The Distribution Channel And Market Analysis Marketing Essay

Published Date: 23 Mar 2015

The project "Study of the distribution channel and market analysis of the of the products distributed and marketed by Keventer Agro under the license of Parle Agro" involves the study of the strategies undertaken by Keventer Agro to distribute and market products of Parle Agro which includes HIPPO and BAILEY PACKAGED DRINKING WATER and BAILEY SODA.

Keventer Agro: The Company

Keventer Agro Limited is a subsidiary of Keventer Group which has been operating years in the Food Processing Industry in India for more than 125 years. Keventer exports Alphonso Mango Pulp, Totapuri Mango Pulp, Guava Pulp, Sweetened Alphonso Mango Pulp, Mango Pickle, Sesame Seed, Cashew Nuts, Peanuts, Cumin Seed, Fennel Seed, Fenugreek, Coriander Seed, Bakery Ingredients, Fruit Jams, Tutti Fruiti, Red Chilies & Button Mushrooms etc. to various countries. Keventer Agro Ltd. (KAL) was established in the year 1986. The division exports food products such as Mango Pulp, Guava Pulp, Sesame Seeds, and Bakery Ingredients to various customers across the globe. In no time, it earned the coronet of being the first to introduce aseptic packaging in the beverage category (a high-end packaging procedure that preserved the natural goodness of drinks in hygienic packs). The Group entered into a franchisee agreement with the food and beverage giant - PARLE to manufacture, package, distribute and market its well-known brands namely FROOTI - a popular mango drink, APPY and APPY FIZZ- the in-style apple drinks and BAILEY PACKAGED DRINKING WATER mostly in the eastern parts of India.

In late 2010, Parle Agro inked another agreement with Keventer Agro to set up a plant at Barasat. This new unit manufactures Parle Agro's snack brand Hippo. Besides manufacturing, Keventer is also responsible for marketing, sales and distribution of Hippo. Parle Agro chose to partner Keventer for their range of food brands which wÑ-ll hеlÑ€ them to expand Hippo's market share in the eastern part of India.

Parle Agro: The Company

Parle Agro is a household name in the beverages industry and has leading brands like Frooti, Appy, Appy Fizz and packaged drinking water, Bailley. A pioneer in the Indian industry, Parle Agro were the first to introduce fruit drinks in tetra packaging, first to introduce apple nectar and the first to introduce fruit drinks in PET bottles. In 2007, Parle Agro forayed into foods with the launch of two confectionery brands, Mintrox mints and Buttercup candies. This was soon followed by two more brands - Buttercup Softease and Softease Mithai. Recent beverage products from Parle Agro include Saint Juice, LMN and Grappo Fizz. In 2009, Parle Agro forayed into snacks with the launch of Hippo, in line with the company's vision of becoming a major player in the foods and beverages industry. The snack brand Hippo, was launched in the western region starting with Maharashtra and then it was soon rolled out nationally. Parle Agro commenced operations in 1984. Starting with only beverages and diversifying to include bottled water in 1993 and confectionery in 2007. Frooti was the first product that was rolled out of Parle Agro in 1985. It went on to become India's favourite mango drink. It still has a leading market share.

Parle Agro Pvt. Ltd operates under three business vertical Beverages - fruit drinks, nectars, 100% Juice, sparkling drinks, Water - Packaged Drinking Water and Foods - confectionery, snacks

Product & Industry Overview

HIPPO: Parle Agro forayed into snacks with the launch of Hippo, in line with the company's vision of becoming a major player in the foods and beverages industry. Hippo is a toasted bread snack. Its ingredients include wheat flour, edible vegetable oils, seasoning mix, corn starch, sugar, raising agent, milk solids, salt, emulsifier, yeast extract powder, instant yeast. It contains added natural color and added natural identical flavoring substances; but no added MSG, no GMO and no Trans Fat. It comes in two variant; Hippo Munchies and Hippo Round-Round. The Hippo Munchies comes in 7 flavors (Chinese Manchurian, Hot-n-Sweet Tomato, Thai Chilli, Yoghurt Mint Chutney, Italian Pizza, Indian Chatpata and Arabian Salted) and Hippo Round-Round comes in 5 flavors (Punjab Da Pickle, Gujrati Mango Chatni, Shillong Noodle Masala, Goan Butter and Garlic, Firangi Cheese n Spice). It is available in three sizes which are priced at Rs 5, Rs 10 and Rs 20.

Industry to which Hippo belongs: Hippo is a player of the snack food industry of India. The Indian snack industry is one of the largest when considered in the global level. With rising standard of living, people are more resorting to snacks items during breakfast, supper or any time; snacks most often take the place of meals. Right from production, using up, export and growth prospects owing to emerging markets, increasing demand, and incorporation of latest technologies, the snack industry in India has witnessed a dramatic change. Ready-to-eat foods, samosas, kachoris, namkeen, chips, are few of the snacks that are most preferred by Indians. Given the rising demand, the snack industry is going to witness further growth in the future.

The snacks food industry in India can broadly be categorised into three segments - staple (biscuits category), traditional (namkeens) and ready-to-eat packaged snacks (chips / crisps). The snack food market in India is $3 billion; with the organized segment accounting for almost half of the market share and growing at rate of 15 to 20 percent per year. A growing economy, changing lifestyles, rise in disposable incomes and preference for quality products of U.S. origin will continue to fuel growth of imported U.S. snack food items in India. As per an industry estimate, the branded and organized snack food segment dominated by major players such as Frito Lay, Con Agra, Kellogg's, Marico, Dabur, HLL, ITC, Parle, Haldiram's, Nestle, Britannia, Cadbury, Bikano and Balaji is estimated to grow by 15 to 20 percent per year; whereas the growth of un-branded snack food is likely to grow modestly at 8 percent per year in the near future.

Frito-Lay India led sweet and savory snacks with a retail value share of 46% in 2009. The company's Kurkure, Lehar and Lay's Stax offerings have helped it to consolidate its leadership during the year. Haldiram Foods International Ltd and ITC Ltd remained the second and third ranked players respectively. Products like Hippo claim to be made from healthier ingredients than chips/crisps. With Indian consumers becoming more health conscious and more inquisitive about the ingredients in their food, sweet and savory snacks will witness an increase in products which are positioned as better for you and healthier snacks.

BAILEY PACKAGED DRINKING WATER: Another product of Parle Agro that is managed by Keventer Agro. It is the first water brand to be issued an ISI certification and the first to launch special four-sided 200ml bottles catering to premium airlines like Jet Airways and British Airways. Bailey is available in 200ml, 300ml, 500ml, 1 ltr. & 2 ltr. PET and 5 ltr., 20 ltr., & 25 ltr. Jars. The target market is thirsty, hygiene conscious people and Hotel, Restaurant and Cafe (HORECA). Bailey the brand that is owned by Ramesh Chauhan's brother Prakash Chauhan is very popular in the southern part of India

Industry to which Bailley belongs: India's bottled water industry is bubbling with a 25-30% growth each year. As the competition heats up, branding will become imperative in the commoditised Rs 1,100 crore market. There are more than 200 bottled water brands in India and among them nearly 80 per cent are local brands. In fact, making bottled water is today a cottage industry in the country. Leaving alone the metros, where a bottled-water manufacturer can be found even in a one-room shop, in every medium and small city and even some prosperous rural areas there are bottled water manufacturers.

While India ranks in the top 10 largest bottled water consumers in the world, its per capita per annum consumption of bottled water is estimated to be five litres which is comparatively lower than the global average of 24 litres. Today it is one of India's fastest growing industrial sectors. Between 1999 and 2004, the Indian bottled water market grew at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 25 per cent - the highest in the world. The total annual bottled water consumption in India had tripled to 5 billion liters in 2004 from 1.5 billion liters in 1999. Global consumption of bottled water was nearing 200 billion liters in 2006.

The market leader is Bisleri International, which boasts a 40 per cent share. It is followed by Coca- Coca's Kinley (around 25 per cent) and PepsiCo's Aquafina (around 10 per cent). The top players in bottled water industry in India are the major international giants like Coca cola, Pepsi, Nestle and noticeable presence of national players like Mount Everest, Manikchand, Kingfisher, Mohan Meakins, SKN Breweries , Indian Railways so on. Almost all major national and international brands have taken a plunge. Parle's Bisleri that virtually monopolised the bottled water market is now vying with Nestle, Coca Cola, PepsiCo, Manikchand, UB and Britannia. According to a national-level study, there are close to 200 bottled water brands in India. Nearly 80 per cent of these are local brands.

Bottled water is sold in a variety of packages right from 200 ml pouches and glasses, to 330 ml bottles, 500 ml bottles, to one-liter bottles and even 20- to 50-litre bulk water packs. In terms of cost the bottled water business in India can be divided broadly into three segments, premium natural mineral water, natural mineral water and packaged drinking water.

BAILLEY SODA: It was first introduced way back in the year of 1998 but due to fierce competition from the local brands it could not sustain in the market. Parle has relaunched its soda. Parle Agro within renewed zeal has again introduced Soda with much better packaging and product. The product has a gas volume of 5.4% V/V of carbon dioxide compared to 4.5% V/V of carbon dioxide which makes it stronger followed by Grenade like label on the bottle.

Objectives of the Project

For HIPPO

To execute a qualitative study on the trend of packaged snack industry

To gauge the acceptance of baked and healthy-snacks

To understand competitor's strategy in the market

To study the sales and distribution structure, pricing (both to the retailer and to the consumer) of Hippo and problems in those respected area.

To develop marketing strategies for Hippo

To analyze the markets and determine the factors responsible for sale of products and provide recommendations about the scope for improvement.

To provide a statement of collective responses of the retailers'and determine the scope for improvement in the distribution channel for the products and the problems faced by the retailers.

To study the pattern of consumer behavior and their awareness towards HIPPO

To find out the problems faced by HIPPO if any and suggest solution to address those problems

For BAILLEY PACKAGED DRINKING WATER and SODA

To find out the potential of bailey packaged drinking water and soda in the market

To understand the bargaining power of the company in respect to the product

To understand the retailers' view about the products

To find put the main competitors operating in the market

To provide a statement of collective responses of the retailers 'and determine the scope for improvement in the distribution channel for the products and the problems faced by the retailers.

To find out the problems faced by bailey packaged water and soda if any and suggest solution to address those problems

To understand the market and suggest ways that would lead to increase in sales for bailey packaged drinking water and soda

Project Methodology

Primary Research is done through market survey. The research is mainly based on:

Questionnaire Method

Interview Method

Observation Method

Secondary Research has also been used as a supporting tool like:

Some of the data related to holistic picture of the industry has been gathered from the data available on the internet

M A I N T E X T

Since the project revolves around two types of products distributed and marketed by Keventer Agro under the license of Parle Agro, work done so far involves both the products Hippo and Bailley packaged drinking water and soda.

The initial phase constituted of mainly studying and analyzing the distribution channel of Hippo and doing a market analysis of the product with respect to pricing, competition, brand awareness and consumer behavior of Hippo.

As per the objective of the project, two sets of questionnaire were prepared;

For the retailer which aimed to assess the availability of Hippo, pricing of Hippo, sales, defect handling and some financial aspect of Hippo viz. it's competitors and the other for the consumers.

For the consumer which aimed to gauge awareness of the product and the brand, product acceptance, their choice of product and buying pattern.

PHASE ONE

Refer Annexure I for further details.

This phase involved daily visits from the stock point to the designated markets. The markets covered were Salt Lake, Lake Town, S.K. Deb Road Market, Nagerbazar, Mrinalini Cinema Hall Market, New Market, Ultadanga, Kankurgachi, Bagmari, Beadon Street , Aurobindo Road and Vivekananda Road area, Shyambazar, Rajballavpara and Baghbazar. Every shop that kept branded snacks in the respective area was approached. The initial plan was to conduct the survey through questionnaire method but while performing the survey the method had to be changed to schedule, observation and interview method as it was not convenient for the retailers to fill up the questionnaire.

Observations through observation method

The visibility of Hippo and of competitors' product

Mode of storing Hippo and competitors' i.e. whether it is on shelve or in the basket or inside almirah

The location of the store i.e. whether it is beside main road or inside a lane or on a square

Type of store

Approximate demography

Observations through schedule method was based on three perspectives

About Hippo: Whether he keeps Hippo or not, if not the reason, its availability, reorder period, quality of defective product handling', margin offered, supply of banners and danglers.

About Competitor: The competition brand kept, approximate margin they offer.

About the market as a whole: The most selling brand.

The interview methodology aimed to gain the intrinsic details of the market functions such as; if the retailers does not keep Hippo would he like to keep it afterward, the credit policy, frequency of visit of sales representative, retailer's view on Hippo's marketing strategy and scope of improvement.

Findings by Area

Area: Salt-Lake [KC block, Law College, Opposite of Hyatt Regency and some other places in Salt Lake]

Sample size = 12

The distribution in the Salt Lake area is managed by Sonata Distribution. Survey was conducted on those shops where products were supplied by the company. Accompanying sales representative was Mr. Maiti who works for Sonata Distribution.

Observations by observation method:

The area Opposite of Hyatt is a kind of Slum. It is beside the main road. The area is not so developed. Most of the shops are very small but product visibility is relatively good as they suspend the chain of Hippo on rope supported by a bamboo structure.

The area near by The NUJS Law College is quite polished but the shops are mostly of shack kind and are sparsely distributed. The visibility is good since they also suspend the chains of Hippo on the rope supported by a bamboo structure.

KC block is quite dormant. Most of the shops are neither small nor large. Some of the shops were inside a residential complex.

Observations by Schedule method:

Every shop keeps Hippo.

The reorder level is about a week.

Most of the retailers are extremely satisfied with the supply and availability of Hippo.

The product supplied are almost defect free otherwise it is replaced without much hassle.

No banner or dangler is supplied to most of the retailers.

They are not very satisfied with the margin offered by Hippo.

The demand for Hippo is neither too high nor too low. Small pack of Goan Butter and Garlic flavor sells the most.

Few retailers are aware of the fact that Hippo is baked and not fried but none of the retailers pitch it while selling.

Competitive brands are Lay's, Kur-kure, Cheetos, Zengo, Kids Fun, Bingo.

Bingo provides highest margin while Lay's is the most selling brand.

Observations by interview method: Some of the retailers demanded for hanger as they were finding it difficult to store the product.

Other information:

Retailer Scheme:

With 12 pieces (a chain) of small pack Hippo, a small pack of Hippo is free

With 18 pieces of medium pack Hippo, a 200ml Tetra pack Frooti is free

With 34 pieces of medium pack of Hippo, two 200ml Tetra pack Frooti is free

The sales representative (Mr. Maiti) shares a very good relationship with the retailers. The retailers respect him and trust him which is a prime requisite for the last mile distribution.

Mode of transport: Light Commercial Vehicle (Auto).

Area: From Nager Bazar towards Airport Gate no 1

Sample size = 12

The distribution in the Nager Bazar area is managed by Dazzle Infotech. It is a new distribution house. Earlier the distribution was done by some other house. The reason behind the change is that, the earlier distributor could not perform. Survey was conducted on those shops where products were supplied by the company. Accompanying sales representative was Mr. Sukalpa who works for Dazzle Infotech

Observations by observation method:

Proper Nagerbazar is quite busy but while moving towards Airport Gate no 1, the area became quieter and less developed.

Factories like Jessop Coach Works, Ordnance factory, His Master's Voice(HMV) lies on the area of research.

Most of the shops in the proper Nagerbazar area are neither large nor small but the shops towards airport gate no 1 were smaller and some were of the kind of shack.

Product visibility is not so as very few hangers have been supplied by the Keventer. However some shops manage to display Hippo by using competitor's hanger.

Observations by Schedule method:

Most of the shops keep Hippo.

The reorder level is about a week.

All the retailers are extremely satisfied with the supply and availability of Hippo.

The products supplied are mostly defect free otherwise it is replaced without much hassle.

No banner or dangler is supplied to most of the retailers.

They are not very satisfied with the margin offered by Hippo.

The demand for Hippo is on the upper crest. Small pack of Punjab Da Pickle flavor sells the most.

Few retailers are aware of the fact that Hippo is baked and not fried but none of the retailers pitch it while selling.

Competition brands are Lay's, Kur-kure, Cheetos, Bingo, Mukhorochok Potato Chips, Lehar, Haldirams, Parle (Products).

Lay's provides highest margin and is the most selling brand.

Observations by interview method

Most of the retailers demanded for hanger as they were finding it difficult to display the product.

A product lot, that was supplied about six months before was defective. It has had a negative impact on the brand image and perception of Hippo among the retailers.

Some retailers complained about defective products that were supplied by the earlier distributor were not replaced.

Retailers are quite confused of multiple distributor, multiple division policy.

Most of the retailers were seeking for credit policy and some of them even said that if credit policy is not made available then it would be difficult for them to sell Hippo anymore.

Other information:

Retailer Scheme:

With 12 pieces (a chain) of small pack Hippo, a small pack of Hippo is free

With 18 pieces of medium pack Hippo, a 200ml Tetra pack Frooti is free

With 34 pieces of medium pack of Hippo, two 200ml Tetra pack Frooti is free

The sales representative (Mr. Sukalpa) is very hard-working but straight. He is not allowed to go beyond the schemes as per the order of his firm's proprietor, Mr.Saikat Das. The proprietor believes that if retailers are supplied beyond the schemes provided, then it would work initially but in the long run it would dilute the brand bargaining power.

Mode of transport: Van rickshaw

Area: Lake Town

Sample size = 11

The distribution in the Lake Town area is managed by JDP Enterprise. Survey was conducted on all the shops that kept branded snacks. No accompanying sales representative was present with us.

Observations by observation method:

Lake town is quite busy and is a considerably a large market.

The area has school, movie theater, departmental stores, large branded showroom etc.

Most of the shops in the Lake Town area are on larger side but shops towards S K Deb lane were smaller. S K Deb lane also had a fish market sort of market.

Product visibility is very good for competitor's brand. Parle Chips can be found outside every shop with very good product arrangement and orientation.

Observations by Schedule method:

Only 27% of the sample keeps Hippo and 36% of the sample used to keep Hippo.

The reorder level is about a week.

All the retailers are more or less satisfied with the supply and availability of Hippo.

The products supplied are mostly defect free otherwise it is replaced without much hassle.

No banner or dangler is supplied to any of the retailers.

They are not satisfied with the margin offered by Hippo.

The demand for Hippo was initially high but currently it is low. Small pack of Punjab Da Pickle and Gujrati Mango Chutney flavor sells the most.

Only 27% retailers are aware of the fact that Hippo is baked and not fried and none of the retailers pitch it while selling.

Competition brands are Lay's, Kur-kure, Cheetos, Bingo, Haldirams, Parle (Products), Apna, Pogo.

Lay's provides highest margin and is the most selling brand.

Observations by interview method

Most of the retailers demanded for hanger as they were finding it difficult to display the product.

A product lot, that was supplied about six months before was defective. It has had a negative impact on the brand image and perception of Hippo among the retailers.

Some retailers complained about defective products that were supplied by the earlier distributor were not replaced.

Credit facility is provided to some of the select retailers. One of the shop doesn't keep Hippo because the opposite shop gets credit facility but he does not. It hampers the morale of the retailer.

Most of the retailer said that nobody demands for Hippo. They would only keep Hippo when it's market become stable.

Many of the retailers said that nobody approached from the Company( Keventer).

Out of 36% of retailers who use to keep Hippo, many of the retailers said that they does not keep Hippo because of its low sales.

Area: New Market

Sample size = 17

The distribution in the Lake Town area is managed by Haji Enterprise. Survey was conducted on all the shops that kept branded snacks. No accompanying sales representative was present with us.

Observations by observation method:

New market is one of the most popular markets of Kolkata. It is mostly dominated by hawkers but one can find any segment of shops starting from branded franchise, mall, large retail and even grey/black market peddler.

As it is not a residential area, snacks are usually bought by impulse.

As most of the shops are small, their shelve space is limited. So they keep the most selling brands on the shelve. Moreover competitor brands flood their product in to their shelve leaving no space for Hippo.

Observations by Schedule method:

None of the shops keep Hippo currently. However 35% of the shops use to keep Hippo previously.

47% of the shops were not approached by Keventer.

Some of the shops that use to keep Hippo earlier had reorder period of about a week and some a month.

Retailers are not at all satisfied with the supply of Hippo.

Some of the products that were supplied earlier had defect and were not replaced properly.

No banner or dangler is supplied to any of the retailers.

They are not satisfied with the margin offered by Hippo.

The demand for Hippo was always low. The most selling flavor could not be gauged.

Only one of the retailers was aware of the fact that Hippo is baked and not fried but he did not pitch it while selling.

Competition brands are Lay's, Kur-kure, Cheetos, Bingo, Haldirams, Peppy.

Lay's provides highest margin and is the most selling brand.

Observations by interview method

Few retailers are ready to keep Hippo if approached by the company.

Supply has been halted for six months during the transition period of distributor re-appointment.

Some retailers complained of poor quality product.

Credit facility was not provided to any of the retailers.

Most of the retailers would keep Hippo after the product is demanded by consumers.

Out of 35% of retailers who use to keep Hippo, some of the retailers said that they does not keep Hippo because of its low sales and some said nobody came from the company after one or two consignments i.e. no follow up.

Area: Ultadanga, Bagmari, Kankurgachi and Murari Pukur

Sample size = 25

The distribution in the Lake Town area is managed by Sree Laxmi Distributor. Survey was conducted on all the shops that kept branded snacks. No accompanying sales representative was present with us.

Observations by observation method:

Proper Ultadanga and Kankurgachi is very busy with lines of shops of different sizes. Most of the shops are on the larger side. The market is very developed. Many offices and residential complexes are present in Ultadanga, Kankurgachi area. They are prime location and connects to different parts of Kolkata. However Bagmari has a slum and Murari Pukur is not so developed.

Visibility of the product in the shops are good in all the areas. However

Observations by Schedule method:

Only 16% of the shops keep Hippo currently. However 32% of the shops use to keep Hippo previously.

Some of the shops that use to keep Hippo earlier had reorder period of about a week and some a month.

Most of the retailers are not at all satisfied with the supply of Hippo.

Some of the products had defect and were not replaced properly.

No banner or dangler is supplied to any of the retailers.

They are not satisfied with the margin offered by Hippo.

The demand for Hippo was on the upper side. Most selling flavor is Punjab Da Pickle.

Very few retailers were aware of the nutrition fact of Hippo but none of the pitch it while selling it.

Competition brands are Lay's, Kur-kure, Cheetos, Bingo, Haldirams, Peppy, Pik-Nik, Timbakto, Ringa-Ring, Simba and local pouched snacks.

Lay's provides highest margin and is the most selling brand.

Observations by interview method

Few retailers are ready to keep Hippo if approached by the company.

Supply has been halted for some couple of months. The reason is not known.

Many of the retailers does not keep Hippo because of the competition brand that floods their product into the shelve, leaving no shelve space for Hippo. One of the retailer said that he does not keep Hippo because the sales representative was rude to him. Some of the retailer said that they might keep Hippo if they are being supplied by rack and basket because of both; lack of space and trouble created by mice.

Credit facility was not provided to any of the retailers.

Many of the shops were never approached by the company. In those shops when asked if they interested to keep Hippo, most of them had a positive gesture.

Area: Shyambazar and its neighboring areas

Sample size = 53

The distribution in the Lake Town area is managed by Baba Taraknath Agency. Survey was conducted on all the shops that kept branded snacks. No accompanying sales representative was present with us.

Observations by observation method:

The area is very clean and organized with wide roads and greenery. The area has a touch of tradition and is one of the oldest modest areas of Kolkata.

The kiosks of the shops are small but has a greater depth.

The area is not that busy but lively.

The shopkeepers are very well-behaved and some of them even offered some valuable suggestions.

The area has got everything starting from school, movie theater, pilgrimage etc.

Shops with local pouched snacks as sole product can be found.

Pogo Chips has good penetration and is visible in many shops.

Observations by Schedule method:

47% of the shops keep Hippo currently. However 20% of the shops use to keep Hippo previously.

There is nothing definite about the reorder period the shops. For some shop the reorder peroid is a week, some fortnight and some even a month

Most of the retailers are quite satisfied with the supply of Hippo.

Some of the products had defect and were not replaced properly.

No banner or dangler is supplied to most of the retailers. Only 1 shop had a rack.

They are not satisfied with the margin offered by Hippo.

The demand for Hippo was on the lower side. Most selling flavor is Punjab Da Pickle.

Considerably more retailers are aware of the nutrition fact of Hippo but none of the pitch it while selling it.

Competition brands are Lay's, Kur-kure, Cheetos, Bingo, Haldirams, Pogo, Nabadeep, Apna, Max-G, Tofo, Keka, Mukhorochok, Pringle, Tofo, Sony, Timbakto, Zeng and local pouched snacks.

Local pouched snack and Pogo provides highest margin but Lay's is the most selling brand.

Observations by interview method

They said the schemes provided by Lay's is better. Lay's has scheme that if they can sell Frito-Lay product of Rs 10000/month then they would get cash rebate on further purchase and gifts.

Some said that the Hippo as a product is poor. Its just a toasted bread sprinkled with spices. Its won't suffice upto the expectation and taste of the consumer

The sell goes up when the schools are open.

Most of them complained about the cash policy of Hippo.

One of the retailer said that his shelve space is limited and he would only the best selling products and more-over Hippo doesn't provide either great margin or credit facility and moreover nobody demands for it. So he doesn't find it feasible to keep Hippo.

Some of the retailers that use to keep Hippo earlier said that the initial sales were up but the sudden halt in the supply broke the momentum of sales.

Some shops were never approached.

Some retailer said that Hippo being a new product needs to be pushed which they find it quite cumbersome when evaluated with the margin Hippo offers.

Area: Baisakhi and C K Market, Salt Lake

Sample size = 9

The distribution in this area managed by Sonata Distribution. Survey was conducted on all the shops that kept branded snacks. No accompanying sales representative was present with us.

Observations by observation method:

The Baisakhi area is very clean and organized with wide roads and greenery. The area is trendy and has a touch of modernization.

The shops are very sparsely distributed and can be found only as clusters.

The area is not busy at all.

Observations by Schedule method:

Only 11% of the retailers keep Hippo currently. However 56% of the shops use to keep Hippo previously.

The reorder period of the shops are about a week.

Most of the retailers are quite satisfied with the current supply of Hippo.

Some of the products that were supplied by earlier distributor that had defect were not replaced properly.

No banner or dangler is supplied to most of the retailers.

They are more or less satisfied with the margin offered by Hippo.

The demand for Hippo was initially on the higher side but the pause of supply hampered the sale. Most selling flavor is Punjab Da Pickle and Goan Butter and Garlic.

None of the retailers are aware of the nutrition fact of Hippo.

Competition brands are Lay's, Kur-kure, Cheetos, Bingo, Haldirams, Pogo, Peppy.

Lay's rovides highest margin and is the most selling brand.

Observations by interview method

Initially the sale of Hippo was good but in the due course the product supplied had defect. The distributor was replaced by a new one and the old defective product that were supplied by the earlier distributor were not replaced which affected the morale of the retailer and they lost their trust on Parle.

Racks, almirah or banner; neither of them was ever supplied and they find it difficult to store the product.

There is no promotion or adequate advertisement about the product, as a result, retailers find it difficult to sell it. They has to push the product to liquidate the money.

There had been some scam in this area. Rumour says that a SR collected around Rs 18 lakh from the market but did not submit it to the Keventer Agro.

PHASE TWO

This phase included learning by observation. We had to observe the total sales procedure which consists of following stage:

Division of Products - Keventer Agro has a very intelligent sales and distribution policy. They don't supply every product to each distributor but divide those products among each distributor within the same area. Reason being, the company ensures not only the highly profitable established products, but also new products with low initial sales reaches to the end of supply chain. Earlier, Hippo was supplied to all the distributors of a specific area but as coordination became difficult, they have changed their policy and now supplies only to one distributor of the specific area.

There are three divisions:

Division A -

200 ml, 400 ml, 1.2 litre of Frooti

200 ml of Appy

200 ml of LMN

Rs 5, Rs 10 and Rs 20 of Hippo

Division B -

160 ml 500 ml 1.5 litre and 2 litre of Frooti

500 ml, 1 litre, 2 litre of Bailley Packaged Drinking Water

600 ml of Bailley Soda.

250 ml, 500 ml, 1 litre of LMN

Division C - (Full information about this division is not known since I never had the chance to work in this divison)

100 ml, 250 ml of Frooti

300 ml, 500 ml and 1 litre of Appy Fizz

100ml LMN

Division of area - Each area is divided into five different distribution zones. They sell their products to those five zones in five days i.e. Monday to Friday. The sixth day which is Saturday is an extra day in which the sales representatives does the miscellaneous work such as:

If an order was not delivered on the due date then that product is delivered on Saturday.

They conduct an approximate survey to estimate or forecast the forthcoming weekly demand.

If an replacement of defective product was not done on the due date then it is also done in Saturday

Selective loading - The products that are being loaded in the LCV are not fixed. They load it according to the demand estimation of the zone. For example, on a particular day, 400ml of Frooti is loaded more than usual quantity; the reason being that, their might exist some particular shop in that particular zone that keeps only 400ml Frooti where as on some other day 200 ml Frooti tetra pack is loaded more depending on the buying pattern of the shops on that particular zone. The sales representatives can judge from their work experience in that particular area.

Sometimes the sales representatives are given target. For example: If they can sell 100 cases of Division A products on a particular day, then they would get some incentive(Rs 250 extra). Then in that occasion, Division A products are loaded more.

Total stock of the stock point is noted on daily basis.

Selling - Each sales representative(SR) has different style of selling. Some capitalize on relationship between him and retailer and some on communication skill.

Relationship marketing: In this type of marketing procedure, the SRs does not start talking business from the first instance, rather he greet the retailer, talk about general things regarding current affairs or about family which helps him build the rapport and trust. The trust and rapport are psychological tool to win over the psychology of the retailer making it difficult for the retailer to reject the SR's selling proposal.

Sometimes the SR s shares such good relationship with the retailers that they don't even ask whether he needs anything or not but directly dump the product and produces the bill. Credit sales are more by this procedure since the SR does not want to freeze the warmth of the relationship.

Communication Marketing - In this procedure the SR starts talking about the business from the first go. The deliberation of the schemes or price seeks the attention of the retailers. SRs convince the retailers by giving a clear picture of the business model. For example: Suppose the shop is near a school, he would right away say with much conviction that Hippo is bound to sell and with Rs 1.23 margin per piece, it would be a great business for him. He further elaborates on the schemes and produces a very rosy picture.

The chances of credit sales are low.

Cash is handled by the distributor's representative and the bills by the company representative.

Note: Most of the SRs do not load Bailley Packaged Drinking Water or Bailley Soda in to the LCV, even if they load it, it is in meagre quantity. The reason which we sited is; as Bailley Soda is a new product and Bailley Packaged Drinking Water a low selling item, the SR s has to convince the retailer about the product which involves some considerable amount of time. The work of the SRs are judged by the number of cases they sell and not by the products, so they find it prudent to sell only Frooti and Appy which are of high selling category that requires less of time to sell. For the amount of time and effort required to sell a case of Bailley Packaged Drinking Water or Bailley Soda, the SR can sell 4-5 cases of Frooti or Appy. In this case, the objective of Division of the products( mentioned earlier) fails to meet.

Collection - It is a process of collecting money for the credit sales made. Usually Keventer does not encourage credit sales. However if any credit sales are made, the credit period is generally 2-3 days or the period till the next order, which ever is earlier. Since Frooti has a good bargaining power, collection is not difficult.

Submission - The SR s and the distributor's representative are required to submit every bills and cash respectively to the stock point. The cash collected and the sum total of the bill has to tally.

Phase III

Refer Annexure II and III for further detail.

In this phase, we were assigned to analyze the potential market of Bailley Soda and BPDW. We were provided with a sample of Bailley Soda. The area and objective of the research were well described by the company representative during the briefing. The tasks were:

To observe the competition brand in the market and note it.

To visit each potential shops and give a brief demo about the products(Bailley Soda and BPDW) that involved product description and communication marketing( discussed above).

To note down the Shop's name and phone number of the interested retailer outlet.

To note down the feedback of the uninterested retailer outlet.

Target Group:

The shops that already keeps Soda and PDW

Foreign Liquor Shop

Dhaba and Restaurants

Pharamaceutical Shops

There has been many problems sited. Some of are:

The soda market is dominated by Lehar Soda. Some of retailers said that they don't even keep Kinley Soda since the demand for Lehar soda is considerably more. So the retailers does not find keeping a new product with low awareness is feasible.

Some retailers said that customers demand for cold Soda or PDW. Parle Agro has a very limited provision for fridge as a result the retailers find it difficult to sell Soda or PDW at room temperature. However some of the retailers use fridge provided by the competitors, to keep Bailley Soda or PDW but they has to face many problems from the competitors.

The competition brand that floods their product into the shelve, leaving no shelve space for Bailley. Some of the interested retailers said that they would only keep Bailley after the huge existing stock of the competitors are sold.

Some of the retailers said that they would keep Bailley only after the year ends.

Some retailers said that they are happy with the competitor's performance. They provide a large range of products, fridge, banner, advertisement and moreover their product sells. They don't want to hamper their relationship with the competitors by keeping Bailley.

The awareness of Bailley is low. They has to push Bailley to make a sell. They are not ready to keep Bailley if credit is not provided to them.

Very few retail stores were ever approached to market Bailley.

Restaurants, Pharmaceutical shop and are more susceptible to keep Bailley as most of them were not approached by the competiors. However some of the pharmaceutical shops were approached by Bisleri.