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Home appliances and office equipment market: new market opportunities
In summer 2003 “BISAM Central Asia” business-information center of marketing and social researches installed Non-food Retail Audit panel at Kazakhstani market of home, office appliances and mobile phones. This project is unique not only in our Republic but within the entire Central Asia as well. At the same time it shows the level of national business development, its capabilities in evaluation and optimal usage of market information. The main idea of this project is to submit qualitative truly and systematic information about volume and structure of the researching markets to the interested companies. Retail Audit is one of the most difficult methods of market research. That’s why up to present such a panel in all CIS countries has been installed only in Russia. The initiator of Russian panel was GFK Rus (rep. Office of GFK), the world leader of non-food Retail Audit. These projects are considered to be unique and complicated due to the informational and resourceful basis that is formed because of informative contribution given by companies participating in the project. Despite of our companies’ passive position in new marketing technologies application, notwithstanding the majority of them understood the importance and necessity of such a project. Large Kazakhstani companies, as foreseen, showed the key interest to the project. For the moment there are five cities and more than 150 companies participate in the panel. All participants have equal access to informative and analytical materials. Information that is regularly received assists to companies in more reasonable development of short and long term strategies, to form more accurate assortment and pricing policy, to imagine more clearly the perceptiveness of this or that product, to forecast and thus be ready for future increasing and decreasing of wholesale and retail sales. RA at present is the most reliable source of qualitative and truly information regarding to main market indexes. For example, unit and amount market volume counted on the basis of statistical data has a plenty of errors. As you know initially statistics is formed on the basis of accountant, customs and other official reports submitted by the companies to governmental agencies. That’s why the trust level to statistical data is extremely low. Data based on the consumer panels either not too accurate. This is because of the limitation of consumer panel sample and usually is not higher than 1% of the universe. There are many other alternative methods in market indexes study but as a rule none of them can provide more qualitative information than Retail Audit data. Based on the Retail Audit reports you have the opportunity to develop long and short-term strategies more reasonably in such a key issues as:
On the whole RA reports opportunities are not limited only by marketing activity of the company but also can be used by finance, logistic, strategic planning departments. According to the characteristics of internal competition, increasing of market turnover and profit, markets of home, office appliances and mobile phones become to be like FMCG markets. Because of that within these markets PPMA (Post Production Marketing Activities) become more and more actual. For instance some ten years ago the future success of home or office equipment has been determined at the production stage by its technical characteristics and companies didn’t pay too much attention to consumer. Today it’s strategically important to make post production marketing activity and it’s not only advertising and promotion but all other forms of marketing communications. It’s wrong to consider RA data only as an information source regarding current sales volumes for this or that time period. Retail Audit data analysis together with social, demographic and economic indexes of this of that region allows counting such an important index like potential market volume and its not currently covered consumers that are known as “walking” ones. There are often cases when the market consumes less than it can. Traditionally the reason is social, economic, cultural and other sub regional factors. One of the main reasons of non-adequate to profit per person consuming in regions, despite others, are non-effective distribution channels, weak advertising activity, not enough or absence of prior- and post- sale service. Finally it causes the absence of attention to markets located in the periphery of the country and this is not because of the potential or money absence in this or that Republican region. And RA data in this case will conduct precise and deep analysis of regional markets potential. At present in Kazakhstan there is no 100% national brand in the sphere of office equipment, home appliances or mobile phones known everywhere in the country. Of course in our case we are not talking about brand as physical product or its producer but brand here as a local trade and distributive company. Now when consumer’s choice is not limited the most important role plays not only product itself that can be good or not, but principles that are basis for relationship between producer and/or its distributor on the one hand and consumer on the other hand. Traditionally there are 3 reasons why local companies don’t enter or don’t want to enter into regions and thus to expand geography of its brand:
All these reasons in this or that level are caused by lack or absence of information. In the frames of modern competition market needs accurate approach in forming of strategic and tactical issues. In this sense operative and qualitative Retail Audit information becomes a significant factor of success. Timur Aisautov Panel research department manager | |||||||||
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