A Research Paper On

"Exploring the obstructions of a

Vegetable seller in his business"

Course Title : Marketing Research

Course Code : MKT506
Program : MBA

Submitted To:

Submitted By:-

Sl no. Name ID
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Date of Submission: 8th December, 2016

Contents

1. Introduction
2. Problem Identification
3. Objectives of the Research
4. Review of Literature
5. Methodology
6. Tools used in Marketing Research
7. Data Analysis
8. Findings
9. Managerial Implications
10. Conclusions
11. References

Introduction

Managers need information in order to introduce products and services that create value in
the mind of the customer. But the perception of value is a subjective one, and what
customers value this year may be quite different from what they value next year. As such, the
attributes that create value cannot simply be deduced from common knowledge. Rather, data
must be collected and analyzed. The goal of marketing research is to provide the facts and
direction that managers need to make their more important marketing decisions.
Once the need for marketing research has been established, most marketing research projects
involve these steps:

Define the problem

Determine research design
Identify data types and sources
Design data collection forms and questionnaires
Determine sample plan and size
Collect the data
Analyze and interpret the data
Prepare the research report

Bangladesh is known as agricultural country in the world due to majority of our population
work as farmers, and it is home to a huge variety of vegetables. Due to its diverse climatic
conditions it has got the distinction of producing almost all the tropical as well as exotic
vegetables. The vegetable growing sector comprises the production of trade in fresh and
refrigerated vegetable varieties of underground and above ground parts of herbaceous plants.
Therefore, there is a need for maximum commercial utilization vegetables and to adapt
production, marketing and most of all distribution activities to cater to the demand in the
market.

The main vegetables grown are potatoes, onions, green peas, cauliflower, cabbage, tomatoes,
carrots, green chillies and so on. In a recent development many technically qualified
professionals have adapted to modern methods of cultivation and mechanized farming.

These vegetables are distributed and sold by various groups such as, Distributors,
Wholesalers and Retailers. Distributors frequently have a business relationship with
vegetable producers that they represent. The distributor becomes the vegetables producers
direct point of contact for prospective customers of certain vegetables. However, distributors
rarely sell vegetables directly to consumers. Wholesale representatives and retailers generally
find distributors to buy those vegetables for resale. Wholesalers generally buy a large
quantity of vegetables directly from distributors. Retailers sell vegetables directly to
consumers. Generally, a retailer can buy small quantities of vegetables from a distributor or a
wholesaler.

In this research paper, we have chosen to depict the obstructions a vegetable seller or retailer
faces and the influences of customer purchase preferences on it.
Problem Identification
The study is about a local market vegetable seller facing nowadays new challenges and
obstructions in his business and developing an effective business approach to grow more
customer attention. This study is being conducted because this market is becoming complex
day by day as new players are entering with new and innovative ways of providing the
vegetables to the customers. The main motive behind this study is to analyse what sort of
problems a vegetable seller faces.

We have visited some local vegetable shops in Konabari, Gazipur, Dhaskhin Khan Bazar and
near surrounding area, and Faidabad-Goaltak. We have found out some problems those are
faced by some local vegetable sellers and we put these together in our research.

A vegetable seller faces some problems as follows:

Low investment: A local street vegetable seller cannot invest more to run his
business as like as a vegetable seller with large investment and this is why he cannot
grow more profit.
No permanent position: To maintain the business, a local street vegetable seller does
not have a permanent position and it makes him much trouble to cope up with his
business.
No fixed customer: A business may be profitable if it does have regular customers. In
case of a local street vegetable seller, he does not have any fixed customer and some
customers try to bargain more to get vegetables than the actual price.
Non-durable goods: The durability of vegetables is less than other goods and it is a
big challenge for a local vegetable seller. We know that vegetables are decomposable
and it is difficult for a seller to keep it fresh for next day if it could not be sold in day
to day basis.
Storage shortage is a problem: Storage is sometimes a big issue for a small business
like vegetable business because if the target quantity of a product is not achieved then
storage is required for the residual goods.
Less of education and manner problem: Some local vegetable sellers do not behave
well with their customers and this is why they cannot make loyal customers. They
sometimes try to cheat with customers and it is all happening because of their low
level of education and also due to lack of business knowledge.
 Low future oriented: Most of the local vegetable sellers are low future oriented as
they tend to spend now, rather than save. This could be a reason for their less profit in
business and they cannot invest more because of this tendency.
Security issue: It is a vital point to mention and a common problem for almost any
small floating business like vegetable business. As we know that local street vegetable
seller does not have fixed position to run his business and they have to move from one
place to another if any issue happens. Sometimes they have to bribe local politicians
and law-enforcement officers to get a temporary position.
Managing or handling problem: Sometimes a local vegetable seller has to face
problem in managing or handling his shop as he has to manage all the things alone.
He cannot hire a second person as his helping hand because his profit and investment
is not enough to take another person.

Objectives of the Research:

As it is clear that problem identification is a key factor in the process of identifying

obstructions for a local vegetable seller and plays the deciding role in making the solutions
and the ways to overcome these problems, thus the researcher needs to focus on creating a
research plan to advice steps to conduct an effective business for a local vegetable seller. To
do that the researcher also need to study the customers decision making process in their
vegetable buying activity. In addition the main objectives of this research paper are as
follows:

To study the causes and reasons for the low profit of a local vegetable seller.
 To find out the customers preference towards various marketing mix like quality,
price, discount, place and in many cases packaging concerning the Vegetable sector.

Review of Literature:

"Competitiveness" has been defined as "the ability of a nation to meet the test of free
international markets while expanding real incomes at home" Kirsten, Hassan and Abdalla
(2004). It focuses on a sustained increase in productivity in the agribusiness sector as a result
of better business strategies and improved micro- and macro-economic conditions Porter
(1990, 1998). A firm develops its marketing strategies by identifying the target market for its
products or services, using a unique marketing mix to compete effectively to enhance sales
ensuring profitability and sustainability [McCarthy (1960), Perreault and McCarthy (1999),
Shin (2001)]. For food industry five potential marketing strategies include product
differentiation and diversification; increased volume and variety of locally produced
products; expanding market access and increasing market penetration; existing and emerging
international market opportunities; strengthening trade associations and cooperatives and
encouraging strategic alliances and collaboration Uva (2000). To obtain a competitive
advantage, firm develops its business strategies by responding to five primary forces: (1)
threat of new entrants, (2) rivalry among existing firms within an industry, (3) threat of
substitute products/services, (4) bargaining power of suppliers, and (5) bargaining power of
buyers [Porter (1980, 1985), Porter and Millar (1985)]. A company in a given industry
assesses these forces and tries to develop the market at those points where these are weak
Porter (1979). Firm can derive a competitive advantage from tangible or intangible resources
that enable it to produce more efficiently and/or more effectively a market offering that has
value for a market segment or segments Hunt and Morgan (1995). Competitive strategy is an
integrated set of actions taken by a firm that produce a sustainable advantage over
competitors Vlosky (1996). Companies can adopt competitive strategies such as product
bundling that promotes the benefit of the whole package; innovation or the introduction of
niche products to counteract the threat of product substitutes, new entrants and competition
among existing firms; establish barriers to deter new entrants; cultivate unique or capital-
intensive resources; increase bargaining power by increasing customers' switching costs and
decreasing their own for switching suppliers; customer-centric strategy to customize products
and offer promotions tailored for specific customer groups to build up loyalty, superior
services, change attitudes towards consumers while emphasize customer retention in mature
markets as firms realize that it is more cost effective than customer creation [Bakos and
Brynjolfsson (1997), Dempsey (1978), Phillips and Peterson (20000, Sealey (2000), Vavra
(1995), Viehland (2000)]. Health Focus Trend survey (1997) indicated that product
"freshness" has become more important than less fat, convenience, price or other product
considerations and roadside stands have the advantage of offering "fresher produce" than
supermarket chains Wolfe, et. al. An expansion into related product lines can exploit transfer
of skills or sharing of activities such as promotion and distribution, lower costs by achieving
economies of scale and effectively utilizes company resources such as market information,
managerial or technical expertise, and knowledge Porter (1987). Vertical co-
operation/integration changes the informational structure in the channel, encourages
downstream channel members to share their market knowledge with upstream members that
facilitates the transfer of information by mechanisms like establishment of common frames of
reference, etc. Etgar (1976). Typical characteristics of prices such as its flexibility, speed of
effect, force and magnitude of the reaction it entails, have made it a relevant weapon in times
of increased competition, fast technological progress and proliferation of new products and
changing economic and legal condition Gijsbrechts and Campo (2000). Traditional mass
marketing is no longer successful since consumers can easily acquire information on the price
and characteristics of products [Sealey (1999, Hoffman and Novak (2000)]. Sellers can
employ price discrimination strategies such as price lining and smart pricing strategy that
make it difficult for buyers to compare the prices of alternative product offerings [Bakos
(1998), Sinha (2000)]. This study adds to the extant literature by examining how resource
poor vegetable retailers develop their strategies to maintain a competitive edge in a dynamic
business environment and what challenges they face in conducting their business.

Methodology:

(A) Sources of Data

Primary data collected with help of a self-administered questionnaire that will contained
questions with motivation items, age, educational, qualification, frequency of purchase,
amount spent per month, items, preferred supply ways etc. which were filled by the local
vegetable sellers of some local areas of Dhaka city and Gazipur area. And the secondary
sources data were collected from various journals, newspapers, magazines and publications.

(B) Sample Design

 Sampling Unit: Konabari, Gazipur; Dhakshin Khan, Dhaka and Faidabad, Goaltak,
Dhaka.
Sampling Size: 9 local vegetable sellers.
Sampling technique: Open questionnaire method and face to face sampling Technique.

(C) Sampling Area: Dhaka Division

(D) Sampling Technique:

We used open questionnaire method and face-to-face interview for data collection on our
research. Data collection process was conducted in various areas through open questionnaire
method. Some of the questions have been mentioned below that we used to collect data from
our respondents:

What sort of vegetables do you sell in your shop?

How much do you earn daily from your business?
Do you have regular same customers to buy your vegetables?
Are your customers satisfied with your vegetables?
From where do you collect your vegetables?
Can you earn as per your expectations from this business?
What sort of problem do you face in your business?
What are the major challenges that you face quite frequently?
Are you happy with your business?

We asked questions like above to our respondents (local vegetable seller) and gathered many
issues about their business for our research.

Tools Used in Marketing Research:

Market-research tools are invaluable to business owners and their employees, whether they
operate a local store or a large corporation. These tools give businesses the ability to monitor
customers' reactions to their products, measure the impact of their marketing decisions and
create an open communication loop with their customers. The most well-known tools those
are used as below:
Surveys
One-on-one Interviews
Focus Groups
Blogs and Social Networks
We used all of these tools to collect the data for our research purpose. Our focus group was
local vegetable supplier where we used surveys and one-on-one interviews.

Data Analysis
Data analysis is the most important process in the research as the results are generated on the
basis of data preparation. According to our data, out of 9 respondents 7 were males and only
2 were females. The business pattern of the respondents was also analysed and it was found
out that out of all the respondents 90% of them sell their vegetables on daily basis, whereas
only 10% of the respondents sell vegetables only 4 times in a week as they maintain another
business in other days. We have found some similarities and differences in their opinion
during our data collection process and major problems are almost same for the entire local
vegetable seller.

Qualitative Research:
Our research was actually a qualitative research. We know that Qualitative Research is
primarily exploratory research. It is used to gain an understanding of underlying reasons,
opinions, and motivations. It provides insights into the problem or helps to develop ideas or
hypotheses for potential quantitative research. Some common methods include focus groups
whereas our focus group was local vegetable seller, individual interviews where we went to
selected areas local vegetable sellers, and participation/observations. The sample size is
typically small, and respondents are selected to fulfil a given quota.

Findings:

After the data collection and analysis, we have found out that some of them make little profit
that is not up to the mark as per their expectations. Another tendency we have found out that
many of them are not interested on savings their money because what they earn most of it
goes behind their business and their family. As we mentioned they do not have fixed location
when they switch to a new place, there they have to give donation to political parties.
Inventory control is another problem; they face difficulty to tackle it as vegetables are
perishable goods.
Another finding is that seasonal profit is quite enough good for a local vegetable seller. They
gain the maximum profit in seasonal vegetables as the price remains high in the beginning or
ending of a season.

Sometimes they take rational decisions to reduce cost regarding their business. Such as,
according to our observation, we have seen that some vegetable sellers bring together their
vegetables from the distributor for minimizing the transportation cost.

Customers always find the fresh vegetables to purchase. So, a local vegetable seller
sometimes try to cheat customers if he or she cannot identify the freshness of vegetables, then
they try to sell their previous days vegetables by providing the false information.

Managerial Implications:

A roadside vegetable stand is a fantastic seasonal part-time business to get rolling, as the
start-up costs are minimal, the profit potential is great and the demand for fresh, in-season
vegetables is high. The key to success in this type of food retailing is to secure a good
location to operate the vegetable stand from. Excellent locations include gas station parking
lots, industrial parks and main highways in and out of busy tourist areas. Furthermore, in
addition to a highly visible roadside location, be sure to have large and colourful signs made
to advertise the stand. Generally, the season for fresh vegetables starts in early June and ends
in early September. You can extend your season a month or more by selling apples and other
fruits, flowers etc. the fall.

Conclusions:
To conclude, it can be said that a local vegetable seller faces many problems in his or her
business and these are caused by some factors, like experience, poor knowledge on
business, lack of knowledge of customer needs, political pressures, fluctuation of prices of
particular vegetables, inventory control and so on. If a local vegetable seller wants to grow
more profit and to improve his or her business, he or she should focus on making some loyal
customers by providing fresh vegetables with right prices. The vegetable seller also should
make the tendency of savings money so that he can invest more money on his business to
grow the desired profit. So, if anyone wants to do research in coming future on vegetable
business, it might help him or her to get some information regarding to vegetable business.

References:

http://www.quickmba.com/marketing/research/
http://www.freepatentsonline.com/article/Indian-Journal-Economics-Business/169308032.html
http://smallbusiness.chron.com/differences-between-wholesalers-distributors-retailers-30836.html
http://smallbusiness.chron.com/tools-used-market-research-17205.html