Report on whether there is a gap in the market for an ice cream parlour Essay Example

shows that Garages and corner shops sell almost the same amount of ice cream but that this percentage is drastically less than supermarkets.Finally it shows that ice cream is barely consumed from ice cream vans or others places as the survey shows that only 6% of ice cream sold is bought from any other place other than supermarkets, corner shops and garages . The Market Segment From my survey I have found out the following about the market segments in Scunthorpe: Consumers under the age of 15 are the strongest segment of consumers buying 25% of the ice cream sold.The 16 - 20 segment and the 31-40 segment both buy 21% of the ice cream but surprisingly the 21-30 segment which a lot of the competitors aim their products towards only consume 8%. Consumers aged between 41 and 50 buy 14% and consumers above 50 are accountable for 11% of the ice cream sales. You can see this information presented in the graph below Conclusion To The Market From another survey carried out in 2001 I have came to the following conclusions about the market for ice cream by comparing the two sets of data.

Since 2001 female consumers are purchasing a surprising 8% more of the ice creams sold. This could show that the product should be aimed more at the female consumers. Under 16 consumers have barely increased only going up 1%. Consumers aged 16 - 20 have showed the most increased interest in ice cream as the percentage has grown an impressive 7%.

The 21 - 30 segment has decreased by 2%, the 31 - 40 segment has stayed exactly the same having

21% in both 2001 and 2004. Also showing an increasing interest in the product is the 50+ segment which is showing an increase of 6%. .I have noticed the following changes in where the product is now purchased; In 2001 supermarkets still had the majority of consumers only gaining 3% of the consumers over two years.

Corner shops have lost 2% of the consumers whereas Garages have gained an impressive 8%. The biggest change over the two years is the decrease in the popularity of ice cream vans which could be considered as the foundation for the ice cream industry. They have lost an unbelievable 14% of the consumers. This shows that Garages are increasing in popularity but ice cream vans have almost completely lost the competition.