Market Research in Copier segment for Abhishek Industries

STRATEGIC PLAN DEVELOPMENT TO IMPROVE

THE BRANDED PRODUCTS OF ABHISHEK INDUSTRIES

IN NORTH-WEST REGION

A SUMMER PROJECT UNDERTAKEN FOR PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF

MBA

(MAY-JULY 2009)

SUBMITTED TO- SUBMITTED BY-

Mr. DEEPAK JHA PRINCE KAUSHAL

THAPAR UNIVERSITY , PATIALA

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CERTIFICATE OF APPROVAL

The following Summer Internship Report titled “Strategic plan development to improve the branded products of ABIL in north-west region – A Comprehensive Market Research Report” is hereby approved as a certified study in management carried out and presented in a manner to warrant its acceptance as a prerequisite for the award of Masters in Business Administration for which it has been submitted. It is understood that by this approval the undersigned does not necessarily endorse or approve any statement made , opinion expressed or conclusion drawn therein but approve the summer internship report only for the purpose it is submitted.

Organisation Guide: Signature

Name

Designation

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Executive Summary

Summer training is a learning ground, which helps us relate the workings of the corporate world with the classroom teaching. The project combines the attributes of fieldwork, study of branded products of ABIL with the following main objectives-

*To assess the current scenario of our branded products. *To analyse the strategies used by our competitors.*To formulate plans to improve our market share.

Primary Data was collected through a detailed questionnaire survey and personal interviews of dealers, stationers and jobbers. The questionnaire (a copy attached in annexure) had a mix of open as well as closed ended questions. Measurement scales like Likert scale, Importance scale and Rating scale were used. A mix of structured and semi-structured technique was used in primary data collection depending on the target audience. Judgemental sampling and random sampling was used for primary data collection from our customers. Piloting of questionnaire was done in Ludhiana market. The North West market was chosen for the survey because it has a huge unrealized potential. The sample size was 90.

Secondary data was collected from research reports on paper industry-cris infac, Accenture, paper industry magazine like pulp and paper international and the most vital source-internet.

Data analysis tools used were SPSS Version 15.0 and various statistical tools used were Factor analysis, Hypothesis testing, Friedman’ test, etc. Graphs like pie charts, histograms and bar graphs were used to make visual impact on the reader, to enhance remembrance.

An analysis of the current perception of dealers towards our products , factors influencing their buying behaviour , advertisement recall , product life cycle management , promotional strategies , distribution channel , 7 P’s , quality parameters , key demand drivers and our competitors was carried out.

It has been proposed that a mix of push and pull promotion strategy be followed to promote our branded products. Recommendations are made for distribution networks, advertisement and other promotional strategies with a bigger target to improve our market share.

An endeavour has been made to collect data and information that would help ABIL in analysing the current market situation along with some suggestions to position ABIL-trident group as the top most copier brand in India.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I gratefully acknowledge the opportunity given to me by Mr. K.P Reddy, Former Marketing Head (Abhishek Paper); Mr. Naveet Jindal, Vice President (Abhishek Paper) and my project guide Mr. Deepak Jha whose continuous supervision, expert guidance, ceaseless motivation and unfailing courtesy stood by me in executing this arduous work from its conception to completion.

My special thanks to Mr. Amit Sareen , Ms. Nidhi Sharma, Mr. Nitin Oberoi, Ms.Nitika Mahajan, Mr. Samarjeet Singh , Mr. Navneet Khurana who inspite of their preoccupations and busy schedule in the office left no stone unturned in enhancing my knowledge to achieve the desired target.

I wish to thank to all the members of Abhishek Industries Limited (Paper Marketing) for giving me insights and knowledge about the company which were very important for my project.

I extend my profound gratitude to all my faculty members especially Mr. K.B. Raina (Head , Corporate Links) for his continuous guidance, inspiration and encouragement which helped me a lot in completion of my project.

This project has given me the opportunity to work and observe from close quarters, the functioning of one of India’s largest and most prestigious company. I again wish to thank all the persons who helped me directly or indirectly during my project. It was a unforgettable experience for me.

PRINCE KAUSHAL

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

S.No CONTENTS Page No.

1) INTRODUCTION 6-13

a. Indian paper industry 6-9

b. About trident group 10-13

2) PROJECT TITLE 14-17

a. Research methodology 16-17

3) FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS 18-36

a. With focus on dealers 19-26

b. With focus on jobbers/stationers 27-36

3) OTHER FINDINGS 37-45

a. Distribution channel 38

b. % consumption of branded copier by type 39

c. SWOT analysis of ABIL 40

d. Competitors analysis 41

e. Schemes and discounts 42-43

f. Product life cycle management 44-45

4) SOME MODELS WITH FOCUS ON ABIL 46-52

a. Porter five forces 46-47

b. BAV model 48-49

c. 7 P’s of marketing 50-51

d. BCG matrix 51

e. Key demand drivers 52

5) RECOMMENDATIONS 53-57

6) ANNEXURE 58-69

a. Questionnaires 59-67

b. Limitations of study 68

c. References 69

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INTRODUCTION

Paper has a long history, beginning with the ancient Egyptians and continuing to the present day. For thousands of years, hand-made methods dominated and then, during the 19th century, paper production became industrialised. Originally intended purely for writing and printing purposes, a wide variety of paper grades and uses are now available to the consumer.

Of all the writing and drawing materials that people have employed down the ages, paper is the most widely used around the world. Its name derives from papyrus the material used by the ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans. Papyrus, however, is only one of the predecessors of paper that together are known by the generic term ‘tapa’ and are mostly made from the inner bark of paper mulberry, fig and daphne.

Tapa has been found extensively in nearly all cultures along the Equatorial belt and is made by what is possibly the oldest papermaking technique – one still practised in some parts of the Himalayas and South East Asia. Indeed, recent archaeological excavations in China have revealed some of the oldest ‘tapa’ paper ever found which shows that paper was being produced in China before western records began.

The tapa technique involves cooked baste, which is flattened with a wooden hammer to form a thin, fibrous layer and then dissolved in a vat with water to make a pulp. A screen consisting of a wooden frame with a fabric base is then laid in a puddle or big basin and floats with the fabric just under the surface of the water. The papermaker then pours the quantity of pulp needed to make one sheet into this ‘floating mould’ and spreads it evenly, by hand, across the surface. The screen is then carefully lifted out of the water, allowed to drain off and a sheet of paper forms on the wire. Once the water has dripped off, the screen is placed in the sun or near a fire to dry. When dry, the sheet easily peels off and, apart from possible smoothing, requires no further treatment. This technique has two basic drawbacks. Firstly, a separate screen is needed for each new sheet, and is only available for use again after the last sheet has dried. And secondly, an increase in production can soon lead to a shortage of raw material, since fresh baste is not always available everywhere in the required quantity.

The fibers normally used for textiles, like flax and hemp, also served as substitutes for baste. In later times, the fabric was replaced by fine bamboo sticks, which freed the papermaker of the need to let the paper dry naturally in the mould, since the poured or ladled sheet could be ‘couched’ off.

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PAPER INDUSTRY- INDIA:

Paper plays a key role in communication and as a packaging material. Demand for paper is closely linked to prevalent economic conditions. Strong economic growth boosts demand for paper and vice versa

In India, the first paper mill was established in 1867. Raw materials used for the production of paper were rags and wastepaper. Commercial production of paper was started in 1882, and raw materials used were again non-wood fibres, that is, eulaliopsis binata and sacharum bengalense. Development of the fractional process of pulping bamboo at the Forest Research Institute, Dehra Dun, during 1922-24 provided an impetus to the pulp and paper industry in the country, and bamboo became the main raw material for making various grades of paper.

Paper has also enjoyed a relatively strong demand due to the following factors:

The lifecycle of a paper product from manufacture to consumption and disposal is short (Paper is used more in the nature of a consumption good and not as a durable).

It is widely used, right from an individual to a company. There is no real low-cost substitute for paper.

Like in other Asian countries, most mills in India are small. A few mills have integrated manufacturing operations, that is, the facility for manufacturing paper from pulp. Besides, players operate either in the paper and paperboard or newsprint business.

This, along with government policies, has resulted in the industry becoming highly fragmented, with a large number of companies having small capacities. While India accounts for nearly 15 per cent of the world population, it consumes only 1 per cent of the global paper production. The country's per capita consumption of paper at about 6 kg is very low as compared with the world average of over 50 kg.

Industrial paper accounts for nearly half of paper demand

The Indian paper industry is broadly categorised into writing and printing (W&P), industrial and newsprint segments.

Industrial paper accounts for about 48 per cent of the total paper demand, with W&P and newsprint accounting for 30 per cent and 19 per cent, respectively. Speciality paper accounts for 3 per cent of the total demand.

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Chart 1: Structure of the paper industry

Writing and printing (W&P) paper: This includes varieties of paper, normally under 120 GSM (grams per square metre), that are used primarily for writing (stationery) purposes and printing (books, notebooks, share application forms, etc). The various varieties of W&P paper starting from the lower end of the value chain are creamwove, maplitho, copier and coated paper. While high-quality paper segments have been garnering a greater share, low-quality segments still account for a major share of the market due to a higher base.

To a large extent, growth in demand for paper in this segment depends on population growth, level of literacy, public and private spending on education, level of business activity and growth in the printing industry.

Industrial paper: This includes Kraft paper, duplex boards, grey and white board, and MG paper. This paper is used for various industrial purposes. Consumption of industrial paper is closely linked to:

Growth in the packaging industry

Industrial production

Development in packaging technology and substitution by other materials

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Different varieties of paperboards include coated/uncoated duplex, chromo and triplex boards. Kraft paper is available in various varieties, differentiated by properties of strength and grammage, among other criteria.

Speciality paper: This includes tissue paper, fine art paper, business card paper, photo paper and greetings card paper, which find various specific applications. It contributes to a very small percentage of total paper demand. Consumption of speciality papers is linked to the standard of living as well the per capita income of the masses due to their high value products.

Newsprint: Newsprint is mainly used in the printing of newspapers and magazines. Although used for printing purposes, newsprint is considered a separate end-use category because of the marked difference in its production process as compared with other W&P varieties of paper. Besides, newsprint is consumed in very large volumes vis-à-vis other varieties of paper.

Demand for paper to remain upbeat

Over the next 5 years, demand for paper is expected to continue on its growth trajectory. CRISIL Research expects the demand to grow at a CAGR of 7.3 per cent over the next 5 years on the back of strong economic growth, improving standard of living, growing per capita income and rising literacy rates. The increase in demand will stem from faster-growing varieties of paper such as coated paper, copier paper and duplex boards. Although older varieties such as creamwove, maplitho and Kraft paper will continue to account for the larger part of the demand, it is the fast-growing smaller markets that will fuel higher growth for the paper industry in the future.

Historically, demand growth for newsprint has moved in line with GDP growth because demand for newsprint is dependent to a large extent on population, increase in the circulation of magazines, etc. With India's GDP expected to grow by 8-9 per cent in the medium term, demand for newsprint is expected to grow at a fast pace. Demand for newsprint is expected to grow at a CAGR of 9 per cent over the next 5 years.

With expected growth in demand, most players are likely to witness a higher turnover. Players who are currently undertaking capacity expansions will be slightly constrained, due to the huge capex costs being incurred by them. However, they will be benefited with better operating efficiency and higher operating margins as compared with players who are not modernising their older plants.

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COMPANY PROFILE:

The Trident Group is a dynamic and continuously growing group of companies creating a

buoyant economic climate focused on generating economic prosperity for the stakeholders,

while growing harmoniously with the community and environment. Leveraging business

from an expanding product portfolio, Abhishek Industries Limited, the flagship company of

the Group is one of the largest towel manufacturers of the world, one of the world's largest

agro-based paper manufacturers and one of the largest yarn producers in India.

Strong business ethics, excellence in business, creating a productive work environment,

continuous improvement through sound corporate governance and dynamic employee

engagement have been at the foundation for the continuous success of the Group.

Making way in Punjab as an agro-based manufacturer in 1990, the Group has diversified and

expanded multifold giving way to business based on sustainable growth. Under the dynamic

leadership of Mr. Rajinder Gupta, the CEO and MD of the Group, Trident continues to grow

embracing new challenges, expanding boundaries and creating new opportunities.

With business spanning across 40 countries, Trident today is Rs. 15 billion enterprise with the

employee headcount more than 8,000, and providing indirect employment to 20,000 people.

Implementing sound Corporate Governance as the basic management principle, Trident is a

pioneer at it. It is the recipient of ICSI National Award for Excellence in Corporate

Governance, 2006. Abhishek Industries Limited has been awarded the prestigious

'International Supplier of the Year' for 2001, 2003, 2005 and 2006 by WallMart, USA and

'Supplier of the Year Award' for 2006 by JCPenney Corporation. Achieving a CAGR of more

than 30%, we are one of the fastest growing Group of companies of India.

PRODUCT RANGE:

I. HOME TEXTILES: Designer Jacquard Beach Towels Bath Towels Celebration Towels Speciality Towels Gym Towels

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Kitchen Towels

II. YARN:

100% cotton yarn (Grey/Dyed/Mercerized)

Single & TFO Doubled

Hosiery & Weaving (Combed & Carded)

Poly Cotton blended Yarn

100% Poly Spun Yarn (Combed & Carded)

100% Egyptian Cotton Yarn

100% PIMA Cotton Yarn

Organic Cotton Yarn

100% Water Soluble PVA Yarn

SLUB Yarn

Combed and Semi-Combed Knitting and Weaving Yarn with a Count range of 10-30

Polyester Spun Knitting and Weaving Yarn with a Count range of 30-40

Dyed and Mercerized Double and Processed Yarn

Water Soluble 100% PVA Yarns with a Count Range of NE 30 to NE 80

III. CHEMICALS:With the changing industrial needs, the company has ventured into specialized product markets also. Battery Grade Sulphuric acid is the premium quality product to cater to these markets. Commercial Grade is also manufactured keeping in view the larger market share. Leading battery manufacturers and other high-end consumers comprise the clientele for these products.

IV. ENERGY:

At Trident, keeping in view the increasing requirements of the continuously

expanding operations, captive power is generated to meet the demands of the industry.

The power generated internally aids in uninterrupted supply of power for the

production processes, ensuring enhanced efficiency, round-the-clock production, and

cost saving. The main outputs are steam and power that meet the requirements for

operations of production plants.

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V. PAPER:

At Trident, the paper is produced for catering to both the domestic and international markets. The focus is on producing various kinds of eco-friendly paper to meet the increasing demands of the printing industry.

The latest addition to the expanding product portfolio of Trident's Paper Division are the

- Silverline & Goldline Maplitho - Surface Size Maplitho (54 GSM to 90 GSM) - Spectra Copier - Copier Paper (75 GSM) and My Choice (70 GSM).

Complete Range of Supreme Quality Eco-friendly paper:

Spectra Copier - Ultra-finish, high-speed Copier Paper in two varieties

o 75 GSM with brightness 88% ISO

Application

High Speed Photocopying

Laser Printing

Inkjet Printing

Business Stationery

Multipurpose Office Use

o 80 GSM with brightness more than 90% ISO

Application

High Speed Photocopying

Laser Printing

Inkjet Printing

Business Stationery

Multipurpose Office Us

Goldline Surface Size Maplitho - 54 GSM to 90 GSM with brightness 90% + ISO.

o Application

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Multicolour High End Printing & Publishing

Diary Printing

Calendar Printing

Business Stationery

Silver Surface Size Maplitho - 54 GSM to 90 GSM with brightness 88% ISO.

o Application

Multicolour High End Printing & Publishing

Diary Printing

Calendar Printing

Business Stationery

Super White Maplitho (54 - 90 GSM with 88% ISO Brightness)

o Application

Multicolour Printing & Publishing

High-end Computer Stationery

IPO Printing

Children's Book Publication

Ivory White Paper (54 - 90 GSM with 85% ISO Brightness)o Application

Printing & Publishing

Computer Stationery

Notebook Manufacturing ( Export Quality)

Technical Books Publication

Eco-Print Paper (54 - 90 GSM with 80% ISO Brightness)o Application

Printing

Computer Stationery

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Notebook Manufacturing

Base Paper (80 - 90% ISO Brightness)o Application

Coating base purpose

Bible Printing Paper (45 - 50 GSM with 90% ISO Brightness)o Application

Bible and other Religious Books

Dictionary printing

Annual Reports

IPO Printing

Carbonless Base Paper

Watermark Offset Printing Paper (54 - 90 GSM with 80 - 90% ISO Brightness)

o Application

Multicolour Book printing

Publication

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PROJECT TITLE

PROJECT TITLE--

STRATEGIC PLAN DEVELOPMENT TO IMPROVE BRANDED PRODUCTS OF ABHISHEK INDUSTRIES IN NORTH-WEST REGION

Key objectives of the study are--

To know the perception of our dealers, jobbers and stationers towards our products.

To identify the present demand of ABIL and competitors product.

To analyse the strategies used by the competitors.

To understand factors affecting demand of Copier.

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To identify strategies to enter into Corporates and increase the market share of our branded copier.

Branded products of ABIL in paper market consist of Spectra and My choice. The study was focussed on these two products and their competitors in the N-W market to devise an effective positioning strategy in order to improve their market share. The research was mostly primary with the help of some secondary data sources. Firstly a pilot survey was done in the local market before designing the questionnaire. After getting the responses from the sample size, the results were analysed using various market research tools. At the end, various strategies to improve branded products of ABIL have been recommended.

Need for the Study

Abhishek Industries Ltd. - a flagship of Trident Group has recently entered into the copier market with two branded products. Presently it is in the late introduction stage and will take some more time to enter into the growth stage. So it is important for ABIL to identify marketing strategies to increase their market share.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY:

DATA COLLECTION:

Primary Data was collected through a detailed questionnaire survey taking in consideration

the objectives of the study. The questionnaires were filled by our TARGET CUSTOMERS

including Dealers, Jobbers, Stationers. It had a mix of open as well as closed ended questions,

measurement scales like Likert Scale , Importance Scale and Rating Scale were used. A mix

of both structured and semi-structured technique was used in primary data collection

depending on the target audience. Before conducting the survey a pilot survey was done in

Ludhiana city which helped in making my questionnaire much better.

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SAMPLE UNIT: The sample unit were the Dealers, Stationery shops and Jobbers.

SAMPLE ELEMENT: The sample element was the owner of the enterprise because he is the

decision maker.

EXTENT: The survey was done in the following cities:

LUDHIANA

JALANDHAR

AMRITSAR

JAMMU

YAMUNANAGAR

KURUKSHETRA

AMBALA

KARNAL

PANIPAT

FARIDABAD

MOHALI

PANCHKULA

CHANDIGARH

DURATION: The survey was conducted from June 12, 2009 to July 2, 2009.

SAMPLING TECHNIQUE: The sampling element was selected using two techniques

One stage Cluster sampling

Convenience sampling

SAMPLE SIZE: The following table will show the number of sampling elements selected for

dealers, stationers, jobbers:

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Category No. Of Respondents

DEALERS 15

STATIONERS 35

JOBBERS 40

TOTAL 90

FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS

WITH FOCUS ON DEALERS

They were asked to respond to a questionnaire, based on which following conclusions can be made.

Dealer’ Perception for the branded products.

The Quality of Spectra is

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INTERPRETATION

Most of the dealers perceive that the quality of SPECTRA is good. But their general perception is that the quality has declined since it first came into market. So we need to maintain consistency in quality to compete against others. Brands like JK, BILT are well established and command a high quality perception.

And the Quality of My Choice is

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INTERPRETATION

More than 50 % of the dealers think that the quality of MY CHOICE is just fair and remains behind from other brands. KHANNA has launched its copier in 75 GSM so it is used more preferably than My choice. MY CHOICE has got a problem of machine jamming , so it is difficult for the dealers to make consumer buy our product. So we need to promote more to regain the lost confidence of the end users .

BEST ALTERNATIVE

Following statements were asked from the dealers and their opinion was noted.

STATEMENTS NO. OF DEALERS

SPECTRA will be the market leader in coming future

5

It has to do a lot more effort 7

This is not possible in near future . 3

Neither SPECTRA nor TRIDENT is known to me 0

INTERPRETATION

Most dealers were of view that ABIL has to do lot more effort in order to increase their market share and compete with other players. None of the dealers were unaware of our brand.

Factors that make them buy (buying behaviour)

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The dealers were asked to rate the factors influencing their buying behaviour.Below are the ranks that were obtained against each from them .

PRICE QUALITY CREDIT AVAILABILITY BRAND AWARENESS

PACKAGING

RANK 1

5 7 1 2 0 0

RANK 2

5 5 1 2 2 0

RANK 3

5 3 4 1 2 0

RANK 4

0 0 5 3 5 2

RANK 5

0 0 2 6 3 4

RANK 6

0 0 2 1 3 9

Using SPSS 15.0 the above matrix was analyzed. Bivariate correlations method was used to obtain a correlation matrix as below.From the descriptive statistics, we can infer the mean influence for the factors in buying behaviour. Quality is, on average, the most influential factor, followed closely by price, with awareness and packaging being the least influential.

The other table is of correlations, which shows how closely related are the responses. It helps in finding out whether there exists any significant relationship between the factors. The relation is significant only in case level of significance is less than 0.05.

In analyzing the correlations between price and the other influencing factors, we find the following relationships:

Price and brand awareness are positively correlated – the relationship is not significant.

Price and packaging have no relationship. Price and credit have a weak relationship. Price and quality have a relatively strong negative relationship. Price and availability have a relatively strong negative relationship.

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Above is the output obtained from SPSS version15.0

We can take price as the dependent variable because it has a low mean. Linear regression is then applied with price as dependent variable and quality and availability as independent variables. Independent variables are selected because they show a significant relationship with price.

INTERPRETATION:

From the above regression, we can conclude that when the importance of price increases, the importance of quality decreases. Additionally, when the importance of availability increases, the importance of price decreases.

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BRAND SHIFTING

Dealers were asked their opinion about What would they do if the Cost Price of their best selling copier increases, and the response was as follows

PERCENTAGEShift to another brand 30Continue with the same 70

INTERPRETATION

Around 30 % of the dealers said that they would shift to other lower priced brand. And 70% of the dealers said that they would continue with the same brand by compromising on their profits. So we can conclude that there is a high level of brand loyalty among the dealers and they do not like to switch brands and generally stick to the same.

ADVERTISEMENT RECALL

The dealers were asked whether they recall any advertisement related to Copier paper.

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INTERPRETATION

75 % of the dealers said that they do not remember any advertisement by any brand. So we can say that the advertisement recall is very low in copier segment.Most of dealers said that there is no need for advertisement in copier segment.And then they were asked to tick the preferable media for advertisement.

WHICH MEDIUM WOULD YOU PREFER ?

INTERPRETATION

Most of the dealers said that they would prefer to see advertisement through hoardings, billboards, glow signs, danglers outside their shops. This would leave an impact on the consumer and can pull him/her to buy our brand. Most of the people related to copier industry do not get time to watch television and hence it is not a preferred medium. Communication through word of mouth is also a good medium to advertise our products.

DEALER SATISFACTION

Level of satisfaction with the following factors was analyzed.

high neutral LowPricing strategies 5 7 3

Consistency in quality 6 7 2Packaging 10 3 2

Credit facility 4 3 8Timely delivery 7 6 2

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Graph showing the above satisfaction level

INTERPRETATION

Many of the dealers said that they were satisfied by the pricing strategies of ABIL. There is some dissatisfaction in case of quality. Most of the dealers are satisfied with packaging barring a few. The main point of dissatisfaction was related to credit facility. Dealers were unhappy with the present cash discount duration of two days. They quoted it as one of the main reason due to which our products are not pushed further into the market.

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DEALERS INFERENCES

Some of the dealers have noticed lot problem in which the cartons are damaged when received. So we should provide less fragile outer cover .

Most of the dealers desire to have a change in cash discount scheme so that they can have enough liquidity to market our products against our competitors.

Most of the dealers perceive that no advertisement is required for the copier segment and instead healthy margins must be provided to them in order to push the sales.

The only media that they feel would attract them is advertisement through hoardings. Dealer meetings are also not organised often , which makes them loose further

interest. Whereas other competitors such as JK, BILT organise such meets. Few of the dealers are seen to be promoting other brands more than ours. This is

hampering our sales. So we should make exclusive dealers for our brand. Most of the dealers perceive that consistency in quality is the only parameters that

would boost our sales. Credit relaxation plays a vital role in the buying behaviour of dealers. Most of the dealers believe that ABIL has got the potential to be the market leader in

coming future. Advertisement recall is very low amongst the dealers.

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WITH FOCUS ON JOBBERS/STATIONERS

Factors that make them buy (buying behaviour)

Similarly the jobbers/stationers were asked to rate the factors influencing their buying behaviour. Below are the ranks that were obtained against each from them.

PRICE QUALITY AVAILABILITY CREDIT BRAND AWARENESS

PACKAGING

RANK 1 22 30 17 6 0 0

RANK 2 27 28 8 6 6 0

RANK 3 26 17 23 3 6 0

RANK 4 0 0 15 31 23 6

RANK 5 0 0 6 26 30 13

RANK 6 0 0 6 3 10 56

Using SPSS 15.0 the above matrix was analyzed. Bivariate correlations method was used to obtain a correlation matrix as below.From the descriptive statistics, we can infer the mean influence for the factors in buying behaviour. Quality is, on average, the most influential factor, followed closely by price, with awareness and packaging being the least influential.

The other table is of correlations, which shows how closely related are the responses. It helps in finding out whether there exists any significant relationship between the factors. The relation is significant only in case level of significance is less than 0.05.

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Above is the output obtained from SPSS 15.0

INTERPRETATION:

From the above table, we can conclude that availability plays a relatively insignificant roles amongst the sample surveyed.

Price and quality have a significant relationship and are moderately negatively correlated (this makes sense because someone either shops by quality or by price). Price and availability do not have a significant relationship at 95% level but it is significant at 90% level. Price and credit have a significant relationship that is moderately negatively correlated. Price and brand awareness have a significant relationship that is moderately positively correlated. Price and packaging do not have a significant relationship.

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JOBBERS/STATIONERS’ Perception for the branded products.

The Quality of Spectra is

INTERPRETATION

Most of the customers believe that the quality of spectra is between fair and good. Most of them said that the quality has declined since it first came into market. So we need to focus on consistency in quality to gain a higher market share. Depending upon the needs , the jobbers doing printing business desire high quality and the jobbers doing Photostat work just desire a product which is machine friendly and accepted by the end users. Our Spectra comes in 75 GSM category and faces a high competition from other brands such as JK,BILT.

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And the Quality of My Choice is

INTERPRETATION

Most of the customers believe that the quality of My Choice is just fair and is generally perceived as a low quality product. It faces major competition from Khanna copier as it is uses recycled paper and hence provides low priced products.Some jobbers donot care about the quality of their product unless it is non-machine friendly.

ADVERTISEMENT RECALL

The customer were asked whether they recall any advertisement related to Copier paper.

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INTERPRETATION

75 % of the dealers said that they do not remember any advertisement by any brand. So we can say that the advertisement recall is very low in copier segment.

They were asked about the media preference through which they feel there would be more impact.

INTERPRETATION

Most of the customer said that they would prefer to have advertisement through hoardings ,billboards , glow signs , dangles outside their shops. This would leave an impact on the consumer and can pull him/her to buy our brand especially targeting the stationers. Most of the people related to paper industry donot get time to watch television and hence it is not a preferred medium. Word of mouth communication is also a good medium to advertise our products.

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The Jobbers were asked about their mode of purchase. And the response was as follows

INTERPRETATION

Almost 50 % of the Jobbers prefer to buy by calling the dealer. During my market survey at some places it was observed that jobbers have high loyalty towards the dealer. Jobbers mostly place their purchase order by calling the dealer when their stock gets finished. They would buy only that product which is pushed more by the dealer. Hence , we should target the dealers by giving them healthy margins so that they feel encouraged to sell more of our branded products.

BRAND SHIFTING

There was a visible difference between the responses of Jobbers as well as the Stationers. Hence there responses are analyzed separately.

The jobbers were asked whether they have stopped using any brand and started with a new one. And the response were as follows.

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YES 25

NO 15

And the reason for such brand shift was as follows

INTERPRETATION

Most of the jobbers shift from a particular brand because of availability issues. They are mostly loyal towards a particular dealer/stationers and buy only that brand which is available through him. They just desire the machine-friendliness of the copier and as concluded above when the importance of availability increases , the importance of price decreases. It means the jobbers are very sensitive to availability issues.

Similarly the Stationers were asked whether they have stopped using any brand and started with a new one. And the response were as follows.

And the reason for their shift was as follows-

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YES 13

NO 22

INTERPRETATION

The stationers are generally very loyal towards the dealer. They would stop using a particular brand only in case there are some quality problems. Very few stationers would stop using a brand because of a increase in price. It means they are less sensitive to price variations.

IMPORTANCE OF QUALITY PARAMETERS in COPIER

The jobbers were asked to rate the below quality parameters on a scale from 1-5. Below is the matrix prepared after getting the responses and then FRIEDMAN’S two way ANOVA was applied using SPSS 15.0

PARAMETERR ANK 1

RANK 2

RANK 3

RANK 4

RANK 5

STIFFNESS 18 14 7 1 0THICKNESS 15 17 5 3 0BRIGHTNESS 5 6 21 6 2OPACITY 2 1 4 22 11SMOOTH 0 2 3 8 27

RESULT

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FRIEDMAN’ TEST

MEAN RANK

STIFFNESS 1.81

THICKNESS 1.97

BRIGHTNESS 3.01

OPACITY 3.57

SMOOTH 4.61

TEST STATISTICS

N 40

Df 4

Asymp. Sig. .0000

NULL HYPOTHESIS --

H 0 = “ there is no significant difference between the opinion of the dealers for the quality parameters of copier ”

ALTERNATIVE HYPOTHESIS --

H 1 = “ there is significant difference between the opinion of the dealers for the quality parameters of copier ”

So if the null hypothesis is proved we can say that the quality parameter, which has the lowest mean rank , is the most important factor for quality of a copier . Subsequently the parameter , which would have a high score , would be least important in quality.

The data used for ranking the parameters is ordinal, not interval and hence we can use some non-parametric test to test the hypothesis.Under the non-parametric test we cannot perform data analysis as the data is not dichotomous in nature so we need to apply FRIEDMAN’ two way ANOVA.We can see that the significance level is less than .05 which means that the null hypothesis is proved which means that there is no significant difference between the opinions of the jobbers for the quality parameter of copier.This means that the least rank is the most significant factor so in this case stiffness is the most important followed by thickness.

Total Variance Explained

Component

Initial Eigenvalues Rotation Sums of Squared Loadings

Total % of Variance Cumulative % Total % of Variance Cumulative %1 3.217 64.349 64.349 3.111 62.221 62.2212 1.145 22.891 87.240 1.251 25.019 87.2403 .595 11.896 99.1364 .043 .864 100.0005 4.87E-016 9.74E-015 100.000

Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis.INTERPRETATION

36

Eigen values represent the total variance explained by each factor. Looking at the result after extraction method it can be said that 64.3 % of the variance in quality is explained by the first factor which is stiffness and the next factor is 22.8 % . Amongst the five factors taken into consideration for analysing the quality of copier it can be said that stiffness is the most important factor , followed by thickness and then brightness. These three collectively make a cumulative score of 99.1 %.

JOBBER/STATIONERS INFERENCES

Amongst the jobbers surveyed , most of them were using only that brand which was introduced to them by their dealer / retailer.

Availability was a major criteria in their buying behaviour . They have a high level of brand loyalty and generally continue with the same brand

unless there are some quality issues. Advertisement recall is also low in their case. They believe that distributing samples

is the best medium to advertise. Jobbers who are involved in high-end printing prefer SPECTRA and those who are

doing routine Photostat use My Choice.

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OTHER

FINDINGS

38

OTHER FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS

Distribution channel for branded copier

Generally the distribution flow starts with the dealer and then there are stationers / retailers who then pass it to the consumer including the jobbers.

We can target the jobbers directly. For this we need to identify jobbers who are financially strong in a area and can lift a minimum specified amount of quantity. This process can increase our reach and give us a first touch experience with the end-users. Similarly we can identify some big retail stores who can buy in bulk directly from us.

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Percentage consumption of branded copier by sector

S.NO TITLE PERCENTAGE

1. Corporate sector 45

2. Jobbers 26

3. Educational institutes 21

4. Small scale consumption

8

Corporate sector includes private companies, banks and other institutes .

Strategy to target the corporates

The corporates have to be approached in a systematic manner. Firstly a letter of initiation shall be forwarded to them .Later we should contact their purchase department and fix up a meeting with them. Lastly , we should give a proper presentation related to our branded products. Corporates can also be approached through dealer network and they shall be assured of our brand features and its value for money.

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SWOT ANALYSIS of ABIL

STRENGTH

o Good track record of Trident paper in the segment it operates.

o Latest German technology for producing high-grade paper.

o New wills cutter being imported from France to increase production.

o Less transport cost to the North India market compared to South India based mills

WEAKNESS

o Limited geographic presence

o Dilemma in the market regarding name of the company (Varinder agro or Trident or

ABIL)o Present strict credit period terms of ABIL

OPPURTUNITY

o Growth in the copier segment @ 19 % CAGR

o Increase in consumption of premium quality copier due to growth in the corporate

sector and education levels.o Both push and pull strategy to penetrate in the market.

o Copier a good medium to advertise the Trident group.

o Presence of only one A grade copier mill (CENTURY) in the North Indian market.

THREAT

o Perception in the market about non-competency of B-grade mills to produce good

quality copier.o Growth of Chinese paper market and threats of cheap imports.

o Downward pressure and competition from existing players.

o Piracy and duplication.

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Competitors Analysis

Currently there are three major competitors in the north–west region. JK COPIER BILT COPIER KHANNA COPIER

(Others mainly include- Century and Orient)

JK COPIER

o Better brand image

o Wide product portfolio

o Products endorsed by banks and other government offices

BILT COPIER

o Best quality available in market

o Excellent brand image

o High degree of coverage in corporate

o Market leader backed by financial muscle

o High degree of loyalty among the dealers

KHANNA COPIER

o Locational advantage

o Price competitiveness

o Plays on high volume

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o Better availability

Schemes and discounts

Schemes are offered by brands such as JK, BILT in the market and a tough competition is seen between them. Schemes are on the premium segment copier brands such as JK red and BILT Copy power.There is a counter attack done by both the brands on each other in advertising their product. For example- JK in its catalogue boasts of its SUPER SITARE scheme , which is countered by BILT in its TON TANA TON scheme catalogue. The quote is as follows – there are no sitare’ , no stickers, no headache , only assured gifts.JK and BILT organise dealer meetings every year and all the cost of travel , boarding and lodging is borne by the company. BILT has taken its dealers to Sydney , Spain , etc. JK red also offers coupons in every box purchase with denominations ranging from Rs 5- Rs 50 with can be later exchanged for cash.

The cash discount schemes offered by various brands in copier market are as follows. They all have got cash discount period of minimum 7 days .

Cash Discount schemes by our competitors

COMPANY Cash discount offered

JK 2.5 % on the day of dispatch 2% within 10 days 1 % till 20 days No discount after 30 days which is

the deadline for payment

BILT 2.25% for payment within twenty-four days

The company also charges interest @2.25 % if payment is delayed.

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CENTURY 3 % for advance payment at the time of booking order.

2% for payment within 7 days of dispatch

1 % from 8th day to 21st day Interest is charged if payment is made

after 30 days

KHANNA 2 % for payment within 7 days of dispatch

Product life cycle management for spectra

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The life cycle refers to the period from the product’s first launch into the market until its final withdrawal and its split up in phases. During this period significant changes are made in the way that the product is behaving into the market i.e its reflection in respect of sales to the company that introduced it into the market. Since an increase in profits is the major goal of a company that introduces a product into a market , the product’s life cycle management becomes very important.The product’s life cycle- period usually consists of five major steps or phases: product development , product introduction , product growth , product maturity and product decline . Lets see its implication on our newly launched product SPECTRA.

Current phase of SPECTRA in Product life cycle

Currently , SPECTRA falls somewhere falls near the late introductory phase and early growth phase.

Product development phase—

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SPECTRA has already crossed this particular phase where much study has already been done on this product to make it a success in the market satisfying customers need. Efforts have been made to provide best of quality with attractive packaging . the customers need has been validated with market research backed up with cross information from the dealers.

Introduction phase—

This phase includes the product launch with its requirements to getting it launch in such a way so that it will have maximum impact at the moment of sale. This phase of SPECTRA has been a money sink hole phase where much expenditure has been incurred on its promotional material and to certain extent on its advertisement. However this could have been an important tool for ABHISHEK Industries to have tested the important marketing tool such as outsourcing.

Growth phase—

The growth phase offers the satisfaction of seeing the product take off in the market place. This is the appropriate timing to focus on increasing the market share. This is the phase that SPECTRA shall soon be entering. The main focus then should be to maximize through competitive pricing. The company has already followed a low penetration pricing during the introduction phase. However after its success the company should try to adapt a midway pricing strategy between low penetrating price to grab market share and high skim price to cover development costs. This is keeping in view the urgency to break even at PM-2 unit. Cost efficiency and time to market and pricing and discount policy shall be the major factors in gaining customer confidence. Good coverage in all marketplaces is worthwhile goal throughout the growth phase of SPECTRA.

Maturity phase—

When the market becomes saturated with variations of the basic product . and all competitors are represented in terms of an alternative product , the maturity phase arrives . in this phase market share of SPECTRA growth in sales can only be at the expense of other players in the market. This shall be the time to formulate strategies for repositioning of this product. Moreover the positioning and pricing strategies of SPECTRA shall also depend on how the competitors like Khanna , Bilt , JK, etc will retaliate.

Decline phase—

It is difficult to conceptualize the decline signals of SPECTRA at this point of time. Usually its decline shall be accompanied by a decline of market sales. Its recognition will be hard to be realized , since marketing departments are usually too optimistic due to big product success coming from the maturity phase.

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SOME MODELS WITH FOCUS ON ABIL

PORTER’s FIVE FORCES MODEL

Michael Porter has identified five forces which determine the long-run attractiveness of a market segment. Hence this model can be studied keeping the copier segment in mind.

The threats these forces pose are as follows- Threat of intense segment rivalry-

This copier segment has got many strong competitors such as JK, BILT , KHANNA , CENTURY , etc. Our branded copier product Spectra and My Choice faces stiff competition from them but regardless of this it is in the growth stage. It is yet to reach the maturity and decline stage. So we face less threat from other players in the market.

Threat of new entrants-This copier business requires a huge investment and therefore not many entrants jump into this market. But still we face a meagre threat from the local mills such as SETIA, RUCHIRA ,etc who enter into the market with low priced products . Both entry and exit barriers are very high in this copier market and hence we face less threat from new potential entrants.

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Threat of substitute products-There is as such no substitute for the copier products. The machines would work with only A4 size copier paper and hence we again face less threat from substitutes. And also copier paper is required for documentation and no other substitute is available.

Threat of buyer’s growing bargaining power-Our first buyers , which are dealers have bargaining power depending upon the market conditions. When the market is up the dealers have less bargaining power and when the market is down they have more bargaining power with us. During downturns , there is less cash liquidity into the market and hence the dealers get a upper hand in terms of bargaining power.

Threat of supplier’s growing bargaining power-ABIL manufactures copier paper through wheat straw. The farmers in Punjab are our suppliers. We are the only mill based in Punjab which makes agro based product and hence we command a high bargaining power with the suppliers.

VALUE PROPOSITION DEMAND STATES MODEL

PRODUCT TARGET CUSTOMERS

BENEFITS PRICE(Ex mill price/MT)

VALUE PROPOSITION

SPECTRA CORPORATES, HIGH END PRINTERS,QUALITY STATIONERS, OFFICES

BRIGHTNESS , RUNNABILITY

47750 Rs. QUALITY PHOTOSTAT AT THROW AWAY PRICE

MY CHOICE JOBBERS , STATIONERS

VALUE FOR MONEY

47250 Rs. PHOTOSTAT AT LOW PRICE

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BRAND ASSET VALUATOR MODEL (BAV)

This model can be used to assess the brand equity possessed by our branded products. There are four key pillars of brand equity as follows-

Differentiation-

It measures the degree to which a brand is seen as different from others. Our branded products are different from others as we use wheat straw as our raw material and hence make the manufacturing process eco-friendly. But we are yet to bring awareness regarding this to our customers. As per the quality is concerned the product is not much differentiated from its competitors.

Relevance-

It measures the breadth of a brand’s appeal. At present we have a less brand appeal as compared with our competitors such as JK, BILT who are in this segment for the last many decades. So they are bound to have more brand appeal.

Esteem-

It measures how well the brand is regarded and respected. Our brand is respected highly in the market due to its associativity with TRIDENT group. We have to deliver value for money to sustain this esteem.

Knowledge-

It measures how familiar and intimate consumers are with the brand. As per the market survey done our brand is very much popular with the dealers , almost all the dealers visited were aware of Spectra. Our brand awareness is quite low in case of jobbers , hence we need to do efforts to promote our branded products.

The first two pillars reflect the brand’ future and is termed as brand strength whereas the last two reflect the brand’ past performance and is termed as brand stature.These two can be combined to form a Power Grid that depicts the stage in brand development cycle.

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Our branded product can be pointed in the Ist quarter as we have high brand strength and low brand stature because we have just entered into the arena. We have a lot of unrealized potential which we can achieve in future with our branded products.

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Niche / unrealized potential

Leadership

New/unfocussed Eroding

BRAND STATURE

BRAND STRENGTH

7 P’S OF MARKETING

The marketing strategy would be based upon the 7 P’s of marketing--

1) Product – The branded products of ABIL were recently launched into the market and are hence into the introduction stage in the product life cycle. The Spectra copier has a good perception among the consumer and satisfies their needs whereas My choice copier faces some quality issues which makes it less acceptable in the market. In order to improve the branded products we have to focus on the quality improvements of My choice. The main target market of our products consists of Jobbers and the Corporate houses which require trouble-free performance.

2) Price – The branded products of ABIL have been priced competitively in the market. It enters into a non-monopolistic market where there are few other players as well. It can be said as operating in oligopolistic market. So it has to fix price taking competitor’ into mind. Spectra is priced at a relatively higher price segment than My choice which is at a lower price competing with Khanna copier at most of the places.

3) Place – At present ABIL has appointed many dealers under it to distribute their Spectra and My choice. Most of these dealers are non-exclusive i.e. they distribute products of other mills as well. Many of the dealers desire to have exclusivity in the market. Recently ABIL has also formed a new sales workforce to boost up their sales. There can be some possible changes in the distribution channel which can be improved upon. ABIL lacks some good dealers in Haryana which need to be identified soon. It also needs to formulate a strategy to enter into the corporate houses in regions of Chandigarh.

4) Promotion – ABIL has launched many promotional schemes into the market. It offers laptops, Lcd, etc to dealers who sell commendable quantity which exceeds their expected quota for the month. ABIL has to focus on advertising its branded products to maintain brand associatively with the consumers. By advertising it is promoting its sales by pulling the end-users. Various promotional schemes such as Personal selling, direct sales, public relations, etc can also be introduced.

5) People – A very essential criteria for the success of any business is the use of appropriate staff and people. ABIL should recruit the right staff and impart training to them if it wants to obtain competitive advantage. Consumers make judgments and

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deliver perceptions of the service based on the employees they interact with. Hence the interacting staff at ABIL should posses the appropriate interpersonal skills, aptitude to provide the service that consumers are paying for. They should ensure to deliver value to consumers money.

6) Process – The customers of ABIL expect to get their products delivered in a stipulated time period. The delivery of the order must be timely and people at ABIL must ensure this.

7) Physical evidence – The end consumers of ABIL would make perceptions based upon the physical condition of the product delivered to them. This majorly includes the packaging part. The packaging should be convenient, damage-free etc.

BCG MATRIX

Above shown is a BCG matrix which depicts the current state of any business.There are two essential criteria to judge . These are relative market share and market growth rate. Consequently, our branded products are positioned in the Question mark category as we have a relatively low market share backed up by a high market growth rate.

KEY DEMAND DRIVERS FOR THE PAPER INDUSTRY—

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GDP growth at 8 %-

Educational focus of government-34 % increase in education sector expenditure to 32.3 crore in FY08

Increasing literacy rate-Increased circulation to 222 million in FY06

Improving living standards and higher disposable incomes-Increase in demand for branded high end paper and hygiene paper products

Marketing drive in manufacturing and service sector-Spurt in direct mailers and print media thereby increasing paper demand.

Keeping the above factors in mind, we can say that the demand for paper is increasing day by day and ABIL is on track with its copier segment to target this unrealized potential in the market.

Source- icicidirect.com

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RECOMMENDATIONS

54

A mix of both push and pull strategies is required to improve sales of ABIL branded products in the N-W market. The copier paper is seen as a stationery item and hence it requires effort to push it in the market to make a lasting impression in the consumer’s mind. Consequently, the products needs to be first promoted to the dealers and then to stationers and jobbers.

To create a push for this market , we need to take the following steps —

Target based incentive scheme shall be available to the dealers. They shall be given target according to their potential and this can be strategically incremented to push the dealer further.

There shall be proper dealer meets organised to as to keep them involved and build their trust by giving them certain accolades which recognises their effort and rewards their relationship with the company. BILT gives golden achiever awards to its dealers which recognises their efforts. We can organise some get together in various cities to create our brand awareness.

All grievances related to dealers shall be heard on a priority basis as they are our esteemed customers through whom we approach our end users. There should be regular feedback taken from them.

The dealers shall be provided with restricted territory for their sales and they should not be allowed to quote their product outside and in this way we can also reduce the inter-dealer competition which hampers our sales at times as the end users are in dilemma with two different prices offered for the same product.

The box packaging shall include some small gifts such as pens , sticky notes ,etc. To boost up sales we shall also include geometry boxes , eraser , pencils for the wards of stationers . In this way the stationer would feel interested with our product. We can make our packaging more attractive by printing games /puzzles on the ream , writing motivating quotes , amazing facts , big personality reviews.

The stationers shall be provided with some glass stickers, signboards , billboards which they can show up at their place and this would also act as a advertisement at the point of purchase as well as an incentive for them.

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PRODUCERS DEALERS RETAILERS CONSUMER

PUSH

PULL

A pull strategy is generally based on promotion through advertisement. And once the network is established and consumers trust it , them would automatically demand for the product

To create a pull strategy for this market we need to take the following steps–

Advertisements shall be made in leading newspapers especially targeting the corporate customers in the business segment. Magazines are also a good source for this promotion. Internet advertisement can also be used especially targeting the corporate. Our competitors J.K and BILT promote their COPIER online as well. Trident group should also update and build the existing link of the paper division on its website to promote its products online.There can be advertisements in Business newspapers such as Economic times, etc to target our customers. We shall advertise more especially on world environment day , world health day.

There are some places where hoardings can be used for mass appeal and creating a pull for our products. This will also infuse increased confidence among dealers for putting more efforts towards the sale of our branded products.

The company shall regularly participate in national and international exhibitions like Paperex , stationery fair and some other events held at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi to promote themselves and increase the visibility of our products. This would also provide them opportunity to have first hand interaction with the end consumers and also make them aware of the latest trends in the paper industry.

Scratch cards can be provided in reams , preferably on the outer cover to ensure that it reaches the end users. J.K copier included these cards within the box and it often failed to reach the consumers. By putting the card on top would increase its visibility and would encourage consumers to buy it.We can tie-up with certain notebook manufacturers such as Navneet , Chauhan , etc to advertise on the back cover of the notebooks.

Special displays using Danglers, Posters etc. shall be used to display product features and other information about our product in and around our retail as well as our dealers counters to generate awareness. This can be a very good way to create awareness because anyone using paper will have a look over these promotional posters and danglers and hence will help us to increase the awareness of SPECTRA.

We have got some promotional materials such as polythene bags , brochures , wall clocks , etc. These need to be used properly at the point of sales and the same needs to be followed up by a manager so as to make it sure that the material is used effectively. We can also distribute material such as wall clocks , t-shirts to major customers through our dealers.

We should organise some road shows ,arrange kiosks, sponsor some events , games and fests to increase our visibility.The load Carrier used in logistics can have advertisement of our products on its back side.We shall organise a big green marathon in various cities along with tree plantation programmes to increase our visibility.

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The best way to create a pull in the market would be to distribute free trial packs to the stationers as well as the jobbers .this would enable them to realize the quality of our product and its value for money. JK PAPER LTD. always uses this strategy to increase its awareness.

Some other recommendations-

There shall be separate sales depot at significant locations so that our consumers get the benefit of No C.S.T and the dealers get more margin which would encourage them to push more sales. There would be also lesser freight charges which would lead to reduced cost price to them.

Some of the corporate also demand higher G.S.M paper and this area is still unexplored by ABIL. Hence we shall also start higher G.S.M paper which would target the corporate and the high quality printer segment. Other players such as JK and BILT have already jumped into this segment and therefore we would face a stiff competition. We would have to deliver superior quality at reasonable price.

The packaging of our products shall be improved. We can use laminated outer box cover. Our competitor KHANNA copier uses this and gains a lot of satisfaction from the consumers. It prevents tearing of the box during transit.

We shall not allow our dealers to sell below a specified quantity to isolate its effect from the other retail stores. We can keep a tab on the prices at which a dealer sells and the customer base he is targeting so that we can communicate further at any time. Dealers should be pressed to meet the customers regularly so as to resolve their grievances. And we should keep a regular watch over where our products are sold and at what price. This would help in future reference in case we wish to change the dealer.

We shall have separate dealers for copier and our other paper products as the two are quite different. We can stock our copier but we cannot do the same with other paper products.

There can be just one dealers in each state, followed by sub-dealers to maintain a balance. There should be no formal contract with the sub-dealers but we must assist the dealers in appointing them.

Continuous CRM activity is needed with timely dispatch of samples directly or through dealers. In fact , direct sampling would be more effective in long run rather than through dealers.There should be frequent visits of account managers to increase the visibility of our products.

There is some issues of price variations due to wrong practices followed by dealers in Delhi market. Therefore, to avoid this we can use some unique code along with the lot number on the ream cover so that we can track later. We shall also use special holograms which can differentiate our supply to the national capital region. This would help in putting a curb on under table cutting.

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We should also judge the financial strength of our customers such as big retail stationery shops who have a referent power over the jobbers , so that at any point we can bypass the dealer and sell directly to those financially sound retail stores.

While designing the quantity discount scheme the quantity should be achievable. There should be uniformity in the landed price so that there is no dilemma in the customers mind. This would also build their trust towards ABIL.

We can also tie up with some other channel partners who are well established in the stationery market because our branded copier is also more or less a stationery item. This would increase our penetration into the market.

There shall be a proper sales team operating in the market under the account managers which can follow up with the end users. This would give importance to the small customers at the grass root level.

The price of Spectra should be kept high and that of My choice should be lower because we are targeting different end-users. Spectra mainly targets the higher end-users specially the corporate who are willing to pay high price for higher quality . like- JK copier is mainly used for the office stationery purpose because of its quality and for getting this quality the price does not matter. To get this office stationery orders we need to a do a lot more effort. We must approach these offices with our product samples and then assures them that our product has the best quality and is value for money.

My choice should be mainly targeted at the jobbers who care less about the quality and are willing to pay a lower price. Khanna gives a tough competition in this segment. But its product comes from recycled paper and has inferior quality even at 75 GSM. So our product has huge potential in this segment and therefore we should push our product more in the market.

BOTH OUR BRANDED PRODUCTS HAVE HUGE MARKET POTENTIAL IN THE NORTH-WEST REGION.

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ANNEXURE

59

QUESTIONNAIRE for DEALERS

1) What current brands do you use?JK BILT KHANNA SPECTRA MY CHOICE CENTURY Mention if other

2) Please mention against each player.

BRAND SALES (in MT)

COST PRICE(per Ream)

JKBILT

KHANNAMY CHOICE

SPECTRACENTURY

3) Which branded copier is mostly used in your area?

JK BILT KHANNA SPECTRA MY CHOICE CENTURY

Please rate below the factors which make it the mostly used copier:PRICE

QUALITYAVAILABILITY

PACKAGINGPROMOTIONAL SCHEMES

ADVERTISING

4) The Quality of COPIER is more desirable than its Price. Tick against below.STRONGLY AGREE

AGREENEUTRALDISAGREE

STRONGLY DISAGREE

5) And the Quality of SPECTRA isPOOR FAIR GOOD VERY GOOD EXCELLENT

And of MY CHOICE isPOOR FAIR GOOD VERY GOOD EXCELLENT

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6) Which branded copier will you compare SPECTRA with in terms of-

FACTORS BRAND

PRICE JK BILT KHANNA CENTURY

QUALITY JK BILT KHANNA CENTURY

PACKAGING JK BILT KHANNA CENTURY

PROMOTION JK BILT KHANNA CENTURY

7) What is your level of satisfaction with the following ?

FACTOR HIGH NEUTRAL LOWPRICING STRATEGIES

QUALITYPACKAGING

CREDIT FACILITYDELIVERY SCHEDULE

8) Please choose the best alternative-o SPECTRA will be the market leader in coming future.o It has to do a lot more effort.o This is not possible in near future .o Neither SPECTRA nor TRIDENT is known to me.

9) Please tick against the factors influencing your buying behavior?

FACTORS STRONGLY AGREE

AGREE NEUTRAL DISAGREE STRONGLY DISAGREE

RIGHT PRICING

CONSISTENCY IN QUALITYPACKAGINGAVAILABILIT

YBRAND

AWARENESSCREDIT

FACILITY

10) If Cost Price of your best selling COPIER increases , then you wouldShift to other lower price brand

Continue with the same brand by compromising on profits.

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11) Have you seen an Advertisement for any COPIER ? Do you remember any of them?

What influence do the following medium have in advertising. Tick below

MEDIUM HIGH MODERATE LOWNEWSPAPER/MAGAZINES

T.V. ADVERTISEMENTHOARDINGS/BILLBOARDS

WORD OF MOUTH

12) What kind of discounts do you get? Please mention slab-wise.

BRAND TRADE DISCOUNT

CASH DISCOUNT Any special credit relaxation

JKBILT

KHANNASPECTRA

MY CHOICECENTURY

13) What kind of promotional schemes/gifts are offered by the following brands?

BRAND SCHEMES OFFEREDJK

BILTKHANNASPECTRA

MY CHOICECENTURY

CONTACT PERSON- PHONE NO- ADDRESS-

QUESTIONNAIRE for STATIONERS

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PLEASE ATTACH YOUR VISITING CARD HERE.

1) What current brands do you use?JK BILT KHANNA SPECTRA MY CHOICE CENTURY Mention if other

2) Please mention the COST PRICE and USAGE amount of each player.

BRAND COST PRICE ( per Box) USAGE ( no. of Boxes)JK

BILTKHANNA

MY CHOICESPECTRA

CENTURY



Please tick below the factors which make it the mostly used copier:LOW PRICEQUALITY

AVAILABILITYPACKAGING

PROMOTIONAL SCHEMESADVERTISING

4) The Quality of paper is more desirable than the Price for COPIER.What do you say?

STRONGLY AGREEAGREE

NEUTRALDISAGREE

STRONGLY DISAGREE




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FACTORS BRAND



PACKAGING JK BILT KHANNA CENTURYPROMOTION JK BILT KHANNA CENTURY





WORD OF MOUTH

8) Have you switched from any brand of COPIER ? If YES, why ?Tick below.

9) What would you do in the following cases –Tick against the correct choice. If your first preference for COPIER is not available.

Purchase any other brand from same dealer/stationer

Purchase same brand from other dealer/stationer

If the price for your favorite brand increases

Shift to other lower price brand

Continue with the same brand by paying higher



BILTKHANNASPECTRA

MY CHOICECENTURY

11) Please tick against the factors influencing your buying behavior?FACTORS STRONGLY

AGREEAGREE NEUTRAL DISAGREE STRONGLY

DISAGREE

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YES NOLower priceBetter qualityEasier availabilityIncreased promotion

RIGHT PRICINGCONSISTENCY IN QUALITYPACKAGINGAVAILABILITYBRAND AWARENESSCREDIT FACILITY

12) Please mention problems, if any with the following brands?

BRAND ANY GREVIENCESJK

BILT

KHANNA

SPECTRA

MY CHOICE

CENTURY


QUESTIONNAIRE for JOBBERS

1) What current brands do you use?

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JK BILT KHANNA SPECTRA MY CHOICE CENTURY Mention if other

2) Please mention the COST PRICE and USAGE amount of each player.

BRAND COST PRICE ( per Ream) USAGE ( no. of Reams)JK

BILTKHANNA

MY CHOICESPECTRA

CENTURY



Please tick below the factors which make it the mostly used copier:LOW PRICEQUALITY

AVAILABILITYPACKAGING

PROMOTIONAL SCHEMESADVERTISING

4) The Quality of paper is more desirable than the Price for COPIER.What do you say?

STRONGLY AGREEAGREE

NEUTRALDISAGREE

STRONGLY DISAGREE



6) Please rank the given quality parameters with 1 as the most desired and 5 as the least one.QUALITY PARAMETER RANK

BRIGHTNESSTHICKNESS

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STIFFNESSSMOOTHNESS

OPACITY

7) Where do you make your purchase of COPIER from?


FACTORS BRAND



PACKAGING JK BILT KHANNA CENTURYPROMOTION JK BILT KHANNA CENTURY





WORD OF MOUTH

10) Please tick against the factors influencing your buying behavior?FACTORS STRONGLY

AGREEAGREE NEUTRAL DISAGREE STRONGLY

DISAGREERIGHT PRICINGCONSISTENCY

IN QUALITYPACKAGING

AVAILABILITYBRAND

AWARENESSCREDIT

FACILITY

11) Have you switched from any brand of COPIER ? If YES, why ?Tick below.

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By calling the dealer directlyThe dealer approaches youYou go directly to the stationers

Lower priceBetter qualityEasier availabilityIncreased promotion

YES NO

12) What would you do in the following cases –Tick against the correct choice. If your first preference for COPIER is not available.

Purchase any other brand from same dealer/stationer

Purchase same brand from other dealer/stationer

If the price for your favorite brand increasesShift to other lower price brand

Continue with the same brand by paying higher



BILTKHANNASPECTRA

MY CHOICECENTURY

12) Please mention problems, if any with the following brands?

BRAND ANY GREVIENCESJK

BILT

KHANNA

SPECTRA

MY CHOICE

CENTURY


LIMITATIONS OF STUDY:

I tried my level best to keep the study error free. But there may be some deviations in the

results due to the following limitations:

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The sampling method used in the survey was convenience and cluster sampling. Due

to the limitations of these very sampling methods results may vary from actual

situation.

The sample unit was at times very busy. So he did not respond to questionnaire with

full attention.

Sampling unit at times did not like to share some personal information. So either they

refused to respond or responded with inaccurate data.

In some cases sampling unit was accompanied by someone else. So in his response

there was influence of the other person. This may deviate our results.

Some of the sampling units were already surveyed by our marketing team earlier. In those cases they were not ready to respond again.

REFERENCES

Market forecast indicators intecos – Cier’s review 2002-2012 Cris Infac annual research reports

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BILT , JK , KHANNA copier market analysis – internal database and website. Asian pulp and paper monitor RISI Emkay research reports on the paper industry 2006 Google alerts on copier paper Trident library and company database Business research methods – Cooper , Schindler Marketing management – Philip Kotler The art of marketing- Geoffrey Radall Marketing plan- Don Bebelak http//paperloop.com http//paperage.com http//Wikipedia.com

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Market Research in Copier segment for Abhishek Industries

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Transcript of Market Research in Copier segment for Abhishek Industries