Table of Contents
Contents
I Introduction
1.1 About the Company
1.2 About Retail History and Modern Trade
1.2.1 The Research Problem
1.2.2 The Research Design
II Psychographics and Demographics
2.1 Customer Classification and Preference as per class
2.2 Customer Behavior as observed at Hyper Store
III Analysis of Responses
3.1 Chocolate
3.2 Health Drinks
3.3 Snacks
List of Figures
Figure No. Description
1 Frequency of Superstore visits
2 Expenditure Trends
3 Chocolate purchase frequency (General)
4 Chocolate purchase frequency (Hyper store)
5 Promotional Preferences (General)
6 Promotional Preferences (Across Demographics)
7 Promotional Preferences (Chocolate)
8 Promotional Preferences (Chocolate Across Demographics)
9 Chocolate Consumer
10 Promotional Preferences (Health Drinks)
11 Milk Additive Consumer
12 Will Buy Bournvita if any promo
13 Preferred Snack
14 Snack Purchased mostly from Hyper store
15 Promotional Preferences (Bytes)
16 Bytes Perception
17 Product Life Cycle
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List of Appendices
Table No. Description See Appendix
1 Customer Questionnaire
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Introduction
About the Company
Cadbury Schweppes
Cadbury Schweppes is the No.1 confectionery and third largest soft drinks company in the world. We manufacture, market and distribute branded chocolates, confectionery and beverages that bring smiles to millions of consumers across 180 countries.
The origin of the group goes back over two centuries. Some of the most loved international brands are from the stable of Cadbury Schweppes – Cadbury Dairy Milk, Dr Pepper, Flake, Trebor Basset, Snapple, Motts and… with the acquisition of
The Core purpose of Cadbury Schweppes is “Working better together to create brands people love”.
Cadbury India Ltd.
Cadbury
With brands like Dairy Milk, Gems, 5 Star, Bournvita, Perk, Celebrations, Bytes, Chocki, Delite and Temptations, there is a Cadbury offering to suit all occasions and moods.
We bring the sweetest of smiles to millions of consumers through our dearly loved brands distributed through 5.5 lakhs outlets across the country.
Vision
Life Full Of Cadbury
Cadbury is an organisation which impacts and interacts with the consumers.
Cadbury is present in most happy occasions in the life of our consumer.
Our brands excite our consumer.
Cadbury is an expression of a consumer's life.
Cadbury Full Of Life
Cadbury as a company is vibrant.
Cadbury ia a fun and energising workplace.
Cadbury is robust and alive.
About Retail History and Modern Trade
Definition of Retailer
Retailer is a Person or Agent or Agency or Company or Organization who is instrumental in reaching the Goods or Merchandise or Services to the End User or Ultimate Consumer.
Traditional Retail Scene in
Variety in terms of quality, Styles were on regional basis, community based & truly very low range was available at any given single place. Almost all the purchases / (buying) by mass population was need oriented & next turn may be on festivals, Marriages, Birthdays & some specific occasions. Impulsive buying or consumption was restricted to food or vegetables etc. Having extra pair of trousers or Shirts or Casuals & Formals & leisure wear & sports wear & different pair of shoes for occasions was a luxury for majority population. Purchasing power of Indian urban consumer was very low and that of Branded merchandise in categories like Apparels, Cosmetics, Shoes, Watches, Beverages, Food, Jewellery, were slowly seeping into the lifeline of
What will work in
As every retailer who wants to get into large format retail must be aware of "Walmart" which is a discount store. Walmart is the no 1 retailer in the world in terms of turnover, In India this much owned "Discount Store" concept will work but with a difference. Indian consumer bye and large is price conscious, he wants best of the commodities, Brands, at least price. This consumer will go to different places for the same merchandise, compare the prices and then take a decision before actually buying the product.
These retail outlets need to redefine definition of Discount, extent of discount, Category wise discount, Item – Brand wise discount, GP based discount, General discount, Loyalty discount, Special discount, Festival discount & stock clearance discount, fixed amount discount, % discount.
Customer loyalty fees should be charged. In the same light customer loyalty program should be linked with discount policy & discounts should be on the spot & transferable, since volumes is the name of the game. Retailer relations & off take discounts on buying should be discussed & linked with discounts offered to customer or end users. Retailer partnership is an essential element in success of the operations.
Since the early 1990s the retail scenario in
Big Bazaar and Spencer’s are the most rapidly developing modern trade outlets in the country.
This study is focussed on the sales and promotion strategies that are adopted in a Modern Trade outlet, its influence on the customers visiting these outlets.
The Research Problem
The basic objective of this project is to perform a thorough market analysis of the various Modern Trade Outlets across Delhi NCR for the Chocolate Industry and the company Cadbury India Ltd. The project also includes a detailed analysis of performance of its major products Bournvita and Bytes at these modern trade outlets. The analysis incorporates – analysis of the various promotional schemes at these outlets their impacts, and recommendations. This involves comparison of the promotional preferences for chocolates, health drinks, and snacks with the general promotional preferences of a typical superstore customer.
The Research Design
Type of Research: Descriptive.
Sample Units: Two of the leading Modern Trade outlet brands across Delhi NCR region were covered. There are in all, six Big Bazaar and two Spencer’s outlets across the region. Presence of FMCG’s is high and noticeable.
Sample Design: Non-probability sampling was resorted to and the methods used is Convenience sampling and Judgment sampling.
Sample size: The total sample size is 207, which includes customers of Big Bazaar and Spencer’s.
Data Collection: Data collected was primary data. A structured questionnaire method was used to collect primary data. This data was analyzed with the help of computer software EXCEL, to make graphs and pie charts.
Limitation of the project:
1. For generalization of the results a study needs to be undertaken based in a larger sample across different cities.
2. Since the study is confined to Delhi NCR only, the findings cannot be applied to other parts of the country.
3. The project did not cover all the factors influencing preferences of expenditure on the basis of occupation, income level, wealth, education, value orientation and cultural background.
Research Details
In the first phase a questionnaire was designed. This Questionnaire aimed at analysis of customer’s perception towards the promotional schemes at these outlets. The promotional schemes mainly include price-off, discount, contests, sweepstakes, free sample, free gift, buy 1 get 1 free, etc. 30 responses were collected for the same. This questionnaire was treated as a sample questionnaire. Based on these 30 sample responses the questionnaire was modified and a final questionnaire was drafted. This questionnaire had 33 questions. Then a survey was conducted on the same for about 100 responses. Later the sample size was increased to 207. This final Questionnaire used for the study is included in this report. (See Appendix). The first objective was to encourage the respondents to tick those perceived benefits that mattered to them the most.
Another task that was done in parallel was the interaction with the promoters who assist the customers while shopping at these superstores. A promoter knows his company products very well and also knows the various schemes associated with these products. So, in this task, an attempt was made to find out the differnet promotional schemes run by various FMCG's since January 2006. The target companies include Dabur, Nestle, HLL, P&G, Henkel, Frito Lay's, GSK, Reckitt Benkiser, etc. This includes the analysis of the promotional schemes for almost 50 products since January 2006.
Psychographics and Demographics of the sample
The Psychographics and Demographics were identified based on the responses collected for this study. This is attempted in terms of the consumers. A total of 207 responses were collected and then classified into various age groups. It includes both male and female respondents.
20 to 25 –
The psychographic profile: they are novelty seeking in behaviour. They are also fun loving.
26 to 35 –
The psychographic profile: they are likely to be variety seeking in behaviour. They are self expressing by nature and inner directed to an extent. They like to indulge themselves.
35 above –
They can either be individuals indulging themselves, or they could be indulging their children. They are inner directed people who form their own values and norms and believe in not adhering blindly to social norms. They are somewhat occasion driven in their buying behavior.
Customer Classification & Preferences as per class
Upper Elite Class
Those who have inherited wealth, This class is less than 0.1% & have preference in Antiques, Jewellery, Homes, Vacations, Higher education, Fitness, Beauty treatment, Traveling etc. These people may or may not shop at Modern Trade Outlets.
Lower Upper Class
These are the people who have earned wealth due to their exceptional ability & who are neo rich: prefer to spend on Cars, Big home, good schooling education for their children etc. This class of people constitutes a considerable number of the hyper store visitor.
Upper Middle Class
Career oriented Professionals & corporate managers are the people who prefer to spend on: Education, Books, Cloths, Furniture, Home appliances etc. This class of people also constitutes a large population of hyper store visitors.
Middle Class
These are average pay white-collar class of society who prefer to spend on Popular & Trendy products, Cars, Branded Goods,e con Good Homes College education for children, entertainment etc. This class is the most dynamic class and has moved from the concept of kirana waala to superstore to hyper store. This class has welcomed the concept of Modern Trade to the maximum.
Working Class
These are again average pay Blue-collar class of society who prefer unbranded goods, cheap food & liquor etc. These people are usually non visitors to such a store or pay a very few visits. But this class is an interesting class for Cadbury as they are tempted to buy a few goods on instinct.
Lower Class
This class of people would prefer to spend on necessities from Local Market & local unbranded goods. These people do not visit superstores or hyperstores.
Customer Behavior as observed at Hyperstore
A typical superstore customer has his own peculiar set of choices in his mind. He usually looks for:
- Recognizable Brands
- Their competitors.
- Impartiality
- Meaningful Guarantee / Warrantee
- Cleanliness of the counter.
Analysis of Responses
Chocolates
1. The pie-chart shows the frequency of visits to a superstore outlet. The graph indicates that most of the people are either monthly or fortnightly visitors to such stores. So the company should plan to change the promotional schemes at least every month so as to retain its old customers and attract new ones as well.
2. The graph shows the expenditure trends for overall expenditure in Big Bazaar and Chocolate Expenditure trend. This graph is an output of correlation analysis. There is a positive correlation between the spending at a superstore and the spending on chocolates. The left portion of the graph shows that those customers whose overall expenditure in a hyper store is low, spend considerable money out of their pockets towards buying chocolates. The area in the center should be quite a concern for the company. As the overall expenditure of the people increases slightly the money spent on chocolates does not increase as much. This shows that such a person spends more money on other items Eg: Essentials. On the other hand, the right portion of the graph suggests that those people who spend very high amount of money in superstores also spend a considerable amount on Chocolates.
3. The pie-chart shows the frequency of chocolate consumption. The chart indicates that most respondents are weekly consumers of chocolate. This clearly indicates that the frequency of visits to superstores is not related with the chocolate purchase frequency. So these respondents also consume chocolates from other outlets like Kirana store.
4. The following pie-chart indicates frequency of chocolate purchases at superstore. Here we can see that there exists a positive correlation between the frequencies of superstore visits to the chocolate purchase frequency at a modern trade outlet.
5. The pie-chart shows the general promotional preferences. The chart indicates that more than 50% of the people surveyed prefer the promotion ‘Buy 1 get 1 free’ for the products. A price-off or discount or an extra quantity at the same price is the second preference.
6. The following bar graph shows the preferences across demographics. A clear indicator of popularity of ‘buy 1 get 1 free’ scheme, this graph shows an interesting aspect. The age group 26-35 have the second choice as a ‘Free Gift’ which is not an overall second preference.
7. The pie chart indicates the choice of promo for chocolate.
Extra quantity in a chocolate pack comes out as a favorite promo for chocolate with ‘Buy 1 get 1 free’ as next. So even if there are other promos which might be an instant hit. An extra quantity at the same price for their favorite chocolate seems to be more popular in the long run.
8. The bar graph shows the popular chocolate promo across Demographics
Extra Quantity seems to be the most popular promo amongst the young who clearly want more chocolate at the same price. While the middle-aged 26 to 35 have a varied choice and hence are more open to all promos. This can be understood in detail from the following charts
9. The pie chart indicates that the consumer of chocolates most of the time is self.
The above graph indicates that people purchase chocolates for self consumption as opposed for others. It is a well-known fact that self purchases are generally impulse purchases for non-necessity items. This indicates that chocolate is not a planned purchase but an impulse purchase. So the sales promotion should be such that it instigates the customer in a superstore to buy the product for himself. When such a product is bought for children or friends it is more of a planned purchase.
Key Success Factors
· Advertising and promotion: The importance of brand symbolism in this category is very high, as the rationality of buying decision is very low. Since this category does not satisfy any immediate functional need, the consumers look to products for some rewards which may be social, emotional etc. By attaching unique emotional values to its brands CIL is consistently able to maintain around 70-80% of market share.
· Visibility - for an impulse purchase: Chocolates are largely an impulse purchase where the consumer makes the decision most often than not when he sees the products displayed at the retail point. Mostly, sales of chocolates are on impulse. Thus visibility will surely spur the purchase of chocolates.
How To Exploit Impulse Purchase Behaviour?
¨ By improving the point of purchase promotion and providing the cues to instigate the customers to consume the product.
¨ Improving the visibility of the product so as to enhance the consumption.
¨ Installing an extensive display system and ensuring that the product is available at all possible places throughout the store most of the times. Display should be more self-explanatory which will guide the customer for his buying decision.
¨ Value proposition for customer should be evident & a formula in that respect should be arrived at. Extend the gift proposition so as to position it as a gift not only for the festivals but also as a casual gift that can be given to anyone anytime.
¨ Changing the promo schemes as frequently as possible to attract the same customer multiple times. The company should have a continuous program on sales promotion on different categories.
Recommendations:
¨ Cadbury's is already using the above mentioned tactics to exploit impulse behavior and increase the product consumption. However there is further scope to increase coverage and visibility in superstore and hyper stores. For this reason it is recommended that the company should focus on the upcoming retail outlets and malls all across the country and expand its coverage.
¨ Company has succeeded in positioning chocolates as an all time product (the 'Real Taste of Life' campaigns) that can be consumed anytime and anywhere, to treat others and also one. It is the spirit of enjoying life at every step of the way and with this theme they have succeeded in overcoming the barrier of using chocolates as a gift only for the festival season.
¨ An attractive promo can give only a temporary rise in sales. For the long run a promo should be such that increases brand loyalty.
How To Build Consumer Interest In The Product Category?
Following are the possible strategies for increasing consumer interest in the product category.
· Frequent reminder advertising and maintain a top of mind awareness for the product.
· Emphasize functional benefits like nutritious value of chocolates. In
· Company can try to satisfy higher level needs of consumers like social needs, belongingness, and aspirational needs.
· Customer participation in business by sharing profits with him by way of customer loyalty Program & charging membership fees & offering better discounts than other walk-in customers. This action will push the sales & over a period generate customer pull. Innovation in terms of schemes & continuous introduction of promos at Customer Participation Price should be offered. The Retailer could contribute part of this sharing. Hence this creates win-win situation for all Vendor, Retailer & Consumer / Customer.
Recommendations:
Out of these possible strategies, it is recommended that company should try to focus on building high top-of-mind awareness, increasing reminder advertisements and educate consumers about functional benefits of product. Educating consumers about nutritious, calorific value of chocolates may be significant as per capita expenditure on food in
How To Increase Brand Loyalty For Cadbury's Brands?
· Build strong relationship for different Cadbury's brands with consumers in various segments.
· By dominating the shelf space and avoid getting out of the shelf space.
· The company can also maintain the consumer loyalty by offering a variety brands from its own stable so that even if the consumer looks for variety, he goes in for some of that company's own stable.
· By increasing the range of its products so as to increase the evoked set in the minds if the consumers.
· Stock clearance of merchandise aged more than "n" Days.
Recommendations:
Company already has a very strong relationship with consumers in traditional segments like moulded chocolates. Parents were using Cadbury to express their love towards their children. In fact various market researches carried out revealed that consumers see Cadbury as a synonym for chocolates. This relationship building strategy should be extended to emerging high growth segments like wafer chocolates. Apart from advertising, company can form kids clubs and sponsor various competitions like quizzes, games and music events to build a continuous relationship with target segment. Food MNC Nestle successfully utilized this strategy by forming children clubs for its noodles brand Maggi.
Company's flagship brand CDM is already available in many variants and thus consumer opting for competitor's brands in moulded chocolate segment is very less. In other segments like wafer chocolates, company should offer more variety to retain customers.
Company already has highest shelf space among chocolate companies and its distribution is strong enough to keep continuous availability. So there is not much scope of strengthening this network without going for increasing geographical coverage.
Chocolates are a perishable item, which means that the shelf life of the product is not very long and it is important that the product moves fast. Also, it is an impulse purchase item. Most of the time the consumer decides to consume the product at the spur of the moment. The companies can actually use this as an advantage and increase their sales since it does not involve any rational evaluation and then reaching a decision to consume.
Health Drinks
Through the years, Bournvita has been a market leader in the Health Drinks market as well as have a dominant share of the Chocolates market.
However, it was only in the beginning of the early 1990s that Cadbury fortified the product with essential vitamins and minerals to offer a more balanced product. The subsequent years saw the evolution of many memorable campaigns based on the 'Tan ki Shakti, Man ki Shakti' platform. The next big breakthrough happened in 1999 when the brand was re-launched with a new RDA Balanced Formula. This led to explosive growths in the North and the West. However, even as the brand was making inroads with mothers, it was not keeping pace with the aspirations of the new age Indian child, now exposed to a host of imported food products as well as wider media consumption. This led to the realization that the brand would need to reinvent itself to maintain a strong connect with its core consumers viz. kids. With this objective in mind, the brand was re-launched with a completely new identity in 2001. In its new avatar, the brand had a new, bold logo, trendy packaging and enhanced Cadbury values through better pack graphics. Post this re-launches, the brand witnessed high growth rates, bucking the stagnancy of the category and achieved a 50%+ share in the West and market leadership in the North, which it still maintains.
Product
Bournvita has a unique taste which combines the goodness of malt and chocolate. It gives the child physical and mental alertness resulting in a healthy body and an active mind. In turn this gives the child the confidence to succeed in life.
In 2001 Bournvita, complete with new packaging and design was re-launched. It had many firsts. Bournvita introduced a pet jar (shifting from the old glass bottle). It introduced shrink-sleeved packaging (from the old jar labels). There was a complete re-design of the logo. A loyalty programme, in the form of a Bournvita Nutrition Centre, dedicated to counselling mothers on her child's daily nutritional needs was opened. It was Bournvita's way of showing it cared.
Recent Developments
While Bournvita has always been the market leader in the North and West it was losing ground in the South. As an ever-alert company, it customised the 2001 re-launch to combat this problem in terms of improved product delivery, increased media presence, increased focus on distribution and a sharper communication strategy. This paid rich dividends.
Research showed that important changes were taking place in the relationship between the mother and child. Historically, Bournvita spoke mostly to mothers. In the changed environment it was, therefore, losing out on connecting with kids. Research had shown that kids and mothers in the new generation were both decision-makers on MFD purchase. To exploit this understanding, the company embraced a two-pronged communication in its re-launch exercise: on the one hand it spoke to the mother without alienating the kid, on the other it spoke to the kid without alienating the mother. This was a serious decision and, probably, for the first time in its entire history, the company completely revamped the packaging to give the brand a far more modern and contemporary look and feel.
The company has adopted market-appropriate approaches. As the challenger brand in the South - which is the largest in terms of MFD market size - the strategy is to convert competitive brand users with a clearly differentiated brand promise. As the market leader in the North and West the strategy is to expand the market and invite new users into the segment by creating relevance for the category.
Promotion
Cadbury Bournvita has been advertising since the 1970s. In the early years the positioning centred on 'Good upbringing' with Bournvita being an essential building block for children. The basic communication over the next twenty years shows how finely it has changed. In the 1980/82 years it was 'Goodness that grows with you'. By 1987, it had become the more aggressive 'Brought up right, Bournvita bright'.
In the last decade of the 20th Century, competition between children was becoming intense and Bournvita was there with its 'Extra energy to stay ahead'. In the 1992/95 period 'Shakti har din ke champion ki' (Energy for the everyday champion) was its payoff line. In 2000, 'Bournvita poshan, sahi poshan' (Bournvita nutrition, right nutrition) encouraged consumption. In the following year 'Confidence kuch kar dikhane ka' (Confidence to achieve) became the reason to buy. The current Cadbury Bournvita positioning suggests that it contains specific ingredients that augment stamina and concentration in children. This positioning came about as a result of an extensive usage and attitude study as well as direct contact amongst consumers. It was developed to sharpen Bournvita's category benefit and create the entire competitive promise of health, energy - and the higher order payoff of confidence.
One of the most enduring relationships that Bournvita has with its consumers is the long-standing Bournvita Quiz Contest. Initially, the programme was on All India Radio, but was shifted to television in 1994. The programme, hosted by quizmaster Derek O'Brien, involves schools and children from all over
Bournvita has used packaging with a strong promotional accent. Its usage of brand colours (yellow and orange) effectively cues health. It creates an association with the mother brand through the predominant use of purple. The brand uses chocolate, milk and wheat visuals to infuse appetite appeal and nutritional values.
And the dumb-bell shaped bottle signifies strength and energy.
The company won an ABBY for a press campaign that said: 'No Bournvita. No Milk'.
Brand Values
The core values of the brand have been mental alertness and physical fitness for children who consume Bournvita daily. This layered with the great Cadbury chocolate taste has made the brand distinct from other offerings in the consumers mind.
Health Drinks
10. The Pie-Chart indicates the promo preferences for Bournvita
The response analysis clearly indicates that a Health Drink Customer prefers an Extra Quantity over other schemes. A bytes pack free is also a popular scheme. This indicates that a customer is driven more when a promo offers something substantial with it. Even though promos like gift for a child might be a hit on their launch, customers are more likely be loyal when they are getting more at the same price. Our study shows that 72 % of the consumers of health drinks are children. While out of the remaining mostly lie in the age group below 25.
11. This indicates that the choice of the milk additive is driven by children. But when it comes to making a choice the customer looks for a promo that gives an advantage to his pocket like ‘Extra Quantity’ rather than ‘Gift for the Child’
12. The Pie-Chart indicates those customers who will buy Bournvita if they find the promo attractive
These respondents include those who do not consume any health drink at all. So a 43% ‘Yes’ is a positive sign for the company. This indicates that those customers who also consume other health drinks are willing to switch to Bournvita if a promo really appeals.
Snack Foods
Bytes, a hugely successful wafer-chocolate innovation from Cadbury
Organized snack food market can be considered as substitute for biscuits. Rather heavy advertisements and promotions done by KurKure, Lays, and Bytes is helping improving the attitude of the consumers towards snack food in general.
After years of effort and a few hundred crore gone into advertising and promotions, the category remains pitifully small. One countermanding factor is the parents consider these food as junk food. The parents perception towards purchasing such food is that they are feeding their children with junk food. Such a guilt factor needs to be handled appropriately to enhance the market for this food segment.
Change in such attitude will certainly cause a shift towards convenience goods. Thus helping sales of Bytes go up considerably.
13. The following Pie-Chart shows preferred snack 
Lays and KurKure are the big players and Bytes is way behind. It still lacks in it’s perception as an alternate to Lays or KurKure.
14. The pie-chart shows that whether a customer buys snacks mostly from a superstore or not. 
Results clearly indicate that people are also involved in a lot of snacking, thus indicating that their superstore visits are less frequent than snacking.
15. The following Pie-Chart indicates preferred scheme for Bytes.
This clearly shows that the ‘1 plus 1 free’ is the most preferred promo in these outlets. But this does not mean that it is a Hit Promo. 35 % of the respondents feel that a ‘free Bytes sample’ clubbed with some other product say Bournvita will be their preference. It seems that customers are not willing to spend money on Bytes. So Bytes needs to be distributed as a free sample with some other product so that people get a free trial of the product.
16. Response to the question:
What do you think of Bytes as a Snack?
During the survey we explored the reasons due to which people did not buy Bytes. 22% of the people said that they thought that the quantity offered was very little as compared to other packaged snacks. 72% of the people said that they did not like the taste of Bytes that it was much too sweet. Some of the mothers said that it is too sweet to allow children to buy Bytes. 6% of the people cited other reasons such as medical ones.
This product can be studied with the help of the concept of product life cycle.
Product Life Cycle
On introduction of new brand sale will increase with time till it reaches peak & drop down & stabilize.
This indicates time to introduce new product Brand or Design.
The Product Life Cycle (PLC) describes the stages a new product idea goes through from beginning to end. The PLC is divided into five major stages:
Product Identification / Selection (Development)
Market Introduction
Market Growth
Market Maturity
Sales Decline
| Sales and profits |
|
It seems that Bytes as a product before reaching the maturity stage has reached decline stage. It is evident because of the customer perception for the product. This product is available under the Buy 1 get 1 free. Despite having a lot of popularity such a promo has it’s own disadvantages. Such a promo if run for a too longer period will actually pull this product into a never-ending loophole. Too boost the sales such a promo might be effective in a short span. But in the long run, a customer gets habitual towards the promo. The consumer hence, waits for the promo before he repurchases the product. ‘Bytes’ is stuck into such a loophole. It seems it will be very difficult to get out of the same. It is very important to get out of this loophole as soon as possible for the long run of the product.
Pitfalls and recommendations to overcome them :
While conducting the survey in the various Modern Trade outlets, and while analyzing the findings, certain loopholes were observed which are hampering the penetration of Bytes in the market and thus affecting the consumer acceptance of the product. Based on these shortcomings, certain measures have been recommended which I believe would help Bytes in building its presence in the market.
1) Consistency from Sales officers :
At the time of conducting our promoter survey, it was noticed that many of the sales officers and promoters are not enthusiastic about Bytes. This might be a problem. For a product like Bytes, which is in the process of cementing its footsteps in the market, they don’t care as the demand is not too great anyways. Therefore it becomes imperative for the Sales officers and promoters to maintain consistency in their attitude towards all the products. Based on these shortcomings, certain measures have been recommended which I believe would help Bytes in building its presence in the market.
Also there are some other important things which they have to take care of while visiting the retailers. Firstly, they should work on improving the visibility of Bytes in these shops. At superstores surveyed Bytes wasn’t that visible. Where as its competitors like Lays and Kurkure have a good visibility. In such cases, when customers do not see the product, they do not go for an Impulse purchase. They would rather purchase a pack of chips than Bytes on impulse as that is more visible to them. Therefore again the Sales Officers of Cadbury should persist the promoters to give greater visibility to Bytes.
The second significant mistake they make is that they don’t push Bytes while taking orders from the retailers. It came to my light from few of the retail shop owners that the sales officers have a list of all the Cadbury products which they read out while taking orders. Most of them first mention the different chocolates followed by Bournvita and in the end they casually ask about Bytes.
So in this way the Sales Officer needs to show more consistency and commitment from their side to improve the retailer acceptance of the budding brand.
2) Reduce the lag time in terms of the product reaching the customers :
It is surprising to see the manufactured date on Bytes package. Most of them had around 1-2 months prior dates printed on it. The customers in spite of being small children have become a lot more health conscious these days. They feel discontented after seeing the date of manufacture and as a result decide against buying the product. Hence this way it stands to lose out. They should make sure that the time lag is not more than 15 days at any cost as that is the case in most of the packs of their competitors Lays and Kurkure.
Thus it becomes imperative for Bytes to work on this front and make it reached quickly enough to the customers.
Apart from these recommendations, some major observations were made while surveying the customers. For example, some of the customers felt that the 10 Rupee pack of Bytes did not provide sufficient Value for Money to them, some were not happy about Bytes no more giving free tazzos with the product etc.
New Product Forms
Other recommendations are to launch new products linked to their core offerings. The company should seriously look for taking chocolates in other product forms:
· Chocolate sauces, particularly used as toppings for ice creams are getting popular in
· Chocolate cakes. Like CDM-cake in line with Britannia's cake.
· Chocolate biscuits by CDM with their different brands, e.g. with white/brown chocolate.
· The company can also consider rejuvenating its dormant chocolate drink by marketing it as a cold, ready to drink milk and using dispensers to distribute it.
· Chocolates from vending machines at places like Railway stations/offices/schools, and make it as an attractive new concept.
Of course, it's true that all companies that innovate must also have their share of failures, but with Cadbury's, something else seems involved. The company seems to alternate a talent for creating brands with spasms of uncertainty about whether it wants them at all. Its overwhelming focus on chocolate could be both strength and a trap. Every thrust into a new area seems to be followed by the feeling that perhaps they're better off sticking to what they know best — with the result that for all its evident marketing strengths, the company's still relatively small in India. But there are new forms like Bytes, new ways of getting them to consumers, but it's still about chocolates and that why this time Cadbury's might able to stay on track.
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