Case - Consultancy Team E: Bubble Tea Shop

Brief
Bubble tea is a tea-based beverage invented in Taiwan that is becoming increasingly visible on the streets of UK cities. An entrepreneur who owns a restaurant in London is planning to open a bubble tea shop in the city centre of Nottingham. The entrepreneur has no experience in operating a bubble tea shop but she studied in the UK as an international PG student and knows how open to new ideas plus how influential international students are. It is extremely important to her therefore to gain feedback from this particular population. She intends to sell bubble tea and snacks in the shop in Nottingham but is necessary to gain better evidence from, and understanding of understand of her target customers, postgraduate students, before taking further action.

What the client currently thinks they want to know

What research has been done, not just on the target market, on how to attract students to purchase from them, where they should locate, what their pricing tariff should be, etc.? What evidence is there from other, similar enterprises? What type of bubble tea should the shop sell (e.g. fruit tea, smoothie, milk tea)? How much are the postgraduate students willing to pay for a cup of bubble tea? How often do the students visit a bubble tea shop? Where (and how) should the shop be advertised? Do postgraduates students prefer to drink in the shop or takeaway their drink?

What influence do PG students have over what other potential customers, and through what mechanisms?