Customer Segments

Our product is targeting two different customer segments that may also overlap. We have defined them as:

- organized consumers, representing the ones that are interested in organizing, structuring and tracking their expenses, having a constant overview of the different purchase categories; 

- environmentally conscious consumers, representing the ones that are interested in making a real difference in the reduction of waste production.

 

In order to better understand our customer segments, we have used an EMPATHY MAP.

An empathy map provides insights into the key players which serve as drivers for our company's success. The better the understanding of the people involved in our business environment, the easier it is to identify and address potential short-comings and customize the product to the customers' needs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In this particular case, we have chosen Hugo, a 25year-old post-graduate student who has a profound need/interest in tracking his expenses, as he is still not fully self-sustainable and doesn't want to live over his monthly budget. 

It has helped us to get a deeper understanding of what our future customers see, hear, think, say, gain and are challenged by and which aspects we need to address in order to satisfy them.

 

 

Furthermore, we have designed personas for our two main customer segments: 'Organized/methodical' customers and 'Environmentally conscious' customers. These finctional characters allowed us to better understand our potential user types, in terms of demographic elements and attitudes/behaviors.

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Value proposition

Our GreenTrackers app allows people to:

- collect and classify into different categories all the expenses

- support less waste production because the receipts won't be printed anymore but they will go automatically into the App through a Bluetooth technology at the check-out

- facilitate the tax declaration process because there won't be anymore the need to collect all the paper receipts to deduct these expenses 

 

In order to better understand the benefits we are offering to our customers, we have used a VALUE CURVE that allows comparing our own service to the service offered by competitors, that we have identified in the normal existing expense-tracking apps. 

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We have started identifying and selecting different VALUE ATTRIBUTES, it means what creates value for the customers, and then we have evaluated them for our service and for the competitors' one. Taking a look at the Value Curve graph, we can see some clear differences in the value proposition.

 

We have chosen convenience as one of our main attributes, as our App offers a new level of convenience to the user due to the automatized sorting of expenses into certain categories. Our service stands in contrast to the normal Apps, where one has to manually insert every amount one has spent and therefore offers a new level of convenience.
 

This goes hand in hand with the increased speed-level, which we have ranked especially high since a very low level of manual action by the consumer itself is required. Thanks to a Bluetooth technology, the receipts get automatically transferred into the system, where they are digitally stored and sorted into expenditure-categories. 
 

Regarding availability, we are considering a point in time where the app has recently been launched on the market. We reckon that the service will generally be appreciated by key partners and consumers, but nonetheless, it will take some time until the digital-receipt-providers will be implemented in various retailer-systems. As our service is reliant on the availability of these systems, we have rated it on a lower scale - thinking in the long run though, we would assume that the availability improve will gradually with increasing awareness and even external pressure on retailers to implement the system in order to support overall waste-reduction. As our competitors offer a simple app that isn't depending on anything but the manual usage of its customers, their availability is clearly higher. In this case,  their only restriction might be due to limitations regarding phone-operating-systems or technological constraints. 
 

The environmental factor is clearly our strongest point regarding creating a new value proposition. As existent expense-apps have no connection to the waste-production of receipt-printing they do not offer any benefit with respect to environmental concerns. Hereby, our service stands out as it connects both aspects, a convenient knowledge-provider which supports furthermore offers the benefit of addressing the waste-production problem in our world. 
 

The capability in our model is slightly higher, as our App will have several features that not only enable the system to automatically understand which spending-category an expense belongs to but furthermore assists in various ways with the expense tracking. It offers the consumer to assign a budget to each category, designs graphs and overviews and conducts lump-sum income-related expenses allowances, with automatic advises and insights for ones individual tax-declaration. 
 

In terms of price, our competitors have a stronger position, as most of the existing apps are completely free. As our product offers a more complex system, we have chosen a Freemium Pricing strategy for certain features of our app - as we have high implementation-expenditures, the app will not be sold entirely for free. 
 

Simplicity is ranking simultaneously high, as both, our product and the one of our competitor is expected to be highly consumer-friendly, with a convenient and simple user-interface and a logical approach to every feature. 
 

Last but not least, we have chosen knowledge as part of our value proposition, as the system offers a new and extended access to knowledge. We have ranked knowledge slightly higher due to the same reasons why we have ranked capability on a higher level - GreenTrackers provide an in-depth analysis of the consumer's expenses without the risk of potential lack of information. Since our competitors' offers rely on the active contribution of its customers, we are relying on the system to automatically store 100% of the expenditure-information, which strengthens the knowledge level. 

 

Distribution channels

To deliver our value proposition to the customers, we have chosen to use two different distribution channels in particular:

- First of all, our App, because it is the platform that allows the storage of the receipts

- Retailers, because they are responsible for facilitating this process in the first place

 

Customer relationships

Our service is characterized by the establishment of an automated relationship with our customers.

We have also decided to realize for our costumers a loyalty program, consisting of the possibility to accumulate so-called "fidelity points" in their App, which then can be used in order to account for discounts for future purchases. This program aims to acquire and retain our customers and create long-lasting loyalty to our service. 

 

Revenue streams

We will generate revenues from:

- the freemium strategy 

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- the advertisement space that we will provide in our App.

 

Key activities

In order to make our business model work, we need:

- a strong capability regarding problem-solving

- the creation/algorithm behind the GreenTrackers-App

- a successful distribution of our service

- the creation of a network of suppliers and retailing stores

 

Key resources

In order to realize the key activities, we will be in need of certain critical resources, such as the technology, which can be acquired from our software-producer partners in the market, as well as patents, which will allow us to protect our idea from competitors' attempt of imitation or infringement. 

 

Key partnerships

The key partnerships represent the network of suppliers and partners that make our business model work and sustainable. 

We have identified them as: 

- Retailing stores: serve as crucial partners for our business model, because their cooperation allows us to give our customers the access to actively gain and use the information relevant to our service to operate.

Their motivation to cooperate with us is given by:

1. The possibility of being part of a network of retailers and an additional benefit created with respect to customer retention through the loyalty program;

2. The possibility to be accredited as "GreenRetailer", creates benefit through positive reputation;

3. Reduce the costs of paper and printing of the traditional paper receipts;

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- Government: it may play a critical role in our service diffusion, pushing the customers as well as the retailers to use the GreenTrackers App, in order to sustain the environmental protection policy;

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- Software developers: they are considered as partners because they will provide the necessary technology to develop the App and the entire operating system behind it. 

 

Cost structure

We have developed a value-driven business model, meaning a business model with the focus on the value creation to our customers.

The main cost drivers in our business concept are: 

- Costs related to the App development and maintenance

- Marketing costs for the distribution of our service