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  • How to Build an Email List that Converts Visitors into Loyal Users?

    Your business interacts with many people regularly- visitors, current users, clients, prospects, and leads. The best way to nurture these connections is via emails. Emails are by far the most effective way to communicate.

    Emails are crucial for any business because they are immune to social media bans, and algorithm changes and are 40 times more effective than social media.

    This creates the need to build an email list that converts and generates sales. An email list is a database with the email addresses of people interested in your business.

    An email list helps you:

    • Strengthen the connection by providing a personalized subscriber experience.
    • Multiply the business ROI
    • Ease at performance tracking

    Emails have limited and easy-to-track performance metrics with a lot of automation opportunities.

    So, here is your guide on building an email list that converts visitors into loyal users. It might take a few weeks or a few months to build a legitimate email list. But it gives tremendous ROI for a long period of time. After all, every $1 spent on email marketing brings in a return of $42 for the business.

    How to Build an Email List? (Step by Step Guide)
    Is It Worth Buying an Email List?
    Strategies to Grow an Email List
    How to Maintain an Email List?

    How to Build an Email List? (Step by Step Guide)

    Now, before you hop on to looking for strategies to grow that database, let us understand where it all starts. A simple pop-up on your website would not help in email list building. You need to create a system and an offer to capture people’s email addresses.

    When you go to a restaurant, they generally ask for your number. Now, you could get away with that because you know you will get a lot of promotional messages. Something similar happens when you ask for emails as a business. People avoid it as no one wants to join the list of spammy promotional message receivers.

    So, you need to provide some value in exchange for their emails. It could be a freebie, some coupon, or any other item with perceived value.

    Step 1: Create Lead Magnet

    To begin with, create a clear offering that adds or serves value for your audience. Start by creating a persona of your target audience to pick a lead magnet. It could be a free guide, a video course, a free sample/ product, or anything that they find worthy.

    Now, a major thing to prioritize is the target audience’s needs and motivation points. You can’t offer a YouTube guide to people interested in startups. Understand what excites your target audience and align your offering accordingly.

    Example of Lead Magnet
    Example of Lead Magnet

    For instance, you provide SEO services to B2B companies. You could offer:

    • Site audit
    • A pdf-format SEO guide for B2B companies,
    • SEO course, etc.

    The most common lead magnet is a content upgrade (ebook, guides, pdfs, etc.) and freebie. Nonetheless, there are many other options discussed further.

    Step 2: Pick Distribution Channel

    Now that you have decided on a lead magnet, pick a distribution channel to promote your offer. It could be a website, social media, YouTube channel, or any other platform where your audience is active.

    Again, relevance is crucial while choosing a distribution channel and promoting your offer.

    Suppose, you go to an electronics store and get a free health check-up. Not a bad deal, but surely not relevant. Now, imagine getting the same check-up during a visit to the hospital.

    So, if you choose to promote men’s t-shirts for your eCommerce store, you would show the offer to people browsing in the men’s clothing section. Or if you choose an email marketing guide as a lead magnet, you would flash the deal on blogs, and pages related to email marketing.

    Acing the relevance and cracking the intention of users is crucial when selecting a distribution channel.

    Step 3: Design a Landing Page

    You got the lead magnet ready and got in front of the people interested in it. Now? How will you collect email addresses?

    You need a landing page to collect the emails. This landing page needs to clearly communicate:

    • The value proposition of the lead magnet
    • What people can expect in the future
    • How it will benefit them

    Now, you can create a landing page using website builders like WordPress, Wix, or dedicated landing page builders like Unbounce, GetResponse, Kajabi, InstaPage, etc. Compare these options and pick the convenient one.

    Alternatively, a pop-up or squeeze page on website pages could help you collect the emails as well. Also, Twitter and LinkedIn provide dedicated newsletter tools that you could add to your social media.

    Newsletter Box on Twitter
    Newsletter Box on Twitter

    Step 4: Pick an Email Marketing Software

    Finally, pick an email marketing software to organize and send emails. Now, the main function might be to deliver emails, but you need a tool that allows segmenting and tagging. Why? Segmenting your audience based on their journey and tagging them appropriately helps you personalize the emails.

    In fact, SuperOffice conducted an email marketing campaign and experienced a 94% open rate for a segmented email campaign as compared to a 42% open rate for the unsegmented one.

    Tagging emails means adding more information and categorizing emails based on some information. For instance, you own a content marketing agency. You have an email list with people interested in YouTube, social media, blogs, podcasts, etc. Now, you would want to send an email related to YouTube marketing specifically to the person interested in YouTube only.

    Relevance is key in emails and finding the right email marketing tool is crucial to ease the process. Some of the tools are MailChimp, ConvertKit, Kajabi, Drip, Aweber, GetResponse, Active Campaign, Clickfunnels, etc.

    Step 5: Bringing it All Together

    Now, it is time to put all the elements into action. After deciding on the lead magnet, distribution channel, and email marketing channel, you need to merge these all to capture emails. It will take you about a day to bring it all together.

    Once you complete this, you need to focus on distributing your lead magnet and nurturing your email list. Nurturing an email list doesn’t mean increasing the number of subscribers solely. You need to ensure that there are active subscribers, no bots, and people engage with your emails. Hence, it is advisable to:

    • Send at least one email per week.
    • Refine your list every month (removing inactive subscribers).
    • Trying to sell once a month (cause after all the main goal is revenue generation).

    What Is Email Blast and How to Do It the Right Way?
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    StartupTalkyRevathy Nair

    Is It Worth Buying an Email List?

    Many businesses end up buying an email list to get started. But is it the right approach?

    NO!

    Buying an email list will not only hamper the quality of your email list but can create technical issues.

    Firstly, buying an email list invites a lot of dead or bot emails that do not serve any purpose. Also, since you bought these, people have not willingly signed up for them. This might affect your business reputation negatively and increase the unsubscribe rate.

    Secondly, it increases the chances of landing your email in spam. Also, buying a list might be legal, but sending promotional marketing emails without prior permission is illegal in many places (as per local laws).

    You don’t want inactive and unqualified subscribers on your email list. Hence, you should refrain from buying an email list no matter how attractive it might seem.

    Strategies to Grow an Email List

    We discussed the 5-step basic email listing building method. Now, let us look into strategies that will help you build an email list effectively. These would ensure that you get a qualified audience that serves value for your business and converts.

    Content Upgrades

    Content upgrades are long-form PDFs or ebooks that provide specific information in addition to existing blogs or any other content piece. It could be a 5000-word guide that contains exclusive strategies or case studies.

    Content upgrades work well since they offer relevant information to the prospects. If promoted well, it could drive a lot of traffic and build your email list quickly. Providing free content doesn’t cost a lot and offers a great ROI.

    Recently, Bill Gates offered a free copy of his book in the same manner for exchanging email addresses.

    Additionally, you could opt-in for gated content. Gated content means a part of the content on your website which is locked or hidden that a visitor can access only in exchange for email and other information.

    Using Pop-Ups

    Pop-ups are promotional messages that come on top of your website content. They generally contain information and blank spaces to enter email addresses. There are four types of pop-ups:

    Welcome pop up– They generally appear as soon as you open the website to greet or offer a welcome discount or deals. They require a strong CTA to ensure conversion since they can be intrusive.

    Exit intent pop up- They show up when a user is about to leave the website. The aim is to reduce bounce rates and grab visitors’ attention by presenting them with a relevant offer. You need to ensure that the copy of the exit-intent popup is enticing to increase efficiency. A tactfully made exit-intent popup can save 10 to 15% of users leaving the site.

    Promotional pop up–  As the name suggests,  promotional pop-ups include promotional messages that include exclusive discounts/ deals. Relevancy is a crucial factor for promotional popups which requires an understanding of the buyer’s journey.

    Timed pop up– Timed popups are the promotional messages that show up on your website after a certain amount of time spent by the visitor. Look into Google Analytics and you could get insight into the customer journey. For instance, a visitor stays on your website for 25 seconds on average. You could opt-in for a timed pop-up at 15 seconds to offer a discount or any other lead magnet.

    Pop-ups are a great way to increase your conversion if deployed correctly. You could use them on the home page, product page, check-out page, or in the cart as well. However, don’t use more than three pop-ups on a single page. Also, consider Google interstitial ad guidelines, in absence of which you might end up getting a penalty.

    Squeeze Pages

    Squeeze pages are like landing pages to capture email addresses only. They again offer some lead magnets in exchange. The only aim is to either get the email or the visitor will leave the website. It has bare minimum content and hence requires an effective offer to attract users. You could offer email courses, templates, ebooks, white papers, etc.

    They generally have a high exit rate but a high conversion rate. If you do not have a high conversion rate, it is advisable to add home or product page links as well to the page.

    Loyalty and Referral Program

    Loyalty and referral programs are great for existing and new users.  There is a great way to incentivize users by providing them exclusive discounts, early access to sales, and other perks.

    They not only build your email list but help you increase repeat purchases. Many brands opt for loyalty and referral programs to nurture relationships with the users. You could build your email list by providing special benefits.

    Discount and Deals

    Discounts and deals are a great way to capture emails or any other personal information of your users. You could provide special discount codes/ coupons in exchange for emails. You could also offer welcome discounts, and festive discounts and use this evergreen method to keep growing your email list.

    Exclusive Notifications

    You can offer exclusive notifications to your subscribers. This could be regarding early access to sales, a new collection, or inventory stock up.

    Often people place orders on your E-commerce website but there is an availability of products. In situations like these, you could ask for their email and notify them in case of restocking. It doesn’t seem promotional and offers value to the user.

    Gamification

    You could add interactive games and elements to your website to boost engagement on the website and provide a lead magnet. It could be something simple as spinning the wheel, scratch cards, tests, surveys, etc.

    The user could claim the bonus by providing their email address. This is fairly popular and brands over free products or 10-40% of discounts in the gamification. This motivates users to become subscribers and purchase from you.

    Opt-in at Checkouts

    According to Google Guidelines, you can not use the email used for placing orders to send promotional messages. Hence, you can add a tick-box at the time of checkout to get permission for sending promotional messages.

    People don’t hesitate to tick off at this stage since they already placed an order and would appreciate updates from you.

    Giveaways

    Giveaway free products, samples, or other items to get emails in exchange. It can be a physical product (shampoo, notebook, hamper, etc.) or an info product (e-book, white paper, etc.), or some service (30-day free trial).

    In fact, Robbie, Co-Founder of Virayo, a B2B search marketing agency, gained 1171 emails in 10 days with the help of giveaways. He explains the entire process of gaining emails via giveaway. The best way to get maximum benefit is to reduce the competition by allowing additional entries for each referral.

    Self Discovery, Assessment, or Quizzes

    We often take quizzes and assessments on the internet. You could conduct these too and provide the results via emails. It is a simple yet effective way to engage with users and capture their emails.

    Just create an assessment or quiz relevant to your target audience. For instance, if you are a beauty brand, you can conduct quizzes such as “determine your skin type” or “Check hair health with this quiz”.

    This tactic adds active and interested subscribers to your email list.

    Evergreen Webinars

    Webinars are a great way to attract users. You could use interactive but pre-recorded webinars. People love to attend these as they offer a lot of value in a limited time. It is a great lead magnet with a high conversion rate when targeted correctly.

    Identify the topic that your target audience would be interested in and offer valuable webinars along the same lines. Alternatively, you could provide a recording of the webinar in the exchange of email addresses, which would enhance the conversion rate.

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    StartupTalkyDamini Bhandary

    How to Maintain an Email List?

    Your job does not end by building an email list. You need to ensure that your email list converts and has active users. So, how do you do that? Here are 4 steps to ensure a quality email list that converts:

    Monitor the engagement on your emails

    Track metrics such as open rate, click-through rate, and conversion rate. They will give you a clear picture of your email marketing efforts.

    Remove the inactive users

    You don’t want your email list to have a low open rate with no conversion. Every month scrap off the email addresses that do not respond. You could also send an email to check up on the inactive users. It could be as simple as asking them if they want to unsubscribe for any reason.

    Engage with your subscribers

    You need to extract the value out of your email list and nurture those subscribers. So, send 1-3 emails every week and try selling something every month.

    Check your email content

    Is your email mobile optimized? Is the subject line fascinating enough? Do the images load timely? Ensure that the email reaches the users without any technical issues or UX/UI errors.

    Conclusion

    Building and maintaining an email list gives you benefits in the long run. Just be sure to offer value to your users and get the right tools to make it an easy process.

    All these strategies will help you to create a relevant lead magnet and get started in building an email list. Just be sure to follow the guidelines, if any, to avoid penalties or ending up in the spam section.

    FAQs

    How to create an email list?

    Create a lead magnet, Pick a distribution channel, Create a landing page, and pick an email marketing software.

    Yes, it is legal to buy an email list but sending spammy messages who haven’t opted for your newsletter might be illegal.

    What is an email list used for?

    An email list is used to send out emails to customers about offers, updates, discounts, or other details.

  • Top 5 Reasons Why No-Reply Emails Are Bad for Your Ecommerce Store?

    “Good communication is the bridge between confusion and clarity.” This is a well-known and rightly said quote by Nat Turner. Good communication and good customer relationships can make or break your business. However, you might be putting all that at risk by using a no-reply email.

    Many businesses use no-reply emails for their email marketing campaigns. It does seem like a useful way to avoid cluttering your inboxes. But it might break the foundation on which your business stands.

    What Are No-Reply Emails?
    Why No-Reply Emails Are Bad for Your Ecommerce Store?

    What Are No-Reply Emails?

    No-reply emails are the email addresses that are not set up to receive incoming messages. These emails’ format looks like, “noreply@yourwebsite.com or donotreply@domain.com.” These emails do not allow the recipients to reply. The recipients receive a “Message cannot be delivered” notification in case they try to reply. Such emails are adopted by companies to avoid cluttering their mailboxes.

    These emails do seem convenient to the senders. However, it acts like a brick wall between the sender and receiver as it disconnects the two-way communication.

    Think of it from your customer’s perspective. Which company would you rather work with the one that values your opinion or the one that does not? Obviously, the former one. Customers value businesses that value them in turn.

    So, using a no-reply email might be one of the major reasons why you’re losing customers. No-reply emails can be highly misleading and lead to mistrust among your audience. In this article, we will know how a no-reply email can harm your eCommerce store.

    Why No-Reply Emails Are Bad for Your Ecommerce Store?

    No-reply emails can be harmful to your business in many ways. Here are the reasons how no-reply emails can adversely affect your eCommerce store:

    Average Time People Spend Reading Brand Emails from 2011 to 2021
    Average Time People Spend Reading Brand Emails from 2011 to 2021

    No-Reply Emails Damages the Customer Experience

    No-reply emails are used to avoid receiving responses from the users. It helps businesses save time. However, it is not worth it as in this way, you are blocking two-way communication. You might be saving time or effort but you’d be putting your customers and your reputation at risk.

    Let me tell you something. A month ago, I received an email from a company. I found some gaps in there and tried to communicate the feedback by replying. However, the email kept on bouncing. I couldn’t understand why and at last, I got frustrated and unsubscribed from the newsletter. So, the company not only lost valuable feedback but also a subscriber. This is what happens when you use a no-reply email. You are probably missing out on hundreds and thousands of valuable feedback and subscribers.

    You might direct your audience to other pages by adding your contact information. But still, at the end of the day, everyone prefers convenience. People would prefer to reply to your email rather than being redirected to other pages for submitting their feedback. So, you should always lead your customers to a responsive environment and not a dead end.

    Domino's Pizza No-Reply Email Example
    Domino’s Pizza No-Reply Email Example

    No-Reply Emails Damages Your ECommerce Store’s Email Marketing

    The main point of your email marketing campaign is to build trust among your audience and strengthen your brand’s reputation. No-reply emails don’t serve this purpose. Rather, they cause more harm than good.

    An effective campaign aims at increasing customer engagement and receiving feedback from them. You might be ruling out the entire point if you’re using a no-reply email for your eCommerce store.

    These emails can adversely affect your brand’s reputation. People might start to believe that you do not value your customers and their opinions. A brand’s reputation is its most prized asset and you’d be endangering it if you use a no-reply email.  

    Using no-reply emails for your email marketing is harmful to your eCommerce store in two ways. Firstly, you are disabling your customers to respond or send any feedback to you, leading to mistrust. Secondly, you are losing your brand’s reputation as people are less likely to engage with you on other channels like blogs or social media as well.

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    No-Reply Emails Harms Your ECommerce Store’s Email Deliverability

    Your email might not even get delivered if you are using a no-reply email. Yes! You heard that right. All your efforts in writing the email, worrying about the subject lines, and crafting the perfect copy might all go to waste.

    You must be thinking how does that even happen? Well, many internet service providers like Comcast or AT&T do not allow such emails to reach the client’s inboxes. At times, a person’s email security settings can also send the emails to the spam folder.

    No-reply emails lead to low deliverability and open rates. Since, emails are an important aspect for an eCommerce store, using no-reply emails is sure to be harmful to your business.

    No-Reply Emails Can Lead Your Ecommerce Store to the Spam Folder

    Daily Number of Spam Emails Sent Worldwide as of 2021 by country
    Daily Number of Spam Emails Sent Worldwide as of 2021 by country

    If your audience doesn’t feel valued, they might send the email to the spam folder. They would not want to hear from you if you discourage two-way communication.

    At times, your audience might not even have the chance to read your email before marking them as spam. Some email providers directly send no-reply emails to the spam folder. What’s terrifying about it is that you might not even realize it, as the emails will still show as delivered.  

    Besides, no-reply emails are harder to add to the safelist as well. Email service providers add your emails to the safelist, once your audience replies to them. Thus, no-reply emails have a far lesser chance of ending up on the safelist.

    Also, getting marked as spam by many users can make you blacklisted which in turn is extremely harmful to your eCommerce store’s reputation.

    No-Reply Emails Might Be Illegal

    If the above-mentioned reasons are not enough for you, you should know that using a no-reply email is kind of illegal. Using a no-reply email prevents your audience from communicating with you. This indirectly violates GDPR. Global Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a set of European Union laws that sets the rules for how the companies gather and use their customers’ data.

    You might be violating GDPR as one of its rules state that the customers have the right to request information regarding the data collected about them. So, if you do not give your audience the chance to communicate with you, it can get you and your eCommerce store in trouble.

    If you are ever charged with this violation, you will not only suffer financially but will also lose customers’ trust in your store as well.

    Conclusion

    The above-mentioned reasons must be enough to conclude that no-reply emails are an absolute no-no for your business if you want to provide good customer service or maintain your brand’s reputation. Customers are one of the greatest assets of a business and you must not risk it for anything. You might be saving some time and effort now but losing your brand reputation and your customers five years down the lane, wouldn’t be worth it.

    FAQs

    What is a no-reply email?

    No-reply email is an email address that is not set up to receive incoming messages. Many companies use it to send emails without having to receive any replies in order to prevent cluttering of their inboxes.

    What is the format of a no-reply email?

    A no-reply email has a typical format that looks like, “noreply@yourwebsite.com or donotreply@domain.com.”

    Why one should never use a no-reply email address?

    One should never use a no-reply email address because:

    • It damages the customer experience.
    • It can lead you to the spam folder.
    • It can damage email marketing.
    • It harms email deliverability.
    • It might be illegal.

  • Top 10 Beach Business Ideas | Best Beachside Business Ideas

    Beaches are beautiful and almost everyone under the sun will agree with this fact. From entertainment, commerce, and transportation to recreation and relaxation, all purposes are fulfilled here. The point with beach business is that you have to be socially relevant and economically sound and aware to operate a business here. Also, beaches require you to have appropriate licensing requirements and be conformed to certain standards of quality, precision, and duties.

    Most people opt for vacations and choose beaches for unwinding and spending time with family. This makes beaches one of those touristy places that have huge traffics and are characterized by on and off-season.

    As an entrepreneur, you have the option of creating a business that fits with the lifestyle you want. And if you want to spend your days at the beach and earn money by dipping your toes into the water, here are some profitable beach business ideas for you.

    Best Beach Business Ideas

    1. Food Shacks
    2. Accommodation
    3. Surf Shop
    4. Hostels
    5. House-Sitting
    6. Cruises
    7. Rental Shop
    8. Selling Local Merchandise
    9. Cafe/Restaurant
    10. Fishing Tours

    Best Beach Business Ideas

    Best Beach Business Ideas

    The best beach business ideas that are profitable and equally interesting to do are listed below.

    Food Shacks

    Food Shacks- Best Beach Business Ideas
    Food Shacks – Best Beach Business Ideas

    Beaches thrive on food. People who come to the beach, want to try all sorts of food from local cuisines to international dishes. Local food can be a great connector due to its ethnicity and it helps develop a bond with the customer. Shacks with good comfortable sitting and a variety of food options make one stand out. But you will have to face competition. So having a sector that stands out as a special attraction is important. You have to provide offers and properly market it with effective strategies.

    Accommodation

    Accommodation For Tourists - Best Beach Business Ideas
    Accommodation For Tourists – Best Beach Business Ideas

    Accommodation is one of the major concerns of tourists, the hospitality industry is a great option for a new business. If you have the required capital, consider starting a hotel, guesthouse, motel, and so on. Starting a hospitality business is a great long-term investment for you, especially in the beach community. The value of real estate property is expected to increase drastically in the near future. So, now is the best time to get in.

    Market size of the Hotel & Resort Industry Worldwide
    Market size of the Hotel & Resort Industry Worldwide

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    Surf Shop

    If you are planning to build your business around surfing beaches, then you can make money by opening a surf shop stuffed with various surfing equipment. Tourists and local people like to catch a few waves during their visit, but they usually don’t have all the necessary equipment. If you open a surf shop that provides surfing equipment, rentals and lessons, it will be a hotspot for tourists in both the summer and winter seasons.

    Hostels

    These are affordable options that work best on small tracts of land. They cater to mostly youth and those looking for budget travel options. Pricing is very important here as there is competition and also one has to offer allied facilities like Wi-Fi, food, walking tours, etc. to capitalize on the business. The facility has to be extremely hygienic as a number of people live there.

    House-Sitting

    House sitting Business- Best Beach Business Ideas
    House sitting Business- Best Beach Business Ideas

    Many houses in beach communities are unoccupied during the winter season as they were deemed to be summer homes. So, during winter, the owners of these houses often aren’t around to take care of the place. You can allay the security fears of these homeowners by offering home-sitting services. Working as a house sitter requires little or no capital. And you will have a lot of business to do in the beach community.

    Cruises

    Beaches offer various options like cruises where people can enjoy a luxurious lifestyle. This is a high investment-based plan. For those who love meals on water, dinner cruises can be started with great lighting systems and good music. Pricing is pivotal here as there is competition in this field. One should effectively market well and create customized packages for target populations.

    Rental Shop

    Rental shop- Best Beach Business Ideas
    Rental shop- Best Beach Business Ideas

    A store that rents out scooters, bikes, bicycles, and boats can be very profitable in beach towns. Providing items at competitive rates and group discounts is a way to earn money. These are mostly in demand due to conveyance issues and for self-exploration. Distributing pamphlets, sticking posters, and effective advertising which catches the eye of commuters is important. Also, the quality, make, and type of vehicle plays an important role in making decisions.

    Selling Local Merchandise

    Most of the time, tourists buy local items to take back home. They are particularly attracted to items that are unique and are not available in their hometowns and cities. So, you can start a business that sells local merchandise and souvenirs to tourists.

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    Cafe/Restaurant

    While on vacation, tourists definitely want to have a feel of the food experience in beach communities. So, you can make a lot of money catering to this need. To survive the threat of competition, you need unique culinary abilities that can help you stand out. You can have different menus for summer and winter to ensure that people get exactly what they crave.

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    Fishing Tours

    If you own a boat, you can turn it into a money-spinner. Most beach communities are fishing hotspots, and fishing is one of those interesting activities that tourists don’t like to miss while on vacation. You can offer fishing tour services taking people out to the reef. People will absolutely love the fact that they have a local guide who can take them to all the good spots.

    Conclusion

    Beach businesses are quite profitable. Some other beach business ideas include:

    Beachside businesses thus offer valuable business opportunities. You need the persistence to work upon details and significantly create businesses that can sustain the wrath of competition. Although the seasonal crisis is huge and most businesses set up their price lists accordingly, that is, peak season and offseason.

    FAQs

    What are the most profitable businesses on beach side?

    Some of the best beach side business ideas include:

    • Food Shacks
    • Accommodation
    • Surf Shop
    • Hostels
    • House-Sitting
    • Cruises
    • Rental Shop
    • Selling Local Merchandise
    • Cafe/Restaurant
    • Fishing Tours
    • Photography and Photo Booths
    • Gift Shop
    • Boat Rentals
    • Child Care
    • Pet Boarding Business

    What can you sell at a beach store?

    Beach store is one of the best beachside business ideas. The best things to sell in a store on a beach are:

    • Cold drinks
    • Snacks like popcorn, nuts, chips, sweets etc.
    • Sun block cream or spray
    • Sunglasses
    • Flip flops
    • Swimwear

    What is the growth of Food market in India?

    The food service market in India is growing hugely. It is forecasted to be about $110 billion in 2025.

    What kind of business is a beach resort?

    A Beach Resort is a beachside business with accommodation and easy access to a private beach.

    How is the Cruise business market?

    The global cruise industry revenue is over 27 billion U.S. dollars.

  • Marketing Strategy of TVS Motor| TVS Marketing Mix

    The two-wheeler vehicles market in India is quite competitive. They share 75% of the total vehicles across India. Statistics show that the sale of Two-wheeler vehicles in India decreased in 2021. The previous year’s sales were recorded to be 15.12 million units. TVS Motor sold around 2 lakhs 51 thousand units in December 2021. It is among the largest two-wheeler manufacturing vehicles with its popular models – Raider 125, Apache RTR 160 4V, and Ntorq 125. Through its innovation in products, the company has reached new heights. The company recently entered the two-wheeler electric space and launched its electric scooter. Let us get insights into the marketing mix of TVS Motors that makes it count among the top manufacturers of two-wheeled vehicles in the country.

    Foundation
    Interesting Facts about TVS
    Primary Products
    Marketing in Asia
    Marketing Strategy

    Foundation

    Mr Thirukkurungudi Vengaram Sundram Iyengar is the founder of India’s third-largest two-wheeler manufacturing unit, a flourishing industrial company. He dared to have the vision of starting the first rural bus services in Madurai back in the 1930s. A man of principles, he was passionate about starting a business and assisting the commoners. Also, a follower of the Gandhian philosophies, he led the foundation of the TV Sundram Iyengar and Sons Group of Companies with his innovative and visionary ideas, hard work, and determination.

    Interesting Facts about TVS

    • TVS has the Third most significant share in India’s two-wheeler market.
    • The company is the second-largest manufacturer of scooters.
    • TVS is the manufacturer of many well-known two-wheelers such as Victor, Jupiter, Apache, Star City, and Ntorq.
    • The TVS group holds over 90 companies under its umbrella.
    • The company has four manufacturing plants. One is located in Indonesia at Karawang, and the other three are located in India, Hosur in Tamil Nadu, Mysore in Karnataka, and Nalagarh in Himachal Pradesh.
    • The parent company of TVS is Sundaram Taylor Limited.
    • TVS Jupiter is the second largest selling scooter in the country in June 2021. It recorded a total sale of 31,848 units in June 2021 and 6,153 units in May 2021.
    • The new chairperson of the company in 2023 will be Ralf Speth, former CEO of Jaguar Land Rover.

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    Primary Products

    The primary products of TVS Motor include Scooters, Motorcycles, Mopeds, and Three-wheelers with their respective variants.

    The brand is over 100 years old and has been serving since 1999. It has a global presence on six continents, with a revenue of over $2.9 billion. It provides vehicles for everyone and boasts about having more than 35 million vehicles on the road.

    The company, which is now the second-largest manufacturer of scooters, later extended its services to the motor industry, motor services, and other variations over the following years.

    The main product range of TVS two/three wheelers includes:

    1. Motorcycles
    2. Scooters
    3. Mopeds
    4. Autorickshaws
    5. Ultra-light trucks

    Marketing in Asia

    Aiming toward the Asian markets, TVS is a well-known brand for its innovations and quality. It has an image of being reliable with innovative technology. Being eco-friendly and a step ahead of advancements in technology is their leveraging point in the market.

    Thirukkurungudi Vengaram Sundram (TVS) was born in 1911, with its headquarters in Chennai. The company stands for trust, value, and service. The brand is of Indian origin and is listed in NSE and BSE.

    Venu Srinivasan announced that he would be stepping down as the company’s head after providing twenty-one years of service. He was a very big name in the whole Asian market.

    Achievements of Venu Srinivasan

    • He took over the company in 1979.
    • He is an engineer and completed his MBA from Purdue University in the United States of America.
    • Received Padma Shri in 2010.
    • Honoured with Padma Bhushan for Trade & Industry
    • Under his chairmanship, the company achieved the title of being the third-largest two-wheeler manufacturing unit in India.

    Achievements of the Organization

    TVS has been awarded with the following:

    • Most Appealing Premium Motorcycle.
    • Highest Ranked Economy Motorcycle in Initial Quality.
    • TVS is India’s Most Trusted Brand in the Two-Wheeler Category.
    • Highest In Customer Satisfaction.
    • The NDTV Car and Bike Awards 2015 named TVS Motor Company the Two-Wheeler Manufacturer of the Year.
    • TVS Scooty Zest 110 won the Most Appealing Executive Scooter by J.D. Power Asia Pacific Awards for 2016.
    • Indian Motorcycle of The Year – 2017.
    • J.D. Power Asia Pacific Awards has awarded TVS Motor Highest in Customer Satisfaction for 2018.
    • Bike Awards – 2019, Two-wheeler manufacturer of the year.

    Marketing Strategy

    Understanding your customers’ needs can help the company conduct business, thrive, and benefit it while serving the consumers.

    The TVS company uses the marketing mix strategy to accomplish its position and compete in the market.

    The marketing mix comprises of the following questions:

    1. What do you sell?
    2. Where do you sell it?
    3. And how do you sell it?

    Price

    They based the price of the products offered by TVS Motor on the category of the product and the consumer segment. Price is such that the people can afford the products; they have economic pricing (assigning a low cost to a product by reducing the production cost of it), which suits the financial status of middle-and upper-middle-class people—also upgrading products to meet the changing needs of the consumers and attracting more. The price represents good value for money.

    Place

    The company has four power plants, with over 2000 showrooms and service stations attached to it. They also have sub-dealers who can sell their products in the showrooms in agreement with the contracts. They have customers predominantly in Asian markets.

    Promotion

    Using promotional items in marketing campaigns targets the customers effectively. TVS Motor holds many promotional events; it has a good understanding of the brand’s positioning and segment. They create ad campaigns aiming toward a specific T.G. (Target Group). The company also has good relations with the media.

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    Product

    The categories of products manufactured by the company cater to different segments of the audience. For instance:

    • Apache for those who are into Sports.
    • TVS Super XL, people in the rural areas
    • Scooty Pep, youth, and women.
    • Flame and Star city, for professionals

    They smartly cater to both urban and rural lifestyles. They also develop their new products and designs through innovation.

    Conclusion

    With the use of affordable pricing, promotional events, and making its products available to every corner of the country, TVS is leading the two-wheeler vehicle industry. India’s first two-seater moped, the company has sustained to stay in the market. Their innovation in the industry has not stopped yet as they entered the electric vehicle market with TVS iQube.

    Every entrepreneur starts with an innovative idea and a little push of hard work and a proportionate marketing mix can help them achieve a good position in the market.

  • The Pathbreaking Work Done iTokri Catering to the International Market for Handcrafted Fabrics & Artwork

    Insights shared by Mr. Nitin Pamnani, Co-Founder, iTokri

    iTokri as a brand believes in taking away the burden of sale from artisans and encouraging them to focus on their craft, ensuring that the artisans get due credit for their art by selling products under the artisan’s name on our platform. We should not forget that the artisans are the real creators and they must always have the freedom to create and grow themselves as an artist. Companies should aim to conserve and upgrade their traditional lifestyles. Artisans are an integral part of our social structure. Today, this is the responsibility of every entrepreneur and other business in India. Nowadays many brands use the technique of using the Stock & Sell Model where the goods/products physically remain with the brand when they are sold to make the best of the opportunity by connecting many artisans with their consumers where every product is quality checked.

    iTokri Team
    iTokri Team

    Working with the artisans through conducting consulting sessions where the brand’s purchase team explains the demand type from the international customers and buyers provides better analytical insights to them. Regulating the market performance and sharing them with the artisans give them an idea of various types of product categories, prices, etc. At the same time, putting in a lot of effort to understand the business demand and try to balance the consumer expectations and artisans’ work helps a lot. Focusing on art coming from across the country and not limiting it to only one or two geographical regions of India increases the worth of the collection and maintains the diversity that brands always look for which also remains a huge challenge in today’s time and age. Developing a propriety tool that helps with data modulation and building a machine learning module works well for many small businesses catering to international markets which in return helps improve purchase forecasting. This approach not only helps in forecasting demand and managing inventories but as a part of the value chain, helps the artisans to produce and understand the market demand better. It optimizes the purchased quantity leading to enhancing the production process.

    The ultimate goal is to create artisan-led crafts that support traditional artworks through restructuring and create better job opportunities for the rising generation paving the way to the international markets. An entrepreneurial approach should be taken for sustainable growth where groups, individual initiatives, and decisions do not get limited, making the collectives flexible enough to respond to market realities. To grow internationally, brands should focus on developing their e-commerce strategy to become multichannel brands, and to continue to create and introduce new products which are sustainable, modern yet comfort-driven. Also, women-led businesses are an added incentive to our economy. The increasing demand for Indian handicrafts resulting in an increase in women’s participation in a variety of roles, primarily from underprivileged strata of our society making significant contributions to the industry, has led them to become socially and financially self-independent. They get all the recognition and a fair amount compared to the market rate which helps the sellers sell their products efficaciously that builds their brand in a unique light in the process.

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    The D2C route has greatly helped current brands get a toehold across the markets where well-established brands have ruled. Long-established players, who have marked their presence over the time in offline retail and have intimidating distribution clout, are now starting to take the expeditiously growing online channels seriously to defend their overall market share. Moreover, the Aatmanirbhar Bharat movement has exhilarated Indian entrepreneurs to put made-in-India products on the global map, and this is where Indian brands are engraving a niche for themselves in the international market. The mission is to enable artwork communities to sustain their culture with systematic indoctrination and ecosystem building to create modern designs with traditional techniques for sustainable livelihoods through their craft.

  • Effective Methods to Help You Reduce E-Commerce Cart Abandonment Rate

    The article is contributed by Mr. Pankaj Sharma, President – The Lexicon Group of Institutes and Chairman & MD – Pune Mirror & MultiFit.

    Global is the new local in today’s digital marketplace. And, as international markets develop, we are entering a period of extraordinary growth prospects. However, every excellent opportunity comes with its own set of adversities and advantages.

    E-commerce has now become a need for many organizations, so it’s critical to establish a digital marketing strategy that supports online selling. To expand, modern companies require eCommerce marketing solutions. However, the abundance of alternatives may quickly become overwhelming. The most difficult difficulty that eCommerce organizations confront these days is lowering cart abandonment rates. The average cart abandonment rate across sectors is a mind-boggling 70%.

    That indicates that for every consumer that buys from you, two walk away without completing the transaction. As a result, innumerable possibilities to develop your organization, boost income, and establish a stronger online presence are lost. Due to the obvious lack of face-to-face interaction, providing excellent customer care on your e-commerce site might be difficult, but it is just as crucial as in any other customer-facing firm to make the close.

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    Here I will list down 3 effective methods that can help you reduce your cart abandonment rate:

    Add Proactive Live Chat to Checkout Pages

    Set up a friendly, proactive chat pop-up to capture the attention of visitors who have a particular question. Instead of looking for methods to contact someone, users may just write their queries into the box and have an immediate response.

    Allow guests to check out

    One of the most common reasons individuals abandon their carts is the need to fill out lengthy paperwork. So, if you want to reduce cart abandonment, you’ll have to avoid requiring registrations. You may still provide the option to register and even promote it with a modest additional reward. However, you must always offer an alternative. Allow customers to check out as guests.

    No Hidden Charges

    If you’re upfront about charges, you may even include them in your brand positioning. When clients buy with you, they can be confident that the prices they see are the amounts they will have to pay.

  • 10 Characteristics That Attract Investors to Invest in Your Startups

    The article is contributed by Mr. Saarthak Bakshi, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the International Fertility Centre.

    Mr. Saarthak Bakshi is recognized as Forbes 30 under 30 ASIA, 2017 for HealthCare and Science. He is known for his persona as an engineer, an entrepreneur and a social worker. He flourished his career by working with reputed companies – Infosys and Ernst & Young – as a Software Engineer and IT Risk and Assurance Analyst respectively. He soon realized that he has an inborn passion for entrepreneurship and went on to launch a slew of ventures including IFC.

    As we know that starting a business can be expensive. We may have less cash in hand to get started without some outside help but sometimes, it is important and beneficial to have investors in your business. It gives you a sort of security. Investors in your business are different from lenders. Instead of monthly repayment like lenders, investors give you money in exchange for ownership of part of your business. Apart from money they can also be an important source of business-related advice and strong business networks, which you can utilize for your own business. Therefore, it is important to draw the attention of the investors to make their decision firm to invest in your business. Most important thing is that investors want to see a return on their investment. They make money by putting their money into the growing business. Therefore, how to woo them plays a crucial role in the success of any startup. It is not necessary that every investor looks for the same things but still there are chances of commonality.

    So, here are ten points to make the investors interested in your startup.

    1. A passionate business proposal
    2. A market-oriented deal
    3. Demonstrate your success rate
    4. Competitive advantages
    5. Have an emotional approach with logic
    6. A strong team
    7. Experience
    8. The investment structures
    9. A scalable model
    10. Future vision and planning

    A passionate business proposal

    Having a passion for their startup is easy to be found in new business founders.  But how your business will help the investors to gain profit is a deciding factor for their interest. They want your confidence justifying that it is an improvement over existing products or is a new way to address an old problem. You should demonstrate your firm belief and confidence in your business.

    A market-oriented deal

    It is one of the important points that to pitch potential investors, familiarity with the market is generally the safest option. Startup investors look for opportunities in sectors that fit their interests and expertise. They already have an idea of how businesses become profitable in this industry and what it will take for your business to yield a return on its investment. Thereafter reviewing and organizing your proposal, go for the market research to pitch in a suitable investor.

    Demonstrate your success rate

    A track record of previous success is critical to attracting the interest of investors who can take your venture into your business. Most of the time successful startups are a rarity, therefore it becomes difficult for inexperienced entrepreneurs to convince the investors to lend their capital. But, if your business can captivate the market and the customers and if your track records give a guarantee of success, then you have a fair chance.

    Competitive advantages

    Most of the time investors look for satisfactory answers to the following question: What makes your product/service unique? There must be something about your product that sets it apart. If your product and you’re the first to the market, then it’s the best thing. However, most startups are entering existing marketplaces. What then makes you different? And how affordable it is in comparison to the already existing quality?

    Have an emotional approach with logic

    Whenever you are pitching with your investor, you must hit them on both emotional and business fronts. Include a story with your plan. Make it appeal to real-life scenarios and how your idea will solve the problem. At the end of the day, investors look for founders who have passion, motive, and experience to create a profitable as well as a sustainable business. It is not a matter of only ideas or concepts, the investors look to invest in you and your team and their ability to successfully execute your business plan.

    A strong team

    If you have a competent team, you have the attention of the investors. Show them that your team is intelligent, strategic, successful and follows strong financial discipline. Show them the qualifications of each member and what they bring to the business. Having a team that is knowledgeable, willing to learn and can handle multi-responsibilities are all positive traits that will impress your investors.

    Experience

    Experience can play a convincing role in winning over investors. If your team members have prior experience in their respective fields or have been involved with a startup in the past, it shows that you and your team have knowledge of your market and are tenacious enough to complete goals.

    The investment structures

    You should have a clear business structure in place that allows the investors to consider it and buy it. You should also plan for how the investment will work. In that plan, you must include, a clear valuation for your business and a stockholder’s agreement that clearly sets out the rights of all the owners.

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    A scalable model

    Build your business with scalability in mind. Most investors expect a return on what they are investing. Therefore, scalability is a major factor for successful startups and a great attraction to investors. Basically, scaling is known as adding revenue at a rapid rate while adding resources incrementally. The amount of resources required doesn’t change as your customer base increases, driving consistent growth and improving profit margins. Therefore, the plan of your faster revenue, makes the investor consider your startup dearly.

    Future vision and planning

    Give your investors a picture of your potential startup, that is where your company will be in the future and make them optimistic that you have the credibility to achieve your goals. Plan along the lines of where is your startup going? How do you see your startup in the coming years? Do you plan for the worldwide market? Etc.

    Conclusion

    Attracting startup investors to your company is necessary for your business. Therefore, you must put all the pieces in place to show that partnering with your business would be a smart move for them. Highlight the best parts of your startup and discuss your challenges with them openly. Investors will get on board when you demonstrate your best.

  • 10 Interview Questions To Ask Before Hiring a Freelancer

    If you’re considering hiring a freelancer for your business, then there’s information you’ll want to know before you make your decision. Freelancers are often expensive and as a business, you always want to be cautious about how you spend money. Maybe it’s for a single project or a long-term association that you require a specific skill set. Certain situations demand people with expertise on what they’re doing.

    Regardless of the reasons to hire a freelancer, here are 10 important questions you should ask before hiring a freelancer for your business.

    1. What motivates you?
    2. What Are Your Charges?
    3. How Would You Rate Yourself?
    4. What Are the Timings That You’re Available?
    5. Would You Be Able to Work Within the Required Deadlines?
    6. What Projects Have You Worked On in the Past?
    7. How Do You Make Sure Your Clients Are Satisfied With Your Work?
    8. How Do You Prefer to Communicate?
    9. Any Clients I Can Contact as a Reference?
    10. Do You Have Any Questions for Me?

    1. What Motivates You?

    A question that’s often asked for interviews and for the right reasons. It’s a question that can reveal a lot about the person and his relationship with the work he does. You’ll want someone that’s interested in the work they do as this ensures their intentions and means more dedication on their part.

    Asking why they do the work, also gives you a chance to know a little about the person’s background if they chose to say it. It’s hard to find dedicated people in the hiring game and questions like these help you better identify the intentions of a person towards the job.

    2. What Are Your Charges?

    Knowing exactly what the freelancer expects will help you evaluate their potential better. Ignoring any negotiation possibilities, the freelancer will name his price and this is crucial to your budget and assessment of the person’s need. Do you really need a freelancer? If so, you have to decide if it’s worth it or not.

    As per a report on dazeinfo, male freelancers charge 11% extra than females. The average hourly rate are $19 and $17 for males and females respectively.
    As per a report on dazeinfo, male freelancers charge 11% extra than females. The average hourly rate are $19 and $17 for males and females respectively.

    Most businesses will have a budget in mind and will have already evaluated the need for a freelancer before the hiring process. Knowing the rates per task, additional charges and any demands in terms of price are important as you’ll have to avoid any chance of misunderstanding.

    3. How Would You Rate Yourself?

    Confident people make the difference and if you’re planning to have a freelancer work with your already established team, they’ll have to be confident. Asking someone for an evaluation of themselves is done to bring about honesty, along with a show of self-confidence.

    This would also reveal information about how the freelancer thinks about his work. Does he believe he’s the best at what he does or does he want to improve on his abilities? You can plan your next questions based on your assessment of the answer.

    4. What Are the Timings That You’re Available?

    Asking the freelancer about his/her availability is crucial as they may have other clients waiting on them as well. Moreover, not everyone is a full-time freelancer and you might be just another client.

    Knowing about the freelancer’s honest availability means you can make future decisions about the project accordingly. This should also be a chance to ask the freelancer about his perspective on deadlines.

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    5. Would You Be Able to Work Within the Required Deadlines?

    As far as the business is concerned, you need to know if the person you plan to hire can actually get the work done within the specified time. If not, ask them how long they need and see if you can work with that.

    Some people don’t prefer being rushed as they like taking their own time and this may be why they got into freelancing in the first place. By confirming they’re okay with the proposed deadlines, you make sure they are comfortable doing the assigned work.

    6. What Projects Have You Worked On in the Past?

    This is yet another question that gives you an insight into the freelancer’s experience and interest in his field of work. Working on personal projects means being on the edge of learning and constant improvement.

    As someone in charge of hiring freelancers, you should be aware of any projects the person has worked on in the past. If you find any particularly interesting ones, be sure to ask about that project in more detail.

    7. How Do You Make Sure Your Clients Are Satisfied With Your Work?

    A freelancer who’s been in the field for some time is bound to take care of customer satisfaction. After all, his clients are what keep him running. By asking this question you’re expecting the freelancer to explain anything he does to make sure his clients are satisfied.

    Since you’ll be a client yourself after you hire the freelancer, it’s good to make sure what steps are being taken to ensure a happy transaction.

    8. How Do You Prefer to Communicate?

    When working in a team or as part of a group, communication is important. The freelancer should be able to freely communicate between any members of a team (if one is present) or the company without any hassle.

    Some prefer information to be handed to them in the form of text while others prefer hearing about it through a call. By respecting these preferences the process will be a lot smoother for both parties.

    9. Any Clients I Can Contact as a Reference?

    References can tell you much about the person you’re dealing with. Happy clients reflect the freelancer’s work and this can only mean positive things for your business as well. You get to know more about how they handle clients and the overall experience.

    Most experienced freelancers have clients who’ve hired them multiple times. Getting to know the person through his references means that you can get a better overview of the individual before you hire them.

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    10. Do You Have Any Questions for Me?

    A rather simple yet essential question, it’s about giving freelancers a chance to be open and free with their questions. Anything they might want to ask about the company, the rates or deadlines will be put up before you and you can answer them accordingly.

    Often people have questions regarding a project that they might not ask unless given a chance to. This way you can be sure there are no errors that might be caused due to poor communication between the client and the freelancer.

    Conclusion

    These questions are sure to help you develop a deep understanding of the freelancers you plan to hire but feel free to ask anything else you need to know. Once you have an idea of the kind of individual you’re dealing with, the choice is up to you. The process can seem enduring but it’ll all be worth it when the results show up.

    FAQs

    What should you ask before hiring a freelancer?

    What motivates you, What are your Charges, How would you rate yourself, and What projects have you worked on in the past are some of the questions you need to ask before hiring a freelancer.

    What should you know about freelancing?

    Successful freelancing takes time, Money management is key, and How to charge depending on your work are some of the things you should know before you start freelancing.

    What are the most important freelance skills?

    Programming And Software Development, Social Video Marketing, Web Design And Development, Content Marketing/Writing, Graphic Design, Copywriters, and Video Editors are some of the important freelance skills.

  • A Glimpse of The Rebranding of McDonald’s in Russia – The Beginning of A New World Order

    McDonald’s is a name that is universally known for its golden arches and tasty burgers. It had made its mark in Russia too, without any exception to such an extent that the sales in Russia and Ukraine constituted 9% of their global revenue. However, The American fast-food giant has withdrawn its operations in Russia.

    After closing down its restaurants on March 14, 2022, on May 16, McDonald’s announced that it will leave the Russian market citing humanitarian concerns in the backdrop of the Russian war over Ukraine.

    They had established their first outlet in Moscow in 1990 just before the disintegration of the Soviet Union. The launch of McDonald’s outlet came as an ice breaker during the cold war tensions.

    After that, Russia opened up its economy to the west which lead to further expansion of the food chain. As of 2022, McDonald’s had directly owned 850 restaurants across the length and breadth of Russia.

    Citing the withdrawal of McDonald’s from Russia, CEO Chris Kempczinski said the “dedication and loyalty to McDonald’s employees and hundreds of Russian suppliers made it a difficult decision to leave. However, we have a commitment to our global community and must remain steadfast in our values. And our commitment to our values means that we can no longer keep the arches shining there.” The pull-out of Mcdonald’s adding to the western sanctions imposed on Russia implies the global isolationism that the country is facing.

    McDonald’s Restaurants Rebranded in Russia
    Who Is the Current Owner of McDonald’s Now?
    The New Name of McDonald’s in Russia
    Opening of New Vkusno – i Tochka Outlets
    Menu of Vkusno – i Tochka

    McDonald’s Restaurants Rebranded in Russia

    All the restaurants that were hitherto operated by McDonald’s were rebranded. Alexander Govor who was in charge of the operations of over 25 outlets took over the restaurants and staff.

    On 12th June, one of the McDonald’s outlets was reopened to the Russians under Russian leadership as “Vkusno – i tochka” which is translated as “Tasty and That’s it”. Just like how it had symbolically cooled off cold war tensions, the current rebranding is representative of the new world order.  

    Although anything symbolising the brand was removed and rebranded, the machinery and other equipment remain the same. The prices are much lesser than before and as per the responses, the taste remained the same. However, Vkusno- i tochka will not provide the classic big Mac.

    Oleg Paroev, chief executive of Vkusno- i tochka has revealed that the firm plans to reopen at least 200 outlets by the end of June and 850 by the end of summer. Alexander Govor, the current owner of the food chain has said that they will invest 5 billion Roubles this year which will employ at least 51,000 people. Earlier, McDonald’s had employed nearly 62,000 people.

    Who Is the Current Owner of McDonald’s Now?

    Through the firm Gid LLC, the Siberian businessman Alexander Govor has taken over the business of all the McDonald’s outlets. He has been a McDonald’s licensee since 2015 and has played a significant role in the expansion of McDonald’s outlets into the inner and remote regions of Siberia.

    McDonald's Russia's new owner - Alexander Govor
    McDonald’s Russia’s new owner – Alexander Govor

    Russian authorities have announced that the American food chain will also have an option to buy back its restaurants in the next 15 years. The money involved in the deal has not been revealed by the firm till now although it is speculated to cross $1.4 billion. Notwithstanding the change of ownership, Govor is expected to retain all the employees and pay them salaries for two years at least.

    The New Name of McDonald’s in Russia

    As a part of stripping the new outlets of anything that remotely resembled the old food chain, they have revamped their logo too. The new logo stands in front of a green background representing the letter M made by two fries and a hamburger.

    Vkusno - I Tochka Logo
    Vkusno – i Tochka Logo

    The green background, according to their press office represents “the quality of products and service that guests are accustomed to.” The name and the logo were revealed only a few hours before they opened up for the public.

    Opening of New Vkusno – i Tochka Outlets

    Queue Outside McDonald's new Rebranded Restaurant Vkusno - i tochka
    Queue Outside McDonald’s new Rebranded Restaurant Vkusno – i tochka

    The first outlet was opened in Pushkinskaya Square, Moscow. It was also the first in the restaurant of McDonald’s in Russia in 1990. The firm claims to have sold 30,000 burgers.

    The outlet had to remain open for long hours to serve the large crowd. However, the popular commentary has been that the queues outside the outlet were much shorter than what it was thirty years ago. 15 more outlets are to be opened in the capital soon before it reopens the other centres by the end of summer.

    Menu of Vkusno – i Tochka

    Along with the Big Mac, burgers and desserts including McFlurry have been omitted from the menu. Cheeseburgers among others have seen a decline in prices from 160 rubles to 129 roubles and fish burgers from 190 Roubles to 169 Roubles.

    The menu as a whole is much smaller than the older one. Most of the ingredients are sourced from within Russia. However, the firm faces some logistical issues with regard to the availability of certain things. For instance, Vkusno – i tochka is in search of new suppliers for soft drinks as Coco-Cola has suspended its operations in the country.

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    Conclusion

    The withdrawal of McDonald’s from the Russian market and its complete rebranding in the country is a test of time for the country to prove its vigour and efficiency. With the global situation turning hostile towards Russia, the possibilities of the return of the American food conglomerate seem rather bleak. Hence the new firm has to step in more responsibly to retain business.

    Chief Executive Oleg Paroev has already said that their primary goal is to ensure that the customers do not feel any differences at all in terms of the taste and quality of the food. It is interesting to note that the interiors of these outlets are kept the same as before.

    As western sanctions keep mounting on the Russian economy, it is time for the country to be self-sufficient and sustain itself amidst the global hostility. The efficient management and expansion of the old McDonald’s outlets in the name Vkusno- i tochka will be a competitive test which can be determinants of change that marks the future of the Russian economy that has unfortunately earned the hatred of the world. Now it is for the rebranded firm under the leadership of Alexander Govor and Oleg Paroev to retain the legacy left by McDonald’s.

    FAQs

    Is McDonald’s back in Russia?

    No, Alexander Gorov, a Siberian businessman bought all the McDonald’s in Russia and rebranded them. The rebranded outlets are now called Vkusno-i tochka.

    Who bought McDonald’s in Russia?

    Alexander Gorov, a Siberian businessman bought all the McDonald’s in Russia.