Develop a plan for real or hypothetical e-commerce business. The plan must address the concepts such as company overview, products, target customer, marketing channel, customer data and privacy and

Executive Summary

Dadda & Bambini! is a start-up organic and eco-friendly apparel and footwear online store for dads and kids from babies to grade-schoolers. The company originated in Richmond, VA. The store will carry fashionable, affordable, and quality made all-year-season clothes for dads and kids. There is no exception to this, which only means holiday costumes are included too. These are not just clothes and shoes but are matching clothes and shoes with customized tags for a more personalized feel. The business is currently promoting a one-stop fashion shop on the web, which promises an exceptional shopping experience online. Business idea has been conceptualized when our children would always ask to dress up the same as daddy. Competition is high knowing the existence of other clothing stores. Dadda and Bambini! will stand up to this competition by providing an exceptional customer service, unique apparel and footwear design, promotions, and a user friendly website that can easily be navigated. Web and mobile applications will be available for on-the-go shopping. Customers will experience a smooth and quick turnaround time from placing the orders to shipping the products. Also, free delivery is offered to consumers ordering within 15 miles for convenience.

Organic and eco-friendly apparel and footwear advantages as compared to conventional cotton clothing include: softer, causes fewer allergies, chemicals are not used in production, ensures better health for farmers and families, is cheaper to grow, reduces pollution from pesticides, helps improve land quality, prevents contamination of water, and conserves biodiversity (Organic Clothing, n.d.). Through these benefits, the organic cotton apparel businesses have flourished in the past few years. Thus, parents prefer to purchase organic baby apparel, blankets, and diapers because of this awareness.

Close family, friends, and several private funds have provided business capital. Organic cotton will be obtained from Frontier Spinning Mills that operates in North Carolina and Alabama (Cotton USA, n.d.). Part of its revenue will be donated to Stop Hunger Now, which is an organization based in Raleigh, North Carolina and was established in 1998. The organization operates within the Unites States and through partners in developing countries. It is committed in fulfilling its mission to fight hunger by providing nutritious and life-saving assistance to children and families around the globe (Stop Hunger Now, 2016).

Dadda & Bambini! will also conduct a semi-annual recycling drive where customers can donate old clothes and shoes and re-manufacture them for new ones. Recycling used or unnecessary clothing and shoes is beneficial. According to Lee (n.d.), about 68 pounds of apparel go to waste every year and recycling these reduce landfill waste and will only need minimal amount of resources in creating new ones. In addition to that, recycling can lessen the amount of pesticide used in cotton production or fabric making.

Company Overview

Dadda & Bambini! is apparel and footwear line of business in Richmond, VA focused on catering the highest quality fashion at an affordable organic and eco-friendly clothing and shoes to the United States. The online store, founded by two individuals with fashion design degree and experience, was recently launched in July 2016 with a vision of fashionable, affordable, and quality made clothing and shoes for dads and kids made from organic materials that are locally manufactured and produced. The company is committed to providing an exemplary service to its customers.

As a start up company, Dadda & Bambini! will have start-up expenses related to business registration and permit, advertising, operations, business materials (computer, software, printer and paper, labels, and shipping materials), telephone and internet installation, website maintenance, inventory and payment systems, and merchandise with an estimated total capital of $30,000.

In the next 12 months, the goals of the company are as follows: increase its online profit by 15% through social media channel strategies, increase its social media popularity by 25% on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, and Instagram, create a service for custom made design clothing and shoes directly from customers, take advantage of Amazon’s world-class fulfillment, and initiate the recycling program.

Products

Dadda & Bambini! will carry fashionable, affordable, and quality made all-year-season clothes for dads and kids from 0 to 12 years of age. Apparel and footwear selections will vary from casual to semi-formal with a variety of sizes, colors, designs, and styles to choose from and are guaranteed to be trendy and comfortable to wear.

Feedback and suggestions from consumers are welcome in order to improve the company’s products and services. These will benefit the company to increase sales and profits.

Market Analysis Summary

Shopping clothes and shoes for kids is usually the mom’s duty and dads do not have the patient to do this. Technology has changed a lot of things and it includes shopping clothes and shoes online, which makes it easier for dads to accommodate the children’s needs in case mom is not around or unavailable. The best part of it is getting the same outfit without going to the store and save time standing in line.

Target Customers

Children always love to be copycats of their parents because it is a cool idea for them. That is why Dadda & Bambini! is here to cater to this idea. The company will be targeting 0-50 years of age, male or female children, and male adults that are inspired to have the same outfit as their children and vice versa. The company will also focus on promoting the products to busy dads, single dads, military families especially military dads who have limited time to shop children’s clothes because due to hectic schedules.

Competitor Analysis

Our major competitors are Gap, Nature Baby, Old Navy, Oshkosh, and all other clothing and shoes retailer companies. These companies have been in the market for years and brands have already been established not only in the United States but also globally. Therefore, better business placement, product and brand awareness, and exclusive styles and designs must be achieved and maintained.

Dadda & Bambini! aims to be recognized as the leading organic and eco-friendly apparel and footwear online store to individuals, major retailers, and distributors within the United States through paid search and search engine optimization (SEO) because of its design concept, affordability, and convenience. The business will invest on social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, and Instagram. Eventually, products will be introduced to nearby countries, which is subject to consumers’ response within the first 24 months of launching the business.

Strategy and Implementation

Dadda & Bambini will go live in August 2016. The main strategy of the business focuses on overall satisfaction of its customers relating to products, online shopping experience, and services. These will lead to sustainable development opportunities for the business, as it provides clothing and footwear ordering convenience to individuals that are organic and eco-friendly lovers. The company will be offering special promotions and discounts such as 15% off on first purchase of $30 or more, complementary printed t-shirt for every purchase, military discount, and free shipping. The business will provide an apparel and footwear virtual simulator to try on products before purchasing. PayPal, Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express credit cards will be accepted as payment. Real-time chat support will be available from 8am to 5pm EST aside from e-mail and phone support.

The company will hold its very first recycling drive event in February 2017 where used apparel and footwear can be mailed. Information details will be posted on the business website as well as social media channels. Dadda & Bambini! also targets to build its own foundation in fighting malnutrition and poverty and contributing 25% of its yearly revenue to it. In addition to that, be able to attain 45% of market’s total share by July of 2018.

Feedback and rating will be offered to know the customers opinion about the products, shopping experience, services, and the areas that need improvement. Additional products and services will also be added depending on the success of these based on the customer feedback and ratings.

Web Plan Summary

Dadda & Bambini! will utilize its website to list all product collections and placement of orders. The website will display an organic themed background with links about the company and the different categories of products and services it offers (i.e. chat, email, and phone). Contents will be updated as needed to keep customers informed. A unique brief description will be displayed under the title page when searching for organic products via search engine. Social media channel presence will also be maintained in order to increase the business exposure. Furthermore, the business will be listed on website directories such as Google, Google Maps, and other associated sites to take advantage of all potential catalog opportunities. Shipping options will be available as standard and expedited. Promotion or coupon field will be displayed at checkout and electronic payment systems (PayPal, Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express) will be integrated to the company website by utilizing e-commerce software.

Management Summary

Smarty Doe and Charm French are the founders of Dadda & Bambini! have graduated Bachelor of Fine Arts in Fashion Marketing and Design with a concentration in Fashion Design. They both took advantage of fashion internship, networking opportunities, customer knowledge, leadership skills, copywriting skills, and retail experience to help increase the chances of employment after graduation. From these experiences, they came up with the idea and have decided to start Daddy & Bambini! organic and eco-friendly apparel and footwear retail business.

Doe and French will be the overall in charge of the business, from payroll to inventory to support. Additional capacity will be added to the business to be in charge for customer service, web site, and distribution departments of the business. There will be a total of 5 people that will be on the company payroll.

Financial Objectives

• Maintain at least 14% yearly contribution margin;

• Increase yearly direct sales growth at a minimum of 7%;

• Meet sales of $250,000 per year; and

• Gain 25% of the organic and eco-friendly apparel and footwear retail market in five years.

Cotton USA. (n.d.). Frontier Spinning Mills. Retrieved July 9, 2016, from http://www.cottonsourcingusa.com/cotton_mill.php?mill=7

Lee, L. W. (n.d.). Recycled clothing facts. Retrieved July 8, 2016, from http://homeguides.sfgate.com/recycled-clothing-79332.html

Organic Clothing. (n.d.). Benefits of oganic cotton clothing. Retrieved July 8, 2016, from https://www.organicfacts.net/organic-products/organic-clothing/benefits-of-organic- cotton-clothing.html

Stop Hunger Now. (2016). Make everyday a Mandela day. Retrieved July 9, 2016, from http://www.stophungernow.org/