Chandani Bandara became an icon in beauty industry during past years. This report has mainly focused on 4Ever Skin Naturals products that they offer their customers and how they compete with in the market with their competitors to position the brand in the market using strategies. Further it explains building strong relationships with customers and suppliers and also achieving efficient internal operations help them to achieve the competitive advantage. This says building customer loyalty and developing competitive advantage by providing excellent customer service is a very important act in any retail store. As well as how they can benefit of having a good location and a pricing strategy. It shows choosing a best area will generate their long term profits and using high/low pricing strategy will benefits both customer and retailers. Further it shows the importance of having a customer relationship management programs for their business. In the end report, presents how using a communication relationship management programs help to develop brand images and build customer loyalty. It shows importance of store designing and visual merchandising plays a major role in the store. In conclusion, Finally I have come up with my own set of recommendations on how they can build corporate social responsibility and new relationships to remain in this industry and maintain their market share and the target market.

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History Of 4Ever Skin Naturals By Chandani Bandara

The 4Ever Skin Naturals (Pvt.) Ltd is a fully Sri Lankan owned customer oriented company, offering a range of skin care products since 2006. Owned by the Ms. Chandhani Bandara, Chief Executive, a well-known professional Hair & Beauty Consultant with a team of experienced professionals in the area of beauty education, the company achieved affair growth during the past six years. “4EVER”, one of the best in the world when it comes to herbal beauty products, uses 100% natural active herbals in all the products like Extracts of Gotukola, White Sandalwood, licorice, Aloe Vera, Venivel, Margosa, Cuscus (Savendara) which were 2

used in ayurveda over thousands of years for beautification and longevity.

The company has a unique range of skin care products called “4rever Skin Naturals” which include moisturizing creams, fairness creams, Herbal Scrub Packs, Herbal Face Packs, Cleansing Creams, a range of face washes, body lotions, Gels and other related products to the Sri Lankan market. Each product has a unique mix of ingredients that captures all the benefits years & ayurvedic knowledge. The objective of the company is to introduce 4rever products for satisfying, anticipating customers with quality pure herbal products with reasonable prices. Within a short period 4rever has become one of leading brands among the cosmetics oriented customers in Sri Lanka. Recently, company has received BOI status and opened a new factory complex at BOI Zone Pallekele, Kandy investing Rs.100 million to cater Sri Lankan and overseas market range of cosmetics, herbal extracts, tea concentrates and other related products. In addition personal care range, we have now expanded our products portfolios from “cosmetics” to herbal based tonics & beverages. In fact, we have already catering to the beverage markets particularly in tea sector having produced Instant Tea & herbal concentrates under brand name of “Dioli” with a sophisticated machinery line installed in the factory at Pallekele uplifting and benchmarking “Ceylon tea” in the world market.

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Target Market

Their target market is young aged to middle aged women who is willing to spend some time and money on having or gaining a strong, clear beautiful skin. Customers expect different types of Ayurvedic products and services which may satisfy their needs. Chandani Bandara saloons provide services only for women and that’s the specialty in this store. Also Ayurvedic treatments, hair salon services and body therapies are given only by women for the customers. This is beneficial for Chandani Bandara soloons in different ways. Because they taking the responsibility for the impact of the activities on its employees, customers and the community. That can help then to create a good brand image among the customers, as they are able to build a trust about the company. Considering the Srilankan culture, the beliefs and values are different. They follow a different set of attitudes where they have their own trends of using beauty products. Especially when it comes to young girls, their parents think twice before sending their daughter to a saloon based on the trustworthiness and safety of the products or the brands.

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Competition In The Market Analyzing the market they are operating in, they got a few other brands competing with 4Ever Skin Naturals. These competitors have similar set of products and services which 4Ever Skin Naturals brand offers. They have local to international primary competitors who retail the same type of products. Most of the time it’s the intertype competition. Janet (Pvt) Ltd & Nature's Secrets are the main local competitors that they have to compete with.

Janet Balasuriya is the Chairperson of the Janet group of companies. She has become an icon in the beauty care industry where she always strives to impart her knowledge for the benefit of newcomers to the industry. Her goal is to make the Janet products available all over the world and to become an international brand. They have provided training for over 4,000 so far and intend to provide training for many as it is the stepping stone for a solid venture. Also there are 275 workers involved in the Janet Group of Companies. Janet Ayurvedics (Pvt) Ltd is the pioneer in the manufacture of Ayurvedic beauty and personal care in Sri Lanka. Since 1961, they have been producing natural skin and hair care preparations on a small scale. In 1991 the Company embarked on a program of 5

research and development especially aimed at presenting a range of herbal beauty preparations incorporating Ayurvedic medicinal formulae and the latest advancements in western skin science. (“About us (Janet Aurveda)”, n.d.) Janet Ayurveda has now entered the global beauty care market in international quality packaging and has been the recipient of two world quality commitment awards in Paris (2004) and London (2006) in recognition of its continuous quest for high quality natural products. (“About us (Janet Aurveda)”, n.d.) With the great success of their own brand, Janet Ayurveda has also ventured into the design and manufacture of personal care brands for prestigious chain stores and luxury hotels both local and overseas. They carefully amalgamate the expertise of Janet Ayurveda in natural beauty care and the style and feel of the brands they work with to formulate various new products. (“About us (Janet Aurveda)”, n.d.)

Nature's Secrets is also a similar brand name which offers same kinds of products and services to the market. And it is also a strong brand name with the same set of target market.

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The Body Shop store opened on 26th March 1976 in Brighton, on the south coast of England.Anita Roddick opened the first Body Shop in Brighton, England. They have over 2,500 stores in over 60 markets providing bath and body, skin care, makeup and fragrances to men and women worldwide. (“Our History (The Body Shop)”, n.d)

4Ever has to compete with all the retailers (Janet, Nature's Secrets and The Body Shop) in order to achieve the market place. All the retailers increasing the variety of merchandise they offer and by offering new products they satisfy and understand customer needs. All 4Ever Skin Naturals Ayurvedic products are made with 50 different herbal and Ayurvedic preparations for skin, hair and body care and it is a huge task for them to have the inputs of some productions during climate changes. When making herbal products they need to use natural resources which are limited to the society. They need to be environmental friendly and consider about the other dependents .Also they need to understand what customers actually need in order to cater the target market demand.

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How To Achieve the Competitive Advantage Any business activity that a retailer engages in can be the basis for a competitive advantage. Three approaches for developing a sustainable competitive advantage are:  Building strong relationships with customers  Building strong relationships with suppliers  Achieving efficient internal operations. Each of these approaches involves developing an asset—loyal customers, strong vendor relationships, committed effective human resources and efficient systems, and attractive locations—that is not easily duplicated by competitors.(Levy & Weitz, 2012) Customer loyalty is that customers are committed to buying merchandise and services from a particular retailer. Loyalty is more than simply liking one retailer over another. Chandani Bndara salon has to engage in four main activities to build their loyalty. 

Developing a strong brand image

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Having clear and consistent positing

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Providing customer service

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Undertaking customer relationship management (CRM) programs

With its state of the art production facility, it now offers OEM facilities to any persons or companies looking to get their cosmetics requirements manufactured under their own brand name. 4rever hopes to expand its product range even further, bringing about its new range of color based cosmetics products in the future. 4ever is known by everyone and they have achieved a good brand image during past years. Strong brand images facilitate customer loyalty because they reduce the risks associated with purchases. And their goal is to make the 4Ever products available all over the world and to become an international brand. To achieve this they need to assure customers that they will provide them a consistent level of quality and satisfaction also the customer trust the retailer when they provide the right service. (Levy & Weitz, 2012)

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It is not an easy task for a retailer to build the customer loyalty but as an achievement 4ever has entered the global beauty care market in international quality packaging.

Suppliers need to be part of retailers’ strategic plan since almost every company, whether product -oriented or service-oriented, is dependent on suppliers.4Ever has to build a good relationship with the other retailers who supply herbs, salon cosmetics, etc. for their day today retailing activities. 4Ever is not only a product oriented company. It provides services to young age to middle age women.

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Retail Market Strategy Retailers Current Market Strategy 4Ever Skin Naturals (Pvt) Ltd is a beauty care store that provides variety of services. They provide Ayurvedic treatments, Ayurvedic products, cosmetics and there is an institute for students to learn about this beauty care industry. For now; they have opened three solons inDutch Hospitals Colombo/Galle, Odel, and No. 287/2B, Stanely Thilakaratne Mawatha, Nugegoda, Nugegoda, Sri Lanka. These are the places where people usually go to get done their day today activities.

Pricing Strategy 4Ever Skin Naturals is a private brand that uses high/low pricing strategy. Using high/low pricing strategy benefits the retail store. High/low pricing allows retailers to charge higher prices to customers who are not price sensitive and also lower prices to customers who are price sensitive. 4Ever offers products for both price sensitive and non-price sensitive customers. They offer two sizes of body products that satisfy customer needs. If customer cannot afford the price of the bottle that includes more they can go for the small bottle. In some way this helps to increase profits of the store.

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Location Strategy in the Marketplace The best areas for locating stores are those that generate highest long term profits for a retailer. The economic condition, competition, the strategic fit of the area’s population with the retailers target market and the cost of operating stores are some factors affecting the long term profits generated by stores. (Levy &Weitz, 2012) Chandani Bandara saloon Nugegoda is in, No. 287/2B, Stanely Thilakaratne Mawatha, Nugegoda, Nugegoda. It’s a place where people more often come and pass on to buy products for their day today life. This place is surrounded by clothing stores, institutes, companies and restaurants. Nugegoda is a large, fully employed population area with customers with different needs. They have located the store that generates highest long term profits. Because it’s a place young age to middle age women more often come to shop and number of vehicles and pedestrians that pass this site. Sometimes when there is a huge traffic consumers like to stop in a shop and go inside the store. The accessibility is important for a retailer store as traffic flow. Because it is the ease with which customers can get in and out of the site. Chandani Bandara Saloon, Nugegoda has a big parking area where customers can easily park their vehicles. There’s no such barrier like with no cross over points and natural barriers. Also customers can easily see the Chandani Bandara salon when they pass Nugegoda.

Level of Customer Service Customer service is one of the major areas which should be considered by the Company while competing in the market. Building customer loyalty and developing competitive advantage by providing excellent customer service is a very important act in any retail store. Because good services keep customers returning to the store and generates positive word of mouth communication which attracts new customers. Chandani Bandara saloon provides personalized service that their services meet each

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customers personal need. Even in their web site they have included different tabs so that customers can easily get the information which they need.

Chandani Bandara saloon offers a a warm welcome to their customers once they get in to the store. Also from top level to lower level employers are very nice to customers in this store. The back ground music plays in the store help customers to relax for a small time and these are some techniques they have come up with building customer loyalty and developing competitive advantage.

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Customer relationship management (CRM) is a business philosophy and set of strategies, programs and systems that focuses on identifying and building loyalty with their most valued customers. The retailer’s goal of CRM is to develop a base of loyal customers and increase its share of wallet. Normally retailers focused their attention on encouraging more customers to visit their stores, look through their catalogs and visit their web site. Also they use media advertising and sales promotions to attract visits from their customers. (Levy & Weitz, 2012) Collecting customer data, analyzing the customer data and identifying target customers, developing CRM programs and implementing CRM programs are very important to build loyal customers. Chandani Bandara saloon already has a customer database which they record transactions every day of the purchases made by customers including the purchase of date and the price paid. They record the telephone calls made by the customer. They always give the first place for customer preferences and interact with customers; ask what they like and after they give their opinions. This is how the 4Ever Skin Naturals store builds the loyalty with their customers. One of the objectives of CRM program is to identify and carter to the best, most profitable customers. Using database information 4Ever can develop a score or number indicating how valuable customers are to the firm. 4Ever can use the RFM Analysis which explains Recency, Frequency and Monetary values. 4Ever can easily figure out how recently customers have made a purchase, how frequently customers make purchase and how much customers have bought. This is a very effective way of identifying customer preferences that contribute for their profit.

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Advantages and Disadvantages of having a CRM program -Advantages 

More Customers and Revenue

CRM systems help the organization effectively to identify potential customers. As it keeps track of current customer profiles, 4Ever can generate new strategies to determine which demographics it should target to obtain a wider customer base. By using CRM information, a business can coordinate marketing and promotional campaigns more efficiently by ensuring that such promotions will not target people who are already customers. CRM also ensures increased customer retention through the implementation of loyalty programs. (Brookins & Media, n.d) 

Better Customer Service

CRM systems give businesses the ability to personalize and customize relationships with their customers regardless of which employee deals directly with them at any given time. CRM systems maintain a repository of customer profiles, giving employees the ability to treat each client individually. As a result, each employee is better informed about each customer's specific needs. CRM helps the organization easily and quickly modify its level of service in order to match each customer's profile. This improved customer service leads to increased customer loyalty and correspondingly decreases customer dissatisfaction. CRM systems also help the company receive feedback from customers regarding products they have purchased. (Brookins & Media, n.d)

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-Disadvantages 

Record Loss

Some CRM applications use remote Internet connections to save customer records. The disadvantage of this type of CRM is that the company does not have control of the data, and if the remote CRM system has an outage, the company is unable to retrieve records. If the company chooses a small CRM application that is not stable, it can mean several thousands of rupees in lost revenue. (Lysis, n.d) Sales force is a popular CRM application provided through an Internet connection on the company's domain. The disadvantage of this type of CRM is that the company does not have control of the data, and if the remote CRM system has an outage, the company is unable to retrieve records. If the company chooses a small CRM application that is not stable, it can mean several thousands of rupees in lost revenue. When using a remote CRM application hosted by another company, use local backups to avoid record loss. (Lysis, n.d) 

Training

If the company is small, training issues may be a small disadvantage. Large corporations need to roll out training schedules for all their employees. For large-scale CRMs, this can mean hiring professionals to train employees in groups. Training takes away time for productivity, so it is a disadvantage for brand-new CRM systems. The CRM training is also different for managers compared to regular staff, because most CRMs have specialized functions for managers and executives. These extra functions are also required learning. The training requirements can be as short as a few hours or can take up to several days. (Lysis, n.d)

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Communication Mix Using communication programs help to develop brand images and build customer loyalty. For any communication campaign to succeed the retailer must deliver the right message to the right audience through the right media. 4ever uses personal selling communication process that their sales associated with face- to-face exchanges to satisfy customer needs. They use television commercials and newspaper advertising to attract their customers by working with Sri Lankan celebrities. That is a technique of attracting customers towards their products. When customers see such advertisements with popular figures they get a fee...