Personal Shopping Services Business Plan

Buy the Time will target the middle-aged, busy executive. These individuals often have extremely busy schedules, including a great deal of travel time. In addition, they possess a large proportion of disposable income that allows them to afford custom services. This service will allow them more concentration on work, while allowing them to obtain great products for personal and business life.

4.1 Market Segmentation

The target market for Buy the Time is broken into three segments:

1. Busy executives desiring to keep pace with the trends, yet not having the time to facilitate their needs.
2. Younger business persons who choose to have the luxury and convenience of a personalized shopping service.
3. Those needing consultation in gifts and/or not wanting the pressures that are associated with finding custom gifts for special occasions.

4.2 Market Needs

Buy the Time’s primary market, the executive or high-end professional individual, has certain needs that are outlined below.

• They often find that their image is very important, both professionally and personally. They need advice or information on what the latest trends and fashions are.
• They keep busy schedules that often involve a lot of travel. This leaves little time for shopping that is time consuming, such as gift buying.
• They have a desire to be pampered and willingly spend money as a symbol of status.

4.3 Target Market Segment Strategy

The best way to develop the company is to make our service necessary and accessible to the public. By facilitating their needs easily, we offer a great service at little inconvenience to them in a time where convenience matters the most.

In its broadest definition, the American shopping market consists of every American who needs to buy goods and services for themselves and their families. Although it is the aim of Buy the Time to eventually reach out to a wide range of shoppers, including middle income families, busy professionals, and people looking for “hard to find” items, the company will focus first on the busy executive-type shopper.

4.4 Service Business Analysis

Buy the Time offers the service of shopping advice/expertise in trends, fashions, and emerging products, along with the purchasing and delivery of such items to the customer’s residence. It is assumed that most of the items purchased will be in single or small quantities. The primary attraction of such a service is that it significantly cuts down on shopping time for busy customers who wish to utilize their time for other purposes. With the advent of computers and the Internet, it is believed that this service can be offered at a low cost, and can be enhanced through the use of an established-customer database to track individual preferences.

4.5 Competition and Buying Patterns

This is a luxury service. An affordable cost will be needed to maintain clients and keep their needs constant. This requires being aware of economic changes, as well as alterations in trends.

At the moment, there are few services like this in the Seattle area. Therefore, there is a tremendous opportunity to build and retain significant market share. Customers choose and retain services like this often through word-of-mouth, when the company is able to achieve a high level of customer satisfaction. Although it is the aim of Buy the Time to significantly lower costs of this luxury service, at this time, cost does not play a significant factor in how customers choose a shopping service. The bottom line is establishing a strong intimate relationship with customers to capture the long-term profits through repeat business and create the enthusiasm among customers that will spur on word-of-mouth marketing.