Critical Success Factors in Retail Measurement for Strategic Marketing of Fast Moving Consumer Goods in Kenya

Abstract

The 21st Century marketing has been defined by an explosion in data and a need to make informed choices based on the strategic inclination of firms in regards to marketing. With this advent of big data influenced decisions, marketers have also been under pressure to measure and justify their expenditures of the resources allocated to their dockets. Besides the dynamic and fluid nature of the FMCG retailing sector, competition is rife and marketers consistently evolve and adjust their marketing plans and tactics to protect their position or grow their market share. In essence to flourish in this modern data driven, globalized and technology driven markets firms are obliged to develop proper plans. Strategic marketing allows firms to attract and maintain customers, warrant proficient utilization of resources as well as stimulating growth in trade. For a firm to successfully select and align its operations with the right marketing strategies they have invested in retail measurement for insights. This has been made possible by the intersection of distribution teams, consumers, sales teams, promoters and the product at the retail outlet. The study was guided by the following research objective: To assess the critical factors in retail measurement for strategic marketing of FMCGs in Kenya. The research was anchored by the game theory. The target respondents were marketing managers and researchers who have previously or are currently investing in retail measurement. Out of the 9 sampled marketing managers and 3 research managers; 6 marketing managers and all the 3 research managers responded, representing a 75% response rate which was considered adequate for the objective of the study. Primary data was mainly collected using in-depth interviews that were administered by phone calls and one on one scheduled interviews. Data was analyzed using content analysis. The results revealed that most of the firms used similar metrics in retail measurement for strategic marketing but used different strategies to gain a competitive edge depending on their market share and financial capabilities. This implied an increase in popularity of retail audits among the global FMCGs manufacturing companies in Kenya. Proper Planning, communication, selection of service providers, definition of the region of coverage and identification of measurable KPIs were found to be the most critical aspects considered in retail measurement. The study thus concludes that global CPGs in Kenya are the major investors in retail measurement with an inclination towards outsourcing of services as opposed to local players who cite the cost of retail measurement and cost cutting as the major impediment to extensive retail audits. The study also concludes that rigorous competition is the greatest motivation for investing in retail measurement and the counterfeits that flood the retail FMCG sectors in Kenya is a major setback to proper estimation of markets share in relation to their production and projections of demand. The study recommends that the government should put in place measures to bar counterfeit products proliferation. Further, the local manufactures are encouraged to take a plunge and invest in retail measurement to better compete locally and globally if necessary. This will inspire the companies to even export more goods, thus improving their performance