ANALYSING THE SHANS MARKET DEMAND: THROUGH RESERCH SURVEY OF STORES

MARKETING ASSIGNMENT #1
SUBMITTED BY:NIDA AHMED

COURSE INSTRUCTOR: Ms. Farah Naz SEC 1 BBA-4

ANALYSING THE SHANS MARKET DEMAND: THROUGH RESERCH SURVEY OF STORES

Table of Contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .................................................................................................................... 2 INTRODUCTION ABOUT THE SHAN BRAND .................................................................................... 3 ANALYSING THE SHANs DEMAND AND MARKETING STRATEGIES USED IN DIFFERENT CATEGORIES OF STORES ALL OVER KARACHI ................................................................................. 4 METRO ......................................................................................................................................... 4 IMTIAZ(LMT) ................................................................................................................................ 8 HOME PLUS (HFS-A) .................................................................................................................. 10 PAYJEES (HFS-A) ........................................................................................................................ 12 KK MART(HFS-A) ........................................................................................................................ 14 TAIMOORIYA (HFS-B)................................................................................................................. 16 DISCOVERY (HFS-B).................................................................................................................... 18 HOME NEEDZ(HFS-B)................................................................................................................. 20 HFS-Cs ........................................................................................................................................ 22 BISMILLAH RICE (HFS-C)......................................................................................................... 22 OVERALL CAMPARISON OF THE IMTS AND LMTS Vs THE HFS STORES ........................................ 25 IMTS........................................................................................................................................... 25 LMTs .......................................................................................................................................... 26 IMTS AND LMTS VS THE HFS ..................................................................................................... 27 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................................. 29

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Throughout the course of Marketing, the essence of strategy and its application has been emphasized. For an organization, not only its immediate and competitive, but also macro environment is important as it needs to survive and sustain itself whilst operating in these environments. Spice industry all over the world can be referred to as a subset of the food industry. Spices stand at prominent positions in Pakistani imports and exports.. The spice industry of Pakistan annually grows at a rate that is above 50%. Within this industry, 80% market share is with unbranded loose spices and the rest with branded packed spices. Shan Foods and National Foods both are the leaders in branded packed spice category each holding 40% share in 2006, while other prominent players include Chefs Pride, Ahmed Foods, Habib Foods and Zaiqa Foods. Shan Foods was founded in 1981 in a single room as Shan Masala. Later, due to its popularity, it went on to become Shan Foods. It has presence in 60 countries today and deals in six broad categories of offerings. Shan Foods has capitalized on the changing market trends and consumer tastes and through product trials, it has made sure to churnout offerings that are best in line with consumer tastes. It maintains global presence primarily through exports and follows more than one growth strategy simultaneously. With fourteen departments and state of the art technology and customer focused marketing strategies and campaigns; Shan Foods has become synonymous with authentic traditional cuisine of good quality and taste. On completion of this project I most thankful to my course instructor, Ms Farah Naz for her daunting support throughout and also of the teacher assistant, Ms Haneen Ahmedani who provided me with her helpful advices and valuable insights at each level of this project. I am also highly grateful to all the retailers I interviewed at different levels of the research, all were cooperative and helpful enough to provide me with all the factual information that I required of them. This project though proved to be highly challenging, it has greatly broaden my horizons of learning and for the first time gave me an opportunity to gain knowledge of the practical world. It equipped me with the valuable insights to help relate my course learning with the practices in the real marketing world. I tried my best to reap full advantage of the opportunity and continue to follow the same in the future.

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INTRODUCTION ABOUT THE SHAN BRAND

Established in 1981 Shan Foods (Pvt) Ltd, Shan Masala is a Popular well known Brand that produces huge variety of ready to cook spice mixes. It is one of the most popular Spice blends available in the Pakistani Market and elsewhere in the world. Shan also exports to more than 56 Countries worldwide, making it the largest exporter of premium quality packaged spice, food, and rice mixes. One of the reasons for its popularity in World is that it has reduced the amount of time needed to cook traditional meals drastically that would otherwise require a lot of time commitment and not to mention the number of spices that would be required in preparing those meals. These ready to cook Spices have not only cut down cooking time making lives easy for the fast paced people abroad as well as modernizing trends inside the country leading to fast paced lives, but also provided them with the recipes that have authentic traditional taste. They get the same flavors from these spices that they did when they were growing up, making them feel more at home and at ease. The wide Range of flavors offered by Shan Masala has definitely given people more choices along with delicious traditional home cooked meals that they would miss otherwise. Not only is there variety and flavor in Shan Spices, the meals are very easy to cook with these spices. Shan Masala Mix is considered free from all sorts of mixings in spices, you can absolutely use for Vegetarian food also, No doubt about it!. It is made from pure vegetarian Ingredients, people through the time have praised its quality products. Shan Masala Mix ought to replenish and acquire the best quality supplies available in the market. Because of the nature of the business Shan Masala Mix has to acquire the best and deliver the same with fresh, aromatized, flavorful, healthy and safe spice packets for daily households. Today Shan Masala have a range of products to offer to its customers. Shan Masala Mix sells over 70 different types of spices and also sells over 70 different types of Mixed and ready recipes in 10 different heads.

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ANALYSING THE SHANs DEMAND AND MARKETING STRATEGIES USED IN DIFFERENT CATEGORIES OF STORES ALL OVER KARACHI
METRO
Metro differs in many ways from other category stores majorly because of the idea that they are based on international traits thus stand out from other store categories in all ways. Firstly, IMTS stand out because they offer unique customer experience by specially ensuring to maximizing the customers benefits: they have spacious walkways between different aisles; also there is a huge separate parking facility for its customers, thus by benefiting he customers needs these IMTs create greater sense of customer value resulting into attracting more customers. Also they offer products at wholesale prices and are available in bulk, thus benefiting the customers by allowing them to avail great discounts. Secondly, the promotions are announced on loud speakers thus providing a unique way of marketing for different products. Big size trolleys are used to carry the purchases from Point of Purchase (POP) to Point Of Sales( POS) i.e the cashier. Also no shopping bags either plastic or paper bags are used thus giving the idea to its customers that they are also socially responsible entities. However, they are made available upon request with extra cost charged for each bag, thus the use of shopping bags to be minimized in every possible way. Moreover, state of art technology is used everywhere in the store; electronic carton lifters being used to move stocks in bulk; also, there are atleast 12 Point of Sale areas towards the exit of the store. There is also a RFID scanning technology being used with digital electronic bill display and computer generated receipts which results in faster processing of generating receipts and results in faster transactions and reduces errors. Also, there are separate sections for apparel as well as separate huge sections for fish, meat and chicken and other frozen food items available in bulk with several refrigerators installed to facilitate the process. Metro also has a separate bakery of their own to promote its own brands i.e FINEs bakery items. ABOUT THE BRAND AND COMPETITORS There was a separate section for the food spices, located in front of the frozen foods area and other daily food items section like for tea and milk were around in the same area. The food spices section at the left corner entrance towards the side had a separate shelf for the brand FINE which is metros own spices brand followed by another extended shelf on the same side containing National Foods masalay in one part and in another smaller part towards the end of the shelf were Habibs masalay and Freshmates ready to cook meals, which act as indirect competitors to all food spices brands. At the COURSE: MARKETING Page 4

ANALYSING THE SHANS MARKET DEMAND: THROUGH RESERCH SURVEY OF STORES

end of the side shelf there was a separate adjacent shelf covering the whole width of the section containing the Shans brand. The Shans brand specifically had the largest area occupied in the whole section. Also , there were unpacked spices on sale kept in huge utensils in the centre of the section but these were only general spices like cumin seeds, chilli powder, black pepper etc, not the dish-specific spices; however these are comparatively sold in very lesser amounts thus reflective of the fact that people are turning more into brand conscious ones. Towards the other side of the section there were salt and pickles of different brands like Shan, National Foods and Mehran. Towards the end of this side there were oriental recipies packs of 40-45 g ,which also act as indirect competitors to food spices; there were two major brands in this category i.e Knorr and Shan. Though Shan has not been able to make much name in its item of oriental recipies, its sales of food spices has remain unaffected overall , only decreasing by a slightly noticeable amount due to more demand of Knorrs soups and oriental recipies in the winter season. Overall in the whole section, there were three major direct competitor brands of food spices i.e. Shan, National Foods and Fine. Amongst the three, Shans spices showed the most sales throughout the year. The stock of each is replenished on a daily basis and the company itself is responsible for providing the stock in bulk on a daily basis. The companies also decide the specific placement of their product by negotiating with the Metros management and have to pay extra rent for the specific shelves reserved specifically for their product. PLACEMENT There were two kind of spices offered by all brands i.e. food specific like Bombay Biryani, Qorma Masala, Seekh kabab, Haleem etc and the general spices like Chilli powder, Black pepper, Cumin powder etc. The food specific spices were placed mostly on eye level rows while the general spices were placed below the eye-level rows, this was the same for all brands. National and other brands like Habib and Freshmate were placed on shelf towards the side, this was due to the fact that these brands are in lesser demand than Shan which was placed though towards the end but its shelf was directly infront thus easily meeting the eyes of most customers that came. Upon interrogation from the sales women it was revealed that the front corner place was previously dedicated for Shans brand, but now that Metro had started its own brand by the name of FINE it had taken Shans place instead. This clearly showed the bargaining power of wholesale supplier i.e Metro in this case is powerful over the other companys brands meaning that the retailer if it has its own brand gives more preference to its own product over the other companies. Shan in this case had to agree to Metros terms and thus switched its place from front corner to the front side towards the end of the section. This cunning strategy of Metros however failed to give them any edge, and Shan still remained its most running brand status with its sales being unaffected. AVAILABILITY There were almost all variety of spices available as offered by each brand in all the SKUs offered respective to each item. However, all the items were available in MUs(Merchandising Units) i.e together in batches of three, a single packet of any brands item was not made available; this idea was resulting in major increament in sales as it offered more discount on an MU than if 3 single packets were bought. Shan offers the most variety in Biryani which is the most demanded food item all over Pakistan, from COURSE: MARKETING Page 5

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Biryani to Sindhi Biryani to Pulao Biryani to Bombay Biryani all varieties were available. Biryani items and Qorma items were specifically placed on direct eye level due to their year round high demand. BBQ items like Seekh Kabab, Tikka Boti and Chicken Tandoori were placed in the next level row also at eye level, due to their high demand. Below this row were varieties of items like Aalu Bhujia, Vegetable Mix etc, these items have a comparatively lower demand than Shans other items. On the lower level were the general spices, with all the varieties available; in this area too Shan is most demanded. National and Fine in comparison offered fewer varieties in all items and Habib had the least varieties of all. CUSTOMERS Mainly Shans customers include women, both housewives and working women. As Metro is a high profiled store based on international traits, its mostly the middle class and upper class people who come to shop here. Though some part of working women are more oriented towards faster ways of cooking thus they demand for ready to cook meals offered by Freshmate; but this only comprise of a very smaller part of all the customers who visit there, mainly its the food spices that show major sales. Also, Shans spices are also highly demanded by the Pakistanis living abroad thus its customers also include those who come to visit Pakistan for some time and buy its spices in bulk to use for more months to come or those who send Shans items to their relatives living abroad. Major customers who take benefit of these wholesale prices are the shopkeepers mainly of HFS Bs and Cs who buy the stock for their shop in bulk and also avail special discounts offered to them by the wholesale outlet. e.g on buying Shans spices carton in bulk the customer is offered a discount of 10%. PROMOTIONS Specific to the Product Along the line where different products promotion were in place, there was a scheme offered by the National company that on buying 1 kg Nationals ketchup, 40g of Nationals Chat Masala was being given free. Just beside this promotional scheme there was Shans rack with its offer of three 100gms Chat Masala for Rs.136. Metro offer: Metro was offering special offer on Nationals food spices e.g on buying 1 batch of three 50 g packs of Biryani it was for Rs. 124.83/batch and on buying 4 or more such batches they would be given for Rs. 118.8/batch National was offering a Double Pack scheme on its biryani items i.e Double Pack each of 140g for Rs. 69.45; a batch of three double packs could be bought for Rs. 208.35. Shan was also offering a Double Pack scheme i.e 120 g for Rs 82; a batch of three double packs could be bought for Rs. 246. Also, Zauq and ARY ads with Chef Mehboob were on front display of the food spices section, resulting in attracting more customers. Though Shan as compared to its major competitor NATIONAL FOODS carry out much lesser promotions both on the ATL and BTL level and its prices are also a bit higher than Nationals, its sales remain unaffected by its competitors promotions because of an apparent fact that Shan is the oldest brand and it has such customers which are brand Page 6

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loyals, loyal to the unique taste it has to offer as well as loyal to the varieties in traditional foods that Shan brings up for its customers. Specific to other Products Various promotional campaigns for various product brands were seen in Metro. At the entrance, huge posters of Gillette and Surf Excel were seen.Also the Gillettes sales persons were seen informing men about their product development. Further inside the detergents aisle, new Surf Excel, Teen ki takat retail salespersons were showing a live washing test. Not further away from this were Ariel stands where Ariel 1kg pack cost Rs. 204 compared to Surf Excels Rs. 218 per Kg. In the frozen food area, Daldas Olive Oil campaign was going on too. On purchase of 1 Litre bottle of Rs. 430, a free live sketch would have been done. Further down this area were Nivea and Dove products that had their own similar stalls right next to each other. Tiger Biscuits and Dairy Milk chocolates covered the areas near the cash counters. Instead of Walls ice-creams, Sprite took over as the impulse buying product. Apart from all this, Metro was also promoting their brand by the name of Fine. They were providing free tasting of their confectionaries like Chocolate Brownies, Nan Khatai and Zeera Biscuits and offering them at discounted prices SEASONAL DEMAND The seasonal variation in our food consumption due to different cultural festivities is also reflected in the variation in demand of food spices. Biryani is the most favoured food item used year round by the major percentage of spices consuming customers. BBQ items show most sales in religious occasions of Eid-ul-Fitr and Eid-ul-Azha while Haleem is mostly demanded in the religious month of Moharram. Qorma and Salan spices are also used year round though in lesser quantity than the Biryani items. PRICE TABLE SKUs BRAND NAME Biryani SHAN NATIONAL FOODS FINE HABIB Qorma SHAN NATIONAL FOODS FINE COURSE: MARKETING 50g(50g*3)
120g/140g(Double Pack)(120*3)

137(45.7 each) 132(44 each) 126(42 each) 124(41 each)

246(82 for each 120g) 208.35(69.45 for each 140g) Not available Not available

138(46 each) 132(44 each) 126(42 each)

246(82 for each 120g) 208.35(69.45 for each 140g) Not available Page 7

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HABIB Chilli Powder SHAN NATIONAL FOODS FINE HABIB

124(41 each)

Not available

136(45.3 each) 130(43.4 each) 120(40 each) 114(38*3)

325(400g) Not available Not available Not available

IMTIAZ(LMT)
All in all Imtiaz consists of 3 floors including a basement. It offers a variety of household items from personal care products to oral care to surface care to fabric care as well as all edibles normally used in all households on a day to day basis. What sets it apart from other HFS A stores is the huge number of product lines it offers for all products, the variety it has for each and a unique customer experience with specific customer benefits. Though it is very much smaller in size than Metro, which is a whole-sale outlet, Imtiaz is considered a general retail outlet offering products at prices lower than market retail prices but slightly higher than the wholesale prices as offered at IMTs like Metro etc. There are atleast 7 Point of Sale areas towards the exit of the store on the first floor. There is also a RFID technology being used which results in faster processing of generating receipts and results in faster transaction and reduces errors.Both baskets and trolleys are used for carrying the purchased goods. ABOUT THE BRAND AND THE COMPETITORS The food spices section was located on the ground floor which was dedicated specifically for the daily food items used commonly in all households. The section was at the right hand side corner two rows apart directly in front of the small corridor leading from the stairs. At the beginning was a whole shelf dedicated for Shans food spices only with 6 rows. Beside this shelf was a smaller shelf where a combination of Mehran, Naseem and Chefs Prides(ready to cook meals) items were displayed. Towards the other end corner was another shelf of the same size specifically for the National Foods spices. There was also a small rack for Freshmate (ready to eat meals). Upon interviewing the retailer it was known that Shan is the leading brand amongst the food spices since two decades. Previously there was a brand named Naseem which was widely demanded for in the market, however due to its inability to bring up new varieties Naseem lost its goodwill too soon and was overtaken by Shan who then became a major leader, though National Foods has also been competing with Shan on the same level all over the country but in Karachi specifically Shan remains the most running brand because it produces stronger spices, which is highly demanded by the Karachiites. Recently, 4 yrs back National Foods introduced its new product line by the brand name Ronaq, targeting specifically to bring stronger taste of spices, but due to its inability to cover its costs it could not compete with Shan and thus the product line closed down. Amongst all the brands Shans are the quicker to sell thus there is a daily stock turnover as compared to National and Mehran whose stock turnover is comparatively slower. If example of Qormas item of Shan is considered, its higher stock turnover means 15 cartons are sold daily. Though the company supplies COURSE: MARKETING Page 8

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stock in bulk 2 times in a week, the stores marketing personnel themselves decide the placement of the respective brands considering the respective demand of each. PLACEMENT There were two kind of spices offered by all brands i.e. food specific like Bombay Biryani, Qorma Masala, Seekh kabab, Haleem etc and the general spices like Chilli powder, Black pepper, Cumin powder etc. The food specific spices were placed mostly on eye level rows while the general spices were placed below the eye-level rows, this was the same for all brands. National and other brands like Mehran and Naseem were placed on shelf towards the side, this was due to the fact that these brands are in lesser demand than Shan which was placed on the very first shelf of the entrance of the sections corner. National Foods though had a whole shelf for itself too but it was comparatively smaller than the Shans and placed in an area less likelier to meet the customers gaze. AVAILABILITY Biryani items and Qorma items were specifically placed on direct eye level due to their year round high demand. BBQ items like Seekh Kabab, Tikka Boti and Chicken Tandoori were placed in the next level row also at eye level, due to their high demand; this trend was the same for all brands present there. Below this row specifically in the Shans shelf were varieties of items like Aalu Bhujia, Vegetable Mix etc, these items have a comparatively lower demand than Shans other items. On the lower level were the general spices, with all the varieties available; in this area too Shan is most demanded. National in comparison to Shan offered fewer varieties in all items and Mehran and Naseem had the least varieties of all.

CUSTOMER Mainly Shans customers include women, both housewives and working women. As Imtiaz is a high profiled store based on the well-fed class that it targets at, its mostly the middle class and upper class people who come to shop here. Though some part of working women are more oriented towards faster ways of cooking thus they demand for ready to eat meals offered by Freshmate and Chefs Pride; but this only comprise of a very smaller part of all the customers who visit there, mainly its the food spices that show major sales. PROMOTIONS Specific to the Food spices product no promotions were seen, however, related to other products the promotions included: Nestle was offering a free box of Nescafe 3 in 1 sachets with every carton of 1 litre Milkpak bought. Oreo was offering Buy 1 get 1 free offer on its each role of biscuit bought Also there were promotional ads on display when going down the way towards basement of Maggie Noddles, Fruita vitals and Seasons Canola Page 9

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Dalda had a scheme to win a Toyota Corolla for free through entering names into lucky draw by buying Dalda 2kg tins.

PRICE TABLE BRAND NAME BIRYANI SHAN NATIONAL FOODS MEHRAN BBQ SHAN NATIONAL FOODS MEHRAN QORMA SHAN NATIONAL FOODS MEHRAN HALEEM SHAN NATIONAL FOODS MEHRAN CHILLI POWDER SHAN NATIONAL FOODS MEHRAN SKUs 50g 45(65g) 43(70g) 42(50g)
120g/100g(Double Pack)

OTHERS

85 74

45 43 42

85 74

45 43 42

85 74

78(375g) 42(60g) 90(345g) 80(100g)

80(100g) 84(100g) 80(100g)

310(400g) 155(200g) 170(200g)

HOME PLUS (HFS-A)

High Frequency Stores (HFS) are different from IMTs and LMTs discussed above in a way that they have even fewer product lines with lesser variety of brands (the ones with most demand) available for each product while the prices offered are at average market prices. There are also lesser SKUs available of each product. Home Plus offers a unique customer experience in a way that it is widely spaced with consisting of two floors, the first one having all variety of household items from surface care products to fabric care ones to all edibles normally used in households. The top floor offers personal care and oral care products. There is just one Point of Sale area at the front of the store. There is also a RFID technology being used which results in faster processing of generating receipts and results in faster transaction and reduces errors. Trolley is used for carrying the purchased goods.

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Though in HFS-A customers mainly come for weekly shopping thus products are sold in lesser volumes to each customer as compared to LMTs and IMTs where customers buy products in bulks usually for the whole month, however, HFS as the name says are high frequency stores means that sales occur on a frequent basis and there are more customers who come frequently thus number of sales in HFS-A stores are much higher resulting in a higher sales volume. LMTs have a comparatively even higher sales volume due to the large quantity of products sold on each sale. HFS-A thus are also highly competing towards earning greater profitability like LMTs and are able to break even too quickly in the month due to the higher number of sales. ABOUT THE BRAND AND THE COMPETITORS The food spices section is located towards the end of the ground floor where other major edible items are on sale too in the surrounding area. Due to the Smaller area which HFS-A is based on as compared to LMTs and IMTs, there was no separate shelf allocated for any brand, there was just one long shelf against the wall with only two major competitors of Shan and National Foods spices on sale. Major area was given to Shans items due to the high demand that customers have for its products. Other indirect competitors i.e of ready to eat meals were Chefs Pride and Nonas Ready to Cook meal, these were placed towards the end of the shelf due to their comparatively lower demand. PLACEMENT There were two kind of spices offered by all brands i.e. food specific like Bombay Biryani, Qorma Masala, Seekh kabab, Haleem etc and the general spices like Chilli powder, Black pepper, Cumin powder etc. The food specific spices were placed mostly on eye level rows while the general spices were placed below the eye-level rows, this was the same for both brands. However, National due to its lesser demand was placed on 3 rows only i.e at eye level and below eye level. Shan had its items placed on all 6 rows offering the most variety of products while National had lesser variety in each item. Shans general spices like chilli powder, cumin seeds etc were placed on lower level while items like Haleem and BBQ items were placed on above and at eye level. The company decides the placement of their product. The stock turnover for ShAN is 3days and company delivers stock on a weekly basis. AVAILABILITY Shan in general had more variety in its items available and even more SKUs then offered by Nationals brand. Most demanded of Shans items like Biryani, BBQ items, Qorma etc were placed at eye level in the 2 rows due to their year round high demand. Below this row specifically in the Shans shelf were varieties of items like Aalu Bhujia, Vegetable Mix etc, these items have a comparatively lower demand than Shans other items. On the lower level were the general spices, with all the varieties available; in this area too Shan is most demanded. National in comparison to Shan offered fewer varieties in all items thus occupied only 3 rows. CUSTOMER

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Mainly Shans customers include women, both housewives and working women. As HOME PLUS is a high profiled store based on the well-fed class that it targets at, its mostly the middle class and upper class people who come to shop here. Though some part of working women are more oriented towards faster ways of cooking thus they demand for ready to eat meals offered by Freshmate and Chefs Pride; but this only comprise of a very smaller part of all the customers who visit there, mainly its the food spices that show major sales. PROMOTIONS There were different racks of different products on front display on the entry to each aisle with their advertisements boards on it. Mainly these products included Nido, Farmhouse cookies and Tang. Arial was also promoting its brand by showing live washing test. PRICE TABLE BRAND NAME BIRYANI SHAN NATIONAL FOODS BBQ SHAN NATIONAL FOODS QORMA SHAN NATIONAL FOODS HALEEM SHAN NATIONAL FOODS CHILLI POWDER SHAN NATIONAL FOODS 36 SKUs 50g 45(65g) 43(70g)
100g(Double Pack)

OTHERS

90 73

50 48

90 73

45 43

90 73

45 43

50(175g)

85(350g) 88(345g)

90(100g) 88(100g)

320(400g) 165(200g) 180(200g) 340(400g)

PAYJEES (HFS-A)
It varies with LMTs and IMTs in the same way as has been mentioned for HOME PLUS. Its smaller than HOME PLUS in a way that it offers lesser variety of products but variety of brands offered by each product is the same as HOME PLUS. Its a huge store with one floor only but has multiple aisles specified separately for personal care, oral care, surface care, fabric care and edibles items. There is just one Point of Sale area at the front of the store. There is also a RFID technology being used which results in faster COURSE: MARKETING Page 12

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processing of generating receipts and results in faster transaction and reduces errors. Trolley and baskets are used for carrying the purchased goods.

ABOUT THE BRAND AND THE COMPETITORS The food spices section is located towards the end of store floor where other major edible items of bakery and desserts are on sale too in the surrounding area. Due to the Smaller area which HFS-A is based on as compared to LMTs and IMTs, the shelves were comparatively smaller. Though Shan due its high demand of items was given one whole shelf with 4 rows while NAtional Foods items were placed along with the dessert items on the same shelf, specific part was reserved for it too giving it 2 rows only. Major area was given to Shans items due to the high demand that customers have for its products. Other indirect competitors i.e of ready to eat meals were Freshmate placed on a separate shelf infront of the corner of the aisle. Another major indirect competitor of food spices i.e of oriental recipies offered by Knorr and Shan was also available in the same area of the desserts shelf. Unaffected by its indirect competitors, Shan still remains the most running brand in food spices. PLACEMENT There were two kind of spices offered by both brands i.e. food specific like Bombay Biryani, Qorma Masala, Seekh kabab, Haleem etc and the general spices like Chilli powder, Black pepper, Cumin powder etc. The food specific spices were placed mostly on eye level rows while the general spices were placed below the eye-level rows, this was the same for both brands. However, National due to its lesser demand was placed on 2 rows only i.e at eye level and below eye level. Shan had its items placed on all 4 rows offering the most variety of products while National had lesser variety in each item. Shans general spices like chilli powder, cumin seeds etc were placed on lower level while items like Haleem and BBQ items were placed on above and at eye level. The company decides the placement of their product and in some cases is also required to pay extra rent if specific shelf is reserved for their product like for in the case of SHAN. The stock turnover of SHAN is weekly and company delivers stock on a weekly basis.

AVAILABILITY Shan in general had more variety in its items available and even more SKUs then offered by Nationals brand. Most demanded of Shans items like Biryani, BBQ items, Qorma etc were placed at eye level in the 2 rows due to their year round high demand. Below this row specifically in the Shans shelf were varieties of items like Aalu Bhujia, Vegetable Mix etc, these items have a comparatively lower demand than Shans other items. On the lower level were the general spices, with all the varieties available; in this area too Shan is most demanded. National in comparison to Shan offered fewer varieties in all items thus occupied only 2 rows.

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PROMOTIONS There were different racks of different products on front display on the entry to each aisle with their advertisements boards on it. Mainly these products included Fruita Vitals, Everyday and OREO. PRICE TABLE BRAND NAME BIRYANI SHAN NATIONAL FOODS BBQ SHAN NATIONAL FOODS QORMA SHAN NATIONAL FOODS HALEEM SHAN NATIONAL FOODS CHILLI POWDER SHAN NATIONAL FOODS 36 SKUs 50g 45(65g) 43(70g)
100g(Double Pack)

OTHERS

90 73

50 48

90 73

45 43

90 73

45 43

50(175g)

85(350g) 88(345g)

90(100g) 88(100g)

320(400g) 165(200g) 180(200g) 340(400g)

KK MART(HFS-A)
It was especially interesting to conduct research of this HFS store particularly because its a recently inaugurated store(2 months back) thus to promote its sales and attract more investors it offers products on a slightly different basis than the normal HFS-A stores. Mainly what sets it apart is the lowest market rates offered for each product. Its a huge store with one floor only but has multiple aisles specified separately for personal care, oral care, surface care, fabric care and edibles items. There is just one Point of Sale area at the front of the store. There is also a RFID technology being used which results in faster processing of generating receipts and results in faster transaction and reduces errors.Trolley is used for carrying the purchased goods. ABOUT THE BRAND AND THE COMPETITORS The food spices section is located towards the end of store floor where other major edible items of staple food like rice, wheat etc are on sale too in the surrounding area. Due to the Smaller area which HFS-A is based on as compared to LMTs and IMTs, the shelves were comparatively smaller. Though Shan COURSE: MARKETING Page 14

ANALYSING THE SHANS MARKET DEMAND: THROUGH RESERCH SURVEY OF STORES

due to its high demand of items was given one whole separate shelf with 5 rows located in the front corner while NAtional Foods items were placed towards the end along with rice and wheat too, giving it 3 rows only. Major area was given to Shans items due to the high demand that customers have for its products. Other indirect competitors i.e of ready to eat meals were Freshmate placed on a separate shelf infront of the corner of the aisle. Upon inquiry from the sales girl it was revealed that last week there was a promotion done by Freshmate by appointing its own sales personnel for 3 days inside the store to market the brand and inform the customers of their products specificities. This resulted in a small increase in sales of Freshmates products, however, Shans sales remain unaffected in everyway. Another major indirect competitor of food spices i.e of oriental recipies offered by Knorr and Shan was also available but in a different aisle in a different area. Unaffected by its indirect competitors, Shan still remains the most running brand in food spices. PLACEMENT There were two kind of spices offered by both brands i.e. food specific like Bombay Biryani, Qorma Masala, Seekh kabab, Haleem etc and the general spices like Chilli powder, Black pepper, Cumin powder etc. The food specific spices were placed mostly on eye level rows while the general spices were placed below the eye-level rows, this was the same for both brands. However, National due to its lesser demand was placed on 3 rows only i.e at eye level and below eye level. Shan had its items placed on all 5 rows offering the most variety of products and even more SKUs while National had lesser variety in each item. Shans general spices like chilli powder, cumin seeds etc were placed on lower level while items like Haleem and BBQ items were placed on above and at eye level. The company decides the placement of their product and in some cases is also required to pay extra rent if specific shelf is reserved for their product like for in the case of SHAN. The stock turnover for SHAN is 3 days and company delivers stock on a weekly basis.

AVAILABILITY Shan in general had more variety in its items available and even more SKUs then offered by Nationals brand. Most demanded of Shans items like Biryani, BBQ items, Qorma etc were placed at eye level in the 3 rows due to their year round high demand. Below this row specifically in the Shans shelf were varieties of items like Aalu Bhujia, Vegetable Mix etc, these items have a comparatively lower demand than Shans other items. On the lower level were the general spices, with all the varieties available; in this area too Shan is most demanded. National in comparison to Shan offered fewer varieties in all items thus occupied only 3 rows only. PROMOTIONS There were different racks of different products on front display on the entry to each aisle with their advertisements boards on it. Mainly these products included NIDo, Cadbury chocolate, Everyday, Fruita Vitals.

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There were many posters of different products hanging on the front of the store too mainly of Fruita Vitals, Farmhouse, Cadbury, Everyday. This was meant to be beneficial for both the store as as it would inform its customers about the variety of products it has to offer as it is a newly established store and thus needs more campaigns of this sort to attract initial customers. This would also benefit the the products which were being advertised this way as it meant easy advertisement for low costs. PRICE TABLE BRAND NAME BIRYANI SHAN NATIONAL FOODS BBQ SHAN NATIONAL FOODS QORMA SHAN NATIONAL FOODS HALEEM SHAN NATIONAL FOODS CHILLI POWDER SHAN NATIONAL FOODS 33 SKUs 50g 43(65g) 41(70g)
100g(Double Pack)

OTHERS

85 71

45 43

85 71

43 41

85 71

43 41

45(175g)

80(350g) 85(345g)

85(100g) 82(100g)

310(400g) 155(200g) 170(200g) 330(400g)

TAIMOORIYA (HFS-B)
HFS-B stores are different from HFS-A in a way that they have lesser product lines for each product and they also offer low variety of brands of each product. They are also comparatively smaller in size and more conjusted with offering little customer value but still it is made sure that there is a separate area reserved for personal care, oral care and surface care products as well as a different area for edibles consumed by majority of households on a daily basis. Their major target market is usually those who buy goods on a more frequent basis like 3 times in a week thus they target mainly people of the middle class as well as the lower middle class. They are high frequency stores in a way that they cater to a large part of our population thus goods are sold more on a daily basis though comparatively in lower volumes than HFS-A.

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Taimooriya is such HFS-B store with a separate area of bakery items as well. It is also divided into two major areas one for surface care products and another for edibles which covers the major area of the shop. There are also 2 shopkeepers available respectively to cater to customers separately for both areas but major Point of Sale is located in the front entrance of the shop where all the cash transactions are done. Cash transactions are done manually. ABOUT THE BRAND AND THE COMPETITORS The food spices section is located towards the left front of the store where other bakery and desserts are on sale too in the surrounding area. Due to the much smaller area which HFS-B is based on as compared to HFS-A, the shelves were comparatively smaller. There was one large shelf with two brands of the food spices items i.e Shan occupying the major area(4 rows) and National Foods with a very small area with 2 rows only. There were also other items like Betty Crockers Cake Mixes and teas placed towards the end of the same shelf. There were no indirect competitors brand available in the store. PLACEMENT There were two kind of spices offered by both brands i.e. food specific like Bombay Biryani, Qorma Masala, Seekh kabab, Haleem etc and the general spices like Chilli powder, Black pepper, Cumin powder etc. The food specific spices were placed mostly on eye level rows while the general spices were placed below the eye-level rows, this was the same for both brands. However, National due to its lesser demand was placed on 2 rows only i.e at eye level and below eye level. Shan had its items placed on all 4 rows offering the most variety of products while National had lesser variety in each item. Shans general spices like chilli powder, cumin seeds etc were placed on lower level while items like Haleem and BBQ items were placed on above and at eye level. The store on its own decides the placement of their product. The stock turnover of SHAN is weekly and company delivers stock on a weekly basis. AVAILABILITY Shan in general had more variety in its items available and even more SKUs than offered by Nationals brand. Most demanded of Shans items like Biryani, BBQ items, Qorma etc were placed at eye level in the 2 rows due to their year round high demand. Below this row specifically in the Shans shelf were varieties of items like Aalu Bhujia, Vegetable Mix etc, these items have a comparatively lower demand than Shans other items. On the lower level were the general spices, with all the varieties available; in this area too Shan is most demanded. National in comparison to Shan offered fewer varieties in all items thus occupied only 2 rows. CUSTOMER Mainly Shans customers include women, both housewives and working women. As Taimooriya is a small store based on the limited variety of daily consumed products it offers, its mostly the middle class and lower middle class and sometime the lower class people who come to shop here. PROMOTIONS

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No major promotions are carried out in HFS-B stores due to low availability of space but all products at some time of the year do buy separate shelves to market for their products for 2 to 3 months, resulting in higher sales of the respective product.

PRICE TABLE BRAND NAME BIRYANI SHAN NATIONAL FOODS BBQ SHAN NATIONAL FOODS QORMA SHAN NATIONAL FOODS HALEEM SHAN NATIONAL FOODS CHILLI POWDER SHAN NATIONAL FOODS 36 SKUs 50g 45(65g) 43(70g)
100g(Double Pack)

OTHERS

90 73

50 48

90 73

45 43

90 73

45 43

50(175g)

85(350g) 88(345g)

90(100g) 88(100g)

320(400g) 165(200g) 180(200g) 340(400g)

DISCOVERY (HFS-B)
Discovery is such HFS-B store with a separate area medical items as well. It is also divided into two major areas one for surface care products and another for edibles which covers the major area of the shop. There are also 3 shopkeepers available respectively to cater to customers separately for different areas but major Point of Sale is located in the front entrance of the shop where all the cash transactions are done. Cash transactions are done manually. ABOUT THE BRAND AND THE COMPETITORS The food spices section is located towards the right hand corner of the store towards the end where other edible items like biscuits are on sale too in the surrounding area. Due to the much smaller area which HFS-B is based on as compared to HFS-A, the shelves were comparatively smaller. There was one large shelf with two brands of the food spices items i.e Shan occupying the major area(4 rows) and

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National Foods with a very small area with 2 rows only. There were no indirect competitors brand available in the store. PLACEMENT There were two kind of spices offered by both brands i.e. food specific like Bombay Biryani, Qorma Masala, Seekh kabab, Haleem etc and the general spices like Chilli powder, Black pepper, Cumin powder etc. The food specific spices were placed mostly on eye level rows while the general spices were placed below the eye-level rows, this was the same for both brands. However, National due to its lesser demand was placed on 2 rows only i.e at eye level and below eye level. Shan had its items placed on all 4 rows offering the most variety of products while National had lesser variety in each item. Shans general spices like chilli powder, cumin seeds etc were placed on lower level while items like Haleem and BBQ items were placed on above and at eye level. The store on its own decides the placement of their product. The stock turnover of SHAN is weekly and company delivers stock on a weekly basis. AVAILABILITY Shan in general had more variety in its items available and even more SKUs than offered by Nationals brand. Most demanded of Shans items like Biryani, BBQ items, Qorma etc were placed at eye level in the 2 rows due to their year round high demand. Below this row specifically in the Shans shelf were varieties of items like Aalu Bhujia, Vegetable Mix etc, these items have a comparatively lower demand than Shans other items. On the lower level were the general spices, with all the varieties available; in this area too Shan is most demanded. National in comparison to Shan offered fewer varieties in all items thus occupied only 2 rows. CUSTOMER Mainly Shans customers include women, both housewives and working women. As Taimooriya is a small store based on the limited variety of daily consumed products it offers, its mostly the middle class and lower middle class and sometime the lower class people who come to shop here.

PROMOTIONS No major promotions are carried out in HFS-B stores due to low availability of space but all products at some time of the year do buy separate shelves to market for their products for 2 to 3 months, resulting in higher sales of the respective product. PRICE TABLE BRAND NAME BIRYANI SHAN NATIONAL FOODS SKUs 50g 45(65g) 43(70g)
100g(Double Pack)

OTHERS

90 73

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BBQ SHAN NATIONAL FOODS QORMA SHAN NATIONAL FOODS HALEEM SHAN NATIONAL FOODS CHILLI POWDER SHAN NATIONAL FOODS

50 48

90 73

45 43

90 73

45 43

50(175g)

85(350g) 88(345g)

90(100g) 36 88(100g)

320(400g) 165(200g) 180(200g) 340(400g)

HOME NEEDZ(HFS-B)
HOME NEEDZ is such HFS-B store with a separate area of bakery items as well. It is also divided into two major areas one for surface care products and another for edibles which covers the major area of the shop. The major Point of Sale is located in the front entrance of the shop where all the cash transactions are done. Cash transactions are done manually. ABOUT THE BRAND AND THE COMPETITORS The food spices section is located towards the left front of the store where other bakery and desserts are on sale too in the surrounding area. Due to the much smaller area which HFS-B is based on as compared to HFS-A, the shelves were comparatively smaller. There was one large shelf with two brands of the food spices items i.e Shan occupying the major area(3 rows) and National Foods with a very small area with 2 rows only. There were also other items like Betty Crockers Cake Mixes and teas placed towards the end of the same shelf. There were no indirect competitors brand available in the store. Also there was a separate area allocated for selling the sachet items of food spices of Shan and National Foods, all were of 25 g sold for 20g each. Major sales in sachet packs were of Shan due to its high demand in the low class as well. PLACEMENT There were two kind of spices offered by both brands i.e. food specific like Bombay Biryani, Qorma Masala, Seekh kabab, Haleem etc and the general spices like Chilli powder, Black pepper, Cumin powder etc. The food specific spices were placed mostly on eye level rows while the general spices were placed below the eye-level rows, this was the same for both brands. However, National due to its lesser demand was placed on 2 rows only i.e at eye level and below eye level. Shan had its items placed on all 4 rows offering the most variety of products while National had lesser variety in each item. Shans COURSE: MARKETING Page 20

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general spices like chilli powder, cumin seeds etc were placed on lower level while items like Haleem and BBQ items were placed on above and at eye level. The store on its own decides the placement of their product. The stock turnover of SHAN is weekly and company delivers stock on a weekly basis. AVAILABILITY Shan in general had more variety in its items available and even more SKUs than offered by Nationals brand. Most demanded of Shans items like Biryani, BBQ items, Qorma etc were placed at eye level in the 2 rows due to their year round high demand. Below this row specifically in the Shans shelf were varieties of items like Aalu Bhujia, Vegetable Mix etc, these items have a comparatively lower demand than Shans other items. On the lower level were the general spices, with all the varieties available; in this area too Shan is most demanded. National in comparison to Shan offered fewer varieties in all items thus occupied only 2 rows. CUSTOMER Mainly Shans customers include women, both housewives and working women. As Taimooriya is a small store based on the limited variety of daily consumed products it offers, its mostly the middle class and lower middle class and sometime the lower class people who come to shop here.

PROMOTIONS No major promotions are carried out in HFS-B stores due to low availability of space but all products at some time of the year do buy separate shelves to market for their products for 2 to 3 months, resulting in higher sales of the respective product. PRICE TABLE BRAND NAME BIRYANI SHAN NATIONAL FOODS BBQ SHAN NATIONAL FOODS QORMA SHAN NATIONAL FOODS HALEEM SHAN NATIONAL FOODS COURSE: MARKETING SKUs 50g 45(65g) 43(70g)
100g(Double Pack)

OTHERS

90 73

50 48

90 73

45 43

90 73

45 43

50(175g)

85(350g) 88(345g) Page 21

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CHILLI POWDER SHAN NATIONAL FOODS 36

90(100g) 88(100g)

320(400g) 165(200g) 180(200g) 340(400g)

HFS-Cs
HFS-Cs differ from other HFSs in a main way as they are referred to as shops rather than stores. They are much smaller and have even lesser variety of goods with limited brands products available for each item. Thus they focus mainly on selling the most used and most highly demanded item by the customers for their daily consumption. They have a much smaller product line for each product and as consumers buy from them on a daily basis thus sales occur most frequently but per product sales volume is low too. Also as the number of HFS-C shops in most areas is very high thus there is a high competition between these HFS-C shops themselves and there is little they can do to attract the customers because generally the promotional campaigns are also seen to be very low in number in these shops merely of the fact that the they do not enough space to cater to their needs.This means that shopkeepers generally have difficulties in breaking even most of the time. The shops due to the jampacked area offer little customer experience; most of the products are out of sight from the customers and shopkeepers usually fetch them from inside when asked for it. Upfront, are only the impulse selling items mostly the childrens candies, chips etc. consumed on a daily basis and also some small SKUs (sachets) of different products if available e.g shampoo sachets by pantene, sunsilk, lifebuoy etc, milo sachets, Shan masalay sachets are all hanged by a thread directly in the front of the cashier/shopkeeper desk. HFS-Cs are also different in a way that they depend mostly on impulse buying sales to help them cover the cost. However, this leads to them working in a greater uncertainty thus half of the time they are caught up in covering their costs rather than thinking of making profits. BISMILLAH RICE (HFS-C) Bismillah rice is one such HFS-C store which is based on a very small area, offers little customer experience because the customer isnt allowed to choose from the variety of products available, he just has to make this decision beforehand, thus packaging and other place-specific promotions play a weaker role in attracting the customers in this case, mostly the customers that approach here are brand loyals and others who are unaware(which comprise the larger area of our lower class population) follow the shopkeepers advices easily lured by whatever brand he recommends. Also the shop has smaller SKUs available for each product. ABOUT THE BRAND AND ITS COMPETITORS There were only 2 major brands available in the shop for the food spices items i.e Shan and other was National Foods. They also had the unpackaged spices mainly the general ones not the food-specific ones COURSE: MARKETING Page 22

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which were bought by the women from lower income households majorly because these unpackaged spices were a lot cheaper than the branded packaged ones of Shan and National Foods. Shan amongst the packaged food spices showed greater sales however, amongst general spices like Chilli powder, cumin seeds etc the unpackaged ones showed greater sales. However, upon interviewing the shopkeeper I came to know that there is an increasing trend amongst middle class as well as the lower class people of shifting towards brand conscious products. The stock is supplied by the companys distributor on a weekly basis. PLACEMENT The placement in HFS-Cs case is mostly out of the sight thus placement affects sales on a very slight basis. However, at the back of the shop it could be seen that Shan had the major part of the on wall shelf while National occupied not even half of that area. However, the sachets each of 25g were placed directly in front of the shop hanged by a thread to promote impulse buying. Amongst sachets only the brand Shan was available and showed greater demand amongst the smaller families. Placement is decided by the shopkeepers themselves. AVAILABILITY Shan had the most varieties available, mostly the most demanded ones i.e of Biryani, BBQ and Qorma items. Shan offered lesser variety in general spices, it could be due to the fact that its mojor competitor of unpackaged spices is taking a lead in selling general spices. National on the other hand even lesser varieties in the food-specific spices and varieties in general spices were barely there with only chilli powder and cumin seeds available for sale. PROMOTION There were no major promotions being carried out inside or outside the shop except in the impulse buying category sections Cadbury had a separate shelf offering its different variety of chocolates. CUSTOMERS Customers of food spices majorly include women, but in the case of HFS-C it is mainly the lower middle class or lower class women who approach this shop. PRICE TABLE BRAND NAME BIRYANI SHAN NATIONAL FOODS BBQ SHAN NATIONAL FOODS SKUs 50g 50 45
25g

24 NA

50 45

24 NA

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QORMA SHAN NATIONAL FOODS HALEEM SHAN NATIONAL FOODS CHILLI POWDER SHAN NATIONAL FOODS

50 45

24 NA

45 NA

50(175g)

38 36

NA NA

Other shops surveyed amongst the HFS-C category were the Al-Habib Store and Farthat Bakers which showed similar results as shown for the Bismillah Rice. The data has not been repeated to avoid redundancy.

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OVERALL CAMPARISON OF THE IMTS AND LMTS Vs THE HFS STORES

After compiling the overall observations for each category of stores, it is now easier to identify the differences as well as some rare similarities amongst all.

IMTS

These differ in a way majorly because of the idea that they are based on international traits thus stand out from other store categories in all ways. Firstly, IMTS stand out because they offer unique customer experience by specially ensuring to maximizing the customers benefits: they have spacious walkways between different aisles; also there is a huge separate parking facility for its customers, thus by benefiting he customers needs these IMTs create greater sense of customer value resulting into attracting more customers. Also they offer products at wholesale prices and are available in bulk, thus benefiting the customers by allowing them to avail great discounts. Secondly, the promotions are announced on loud speakers thus providing a unique way of marketing for different products. Big size trolleys are used to carry the purchases from Point of Purchase (POP) to Point Of Sales( POS) i.e the cashier. Also no shopping bags either plastic or paper bags are used thus giving the idea to its customers that they are also socially responsible entities. However, they are made available upon request with extra cost charged for each bag, thus the use of shopping bags to be minimized in every possible way. COURSE: MARKETING Page 25

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Moreover, state of art technology is used everywhere in the store; electronic carton lifters being used to move stocks in bulk; also, there are atleast 12 Point of Sale areas towards the exit of the store. There is also a RFID scanning technology being used with digital electronic bill display and computer generated receipts which results in faster processing of generating receipts and results in faster transactions and reduces errors. Also, there are separate sections for apparel as well as separate huge sections for fish, meat and chicken and other frozen food items available in bulk with several refrigerators installed to facilitate the process. IMTs generally also have a separate bakery of their own to promote their own brands bakery items.

LMTs

LMTs as the name specifies are based on local modern traits and differ from IMTs in a way that they are based on a smaller area but normally has 2-3 floors with areas allocated differently to different category of products. LMTs do not offer products at wholesale prices however their rates are much below than the average market rates respective to each product. However, they do offer a wide variety of products as well as a variety of brands are made available respective to each product, but the variety offered is smaller than those offered by IMTs which also have LCD screens for sale from kitchen utensils to car maintenance products from childrens toys to apparels for all age groups almost everything is made available in IMTs, thus LMTs differ in this area as they comparatively offer smaller variety of products focusing more on the edibles and general house hold items used daily. Big size trolleys are used to carry the purchases from Point of Purchase (POP) to Point Of Sales( POS) i.e the cashier. The Point of Sales(POS) are comparatively smaller in number than in the IMTs with 6-7 POS present towards the exit of the store. In LMT as well, there is a RFID scanning technology being used with digital electronic bill display and computer generated receipts which results in faster processing of generating receipts and results in faster transactions and reduces errors. What is similar in both IMTs and LMTs is that both offer a unique customer experience with good quality items (often the imported ones) made available on affordable rates. Also both IMTs and LMTs have been observed to own their brands in different variety of products thus offering more competition to the already existing variety of products and reducing the bargaining power of products supplying COURSE: MARKETING Page 26

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companies e.g Metro has its own brand of FINE for food spices thus competing against the major brands of Shan and National Foods.; Imtiaz (LMT) also has its brand of rice competing against the other existing rice brands.

IMTS AND LMTS VS THE HFS

High Frequency Stores (HFS) are different from IMTs and LMTs discussed above in a way that they have even fewer product lines with lesser variety of brands (the ones with most demand) available for each product while the prices offered are at average market prices. There are also lesser SKUs available of each product.

HFS-A OUTLET Though in HFS-A customers mainly come for weekly shopping thus products are sold in lesser volumes to each customer as compared to LMTs and IMTs where customers buy products in bulks usually for the whole month, however, HFS as the name says are high frequency stores means that sales occur on a frequent basis and there are more customers who come frequently thus number of sales in HFS-A stores are much higher resulting in a higher sales volume. LMTs have a comparatively even higher sales volume due to the large quantity of products sold on each sale. HFS-A thus are also highly competing towards earning greater profitability like LMTs and are able to break even too quickly in the month due to the higher number of sales. HFS-B stores are different from HFS-A in a way that they have lesser product lines for each product and they also offer low variety of brands of each product. They are also comparatively smaller in size and more conjusted with offering little customer value but still it is made sure that there is a separate area reserved for personal care, oral care and surface care products as well as a different area for edibles consumed by majority of households on a daily basis. Their major target market is usually those who buy goods on a more frequent basis like 3 times in a week thus they target mainly people of the middle class as well as the lower middle class. They are high frequency stores in a way that they cater to a large part of our population thus goods are sold more on a daily basis though comparatively in lower volumes than HFS-A. HFS-Cs differ from other HFSs in a main way as they are referred to as shops rather than stores. They are much smaller and have even lesser variety of goods with limited brands products available for each COURSE: MARKETING Page 27

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item. Thus they focus mainly on selling the most used and most highly demanded item by the customers for their daily consumption. They have a much smaller product line for each product and as consumers buy from them on a daily basis thus sales occur most frequently but per product sales volume is low too. Also as the number of HFS-C shops in most areas is very high thus there is a high competition between these HFS-C shops themselves and there is little they can do to attract the customers because generally the promotional campaigns are also seen to be very low in number in these shops merely of the fact that the they do not enough space to cater to their needs.This means that shopkeepers generally have difficulties in breaking even most of the time. The shops due to the jampacked area offer little customer experience; most of the products are out of sight from the customers and shopkeepers usually fetch them from inside when asked for it. Upfront, are only the impulse selling items mostly the childrens candies, chips etc. consumed on a daily basis and also some small SKUs (sachets) of different products if available e.g shampoo sachets by pantene, sunsilk, lifebuoy etc, milo sachets, Shan masalay sachets are all hanged by a thread directly in the front of the cashier/shopkeeper desk. HFS-Cs are also different in a way that they depend mostly on impulse buying sales to help them cover the cost. However, this leads to them working in a greater uncertainty thus half of the time they are caught up in covering their costs rather than thinking of making profits.

HFS-B OUTLET

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CONCLUSION
Upon concluding, I have summarized some key success factors which I discovered throughout the whole research survey: KEY SUCCESS FACTORS OF FOOD INDUSTRY, MASALA SECTOR Taste: Food industry is mostly about the tastes. If companies are to differentiate on any one thing then it could not be anything else but taste. The recipe masala products and other powdered spices offered by Shan, National foods and other companies vary in tastes. Even though main ingredients are spices but the kind of spice used and degree of variation in making recipe masala make product of one company differ in taste from another. Quality: is another important factor in the success of one brand over another. This is especially relevant when small companies that dont have known brands are taken into consideration. These compete on price usually use low quality spices and in many cases the spices are not 100% pure. High quality spices allow brand companies to charge premium on their products. Another advantage of marinating quality is the access to foreign markets. Distribution: access to distribution channels is important factor that decides success of any company in this industry. This can be seen from the fact that shan is though is a market leader in Karachi is trailing behind National Foods in national market. National foods has diversified itself in to many product categories and this has enabled them to create much bigger distribution network all over the country. Shan on the other side is mostly restricted to Karachi, Hyderabad and other areas of Sindh. This has made Shan foods to concentrate on these areas and increase their influence. Brand: the branded masala industry is all about having a strong and recognized brand. The industry can only differentiate itself among the general spice vendors if it able to establish a brand identity for quality product which Shan has done quite well . Having a strong brand enable companies to charge premium and sell its product in the global markets. This factor is very critical in the success of any company in the industry. Price: is important in this industry as companies with un established brands are competing on prices and is attracting substantial portion of market. Further more competition between national foods and Shan foods is very intense and they offer products at comparable prices. Any move to change prices is aggressively answered. In concluding the results of the research survey carried out in different category stores observing specifically the Shan brand in food spices category it is widely apparent that Shan has remained the most running brand since two decades. Previously there was a brand named Naseem which was widely demanded for in the market, however due to its inability to bring up new varieties Naseem lost its goodwill too soon and was overtaken by Shan who then became a major leader, though National Foods has also been competing with Shan on the same level all over the country but in Karachi specifically Shan remains the most running brand because it produces stronger spices, which is highly demanded by COURSE: MARKETING Page 29

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the Karachiites. Recently, 4 yrs back National Foods introduced its new product line by the brand name Ronaq, targeting specifically to bring stronger taste of spices, but due to its inability to cover its costs it could not compete with Shan and thus the product line closed down. Shan has remained the most running brand to this day specifically in the city of Karachi, though all over Pakistan, national foods has the largest market share.

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