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A-LevelBusiness StudiesMarketingMay/June 2018Paper 2 Q230 Marks

Umpire Umbrellas (UU) UU is a private limited company that sells umbrellas with pictures it prints on them. All of the pictures on the umbrellas are printed using batch production. The umbrellas can be used to shelter from the rain or as a shade from the sun. The company has two main markets: consumer and business. UU sells individual umbrellas to consumers. These have pictures of famous people or places on them. They are mainly sold through UU's website. UU produces 20000 of each design. The business market for UU is made up of businesses that want their logo printed on a large number of umbrellas. UU guarantees all business orders are delivered within 10 days. Recently, UU received an order from a large bank for 10000 umbrellas with the bank logo printed on them. The bank gave an umbrella to any customer who opened a new account. The fixed cost for the order was $2000 and the variable costs were $0.75 per unit. UU made $3000 profit on the order. UU's Board of Directors has been considering two different options to grow the business. Option 1: UU would sell franchise opportunities to entrepreneurs who can print and sell UU branded umbrellas to the consumer market in the entrepreneur's local area. These entrepreneurs would pay a fee to UU as well as 10% royalties on the profits. In return UU would provide the machinery needed to print the umbrellas. The franchisee would be required to purchase all of their inventory from UU. Option 2: UU would increase its product portfolio by selling other goods to the business market, such as pens, USB sticks and clothing. This would require external finance to purchase the machinery needed to be able to print on these products. The market for these is growing but is very competitive.

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About This A-Level Business Studies Question

This structured question appeared in the Cambridge A-Level Business Studies (9609) May/June 2018 examination, Paper 2 Variant 2. It tests the topic of Marketing and is worth 30 marks.

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