MARKETING STRATEGIES OF “THE SOULED STORE”

The Purpose: According to the stats from Technopak, the consumer spending in India is
about 650 billion, of which the Indian e-commerce market is $15billion GMV. About 30% of
it lies in mobile phones, 20% lies in consumer electronics, and 35% in fashion retail. Our
business focuses on this 35%. Market leaders in E-commerce like Amazon and Flipkart are
more focused on the first two categories and groceries and food items. Still, other players
like Myntra, Ajio, and major brands like H&M Shoppers Stop rule this online market. These
players have captured eighty percent of the fashion retail market, and the rest 20% of
markets are captured by local start-up brands like The Souled Store, What’s Your Order.

In, Bewakoof.com and many others. “While e-commerce offers a larger selection than
offline retail possibly can, pop culture merchandise is not a strong category in Indian e-tail.

E-commerce market leaders Flipkart and Amazon India offer some choices, but no platform
existed as a one-stop store for such collections until 2013. That’s when three youngsters
from Mumbai put their love for Star Wars into a business and built an online platform for
everything pop culture” and The Souled Store came into existence. “Today The Souled Store
is an online brand selling quirky pop culture merchandise” The owners came up with the
idea of building a profitable e-commerce company based on licensed merchandise.

With an initial investment of 6lakhs of their savings, The Souled Store is a 20crore business
today with a customer base of 30million. The purpose of this report is to analyze the current
aspects of their business and find opportunities for them to grow their business and join the
major leagues. The Content: This report will be speaking about the PESTEL factors affecting
the souled stores business followed by its current segmentation, product line, broad
differentiation strategies it uses in its business, and analyzing the Souled Store's growth
opportunities. Further, we will explore and recommend measures as to which area the store
can improve and increase their market share. This report will give a detailed analysis of all
the aspects and then provide suggestions for improvements.

PESTEL FACTORS The eCommerce industry has seen immense growth in recent years. Apart
from some fluctuations in the global economy like demonetization in India, the situation has
remained favorable for its development. This is a PESTEL analysis of the ecommerce industry
that analyses how these various forces can affect the e-commerce industry.

Political Factors While the threats may not be the same before the e-retailers as the physical
retailers, there are still several political hurdles before them. Ecommerce businesses must
make some changes in their policies because of the political challenges. To illustrate, E-
commerce Companies regulate some discounts on many products because e-commerce
policy purposes of doing it. Such kind of methods could heavily impact the companies who
regularly sells many products on discount. Economic Factors Economic factors are very
significant in terms of business. Economic factors are directly related to business, and their
effect is also straight on business revenue.
During the period of recession, spending had decreased.

Recessions may impact business as the economy fluctuates from time to time. Higher
economic activity means faster growth and higher revenue for the e-commerce industry,
whereas lower economic activity means just the reverse. During COVID-19, it increased the
opportunity for ‘The Souled Store’ to increase their sales and start selling some personal
protective products and masks. Social Factors Social factors have a profound impact on the
e-commerce industry. Crucially, e-retail brands find it the easiest to flourish locally.

The Government wants to grow e-commerce in rural areas, too, and they will help the
companies to set up their businesses. So, this is a beneficial factor in e-commerce. Changing
trends can also have an impact on businesses. ‘The Souled Store’ will focus on enlarging and
uplifting their profits by including digital shopping brands and new ideas for virtual
shopping.

Technological Factors Technological factors play a vital role in the context of the e-
commerce industry. It is because everything is based on technology in e-retail, from
marketing to customer service. All the ecommerce brands are in an engagement to be
technologically ahead of their competitors. Technology decides several things in the e-
commerce world, from popularity to surplus.

In this way, technology is a significant influence on businesses. Every brand uses online
applications, including ‘The Souled Store,’ to sell their products and add new features in the
apps according to technical factors. Legal Factors Legal compliance is just as crucial for the
businesses in India. Any tussle with the law can be a costly affair, and even the e-retail
brands can become a target unless they take care of compliance.

From labor laws to sustainability laws, there are several areas where e-retail brands must be
careful regarding compliance. The e-retail brands also must be cautious about the applicable
laws and compliance. Environmental Factors Environmental factors too have particular
importance in the context of the E-commerce industry.

While the direct environmental impact of this industry is shallow and nearly zero, it still
focuses heavily on sustainability. It is the responsibility of every e-commerce business to use
less harmful production and packaging processes.

The Product (1st P): “The Souled store creates all sorts of products- from t-shirts to phone
covers to backpacks to boxers to mugs to socks to badges to pins to hoodies and many,
many more, but its focus is on clothing. The souled store provides a comprehensive
collection of garments and accessories for both men and women including T-shirts, shirts,
jackets, hoodies, joggers, pants, shorts, backpacks, etc.”The Price

(the 2nd P): “Since the target audience is the working class of people, the souled store has
reasonably priced its products which come with personalized artwork and license of pop
culture. The price range is in between 399-699, which Is quite competitive in the market
today”The Place

(The 3rd P): “Started from a garage in Mumbai, the souled store is an E-commerce fashion
retail which delivers across the country. Initially started with metros, the souled store has
now increased their business to most parts of the country”The promotion

(The 4th P): “The Souled Store’s target audience is in the age group of 16-30 years, a bulk of
which is middle class - the most prominent segment in India They are focused on their
promotions and took steps like Search Engine Optimization, Google Ads; Facebook Ads as
their promotion platform initially. Later they increased promotions by using Social Media
Influencers, who would wear their clothing and post pictures on Instagram The following
table compares the Souled Store and its competitors in terms of the 4P’s of marketing.

The Product (1st P):

“The Souled store creates all sorts
of products- from t-shirts to
phone covers to backpacks to
boxers to mugs to socks to badges
to pins to hoodies and many,
many more, but its focus is
on clothing. The souled store
provides a comprehensive
collection of garments and
accessories for both men and
women including T-shirts, shirts,
jackets, hoodies, joggers,
pants, shorts, backpacks,
etc.”[CITATION The21 \l 1033 ].
The Price (the 2nd P):
“Since the target audience is the
working class of people, the
souled store has reasonably
priced its products which come
with personalized artwork and
license of pop culture. The
price range is in between 399-
699, which Is quite competitive in
the market
today”[ CITATION The21 \l
1033 ].
The Place (The 3rd P):
“Started from a garage in
Mumbai, the souled store is an E-
commerce fashion retail which
delivers across the country.
Initially started with met
Political Factors While the threats may not be the same before the e-retailers as the physical
retailers, there are still several political hurdles before them. Ecommerce businesses must
make some changes in their policies because of the political challenges.

To illustrate, E-commerce Companies regulate some discounts on many products because e-

commerce policy purposes of doing it. Such kind of methods could heavily impact the
companies who regularly sells many products on discount.

Economic Factors Economic factors are very significant in terms of business. Economic
factors are directly related to business, and their effect is also straight on business revenue.
During the period of recession, spending had decreased. Recessions may impact business as
the economy The Impact of PESTLE Factors on ECommerce in India PESTAL FACTORS
Political Social Economic Legal Environmental Technological fluctuates from time to time.

Higher economic activity means faster growth and higher revenue for the e-commerce
industry, whereas lower economic activity means just the reverse. During COVID-19, it
increased the opportunity for ‘The Souled Store’ to increase their sales and start selling
some personal protective products and masks.
Social Factors Social factors have a profound impact on the e-commerce industry. Crucially,
e-retail brands find it the easiest to flourish locally. The Government wants to grow e-
commerce in rural areas, too, and they will help the companies to set up their businesses.

So, this is a beneficial factor in e-commerce. Changing trends can also have an impact on
businesses. ‘The Souled Store’ will focus on enlarging and uplifting their profits by including
digital shopping brands and new ideas for virtual shopping. Technological Factors
Technological factors play a vital role in the context of the e-commerce industry.

It is because everything is based on technology in e-retail, from marketing to customer

service. All the ecommerce brands are in an engagement to be technologically ahead of
their competitors. Technology decides several things in the e-commerce world, from
popularity to surplus. In this way, technology is a significant influence on businesses.

Every brand uses online applications, including ‘The Souled Store,’ to sell their products and
add new features in the apps according to technical factors. Legal Factors Legal compliance
is just as crucial for the businesses in India. Any tussle with the law can be a costly affair, and
even the e-retail brands can become a target unless they take care of compliance.

From labor laws to sustainability laws, there are several areas where e-retail brands must be
careful regarding compliance. The e-retail brands also must be cautious about the applicable
laws and compliance. Environmental Factors Environmental factors too have particular
importance in the context of the E-commerce industry. While the direct environmental
impact of this industry is shallow and nearly zero, it still focuses heavily on sustainability. It
is the responsibility of every e-commerce business to use less harmful production and
packaging processes.