1. SITUATIONAL ANALYSISSaundrya Silk, has been conceptualised to fulfil the latent demand of good quality silk bed sheets in Anand. Starting its operation by providing people the high quality pure Eri silk bed sheets in various size and designs catering to the upper class health and beauty conscious consumers in the geographical boundry of Anand.

1.1 MARKET NEED IDENTIFICATIONIn the busy city life people suffers with lot of health related problems especially sleep disorders and its ill effects is ultimately showed in body and face. Moreover there has been an increase in awareness among people especially in for health. There are many products which promote health and beauty enhancement. But one thing that people knowingly ignore is the need for proper sleep. Sleep is one of important things that people need in this busy life. Sleeping time and the quality of sleep has become one prized possession in peoples life. The basic need for the silk bed sheet in the market are-

Selection and Variety: Silk is a luxury item. Most of the silk products that the people use are generally for apparels. Though silk bed sheets are used it is not used frequently. The most used fabric for bed sheets is cotton. Though cotton is widely used it lacks the luxurious feel. Silk feels smooth, soft and is comfortable. Saundrya Silk provide wide range of designs and colours to suit various tastes and preferences. Further it also provide a sense of luxury and boosts ego in user.

Health benefits: There has been increase in awareness about health especially among the upper class. People try various methods to combating various health and beauty troubles. The silk bed sheet would provide various beneficial features for peoples health that cotton lacks. They would not only provide the comfort like cotton products but they would also provide additional health benefits. The silk bed sheets would help in reducing hair fall. Further it would also improve the skin glow and delays the aging if used regularly. So it provides the twin benefits of not only comfort and luxury but also health benefits.

Accessibility: People who seek silk bedsheets buy only from other cities as there is dearth of pure and quality silk in Anand. We provide our product in retail marts like Big Bazar and Dmart as well as in the Town Hall area in Anand which is known for big retail outlets.

Combating high temperature: Gujarat experiences high temperature almost throughout the year. There is a need of the products that would provide comfort and soothes in extreme weather condition. The Eri silk fabric used in Saundrya Silk has a unique thermal property which keeps the bed sheet cool in summer season and warm in the winter months. This also caters the need of those family categories that have infants as it helps protect the children from rashes during the summers. Further due to its smoothness it is highly appropriate for infants for sleeping. The blended silk bed sheets that are available in the market do not hold the thermal property and the people complain that the bed sheets turn cooler in the chilly winters while is hotter in the raging summers months, which refers to lack of desired quality i.e. thermal quality of the fabric, which a customer seeks in a suitable bed sheet as per need.

Quality: Saundrya Silk will always deliver products of highest quality made of 100% pure Eri silk fabric which is not yet available in Anand.

1.2 MARKET SUMMARYAnand city is an economically prosperous city with 30.3% of upper class also including healthy NRI population. Providing fortunate opportunity for the lifestyle product market. Since silk is considered a status symbol and luxury good, there is a latent demand for quality silk bed sheets in the market. Silk reflects high standard of living and luxurious image in the society. Also people are unaware of common health benefits of Eri silk and its thermal properties. They need to be made aware of other benefits of Eri silk as anti allergic properties, anti wrinkle consequently delays aging and hair fall control due to weave of fabric which avoids grips and tugs at individual strands of the hair. Saundrya Silks aims to educate and make people aware about Eri silk and its benefits. People with high income level and cognizant about their lifestyle are more likely to be attracted by the product.

1.3 PRODUCT CHARECTERISTICSSaundrya silk offers Eri silk bed sheets in vibrant colours, captivating designs and high comfort to our customers at an affordable price. We will be providing single, medium, double and king sizes along with the pillow covers. making our bed sheet unique is its quality and properties. Unlike the three other silks Eri silk available in India has some unique properties which differentiate it from others. First and foremost being its thermal properties. It keeps the body cool in summers and warm in winter by regulating the air flow due to its fabric quality. Even though it is silk, it has a slightly rough texture compared to other types of silk due to which it costs lower than them.We will focus on the health benefits it offers. The smoothness of silk offers less friction to hair while sleeping and so reduce hair loss which is often the most complained problem. This reduces the hair blown-out effect and the hair remains set for longer. Also, due to its smoothness it does not cause sleep wrinkles on users face and delays the aging effects which is quite common among other fabric users. And, continuous use of the product results in dense hair and a youthful looking skin.Another benefit of our product is its durability. It lasts longer than other fabrics which make it a worthwhile investment for any household.

PRODUCTDIMENSIONSPRICE

Single Bed sheet120cm X 180cmRs. 1600

Medium Bed sheet120cm X 220cmRs. 2540

Double Bed sheet220cm X 220cmRs. 2880

King size Bed sheet250cm X 250cmRs. 3685

Table 1: Products offered by Shreya Silks and their dimensions and price

We will also provide customized design options in addition to normal designs at a premium.

2. ANALYSING ENVIRONMENTDemographic EnvironmentPopulation above age of 25 with high income level (more than 6 lacs per annum) is the target market for the product. People who are more conscious for beauty, health, comfort and luxury are expected buyers of the product. Geographic EnvironmentThe geographic target of Saundrya Silk is Anand with a population of nearly 287 thousand people. The potential market for our product is around 13% upper class segment of this population.

Political EnvironmentThe new Government is encouraging the manufacturing industry of the country through Make in India campaign. Currently most of the silk is procured mainly from North East states. Central Silk Board has started promoting sericulture in other states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Gujarat where climate is suitable for rearing silkworms. This indicates the future growth opportunities for silk products.

Economic EnvironmentEconomy of Anand is much developed. It is home for the famous AMUL Dairy and other industries like ELECON, Milcent and Atlanta Electrics. Anand is also known as city of NRIs. Almost every other household has a person working in abroad. It raised the economic status of the households drastically. The upper class and NRIs interested in using silk and are the target customers for Saundrya Silks.

Socio Cultural EnvironmentIncrease in standard of living of people made people more concerned about their lifestyle and status in the society. The survey conducted also shows need of silk bed sheets as the symbol of luxury. Only 8.43% people are aware of the health benefits of Silk.

The following bar chart shows the peoples perception of Silk. The data is collected through market survey.

Figure 1: Peoples perception of Silk.Source: Survey

SWOT ANALYSISFollowing are the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats for the Shreya Silks in the market.Strengths Thermal property of the Eri silk Good for skin and hair fall reduction High Quality pure fabric Low maintenance (Hand washable with Warm water and mild soap) Ease of access for target market Customised Design in addition to normal designsWeaknesses High Price Low awareness of Eri silk and its properties Perception of silk as not for daily use Habitual to use cotton bed sheetsOpportunities It can fulfil the latent demand of high quality silk product which people currently buy from other cities like Ahmedabad and Vadodara. Opportunity to expand rapidly in coming years due to unavailability of quality silk products in Anand.Threats Cotton bed sheets are mostly preferred for daily use. Seasonal demand

3. ANALYZING COMPETITIONMain competitor for Saundrya silk bedsheet is not only local artificial silk but also cotton bed sheet. Since, there are no established brands to provide silk bed sheets to consumers, most of the people prefer Bombay Dyeing cotton bed sheets having good among consumers. Upper income households from Anand looking for silk bed sheets buy either from Ahemdabad or from Surat which have access to silk product.

In the surveys we tried to find the fabric preference of consumers for bed sheets and 27% of population have also chosen silk as second most preferred fabric after cotton.

Figure Number 2: Preference of different fabrics. Source: Survey

Features of cotton bed sheet 1. It is suitable for warm environment of Anand.2. It provides comfort.3. It is also easy to maintain.Though all these are basic requirement for bed sheets, our products are also providing all these features with some additional values. Comparisons with our product are as follows:- Eri silk has thermal properties which help in keeping body warm in winters and cool in summers. Eri silk has Anti-ageing properties. Eri silk reduces hair fall. Eri silk fabric is low maintenance and can be hand washed.

4.1 MARKET SEGMENTATIONWe will market our product in Anand, Gujarat. Our target age group will be the age group of 25 and above. As our product price range will be from Rs. 1800-5250, our buyers will be from upper class segment of the population. This population though represented by 13.1% of the households in Anand can easily afford our products. We are offering them not just comfort which is expected from a silk bed sheets but extra value in terms of health and beauty.

4.2 CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR People in Anand are not much aware about the health benefits of the silk. 62.65% of the surveyed people associated silk with comfort. But most of them refrained buying it as considered it to be expensive. But what we observed regarding silk that people had a mindset that its royal and they considered it to be luxurious. As it was considered luxurious by the people they have an inner desire to own it which results in their buying of cheap quality substitutes.Upper class group from Anand buy bed sheets frequently. Almost 70% of the people buy bed sheets once or more than once a year.

Demographic variable Age: Mainly customer segment above 25 years of age will be targeted. Gender: Both the male and female will be targeted. Special focus on females as they are beauty conscious. Family and Income: Families those who are in the upper income group (household income greater than 6 lpa.) will be targeted.

Psychographic variable Personality: People who desire luxury and are health and beauty conscious. Beauty conscious: People concerned about their hair loss and aging.

Behavioural variables People who buy bed sheet more than once in a year. As they represent the upper income group

4.2.1 MARKETING AND CONSUMER VALUEValue exploration and creation: There are no established brands for silk bedsheets in Anand. Though people have fascination for silk and believe silk as icon of luxury, comfort and beauty but have no idea of its health benefits consider silk as expensive. Women have major concern for hairfall and aging and spend large sum annually trying to control it. Saundrya silk deliver the very same service in a non-chemical way. Majority of population go with cotton bed-sheets, to combat the raging environment of Anand. Our product got superior thermal properties, and will offer the same along with additional health benefits to needy.

By collaborating with spas, beauty parlours and dermatologist, this way Saundrya silk is in direct access of target group. And also it is easy to influence the target group for trials if the product is recommended by the professionals of beauty industry. By providing ample quantity of bedsheets in Big Bazar and Dmart we will cater to the needs of upper class customer in Anand (target group).

5. MARKET FORECASTPotential end users for the Shreya Silks bed sheets in its first year are-1. Health and beauty conscious high income group people who might prefer natural way to maintain their appearance.2. 13.3% of the Anand city comes under upper income group (household income greater than 6 lpa.). Out of which 69% are health and beauty conscious. And again 39% of health and beauty conscious group also prefer silk, which are 10303.

Figure 3: Target market of Saundarya Silks in first year.

3. Thus the total target population of Saundarya Silks in its first year will be 10303.4. It can also cater to demands in the wedding seasons, (according to retail stores selling 100-120 pieces of artificial silk fabric bed sheet per annum).

As Saundarya Silk is yet to be positioned as a brand with high awareness among consumers, growth rate is estimated to 5% in the first year. Increasing awareness about high quality silk provided by Saundarya Silks will increase its growth rate in the subsequent years.

5. SALES FORECAST69% of the upper income group is health and beauty conscious. Of this group 39% of the people prefer silk as their fabric in bed sheets. This is our target. On an average they buy 1.5 silk bed sheets a year.

Even though we are the first company to provide 100% pure silk bed sheets in the Anand market and thus have first mover advantage, we conservatively estimate to capture 10% of the target segment into our consumers. We estimate to capture an additional 5% the next year and so on due to our consistent marketing efforts as well as favourable word-of-mouth of our superior quality pure silk bed sheets.

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