Ellie Mae Smith Unit 12 – Assignment 3: P4, M2
P4: Describe the benefits and opportunities to the business of using Internet marketing within the
marketing mix of a selected business
In this task I will describe the benefits and opportunities of McDonald’s using Internet marketing and
consider how accessibility, availability and costs have changed.
In this generation, the internet would play a massive part in the
supply chain for McDonald’s, mainly because it has reduced the
cost of supply chain management and functions. By using the
internet McDonalds would be able to quickly find specific
information they need about suppliers/stock (about sources,
availability, pricing and technical data) in order to successfully
exchange goods, the internet also helps businesses in the
supply chain to receive rapid payment. Members of the supply
chain must make their information accessible in order for the
process to run smoothly, as McDonalds is such a huge
company, if they were dissatisfied with a member of the supply
chain they could easily be removed and replaced with a different company.
McDonalds would also benefit from electronic communications in order to reduce
staff costs. McDonalds use an online system where staff can log on with their user
to view the rota’s and find out when they are working. This will cut staff costs
because the alternative to this online system would be paying somebody to create
the rotas and print them off to hand to all employees. However the problem with
electronic communication is large amounts of money would have to be spent to
set up these systems and train staff on how to use them effectively, in order for
them to be worth being set up in the first place.
Internet marketing can give opportunities to increase sales from existing customers. McDonalds can
market directly to their existing customers through the internet. They can email customers on the
mailing list, create adverts on their website and banners on social media websites to inform
customers of new products or any special offers. This will urge customers to return to a McDonald’s
restaurant in order to purchase and try a new product or receive any special offers. It can be difficult
to get existing customers to return to a restaurant so soon but by advertising tasty new products
online increases the chances.
The internet also gives businesses the opportunity to monitor competitor activity. Competitor
businesses such as Burger King and KFC will also advertise their latest products and promotions
online, which allow McDonalds access to view this, making the information
accessible and available to McDonalds. By keeping track of what competitor
stores are offering, McDonalds can ensure they are not offering better
products or deals than them, ensuring they are all at similar competition
points. If KFC were offering a brilliant value for money offer then it may be
wise for McDonalds to offer a good deal at a similar time to ensure KFC
don’t take all the customers. By looking at how competitors advertise their
products online allows McDonalds to create better adverts to attract more customers. Issues with
this are it is a constant process because competitor companies will always be releasing new products
and promotions and different adverts on the internet will always be broadcasted.
P4: Describe the benefits and opportunities to the business of using Internet marketing within the
marketing mix of a selected business
In this task I will describe the benefits and opportunities of McDonald’s using Internet marketing and
consider how accessibility, availability and costs have changed.
In this generation, the internet would play a massive part in the
supply chain for McDonald’s, mainly because it has reduced the
cost of supply chain management and functions. By using the
internet McDonalds would be able to quickly find specific
information they need about suppliers/stock (about sources,
availability, pricing and technical data) in order to successfully
exchange goods, the internet also helps businesses in the
supply chain to receive rapid payment. Members of the supply
chain must make their information accessible in order for the
process to run smoothly, as McDonalds is such a huge
company, if they were dissatisfied with a member of the supply
chain they could easily be removed and replaced with a different company.
McDonalds would also benefit from electronic communications in order to reduce
staff costs. McDonalds use an online system where staff can log on with their user
to view the rota’s and find out when they are working. This will cut staff costs
because the alternative to this online system would be paying somebody to create
the rotas and print them off to hand to all employees. However the problem with
electronic communication is large amounts of money would have to be spent to
set up these systems and train staff on how to use them effectively, in order for
them to be worth being set up in the first place.
Internet marketing can give opportunities to increase sales from existing customers. McDonalds can
market directly to their existing customers through the internet. They can email customers on the
mailing list, create adverts on their website and banners on social media websites to inform
customers of new products or any special offers. This will urge customers to return to a McDonald’s
restaurant in order to purchase and try a new product or receive any special offers. It can be difficult
to get existing customers to return to a restaurant so soon but by advertising tasty new products
online increases the chances.
The internet also gives businesses the opportunity to monitor competitor activity. Competitor
businesses such as Burger King and KFC will also advertise their latest products and promotions
online, which allow McDonalds access to view this, making the information
accessible and available to McDonalds. By keeping track of what competitor
stores are offering, McDonalds can ensure they are not offering better
products or deals than them, ensuring they are all at similar competition
points. If KFC were offering a brilliant value for money offer then it may be
wise for McDonalds to offer a good deal at a similar time to ensure KFC
don’t take all the customers. By looking at how competitors advertise their
products online allows McDonalds to create better adverts to attract more customers. Issues with
this are it is a constant process because competitor companies will always be releasing new products
and promotions and different adverts on the internet will always be broadcasted.
