Question

ANALYSING A SPREADSHEET AND PRESENTING A BUSINESS REPORT

Case Study

Pink Lady Apple Orchard is a small family run orchard in Red Hill, Victoria.   Jacinta and Pete own the property, which includes 50 hectares of apple plantings.

As the market price of apples sold to supermarkets and fruit shops has decreased in the past few years, causing business to stagnate, Pete and Jacinta have decided to use some of their apple supply to produce their own range of apple based products.

They have set up a small market stall at the orchard where they sell products directly to the public.  They also have a regular stand at local markets.   The number of customers is growing as word of mouth spreads. In an effort to further expand they have negotiated with a number of small retailers to stock their products. Recently they also employed a systems developer, who set up a website which enables them to market their products online and sell directly to the public.

In a further effort to expand sales Jacinta organised to have their products advertised on a number of ‘shopping deal’ sites.  Each site charged an upfront fee of $500.00.  The Pink Lady Apple Orchard’s ‘deal was advertised throughout February.  The orchard offered 30% off any sale made through the deal site.  After deducting a further 5% commission on sales the ‘deal’ site passed the order and the payment onto the organisation.  Jacinta then processed the order and delivered the products to the customer.  Jacinta hoped that by offering this deal more customers would be attracted to their products.

Jacinta and Pete have always delivered goods free of charge to their wholesale customers.  However, with increased sales they are concerned about the increased courier charges. Pete has decided that by charging 15% delivery charge on each retail order he can recoup all the delivery charges.

As Jacinta and Pete are already busy attending to the apple orchard they have employed Ruby, a local resident, two mornings a week (8 hours) to attend to all online orders.   

Although the number of orders is increasing, Jacinta is concerned that maybe not all products sell well enough to continue production. She has been experimenting with different flavours and products, including a new recipe for “Spicy Apple Chips”.  Maybe she should change products or delete some products.  She does not want unwanted stock accumulating in the storage sheds.  She believes that the ‘special deals’ she has advertised for January/February will certainly help sales, but is concerned that she has made a bad decision with regard to profitability.  

Jacinta has set up a spreadsheet.  She has asked you to complete any relevant calculations and to use excel ‘tools’ to analyse the data she has given you.   She then requires you to provide a business report with regards to the effectiveness of the recently implemented online ordering system, and in particular both the overall popularity and profitability of their products and the success of the recent ‘deals’ campaigns.  After analysing the relevant data she wants you to consider the options with regard to future sales and to alert her to other factors that need to be considered before a final decision can be made.   She is interested in reading your recommendations with regard to online sales.

PREPARING THE BUSINESS REPORT

Report Content

The analysis, findings and recommendations which you prepare for Jacinta and Pete should be outlined in a professional business report.

This report should include:

1) A brief Introductionthat outlines clearly the purpose of the report.

2) A brief presentation of theanalysis you have carried out and a discussion regarding the resultsof this analysis

3)A discussion regarding the results of your analysis.

Identification/discussion regarding other factors that may need to be considered before a final decision can be made.

4)A short concluding summaryof the content of the report.

5)Finally, at least two clear recommendationsthat Jacinta and Pete can adopt. These recommendations must be drawn from the analysis that you have carried out, and must have been discussed in the body of your report.

Answer 1

Pink Lady Apple Orchard :

BUSINESS REPORT:

PINK LADY APPLE ORCHARD BUSINESS REPORT

INTRODUCTION:

Pink Lady Apple Orchard, a small family run orchard in Red Hill, Victoria, Owned by Jacinta and Pete, with 50 hectares. Jacinta and Pete has set up a small market stall, a local market stand and also online sales in different deals sites to promote their apples with their new apple based products. They have to pay $500 for Feb month as upfront fee and also 5% commission on sales to the deals sites. Jacinta and Pete also offers 30% offers for orders in deals sites. Jacinta and Pete business has increased so that they appointed Ruby to take care on online orders. Initially they offers and deliver products to customers place for free of charge. When the business grows they also decided to chare 15% of the order price as delivery charge. Jacinta does not want to stock the apples in the store, hence wanted to offer different flavours or delete some products in list. This business report mainly focused on Jacinta and Pete decisions and the effectiveness of the recently implemented online ordering system, and in particular both the overall popularity and profitability of their products and the success of the recent ‘deals’ campaigns. Based on the analysis the results are discussed and the recommendations were given.

ANALYSIS AND RESULTS:

Pink Lady Apple Orchard is a small family run business. Jacinta and Pete has developing their business in different ways such as small market stall, a local market stand and also online sales in different deals sites. They successfully doing their business thus results into increase in sales. Pink Lady Apple Orchard online business strategy helps them to reach larger number of customers in the wide market. Following are the present expences in Pink Lady Apple Orchard business in online sales with different deals sites:

Shopping deal sites upfront fee $500.00

Offer by Pink Lady Apple Orchard 30%

Commission on Sales to deals sites 5% on sales

Delivery Charges 15% on sales.

They have a good deal with sites. Considering their profitability Pink Lady Apple Orchard should also be effective in reduce the expenses for the delivery of products to their customers places. Even though sales increases it is not possible for the sale of all the products in stock, hence they can further offer different flavours of products instead of deleting products in sites.

RESULTS OF ANALYSIS:

Based on the analysis of Pink Lady Apple Orchard business situation marketing strategy followed by them is effective. They have good market in the local area as well as in on line sales. They have huge opportunity to increase business by introducing different flavours of products. Their current offer of 30% on online orders attracts more customers which leads in increase in sales. And also free delivery strategy helps to attract the customers. But when sales increases the expenses related with delivery of product also increased. So that they can charge 15% charge on sales as delivery charges. When they manage these expenses their profitability will also increase. Hence Pink Lady Apple Orchard has to take effective decision regarding with these deals and offers.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

• Pink Lady Apple Orchard can concentrate more in online sales by appointing two are more persons to handle with online orders.
• Pink Lady Apple Orchard can also introduce different flavours and offers to attract new customers and retain the existing customers online.
• Pink Lady Apple Orchard concentrates more in digital marketing to expand their business world wide.

CONCLUSION:

Pink Lady Apple Orchard has a business experience, good market and idea of expanding business. Effective decisions regarding introduction of different flavours and new products which attract customers helps in growth of business world wide. By analysing business situations and the market regularly Pink Lady Apple Orchard effective expand the business and hence it results into effective profitability to their business.