مطالعات مدیریت راهبردی (Mar 2023)
Designing marketing and sales strategies model in the chain stores industry
Abstract
Introduction: The evolution of the international retail industry is to move from individual stand-alone stores that sell limited products to chain stores that offer more diverse product categories on a more economical scale. Thus, the chain store industry is one of the newer forms of offering fast-moving products to consumers. In this area, the most important decisions related to marketing and sales policies that directly affect the company's performance and the quality of service to end-users, and ultimately profitability. The purpose of this study is to provide a model for marketing and sales strategy for companies operating in the chain stores industry, and by adopting a comprehensive approach, an attempt made to remove some of the existing limitations in the field of research and implementation. Therefore, in this research and a forward-looking and innovative perspective, this question answered: what is the model of marketing and sales strategies in the chain store industry? Methodology: This research-based on the purpose is of developmental type, based on the nature is of exploratory and descriptive type and based on the type is of data of the qualitative and quantitative type and has an integrated strategy, that is, to achieve the objectives of the research, two qualitative and quantitative methods have been used together. The statistical population of this research is the marketing and sales managers of three companies, Hyperstar, Canbo, and Ofoq Kourosh. Thus, after an in-depth study and review of books and articles related to marketing and sales concepts, an attempt made to identify a significant part of the important factors in developing marketing and sales strategies for companies active in the chain stores industry. After that, in the qualitative part, by content analysis method, a semi-structured interview conducted with 10 industry experts of chain stores from the three mentioned companies based on judgmental sampling. Qualitative sampling continued until the researcher reached theoretical saturation. In the quantitative part by survey method, 116 questionnaires distributed among the marketing and sales managers of these three companies. Analyzing the qualitative data obtained from the interviews based on the analysis of words, sentences, themes, and idioms of experts in the field of marketing and sales of the chain stores industry, led to the extraction of 391 primary codes. After several reviews and integration of codes based on similarity in several stages, 73 codes were finally extracted, which became the basis for the quantitative questionnaire design. Following a review of content analysis in the qualitative section, the competitive environment of the chain stores industry, online promotions, and online service features added as new variables to the original research model. In the quantitative part, the data analyzed by structural equation method using Smart PLS software. Results and Discussion: In response to the main research question, which is also the ultimate goal of the research, we found that developing a sales strategy in companies operating in the chain stores industry without considering the marketing strategy and its components is irrational. In addition, the effect of the moderating variable of the competitive environment of the chain stores industry didnot ignored because not paying attention to this factor can fail the strongest marketing and sales strategy of chain stores companies. Findings showed that marketing mix is the most important factor in marketing strategy and the use of sales technologies is the most important factor in sales strategy in the chain store industry. Evidence suggests that the presence of a moderating variable of the competitive environment of the chain stores industry affects the relationship between marketing and sales strategies. Conclusion: Adopting a comprehensive approach to the elements of marketing and sales strategies, taking into account the competitive environment prevailing in the industry, and using online environment-based methods are important issues in developing marketing and sales strategies of companies operating in the chain stores industry, which have not been considered in Iran. It is necessary to plan for reach a successful chain stores industry for leading consumer satisfaction and achieving financial goals for companies. Companies operating is better to pay attention to the competitive environment of the chain store industry and then taking a broad view of having a marketing strategy that takes into account issues related to marketing objectives, pricing, branch location, competitive advantage, resource allocation, consumer behavior analysis, consumer segmentation, online and traditional promotions, product, online service features, as well as sales strategy that is formed by considering the issues related to the use of sales technologies, sales team training and the use of multiple sales channels.
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