Case Analysis Aqualisa Quartz
Introduction:
Every company dreams that one day they can bring something unique and very competitive, and use it to dominate the market. But things might not be as easy as they thought. In Aqualisa case, Harry Rawlinson, managing director of Aqualisa, gives us an example that even with new significant shower product Quartz, which seems to be perfect in every aspect, they cannot make a relative progress in U.K. shower market. Quartz is designed to solve all the troubles that exist in U.K. showers. It provides efficient and reliable water pressure and temperature, needs less space in bathroom, has a stylish looking and is easy to use and install. Although Quartz leaps all other showers, the initial sales results turned to be gloomy, as Rawlinson said “For some reason, it simply wasn’t selling”.
To reveal these “reasons”, we will first look at the general shower market status, and then we will analysis two main factors that cause Quart fail in initial Sales: Quart itself and Plumber. Finally, we will examine Aqualisa’s marketing strategy and find out what is the right thing to do.
Shower market in U.K.
The U.K. shower market has 3 distribution channels, 3 buyer segments, and 2 Special roles: Plumber and Developer. To give a brief summary, we will use some charts to demonstrate characteristics of these elements, and use it for latter discussions.
Chart 1: Distribution channels in U.K. shower market Distribution channels | Features | Showrooms | Consulting and display | | High end | | Installation services | | Aqualisa share 25% | Trade Shops | Sell all available brands | | Primary customer is plumber | | Aqualisa share 40% | Do-It-Yourself Sheds | Offer discount | | Needs cheap and retrofit | | Gainsborough brand share 70% |
Chart 2: Consumer Segments in U.K. shower market ConsumerSegments | Features | Premium | High performance & service | | Shopped in showrooms | Standard | Emphasize performance & service |
Every company dreams that one day they can bring something unique and very competitive, and use it to dominate the market. But things might not be as easy as they thought. In Aqualisa case, Harry Rawlinson, managing director of Aqualisa, gives us an example that even with new significant shower product Quartz, which seems to be perfect in every aspect, they cannot make a relative progress in U.K. shower market. Quartz is designed to solve all the troubles that exist in U.K. showers. It provides efficient and reliable water pressure and temperature, needs less space in bathroom, has a stylish looking and is easy to use and install. Although Quartz leaps all other showers, the initial sales results turned to be gloomy, as Rawlinson said “For some reason, it simply wasn’t selling”.
To reveal these “reasons”, we will first look at the general shower market status, and then we will analysis two main factors that cause Quart fail in initial Sales: Quart itself and Plumber. Finally, we will examine Aqualisa’s marketing strategy and find out what is the right thing to do.
Shower market in U.K.
The U.K. shower market has 3 distribution channels, 3 buyer segments, and 2 Special roles: Plumber and Developer. To give a brief summary, we will use some charts to demonstrate characteristics of these elements, and use it for latter discussions.
Chart 1: Distribution channels in U.K. shower market Distribution channels | Features | Showrooms | Consulting and display | | High end | | Installation services | | Aqualisa share 25% | Trade Shops | Sell all available brands | | Primary customer is plumber | | Aqualisa share 40% | Do-It-Yourself Sheds | Offer discount | | Needs cheap and retrofit | | Gainsborough brand share 70% |
Chart 2: Consumer Segments in U.K. shower market ConsumerSegments | Features | Premium | High performance & service | | Shopped in showrooms | Standard | Emphasize performance & service |