7 P's of marketing - Notes - Chapter-

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7 P's of marketing

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In case of goods 4 P's are ruling the market.

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But in case of services and knowledge based economy booze and bitterness has suggested beside 4 P's, three P's in addition to that people
process physical evidence totalling into 7 P's of marketing
This additional P's of marketing are required for services marketing
Services marketing is very different from goods marketing
services have got the characteristics of inseparability intangibility heterogeneity and perishability
it becomes very essential to market to address 7 P's of marketing
services range from the airline services to banking services two courier services to hotels
in addition to 4 PS, three P's extra which are people, process and physical evidence
people all people who directly or indirectly influence the perceived value of the product or services including knowledge workers employees management and consumers
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process :- in case of process procedure mechanism and flow activities helps the marketer to satisfy the consumer in better way
it is all due to process you get the pizza delivered from dominos within 30 minutes in India
if you talk about McDonald's mcdonald's serve its customer with freshly made burger and french fries within within 2 minutes of the order because
of its streamline of process
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now let's talk about the physical evidence through this server physical through the physical evidence service marketing gives the tangible character

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by using certificate, tickets, logos,

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physical evidence deals with the direct sensory experience of a product or service that allows a customer to measure whether he or she has received value value or not
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if you travel first class in aircraft you expect enough legroom to be there to lie down
once you walk into the restaurant you expect a clean and friendly environment all these factors are very very important in the giving right value to the customer that's why we talk about people process and physical evidence

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if you are talking about the banking services in India there is ICICI Bank who is providing you the services at ICICI Bank services are the promises are provided by the ICICI bank employees once ICICI banks providing services through its own employees so bank is very keen about to have right kind of employees that that's why people become very very important in that case because those people will serve you ultimately the branch
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in services marketing we also talk about heterogeneity heterogeneity it means service delivery will be very very different two different customers and it will be different for different employees also for example we say if you are going to ICICI Bank the same person will not behave in the same way on all the days so what is the way out
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for example if the employee has fought fight had a fight with the with his wife what is the problem there and he comes there to the match branch and he supposed to deliver some kind of services to the customer and if he is not happy one she is not happy it also impact his own personal behaviour while providing the services to the customer and that's why customer and banks or any kind of service provider will have process in place.

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so that process will say if I want to open a bank account I need to open the bank account within that 15 minutes or 20 minutes
if I want to get the cash payment I should get it in next 10 minutes so that is all about the process
if you go to the McDonald's you will get the same kind of burger mechanism

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if you go to the McDonalds because there are good services in place you will get the same kind of burger on all the days all the time
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now physical evidence once you go to the restaurant you'll understand we will go to the 5 star hotel 5 star hotel you'll understand by interior and payments are made according to the services

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if you go to the three star hotel then also you will understand

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that service through the physical evidence what kind of hotel you are give getting into 3 star or 4 star or 5 star
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What is MARKETING-

What is marketing marketing as a term widely used in the management of business and in our day to day life that's why marketing is very important if you go back into the history you will find the existence of marketing in the beginning of Civilization it all started with the barter system when the buyers and sellers exchange their goods and services marketing as a topic first appeared in the first half of the 20th century with reference to distribution the process of distribution and the determination of price and the demand of supply demand and supply pave the way for the studies in the marketing that's why economics is the known as mother of marketing marketing is a very very simple term to understand Marketing is the process of understanding and meeting the needs of the customer fulfilling the needs of the customer as a marketer you need to identify the needs of the customer and fulfill the needs of the customer if you are able to identify the needs of the customer in a better way you are a good marketer it is very very simplea company can fulfill your unmet needs as well as maid needs if you are getting into some kind of new product category or if you are great getting into new service category then you are trying to fulfill the unmet needs but there are several product category and there are several services category where the services and products are already existing your you are going to need fulfill the needs already made by the various companies so so many times you will see that many companies will go for identifying the identifying the met needs and only few companies will go for identifying and fulfilling the animate news so that is the difference between the good company and a great company good companies will always fulfill the meat needs and great companies will always go for made needs as well as unmet needs you think about Facebook Apple Twitter Reliance you think about Nela Tata Wikipedia Facebook Twitter these companies are trying to fulfill the maid needs as well as unmet needs that's why this companies are of very very successful in the world in the India so many companies are doing the good job PVR Mahindra Tata all are equally successful by fulfilling the needs of the customer this is simplest way to need to understand Philip kotler definition he says marketing is all marketing is all about CCD vtp CCD vtp creating communicating delivering value target market and profit creating communicating delivering the value to the target market at profit objective of business is making profit Philip kotler is talking in terms of values so what do you mean by value value is all about benefits and cost if you are buying a product or if you are microservice Europe a lot of money once your pay money that becomes your cost wise you pay that amount you expect certain rent returns and benefits values all about cost versus very benefit if you are getting benefit more than cost then you are successful marketer Bose imported definition reported definition American marketing association defines marketing is the activity set of institutions and process for creating communicating delivering and exchanging offering that have value for customer clients partners and Society at large

Difference between need want and demand

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Difference between need want and demand

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marketing is all about identifying the needs of the customer and fulfilling the needs of the customers

needs are basic human requirements you need you need food clothing shelter food to survive you also need education as well as entertainment Once it is needs a specified by you this become wants
for example if you are hungry you wanted to eat something you wanted to have a burger you wanted to have a corn flakes you wanted to have a masala dosa so that becomes your wants
want is directed by our society and culture in India in the breakfast you will find aloo paratha masala dosa idli while in USA America you will find cornflakes and milks
wants become demand when it is backed by ability to pay
everybody want to buy Mercedes but everybody cannot able to pay for the Mercedes or everybody cannot afford it that's why only those wants which are backed by purchasing power will be calculated as demand
for example everybody would like to have a Mercedes or BMW or it may be just want for a customer from the customer if it is not backed by the ability to pay
If the customer is able to purchase the car then it may be calculated as a demands and
In marketing we are concerned more about demand for a marketer demand is very very important it plays a great role in managerial decision making it
has to forecast the demand while doing the stratgeic marketing and planning that's why it is very very relevant in each and every company
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PRODUCT - NOTES

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PRODUCT *******************************************************************************
Demand for the product is constantly shifting as needs, wants and technology all have changed as a result companies must always evaluate their existing product line and look for ways to ensure that it is up to date and in line with the consumer desires Continuous decision must be made about whether new product should be added and weather all products should we remove. A product is anything that can be used to satisfy a particular need. the word product is generally associated with the tangible offering but it is more than just a tangible offerings. *******************************************************************************
Product is anything that can be offered to a customer to satisfy a want or need *******************************************************************************
Product as physical goods service experience event, person, places, properties organizations, information and ideas that can be offered to a market for satisfying a particular want or need *******************************************************************************
Philip Kotler Defines product is a bundle of physical service and symbolic particular expected to yield satisfactions or benefits to the buyer Concept of the product is not restricted to physical goods. *******************************************************************************
Example Toothpaste it is an example of physical goods purchase Train ticket is an example of purchase of service Purchase of TICKET of movie is a purchase of experience entertainment experience Purchase of a ticket for a concert is purchasing for an event Purchasing house is a purchase of a place *******************************************************************************
products can be tangible or intangible for example toothpaste is tangible product where is a doctor service is intangible products service Differences between goods and services Goods are tangible objects that can be offered to a customer to satisfy his need or want Service as an act or performance that one party can offer to another that is essentially intangible and does not result in the ownership of anything Its production may or may not be tied to physical product *******************************************************************************
Example when we purchase pen in the legal terms we have the title to the pen on the other hand when we go to the doctor to get treatment for an element neither do we own the doctor not the treatment that he gives us nor his diagnosis of the element for that matter so the purchase of the service does not result in the ownership of anything *******************************************************************************
3. Goods generally first manufactured at the place of the manufacture then distributed through the various distribution channel then sold to the customer and finally consumed in case of services the manufacturing selling and consumption happen simultaneously. Physical goods can be separated from the manufacturer of the goods and also from the customer services cannot be separated from the service provider and the service receiver customer that is services are inseparable *******************************************************************************
Manufacturers of goods differentiate their goods on the basis of services where as manufacturers of the services differentiate their services on the basis of goods Example washing machine will differential their product from that of the computer on the basis of the service like extended warranty extra Whereas the manufacturers of the services like gymnasium or health club in differential their service on the basis of physical goods like latest equipment's *******************************************************************************
5 Goods are generally consistent in nature Services are inconsistent that is if we buy a particular soap today and the same brand and variety of soap a month later there will be no difference in the two goods purchased however if we avail the service of beautician it may vary from one location to another Services are provided by people Services may vary because of change in the beautician Time when the service is availed Change in the place where services availed Change in the mindset of the customer *******************************************************************************
Goods can be stored for inventory by this we mean that goods can be stocked depending upon the demand and supply situation if a retailer of shoes knows that there is a good demand for a particular brand of shoes he will stock them in large quantities so as to meet the demand of the customers if he has stopped 500 pairs of shoes and has been able to sale only hundred days on a particular day the rest of the shoes can be carried forward for sale in the coming days however some does not hold the two same does not hold the two for the services Example of a restaurant that has seating capacity of hundred people if on a particular day there are four hundred people wanting to eat at the restaurant owner cannot create additional capacity the capacity is finite and cannot be inventoried similarly if one particular day he finds that only 50 people have availed the service balance capacity of 50 expires on the same day he cannot carry it forward to another day Difference between goods and services Goods are tangible services are intangible Goods result in ownership of the product services do not result in the ownership of anything Goods are manufactured then stored then distributed then sold and finally consumed in case of services the manufacturing and selling happen simultaneously *******************************************************************************
goods can be separated from the manufacturer and the customer services cannot be separated from the service provider and the service receiver goods can be inventory IT services cannot be inventoried often we find that manufacturers of the goods differentiate there goods on the basis of services, manufacturers of the services differentiate their services on the basis of goods Goods are consistent in nature service are variable and are inconsistent in nature Levels of the product *******************************************************************************
Core benefit :- level basic product level expected product level augmented product level potential product level each of these levels and add more customer value and five levels together constitute a customer value hierarchy *******************************************************************************
Fundamental level is the core benefit level that the customer need that the marketer tries to satisfy example if a customer is going to a restaurant to eat food the core benefit level is that the product food satisfy the hunger of the customer here the benefit that the customer seek is to satisfy his hunger by means of food. Marketers need to look upon themselves as a benefit providers other than product sellers *******************************************************************************
Second basic product level this is a second level where marketer mass now turn the core benefit into basic product Example the food that is the hunger satisfying core product is turned into a basic program is an editable tasty dish *******************************************************************************
Expected product which is a set of attributes and constituent conditions that customers will normally expect example :- Food set should be neat and clean dishes with good cutlery set on a properly led table having a proper sitting arrangement with sufficient lighting arrangement *******************************************************************************
IV Augmentation product level:- trying to meet the customers desires beyond his expectation example Fresh flowers laid on the table, alive band playing music etc. From the marketer point of view this level is very important because in today's world competition happens at this level only upto the expected level all the marketer will stand at the more or less same platform the differentiation will happen at the augmented level and potential product level. Fifth level at this level the marketer has to take into consideration all possible augmentation and transformations that the product is likely to undergo in the future *******************************************************************************
The potential product describes the future possible innovation of the product Example the restaurant providing the guest with the facility to oversee the preparation of the food and having it Customized / made to the requirements of each customer Or having a menu card that would suggest menu combination at click of a button *******************************************************************************

A STUDY OF CUSTOMER SATISFACTION LEVEL AND CUSTOMER PERCEPTION OF OYO HOTELS WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO PUNE CITY.

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A STUDY OF CUSTOMER SATISFACTION LEVEL AND CUSTOMER PERCEPTION OF OYO HOTELS WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO PUNE CITY.

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ABSTRACT:

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OYO Rooms, an aggregator in online hotel booking service organization is getting popularity and fame across various cities/countries for their technology based and innovative services. In this century almost everyone has smart phones and people are becoming more tech savvy and they are booking hotel rooms online via internet. And hence it is important to know what are the factors affecting or determining the consumer’s changing behaviour. The purpose of the research paper is to understand the factors influencing the consumer’s decision to stay at OYO Rooms. An exploratory research study was conducted by taking 200 individual responses from Pune and analysing them statistically with the help of Chi-square analysis. The contribution of study is that it develops an additional insight to understand consumer behaviour in online hotel booking services. *******************************************************************************

INTRODUCTION:-

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OYO is India's largest hospitality company offering standardized rooms in different locations across the india. OYO Rooms, commonly known as OYO, is India's largest hospitality company, consisting mainly of budget hotels. It was founded in 2013 by Ritesh Agarwal and has since grown to over 8,500 hotels in 230 cities in India, Malaysia, UAE, Nepal, China and Indonesia. In 2012, then 18-year-old Ritesh Agarwal, hailing from Odisha's Rayagada district, launched Oravel Stays, a website designed to enable listing and booking of budget accommodation. OYO partners with hotels to give similar guest experience across cities. In late 2017, OYO launched OYO Home, an Airbnb-like marketplace for short-term managed rentals. In September 2018, OYO raised $1 billion. The majority of the funding — $800 million, to be exact — was led by Softbank’s Vision Fund with participation from Light speed, Sequoia and Green oaks Capital. The network of branded hotels currently includes over 8500+ hotels spread across 230 cities with more cities and hotels planned to come up very soon Rooms usually start at Rs 999 but can be lower than this price due to Sale, Coupon Discounts etc. There are no hidden charges. The standard check-in time is 12 PM and the standard check-out time is 11 AM. One can cancel room booking using OYO website or mobile app *******************************************************************************

OBJECTIVES:

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-To understand and study the consumer satisfaction level of OYO.
-To understand the business model of OYO Rooms and services provided by OYO Rooms.
-To study the strategies used by OYO for their business expansion in India and other countries
-To understand the problems faced by customers while using OYO and providing solutions for existing problems.
-To suggest the ideas on new segment to target and how to position it better.
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REVIEW OF LITERATURE:

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OYO Rooms is the largest branded network of hotels currently operating in various countries as the firm organizes the unorganised business operating under the same domain, they make them work as their partners by signing a contract and sell their products under its own brand. The main focus is on quality of services provided. To make the services visible to their user-base, OYO makes their partners provide services at predetermined standard. OYO Rooms is the hotel aggregator and not a marketplace because customers buy the services from the brand OYO Rooms and they are not bothered who the partner is. A. CHANGE IN BUSINESS MODEL: OYO Rooms, a Soft-Bank based startup has changed its business model from aggregation to franchise, or operating hotels under the OYO brand introduced in May,2017. The hotels that were the part og aggregation business model have converted to franchises. To improve serviceability, and to reduce operational costs, this transition was incurred by OYO Rooms. This change was to rationalise the cost of resources deployed at partner hotels. The operational cost was increasing as OYO had to keep one OYO captain at hotels where they had 5 to 15 rooms or so. But after this transition in business model, OYO has improved their serviceability as they are using same number of resources but at fully operated hotels. B. BUSINESS MODEL OF OYO ROOMS:
1. Adopts hotels to get them in fold by booking a part of hotel’s inventory beforehand.
2. It gets them to follow certain standards of servies , features, staff, pricing, security etc. and invests in marketing and management of quality improvement for the hotels under its fold.
3. And these rooms are sold to customers under its own brand name: OYO Rooms through their website and mobile application.
(a)Partnership Model: Provides visitors/guests with quality hotel rooms staying at different places around India and other countries too. OYO Rooms has partnered with hotels and made them work under their name.
(b)Franchise Model: The hotels that were the part of aggregation business model have now become the part of franchise business model, they have converted to franchises operating under OYO’ s brand name to reduce operational cost and improve serviceability.
C.SERVICES PROVIDED BY OYO ROOMS:
OYO believes in changing the way people stay away from home.
1. Hotel Rooms: Standardized, Affordable and Technology driven, fully furnished rooms.
2. OYO Flagship: OYO Rooms has started giving hotels on lease where they have full control over day-to-day operations to expand the business. These leased properties come under OYO Flagship.
3. Long Stays: OYO Rooms provides hotel rooms for family functions such as wedding, parties etc. as well as corporate functions such as seminars, meetings, parties etc. to stay for long.
4. Corporate Stays: OYO also provides fully furnished rooms and flats for long stays like internships, corporate stays, work etc. The rooms can be rented on single occupancy as well as twin sharing basis.
5. OYO Total Holidays: In this holiday package segment, OYO mainly targets couples, families and friends travelling together between 25-45 years.
6. OYO Bazar: OYO Rooms has set up OYO Bazar, which is a one-stop solution for hotels to procure their daily essentials. This is not done only for profitability but to grow and maintain their partnership with hotels, they need to expand their services.
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REASEARCH METHODOLOY:

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Research methodology is the process of collecting information and data for the purpose of business decision making.
(a)Time and Date of data collection :
(b)Research Design : The research follows an exploratory research approach to analyse the propositions, and satisfaction level of consumers of OYO Rooms and to determine why certain group of consumers prefer other online hotel booking applications over OYO Rooms. (c)Research Instrument : A structured questionnaire was circulated and was administrated by personal and telephonic interview and in some cases questions were mailed to respondants.
The interviews help to elicit further detailed information. During the study, important factors were considered viz., Age, Occupation, Education, Demographic factors etc. (d)No of Respondants : 200 Sampling method : Convenient sampling Sample size : 200 *******************************************************************************

DATA ANALYSIS :

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The data analysis has been discussed from responses collected from 200 various age group people who were using OYO Rooms for online hotel booking in Pune city. Data has been analysed and presented in a meaningful way to facilitate the research to find out the customer satisfaction level of OYO Rooms with the help of tables and diagrams.
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SWOT ANALYSIS :

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(A) STRENGTH :
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0  Though OYO Rooms are mostly owned by the various providers but they are standardized under the OYO franchise and thus people experience the same standardized service in all OYO Rooms wherever they may be located.
 OYO started off as a one room one hotel thing in Gurgaon and now it has around 8500 properties in 230+ cities that’s its clear strength.
 It is one of the one stop shop for a budget stay in India. OYO Rooms was conceptualized with a root idea of innovation for making the hotel stays more comfortable and easy.
 OYO focuses on making rooms available in affordable prices for its customers by subsidizing them.
 Excellent use of advertising for high brand recall. *******************************************************************************

(B) WEAKNESS :

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 OYO has tried to provide standardized amenities in less prices but they have not been able to do the same with services.
 Customer is more concerned with the privacy hence they hesitate to book a hotel room online.
 OYO seems to have less integration with customer loyalty programs.
 The main drawback of OYO Rooms is that it is restricted only to budget hotels/lodges.
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(C) OPPORTUNITIES :

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 As most of the population in India is trying to minimize their spending and focus on savings hence they prefer affordable budget travels and stays which leads to business growth of OYO Rooms.
 People are becoming more tech savvy these days which makes OYO a overgreen.
 As the number of people who travel on business tours from both the genders is increasing in the emerging economies which in turn increases the demand for OYO budget stays.
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(D) THREATS :

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 Every entrepreneur in this business is looking at aggregating services. There are various online portals such as Goibibo, Trivago, makemytrip etc. which offer various gamut services similar to OYO Rooms.
 As the number of cases of harassment are increasing, there is a negative imagery of unsafe stays. Though OYO is not providing guarantee safety in the hotel rooms but ensures that no such incidents happen by giving the moral commitment.
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PORTER’S FIVE FORCES MODEL :
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Porter’s five forces model tries to analyse the level of competition within the market and business development.
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(1) INDUSTRY RIVALRY :
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OYO is making remarkable growth in its business but its real challenge is to make this growth steady. Competitive advantage is the area where company lacks hence it may take no time for any other company to enter into the market and make a benchmark.
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(2) THREAT OF NEW ENTRANTS :
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There are new international competitors entering into the new attractive domestic market such as Goibibo, Trivago, makemytrip etc. As these new entrepreneurial players are emerging in the market customers get attracted towards them due to various discount offers and services provided.
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(3) THREAT OF SUBSTITUTE PRODUCTS :
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Though in the emerging economy people travelling to various cities/countries for business tours is increasing day by day but there are various technological substitutes available such as Video conferencing, Delphi method etc. Due to these changes in technology which after demand for technology.
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(4) BARGAINING POWER OF SUPPLIERS :
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As the competitors are increasing this in turn makes the suppliers to increase simultaneously. As OYO doesn’t own any hotels by its own, it depends on hotels behaviour to collaborate with OYO or not which makes supplier to be stronger on his side.
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(5) BARGAINING POWER OF BUYER :
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As buyers/customers have lot of options available such as Goibibo, Trivago, makemytrip etc. and they are not dependent on OYO. Hence OYO needs to stand out by differentiating itself from others so that the customers prefer OYO Rooms as their first choice.
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DATA ANALYSIS:-

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Interpretation: - It can be seen from the above graph that 32% respondents were Salaried employee, 25% were self-employed, 25% were professional and 18% were Students.
Interpretation: - Major 61% age group was 21-30 yrs followed by the 0-20 yrs, followed by the 31-40 yrs, followed by the 41-50 yrs.
Interpretation: - It is reported that 77% respondents preferred Oyo hotel booking App followed by the GOIBIBO 14%, followed by the Make my Trip, followed by the Trivigo (4%).
Interpretation: - It is reported that 81% respondents said their purpose behind the stay at hotel was Fully furnished hotel rooms 81%, followed by the OYO total Holidays (9%), followed by the Long Stays (6%), followed by the Corporate stays(4%)
Interpretation: - It is reported that most of the respondents 41% agree that Discount & Offers were major motivational factors followed by the strongly agree 30%, followed by the Neutral 9%, followed by the Disagree 6%, followed by the Strongly Disagree 4%.
Interpretation: - It is reported that 84% respondents were agreed that App was convenient, 7% respondents were Neutral, 9% respondents were Disagree.
Interpretation: - It is reported that 74% respondents were agreed that personal safety and Security were major influencing factor, 17% were disagreed, 9% were Neutral.
Interpretation: - Good Promotion & Branding were major motivational factors reported by the 83% of the respondents and 9% were disagree
Interpretation: - It is reported that 87% respondents were agreed that Stays and Check in and Check out were comfortable while 8% were Disagree.
Interpretation: - It is reported that 77% were agreed that Cancellation of Booking was easy, simple and Fast
Interpretation: -It can be seen that 81% respondents reported that service quality was good.
Interpretation: - It is reported that 87% respondents said officials and staff were good and cooperative.
Interpretation: - It is reported that 89% respondents said that brand image of the OYO hotels was good and it’s a major motivational factor
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FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION :

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(1)It is found from the research that mostly ‘students’ are using OYO Rooms, an online hotel booking app having age from 21-30 years and below 20 too, whereas people having age more than 40 years don’t seem to be using online hotel booking apps more.
(2)It can be inferred from the study that, when it comes to booking a hotel room online ‘OYO’ is the first preference followed by ‘Goibibo’ and the most important purpose behind stay at OYO is ‘fully furnished hotel rooms’ followed by ‘OYO total holidays’.
(3)Discount offers, affordable prices for stay, convenience of using the app, personal safety and security, quality of hotel rooms, comfortable check ins check outs and stays, easy cancellation of bookings, accessibility and availability of staff to solve problems, brand image of OYO are the most important motivating factors behind choosing OYO Rooms for online hotel booking over its competitors and people are interested in giving recommendations of OYO Rooms.
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FUTURE SCOPE:

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OYO is growing fast and has set his name as the high quality budget hotel network. It is possible that OYO may increase its prices but due to newly launched model of flagship, there are chances that prices might be kept as they are now.
OYO is a technologically driven model of business. It has its first technology development centre in Gurgaon, now opened in Hyderabad and Telangana as well and planning to build many more.
Also OYO has come up with OYO Total Holidays and is expecting 10% of its total revenue to come from OYO Total Holidays.
OYO Rooms is also piloting OYO Café, an aggregator platform for listing its hotels food items to be sold under the OYO Cafe brand. OYO Cafe will make use of excess hotel inventory and may also make possible use of zomato or swiggy for delivering the food. For cleaning services, it will also pilot housekeeping services on demand.
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SUGGESTIONS:

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-OYO Rooms should think upon targeting niche market by having tie ups with elite hotels or premium end hotels to target the customer base that wants luxury.
-OYO should do a proper study and record of hotels before partnering with them as many times photos and actual hotel rooms are misleading during online hotel booking.
-OYO should work upon the problems with usage rate and build more customer loyalty.
-OYO Rooms should focus on their PODs(Point of Differentiation) by focusing on customization i.e. customizing the product as per consumer’s needs.
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REFERNCES:

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• https://www.feedough.com/business-model-oyo-rooms/ - features and costomers
• https://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/oyo-is-clocking-annualised-revenue-of-400-million-ritesh-agarwal-117080201348_1.html-annual revenue
• https://www.oyorooms.com/about - about oyo n of hotels
• https://www.leadersleague.com/en/news/oyo-rooms-ritesh-agarwal-oyo-was-conceptualized-to-solve-a-really-big-problem-in-the-hospitality-sector - interview of CEO
• http://www.ijemr.net/DOC/OnYourOwnAnOyoStory(325-331).pdf
• http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1802111.pdf
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Retailing - Notes -

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RETAILING:-

  MBA / BBA MARKETING MANAGEMENT QUESTION PAPER 2020 PUNE UNIVERSITY

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Retailing consists of all business activities associated with the sale of goods and services to ultimate consumers.
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Retailing involves a retailer—traditionally a store or a service establishment—that deals with consumers who are acquiring goods or services for their own use rather than for resale.
Of course, Shopper’s stop, Ebony, Parnami Jaipur and other familiar organizations offering products for sale to consumers are retailers.
However, the definition of retailing includes some less-than-obvious service marketers, such as hotels, movie theaters, restaurants, and ice-cream trolly operators. And even if an intermediary calls itself a “factory outlet,” a “wholesale club,” or a “shopping channel,” it is a retailer if its purpose is to sell to the ultimate consumer.
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Furthermore, Amazon.com and many other new “dot-com” companies that sell on the Internet are retailers. Because these retailers are e-commerce firms, they are often called e-tailers. Retailing : All business activities concerned with the sale of products to the ultimate users of those product.
e-tailers : e-commerce firms with retailing operations on the Internet.
Viewed in the context of the channel of distribution, retailers are the important final link in the process that brings goods or services from producers to consumer. Poor marketing on the part of retailers can negate all the planning and preparation that have gone into other marketing activities.
In the United States, there are more than 15 lac retailing institutions accounting for about Rs. 9600 crore in sales. About 15 percent of U.S. workers are employed in retailing.
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Retailing Institutions—
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Toward a System of Classifications Retailers are a diverse group of businesses. In the distribution of food there are supermarkets, convenience stores, restaurants, and various specialty outlets. Merchandise retailers may be department stores, apparel stores, consumer electornics stores, home shopping. Service retailers, such as movie theaters and banks, are as diverse as the types of services offered for sale. *******************************************************************************
Retailing is dynamic, and retail institutions evolve constantly. For example, institutions such as “mom and pop” grocery stores are at the end of their life cycle. Individual companies like Sears, which began in the late 1880s as a mail-order retailer of watches and jewelry, are continually transforming themselves into new types of retailers. Warehouse clubs and interactive shopping on the Internet are but two retailing innouvations that have developed in recent decades. In the next 20 years, retailers will inevitably adjust to their changing environments by transforming themselves further. Retailing is dynamic, and retail institutions evolve constantly. *******************************************************************************
In light of this constant change, and of the very large number of retailers in the United States, how can retail institutions be sorted into more easily analyzed groups ? Two commonly used methods classify retailers on the basis of ownership and prominent strategy. *******************************************************************************
Classifying Retailers by Ownership *******************************************************************************
Independent retailer : A retail establishment that is not owned or controlled by any other organization. One popular method of categorizing retailers is by ownership. Most retailers are independent retailers, operating as single-unit entities. Independent operations may be proprietorships, partnership, or corporations, but they are usually owned by one operator, a family, or a small number of individuals. They are not generally integrated into a larger corporation. These retailers are often thought of as small, but some are quite sizable. Taken together, they are the most important part of the Indian retailing scene. *******************************************************************************
An independent retailer that owns the merchandise stocked but leases floor space from another retailer is a leased department retailer. A leased department—for example, a branch bank, a jewelry department, or a watch repairer—operates independently from the lessor retailer (the retailer that rents out the floor space), although it often operates under the lessor’s name. The lessor grants leased department retailers this degree of independence because they have special expertise in handling the particular product line, will increase total store traffic, or are necessary to the lessor because consumer expected to find the department’s merchandise in the store. *******************************************************************************
If a retail establishment is not independent, it is classified as either a chain or an ownership group. The more familiar of these classifications is the chain store— one of a group of shops bearing the same name and having roughly the same merchandise assortment and store image. Chain-store systems consist of two or more stores of a similar type that are centrally owned and operated. Chains have been successful for a number of reasons, but one of the most important is the opportunity they have to take advantage of economies of scale in buying and selling goods. *******************************************************************************
Conducting certralized buying for several stores permits chains to obtain the lower prices associated with large purchases. They can then maintain their prices, thus increasing their margins, or they can cut prices, attracting greater sales volume. Unlike small independents with lesser financial means, chains can also take advantage of promotional tools, such as television advertising, by spreading the expense among many member stores, thus stretching their promotional budget. Other expenses, such as costs for computerized inventory control systems, may also be shared by all stores. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, the term corporate chain is used for chains with 11 or more stores. Typically, as the number of units in a chain increases, management becomes more centralized, and each store manager has less autonomy in determining the overall marketing strategy. Although corporate chains possess many advantages over independents, some analysts say independents and smaller chains are more flexible. They may be better able to apply such marketing techniques as segmentation than are bigger operations, whose appeal must be more general. *******************************************************************************
Retail franchise operations are a special type of chain. Although the broad marketing strategy in such chains is centrally planned, the retail outlets are independently owned and operated. Franchises provide an excellent example of the evolution of retail institutions to fit the American culture. As the country’s mobile citizenry moves from place to place, a familiar retail outlet is “waiting” for them when they arrive. Each new franchise benefits from the company’s experience, reputation, and shared resources. *******************************************************************************
Chain store : One of a group of two or more stores of a similar type, centrally owned and operated. Corporate chain : A chain consisting of 11 or more stores. *******************************************************************************
Ownership group : An organization made up of stores or small chains, each with a separate name, identity, and image but all operating under the control of a central owner. The other type of retailing organization is the ownership group—an organization made up of various stores or small chains, each having a separate name, identity, and image but all operating under the ultimate control of a central owner. Typically, the members of such groups are former corporate chains bought out by much larger ownership groups. *******************************************************************************
Classifying Retailers by Prominent Strategy *******************************************************************************
Retailers can also be classified based on their most prominent retail strategies. The decision as to whether to market products and services with an in-store retailing strategy (also called a bricks-and-mortar strategy) or a direct marketing (nonstore) retailing strategy is such an important discriminating factor that these two major groupings will be discussed separately. Figure 11.1 shows these groupings and their subcategories. In-Store Retailing Many fundamental strategies differentiate in-store retailers. The variety of products they sell, store size, price level relative to competitors, degree of self-service, location, and other variables can be used to categorize retailers. Each strategy has its particular advantage and disadvantages, and each fits particular markets and situations. Try to envision the following store classes as responses to pariticular marketing opportunities Specialty store : A retail establisment that sells a single product or a few related lines. *******************************************************************************
Specialty Stores Specialty stores, also called single-line retailers or limited-line retailers, are differentiated from other retailers by their degree of specialization—that is, the narrowness of their product mixes and the depth of their product lines. These traditional retailers specialize within a particular product category, selling only items targeted to narrow market segments or items requiring a particular selling expertise, such as children’s shoes, contact lens, swimming costumes, or wall clocks. Service establishments, such as restaurants and banks, are often classified as specialty retailers. These retailers do not try to be all things to all people. In fact one can never be all things to all peoples. *******************************************************************************
General stores dominated Indian retailing and they are likely to dominate because, except in large cities, too few people could be found to justify specialty retailers. The remarkable success enjoyed by specialty stores in recent years, however, illustrates the importance of effective market segmentation and target marketing. The major reason for their success is the development of considerable expertise in their particular product lines. *******************************************************************************
Department store : A departmentalized retail outlet, often large, offering a wide variety of products and generally providing a full rang of customer services. *******************************************************************************
Department Stores Department stores are typically large compared with specialty stores. They carry a wide selection of products, including clothing, furniture, home appliances, housewares, and—depending on the size of the operation—good many other products as well. These stores are “departmentalized” both physically and organizationally. Each department is operated largely as a separate entity headed by a buyer, who has considerable independence and authority in buying and selling products and who is responsible for the department’s profits. Independent department stores do exist, but most department stores are members of chains or ownership groups. Most department stores are characterized by a full range of services, including credit plans, delivery, generous return policies, restaurants, and a host of other extras such as fashion clinics, closed-door sales for established customers only and even etiquette classes for customers’ children. *******************************************************************************
Department store Generally chain operations, wide variety, full range of services Supermarket Wide variety of food and nonfood products, large departmentalized operation featuring self-service aisles and centralized checkouts Convenience store Little variety, shallow selection, fast service General mass Wide variety, shallow selection of highmerchandiser turnover products, low prices, few customer Services Catalog showroom General mass merchandiser that uses a catalog to promote items Warehouse club General mass merchandiser that requires memberships if customers wish to shop; store goods warehouse-style Specialty mass Less variety but greater depth than general merchandiser mass merchandiser, low prices, few customer services Off-price retailer Specialty mass merchandiser that sells a limited line of nationally known brand names Category superstore Specialty mass merchandiser that offers deep discounts and extensive assortment and depth in a specific product category Supermarkets and Convenience Stores The supermarket of today differs greatly from the “grocery store” from which it evolved. The grocery operator of the early part of last century knew most customers, personally filled customers’ orders and was likely to offer both delivery service and credit. With the advent of the telephone, the grocer accepted phone orders and dispatched a delivery boy to the customer’s home. Supermarket : Any large, self-service, departmentalized retail establishment, but especially one that sells primarily food items. *******************************************************************************
Today’s supermarket is a large departmentalized retail establishment selling a variety of products, mostly food items but also health and beauty aids, housewares, magazines, and much more. *******************************************************************************
The dominant features of a supermarket marketing strategy are large in-store inventories on self-service aisles and centralized checkout lines. Often, supermarkets stress the low prices resulting from self-service. The inclusion of nonfood items on supermarket shelves was once novel, in that it represented the stocking of items that did not traditionally belong in the supermarket’s group of offerings. The name given to this practice is scrambled merchandising Scrambled merchandising permits supermarkets (as well as other types of retailing institutions) to sell items that carry a higher margin than most food items; thus it provides a means to increase profitability. Across the board, however, supermarket profit margins are slim—only 1 to 2 percent of total sales. Supermarkets rely on high levels of inventory turnover to attain their return on investment goals. *******************************************************************************
Scrambled merchandising : The offering by retail establishment of products not traditionally associated with that establishment. *******************************************************************************
Supermarkets were among the first retailers to stress discount strategies. Using such strategies, large self-service retail establishments sell a variety of highturnover products at low prices. A good part of a retailer’s ability to hold process down stems from the practice of offering few services. Other than the costs of the goods they sell, most retailers find that personnel costs are their largest financial outlay. Thus, by eliminating most of the sales help, having no delivery staff, and hiring stock clerks and cash-register operators rather than true salespeople, discounters are able to take a big step toward reducing their prices. Buying in large volume also reduces the cost of goods sold. Convenience store : A small grocery store stressing convenient location and quick service and typically charging higher prices than other retailers selling similar products. *******************************************************************************
Convenience stores are, in essence, small supermarkets. They have rapidly developed as a major threat to their larger cousins. 7-Elevens, Quick-Trips, and other imitative convenience store have sprung up and multiplied across the United States. These stores carry a carefully selected variety of high-turnover consumer products. As their names generally imply, the major benefit these stores provide to consumers is convenience— convenience of location and convenience of time. By choosing handy locations and staying open 15, 18, or 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, convenience stores offer extra time and place utility. Consumers must pay for these conveniences and seem quite willing to do so. Managers of these stores price most of their “convenience goods” at levels higher than supermarketers, to provide high profit margins. Convenience stores are unusual among retailers because they have both a high margin and a high inventory turnover. *******************************************************************************
Mass merchandise retailer : A retailer that sells products at discount prices to achieve high sales volume; also called a mass merchandise discount store. There are two basic types of mass merchandise retailers: general mass merchandesers and specialty mass merchandisers. *******************************************************************************
Mass Merchandisers Mass merchandise retailers, sometimes called mass merchandise discount stores or superstores, sell at discount prices to achieve high sales volume. Mass merchandisers cut back on their stores’ interior design and on customer service in their efforts to reduce costs and maintain low prices. Supermarkets were the forerunners of mass merchandisers. In fact, the term supermarket retailing has been used to describe Target, Wal-Mart, and many other stores that have adopted the supermarket strategy, incorporating large inventories, self-service, centralized checkouts, and discount. Using supermarket-style discount strategies helps mass merchandisers to offer prices lower than those at traditional stores. *******************************************************************************
Mass merchandisers can be classified as general or specialty. General mass merchandisers, such as Wal-Mart, carry a wide variety of merchandise that cuts across product categories. They may sell everything from drug and cosmetic items to electrical appliances to clothing, toys, and novelty items. The wide variety of goods general mass merchandisers offer at low prices means that they usually cannot afford to carry a deep selection of goods in any product line. Retailers usually carry either a wide variety or a deep selection, but not both. The expense associated with having many kinds of goods and many choices of each kind makes the two possibilities largely mutually exclusive. (Indeed, small retailers can often compete with giant mass merchandisers on the basis of selection. *******************************************************************************
In contrast with general mass merchandisers, specialty mass merchandisers carry a product selection that is limited to one or a few product categories. For example, some specialty mass merchandisers sell only clothing. We will discuss two types of gerneral mass merchandisers, catalog showrooms and warehouse clubs, and two types of specialty mass merchandisers, category superstores and off-price retailers. *******************************************************************************
Catalog showroom : A gerneral mass merchandise outlet where customers select goods from a catalog and store employees retrieve the selected items from storage. Catalog showrooms, like Service Merchandise, publish large catalogs identifying products for sale in the store. Typically, these are high-margin items. The catalog—or an accompanying price list—shows the “normal” retail price of the item and the catalog discounter’s much lower price. Often, the discounter’s price is printed without a dollar sign in the form of an easily decipherable “code” to let the buyer know that a special deal—not available to just anyone—is being offered. Catalog discounters, like other discounters, do not offer customer conveniences or salesperson assistance. Service is slowed by the need to wait for purchased products to be delivered from a storage place. However, this successful formula permits lower prices. Door-to-Door Selling Cutlery, vacuum cleaners, magazines, and cosmetics are among the many products successfully sold door-to-door. This kind of retailing is an expensive method of distribution. Labor costs, mostly in the form of commissions, are quite high. Yet many consumers enjoy the personal in-home service provided by established companies like Cutco, Fuller Brush, and Avon. In general, products sold door-to-door are of the type that particularly benefit from demonstration and a personal sales approach. Vacuums and carving knives are among the many products that lend themselves to such demonstrations. In-home retailing is often performed by organizations with outstanding reputations. Unfortunately for the many legitimate companies practicing this form of retailing, the image of the door-to-door approach has been tarnished by some unethical salespeople. A number of laws make door-to-door selling difficult. For example, Green River ordinances, in effect in many local areas, put constraints on the activities of door-todoor salespeople by limiting the hours or neighborhoods in which they may call or by requiring stringently controlled licenses. It is interecting to observe that while door-to-door retailing is decreasing in importance in the United States, it is growing in some less-develop countries. Avon, for example, has a major door-to-door organization in China, and Tupperware parties are popular in many countries. Vending Machines The coin-operated vending machine is an old retailing tool that has become increasingly sophisticated in recent years. For the most part, items dispensed through vending machines are relatively low-priced convenience goods. There is a vending machine for about every 40 people in the United States. Vending machines can be found almost everywhere—and this is a big part of their appeal to the marketers that use them. Cigarettes, gum, and other items can be sold in hotels, college dormitories, and church basements without an investment in a store or in personnel. Items sold through vending machines are generally small, easily preserved, high-turnover goods such as candy and soft drinks. Technological improvements in vending machines have allowed machines to dispense airline tickets, travelers insurance, customized greeting cards, and breathalyzer tests. e-tailing on the Internet The newest development in nonstore retailing is e-tailing, or computer-interactive retailing on the Internet. Consumers can shop from their homes or offices by using personal computers to interact with retailers via the Internet. For example, Egghead.com sells consumer eletronics products and computer software. Preview Travel.com allow owners of personal computers to book airline flight and hotel reservations on-line. E*Trade makes it possible for investors to buy and sell stocks via the Net. The number of Internet Web sites, or “store fronts,” where products can be ordered has been growing very rapidly. And the operations of e-tailers are expected to continue expanding dramatically. Two years ago, Amazon.com was only an Internet bookstore, but today shoppers can find thousands of items ranging from toys to sporting goods to consumer electronics products at the Amazon.com site. Its slogan, “Earth’s Biggest Selection,” communicates the message that no physical store could possibly offer the variety and depth of merchandise available at Amazon.com. An Internet retailing strategy is not limited by the geographical store. An e-tailer can market to customers every where. An e-tailer must maintain a web site, which requires high-speed computers and sophisticated software, but it does not have to maintain physical stores or employ sales clerks and other store personnel. In some cases, etailers do not even hold any inventory. Hence, marketing costs can be relatively low. Savings from operations may be passed on to customers. *******************************************************************************
Interactivity is a fundamental and vital aspect of an Internet retail strategy. Shoppers visiting an internet store use hyperlinks to narrow their search efforts or to get additional details about a product. When consumers provide information about their unique needs, marketers can address their specific requirements on a one-to-one basis. For example, customers who return to a Web site can be greeted by name and offered product recommendations based on their past purchases and their specific tastes. In addition to interactivity, e-tailing offers many other advantages for consumers. Internet shopping at home is convenient. No travel is required, and consumers have access to etailers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week (24/7). Prices are often lower than prices at bricks-and-mortar stores. Priceline.com, Buy.com, and numerous other e-tailers offer rockbottom prices—some even let you name you own price. The Internet allows many retailers to offer broader and deeper product lines than they could in bricks-and-mortar stores or through printed catalogs. Shelf space does not limit the number of items in a product line. For example, Amazon.com offers an assortment of 3,500 video games, three times the selection of a typical electronics store. Because going from one Web site to another is a simple task, comparison shopping can be done relatively easily. Automated Shopping Tasks Performed by Shopbots *******************************************************************************
Shopbot : A smart agent software program that performs shopping tasks for online shoppers. Several companies provide automated shopping programs known as “shopbots” to make shopping easier for their customer. Shopbots are smart agent software programs designed to perform shopping tasks, as summarized in Exhibit 13.2. Search, Alert, Compare, and Negotiate. For example, Saleseeker.com and Bottomdollar.com provide lists of items and prices available at various Web site stores. MySimon.com locates goods and services based not only on price but also on certain policies (e.g., merchandise return and technical support policies), shipping time, and overall quality of the marketers. Respond.com connects buyers and sellers via email. Mercata.com uses a shopbot to aggregate buyers and use the power of volume purchasing to drive down prices. The more people who want to buy the same item, the lower the price. *******************************************************************************
Shopping on the Internet is not without its disadvantage. The most obvious disadvantage is that a shopper cannot touch, pick up, or carefully examine a product. Although Furniture.com and other companies make furniture available online, consumers cannot sit on a couch without visiting a bricks-and-mortar store. Another disadvantage is that consumers who purchase goods online must wait for delivery. (However, there are exceptions. For example, software and digital music can be purchased and downloaded from the Internet extremely quickly). Finally, a major disadvantage of Internet shopping for many consumers is potential problems with privacy. Many are reluctant to provide credit card numbers online, even though credit card fraud on the Internet is no more likely than credit card fraud in other retail situations.

SWOT ANALYSIS - Notes

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SWOT ANALYSIS

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INTRODUCTION

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SWOT analysis came from the research conducted at Stanford Research Institute from 1960-1970.
The background to SWOT stemmed from the need to find out why corporate planning failed.
The research was funded by the fortune 500 companies to find out what could be done about this failure.
The Research Team were Marion Dosher, Dr Otis Benepe, Albert Humphrey, Robert Stewart, Birger Lie.
This method was created in the 1960s by Edmund P. Learned, C. Roland Christensen, Kenneth Andrews and William D. Book in their book "Business Policy, Text and Cases" (R.D. Irwin, 1969).
It all began with the corporate planning trend, which seemed to appear first at Du Pont in 1949.
By 1960 every Fortune 500 company had a 'corporate planning manager' (or equivalent) and 'associations of long range corporate planners' had sprung up in both the USA and the UK.
However a unanimous opinion developed in all of these companies that corporate planning in the shape of long range planning was not working.
It was widely held that managing change and setting realistic objectives which carry the conviction of those responsible was difficult and often resulted in questionable compromises.
The fact remained, despite the corporate and long range planners, that the one and only missing link was how to get the management team agreed and committed to a comprehensive set of action programmes.
To create this link, starting in 1960, Robert F Stewart at SRI in Menlo Park California lead a research team to discover what was going wrong with corporate planning, and then to find some sort of solution, or to create a system for enabling management teams agreed and committed to development work, which today we call 'managing change'.

The research carried on from 1960 through 1969. 1100 companies and organizations were interviewed and a 250-item questionnaire was designed and completed by over 5,000 executives. Seven key findings lead to the conclusion that in corporations chief executive should be the chief planner and that his immediate functional directors should be the planning team. Dr Otis Benepe defined the 'Chain of Logic' which became the core of system designed to fix the link for obtaining agreement and commitment.
We discovered that we could not change the values of the team nor set the objectives for the team so we started as the first step by asking the appraisal question, for example, what's good and bad about the operation. We began the system by asking what is good and bad about the present and the future. What is good in the present is Satisfactory, good in the future is an Opportunity; bad in the present is a Fault and bad in the future is a Threat. This was called the SOFT analysis.
When this was presented to Urick and Orr* in 1964 at the Seminar in Long Range Planning at the Dolder Grand in Zurich Switzerland they changed the F to a W and called it SWOT Analysis.
This remarkable piece of history as to the origins of SWOT analysis was provided by Albert S Humphrey, one of the founding fathers of what we know today as SWOT analysis
SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.
A SWOT analysis measures a business unit, a proposition or idea
A SWOT analysis is a subjective assessment of data which is organized by the SWOT format into a logical order that helps understanding, presentation, discussion and decision-making.
Strengths and Weaknesses are regarded distinctly as internal factors, whereas Opportunities and Threats are regarded distinctly as external factors.
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IMPORTANCE

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SWOT Analysis is a strategic planning method used to evaluate the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats involved in a project or in a business venture. It involves specifying the objective of the business venture
identifying the internal and external factors that are favorable and unfavorable to achieving that objective. These internal and external factors come from within the company's unique value chain.

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Meaning of TERMS:- *******************************************************************************
It is important to clearly identify the subject of a SWOT analysis, because a SWOT analysis is a perspective of one thing, be it a company, a product, a proposition, and idea, a method, or option, etc.
Strengths: attributes of the organization that are helpful to achieving the objective.
How can we Use and Capitalize on each Strength?
Weaknesses: attributes of the organization that are harmful to achieving the objective.
How can we Improve each Weakness? Opportunities: external conditions that are helpful to achieving the objective.
How can we Exploit and Benefit from each Opportunity?
Ex.- opportunities such as: energy-saving, process-improvement, training, advertising, or discontinuing loss-making products
Threats: external conditions which could do damage to the business's performance.
How can we Mitigate each Threat?
Ex.- threats such as: desertion or key staff, the loss of major contracts,
Internal factors – The strengths and weaknesses internal to the organization. These may include factors such as the 4P's; as well as personnel, finance, manufacturing capabilities, and so on.
External factors – The opportunities and threats presented by the external environment to the organization. The external factors may include macroeconomic matters, technological change, legislation, and socio-cultural changes, as well as changes in the marketplace or competitive position.
SWOT in business and marketing tends to be an assessment of a business or a proposition, whether it is your own business or (less commonly) a competitor's business or proposition.

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Strengths and Weaknesses
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the internal environment -
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the situation inside the company or organization
for example, factors relating to products, pricing, costs, profitability, performance, quality, people, skills, adaptability, brands, services, reputation, processes, infrastructure, etc.
factors tend to be in the present

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Opportunities and Threats *******************************************************************************
The External Environment -
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the situation outside the company or organization
for example, factors relating to markets, sectors, audience, fashion, seasonality, trends, competition, economics, politics, society, culture, technology, environmental, media, law, etc.
factors tend to be in the future

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BENEFITS
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The primary objective of a SWOT analysis is to help organizations develop a full awareness of all the factors involved in a decision.
IT enables proactive thinking, rather than relying on habitual or instinctive reactions.
The SWOT analysis is an extremely useful tool for understanding and decision-making for all sorts of situations in business and organizations.
The SWOT analysis headings provide a good framework for reviewing strategy, position and direction of a company or business proposition, or any other idea.
SWOT analysis also works well in brainstorming meetings.
Use SWOT analysis for business planning, strategic planning, competitor evaluation, marketing, business development and product development and research reports.
You can also use SWOT analysis exercises for team building games.
SWOT analysis is also a widely recognized method for gathering, structuring, presenting and reviewing extensive planning data within a larger business or project planning process.
SWOT analysis is a planning process that allows your company to overcome challenges and determine what new leads to pursue.
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Conclusion :-
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The results are often presented in the form of a matrix.
IT acts as a quick decision-making tool
Its use is not restricted to business and marketing.

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USED IN *******************************************************************************
a company (its position in the market, commercial viability, etc)
a method of sales distribution
a product or brand
a business idea
a strategic option, such as entering a new market or launching a new product
a opportunity to make an acquisition
a potential partnership
changing a supplier
outsourcing a service, activity or resource
project planning and project management
an investment opportunity
personal financial planning
personal career development - direction, choice, change, etc.
education and qualifications planning and decision-making
life-change - downshifting, relocation,
relationships, perhaps even family planning?..

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strengths *******************************************************************************
Advantages of proposition?
Capabilities?
Competitive advantages?
USP's (unique selling points)?
Resources, Assets, People?
Experience, knowledge, data?
Financial reserves, likely returns?
Marketing - reach, distribution, awareness?
Innovative aspects?
Location and geographical?
Price, value, quality?
Accreditations, qualifications, certifications?
Processes, systems, IT, communications?
Cultural, attitudinal, behavioural?
Management cover, succession?

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weaknesses *******************************************************************************
Disadvantages of proposition?
Gaps in capabilities?
Lack of competitive strength?
Reputation, presence and reach?
Financials?
Own known vulnerabilities?
Timescales, deadlines and pressures?
Cashflow, start-up cash-drain?
Continuity, supply chain robustness?
Effects on core activities, distraction?
Reliability of data, plan predictability?
Morale, commitment, leadership?
Accreditations, etc?
Processes and systems, etc?
Management cover, succession?
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opportunities
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Market developments?
Competitors' vulnerabilities?
Industry or lifestyle trends?
Technology development and innovation?
Global influences?
New markets, vertical, horizontal?
Niche target markets?
Geographical, export, import?
Market need for new USP's?
Market response to tactics, e.g., surprise?
Major contracts, tenders?
Business and product development?
Information and research?
Partnerships, agencies, distribution?
Market volume demand trends?
Seasonal, weather, fashion influences?
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Threats
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Political effects?
Legislative effects?
Environmental effects?
IT developments?
Competitor intentions - various?
Market demand?
New technologies, services, ideas?
Vital contracts and partners?
Obstacles faced?
Insurmountable weaknesses?
Employment market?
Financial and credit pressures?
Economy - home, abroad?
Seasonality, weather effects?

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Strengths
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End-user sales control and direction.
Right products, quality and reliability.
Superior product performance vs competitors.
Better product life and durability.
Spare manufacturing capacity.
Some staff have experience of end-user sector.
Have customer lists.
Direct delivery capability.
Product innovations ongoing.
Can serve from existing sites.
Products have required accreditations.
Processes and IT should cope.
Management is committed and confident.

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Weaknesses
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Customer lists not tested.
Some gaps in range for certain sectors.
We would be a small player.
No direct marketing experience.
We cannot supply end-users abroad.
Need more sales people.
Limited budget.
No pilot or trial done yet.
Don't have a detailed plan yet.
Delivery-staff need training.
Customer service staff need training.
Processes and systems, etc
Management cover insufficient.

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Opportunities
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Could develop new products.
Local competitors have poor products.
Profit margins will be good.
End-users respond to new ideas.
Could extend to overseas.
New specialist applications.
Can surprise competitors.
Support core business economies.
Could seek better supplier deals.

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Threats
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Legislation could impact.
Environmental effects would favour larger competitors.
Existing core business distribution risk.
Market demand very seasonal.
Retention of key staff critical.
Could distract from core business.
Possible negative publicity.
Vulnerable to reactive attack by major competitors.
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