Paper Example. Report for Eco-Fone

The smartphone is a category of mobile phones whose market is expanding rapidly because of the unique and friendly features they contain. It is a multipurpose kind of phone with multiple features like Wi-Fi, satellite navigation, video and voice calls, gaming parking, and other applications (Druce et al., 2017). The smartphone market is increasing at a very high rate in the UK. The report by Eco-Fone Company indicates this rising trend in the smartphone industry. Eco-Fone Company mainly deals with selling both smartphones and electronic accessories. There are two shops in which their products can be purchased. One of their shops is located in Richmond, and the other is located in Putney. These shops were set up in the year 2014, and the business has been progressive since that year. The company has reported a rapid increase in profits from the sales it has been making.

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1.1 An Overview of the Mobile phone market in the UK

According to research by Deloitte Inc., more than half of the UK workforce of about 33.5 million have used their smartphones for business-related activity (Adams, 2017). The most common smartphone usage as per the 2017 data includes emails at 44%, voice calls (34%), and 23% for calendar management (Adams, 2017). Some applications had lower usage because of difficulties within the confines of smartphones, such as reporting systems and legacy information. According to the view of Deloitte, there are other unofficial applications for smartphones that are used widely, for example, mobile browsers, instant messaging, photo, and navigation applications. More so, at least 43% of the workers use WhatsApp in a day (Adams, 2017). Such applications were optimized for smartphone users because of their regular utilization by the users.

The work-related smartphone applications had modest usage. Most of these applications are the ones that had focused on the workflow and not communications. The research also indicated that 5% utilized their smartphones in the submission of the timesheet. More so, 4% were able to submit the expenses, and 6% for internet accessibility (Adams, 2017). The scarcity of utilization of smartphones for working is not mainly due to a lack of need. The workforce within the UK comprises millions of people who find smartphone ideal for their tasks. It is well applicable when it comes to sending and receiving both official and unofficial information. There is a certain kind of employee whose job description requires them to either walk or move to different places, for instance, sales and marketing persons.

1.2 Forecasting the UK Adult Smartphone Use

The line graph can be used to indicate the trend of customer behavior over time. More so, they can be used to predict customer purchasing behavior in the future. For example, the data for the Eco-Fone indicates a rising trend of adult customer usage of smartphones since the year 2014 to 2017. There has been an increasing trend since 2014(Adams, 2017). The rate, however, reduces slightly in 2016 and 2017 compared to the earlier years (Adams, 2017). One can predict using a line graph that this rate is likely to increase at a decreasing rate. However, the line graph is not the best prediction indicator because it relies on just observation, which can be biased. The moving average shows a better understanding of the trend because it relies on the average data from the previous years to predict the future. According to the moving average data, the rate of adult customer usage of smartphones may increase sharply in the year 2018 and 2019.

1.3 Smartphones - A Potential Market for Older Customers

According to the report from Deloitte, smartphone sales for older consumers are booming in the UK. Approximately 71% of the population aged 55-75 years currently own smartphones (Adams, 2017). The rate at which this population has adopted the usage of these handsets is very high. The report from the interviewed people indicates that 20% of this population accessed their phones within 15 minutes of waking up. This population is mainly wealthier and is likely to afford premium handsets. However, the challenge from the younger people would force some of these people to not only own but also utilize smartphones. In fact, according to the report from the Deloitte Company, most of the buyers were forced to buy the gadget by the younger population.

More so, there has been a growing number of parking meters, which requires people to pay for parking using smartphone apps. Such places encourage people to buy smartphones so that they can access the facility. Also, taxi services have been using mobile apps in most of their services. Therefore, the older population is being forced by such circumstances to purchase and use smartphones.

There have been many changes that have been done on the recent models of smartphones that are friendly to the older population. For example, one industry watcher asserts that modern smartphones have much bigger screens. Such screens usually favor the deteriorating eyesight of older people because they can quickly view them. Also, they have louder speakers too, which are friendly to the aged population.

The modification of software over the years has been favoring older adults. The system has become more comfortable to use because of the streamlined versions of the apps, which focuses more on older adults. Android manufacturers are now susceptible to the elderly population while creating applications. More so, Apple and Samsung's latest handsets have unique features that attract the usage by the aging society, one of them being the clear facial recognition of their camera versions.1.4 Feasibility of expanding business to Kingston using Pros and Cons tableShould we expand our business to Kingston?

Pros Score/10 Cons Score/10

• The customer base is likely to be enlarged if the business is expanded to Kingston 8
• Massive capital investment would be required for expanding the business and operating effectively 8
• There will be an increase in the visibility of the respective company if the business grows to Kingston Market 7
• The language barrier is a big issue that might hinder the establishment of the business by Fone at Kingston 7

The company would be in a position to understand the cultural environment better if it expands to Kingston Market. They will hire talented local employees who are well aware of the local market and how to respond to customer needs 7 The competition level at Kingston is already very high. There are already well-established firms in the market. Therefore, winning the market would require a massive investment in marketing (Rothaermel, 2016). 6

The company's profitability ratio is likely to increase due to increased sales when it expands (Xiao & Xu, 2017). 8 The local market regulations at Kingston are strict, especially for new businesses like Fone, which would develop and operate in this market since it is not familiar with the market. 8

Customer views and views and feedback will be collected quickly, hence, enhancing customer satisfaction 6 Loss of control from parent management might risk the core objectives of the business. Kingston market would require new employees who might have a conflict of interest 7

The company is likely to realize more opportunities as it will understand the market better 6 Staff morale might be affected due to overworking as they manage and oversee the operations of the new business as the Kingston market 6

Total Pros 48/60 Total Cons 42/60

Average Pros 0.8 Average Cons 0.7

1.5 Costs of a New Building

Commercial mortgage refers to the type of mortgage bonded by commercial holdings, like malls, buildings and offices, apartments, warehouses, and residential buildings (Buil et al., 2016). The loan is mainly repaid in a long duration, say 15 to 30 years. There are many mortgage lenders in the United Kingdom. Some of them include Precise Mortgages, iwoca, B2B finance.com, and HSBC finance Mortgages, among other lenders (Robles-Garcia, 2019). To calculate the monthly payment of the mortgage, one has to use the interest rate, which is divided by 12, then several months, and the present value, which is the amount of the loan that one is borrowing. The number of months is obtained by multiplying the number of years by 12(15*12=180 months). The interest rate (7%/12) and the present value (350,000 euros). The data is computed via Excel to obtain the monthly mortgage payment, in this case, PS 3,145.90.

1.6 Testing the Possible Difference in Net Takings in the Two Shops

The net takings may sometimes be different depending on the normality conditions. The random distribution of the variables can be reasonable, depending on the satisfaction rate of the observation method utilized. For example, in a specific population, factors of delivery have to be similar as a way of maintaining the condition of homogeneity. The Eco-Fone is selling smartphones and other accessories on the two retail shops at discounted rates. One of the shops, in this case, has generated a profitability mean of 100 euro (Adams, 2017). The second shop for the Eco-Fone has made a profitability mean of 90 euro. However, both the two shops have taken the same sample size of 40 when it comes to daily to net daily takings. The standard deviation for both two shops is (first and second shop) it is 20 and 40 euros respectively (Adams, 2017). Therefore, based on the interpretation of this data, the first shop is more profitable than the second shop. However, the variability is expected to increase with an increase in mean and sample size, but this is not the case in this situation. With a sample size of 40 and a mean of 100 euros, there are a standard deviation f 20 euros (Adams, 2017). On the other hand, the second shop is using the same sample size has a smaller mean and higher variability. Therefore, there is a clear indication that the two shops have different net takings or net profitability when it comes to validity and reliability. Thus, the second has to re-design their offerings strategies on the discounted rates.

1.7 Customer Satisfaction

Q1: When was the first time you purchase a product from us?

The average response from the customer for this question is 2.951456. This figure can be rounded off to 3.0. Based on the average response, the average response indicates that they purchased accessories from the company between 3 to 6 months (indicated by an average of 3 in the questionnaire).

Q2: How long have you used our products/services?

The average customer response to this question is 2.893204 or 3.0. Based on the response, customers have used the company's products for 1-3 years.

Q3: Please rate us on the scale

Based on the average ratings computed, customers rated the company at 1.980583(2.0). This can be interpreted as 'fair.' This means, even though customers are satisfied with the products, the company needs to market more and win consumer loyalty.

Q4: How would you rate your satisfaction with us?

The average customer response to this question is 2.504854(3). This rating can be interpreted as 'good' based on the key. This means that in general, customers are satisfied with the company's products.

Q5.How likely are you to continue doing business with us?

This question indicates that customers are neutral about doing business with the company. Their average response is 2.524272, which means they are not very decided.