I work in a grocery store. I work in the scan-file dept...which means I deal with price changing and I put up all those lovely price tags on the shelves, We have a monthly newsletter at work and I was asked to write an article about anything that has to do with the store. I have no clue at all what I should write about. Does anyone have any ideas for me..I would appreciate any of them..thanks!
Anyone have any ideas..please!?
Dear friend,
I would like to thank you for this question. It helped me to recall some of my Business Studies lessons 3 years back. As a salesboy in a grocery shop, I am sure that you do have a very close touch with the clients, and as you mentioned it, with the product prices as well. So I think you too have a say in the marketing strategy of your shop.
Marketing decisions are generally based on the following five controllable categories: product, packaging, price, place, and promotion. These are the 5 P’s of the marketing mix, i.e. the 5 basic ingredients in marketing. These 5 P's are the parameters that marketing managers do control, subject to the internal and external influences of the marketing environment. The goal is to manipulate these parameters so as to create a perceived value and generate a positive response from the targeted market segment.
In your article, you may comment on each of the above P, suggesting how you may improve them at relatively low costs. First, you have got the product. Product decisions, relevant to a grocery, may concern for example, the brand name of the products (whether or not you sell branded products), Styling (the way you dispose or display your products), Quality (people look for quality and it is your duty to instil confidence in them), and very important, the quality of services offered to customers (I guess that you must always smile with them, making them feeling easy, providing trusted advices on products and prices). The grocery can endeavour to launch its own branded products, i.e. selling products bearing the grocery’s own name. You also got packaging which has a non-negligible effect on customers, saying a great deal about quality of the product.
Then there is Price. You can suggest pricing strategies like price skimming, i.e. selling quality goods at relatively high prices to ensure brand name or market penetration price, particularly when you are selling a new type of products so as to attract customers ‘ attention, which is very important. You can go for suggested retail price, or even offer volume discounts, cash and early payment discounts and wholesale pricing. Many shops go for seasonal pricing for some of their products, selling them at a cheaper price in one season and higher in another season. There are possibilities for product bundling (i.e. selling a package of linked products), price flexibility, price discrimination and price differentiation.
Then comes the Place. Place (Distribution) decisions are concerned about getting the products to the customer. Some examples of distribution decisions include: Distribution channels (possibilities of opening other outlets where there is a potential market), implementation of an efficient inventory management and order processing, home delivery...etc.
And the last P is Promotion. Promotion represents the various aspects of marketing communication, that is, the communication of information about the product and the grocery in view of generating a positive customer response. Your grocery can adopt promotional strategies like using adverts, sales promotions (discounts on certain products over a limited period of time, issuing vouchers, offering gifts and prizes), public relations %26amp; publicity, using the local radio station.
I hope that I have been of some help to you.
Anyone have any ideas..please!?
How about quality service? Like in relation to customers and co-employees who need your support.
How about price sensitivity and product sales from changing price... Since you do this with your hand and if you notice this, it will be advantageous to your business.
