Sports Direct Marketing Strategy & Marketing Mix (4Ps)
Marketing Strategy of Sports Direct analyzes the brand with the marketing mix framework which covers the 4Ps (Product, Price, Place, Promotion). These business strategies, based on Sports Direct marketing mix, help the brand succeed in the market. Let us start the Sports Direct Marketing Strategy & Mix to understand its product, pricing, advertising & distribution strategies:
Quick Glance:
Sports Direct Product Strategy:
The product strategy and mix in Sports Direct marketing strategy can be explained as follows:
Sports Direct is one of the leading sports apparel and equipment retailers in the world. Its product portfolio includes segments like sports, fitness, fashion and lifestyle. These businesses are spread over 20 countries with roughly 670 stores. It has partnered with top sports brands in the world including Adidas, Nike, Puma and Under Armour. Under Sports and Leisure, Sports Direct has an umbrella of brands including Slazenger, Lonsdale, Everlast, Antigua, Karrimor, Camprl, Carlton, Donnay, Gelert, LA Gear, Lillywhites, Muddyfox, Nevica, No Fear, Silver Fox, Sondico, Title and USA Pro.
Under fashion and Lifestyle, it covers brands like Crafted, Fabric, Firetrap, Full Circle, Golddlgga, Hot Tuna, Rock & Rags, Kangol, SoulCal, Sovlet and Voodoo Dolls. Its marketing mix product portfolio is diverse and you get a lot goods for men, women and children. Be it sports, accessories, fashion or even electronics, its shopping portal has products across various categories. However, there are certain markets which are untapped by Sports Direct.
Image: geograph.co.uk
Sports Direct Price/Pricing Strategy:
Below is the pricing strategy in Sports Direct marketing strategy:
Sports Direct uses competitive pricing to sell its products across its retail outlets and through its online portal. The low pricing goes in line with the aim that it seeks to target customers who are looking for value for money while purchasing the products.
The reason for operating at low costs can be attributed to the fact that there is competition in this field with new entrants emerging frequently with innovations in technology, something which is not a fortay of Sports Direct. With no technological advancements, the discounted pricing may not be as beneficial because cheap prices might be attributed to low quality. This might lead to a fall in market share of Sports Direct, specially with JBB sports and Foot Locker as its competitors.
Read more about Sports Direct
Sports Direct Place & Distribution Strategy:
Following is the distribution strategy in the Sports Direct marketing mix:
Sports Direct has tied up with various international brands to complete its product portfolio. It has continuously been acquiring since its inception. Its popular acquisitions include Dunlop, House of Fraser and Evans Cycles. The geographies targeted by this brand is confined to UK, Europe and Asia. With over 670 stores and 470 stores in UK, Sports Direct distributes its products via these stores and its online shopping portal. With these number of stores, the per unit cost of each product reduces and hence the selling price. This leads to a happy customer. Since the number of employees is low, employee satisfaction is high as it pays well to them.
With a strong distributer/ dealer base, the not only promote the company’s product but also invest their time and money in training the sales team for better customer experience and increase in sales revenue.
Sports Direct Promotion & Advertising Strategy:
The promotional and advertising strategy in the Sports Direct marketing strategy is as follows:
Despite the good sales, the brand image isn’t that great. It is rated fairly low in terms of quality, impression and reputation. Being fit makes you earn more, earn more by spending less on our products - that’s how you can define Sports Direct’s strategy. With the current promotion tactics, Sports Direct will be perceived as a brand with cheap prices and poor quality, where people will go to buy things they cannot afford at a much premium store. This will hamper its chances to maintain a top spot in the sports retail category. Innovation and rich customer experience are the two solutions the brand needs. Also, these improvements need to be highlighted in its marketing communication in order to maintain the brand loyalty and increase customer base.
Since this is a service marketing brand, here are the other three Ps to make it the 7Ps marketing mix of Sports Direct.
People:
The number of employees in Sports Direct is more than 26,500, if all the sectors of business are taken into consideration. It pays well to its employees, when compared to other brands with similar offerings. It targets customers which look for value for money in things they buy, which aligns with their low pricing strategy.
Process:
Sports Direct has several business processes which helps the brand take strides in its business. With its 24*7 delivery and cheap prices in all its promotions, it has managed to form a loyal customer base. It highlights the importance of being fit and active, and that too at affordable prices. It is improving its much talked about in-store customer experience.
Physical Evidence:
The low-staff turnover shows that it is a closely-knit family and pays well to its employees, including good incentives and promotions. It is well known for its 24*7 delivery as well. However, it has to work on the customer experience in the stores, which is under the scanner. Hence this concludes the marketing mix of Sports Direct.
About Sports Direct:
Set up in 1982 as a single outlet, today it is UK’s largest sports retailer in terms of revenue. Its business is spread across five business segments- UK sports retail, European Sports Retail, Rest of World Retail, Premium Lifestyle and Wholesale & Licensing (formerly Brands).
Sports Direct aims to invest in its multi-channel operations, its employees and third party brands to provide quality products to its customers. Its founder is Mike Ashley and the parent company is Mike Ashley Sports.
This article has been researched & authored by the Content & Research Team. It has been reviewed & published by the MBA Skool Team. The content on MBA Skool has been created for educational & academic purpose only.
Browse marketing strategy and 4Ps analysis of more brands similar to Sports Direct. The Marketing Strategy & Mix section covers 4Ps and 7Ps of more than 800 brands in 2 categories.
Continue Reading:
The names and other brand information used in the Marketing Strategy & Mix section are properties of their respective companies. The companies are not associated with MBA Skool in any way.
