Post on 07-Apr-2015
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SSL - TTK(A TTK GROUP COMPANY)
ANUJ AGRAWAL
ARIF RASHID2010
Project Report
On
PERIOD 3 MAY - 30JUNE
Submitted by:
UMESH GOJA
B A L A J I I N S T I T U T E O F M O D E R N M A N A G E M E N T , P U N E
A FOOTCARE DIVISION
BALAJI INSTITUTE OF MODERN MANAGEMENT
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PUNE
Project title : Market Analysis For Scholl
Division : Footcare Product Division
Organization : Ssl-Ttk Ltd, 6 Cathedral Road
Place : Chennai
Subject Area : Marketing
Reporting Officer : Ms Richa
Student’s Name : Anuj AgrawalArif Rashid
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
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AT FOOTCARE PRODUCT DIVISION, SSL-TTK I OWE MY
GRATITUDE TO ALL THE EMPLOYES WHO HELPED ME DURING
MY STUDY. I WOULD ESPECIALLY LIKE TO THANK Mr.
M.V.ASHOKBABU, DY. GM (HR), Ms RICHA, PRODUCT
MANAGER (SCHOLL) FOR THEIR GUIDANCE AND SUPPORT IN
MAKING THIS STUDY POSSIBLE. SOME OF THE OTHERS WHO
WERE INDISPENSABLE IN THIS PROJECT ALSO PLAY AN
IMPORTANT ROLE IN THE COMPLETION OF THIS PROJECT
( ESPECIALLY Mr. SUBBU & Mr. RAJESH KANNA ) .IT WAS THEIR
KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE THAT SERVED AS A
CONTINEOUS SOURCE OF ENCOURAGEMENT AND BROUGHT
OUT THE BEST FROM ME.
ANUJ AGRAWAL
ARIF RASHID
PGDM (MARKETING MANAGEMENT)
BALAJI INSTITUTE OF MODERN MANAGEMENT
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The research conducted was descriptive in nature. Chennai segment was surveyed to attain certain results. The market survey was conducted to analyse the presence of various footcare products in the market of Chennai
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city. The market survey was conducted with intent of finding the presence of Scholl products available in the markets across various retail channels and the competitors of the brand present in the same format. The another objective of the survey was to find out the price points of the competitors of our brand present in the market and the promotions offer by these brands. So in the nutshell the whole idea behind this research was to study the marketing mix of Scholl and competitors.
With these objectives the survey was conducted in Chennai city where hi-street areas of the city was chosen because these areas have prolific contribution in terms of sales of footcare products across city and eminent retail outlets are located in these locations which get the footfalls for Scholl targeted customers. Physical observation method was chosen to collect this information from the market where retail outlets were personally visited to collect the information. Four retail formats were chosen to collect the information which is pharmacies, supermarkets, footwear stores, cosmetics stores. The care was taken during market survey that the diversified locations of the city should be covered to collect the comprehensive information.
After the survey was complete, the data was first tabulated according to various footcare segments present in market i.e. comfortable feet, beautiful feet, healthy feet and fresh feet. All the brands and products were classified in these four segments as well as classification was done according to the channel. The promotional strategy of different brands were studied which extended a great support in understanding the marketing mix of footcare brands available in the market. During the survey it was found that retailers in some parts of city were not happy from the distribution of Scholl. So bearing this in mind a questionnaire was prepared to figure out the retailer satisfaction level for those retailers who deal in Scholl products. Simultaneously question was included in the questionnaire to figure out the factors that plays a major role for retailer before offering the shelf space to the product at their store and along with this retailer feedback was collected to find out their expectations from the company. A sample of 100 retailers was chosen to collect information from these retailers across Chennai city in various outlets. It was tried to cover at least 15 retailers in each retail format because it was a difficult task to find out the standalone stores in cosmetics, Supermarkets and footwear segments who deals with Scholl. Mostly the formerly said formats operate in chain formats so to avoid the
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homogenous response the selected stores were chosen in these retail formats.
After this survey the collected data was first sorted and then analysed on chosen parameters. This analysed data later on converted in to the form of tables, graphs, pie-charts etc. This representation was comprehensive enough to make anyone understand the results once the person goes through the report. This also made it easy to draw conclusions based on the research and provide a presentable format of the report.
The important findings are:
• Most of the outlets visited were multibranded.• Scholl has strong presence and movement against competitors across
various channels.
• Scholl is the only brand offers complete range of footcare product.
• Scholl is costlier than Indian products but at par or economical to international brands.
• The fastest moving products in Scholl are Files, Creams, Nail clippers and Insoles.
• Distribution of Scholl is weak against competitors.
• Instore promotions like POP material was not available across large number of stores visited.
• Product awareness support from company to customer is almost negligible.
• In heel repair cream segment Krack cream is the fastest moving product followed by Himalaya followed by Scholl.
• In corn removal plaster market amrutanjan is stringly present followed by Scholl followed by Medigrip and Carnation.
• Scholl products are highly superior in quality and performance to its competitors according to the feedback given by retailers.
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• Customer gets enticed to the product by the way it is displayed in the store. On this parameter Scholl was way behind to its competitors in cosmetics stores because of lack of promotion material.
• The retailer satisfaction level found through survey was 71.2% and across various formats it was found as 69.2 % in pharmacy, 74 % in footwear, 69 % departmental, 73.4% in cosmetics.
• Retailers feel that company should extend promotions and offers to them.
• The top five attributes identified by retailers are retailer margin, company efforts to make the product available at their store, delivery time, promotions & offers and credit period.
• Company is not using foot and beauty spa for promoting its brand which could be a breakthrough success in promoting Scholl because these stores receive footfalls for Scholl targeted segment.
• Brand is not using television advertising which confines the awareness among the consumers of footcare products.
• A footcare culture needs to be created in the market which can push the demand for such products in the market.
• Most of the customers present in the market are price sensitive so company can opt to launch the SKU for CHRC which can compete with products like Krack and Himalaya.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION …………………………………….9-10
2. ABOUT COMPANY………………………………….11-15
3. PRODUCT PORTFOLIO……………………..............16-26
4. PURPOSE, SCOPE OF PROJECT……………………27-28
5. MARKET SCENARIO………………………………...29-31
6. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY..…………………..…32-34
7. RESULTS&INTERPRETATIONS..…………………..35-76
8. SUGGESTIONS………………………………………..77-79
9. APPENDIX…….……………………………………….80-87
10. REFERENCES.………………………………………..88-88
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INTRODUCTION
Marketing is essentially about marshalling the resources of an
organisation so that they can meet the changing needs of the customers on
which the organisation depends. As a verb marketing is all about how an
organisation addresses its markets.
Marketing is a management process which identifies, anticipates and
supplies customer requirements efficiently and profitably. Marketing is a
performance of business activities that direct the flow of goods and services
from the producer to the consumer or user. According to “American
Management Association” Marketing is a social and managerial process
through which individuals and groups obtain what they need and want
through creating, offering and exchanging the goods and services of value
with others.
Customer satisfaction begins with a difficult faith. It starts with a
commitment to deliver the result for each customer which is also a concern
of the partners (employees, distributors, retailers, shareholders) of the
company. Hence for any company it is extremely important to satisfy its
partners before catering to customers. So establishing satisfaction as an
ultimate goal takes a business to a pursuit of higher profits and also
maximises the shareholders wealth. Outside the organisation the
satisfaction of channel partners (distributors, retailers) decides the pursuit
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of the business. Among channel partners retailers play a major role because
they are the one who always be in touch with the customers. So their
satisfaction levels must be monitored from time to time but many
organisations left this satisfaction strategy area untouched, which may
change the overall course of the business by influencing every aspect of the
organisational strategy .i.e. product and service development, sales and
marketing programs, operational procedures etc.
So in this project we have tried to figure out the retailer satisfaction
level by selecting the retailers who deal with company’s product in prolific
locations of the Chennai city. The survey was based on underlying
assumptions:
1) Retailer should be an existing product retailer.
2) Retailer should be located in hi-street areas of city.
3) Retailer should be associated with the company from at least one
year.
Understanding the retailer is very critical to the success of
organisation as well as devising the customer focus initiative. The very first
step for this is warmly accepting the retailer feedback by devoting some
time to them because they are the first point of contact between the
company and the customers. So their insights can help the company in
developing a meaningful product and service for the customers.
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ABOUT COMPANY
The three letters that mean quality consumer products for
every household at affordable prices. That’s a reputation that’s been built
over the last 76 years by a south Indian manufacturing and marketing group
that began as an indenting agency which grew which were path breaking
marketing methods for pre-independence India. That pioneering spirit and
concern for making life easier for the customer remain to this day and are
an ongoing commitment of the INR 1000 crore TTK group.
Thiruvellore Thattai Krishnamachari, TTK as he was known, was 20
when he forsook law of business. He joined A.R. Doraisami Iyengar, who
was running a consumer goods indenting firm in Madras. Among those the
firm represented was Lever Brothers. When Iyengar died in 1928, TTK was
awarded the Lever Brothers agency. To handle this he established
T.T.Krishnamachari and Co. in 1928 and thereafter he never looked back.
TTK has laurels of associating with world famous brands in the past which
includes Cadbury chocolates, Ovaltine, Ponds talcum powder, Kellog’s,
Waterman’s, Sheaffer’s, Beecham’s, Brylcream etc. Prestige pressure
cookers and Durex condoms are some the brands which company is selling
in India since 1940.
TTK introduced unique methods of sales promotion and publicity in
India in 1930’s like skywriting, dropping leaflets from the plane etc. were
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the few steps taken by the company to make the international brands
household names in South India. The credit for transforming a regional
company in to a national company goes to T.T. Narsimhan, the eldest son
of TTK to whom he left the business when he joined politics in 1936. He
was a visionary who pioneered the concept of pressure cooking in India
and who foreseen the need of rubber contraceptive in India before
government formulated the family planning policy. He introduced the maps
and atlas in Indian education system. Later on his younger brother T.T.
Vasu joined him in business and by 1970’s TTK became totally integrated
manufacturing and marketing group in the country.
Today TTK makes an annual turnover of INR 10 billion and
dispense 25 products and services across the globe. Today group has 12
manufacturing units with a 6000 plus employee strength. The group has
presence in 40 countries and has 9 companies of international repute in her
portfolio. The companies are:
TTK Prestige Ltd (Consumer Durables)
Manttra Ltd (US Subsidiary)
TTK Healthcare Ltd (Pharmaceuticals, Biomedical devices, Foods,
Consumer non durables etc )
TTK – LIG Ltd (Condoms)
SSL – TTK Ltd (Footcare Products)
TTK Healthcare Services (P) Ltd (Servicing of medical insurance
policies)
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TTK Insurance Services (P) Ltd (Insurance Broking)
TTK Services Ltd (Local Services for NRI)
TTK Enterprises (P) Ltd (Air cargo & visa support services)
BRIEF ABOUT SSL-TTK
SSL was created as a result of two mergers in very quick succession.
In July 1998, Seton Healthcare plc merged with Scholl plc to form Seton
Scholl Healthcare plc and then in May 1999 again merged with London
International Group plc and the company rechristened as SSL International
plc. Each of these companies had a very diverse and rich heritage. Seton
Healthcare was a company from UK founded in 1952. This company was
selling tubular bandages. This company had a very aggressive acquisition
policy which led the company in acquiring some medical businesses and
made their strong presence in OTC drugs.
Another company called Scholl, a global company founded in 1904
was aggressively selling footcare and footwear products under the Scholl
brand across the globe.
London International Group, another global company founded in
1915. Formerly this company was known as London Rubber Company
selling imported condoms under the brand name of Durex and also
engaged in barber shop supplies. Later on the product portfolio expanded to
Regent surgical gloves and Marigold household and industrial gloves.
Today SSL has presence across the globe which stretches from
Europe, Asia-pacific to America with a annual turnover of more than 534
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million GBP. Europe alone contributes to 76% of the group turnover
followed by Asia-pacific. The major markets for the group are UK, France,
Italy, Spain, Germany, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, Australia, Hongkong,
USA and Canada. SSL employs approximately 5,350 people worldwide
(including 2,000 at the joint venture factories in India).
SSL have 9 manufacturing facilities worldwide with a very strong
presence in Asia Pacific due to its cost effective advantage. Company
manufactures a number of products ranging from condoms to over-the-
counter medicines to hosiery. Company is making its strong presence in
China because of increasing importance of China in driving overall global
economic growth. Company is in the process of building a new state-of-art
condom factory in China to replace their existing factory there. The new
factory will increase condom capacity in China by five-fold and enable
them to supply in both domestic and global markets.
SSL do not manufacture any Scholl footwear products in-house.
They outsource footwear mainly from Southern Europe and Asia Pacific
and manufacture some medicated products in their plant located in India
which are sold under a brand name of Scholl. Apart from this repacking of
Scholl cosmetic products is done in India which is sold across the globe.
SSL-TTK has an impressive portfolio of brands. Their core
consumer business consists of Durex condoms, Scholl footcare products,
Scholl footwear. Scholl was brought to India by Piramal group and later on
the control was taken over by TTK group in the year 2000 and finally
formed SSL-TTK where SSL International plc through its subsidiary
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New Bridge Holdings BV holds 51% equity and the balance 49% equity is
held by TTK-LIG. The manufacturing and repacking for Scholl in India
began in the year 2001 after the joint venture between SSL and TTK.
PRODUCT PORTFOLIO
DUREX CONDOMS
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Durex Sensation
This condom has hundreds of unique raised dots which gives more thrills in the bedroom and gives extra pleasure and added intensity of stimulation. This variant of condom has three SKU’s of 3,10 & 15 piece in a pack which is sold as Rs35, Rs100 & Rs 150 respectively.
Durex Jeans
Durex Jeans is cool love wear. It is trendy and it is comfort wear - just like Denim Jeans which portray attitude and worn for comfort, sex appeal, utility. Hence the brand named Jeans. Some other features are
Trendy Blue Condom for Cool Lovemaking Jeans is Cool. Love with Attitude
Live in Jeans! Love in Jeans!
This variant of condom has three SKU’s of 2, 4 & 10 piece in a pack which is sold as Rs20, Rs40 & Rs 100 respectively.
Durex Apple
This condom has only one SKU which is a pack of four exotic apple flavoured condoms for a memorable pleasurable experience. The smell of
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fresh apples will surely heighten the anticipation. Irresistible apple fragrance arouses the original temptation. This pack is sold for Rs 50.
Durex Flavours
This condom shows your taste for love and sips its sweet rewards in the flavours you choose. Durex flavoured condoms are available in banana, strawberry and orange flavours to spice up your night. This variant of condom has two SKU’s of 3 & 10 piece in a pack which is sold as Rs35 & Rs 100 respectively.
Durex Pleasuremax
This condom ensures maximum stimulation for you and your partner. The specially designed shape with uniquely positioned ribs and raised dots give extra intensity of feeling for both you and your partner. Everyone is a winner with this ultimate condom. This variant of condom has two SKU’s of 3 & 10 piece in a pack which is sold as Rs35 & Rs 100 respectively.
Durex Performa
This condom is a secret to longer-lasting sex. Performa contains a special lube - called Benzocaine - inside the condom which helps the man to control climax and prolong excitement...which means longer-lasting sex. This variant of condom has three SKU’s of 3, 10 & 15 piece in a pack which is sold as Rs35, Rs 100 & Rs 150 respectively.
Durex Superthin
This condom is bringing people closer together, Superthin condoms are the thinnest condoms in company’s latex range. This condom is so fine that you barely feel it's there and at the same time strong enough to give you
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uncompromising protection. This variant of condom has two SKU’s of 3 & 10 piece in a pack which is sold as Rs35 & Rs 100 respectively.
DUREX LUBES
Durex Play O
Play O is a premium orgasm enhancing gel created by women for women - a stylish, premium product that looks completely at home right there with your cosmetics and perfumes. Play O features include
A beautiful frosted 15ml glass bottle Fresh Seal cap - this means you get the freshest, most effective gel
(simply unscrew the cap, and fit on the pump)
A customer - friendly "in-pack" leaflet
Stylish yet minimal textured board carton with premium over wrap (this acts as tamper evidence)
Play O comes with a detachable pump that dispenses finger-tip quantities of deliciously orgasmic gel. Each bottle typically contains 25 applications.
This product is sold at Rs 650.
Durex Play Sensations
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This is a perfect product if you're trying lube for the first time or looking for a bit of variety. This comes with an assortment of flavours and sensations, so you can choose a lube to suit your mood.
The pack includes:
2 Tingle lube sachets 2 Warming lube sachets
2 Soothing lube sachets (containing aloe vera)
4 Flavoured lube sachets (cherry and pina colada)
This product is sold at Rs 200.
Durex Sensilube
Sometimes a woman needs that extra lubrication to ensure that temporary changes in vaginal moisture due to hormonal changes like pregnancy, menopause and contraception - do not hamper the sensual pleasures for either of you. This vaginal moisturizer from Durex is ideal to help you enjoy sex better, during those moments. Light, odourless and crystal clear, Durex Sensilube supplements the body's natural moisture and can be used with condoms. Just squeeze out a drop of Sensilube on your fingertip and gently apply to the entrance of your vagina. You'll feel your body relax as you slip into the mood for pleasure... Second only to nature, Sensilube can be a highly sensual experience for both you and your partner. This product is sold at Rs 125.
DUREX STIMULATORS
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Durex Play Touch
The Play Touch stimulator assists in arousal either alone or with partner. The soft and flexible material is comfortable to use, providing a scintillating touch guaranteed to give goose bumps. Designed for pure pleasure. Play Touch stimulator can be used
on sensitive areas and is suitable for penetration. This product is sold at Rs 650.
Durex Playultra
Play Ultra provides 40 minutes of direct vibrating stimulation that both the partners enjoy. Not only is Play Ultra incredibly quiet but it's also waterproof and reusable. Play Ultra can be used with or without condoms, try it with a little lubricant to further enhance your experience. This product is sold at Rs 650.
Durex Play Vibrations
Play Vibrations is a vibrating ring designed to give you up to 20 minutes of quivering pleasure. It's easily turned off and on and one can try it with a little lube for even more fun. This product is sold at Rs 650.
SCHOLL
For Beautiful Feet
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New Dual Action Foot File at Rs 400.
Party Feet File at Rs 100.
Dual Action Foot File at Rs 100.
Foot Beauty Stone at Rs 100.
Rough Skin Remover at Rs 175.
Foot & Nail Cream at Rs 200.
Foot Cream Mousee at Rs 220.
Nail Clippers at Rs 125.
Sapphire Nail File at Rs 100.
Nail Brightening System at Rs 500.
For Fresh Feet
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Deo Activ Fresh at Rs 195.
Refreshing Foot Soak at Rs 150.
Crackling Ice Foot Gel at Rs 250.
Odour Control Powder at Rs 75.
Odour Control Foot Spray at Rs 200.
Odour Control Freshning Capsules at Rs 150.
Odour Control Insoles at Rs 175.
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For Comfortable Feet
Air – Pillo Inner Sole at Rs 125.
Gel Heel Cups at Rs 500.
Heel Leather Liners at Rs 75.
Air – Pillo Gel Insole at Rs 300.
Heel Cushions at Rs 125.
Gel Heel Pads at Rs 750.
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Toe Post Cushions at Rs 300.
Feet Gel Cushions at Rs 300.
Gel Heel Cushions at Rs 200.
Party Feet Heel Cushions at Rs 200.
Gel Toe Seperators at Rs 150.
Gel Toe Spreaders at Rs 120.
Toe Protectors at Rs 120.
For Healthy Feet
Crack Heel Reapair Cream at Rs 100.
Antifungal Foot Cream at Rs 35.
Ingrown Toenail at Rs 60.
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Callus Removal Pads at Rs 50.
Callus Cushion Foam at Rs 50.
Corn Clear Gel Plasters at Rs 200.
Corn Removal Plasters at Rs 45.
Corn Removal Pads at Rs 40.
Clear Gel Blister Plasters at Rs 300.
Sore Spot Mole Skin at Rs 160.
Bunion Protectors at Rs 50.
Gel Arch Supports at Rs 1000.
Gel Heel Pads at Rs 750.
Corn & Callus File at Rs125.
New Corn & Callus File at Rs 300.
Corn Cushion Foam at Rs50.
SCHOLL FOOTWEAR
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Scholl footwear being available at leading footwear stores across the
country like Bata, Mochi, Metro etc. These footwear are specially designed
to keep the feet relaxed and give massaging effect to the feet which
prevents the feet from aching and keep your feet comfortable and relaxed.
ORTHAHEEL ORTHOTICS
Workforce Inserts are available in full length orthotic design which
is ideal for people who are on their feet all day. The MRP for one
pair of inserts is 695.
Shock Absorber provides maximum shock absorption and comfort
to improve stability which is ideal for walk in sports shoes. The
MRP for one pair is Rs 795.
Gel Heel is designed with soft molded gel to give relief from heel
pain. The MRP for one pair is Rs 545.
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Orthaheel Regular fits in all type of men and low heel women
shoes. This realigns the foot, reduces the traction forces on the
ligaments and eliminates the chances of heel pain. The MRP for one
pair is Rs 595.
PURPOSE OF THE PROJECT
As there is large number of retailers dealing with the Scholl products
so this study was intended to figure out the satisfaction level of
retailers towards Scholl products. This enables the company to
enhance its stringent competitiveness in footcare product market.
The number of competitors present in footcare product market is
very large so with this project we are trying to analyse the marketing
mix of our brand and competitor brand with enables the company to
fine tune their strategies and offerings against competitors.
OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECT
To find out the Retailer satisfaction level with Scholl products.
To find out the attributes which play a major role in Retailer
satisfaction.
To find out the Retailer suggestions and feedback towards the
company and product.
To find out the competitors for Scholl in market.
To study the Scholl and competition marketing mix.
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SCOPE OF PROJECT
The project is focused on selected retailers in Chennai city.
The study enables to know the expectation of the retailers and
consequently the customers.
The project highlights the scope of future improvements on the basis
of present scale.
The project can give a purview of devising better strategy against
competitors.
LIMITATIONS OF PROJECT
Since the project was done only in Chennai city so the result
obtained may not be taken as a universal suggestion.
Quality of information is totally dependent on knowledge of the
respondents.
The people at the front office in shop keep on changing so their
assessment of the product and relationship with the company
officials may not be adequate.
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FOOTCARE PRODUCTS INDUSTRY SCENARIO
A TUBE of toothpaste, a few cakes of soaps, a bottle of shampoo, a moisturiser or a face cream— these items feature in your shopping list every month along with the other groceries. But how many of us are bothered about our feet? This exactly is the scenario of Indian footcare product market. People throughout the world would like to spend more time and money taking care of their face and hair than their feet. It is always a challenge to market foot care products because of low awareness levels among consumer about footcare products and companies desperately need to create the footcare culture in the country which is only possible by spreading awareness among the consumers. So footcare products are termed as slow moving consumer goods (SMCG).
The market have been broadly segmented under four heads which covers the product for beautiful feet, healthy feet, comfortable feet and fresh feet and number of players are present under each head in the market. Paras Pharmaceutical’s Krack cream was the first footcare product commercially launched in Indian market which is still enjoying its first mover advantage due to its rigourous marketing efforts. Now the footcare market is growing and people are definitely aware of the importance of taking care of their feet. This is partly because of channels such as Fashion TV that talk a great deal about the advantages of having beautiful feet, as well as the doctors, who of late are giving a lot of importance to foot care. Foot care is extremely important, especially if the person is a diabetic. Due to poor blood circulation among diabetics the feet takes a longer time to heal and could even lead to loss of sensation. An ancient Greek philosopher famously said “when our feet hurt, we hurt all over.”
Dr R. Murlidhar, a dermatologist at Apollo Hospitals, Chennai, affirms that awareness of foot care in India is growing. He says that the medical fraternity is attaching a lot of importance to feet. Similarly, Madhu
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Mohan, Managing Partner, Kanya Beauty Salons, a Chennai-based chain, says each time they renovate the salons they make provisions for an additional pedicure bay. "Consumers are giving immense importance to their feet. Pedicures have become an essential part of their beauty makeover. We have also introduced services such as deluxe pedicure, wherein we use a pack to remove dead cells on the feet and nourish the skin, after which we work on the pressure points under the feet and now customers are ready to spend around Rs 150-200 each month on their feet.
COMPANY PROFILE
Scholl is an interesting niche brand. The brand is launched in India by SSL International which owns the brand through a joint-venture with TTK ltd. Scholl is a world famous foot care brand. You can see a range of Scholl products which are sold through four major channels i.e. Footwear stores, Cosmetic stores, Pharmacy shops, Supermarkets & Departmental stores. Scholl is the only brand available in the market offering complete range of footcare products in all the four categories present in market. The category in which Scholl operate can be termed as Slow Moving Consumer Goods (SMCG) because this foot care products are not popular in India. But with the rising lifestyle, Indian consumers are slowly becoming aware of the utility of such products.
Scholl is an American brand. The founder of this brand is Dr William Mathais Scholl. The first product rolled out in 1906. In India although this brand was there for a while when the brand rolled out its crack heel repair cream in market in 1998 and the company launched its full fledged product range in India after 2003 when the company tied up with TTK group and presently this company is known as SSL-TTK.
The market is dominated by crack-creams and anti-fungal creams where many domestic and international players are present.Although the potential of this market seems attractive, the challenge for the brand is to create a footcare culture. Generally people are conscious about personal care and seldom have they bothered too much about their foot (my personal opinion). For men the concept of footcare is to buy comfortable shoes and socks, clean the feet and some pedicure. Women are much more caring about the feet. But still the care is restricted to the use of creams.
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Hence Scholl has the unenviable task of creating awareness about proper foot-care (need) followed by educating consumers about the foot-care products and then building the brand in Indian market.
Scholl is now taking the consumers who already have seen or used these products. Hence the target is the SEC A, A + consumers who is already aware of such products and who really care about their feet.Scholl products are often expensive and unless the consumer is convinced he/she may not buy it. Secondly most of the footcare products need to be continuously used. Hence the brand has to spent lot of money on building the need factor. As a part of the strategy, the company is trying to strengthen the distribution reach. Now most of the targeted outlets carry this brand and display is also carefully managed.
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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research methodology describes how the research study was undertaken. This includes the specifications of research design, source of data, method of data collection, sampling method and the tools used. Research design is the methodology to carry out the research. It can be called as a blueprint for conducting the research. It consists of following components:
1. Information to be collected.2. Methodology to be adopted to collect it.3. Sample size & sampling procedure4. Plan for data analysis
INFORMATION TO BE COLLECTED
The company was interested to know about their brand presence in the market and simultaneously interested in knowing the competitors presence in the market. So in the nutshell information about the marketing mix of the company and competitors were requiring to be collected through market survey which includes the information about products, price, promotion and place.
METHOD OF RESEARCH
Descriptive research was chosen for data collection because as a researcher we lack the clear idea about carrying out the research and we had minimal information about the company and competitor products present across various channels in market. Though we had enough secondary data about the footcare products and the channels through which these products are sold, we were lacking in information about the actual product presence in the market across various channels. So descriptive research was chosen where market of Chennai city was surveyed.
TYPE OF RESEARCH
It is a blend of survey and observation. In the initial stage observation method was opted where hi-street areas of city were chosen to
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make personal observations in various stores across different channels where footcare products were available. The observations were taken in footwear stores like Bata, Metro, Mochi, cosmetics stores like health & glow, Supermarkets & departmental stores like Nilgiris, Spencers, Heritage Fresh etc and Pharmacy shops. The comprehensive information about footcare products available across different channels present in the market was collected. During the data collection it was found that some of the retailers were not happy from company current practices and then survey method was used where a comprehensive questionnaire was designed based on the details provided by the retailers. The questionnaire was intended to find out the retailer satisfaction level towards company.
DATA TYPE
Secondary data was collected from the company internal sources like magazines, employees, journals and reports, official websites etc. The primary data was collected from the market by interviewing retailers and store staff. Based on this questionnaire was designed which was non disguised and easy to understand for everyone and further data was collected through questionnaire.
RESEARCH INSTRUMENT
Research instrument used for data collection is personal interview and questionnaire. In the personal interview data collection involves presentation of oral-verbal stimuli and reply in terms of oral verbal response. Based on personal interview a questionnaire was designed in a well structured and non disguised form so that it would be easy to understand and answer by everyone. The type of questions included in the questionnaire was close ended and open ended
OBJECTIVE OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE
• To capture the retailer satisfaction level which was measured on 10 attributes on 5 point scale where 1,2,3,4,5 denote very poor, poor, fair, good, very good respectively.
• To find out the most important attributes which play most important role for the retailers before giving space to brand in their store.
33
• To collect the retailer feedback about the brand and company.
SAMPLING
Population
Set of retailers who are dealing in Scholl footcare products in Chennai city.
Sampling Frame
List of Scholl footcare product retailers.
Sampling Unit
Individual Scholl footcare products retailer.
Sampling Size
The number of retailers surveyed by researcher was 100.
Sampling Method
The sampling method used by researcher was stratified sampling method where strata of 40 pharmacy stores, 15 cosmetics stores, 28 footwear stores, 17 supermarkets in hi-street areas are used to collect overall sample of 100 retailers.
STATISTICAL TOOLS USED FOR ANALYSIS
The research results will be analysed through simple percentage calculation and interpreted and shown with the help of graphs and diagrams.
34
RESULTS AND INTERPRETATIONS
The marketing mix of the company comprises of product, price, promotion
and place. The product of the company is targeted towards the footcare
segment. The products of Scholl are classified under four broad segments
i.e. products for beautiful feet, healthy feet, comfortable feet and fresh feet.
The information was collected by visiting various channels across Chennai
through which products are sold. The products and price are classified as
follows:
FOR BEAUTIFUL FEET
New Dual Action Foot File at Rs 400.
Party Feet File at Rs 100.
Dual Action Foot File at Rs 100.
Foot Beauty Stone at Rs 100.
Rough Skin Remover at Rs 175.
Foot & Nail Cream at Rs 200.
Foot Cream Mousee at Rs 220.
Nail Clippers at Rs 125.
Sapphire Nail File at Rs 100.
Nail Brightening System at Rs 500.
FOR FRESH FEET
35
Deo Activ Fresh at Rs 195.
Refreshing Foot Soak at Rs 150.
Crackling Ice Foot Gel at Rs 250.
Odour Control Powder at Rs 75.
Odour Control Foot Spray at Rs 200.
Odour Control Freshning Capsules at Rs 150.
Odour Control Insoles at Rs 175.
FOR COMFORTABLE HEET
Air – Pillo Inner Sole at Rs 125.
Gel Heel Cups at Rs 500.
Heel Leather Liners at Rs 75.
Air – Pillo Gel Insole at Rs 300.
Heel Cushions at Rs 125.
Gel Heel Pads at Rs 750.
Toe Post Cushions at Rs 300.
Feet Gel Cushions at Rs 300.
Gel Heel Cushions at Rs 200.
Party Feet Heel Cushions at Rs 200.
Gel Toe Seperators at Rs 150.
36
Gel Toe Spreaders at Rs 120.
Toe Protectors at Rs 120.
FOR HEALTHY FEET
Crack Heel Reapair Cream at Rs 100.
Antifungal Foot Cream at Rs 35.
Ingrown Toenail at Rs 60.
Callus Removal Pads at Rs 50.
Callus Cushion Foam at Rs 50.
Corn Clear Gel Plasters at Rs 200.
Corn Removal Plasters at Rs 45.
Corn Removal Pads at Rs 40.
Clear Gel Blister Plasters at Rs 300.
Sore Spot Mole Skin at Rs 160.
Bunion Protectors at Rs 50.
Gel Arch Supports at Rs 1000.
Gel Heel Pads at Rs 750.
Corn & Callus File at Rs125.
New Corn & Callus File at Rs 300.
37
Corn Cushion Foam at Rs50.
PROMOTIONS
The Scholl brand is very weak in terms of promotions against competitors where competitor brands are extensively promoted through television and print media and Scholl is promoted through instore posters and advertisements in some high profile magazines like Stardust etc. The major channels used for promotion are print media and point of purchase materials like posters.
PLACE
The product is sold through four major channels which is classified as follows:
Footwear Stores
Cosmetics Stores
Supermarkets & Departmental Stores
Pharmacy Shops.
All the products are not sold through all the channels so the products are sold according to the footfalls and the classs of customers visiting the stores and the exception is pharmacies where to sell some products drug licence is required which can not be sold through any other channel due to regulations in product category.
The detail of products available across different channels is given below:
Serial No Type of Store Product range Available
1 Footwear Store All products
2 Cosmetics Store
38
Health & Glow All products
Others Deo active Fresh, Rough Skin Remover, Heel Repair Cream, Crackling Ice foot Gel, Odour Control foot Spray, Nail brightening System, sapphire Nail File, Ingrown Toe Nail, Nail Clipper, Foot Beauty Stone, Refreshing Foot Soak, Foot Cream Mousee , Foot Powder, Dual action foot file, Corn & callus file
3 Supermarkets Rough Skin Remover, Heel Repair Cream, Crackling Ice foot Gel, Odour Control foot Spray, Nail
brightening System, sapphire Nail File, Ingrown Toe Nail, Nail Clipper, Foot Beauty Stone, Refreshing
Foot Soak, Foot Cream Mousee , Foot Powder, Dual action foot file, Corn & callus file
4 Pharmacy Shops Rough Skin Remover, Heel Repair Cream, Ingrown Toe Nail, Nail Clipper, Foot Beauty Stone, Anti
Fungal Cream, Foot Powder, Dual action foot file, Corn & callus file, Corn & Callus Pads, Corn &
Callus Plasters
SCHOLL STP
Segmentation
Scholl is marketed under “Niche” segement because a large identifiable group of people are present in market who cares about their feet. The foot care products are narrow segment of personal care products. As products are satisfying a specific need and very few players are present in the market , so customers are ready to pay premium price which makes these products costlier.
39
Targeting
Scholl is targeted towards people who are above B+ in socio economic class because the products are highly priced and these people have good disposable incomes and they are alredy aware about the product.
PositioningScholl is positioned as “complete footcare specialist” because of its
wide range of products available for variety of foot ailments. Scholl products are positioned under four broad segments and they are beautiful feet, comfortable feet, healthy feet, fresh feet. No other footcare brand available in the market which offers complete footcare solution which makes the product unique and this uniqueness works as a USP for the brand.
SWOT ANALYSIS OF SCHOLL
Strengths
1. Product is backed by the brand name “Scholl”.
2. Superior quality of the product.
40
3. Only brand present in market offers complete range of footcare products for varied uses.
4. Neat product packaging.
Weaknesses
1. High price as compared to indian brands.
2. Being a new concept will take time to move on.
3. Distribution of the product.
4. Lack of awareness and promotional support to product.
Opportunity
1. Demographic advantage---- young population is very conscious about their body.
2. More working women who need to be at their best always.
3. Higher disposable income among the young.
4. Middle class people are becoming Greater health / hygiene / beauty consciousness.
5. Only brand offers complete footcare solutions gives an opportunity to capitalize over competitors.
Threats
1. Aggressive promotional strategies from competitors.
41
2. The footcare market is nascent and lucrative which has no entry
barriers so competition can be intensified in future by entry of some
other domestic & international players.
3. High price of the product keep the product confined to the upper
segment of the society.
COMPETITOR INFORMATION
The numerous competitors are present in footcare products market across various segments and channels. The information about competitor present is market is given below:
FOR BEAUTIFUL FEET
H & G PRICE (INR)
B & E PRICE (INR)
VEGAS PRICE (INR)
LOCAL PRICE (INR)
Smooth Foot File 140
Pedicure File 115 Nail File 50
Lapar's Foot scrub 55
42
Diamond Foot Paddle 180 Foot Brush 130 Pedicure File 65
Silstar's foot scrub 45
Trim & Pusher 30
Pumice stone 50
Stone & Nail Brush 95
Babila's Foot Scrub 85
Nail File Small 65
Apollo Nail Clipper 24
Buffer 50Volcanic
Stone 120 Smooth Foot
File 45
Long Nail File 55
Small Nail File 65 Four in one 114
Smooth Foot File 140
Long Nail File 85 Nail Clipper 39
Nail Cleaner 45 Nail Clipper 75 Nail File 50
Multi Purpose Nail
File 150Baby Nail
Clipper 55 Stone & Nail
Brush 95
Professional Nail file 150 Nail Brush 85 Four in one 114
Nail Clipper 55
FOR FRESH FEET
SERIAL NO
COMPETITORS PRICE(INR)
1 Croc’s Silver Inner Sole 595
2 Bata Antifungal Soles 99
3 Carnation super deo Insoles 125
4 Freeman’s Footsoak 210
5 Cool & Cool International Foot Cooler
149
43
FOR COMFORTABLE FEET
SERIAL NO.
COMPETITOR PRICE (INR)
1 Bata Gel Toe Post Cushions 199
2 Bata Invisible Gel Heel Cushions 199
3 Bata Heel Shields 199
FOR HEALTHY FEET
COMPETITORS (CREAM) PRICE (INR)
COMPETITORS (CORN/CALLUS)
PRICE (INR)
Krack cream (herbal & regular) 42 Amrutanjan Decorn Caps 25
Krack Moisturiser 150 Medigrip Corn caps
30
Krack Heel Gel 60 Carnation Decorn
40
Himalaya 40/80 Indotech lab four corn caps
24
Freeman’s foot lotion 225 H & G Corn Cutter 65
44
Jergen’s 350 Vega's Corn Removal file 140
Biotique 180 Vichy callus corrector
790
Aroma Magic 95
Shehnaaz Hussain’s 425
Foot Notez Moisturiser 100
COMPETITORS (CREAM) PRICE (INR) COMPETITORS (CORN/CALLUS)
PRICE (INR)
Mannings foot repair 260
Mannings foot gel 118
Vichy heel repair cream 550
Vichy reconditioning cream 890
Apollo 35
Diaffot cream 97
Salactin lotion 115
Lichensa cream 37
VLCC KIT 325
45
Freeman’s Foot Scrub 225
PROMOTIONS FOR COMPETITORS
The number of competitors is present in footcare products markets
and at the same time different promotional strategies were adopted by
them. Krack is promoted their cream through rigorous television
advertisements and in store promotions like point of purchase materials like
posters. Himalaya footcare cream is promoted through in store promotions
like posters and through the Himalaya exclusive outlets. Mannings cream is
a private label brand of Health & Glow cosmetics chain which is promoted
through their exclusive outlets only along with other Health & Glow
products. Vichy is a European brand which is promoted through lifestyle
magazines like cosmopolitan, Filmfare, Femina, Society etc. The other
brands which are promoted through lifestyle magazines are Shehnaz
hussain, Footnotez (An American brand), Biotique, Aroma magic, Jergens
etc. All the formerly mentioned brands are also promoted through lifestyle
stores which get footfalls of only up market people. In these stores the
glowboards and posters are used for promotion.
PLACE
46
Competitors are present in four channels across market. They are
Footwear stores.
Cosmetics stores.
Supermarkets & Departmental stores.
Pharmacy stores.
The following products were available in the above mentioned channels:
FOOTWEAR STORES
CROCS
• Inner soles – Rs 595
B-COMFORT (BATA)
• Antifungal Insoles – Rs 99.
• Invisible gel Toe post cushion – Rs 199.
• Heel shields – Rs 199.
• Sore Spots – Rs 199.
PHARMACY SHOPS
CORN REMOVAL
• Amrutanjan Decron caps – Rs 25
• Medigrip Corn caps – Rs 30.
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• Carnation Decorn caps – Rs 40.
• Indotech’s lab Four corn caps – Rs 24.
FOOT CREAMS
• Krack cream – Rs 42.
• Krack Heel gel – Rs 60.
• Fourts laboratories Diafoot cream – Rs 97.
• Newlife’s Salactin lotion – Rs 115.
• Lichensa Cream – Rs 37.
• Apollo footcare cream – Rs 35.
• Himalaya Foot care cream – Rs 40/80.
NAIL CLIPPERS
• Apollo Pharmacy Nail Clippers – Rs 24.
COSMETICS STORES
HEALTH & GLOW
• Trim & Pusher – Rs 30.
• Small Nail file – Rs 65.
• Buffer – Rs 50.
• Professional Nail file – Rs 150.
48
• Smooth foot file – Rs 140.
• Nail cleaner – Rs 45.
• Multi Purpose Nail file – Rs 150.
• Nail Clipper – Rs 45/55.
• Corn Cutter – Rs 65.
• Diamond Foot paddle – Rs 180.
BARE & ESSENTIALS
• Pedicure file – Rs 115.
• Small Nail file – Rs 65.
• Long Nail file – Rs 85.
• Nail Clipper – Rs 75.
• Baby Nail Clipper – Rs 55.
• Foot Brush – Rs 130.
• Pumice Stone – Rs 50.
• Nail Brush – Rs 85.
VEGAS
• Nail file – Rs 50
• Pedicure file – Rs 65.
49
• 4 in 1(stone/scrub/file/brush) – Rs 114.
• Corn Removal file – Rs 140.
• Stone/Nail Brush – Rs 95.
• Smooth Foot file –Rs 45.
CREAMS
• Krack Happy Feet – Rs 42.
• Himalaya Foot care – Rs 40/80.
• Freeman Foot lotion – Rs 225.
• Freeman Foot Scrub – Rs 225.
• Freeman Foot soak – Rs 210.
• Cool & Cool International’s Foot Cooler – Rs 149.
• Jergen’s Foot cream – Rs 350.
• Biotique Foot cream – Rs 180.
• VLCC Foot Care kit – Rs 325.
• Aroma Magic Foot cream – Rs 95.
• Shehnaaz Hussain’s foot cream –Rs 425.
• Foot Notez Moisturizer – Rs 100.
50
SUPERMARKETS
• Himalaya Foot cream –Rs 40/80.
• Krack Foot cream – Rs 42.
• Krack Smooth Heel gel –Rs 60.
• Krack Foot Moisturiser – Rs 150.
• Lapar foot scrub – Rs 40.
• Babila foot scrub - Rs 85.
• Aroma Magic foot cream – Rs 95.
• Biotique foot cream – Rs 180.
• VLCC foot care kit – Rs 325.
• Nature Secret’s Aloe Miracle foot cream – Rs 220.
• Silstar foot scrub – Rs 45.
VEGAS
• Nail file – Rs 50
• Pedicure file – Rs 65.
• 4 in 1(stone/scrub/file/brush) – Rs 114.
• Corn Removal file – Rs 140.
• Stone/Nail Brush – Rs 95.
51
• Smooth Foot file –Rs 45.
BARE & ESSENTIALS
• Volcanic stone –Rs 120.
• Nail Clipper – Rs 55.
• Cuticle Trimmer – Rs 70.
PRICE COMPARISON SCHOLL V/S COMPETITORS
Products Available For Beautiful Feet
SCHOLL PRICE (INR)
H & G PRICE (INR)
B & E PRICE (INR)
VEGAS PRICE (INR)
LOCAL PRICE(INR)
Dual Action 400 Smooth Foot File 140
Pedicure File 115 Nail File 50
Lapar's Foot scrub 55
Party feet 100 Diamond Foot Paddle 180 Foot Brush 130
Pedicure File 65
Silstar's foot scrub 45
Dual Action 100 Trim & Pusher 30
Pumice stone 50
Stone & Nail Brush 95
Babila's Foot Scrub 85
Nail File Small 65
Apollo Nail
Clipper 24
FB Stone 100 Buffer 50
Volcanic Stone 120
Smooth Foot File 45
Rough skin remover
175 Long Nail File 55
Small Nail File 65
Four in one 114
Foot & nail cream
200 Smooth Foot File 140
Long Nail File 85
Nail Clipper 39
Foot cream mousee
220 Nail Cleaner 45
Nail Clipper 75 Nail File 50
Nail clippers 125 Multi Purpose Nail
File 150Baby Nail
Clipper 55 Stone &
Nail Brush 95
Sapphire nail file
100 Professional Nail file 150 Nail brush 85
52
Nail brightening system
500
Nail Clipper 55
Products Available For Fresh Feet
SCHOLL PRICE (INR)
CROCS PRICE (INR)
BATA PRICE (INR)
CARNATION PRICE (INR)
OTHERS PRICE(INR)
Deo active Fresh 195
Silver Inner Sole 595
Antifungal Insoles 99
Super deo insoles
125 Freeman’s Foot Soak 210
Refreshing Foot Soak 150
Cool & Cool International's
Foot Cooler 149
Crackling Ice Foot
Gel 250
Odour Control Powder 75
Odour Control
Foot Spray 200
Odour control
freshning capsules 150
Odour control insoles 175
53
Products Available For Comfortable Feet
SCHOLL PRICE (INR)
SCHOLL PRICE (INR)
BATA PRICE (INR)
Air-Pillo Inner sole 125Pressure point Foam Padding 75 Gel Toe Post
Cushions 199
Gel Heel Cups 500
Ball of Foot Cushions 100 Invisible Gel Heel Cushions 199
Heel Leather Liners 75 Heel Shields 199
Air-Pillo Gel Insole 300
Heel cushions 125
Gel heel pads 750
Toe post cushions 300
Feet Gel Cushions 300
Gel Heel Cushions 200
Party Feet heel Cushions 200
Gel Toe Separators 150
54
Products Available For Healthy Feet
SCHOLL PRICE (INR)
COMPETITORS (CREAM)
PRICE (INR)
COMPETITORS (CORN/CALLUS)
PRICE (INR)
CHRC 100 Krack cream (herbal & regular)
42 Amrutanjan Decorn Caps 25
Antifungal Foot cream 35 Krack Moisturiser 150 Medigrip Corn caps 30
Ingrown Toenail 60 Krack Heel Gel 60 Carnation Decorn 40
Callus Removal Pads 50 Himalaya 40/80 Indotech lab four corn caps 24
Callus Cushion Foam 50 Freeman’s foot lotion 225 H & G Corn Cutter 65
Corn Clear Gel Plasters 200 Jergen’s 350 Vega's Corn Removal file 140
Corn removal Plasters 45 Biotique 180 Vichy callus corrector 790
Corn Removal Pads 40 Aroma Magic 95
Clear Gel Blister Plasters
300 Shehnaaz Hussain’s 425
Sore Spot Mole Skin 160 Foot Notez Moisturiser 100
Bunion Protectors 50 Mannings foot repair 260
Gel Arch Supports 1000 Mannings foot gel 118
Gel Heel Pads 750 Vichy heel repair cream 550
Corn & Callus File 125 Vichy reconditioning cream 890
New Corn & Callus File
350 Apollo 35
Corn Cushion Foam 50 Diaffot cream 97
Salactin lotion 115
Lichensa cream 37
VLCC KIT 325
Freeman’s Foot Scrub 225
Bunion Protectors 50 Mannings foot repair 260
55
RANGE OF PRODUCTS AVAILABLE ACROSS DIFFERENT
CHANNELS
Serial No.
Type of store Product range Available
1 Footwear Stores All products
2 Cosmetic Stores
i Health & Glow All products
ii Others Deo active Fresh, Rough Skin Remover, Heel Repair Cream, Crackling Ice foot Gel, Odour Control foot Spray, Nail brightening System, sapphire Nail File, Ingrown Toe Nail, Nail Clipper, Foot Beauty Stone, Refreshing Foot Soak, Foot Cream Mousee , Foot Powder, Dual action foot file, Corn & callus file
3 Supermarkets Rough Skin Remover, Heel Repair Cream, Crackling Ice foot Gel, Odour Control foot Spray, Nail brightening System, sapphire Nail File, Ingrown Toe Nail, Nail Clipper, Foot Beauty Stone, Refreshing Foot Soak, Foot Cream Mousee , Foot Powder, Dual action foot file, Corn & callus file
4 Pharmacy Stores Rough Skin Remover, Heel Repair Cream, Ingrown Toe Nail, Nail Clipper, Foot Beauty Stone, Anti Fungal Cream, Foot Powder, Dual action foot file, Corn & callus file, Corn & Callus Pads, Corn & Callus Plasters
OBSERVATIONS FROM MARKET SURVEY
56
• Scholl has strong presence against competitors in market across
different channels and the movement of Scholl products is good
against competitors.
• Scholl is the only brand present in footcare product market offering
complete solution for footcare remedies.
• Scholl products are costly comparatively to competitors present in
market except some international brands.
• Among the various products the fastest moving Scholl products are
Serial No. Type of store Product range Available
1 Files Dual action Foot File, Party Feet File, Corn & Callus File
2 Nail Clippers
3 Creams Heel Repair Cream, Foot & nail Cream
4 Insoles Air-pillo inner insole, Air-pillo gel insole
• Distribution of Scholl products is weak against competitors present
in the market because of company distribution revamping strategies.
RETAILER SATISFACTION SURVEY RESULT
ATTRIBUTES OVERALLSATISFACTION
(%)
PHARMACY SATISFACTION
(%)
FOOTWEAR SATISFACTION
(%)
SUPERMARKETSSATISFACTION
(%)
COSMETICSSATISFACTION
(%)
57
Company Efforts 73.2 69.4 77 69.4 80
Retailer Margins 70 70.4 72.8 64.6 69.2
Order Placing 73.2 70 75.6 72.8 77.2
Delivery Time 72 69.4 75 72.8 72
Credit Period 75.6 77.5 74.2 74 74.6
Merchandise Support
67.87 59.5 77.8 67 72
Sales Person Relationship
72.6 69.4 75 69.4 80
Retailer Feedback
72 70 75.6 70.4 72
Product Packaging
81 80.5 82 80 81.2
Discounts & Promotions
54.8 57 54.2 49.4 56
OVERALL 71.2 69.2 74 69 73.4
SUGGESTED AREAS OF IMPROVEMENT FOR COMPANY
ATTRIBUTES PHARMACY STORES
FOOTWEAR STORES
SUPERMARKETS COSMETICSSTORES
Company Efforts Yes Yes
Retailer Margins Yes Yes Yes Yes
58
Order Placing Yes Yes
Delivery Time Yes Yes Yes
Credit Period Yes Yes Yes
Merchandise Support Yes Yes Yes
Sales Person Relationship
Yes Yes
Retailer Feedback Yes Yes Yes
Product Packaging
Discounts & Promotions
Yes Yes Yes Yes
• Benchmark taken to improve satisfaction level is 75 % and all the
attributes scored less then benchmark needs improvement.
• Benchmark of 75% was chosen because most of the attributes scored
less then benchmarked score and overnight company cannot aim
superficial benchmark. After achieving the 75% satisfaction level
company can gradually increase their benchmark score.
GRAPHICAL REPRESENTATIONS
59
60
61
62
63
64
RANKWISE REPRESENTATION
65
ALL NUMBERS IN PIE CHART REPRESENTS % FOR RANK
66
67
68
TOP 5 ATTRIBUTES FOR RETAILERS
69
% Response for Top 5 Rank by Retailers
Rank Attribute
1 2 3 4 5
Retailer Margin
49 14 11 6 3
Product Availability
36 22 19 12 6
Delivery Time 11 15 25 16 13
Promotion, offers &
Discounts
6 15 14 11 16
Credit Period 3 12 17 9 16
• Top three attributes i.e. retailer margins, product availability,
delivery time can be clearly identified from the above tabular data
and the above graphs and pie-charts where as there is a close shave
between promotions and credit period for fourth and fifth place
which was solved by analyzing these two parameters at each rank
from 1 to 5 where promotions is prominently gaining edge over
credit period.
RETAILERS FEEDBACK
70
During retailer satisfaction survey the retailer feedback was collected and
based on their feedback the following areas were identified for
improvement:
Retailer Requirement from Company
Feedback Required Not Required Increase Decrease Remarks/Reason
Broachers & Pamphlets Yes No Support as Yet
Regular follow-up Yes Follow ups are weak
Promotional Offers Yes
Delivery Time Yes Very long at present
Sales Personnel visits Yes
Improvement in Packing Yes For sprays & Creams
Retail Margins Yes
Merchandise Support Yes Yes Very weak at present
Credit Period Yes Product off take is slow
MARKET OFFERINGS BY SCHOLL AND COMPETITORS
BRAND MARGIN(%)
OFFERS DISCOUNT
Scholl 15 12+1 (CHRC) In terms of product display
71
In retail outlet
Krack 22 12 + 1
Himalaya 20 – 25 10 % on display
Amrutanjan 30 5 + 1 5 % CD
Carnation 25
Medigrip 20-25
COMPETITOR MERCHANDISE
• Krack offers 6 piece Table Top dispenser for moisturiser.
• Himalaya book complete shelf space in prolific outlets by placing
Posters. But they display all the Himalaya products in this shelf so
prominence of footcare cream goes obsolete. In some major retail
outlets Himalaya do offer Flow stocking unit for keeping their
complete product range.
SCHOLL MERCHANDISE
Scholl offers flow stocking units (FSU) in major outlets like
footwear stores and cosmetic stores where as for small outlets like
pharmacies are provided with small product dispensers like CHRC
dispensers etc.
72
OTHER INFORMATION
• Retailers procure competitor products directly from whole seller.
• The delivery time for retailer products ranges from 8 – 24 hours.
• Product off take ratio for Krack:Himalaya:Scholl is 5:2:1
• Scholl can be prominently seen among competitors product in retail
stores.
• Scholl offers product display to the selected outlets only where the
product movement is good and customer footfalls are more.
PRODUCT MERCHANDISE IN MARKET
73
COMPETITOR MERCHANDISE
74
SUGGESTIONS FOR COMPANY
75
• Scholl has to create footcare culture in the market because still
customers are spending in affluence on personal care products like
facial creams and body moisturizing creams rather than foot care
products. So it is advisable for the company to spread awareness
among the customers to create this footcare culture.
• Company need to strengthen the distribution network for Scholl in
Chennai city because the distribution is very weak against
competitors as found during market survey. This will also ensure the
timely product reach to customers and allow the company to
penetrate well in market.
• Company should extend the merchandise support to the retail outlets
in terms of point of purchase materials like posters which help the
product in getting customer attention and reducing the retailer efforts
in explaining the product features to the new customer.
• Company need to take proper follow-up from retailers about the
product which ensures the retailers satisfaction at utmost level.
• Company should use doctors and physiotherapists to create
awareness about footcare among customers like eminent toothpaste
brands i.e. colgate, pepsodent, Oral-B which spreads the awareness
about tooth decay. Similarly Scholl can create awareness about
footcare with the help of these specialists because footcare is
extremely important for diabetic people along with others.
• Company can opt to sell their products through eminent beauty
saloon and foot spa because these stores have footfalls of people
76
from medium and high income segment who are the targeted group
for the company. On top of this most of these parlours have a
pedicure bay where foot care treatments are carried out so company
can take help of these specialists to promote the product.
• Scholl is positioned as a footcare specialist so company can establish
some exclusive footcare outlets where some specialist can be
deployed to give consultation to customers and simultaneous
products can be promoted through these outlets which can help the
company in gaining edge over competitors as well as protect the
company positioning of footcare specialist.
• Scholl must use some celebrities for endorsement of brand because
this will give thrust to the brand in terms of sale and create a space in
consumers mind about footcare products and at the same time Scholl
must promote the brand through television commercials to get the
new customers. This will ensure the good brand recall in consumers
mind for footcare product like Krack cream has as of now.
• Customers feel the CHRC is highly priced against competitors
present in the market. Though the product is far superior in quality to
its competitors but still large chunk of customers in market are price
conscious, so company can introduce the SKU’s for CHRC which
can compete against competitors like Krack and Himalaya footcare
in terms of price. This will also ensure the company to get market
share of competitors present in the heel repair cream market because
Scholl is excellent in terms of performance against its competitors.
77
At the same time by launching SKU’s company can safeguard the
image of brand as premium footcare product.
APPENDIX
Questionnaire Used
78
Retailer Satisfaction Survey
Name of Retail outlet ...................................................................................................
Name of Respondent ...................................................................................................
Address ...................................................................................................
...................................................................................................
...................................................................................................
Contact Number ...................................................................................................
On a scale of 1 to 5 what rating would you like to give to company on the following attributes mentioned in table below?
Rating Attributes
1 (Very Poor)
2(Poor)
3(Fair)
4(Good)
5(Very Good)
Company efforts to make the product available at your store.Retailer MarginEase in Placing an orderDelivery TimeCredit PeriodMerchandise SupportSales personnel RelationshipWillingness to accept Retailer FeedbackProduct PackagingPromotions, Offers and Discounts
On a scale of 1 to 10 what score would you like to give to the following attributes based on their importance to you? (1= Low & 10= High)
Attributes Your RankingProduct AvailabilityRetailer MarginEase of Placing an OrderDelivery TimeCredit PeriodMerchandise SupportSales Personnel RelationshipWillingness to accept Retailer FeedbackProduct Packaging
79
Promotions, Offers and Discounts
Would you like to give some additional feedback to the company?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
OUTLETS COVERED
Total Outlets 100I Pharmacy 40II Shoe Store 28
Bata Stores 8Mochi 4Metro 4
Koblerr 2other 10
III Cosmetics 15Health & Glow 8
Angels Cosmetics 2Others 5
IV Departmental stores etc. 17Spencers 6Nilgiris 4Others 7
Channel Outlet Name Respondent Name Location
Pharmacy Apollo Pharmacy Mr. O. Syed Gani Adyar
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Mahi Pharmacy Mr. Mahindra Thiruvanmiyur
Sri Balaji Medicals Mr. Illangudi Thiruvanmiyur
Ganga Medicals Mr. S. Dharamraj Adyar
Sippy Medicals Mr. Thirumal Adyar
Prakash Pharmacy Mr. Ramesh Egmore
Shobhika Pharmacy Mr. Fareed Basent Nagar
Apollo Pharmacy Mr. M.S. Ganesh Mandavelli
Williams Chemists & Drugs
Mr. Murugan T.Nagar
Om Pharmacy Mr. Vittal Mandavelli
Janaki Pharmacy Mr.Natarajan Adyar
City Pharmacy Mr. Satish Adyar
Adyar Pharmacy Mr. Ravindran Adyar
Natraja Medicals Mr. kumar Thiruvanmiyur
Srikrishna Pharmacy Mr. Satish kumar Anna Nagar
Malar Medicals Mr. Chandran Anna Nagar
BalaMurugan Pharmacy
Mr. S Balaji Anna Nagar
Arun Medicals Mr. Annamalai Anna Nagar
Arogya Pharmacy Mr. Vimal Anna Nagar
Sri kumaran medicals Mr. Srinivasan Velachery
National Pharmacy Mr. S.M. Anwar Ali Thiruvanmiyur
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Sundaram Medicals Mr. S. Kadrivelu Thiruvanmiyur
Muthu Pharmacy Mr. Santosh Egmore
Adyar Drug House Mr. Kasiram Adyar
Anbu Medical Shop Mr. Sheikh Thiruvanmiyur
Muthu medicals Mr. P. Babu Egmore
Om Medicals Mr. K.S. Dharamlingam
Adyar
Shifa Medicals Mr. Majid Basent Nagar
Grace Medicals Mr. Jayapaul Basent Nagar
Pavithra Pharmacy Mr. Kannan Velacherry
Kalian Pharmacy Mr. Karunakaran Egmore
Asian Medicals Mr. Ibrhim Mylapore
Pooja Pharmacy Mr. Siva Kumar Thiruvanmiyur
Best Medicals Mr. Babu Thiruvanmiyur
Medplus Pharmacy Mr. Jai Shankar Anna Nagar
Narayanappa Pharmacy
Mr.Saravana Anna Nagar
Srinivasan Pharmacy Mr. Manikandan Anna Nagar
Mangalam Medicals Mr. Arul Anna Nagar
7 Hills Medicals Mr. Vijayendra Anna Nagar
Dr. MGR Pharmacy Mr. Satish Kumar Anna Nagar
Footwear Heels Mr. Ansar Ali Basent Nagar
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Health Fit Mr. G Ganapathi Adyar
Bollywood Shoes Manager Egmore
Regal Shoes Mr. Allautraca Mount Road
Krishna Tulsi Mr. N.R. Devarajulu T. Nagar
INC 5 Mr. Azad Amjikarai
Boots Mr. Md. Sadiq Anna Nagar
Foot Focus Mr. Md. Rafiq Anna Nagar
Italia Shoes Mr. Nagendra Anna Nagar
Hi-Style Footwear Mr. Zakir Besant Nagar
Koblerr Mr. Prasad Alwarper
Koblerr Mr. Rakesh Anna Nagar
Metro Shoes Mr. Y. Sameer Hussain Wallajah Road
Metro Shoes Mr. Srinivas Adyar
Metro Shoes Mr. Joji Joseph T. Nagar
Metro shoes Mr. Najmullah Annanagar
Bata Store Manager Adyar
Bata Store Mr. Rajesh Shankar Mount Road
Bata Store Mr. T.R. Parthasarathi TTK Road
Bata Store Mr. Muthuraman T. Nagar
Bata Store Manager T. Nagar
Bata Store Mr. Ramesh Anna Nagar
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Bata Store Mr. Sayed Mahmood Anna Nagar
Bata Store Mr. Govindan Anna Nagar
Mochi Shoe Shoppy Mr. Rajesh T.Nagar
Mochi Shoes Mr. Praffual Mylapore
Mochi Shoes Mr. Lakshmi Narayan Amjikarai
Mochi Mr. Imran Anna Nagar
Supermarkets Lifestyle Mr. Sukumar Mylapore
Santosh Supermarket Mr. Vikram Anna Nagar
Yesesi Supermarket Mr.Naveen Annanagar
Five Star Supermarket Mr. Askar Thiruvanmiyur
More Departmental Stores
Mr. Krishnan Thiruvanmiyur
Royal Shoppee Mr. Akbra Shah Velacherry
SriMurugan departmental Store
Mr. S. Maharajan Thiruvanmiyur
Nilgiris Manager Besant Nagar
Nilgiris Mr. K.S. Armugam Velacherry
Nilgiris Mr. Raji Anna Nagar
Nilgiris Ms. Sarita Narayanan Adyar
Spencers Ms. Sumathi Mount Road
Spencers Ms. Nandini Besant Nagar
Spencers Ms. Priya Thiruvanmiyur
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Spencers Ms. Raja Kumari Anna Nagar
Spencers Mr. Varun Kumar Anna Nagar
Spencers Mr. Raja Adyar
Cosmetics Angel Cosmetics Ms. Indra Egmore
Health & Glow Mr. Suresh Mount Road
Health & Glow Ms. Manjula Mount Road
Health & Glow Ms. Prema Nugambakkam
Health & Glow Mr. Nirmal Kumar Besant Nagar
Health & Glow Mr. Suresh Adyar
Health & Glow Mr. Senthil Kumar Anna Nagar
Health & Glow Ms. Uma Amjikarai
Health & Glow Mr. A. Shyam Mylapore
Yours Choice Mr. Srinivasan Adyar
Variety Mr. Mansoor Ali Anna Nagar
Rajesh Fancy Stores Mr. Rajesh Egmore
Prisha Cosmetics Mr. Raj Kriplani Egmore
Alankar Cosmetics Mr. Surender Egmore
Angels Cosmetics Mr. Vinay Kumar Anna Nagar
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REFERENCES
Book Reference
• Marketing Management – By Philip Kotlar
• Marketing Research – By Tull & Hawkins
Others
• Internet (Google and Wikipedia )
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• Scholl Product Detailer
• Company Website
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