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ILSC Business College

MARKET RESEARCH PLAN

Project D.A. Garden

Research to identify the target market of the business

A research plan proposal

May 2014

Prepared for: D.A. Garden Supplies

Prepared by:
ILSC Business College
213 Adelaide St 4000
BRISBANE
QLD
Australia

Contact: Dott.ssa Caterina De Filippo

A response to a brief from Dott.ssa Caterina De Filippo










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TABLE OF CONTENT





1. Introduction and Background to the research 4
1.1 Historical Background 4
1.2 Sales history 5
1.3 Description of current market efforts 6
2. Statement of the problem 7
3. Consumer Analysis 8
3.1 Identified market segments 8
3.2 What needs does A.D. Garden serve 8
3.3 The typical "buying" process 9
4. Competitor Analysis 11
4.1 Identifying the Competition 11
5. Objectives of the research 11
5.1 Primary objectives 11
5.2 Secondary objectives 12
5.3 Information to be supplied as a result of the research 12
6. Desk Research 13
6.1 Purpose 13
6.2 Procedure 13
7. Qualitative Research 14
7.1 Purpose 14
7.2 Specification of Data Collection 15
7.3 Population and Sampling 15
7.4 Procedure 18
8. Quantitative Research 19
8.1 Purpose 19
8.2 Population and sampling 20

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8.3 Procedure 20
9. Relevant legislation 20
9.1 Food legislation 21
9.2 Employing people legislation 22
9.3 Equal employment opportunity & anti-discrimination 22
9.4 Trade Practices Act and Fair Trading Laws 25
9.5 The Privacy Act 26
9.6 The Code of Practice 27
9.7 NGISA Code of ethics 28
10. Resources 29
10.1 Human resources 29
10.2 Financial resources 29
10.3 Physical resources 29
10.4 Specification of information sources 30
11. External market research assistance 30
12. Research locations 30
13. Types of data 31
14. Data processing methods 31
15. Project implementation plan 32
15.1 Gant Chart details timing 33
*Data from these sources will continue to be gathered regardless of the
completion of the exercise. 33
16. Cost estimates 34
17. Conclusion 34
A. Appendix Qualitative research 35
A.1 Focus Group Q&A for D.A. Garden Caf 35
A.2 Visitorss survey Linkert scale 36
B. Appendix Quantitative research 37
B.1 General Survey within the suburbs - Online Survey 37




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1. Introduction and Background to the research


1.1 Historical Background

D.A. Garden was established in Brisbane in 2001 and has become
very popular in the CBD and the surrounding areas.
The company is divided into tree sectors: garden nursery, The Caf
and the landscaping supply.
The nursery provides quality plants, with an equally professional
and friendly service to match. The qualified staff and large plant range will
help create or enhance any kind of gardens.
The cafe is conveniently located inside the nursery and and it was
recently extended. It has a large menu, modern and sophisticated setting
and the trading hours have been extended as well so that nowadays it
opens at the same time as the nursery and it closes one hour earlier.
The Caf offers both takeaway foods and sit-in dining. The menu
is very wide which includes a variety of beverages, made-to-order
sandwiches, salads, gourmet pies/sausage rolls, quiches and savory
slices, chips/wedges, cakes and slices, ice creams and sorbet, and during
the winter it also provides a kids menu and a variety of soups and
casseroles.
Major competitors are a large Bunnings store which is located
about 2 kilometers from the company location, and a new caf was
recently opened around the corner which operates Monday - Friday
offering breakfast and lunch, specializing in gourmet food and beverages.
Although the main idea of D.A. Garden is great there are some
issues that need to be looked at because of the overall drop in profit over
the last 2 years.
By undertaking market research, there are many advantages because it
will provide some answers that may be required for future decision
making.






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1.2 Sales history

During the 2011-2013 fiscal year D.A. Garden spent $324,013.22 on
their expenses. The main three areas where they invested the most of the
money included 70.00% spent on promotional activities, 5.00% spent on
professional services, and 25% spent on contracted labor.





A.D. Gardens revenue for the last fiscal year totaled
$704,645.00 which states that the income was above the total amount
used for expenses.
The top three revenue-generating sources included promoting grants,
which earned 64.00%, sales from garden supplies
9.00% earned through Azalea Festival contributions, and third 27,00%
received by the sales from the caf.

70%
5%
25%
promotion professional service contracted labour

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1.3 Description of current market efforts

Nowadays A.D. Garden is promoting the business through print
advertising, loyal costumers discounts, and the Internet (their own
website).
It has been under consideration of the owners to participate in the
Brisbane Winter Gardens Show. If this event is proven to be a benefit for
the business, there is highly possible that it will become an annual
tradition, hopefully bringing in a steady stream of revenue.
A.D. Garden is also focused on promoting a vegan and vegetarian
menu in their caf, giving customers a new range of choices.


64% 9%
27%
promoting grants sales garden supplies sales caf

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2. Statement of the problem

Given that D.A. Garden as required external assistant because their
net profit has decreased in the last two year, ILSC Business College
Market Research Team must identify possible new sources of revenue or
possible new strategies to increase the revenue coming from current
sources.
The plan could be developed in many different directions, but the
main step is identifying the key target markets and establishing a clear
vision as to which direction the gardens should head to in the future.

The research will focus in the following areas:

Garden Supplies
Garden Supplies sales have dropped by 5%, although the last year saw
an increase in drought proofing related product such as mulch. These
products currently contribute 34% to overall profit. The need for market
research is to determine why the sales have dropped. An hypothesis can
be developed to see if there are any changes in price that is affecting
sales.

Nursery
Nursery sales have dropped by 5% in the last 2 years. These sales of
these kind of products currently contribute 41% to overall profits. The need
is review the customer profile. An hypothesis can be assume to see if the
costumers behavior has changed.

Landscaping
Landscaping project numbers have been flat; however, the size and profit
on each project has grown slightly. This has meant a study contribution to
overall profit of 10%. The reason for market research is to analyze the
market current situation, potential and future development.




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Caf
The Caf trade has been steadily increasing for the last three years and
as result profits from this have been growing a rate of 2-3% per annum,
currently contributing 15% to the overall profits of the business. The need
is to be aware of the competitor and create an effective advertising
strategy.


3. Consumer Analysis

3.1 Identified market segments

A.D. Garden can serve different market segments because of its
educational value and entertainment value as well as its natural, historical,
traditional and sentimental value.
The general consensus among the owners of the business is that their
target market for nursery and cafe products are middle class people
aged 50 and over .
Since A.D. Gardens also has an educational value for children, the
target market can be extended to families and children.
However, currently that segment is significantly less of a market than the
so-called elderly .
As A.D. Gander also provides a landscape business, this target
market will be: landscape architect, horticulturist and garden designers.
Finally, it is also important to consider the out-of-town visitors
which are very influence thanks for the close position of the location to the
high way.


3.2 What needs does A.D. Garden serve

As well as serving many segments, it also serves many customers
needs. Customers can visit A.D. Garden for many different reasons.
Firstly, to supply many plants, seeds, soil, and supplement for
gardens.

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Also, A.D. Garden often hosts school trips and visits with elementary
and junior high classes to learn about water quality and plants as well as
the soil.
A.D. Garden has also a well developed landscaping projects which
serves constructors and suppliers.
A.D. Garden can also serve entertainment needs. Some of these are
the need to enjoy the outdoors and get some fresh air, to spend quiet time
with family, and to have a fun day that can include the whole family,
without spending an extensive amount of money.
Finally, their customer can enjoy a cup of coffe or a nice lunch in a
beautiful, natural setting at their internal caf which is open all day.
Whether it is an educational visit, a visit for entertainment, or just a
normal weekly day, A.D. Garden can satisfy many people's needs and
desires to help create exceptional family memories.


3.3 The typical "buying" process

In order to determine A.D. Gardens target market, we need to
analyze the structure of their visitors. Are these mainly out of town visitors,
families, groups? How did they decide to visit A.D. Garden?
The gardens here in Australia are considered very specials locations,
a place for the whole family, a place of peace and natural beauty which,
obviously attracts visitors.
A.D. Garden has a golf cart service which costumers can use to visit
all the sides of the location. The opportunity to drive through the garden
with the golf cart tours attract a lot of people who can not stroll around so
well.
The educational program which was mention in the previous section
is very appealing as well. The fact that free of charge makes it very
interesting for schools to schedule a field trip here.
In order to truly identify the typical buying process, we need to
analyze three different scenarios: loyal costumers of A.D. Garden, elderly
and out-of-town visitors.


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Loyal costumers

To understand this target we may have to interview a group of
people who visit regularly A.D. Garden.
It would be useful to interview a customer like Miss Christie Brown
who is a new Brisbane resident. She very passionate about gardening and
her favorite flowers are tulips. In fall, tulips are starting to bloom, so Miss
Brown and her husband, decide to visit A.D. Garden which they heard
from a friend being very nice.
Impressed by the garden and the caf, and concerned about the lack of its
awareness in the community they have start to promote it and the beautiful
scenery at A.D. Garden among friends, neighbors at the Brisbane
community.

Elderly

The majority of A.D. Garden target market comes from this precise
group of people which accounts for 85% of people who visit the nursery
currently.
With a survey we will understand the main reason for their visit which
could be to get some fresh air and buy plants and flowers seeds for their
own garden so they can work at it in the later afternoon.

Out-of-town visitors

In order to analyze this particular group in May 18th we can interview
a group of families and friends who will be in town for a relatives birthday.
The aim is to find out what appeals to them, is it seeing the
beautiful scenery passing through the high way? It could be with the
flowers blooming, on a sunny day and the caf would look like the perfect
location for a birthday breakfast.




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4. Competitor Analysis

4.1 Identifying the Competition

A.D. Garden has multiple competitors depending on the sector. The
main sectors are mostly two which are the caf and the garden supply.
As mentioned earlier, A.D. Garden major competitors are a large
Bunnings store which is located about 2 kilometers from the company
location. This business offers a wide range of cheeper plants, seeds and
general garden supplies, on the other hand their staff is not qualified to
give precise indications of how to use the products.
The other main competitor is a new caf which was recently opened
around the corner. A.D. Garden could be disadvantaged by the new caf
which is right above the street and it is becoming very popular among
workers who need to purchase a cup of coffee fairly quickly. However
research could confirm or dispute this assumption.


5. Objectives of the research

The overall objective is to to identify the target market . It is
essential to understand the consumer profile and analyze the buying
pattern and the costumers needs.


5.1 Primary objectives

To clearly identify the different target groups who currently patron the
A.D. Garden which the cafe, nursery and garden
Identify possible new events and sources to generate revenues for the
cafe, nursery and garden
Assess and measure visitor satisfaction
Examine the general perception of A.D. Garden now and in the vision for
the future
Investigate the needs and motives for using the garden/nursery/cafe

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Identify key players in the landscape industry and gain an understanding
of market


5.2 Secondary objectives

Investigate interest from the target markets on the new event ( Brisbane
Garden Show)
Assess the general awareness level, knowledge, and patronage of target
markets, the general public and the loyal costumers
Generate insights and ideas from the public and loyal customers


5.3 Information to be supplied as a result of the research

The research process will provide A.D.Garden with some information that
will address the following;
A list of current events that are most important for A.D. Garden to
continue
Identify new events and interest for A.D. Garden to hold
Identify trends for the use of nursery and gardens
Provide a general understanding of the current level of satisfaction
from visitors of the general public
Provide a general understanding of the current level of satisfaction
from the loyal customers
Provide a summary statement of the general perception of the gardens
and the future of the gardens in the community
Provide data on the needs and motives people have for using A.D.
Garden
Provide general insights and ideas on how to generate more revenue
and grow A.D. Garden as a business
The proposed research will developed in three stages. The fist stage
will be to inspect existing sources in order to acquire any valuable
information. The second stage will involve exploratory research to gather
more specific and precise data. The third stage will be generating a survey
to gain an understanding of customer satisfaction and competition.

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6. Desk Research

6.1 Purpose

A series of secondary data will need to be looked at to gain a
good understanding of the organization and its current operation. In
details, the desk research phase will obtain precise data about the
business which will help us understand the problem better.
This research will gather information such as sales performance,
annual reports, market data. This will give an idea of trends for certain
products, and popularity of products. Research will be done looking at
competitors and their activities including websites etc. Industry journals will
also be looked at to identify trends in the industry that are changing.
Information from relevant legislation such as food legislation,
NGISA code of ethics and anti-discrimination law will be collected. This will
give researcher a good understanding the requirements for this business
and also if this business is complying to these standards.
This research will answer the following questions:
What products /services are currently best sellers
The times in the year that sales are high and low
Who are our competitors
changing trends in the industry


6.2 Procedure

The desk research is an internal search conducted by researcher
which will also include secondary data sources.
At this point, we will need access to internal documentation in order
to collect other secondary data which will be gather from publication, trade
fairs and by observing the competitors. We will also collect financial
records from the financial data from owners and allowing for better
analysis of the past and current situation.
Although sometimes it is forgotten, keeping updated data regarding
the market and the business climate should always be a top priority to any

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business especially observing competitors because they may be seeing
current tendencies we might be missing.
In addition, industry magazines and trade journals can be an
essential asset identifying changing trends. For this reason, we will look at
the trade journals provided by The Queensland Gardening Pages through
the website http://www.calyx.com.au/nurseries.html We will also use trade
publications and statistics of the Australian Bureau of Statistics which are
available to us through the website http://abs.gov.au .
Finally, we will also look at current competitors and their activities
through observation.
There are different ways to collect data from primary to secondary
sources and several types of information, data can be quantitative or
qualitative. D.A. Garden will use a combination of these two.


7. Qualitative Research

7.1 Purpose

In this phase we will use exploratory research to gain some
information.
Quality information about attitude and needs of customers, staff
and owners will be provided.
Firstly, an interview with the owners David and Allison to collect
their point on the business and in order to understand their needs and
goals. From here further interviews with staff to gain an understanding of
issues, problems and identify reasons that they may feel as are
contributing to the drop in sales.
Several focus groups will be run to gain an understanding of what
loyal customers feel and ideas on changes that they might see as positive.
In this way we will be able to gather some of the types of information as
the following:
The long terms goals of owners for business
Are the staff happy to work at this place?
Is the organization complying to Occupational health and safety issues?

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The customer s that use landscape products why do they buy from this
organization?
Customers who use caf how often and why?
We will also conduct experience surveys among the residents of closest
suburbs of Brisbane CBD in order to gather information about their
perception and awareness level of A.D. Garden
We will interview the staff in order to collect information about general
problems and vision that they have in mind for A.D. Garden


7.2 Specification of Data Collection

In order to gather data from A.D. Garden visitors, we should use
surveys. We can distribute them at the entrance and ask for
accomplishment after the visit. We can recollect them at the exit.
Oral interviews will be schedule to collect information from volunteers
and employees of A.D. Garden
To evaluate awareness level among visitors of A.D. Garden we can
distribute surveys for the visitors center located near The Mall Plaza



7.3 Population and Sampling

At this point, we will do interviews and conduct a focus group
session.
We divided the audit in four different groups of customers for the interview:
3 customers in landscape
5 customers in garden supplies
5 customers in nursery
7 loyal customers from cafe
The Focus group will be specific for the caf. A further 10 will be
interviewed by the random sampling method, making it a total of 30
participants.
Regarding the interviews for the businesss staff (including the
caf) we will consider the entire population as the number of staff

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members is manageable (Staff 2 owners, 2 gardeners, 1 landscape
consultant, 2 cashiers) .
The sample methodology will be chosen using a method of
random and non-random probability sampling. Non-random will be like
convenient sampling method such as we will interview any customers who
visit the cafe that particular day.
We have set interlocking quotas as follows:

Specific costumers interviews


Target Market Male Female Total Sample
Landscape Customers 2 1 3
Garden Supply
customers
2 3 5
Nursery Customers 3 2 5
TOTAL 7 6 13



Focus Group for the caf


Target Market Male Female Total
Loyal Customers 3 4 7
Random Customers 23 23
TOTAL

30







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Internal staffs interviews


Staff member Male Female Total
David (owner) 1

1
Allison (owner)

1 1
Gardeners 2

2
Landscape consultant 1

1
Cashiers

2 2
TOTAL 4 3 7



Visitors Survey


Target Market Male Female Total Sample
Loyal Customers 25 25 50
Elderly 25 25 50
Out-of-town visitors 25 25 50
Landscaping
professionals
25 25 50
TOTAL 100 100 200














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7.4 Procedure

A one to one type interview will be scheduled to discuss with the type
of customers who where previously mentioned. The questions will be
identified and tailored to suit each customer group:

Nursery - Garden Supply

Why customer comes to this particular store?
How often?
What do they buy?
How do they feel about service?

Landscaping Sector

Does the customers think the product are valuable?
Is the price of the products reasonable?
Do they come here for all their projects?

Caf

Where the customer already at the store before coming to the caf?
Are they regular customers?
Do they like the service?
Do they feel comfortable eating here?
Are they concern about health issue policy?
Also, we will developed the survey and send it to D.A. Garden for
approval. The question will probe the following:
Are the product easy to find in store?
Did you find what you were looking for?
Was the staff helpful and friendly?
Do you find the products well priced?
will you come back?

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In cases where it could be possible, the questions will be pre-
coded, but, for costing purposes, we have assumed five open-ended
questions and a maximum duration of ten minutes. In the case of the
open-ended question, code frames will be prepared, based on the
response of the first 10 per cent.
The location of research will be both at:
DA Garden Supplies nursery and cafe
Customer premises e.g. landscape clients


8. Quantitative Research

8.1 Purpose

During this phase we will be using descriptive research to find
out numerical and more precise data which can be elaborate in order to
create statistics and numerical information.
We will format a survey in order to involve a larger crowd of
visitors. For the audience, we have made the decision to carry 200
participants on our surveys. The audience will include both loyal
customers and the general public. The general public considered will be
selected using random sampling method, so we do not discriminate
deliberately against any particular demographic or market segment.
We will focus on gathering data to answer the following
questions:
who are the customers, focusing on where do they live?
why do they come to this store?
how often do they come?
what do they buy?
Also it will be important to discover some demographic information
such as age, level of income, gender and occupation because this will
provide a good understanding of customer profile.
We will collect these primary data using data collections methods
such as surveys and observation.



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8.2 Population and sampling

We can research both current and potential customers, in this
case we will approach the task with the non-random sampling method. We
will gather a larger sample size such as 10% of houses in this suburb.
We will reach the audience with the survey using telephone,
direct mail and online survey posted on the companys website.


8.3 Procedure

A structured questionnaire will be developed for the survey. The
questionnaire will have about ten close ended questions and two open
ended questions. The reason for this decision is to be able to analyze the
answers more easily in order to give precise results to the company.
A direct mail campaign to 100 houses around the suburbs will
be arrange. This questionnaire will be useful to understand the level of
awareness of the citizens around the area.
Types of question asked in the survey will be:
does the citizen knows about A.D. Garden?
does it do gardening?
has he/she ever heard of the company
does it imagine himself doing such activities?
The age group which will be focusing on is 31-50 and 51 &
over.


9. Relevant legislation

D.A. Garden like all small companies has the obligation to
follow stated rules. For this reason D.A. Garden Supplies needs to
comprehend the Commonwealth State and local governments laws which
are states to regulate the business practices.
Regulations are rules based on and meant to carry out a specific
piece of legislation.


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These laws may apply in the following areas:
location controls like government restrictions
buildings and premises
businesses processes and practices
workplace heath and safety
taxation, insurance and employment
As D.A. Garden Supplies has been in business for over 10 years,
we imply that the legislation is known to them. We establish that
the collected information will be use only for the marketing research and
will be treated as confidential.


9.1 Food legislation

Food safety standards place obligations on Australian food
businesses to produce food that is safe and suitable to eat.
There are also health and hygiene obligations for food handlers.
The standards aim to lower the incidence of food-borne illness.
We consider a food business is any business or activity that
involves the handling of any type of food for sale, or the sale of food in
Australia. The requirements apply to all commercial, charitable or
community activities including once-only projects that involve the
handling or sale of food.
There are five food safety standards:
3.1.1 Interpretation and Application
3.2.1 Food Safety Programs
3.2.2 Food Safety Practices and General Requirements
3.2.3 Food Premises and Equipment
3.3.1 Food Safety Programs for Food Service to Vulnerable
Persons
Standards 3.2.2 and 3.2.3 are mandatory for all food businesses.
Safe Food Australia is the guide to the mandatory standards. An
investigation into these standards will allow for benchmarking and
checking that these standards are followed.


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9.2 Employing people legislation


Private sector employers and their employees in all states and
territories other data in Western Australia are now covered by the national
workplace relations system established by a fair work 2009.
The obligations will depend on the type of industry, the employment
type chosen and the amount of staff employed. These could include:
Occupational Health and Safety Obligations
Insurance Obligations
Taxation Obligations
Superannuation Obligations
One of the most important legislation is the Equal employment
opportunity & anti-discrimination.
In Australia, national and state laws cover equal employment
opportunity and anti-discrimination in the workplace. The employers are
required by these laws to create a workplace free from discrimination and
harassment. It is important that the employers understand the rights and
responsibilities under human rights and anti-discrimination law.
The Fair Work Ombudsman provides education and assistance for
employees and employers on preventing discrimination in the workplace.
By putting effective anti-discrimination and anti-harassment procedures in
place the business can improve productivity and increase efficiency.


9.3 Equal employment opportunity & anti-discrimination

The federal Parliament has passed a number of laws which aim to
protect people from certain kinds of discrimination in public life and from
breaches of their human rights by Commonwealth departments and
agencies.
For this reason in the research we will consider the following
legislations:



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Age Discrimination Act
The Age Discrimination Act 2004 helps to ensure that people are
not treated less favourably on the ground of age in various areas of public
life including:
employment
provision of goods and services
education
administration of Commonwealth laws and programs
The Act also provides for positive discrimination that is, actions
which assist people of a particular age who experience a disadvantage
because of their age. It also provides for exemptions in the following
areas:
superannuation
migration, taxation and social security laws
state laws and other Commonwealth laws
some health programmes.


Disability Discrimination Act
The Disability Discrimination Act 1992 has as its major objectives
to
eliminate discrimination against people with disabilities
promote community acceptance of the principle that people
with disabilities have the same fundamental rights as all members of the
community, and
ensure as far as practicable that people with disabilities have
the same rights to equality before the law as other people in the
community.

Australian Human Rights Commission Act
The Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986
established the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission and
gives it functions in relation to the following international instruments:
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)

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Convention Concerning Discrimination in Respect of
Employment and Occupation (ILO 111)
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
Convention on the Rights of the Child
Declaration of the Rights of the Child
Declaration on the Rights of Disabled Persons
Declaration on the Rights of Mentally Retarded Persons, and
Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and
of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief.
In addition, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social
Justice Commissioner has specific functions under the AHRC Act and the
Native Title Act,1993 to monitor the human rights of Indigenous people.


Racial Discrimination Act
The Racial Discrimination Act 1975 gives effect to Australia's
obligations under the International Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Racial Discrimination. Its major objectives are to
promote equality before the law for all persons, regardless of
their race, colour or national or ethnic origin, and
make discrimination against people on the basis of their race,
colour, descent or national or ethnic origin unlawful.

Sex Discrimination Act
The Sex Discrimination Act 1984 gives effect to Australia's obligations
under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
Against Women and certain aspects of the International Labour
Organisation (ILO) Convention 156. Its major objectives are to
promote equality between men and women
eliminate discrimination on the basis of sex, marital status or
pregnancy and, with respect to dismissals, family responsibilities, and
eliminate sexual harassment at work, in educational
institutions, in the provision of goods and services, in the provision of
accommodation and the delivery of Commonwealth programs.


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9.4 Trade Practices Act and Fair Trading Laws

For this research we have to consider that in order to run a
business in Australia there is the obligation to operate fairly and ethically
and that means working within the confines of the Trade Practices Act as
well as the Fair Trading laws in your respective State and Territory.
The Trade Practices Act is a federal law that deals with almost
all parts of the marketplace including unfair market practices, product
safety, price monitoring and industry codes of practice. Its aim is to inhibit
unethical practices by competitors and to give customers confidence that
they are dealing with businesses that adhere to high standards.
The Australian Consumer and Competition Commission (ACCC)
which is responsible for administering the TPA encourages small business
to view the Act as an important management tool and that compliance with
it should be part of good business practice.
It is suggested that every business have a TPA compliance
program. This might include a strategic vision that states the goals of the
company and the plan to implement them, identifying compliance risks and
assessing these at regular intervals.
In addition to the TPA, each state and territory has fair trading
laws to which the business must adhere. The two sets of laws complement
each other.
These state it is unlawful to:
make false clams about a product or service
operate in a misleading or deceptive way that might mislead or
deceive your customers
take unfair advantage of vulnerable customers, unconscionable
conduct.
The ACCC has issued a CD TPA matters for small
business. This covers topics such as restrictive trade practices including
price fixing and market sharing, misleading and deceptive conduct,
franchising, unconscionable conduct and the role of the ACCC in
administering the Act.
Many industries have specific codes of practice providing a
minimum standard of protection to consumers. As an individual business

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D.A. Garden must consider creating a service charter outlining the
standards of the company and in turn giving their customers certain
guarantees.
Making sure business behaves in an acceptable manner, whether
with the customers or the competitors is vital to a business success.


9.5 The Privacy Act

The Privacy Act 1988 is an Australian law which regulates the
handling of personal information about individuals. This includes the
collection, use, storage and disclosure of personal information, and access
to and correction of that information. The Privacy Act includes:
13 Australian Privacy Principles that apply to the handling of
personal information by most Australian and Norfolk Island Government
agencies and some private sector organizations
credit reporting provisions that apply to the handling of credit-
related personal information that credit providers are permitted to disclose
to credit reporting bodies for inclusion on individuals credit reports.
The Privacy Act also:
regulates the collection, storage, use, disclosure, security and
disposal of individuals' tax file numbers
permits the handling of health information for health and
medical research purposes in certain circumstances, where researchers
are unable to seek individuals' consent
allows the Information Commissioner to approve and
register enforceable APP codes that have been developed by an APP
code developer, or developed by the Information Commissioner directly
permits a small business operator, who would otherwise not
be subject to the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) and any relevant
privacy code, to opt-in to being covered by the APPs and any relevant
APP code
allows for privacy regulations to be made.



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9.6 The Code of Practice

Achieving best practice is one way a business can improve its
operations and service, ultimately increasing the business competitiveness
and the morale of both customers and staff. Best practice can be attained
by following standards and codes of practice.
These standards could be mandatory or voluntary.

Mandatory standards
Businesses should already adhere to mandatory standards under
the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 that cover issues such as
product and consumer safety. Failure to comply with mandatory standards
can attract penalties such as fines, court enforceable undertakings,
injunctions, orders for corrective advertising, refunds or repair of goods
and legal costs.

Voluntary standards
The most well known voluntary standards are ISO 9000 and ISO
14000, international standards administered by the International
Organization for Standardization (ISO).
ISO 9000 addresses quality management practices including
quality of products, services and customer satisfaction, while ISO 14000
addresses environmental management practices including management
systems, labelling, performance evaluation, life cycle analysis,
communication and auditing.
By adhering to voluntary standards such as ISO 9000 and ISO 14000,
A.D. Garden can give the customers more confidence in the quality of their
products, services or environmental management practices, and may
make the business more competitive against others in your industry.

Mandatory industry codes of practice
Codes of practice can be mandatory or voluntary and provide a
minimum standard of protection to consumers in particular industries. In
looser terms, they let the customers know what the business agrees to do

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when dealing with them. They are prescribed as regulations under
Australian state and territory fair trading acts and have the force of law.

Voluntary industry codes of practice
Voluntary codes are a form of industry self-regulation. They can
be sponsored by a particular industry association, or they may be in
partnership with a government agency. Voluntary industry codes are
usually flexible and can be altered quickly in response to changing
industry/consumer needs.
Adhering to voluntary codes of practice can not only ensure A.D.
Garden provides a higher standard of protection to their customers, but
can also ensure that the business is competitive against others in the
same industry.


9.7 NGISA Code of ethics

The NGISA Inc is a not for profit Association that aims to provide the
Nursery and Garden Industry in South Australia with professional
leadership, technical advice, relevant training and encourage the
profitability of our members.
The Nursery & Garden Industry SA Inc (NGISA) operates under a strict
code of ethics and requires its members to:
support the Nursery Industry in a conscientious and
honourable manner .
respect other members and the public with conduct that is
neither discriminatory nor prejudicial.
perform business dealings to accepted professional and
technical standards within the Industry.
compliance with the Trade Practices Act.
adhere to relevant legislation regarding equal opportunity and
sexual harassment.




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10. Resources

10.1 Human resources

In oder to conduct a market research an extra staff member should
be employed, his/her responsibilities would be to conduct surveys, to talk
to costumers and gather all the data into spreadsheet for further analysis.
The gathered data will be presented to the owners and all of the analysis
will be conducted by the external company, by doing this hypothesis and
solution will be presented.
If an extra staff member cannot be employed due to costs; the
task of surveying and gathering data should be distribute between the staff
members.


10.2 Financial resources

In order to successfully execute the D.A. Gardens market research
plan, a budget must be assigned to the market research and the
promotion and advertising activities.
The proposed budget for the market research consist in AUD $
7,000 and for advertising AUD$ 3,000 will be required.


10.3 Physical resources

D.A. Garden should have a computer within the businesss
premises, surely the owners have access to a computer and having a
proper office inside the business would be highly recommended. Some of
the surveys will be conducted inside the business and other will be
conducted near the competitors premises without violating any laws or
regulations.






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10.4 Specification of information sources


Secondary data such as the A.D. Garden Annual Report and their
personal website will be use to gather information about the most
important sources of revenues
To gather and analyze new sources of revenues it is important to get
insights about needs and perceptions of loyal customers and the general
public (residents and visitors of Brisbane) by conducting research in
secondary data. Demographics statistics like the Australian Bureau of
Statistic will be relevant


11. External market research assistance

There may be governmental data bases and/or trade publications
that can give us some extra informations, but the main source of data is
going to be gathered by surveying our current and potential customers.
We may consider purchasing database lists if it is required.


12. Research locations

Most of the research will be conducted inside D.A. Garden facilities
which includes D.A. Garden Nursery and D.A. Garden Caf. Although it
will not be limited to this area only.
Conducting the surveys, questionnaires and observations close to
the competitors premises could be fruitful. Research will be also
conducted online on the companys website.
In addition, as previously mention, the mail surveys will be also
confuted around the suburbs area.





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13. Types of data

The data analyzed will be quantitive or qualitative. Those types of
information are not comparable since one gives us numerical information
and the other informs us in a more subjective way. For this market
research both types of data will be employed, in term of the qualitative
type a Likert scale will be used.


14. Data processing methods

There will be four methods which will be employed to accomplish
this research and processing the data:

Batch Processing
This is a method where the data to be organized is sorted into groups to
allow a more efficient and sequential processing.

Online Processing
This a process that utilizes the Internet and equipment directly connected
to a computer or a device. It is used for data recording and research.

Real-Time Processing
This technique has the ability to respond almost immediately to various
signals in order to acquire and process data.

Distributed Processing
This method is commonly utilized by remote workstations connected to
one big central workstation or server.

For this market research we will use the batch processing
method which is going to be employed for the written survey.


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15. Project implementation plan

Project start date : 20th May 2014
Start collecting data: 1st July 2014
Structuring and analyzing data: 2nd October 2014
Deliver final report: 20th March 2015
Implement new strategies: April 2014





























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15.1 Gant Chart details timing

ACTIVITY M J J A S O N D J F M A
Problem description

Meeting with the owners
David and Alison

Proposal

Define objective

Establish timelines

Present the proposal

Develop a detailed
market research plan

Establish plan of activities

Prepare surveys and
questionnaires

Data collection and
survey

Survey at the store

Online questionnaire

Social media questionnaire*

Observation of the
competitors*

Interview employees*

Research on internet*

Existing market research
results

Existing data from D.A.
Garden*

Industry and government
research

Data structuring and
analysis

Capture data

Analyse data

Present report

Report advances

Final report

*Data from these sources will continue to be gathered regardless of the completion of the exercise.

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16. Cost estimates


Market research costs: between AUD $ 5,000 and AUD $ 7,000


17. Conclusion

This market research is going to benefit D.A. Garden because with it
they will be able to understand they target market and the market
strategies that will need to use.
A meeting will be schedule in order to present the proposal.


Dott.ssa Caterina De Filippo
Marketing Graduate
ILSC Business College
Tel. 0435 060 667
Email: defilippo.cate@gmail.com


















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A. Appendix Qualitative research


A.1 Focus Group Q&A for D.A. Garden Caf


Question Answer
1.Where the
customer already
at the store before
coming to the
caf?
YES NO WHY
2.Are they regular
customers?
YES NO WHY
3.Do they like the
service?
YES NO WHY
4.Do they feel
comfortable eating
here?
YES NO WHY
5.Are they concern
about health issue
policy?
OPEN

6.Suggestions/Ideas OPEN
















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A.2 Visitorss survey Linkert scale


Strongly Not Not Strongly
Question Agree Agree Sure Agree Not Agree
1.Are the
products easy
to find in store?
1 2 3 4 5
2.Did you find
what you were
looking for?
1 2 3 4 5
3.Was the staff
helpful and
friendly?
1 2 3 4 5
4.Do you find the
products well
priced?
1 2 3 4 5
5.Will you come
back?
1 2 3 4 5













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B. Appendix Quantitative research


B.1 General Survey within the suburbs - Online Survey


Question Choice of answers
1.In which suburb do
you live?
a.Brisbane CBD b.Fortitude Valley c.Spring Hill
2.Why do you come to
this store?
a.purchase gardening
supply
b.meals at the caf c.spend free time
3.How often do you
come?
a.ones a week b.ones every two weeks c.ones a month
4.What do you buy? a.garden supply b.food/drink c.nothing
5.What is your age
group?
a.8-30 b.31-50 c.51&over
6.Income levels a.between 30,000
50,000
b.between 50,000 to
100,000
c.over 100,000