Limebike Marketing Analysis Report

MARKETING ANALYTICS REPORT

Table of Contents

Executive Summary…………………………………………….3

 Research Methodology………………………………………….4

Secondary Research…………………………………………..4

Google Trends……………………………………………….4

Google Consumer Barometer…………………………………….4

Piinpoint…………………………………………………..5

Environics………………………………………………….5

Population of Interest………………………………………….5

Population of Interest Characteristics……………………………….5

      Low Rise Renters…………………………………………..5

      Young & Connected…………………………………………6

     Single City Jazz…………………………………………….6

Analysis and Findings…………………………………………….7

Right Location………………………………………………7

Target Market……………………………………………….8

Competition………………………………………………..10

Secondary Research………………………………………….11

Limitations of the Study…………………………………………..12

Human Error……………………………………………….12

       Platform Analysis and Diagnosis…………………………………14

            Environics Advantages………………………………………14

    Environics Limitations……………………………………….14

    Piinpoint Advantages………………………………………..14

    Piinpoint Limitations………………………………………..14

Conclusion………………………………………………….15

Bibliography…………………………………………………16

Appendix……………………………………………………17

Appendix A – Yonge and Bloor – high ratio of commuters in the area. ……….17

Appendix B – Google Trends indicates that there’s a demand in methods of commuting                 18

       Appendix C – Competition is driven by similar bike sharing programs in Toronto    19

     Appendix D- Decision to be more eco-friendly is driven by emerging trends in     environmental sustainability              20

Executive Summary

Limebike was discovered for easy access and comfortable travelling. The main outlook behind the idea of Limebike automobiles is to make people less dependent on private, public transport for short distance travel and make the environment pollution free. Limebike has been located in many USA cities such as Alabama, Arizona, California, Florida and many more.

Limebike also initiated programmes such as Lime for Cities which talks about how the use of these vehicles will reduce traffic congestion and provide a healthy lifestyle while the other programme which is Lime Campus Network targets the universities that decrease campus traffic and is reasonable for students to use. Limebike has also made sure to provide safety measures (How to Lime) to customer on their website by implementing Pre-ride safety check, Helmet Laws, Hand Signals and other important measurements to ride safe bike and scooters.

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 It is recommended that Limebike should be operated from Toronto, downtown with a target population of 20-35, (with drivers license if operating scooter). This location has customers appropriate for this project, which involves Low to Middle class, Full/Part-Time workers as well as Students who study at different campuses such as Ryerson, University of Toronto. Also, Yonge & Bloor and Avenue Road & Bloor area, in which school campuses reside.

The use of Analytics Software such as Environics and Piinpoint has published the reports/provided information which highlights the sections of Geographic, Trade Area Profile, Population Sample and Target Segmentation. The data gathered gives a better idea about the expansion of the project Limebike in this area. Also, by the data provided by Environics Analytics the desired population through which Limebike would be benefited are Young and Connected, Low Rise Renter, Single City Jazz. Use of secondary research were also conducted using Google trends and Consumer Barometer to enhance the research to the depth.

By the information congregated Limebike can flourish to a great extent in the area specified. This evidence will make it easy for Limebike to enter the Canadian business market and expand as the age range selected shows a consistent growth in terms of lifestyle and status that helps the economic of an area.

Research Methodology

Secondary Research

• Secondary research was conducted using Google Trends, Google Consumer Barometer, Piinpoint & Environics to understand the Transportation industry in Canada as well as some of the industry’s trends. It was also used to discover the competition & sustainability of Limebike in the Canadian market, to find out the opportunities for its existence in an already established dynamic & competitive industry.

Google Trends

• Google trends analysis reveals that there is a market and increasing demand for different modes of commuting (Google Trends, n.d.).
• It is a unique and useful tool for industries to keep track of what people want, by looking over Google trends which show how frequently a given search term is entered on Google search engine (Google Trends, n.d.).
• Through using Google Trends it can be concluded that major cities searching the term “Commuting” are mostly in Toronto, with 100 people looking up the term; followed by Mississauga & Ottawa (Google Trends, n.d.).

Google Consumer Barometer

• Google consumer barometer is a free interactive tool that helps companies understand how people around the world use the internet (Google Consumer Barometer, n.d.)
• The barometer provides companies with up to date data that provide deep insights into current consumer trends in the industry, which helps them to better understand and serve the target market (Google Consumer Barometer, n.d.)
• This tool thus enabled Limebike to explore their potential target market based on the need discovery of people obtained through the consumer insights & industry trends

Piinpoint

• Piinpoint provided location insights for expansion of Limebike. The report generated in piinpoint highlighted the location sustainability, demographic information like demographic projections; custom demographics & points of interest (Piinpoint, n.d.)

Environics

• Environics Analytics offered a detailed survey of the population trends & the target trade areas for Limebike. Trade area within the range of 1-10 km was displayed based on the data gathered. Report was generated for radius areas of 1km, 5km & 10km (Environics, n.d.)

Population of Interest

Target population for Limebike are largely those within close radius of Yonge & Bloor who commute & are in need of more efficient transportation modes. The target market will incorporate students, millennials & singles within the age group of 20-35 years within a low-income bracket.

Population of interest characteristics:

The target market consists of low-rise renters, young & connected & single city Jazz.

1. Low rise Renters

These comprises of the young population with low income who are either city singles or families. The average household income for this category is $53694.00 (Environics, n.d.). They are under the age of 35 & are considered economically challenged (Environics, n.d.). This target market has a university, school or college degree/diploma & live a low-cost lifestyle(Environics, n.d.). Majority of their spending is on leisure activities. Having a tendency to spend more on leisure activities they save & maintain a budget on other expenses. Thereby public transit comprises 6.4% of the preferred transportation mode. Limebike thus has a growing market in this target area (Environics, n.d.).

2.  Young & connected

These are younger, diverse urban renters with low income ($54010.00) having a university, school or college degree/diploma (Environics, n.d.).. Having just these degrees they have jobs that are not highly paid, they just have an income that can suffice their essential needs but not their pricy wants (Environics, n.d.). Consequently, being young & having a limited income they tend to save more & thus are looking for expenses where they can cut down their spending (Environics, n.d.). Having said that commuting through public transit is a highly preferred option for this demographic target segment accounting for about 17.1% of the transportation modes (Environics, n.d.). As a result of this Limebike has potential opportunities in this market (Environics, n.d.).

3.  Single City Jazz

This target segment has more household income as compared to the other 2 segments (Environics, n.d.). They have an average income of $58539.00 (Environics, n.d.).. These are young diverse city singles living in apartments. More than a third of the target are under the age of 35 years being young, diverse & low-income singles (Environics, n.d.). 16.1% of this population travel by public transit thus creating a big demand base for Limebike (Environics, n.d.).

Analysis and Findings

Right Location:
Objective: To determine the ideal location for Limebike

Hypothesis: The most ideal location for implementing Limebike’s main distribution would thrive around Yonge and Bloor and Avenue Road and Bloor area, in which school campuses reside.

Yonge and Bloor – high ratio of commuters in the area.

• Based on projected growth of 58.16% in the period of 2006-2025, it is clear that Downtown Toronto is experiencing exponential growth.
• With this forecast prediction, the public transit, and or ride sharing industry will be in high demand.
• With an average annual spending of $2,614, 95 on public transportation, this declares this location is in need of a cost-efficient form of transportation (Piinpoint, n.d.)
• With 78.3 % of residents travelling to work by Public transit, bicycle and walking indicates that this location is in need of another method of accessible and efficient transportation (Piinpoint, n.d.)
• With 36.6% of the population’s income in our trade area range from $0-$40k indicates that this is a low-income area which is beneficial for Limebike because people in the low-income people are a key target (Piinpoint, n.d.).
• Within a 5km radius from Yonge and Bloor, there are many universities and colleges in the area (Piinpoint, n.d.).
  • Would be beneficial for Limebike as it would help students with their commute
• Lots of foot traffic in the area indicates lots of people don’t use secondary sources of transportation to work (Piinpoint, n.d.)
  • This would bring Limbike’s some opportunities

Google Trends indicates that there’s a demand in methods of commuting

• Online search volume for “commuting” has been relatively stable over the past year. However, in the summer the search volume goes up as more people are likely to commute during good weather.
• Major cities searching the term are mostly in Toronto, with 100 people looking up the term. Mississauga comes second with 90 searches and Ottawa ranking third with 70 searches (Google Trends, 2018).
  • This indicates that Limebike would be a good service to locate in Toronto because people are more likely to commute in area or use alternatives methods of transportation

Target Market
Objective: To determine the demographics of target market

Hypothesis: The target market will consist of students, millennials, singles, within the ages of 20-35 within a low-income bracket. Target population are those within close radius of Yonge and Bloor who commute and need more efficient ways of transportation.

Decision to commute driven by budget and low-income status population (Yonge and Bloor)

Young and Connected
Younger low income, diverse urban renters

• It was determined that 424,284 (118%) in Toronto have an average household income of $54,010.00. (Environic, n.d.)
• The low income creates significant challenges for population which indicates that they are on a budget when it comes to spending (Environics, n.d.)
• Mode of transport
  •  17.1% travel by public transit (Environics n.d.)
• Education level
  • 40.8% have a university, college or trade school related degree/diploma

Low Rise Renters
Young, low income, city singles and families

• It was determined that the average household income for this population is $53,694.00 and considered economically challenged and are under the age of 35 (Environics, n.d.)
• They live low cost lifestyles and spent most of their time doing leisure activities (Environics, n.d.)
• Mode of transport
  • 6.4% is by public transit (Environics, n.d.)
• Educational level
  • 40.2% have a university, college or trade school related degree/diploma (Environics, n.d.)

Single City Jazz
Younge, diverse city single, in apartments.

• This population has an average household income of $58, 539.00 and is make up of younger diverse and low-income singles. More than a third are under 35 years (Environics, n.d.).
• Mode of Transport
  • 16.1% travel using public transportation (Environics, n.d.)
• Education
  • 51.2% have a university, college or trade school related degree/diploma (Environics, n.d.)

Piinpoint Research
Refer Appendix A

• Its indicated that 33.7% of of the population are within the income bracket of $0-$40k (Piinpoint, n.d.)
• 42,332.8 people aged 18-64 in the Yonge and Bloor area are considered to be of low-income status (Piinpoint, n.d.)
• Median age in the area is 39 (Piinpoint, n.d.)
• The employment rate in this area is 62% (Piinpoint, n.d.)
• 97% of the population is educated with a bachelor’s degree (34.2%) and 2.8% of the population has no certificate, diploma or degree (Piinpoint, n.d.)
• All of this suggests that Limebike would be benefit for the target market.

Competition

Objective: To determine the competitive environment and current trends within the transportation industry in Downtown Toronto, specifically in microbility.
Refer Appendix A

Hypothesis: There is a demand for alternative methods of transportation such as bike sharing and city bikes. However, there will be competition in this industry as bike sharing programs are highly prevalent in and an emerging trend in Toronto

Yonge and Bloor has need for Limebike

• Annual spending on public transportation is an average of $2, 614.95 (Piinpoint, n.d.)
• About 11,517.3 (42.5%) travel by public transportation (Piinpoint, n.d.)
• 8.593.8 (31.75%) travel by walking (Piinpoint, n.d.)
• 1,116.9 (4.1%) travel by bicycle (Piinpoint, n.d.)
   

Competition is driven by similar bike sharing and car share programs in Toronto

• There are at least 19 Bike Share Toronto locations in Downtown
  • According to statistics posted on TTC website
    • “Nearly 85 per cent of all local transit trips in the GTA are made on the TTC. With 1.7 million customers on an average weekday” (TTC, n.d.)
    • In 2017, the TTC carried 533.2 million riders (TCC, n.d.)
• Uber Toronto
  • Downtown Toronto is a busy area for uber requests. Popular areas include the following (Uber, 2018).

• Liberty Village: King St. West at Dufferin St.
• Yorkville: Bloor St. West at Yonge St.
• Financial District: Adelaide St at Bay St.
• Queen St. West: Queen St West. at Spadina Ave.
• Lyft
  • Ride sharing program that’s moved to Toronto that’s gaining popularity (Lyft, 2018).
• All of these car-sharing programs play a role in the everyday lives of residents in Toronto
  • Might affect Limebike’s potential to gain prospect customers as brands above have already established a loyal customer base

Secondary Research
Refer Appendix D

Objective: To determine the current trends in environmental sustainability

Hypothesis: In Toronto there is a need for environmentally friendly methods of transportation, Limebike will be able to fulfill this need for Toronto commuters at a low and efficient cost. Toronto is looking to go Greener.

Decision to be eco-friendlier is driven by emerging trends in environmental sustainability

• Increasing accessibility to more eco-efficient forms of transportation creates environmental benefits.
• Ride-sharing an emerging trend.
• The increase in technology has allowed businesses to move their services to digital platforms. Customers nowadays are also changing their behaviour in order to adapt to this trend
  • This is beneficial for Limebike because their service is all done through an app on your phone.
• New travel alternatives enabled by new technology and business models have provided individuals with even more choices (Nicoll, Armstrong, 2016).
• Asset based sharing
  • Bike sharing provides solutions to those who normally wouldn’t be able to afford a car or using car sharing as a primary source of transport (Nicoll, Armstrong, 2016).

The internet is an essential tool for many people

• 77% primary resource
• 71% fun
• 45% preferred method

• People look for local information across different devices, including smartphones, so it’s crucial for businesses to ensure that their sit is suitably optimized (Google Consumer Barometer, n.d.).
  • 37% smartphone
  • 59% computer
  • 17% tablet
• The help consumers make the right purchase decision marketers should ensure presence across all relevant digital touchpoints (Google Consumer Barometer, n.d.)

• 20% branded websites
• 17% retailer websites
• 35% search engines
• 3% social networks
• 6% online video sites
• 7% comparison sites

Limitations of the Study

Human Error

Although this group strived to create the most accurate and in-depth marketing analytics project possible, [since this report was created by students who were newly exposed to the world of marketing analytics] there is always the possibility that human error occurred in producing the final results. Listed below are various human errors that may have emerged throughout the process of this analytics report (from proposal, design, and straight through to the final report):

• Since this report was created by students who were newly exposed to the world of marketing analytics, and who do not possess proficient knowledge in the transportation industry, it is plausible that there are gaps in the data produced resulting is a report which is not developed to its full potential.

• While efforts were made to learn as much as possible about marketing analytics (through course content, lecture and slides), it is not realistic that this group could know and superbly address all aspects.
• Steps were taken through the use of extensive secondary research methods to build a rapport of knowledge regarding the multiple forms of transportation used in Toronto and the GTA, but that is such a broad topic that some sub-sections of this topic may have been overlooked as well as misinterpreted.

• The data gathered through Environics and Piinpoint gave detailed information on demographics and socio-economic background, and use of travel methods, there was a gap in the data regarding which mode of transportation was the most favourable by users in the Yonge and Bloor area.

• The use of surveys or focus groups may have assisted in gathering more applicable information in order to determine the overall need and best location for Limebike to establish itself in Ontario.

• The secondary research and data gathered from the software, is not up-to-date or real-time data; the farthest date used is from 2006 and most recent is 2017-18.

• The out of date data was used to establish trends and patterns, but the information from 2017-18 leaves a slight gap on the present day and therefore important changes could have occurred in that gap of time that were missing from the research gathered.

• The most glaring possible human error to have occurred in this report is that the information and data analyzed in this report may not be wholly applicable to Limebike regarding the type of research the collect in order to determine new launch locations for their services.

• This could have been rectified through accessibility to, and greater knowledge of, the internal company strategies that are inaccessible to the public.

Platform Analysis and Diagnosis

Environics Advantages

• Using Environics develop an evidence-based rationale that makes it easy for an individual to known how good/vast their market would be in the precise location.  
• It also helps in comparing the statistics of two or more locations, so as to set a benchmark, amongst different categories.
• The information provided are not hard to understand as it also uses graphs and bars to describe more about a particular place.

Environics Limitations

• The software takes considerable amount of time to load data, which makes it difficult to provide information first hand.
• For an individual using it for the first time, it becomes difficult to understand the keys to go through each section.  
• Some of the information provided along with the exact data are not useful, which adds more to the loading of data.

Piinpoint Advantages

• The data provided is of at most importance and very helpful in knowing the market especially with any desired product.
• The features such as geographical conditions, demographic projections, rate of traffic, point of interests makes it more reliable for the user.
• Also, the market of Fast food restaurant, Coffee company and other food chains are highlighted in the report with their symbols, names which makes it look good and familiar to the user.

Piinpoint Limitations

• For a beginner, if used alone the data provided could be confusing.
•  Piinpoint does not compare statistics simultaneously and gives the information about the target selected alone.  
•  There is speed limitation and at times due the high frequency of user, it hangs in between when operated on a laptop.

Conclusion

The innovative and eco-friendly transportation business Limebike, has allowed popularity in urban cities such as Toronto, where there are emerging trends in environmentally sustainable methods of transportation. Based on the qualitative and quantitative research and analysis done for this report, the findings suggest that Limebike has a place in the Canadian market; specifically, there is availability within the geographic market in Toronto.

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Through various research and analysis of consumer trends, demographics, and competition, it is recommended that Limebike be located on Yonge and Bloor in downtown Toronto, consisting of one central docking location. With the emerging trend of access to smart and environment friendly mobility, Limbike will be successful in Downtown Toronto.  Presenting a more seamless way to get through the congested streets of Downtown, Limebike will offer their services with ease of access through digital touch points straight from their mobile device. Based on the current data on foot traffic and popularity in using alternative methods of transportation, it is apparent that there is a need for better transportation and that Limebike will be able to fulfill that need. Limebike has a place in Downtown Toronto to offer their bike and scooter services, and surely in the future the demand for their services will increase.

In order to fully understand the market in which users would be more likely to use Limebike, more research would need to be conducted regarding consumer preferences and needs.  Most of the hypotheses suggested were validated through analytical research that was conducted throughout the project. Data supported by the hypotheses most likely suggests that Limebike would be supported in Toronto.

Bibliography

• Consumer Barometer (n.d.). Retrieved from: https://www.consumerbarometer.com/en/
• Google trend (n.d.). Retrieved from:
• Environics Analytics (EA). Source: PRIZM5, PRIZM5 2017 – FSALDU.
• Environics Analytics. (n.d.). PRIZM5 Snapshots 2015  
  Retrieved from: http://assets.cengage.com/training/AOD_PRIZM5_Snapshots.pdf
• In Piinpoint (2018.). Retrieved from https://app.piinpoint.com/report/v2/5c04ac25e76d4c000b283261
• Nicoll, E., & Armstrong, S. (2016, April 12). Ride-sharing: The rise of innovative transportation services. In Mars. Retrieved December 3, 2018, from https://www.marsdd.com/news-and-insights/ride-sharing-the-rise-of-innovative-transportation-services/
• Limebike. (n.d.). About Limebike, Location Limebike, Programs Limebike, How to Lime Limebike. Retrieved from Limebike https://www.li.me/
• Section Two . (n.d.). In TTC. Retrieved December 3, 2018, from https://www.ttc.ca/About_the_TTC/Operating_Statistics/2017/section_two.jsp
• (n.d.). In Lyft. Retrieved from https://www.lyft.com/rider/cities/greater-toronto-area-on
• Where to drive Toronto . (n.d.). In Uber. Retrieved December 3, 2018, from https://www.uber.com/en-CA/drive/toronto/where-to-drive/

APPENDIX
Appendix A – Yonge and Bloor – high ratio of commuters in the area.

Universities and colleges in the area

Appendix B – Google Trends indicates that there’s a demand in methods of commuting

Results indicate that the term commuting is commonly searched term with high search volumes residing within Toronto (Google Trends, 2018.).
 

Appendix C – Competition is driven by similar bike sharing programs in Toronto
Google map showing all the Bike Share Toronto docs located throughout Downtown Toronto

Lyft Coverage in Toronto, Ontario

Uber Toronto Coverage in Toronto, Ontario

Appendix D – Decision to be more eco-friendly is driven by emerging trends in environmental sustainability

The graph above displays the usage of bike sharing by world regions. Its totals shown per 1000 residents. This proves the demand for bike sharing is very high, as Canada is the highest on the graph alongside tied with _________, with China following closely behind.

The information represented above shows that there has been search activity with the term ‘Environmental Sustainability’ in Canada from December 2017- October 2018. As the searches are always fluctuating by month, there are always people in Toronto with interest in the term (Google Trends, 2018.).

The data represented above implicates the number of searches that have been made by people looking up the term ‘Eco-Friendly’ in Canada over the last 12 months. With Ontario being number one with 100 searches, suggests the urge people have to start with taking steps to be more sustainable with the environment.