Strategic Management Assignment Sample

Subject Name : Strategic Management

BACHI Barcelona

Background

BACHI Barcelona (http://www.bachibarcelona.com) is a company that sells medium-high range handbags and accessories for men and women. This project has been created by two friends, Meritxell and Nuria, passionate about fashion and fully orientated to the satisfaction of their customers through their products, and it has been in the market for one year.

These two enterprising women have a common idea: to create comfortable accessories but without sacrificing innovative designs. Therefore, their products seek differentiation through originality, because their patterns are visible both inside and outside of the bags, thereby creating a different product.

BACHI Barcelona stands out for online sales through a website that tries to be intuitive and with a high navigability whilst, of course, gaining visibility for their bags and accessories. In addition, it has the following services:

Complete catalogue of their accessories for online sale.
Filtering by categories and price system, to customize searches.
Offers and temporary discounts on some products.
Form for potential customers to request information.
Delivery service of 24-48 hours. Cost: € 5 (other costs assumed by BACHI Barcelona). However, they offer several promotions with free deliveries.
National and international shipments (European Union), although they are still not very clear how to penetrate international markets.
"Stories by Bachi" blog, where they report announcements and related news.
Newsletter service (previous subscription with welcome gift).
Access to their social media: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.

In relation to other information of interest:

Human capital is composed only of them: Meritxell and Nuria. They both have extensive knowledge of the fashion industry and new trends. Also, they have earned a degree in Law, so they have great knowledge in legal matters.
High involvement, enthusiasm, desire to grow and meet the needs of customers in the fashion and accessories sector.
They have external consultants in different areas such as Marketing, Community Manager, Web Positioning, Accounting, Photography, Web Programming or Modelling.
Clear awareness of the importance of the presence of BACHI Barcelona in social media to obtain a good position in the market.
Low bargaining power of the price of the deliveries until they start getting a higher number of orders.
Very close relationship with their suppliers. Currently they are working with 20 suppliers because of the many details that their accessories have. These are local Eco Friendly suppliers, thus contributing to the sustainability and development of local commerce, even though this may translate into less competitive prices than if they worked with suppliers from countries with different labor rights cultures.
All their designs are unique and handcrafted in Barcelona.
The stock policy is very clear: refuse to work on request. They prefer to have surplus for all their star and classic products. They will only work on request for cost or limited edition designs.
At a financial level, they work with a Business Expansion Account for SMEs with advantageous conditions in terms of fees and bank charges, but they do not have financing.
They often base their strategy on participating in fairs and events to bring their product and brand closer to the public, at strategic points such as Barcelona, Tarifa and different Italian cities, avant-garde in the latest fashion.
Currently BACHI Barcelona faces stiff competition. Their main competitors are:
1. Zubi (http://zubidesign.com/es/)
2. Afortunadas (https://shopafortunadas.com/tienda/)

Meritxell and Nuria have some priorities related to gaining presence in social networks and increasing their competitive advantages over their main competitors. They consider it very important to increase the number of subscribers on the web, get more followers to increase visibility, try new ways of online communication (guest posting, banners, collaboration with bloggers and other national and international friendly companies) and increase sales from the promotions they make.

Although they are very aware of these facts, they have never stopped to elaborate a strategic plan that helps them achieve their main goals for BACHI Barcelona. For this reason they’re contacting you to help them in this task.

Question: