Market Segmentation for Lawn Mowers

Introduction

In this document, we will analyse the current market of lawnmowers in Portugal. By recognising this market and its products with distinct characteristics, we will perform a customer segmentation, which will allow us to divide the market into small groups. Through the segmentation of the lawnmower market, it will be possible to achieve a greater proximity to the final customer; create advertising media that target the identified segments; facilitate the positioning of the product; and obtain the return on investment by the company.

The developments and technological diversity provided by all the competitors operating in the sector has shown that this market is very competitive nowadays. Thus, it is imperative that a strategic shift is implemented, which is more focused on meeting the needs of the customer.

The notorious falling sales in the sector since 2008 were of equal importance, although the explanation of this phenomenon lies in the national and international economy situation. To analyze the current market of lawnmowers in Portugal, we started to make a small market research.

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To get a concrete “shape”, we went to one of the biggest players in the market - Leroy Merlin, who kindly gave us some informations which served as basis for this assignment and which allow us to have a better vision of what is happening in the lawn care industry.

GOALS

By segmenting the market of mowers you can:
· Get a closer relationship with the end consumer;
· Create advertising media that are targeted to the identified segments;
· Facilitate the positioning of the product;
· And monetize coveted by the company.

This last point is usually associated with Increase sales, Increase profits, Increase sales dealer channel.

Segmentation

There are several types of lawnmowers available on the market: manual, battery - powered or gas – powered models, are some of the options. There are ways to segment the lawnmower market :

Customer characteristics
• Geographic ( region, city size, and so on )
• Demographic ( gender, age, race, household size, and so on )
• Socioeconomic ( income, education, occupation, and so on )
• Psychographic ( lifestyle, personality, and so on )

Buying situation

• Benefits sought ( product features, quality, service, warranty )
• Usage rate – quantity purchased during a specific period
Based on the market research that we conducted, we restricted the types of lawn mowers to non-powered, powered and powered riding for three different market segments : urban, suburban and rural. (POR TABELA DE PERCENTAGEM)

The percentages given are based on the literature, as well as the information given by the head of the gardening sector at Leroy Merlin, which we visited, in Alfragide. Against this backdrop, the most attractive segment seems to be that of the consumers who live in the suburban area and who use powered walk-behind lawn mowers. However, this segment may already be flooded with competition, it may be more beneficial to target a small segment of consumers, like urban consumers using non-powered or powered walking mowers. The smallest segment may be the most profitable and lucrative.

Conclusion

From our research we ​​can segment the market of lawnmowers in Portugal as: mainly directed to male gender, between 35-55 years old, who lives in the suburbs of large cities, in a house with a garden area between 1.000 to 2.150 square feet of grass; with a household of four people and average income between € 20.000 and € 30.000 per year. The most chosen mower for this kind of segment is the electric powered one, in spite of major disadvantage of requiring a wire plugged to work, which makes that their use is impractical for those who have large estates. It is noteworthy that one of the great advantages of an electric lawn mower is that it does not require extensive maintenance.

With the displacement of many ex-urbanites to the most suburban areas of large cities, the growth of lawnmowers little by little began to live better days. With this segmentation, we believe that the Finnish company will take advantage of this kind of market penetration. Faced with fierce competition (AKI Group, IZI-MESTRE MACO, LEROY MERLIN, BRICOMARCHÉ, BRICO LECLERC and also in many other customers in traditional market said: Garden Centres, Hardware Stores, Drugstores, Building Materials Stores and other sited North to South), the Finnish company will have to differentiate the products presented, as well as in the developed marketing campaigns, satisfying specific needs and desires of this kind of consumers.

Bibliography:
Market Segmentation: How to Do It and How to Profit from It, Malcolm McDonald Butterworth-Heinemann, 2012 Market Segmentation: Conceptual and Methodological Foundations, Michel Wedel, ‎Wagner A. Kamakura – 2000 Handbook of Market Segmentation: Strategic Targeting for Business and Technology firms, 3rd edition, Art Weinstein, PhD, 2004 Market Segmentation Success: Making It Happen!, Sally Dibb, ‎Lyndon Simkin - 2013 a