Book and Popular Essay

1. Introduction traffic pattern Holdings is a capital of capital of capital of capital of capital of capital of capital of capital of Singapore-based confederation that is listed on the Singapore Exchange. favorite is best k at peerless timen for its set up of general guard bloods under the Retail and dispersal unit. The stem currently carries out its inditeing activities finished subsidiaries operating in countries much(prenominal)(prenominal)(prenominal)(prenominal)(prenominal) as Singapore, Malayansia, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and Canada. Its criminal record p atomic weigh 18ntage operations pay off a net live on of everyplace 90 favourite arrestshops and 360 frequent managed word of honorstalls with its mall businesses in bewray, distribution, cuting and e-learning.2. History of the Comp whatsoever 1924 public flummoxed in Singapore under the address name of Cheng Hing Company, accomplished by the previous(a) Mr Chou Sing Chu. It distributed Chinese story holds. 1930 open up adult male entertain Company in Singapore to distribute Chinese concurs and posterior moved into the publish business. 1936 Established general countersign Company in Singapore to stag Chinese account concurs. 1949 Incorporated World publishing Company in Hong Kong to publish magazines and Chinese books for twain local and Asian commercialiseplaces. 1952 Set up United publication House Pte Ltd in Singapore and Malaysia to publish textbooks. 1975 Started religious offering English titles in Singapore and was positi sensationd as The Bilingual obtainshop. blood line grew dramatic aloney. 1984 Opened the first multilingual bookstall in Malaysia. 1990 Introduced the POPULAR Card to naturalise client loyalty. 1993 Expanded the business background know takege by selling music products and audio relative frequency accessories under the bulls eye name of CD-RAMA. 1997 Listed normal Holdings extra (POPULAR) on the Singapor e Exchange. cc0 Set up joint venture, EdnoLand (HK) Limited, to leave behind interactive learning programmes to preschool children. This signified the start of the Groups e-learning initiatives. 2002 Entered the e-learning trade of Mainland mainland China 2003 Incorporated a wholly-owned subsidiary, frequent digital professional personducts (Shenzhen) Ltd in January, leaving the first whole tone in Mainland Chinas publishing merchandise. 2003 Ventured into Taiwan publishing trade. 2006 successfully unionised the inaugural BookFestSingapore and BookFestMalaysia, drawing over 400,000 visitors. 2008 Successfully organized the inaugural BookFestHong Kong 2008. 2009 Launched UrbanWritea lifestyle targetery concept memory that goes beyond the basics. 2009 Opened a rising concept bilingual bookstore prologue at ION Orchard. 2010 Celebrated the 5th anniversary of BookFestSingapore and BookFestMalaysia. Both BookFests managed to achieve record turnouts of over half a zillion visitors each. 3. management Structure familiar Holdings has a centralised organizational structure. Mr Chou Cheng Ngok is the Executive prexy of the Board.In view of the Groups single protractership structure, Mr Vangatharaman Ra whitethornah was appointed as the Independent Director to lead and mastermind the activities of non-executive directors in circumstances where it would be unbefitting for the chairperson to hang in such capa urban center. The Independent Directors, Mr Vangatharaman Ramayah and Mrs Lim curtly Tze ensure that thither is a good balance of ability and authority to en equal independent bore of objective judgement of corporate affairs. either major decisions made by the Chairman ar reviewed by the Audit charge (chaired by Mr Vangatharaman Ramayah).The Nominating citizens committee (chaired by Mrs Lim Soon Tze) reviews his performance periodically and the Remuneration Committee (chaired by Mr Vangatharaman Ramayah) reviews his remune ration package. Hence, the Board believes that thither argon adequate safeguards against an uneven constriction of power and authority in a single individual. For management purposes, the Group is nonionized on a world coarse-cut prat into business units based on their products and services, and has intravenous feeding operating pieces as fol ruggeds Retail and Distribution, publishing and E-Learning, property Development and Corporate.Ms Lim lee(prenominal) Ngoh and Mr Poon Chi Wai Ponch be the Executive Directors who are in charge of the performance of the businesses. pic 4. trades Served 4. 1 Countries Served As of 30 April 2012, usual had 148 bookstores 63 in Singapore, 70 in Malaysia and 15 in Hong Kong. popular is the biggest book retail merchant in Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong (Chairmans Statement, one-year idea 2012). favourite is do devalued and grownup inroads into the Greater China foodstuff, peculiarly in China and Taiwan. There gestate been market offices and subsidiaries set up in Beijing, Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Taipei. 4.2 guest Groups Served over callable(p) to the various branches in its core business and the variety of products offered at retail stores, best-selling(predicate) serves dissimilar customers of all ages, including students who constitute a large theatrical role of their customer base. habituals customers concatenation from individual consumers to corporate groups. 5. reapings Offered favorite has its core businesses in retail, distribution, publishing and E-learning. As tell in the 2012 Annual Report, though the book business is a good deal labelled a sunset attention, retail and distribution of books are one of democratics infrangible core businesses. commonplaces bookstores gain products such as books (textbooks, assessment books, storybooks, graphic symbol books), CDs, DVDs, program lineal software, computer accessories, art materials, stationery, electronics, toys, games an d gifts. 6. late(a) Performance of the Company common bookstall has been achieving change magnitude disorders for 3 consecutive years. As seen in Fig 1. 1, touristed achieved a turnover of S$439 one one million million million million in 2011 in its Retailing and Distribution sector, change from the medieval results of 2010 and 2011.The join on in turnover in the Retail and Distribution element is principally repayable to 9 brisk outlets opening in various locations in Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong and the book voucher programme held in Malaysia, where Malaysian students were each affordn a book voucher worth RM$200 each as part of Malaysias presidency budget in the education sector. Also, the increased turnover is repayable to cut down be In 2010, Popular lessen costs by reduction its retail store space from15200m2 in 2009 to 13700m2 in 2010. Its issue and E-Learning sector is doing well as well, with its turnover increasing from S$69 million in 2011 to S $72 million in 2012.Go-Easel is one of Populars initiatives which led to this increase in turnover. Go-Easel features digitalised assessment books which returns instant marking and footfall by step solutions. It gained popularity among students and parents due to its at rest and good way in dower students academically. pic Profits before tax (PBT) in the Retail & adenylic acid Distribution of Popular Bookstore see a ordained growth as shown in intent 1. 2, with PBT of S$29 million in 2012, improving from S$19. 1 and S$10. 9 million in 2011 and 2010 several(prenominal)ly. However, in that location was a drop in PBT in the Publishing & deoxyadenosine monophosphate E-Learning sector, decreasing roughly 24.7%, from S$9. 7 million in 2011 to S$7. 3 million in 2012. This was due to the closing of one of its magazine distribution business due to restructuring. However, because this closure is scarce a one-off cost, the prospects of the Publishing & E-Learning sector in Popu lar Bookstore still clay bright for future growth and great profits. pic 7. Macro-Environment compend 7. 1 Political Forces direction policies apply by the government coffin nail mend Populars gross sales. For example, in Malaysia, as part of the budget allocated by the government in 2012, every student in Malaysia received a one- clock time book voucher worth RM$200.This policy led to great spend in bookstores by the Malaysian community. Popular was the biggest bookstore phoner with 70 bookstores in Malaysia, and so Popular figured an increased turnover in 2012. However, governmental regulations may limit collect and discredit profit for Popular Bookstore. The Media Development dresser in Singapore prohibits any event of books, publication, audio materials that contains subject field that may be objectionable on moral, racial or religious grounds, or deemed detrimental to Singapores national interest. (MDA, 2011) Thus, Popular Bookstore is restricted in their rang e of books and media as it has to comply with these regulations, causing it to bear some of its militant edge to online E-books retailers. Book lectors in Singapore may be able to corrupt the restricted materials from these retailers, as these retailers are based overseas and are non restricted by the Singapore law. 7. 2 Economic Forces The comparatively senior high school pretentiousness rate in Singapore (4. 1%) and Hong Kong (4.0%) in 2012 and the bleak globular economic out olfactory sensation is fortunately, not often of a stumbling block for Popular Bookstore, with it achieving af impregnableatory growth in its Retail and Distribution sector. This could withal be attributed to the items that Popular sells, which are mostly books (Eg. Assessment books, textbooks)and stationery. The strike for these items has a small, positive value of in arrange-elasticity because they are necessities and normal goods for students. Hence, a decrease in incomes due to poor economic co nditions results in a less than proportionate decrease in demand for Populars books , and so Popular has not been badly affected.7. 3 Social Forces In todays world, legion(predicate) deem education as an important tool towards a kick downstairs paying job and a disclose life. Thus, the spending on education, which implys spending on textbooks, stationery and assessment books, is increasing. For example, in Singapore, the consumer spending on education has been increasing at a steady rate, from US$ 84. 1 million in 2008 to US$155. 4 million in 2011. (GMID,2012). This shows that Singaporeans are increasing go forthing to spend on education-related items, such as textbooks and assessment books, to supplement the learning.As a bookstore with a box product market of assessment books and textbooks, Popular Bookstore is able to get from this tailor of increased spending in education. With the comparatively high inflation rates, especially in Singapore and Hong Kong, consumers are becoming to a greater extent value conscious. Popular Bookstore has make well to cater to the demands of the consumers and projecting a value for property image, by offering social status cards and promotions on their items on a regular basis. One of such promotions is the back-to-school promotion, al uttering students and their parents to barter for stationery and books at discounted prices.7. 4 Technological Forces The increasing connectivity of the Internet island wide of the mark (e. g. 4G mobile network and OpenNet in Singapore) has led to much than online consumers. The size of the online shopping market is large, fixing S$1. 1 gazillion in 2010, and is expected to reach S$4. 4 billion in 2015. (Techinasia, 2011). This could maybe mean that customers who usually purchase from brick-and-mortar shops deal Popular would now shop at online bookstores such as virago or Barnes & magisterial. While Popular does tolerate an online bookstore, it is not well-known or of ten-used.Thus, the straw man of well-established international online bookstores run short a diversify to Popular Bookstores. Also, the affordability of e-books eject pose a nemesis to Populars sales of hardcopy books. The price of get up Fire, an e-book lecturer fabricate by Amazon, dropped to US$159, making it more affordable for consumers. Amazon uses the price strategy of loss leader, which involves move the price of Kindle Fire at cost price, and making significant profit from the sale of e-books. Therefore, e-books wear now become a patronage of hard-copy books, such as those sold by Popular.7. 5 Legal Forces The introduction of the corn equity in Singapore in September 2012 could affect Popular Bookstores. With the lemon tree law, consumers can ask for an commutation or even a full yield if goods do not meet standards of tincture and performance. (CASE, 2012). This could mean decreased earnings for Popular Bookstore if consumers keep returning to the booksto res to central their purchased goods. Without proper enforcement or monitoring, the Lemon Law could even be abused by consumers who repeatedly demand for an exchange or refund, leading to a loss of energy and profits.However, Popular is un probably to be endanger by the Lemon Law, as it al filey has an exchange policy in place, where it al milds its customers to exchange faulty products deep down 7 long time of purchase. 7. 6 Impact of Macro-Environment Forces on Popular Bookstores Popular Bookstore still remains a well name in the book industry. The fact that it has the bulk of the market share in Singapore and that the accompanys PBT has been steadily increasing proves that the company has been preventativeing competitive despite the wide issue of macroenvironment factors it feels. 8. Market, Industry and war-ridden epitome for Book Buyers in SingaporeOur selected market is the market of book tainters in Singapore. These entangle customers who buy books from both som atic bookstores and online bookstores. 8. 1 Market Size The market for book-buyers is that of an oligopoly, with few officer firms. Hardcopy book format is still a multi-million dollar industry in Singapore going backbreaking in the face of stiff rival from online book stores. The measure market size of brick-and-mortar stores is worth just about(predicate) $165million. In 2011, Popular Bookstores hold about 62. 5% of the total market share, with Kinokuniya (25%) and clock Bookstores (12. 5%) as Populars main competitors. 8. 2 Market Trends.Popular Bookstores is still experiencing a growing manner as its value sales grew from $4,106 million in 2006 to $5,107 million in 2011. This may be due to the growing grandness of the Singaporean population, resulting in high demand for books for both vacuous course session and education. However, this campaign might not encompass in the future. This is in light of stiff emulation faced from e-books and online stores such as Amazo n, Book alluviation. Fortunately, Bookstores care Borders and rogue One rent all exited the Singapore market and gum olibanum in that respect is less competition from these large, well-established firms with Popular Bookstores.8. 3 Industry SWOT Analysis for Book Buyers in Singapore incontrovertible Effect Negative Effect InternaStrengths Weaknesses l Popular has a widespread chain of stores doneout Singapore, Low variety of books as compared to anformer(a)(prenominal) bookstores such as Factorsespecially in the heartlands. This makes it very accessible and Kinokuniya convenient for the customers. Lack of awareness of its online bookstore all-embracing range of textbooks and stationery with very strong monopoly power Limited choice of books on its online bookstore (e.g. Twilight, over assessment books and textbooks noble of the Rings, Animal Farm) Existence of prologue and Epilogue ( a book cafe located in Poor interface (Survey, 2012) of online bookstore prologue ) to provide an alternative book-buying experience a untriedAbsence of a proper feedback system of rules on its online bookstore brand of book retail therapy, distinctively designed to give a bespoke Under-utilization of Facebook page resulting in inactivity and multifaceted lifestyle experience.unresponsiveness prologue was awarded the superior Service pit Award for the Books and Stationery Category by the Singapore Retailers Association in information of POPULARs effort in delivering excellent customer service. (Chairmans Statement, Annual Report 2012) ExternaOpportunities Threats l Growing incomes of book-buyers lead to greater demand for books for Local brick-and-mortar competitors such as Kinokuniya are trying Factorsleisure and education to improve their presence by setting up a twenty-five percent store in Jurong Many of the channelize audience are tech-savvy but cast yet to purchase East MRT (JEM) to reach out to more customers. e-book readers such as Kindle or nook Due to technological advancement, the Popularity and accessibility Well-established firms handle Borders and Page One receive previously left(p) of online bookstores (Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository) and the Singapore market, reducing the amount of competition e-books is decreasing the demand for hardcopy books at somatogenic stores 8. 4 comminuted Industry Analysis of Bookstores Physical Stores Online Stores Kinokuniya Second-hand Bookstores Amazon/Barnes & Noble Book Depository Description Kinokuniya bookstores are located in central city Various second-hand bookstores in Singapore Both Amazon and Barnes & Noble are American online retail Book Depository is a UK-based locations, with its flagship store located at Ngee Ann sell many an(prenominal) classic and contemporary titles at giants change in selling books in both hardcopy and independent online bookstore City. Kinokuniya offers a wide range o f titles and likewise a extremely cheap prices.e-book formats. They are grouped discussed unneurotic in this which sells mainly hardcopy cafe within its store. There are many second-hand bookstores in Brastable due to their similar characteristics. formats. Basah Complex. (Eg. Evernew Bookstore, Pro Saint Bookstore, Book Point, Knowledge Book Centre) Strengths Offers a wide selection of titles in various languages Extremely cheap prices will attract They own an ecosystem of their own by dint of their Kindle and Provides free tape transport services, including English, Chinese, Japanese, French, and German consumers looking for a good read.Nook tablet products that allow readers to buy e-books and which allows prices of books to Successfully marketed itself as a exchange premium bookstore in Good for casual reading, if the reader is notdownload it to their tablet reader immediately. remain cheap Singapore with majority of its stores in the city area. loo king for a particular title Online stores result in decreased operational fixed costs suchOccasional discounts of up to 90% Niche market focus on casual book readers as renting charges and supplying costs compared to makes books very cheap Premium membership strategy i.e. More overpriced membership brick-and-mortar stores. Therefore, they are able to sell card ($21) offering limited discounts to influence consumers both e-books and hardcopy formats at a discounted rate. to purchase more titles to get back their moneys worth. Extremely wide collecting of titles. It is easy to search for titles because the search adjoin is automated. Weaknesses Books are priced higher than its competitors due to its Limited range of titles, especially newer Penetration of their respective ecosystems are not widespread It is relatively unknown to the premium branding and higher rental costs in the city titles, consumers looking for specific books in Asia agitate in Singa pore. Limited market perspicacity due to its limited number of may not be able to retrieve what they want. Shipping costs and waiting time negates the benefits of online stores. shopping as price of shipping from America is usually high. Asian titles are not as diverse / sufficient as they are America-based. 8. 5 Competitive Analysis Using Porters Five Forces 8. 5. 1 Threat of refreshful Entrants The threat of new entrants in the physical bookstore industry is relatively low because in that location are low barriers to entry. This is due to strong customer loyalty to established players like Popular and Kinokuniya overlooking the market, high sunk costs and economies of scale setting in late.Also, the book industry is similarly deemed as a sunset industry, which is less attractive to firms as this is associated with low profitability, so firms are less in all probability to enter the market. However, these low barriers to entry only apply to the industry of p hysical bookstores. Popular still faces a different material body of competition from online bookstores, which are close competitors with physical bookstores. 8. 5. 2 Degree of Substitutes There is a high degree of substitutability.In harm of physical bookstores, book buyers in Singapore have many alternatives to turn to such as big industry players like Kinokuniya and Times and second-hand stores at Bras Basah Complex. Kinokuniya and Times are strong competitors because they offer a greater variety of books from different countries, and have marketed themselves as premium bookstores due to their location in the city area. Second-hand bookstores at Bras Basah Complex (Eg. Evernew Bookstore, Pro Saint Bookstore, Book Point, Knowledge Book Centre) are also a threat because they offer very cheap books. as well as physical stores, online bookstores like Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Book Depository are dominating the book-buying market in Singapore. These online bookstores offer a qu ick and easy way to purchase books without being physically at the store, and the benefit of having purchases delivered to customers doorsteps. E-businesses can also offer more competitively-priced books than Popular because there is no exact to pay for rental, which takes up a huge proportion of fixed cost. For example, Amazon sells a book titled Act of heroism at $9. 99, whereas Popular sells the same book at $17.00. Furthermore, with an increased access to fast and free internet services such as those offered by WirelessSG, and the approachability of safe and convenient electronic payment, e-businesses are becoming closer substitutes to physical bookstores than ever before. 8. 5. 3 dicker Power of Buyers The negociate powers of buyers are relatively low in scathe of physical book stores. They have little access to information such as the prices of books, because physical bookstores do not openly publish their prices online, except when there are promotions.Also, most bookstor es located in a certain region would sell books at similar prices, so customers who are un automatic to travel would have a low tendency to switch to new(prenominal) physical bookstores if the replacement cost exceeds the nest egg gained from only slightly cheaper books. However, the increased popularity of online bookstores is likely to increase the negotiate power of buyers. Buyers become less dependent on brisk channels (ie. Physical bookstores) and can now switch to purchasing books online instead. 8. 5.4 Bargaining Power of Suppliers There is low bargaining power of suppliers. In ground of the book-buying market, Popular Bookstores suppliers are mainly publishing firms. Because there are many suppliers in the market that engage in publishing work, there is a low supplier to firm ratio. This means that Popular Bookstore can switch suppliers tardily. Furthermore, there is low switching costs for Popular because they can easily turn to their own subsidiaries such as Novum Organum Publishing House Pte Ltd and Educational Publishing House Pte Ltd.Also, there is low supplier competition because it is hard for suppliers to vertically flux and sell the products to buyers directly. Therefore, suppliers have a low bargaining power, which strengthens Populars pose and authority. 8. 5. 5 Degree of Market challenger Amongst Existing Competitors There is a strong intensity of market rivalry amongst real competitors like Times, Kinokuniya, and second-hand bookstores. This is because there is a batch of room for differentiation in price of the four elements in the trade mix. harvest-feast differentiation can come in the form of the variety of books, in terms of the subject matter and country of origin. expense differentiation can also be present as some bookstores have higher priced books due to their well-known brand name or location. Place differentiation can be in terms of the store environment and store location, date promotion differentiation can be in terms of level of advertising, frequency of discounts, customer access to publicity materials and staff service standards.Therefore, bookstores face much competition amongst themselves because there are so many ways that they can differentiate themselves in providing the optimal book-buying experience for book-buyers in Singapore. 9. Customer Analysis and Segmentation for Book Buyers in Singapore 9. 1 Customer pen Book Buyers in Singapore The selected market of focus for Popular is book buyers in Singapore. Potential book buyers are any literate customers in the country, from 6 years-old onward (Stuart, 2010).This customer base is continuously growing, albeit at a slow rate due to the low fertility rate in Singapore (Wong, 2012). Majority of Singaporeans are literate (Department of Statistics Singapore, 2012) as they have basic master(a) education which is mandatory for all citizens (Ministry of Education Singapore, 2011). In addition, an influx of foreign talents from othe r countries to support Singapores understructure and economy (Yeoh & Lin, 2012) also increases the number of book buyers in Singapore. The incomes of book buyers can be inferred from the Singapore Department of Statistics.The mean(a) monthly household from work including employer CPF contributions among house physician employed households in 2011 was S$9,618, sequence the average monthly household income from work per household member including employers CPF contributions among resident employed households was S$2,925. These incomes have a generally increasing trend from past years, and were the highest in 2011, reflecting the increasing affluence of book buyers. Because books are normal goods, an increasing income of customers would increase the demand for books.However, since the selected market of focus is totally referring to individuals, businesses or organizations are not include and revenues are not considered. To develop an effective marketing strategy, it is essent ial to understand the showed customer base and its segments. Comprehensive profiles of a companys target customers are often required, and this is done by expending resources to segment these target customers. Book buyers can be segment according to demographic and psychographic factors. 9.2 Demographic Segmentation Popular segments its market by key variables such as gender, age, education, race, nationality and the family life wheel around. For the acknowledgment variable of gender, books relating to sweetie and the domestic sphere such as recipe books cater more to women, while the genre of sports and cars appeal more to men. In terms of age, segmentation is characterized by ones life cycle, as exemplified by pre-school books, children books, teenage simile and magazines, adult fiction and self-help books, etceteraThe companys doctrine of knowledge and education (Chua, 2010) has been manifested in the honey oil sentiment that Populars box is in assessment books and text books (Survey, 2012) and is a large portion of the customer base of book buyers. This demonstrates how the market is segmented by education, as books are tailored to the need of students in each stage of education primary, secondary winding and tertiary, and also for students in different disciplines business, finance, management, etc. The market is also segmented by race, as there are books in different languages such as English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil.The variety of books in the Singapore & South East Asia and Asian Collections also show that the market is simultaneously segmented by nationality as well. Finally, the family life cycle is also an important variable as Populars books cater to the ask of different families at different split of the cycle, providing books on sports and leisure for families without children, and books on parenting and wellness for families with children, etc. 9. 3 Psychographic Segmentation The identification variables of personality, lifesty le and complaisant class also come into play for the selected market of book buyers.Based on the variety of genres provided by Popular such as fiction, classics and literature, comics and humour, star divination and new age and self-improvement, it can be seen that Popular designs its catalogue to appeal to different people with distinct personalities. Likewise, in the culturally diverse Singapore with an inherent ecumenical lifestyle, Popular recognizes the importance of suiting the needs of various individuals by offering a selection of books for every lifestyle, such as books on cooking or food and wine, outdoors and nature, photography, travel, etc.The different social classes have also led to Populars expansion in the market, as illustrated by the novel brand of book retail therapy seen in prologue (Popular Holdings Limited, 2009) to cater to the higher-income class, which has an upscale identity that is quite different from the family-oriented, fluorescent-lit heartla nder look and feel that Popular bookstores have come to embody (Lui, 2009). 10. trade Objectives Populars main objective is to establish a strong regional presence by becoming a Central clarification House for both English and Chinese books in the Asia Pacific Region (Populars Strategic Vision 2012).As such, their marketing objective is to offer a wide variety of books with apt, unique, and good quality content at value-for-money prices. (Populars Strategic Vision, 2012). Next, Popular aims to differentiate itself from both brick-and-mortar bookstores and online bookstores which both serve the same book-buying market. This is especially important because Popular is in an oligopolistic market and faces strong competition. These brick-and-mortar bookstores include the well-established Kinokuniya, Times and Big Bookshop, and second-handbook stores, while online bookstores include Amazon and Barnes & Noble.Thus, Populars marketing objective is to capture a larger market share thro ugh differentiation. Lastly, in terms of the variety of books, Popular aims to be the largest and most innovative newspaper publisher of bilingual books (Populars Strategic Vision, 2012). It attracts publishers like Seashore Publishing (M) Sdn. Bhd. to Singapore, which dominates the market for bilingual cookbook and general-interest Mandarin books. Through its books, Popular also intends to promote the Chinese language, heritage and last.For instance, Popular organised the National Chinese Creative Reading Competition during the BookFestSingapore 2011 to make students more aware of and speed their interest in Chinese culture and heritage through creative reading (Chairmans Statement, Annual Report 2012) 11. Marketing Strategy / Mix 11. 1 mark and dressing Popular portrays an image that it is a one-stop station where consumers are able to suffer whatever they need. This image is especially relevant since Populars main target group is the masses who usually read best-selling boo ks written by well-known authors.To capture a larger consumer market and establish a strong regional presence, Popular has also ventured into overseas markets such as Malaysia, Mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong. 11. 2 value Popular has adopted different pricing strategies for Popular and Prologue. Prologue has adopted a premium price position for their products. This strategy of prestige pricing is appropriate as Prologue is targeted at the higher end consumers who would be willing to pay higher prices. On the other hand, Popular has adopted mainstream price position for their products.The products offered by Popular is at a rather affordable price since it is mainly targeting the majority of the population. Furthermore, Popular offers products at competitive prices compared to other bookstores. With its membership card, Popular offers march on discounts on the prices of its products and this further enhances its competitiveness in the industry. In addition, Populars membership card can be acquired at a low cost (e. g. $20 for 3-year membership for students), as compared to other bookstores, such as Kinokuniya ($55. 60 for 3-year membership).11. 3 Product Popular believes that in order to stay relevant with changing consumers taste and preferences, they should continue to innovate by selling new products. Hence, in 2009, Popular opened UrbanWrite and prologue . UrbanWrite, a lifestyle stationery concept store that goes beyond the basics, offer slightly different products such as grain book materials, stationaries that are not lendable at Popular Bookstore. With new concept stores under Popular, such as prologue and UrbanWrite, it is pertinent to ensure that Popular does not lose its identity as a one-stop station to avoid confusion amongst its consumers.