Assignment: Project guidelines
Supervisor: Jillian Best, the CEO of Maryland Creative Solutions (MCS)
Client: Canadian Solar Inc.
• Headquarters: Guelph, Ontario, Canada
• Established: 2001
• Annual revenue: US$3.39 billion in 2017
• Number of employees: 12,129
• Industry: Solar
• Product line: Manufacturer of solar modules that are used in residential, commercial, and industrial solar power generation systems
• Competitors: First Solar, JinkoSolar, SunPower
Client's aim: needs a solid marketing plan to make an informed decision for market entry and expansion of operations within the United States.
Reason:
• Increase company's worldwide sales and profitability based off prior years poor performance.
• US market is highly competitive with the high-quality range of company offerings.
• US market has a robust economic forecast.
• Company is well-positioned to obtain a larger share of the market by increasing sales to other US businesses.
Goal: Develop and implement the marketing plan for this expansion with a detailed marketing plan and steps to implement it.
PAPER IS BASED ON US Market Analysis
These 2 sections (one above the line and the one below the line) are the same, explain each other and complementary. One is more details to help draft the paper (4 pages and references).
• US market Analysis:
o What needs are being met by the products or services that they purchase?
- What are the benefits to the customers? Make sure that you differentiate between features and benefits; go beyond manifest motives and consider latent motives.
o Who is involved in the purchase process?
- Who are influencers?
- Who are buyers?
- Who are users?
o How do customers pay? Describe payment plans, financing, banking arrangements, etc.
o Where are the products or services sold and delivered, and what are the distribution channels?
o How often are the different types of the products or services purchased? Is there seasonality to sales?
o Is there any market regulation?
- Is there self-regulation?
- Do any federal or state regulations affect the company's US operations?
o What is the size of the market (in dollars and units)? What is the growth rate of that market?
3. US Market analysis
3.1 Marketing research
This is a couple of sentences detailing the type of research conducted-and that canadian solar should continue to conduct-to determine the characteristics and behavior of the customers and potential customers. So, for example, "research was undertaken to determine the current market for Canadian solar by accessing databases/market information about the solar panel industry."
3.2 Market size and growth
- The market analysis-where you discussed the size and growth of the market.
3.3 market trends
- The market analysis-and is a paragraph that follows the market size and growth to detail any trends you have found. For example, whether or not the market has grown over time or whether or not new types of customers have been developed over time.
3.4 customer analysis (including needs analysis)
- The market analysis and should include the buying process, financial arrangements in purchasing, distribution, seasonality, etc. You are welcome to include sub-sub-headings if it helps your organization of this section.
Conduct a customer or market analysis for the U.S. market by researching businesses that would purchase solar panels and related products from companies such as Canadian Solar and their buying processes. Present your results in a five-page report.
Who would be involved in the decision-making process? Here, you will need to consider how B2B decisions differ from consumer decisions as businesses tend to use "Buying Centers" (groups of people). Also look at the distribution options or how/where solar panels are sold, whether they are sold throughout the year, the features customers look for, the financing, etc.
Format your assignment according to the following formatting requirements:
1. The answer should be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides.
2. The response also includes a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student's name, the course title, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.
3. Also include a reference page. The Citations and references should follow APA format. The reference page is not included in the required page length.
Attachment:- Project-US-Market-Analysis-Canadian-Solar-Inc.rar