THE ROLE OF RETAILERS IN THE DISTRIBUTION OF CONSUMER GOODS IN NIGERIA

THE ROLE OF RETAILERS  IN THE DISTRIBUTION OF CONSUMER GOODS IN NIGERIA

ABSTRACT

Company efforts are not complete until the goods get to the consumers or users. In moving the goods to the parties, retailing institutions play significant roles. It is against this backdrop that this project has its focus and its working hypothesis states that retailers play a significant distribution role to meet consumer’s assorted expectations. Relevant data were gathered through questionnaires, analyzed, interpreted and subjected to test. The test revealed that retailers play a very significant role in the distribution process to meet consumer’s assorted expectations. Finally the work in respect to its conclusion, recommend that the management should invest heavily in retail strategies that will enable them effectively and efficiently serve their customers and meet consumer’s expectations. They should conduct extensive training for their sales people on customer service management in order to obtain desired result. They should also be efficient and exercise caution in dealing with ultimate consumers to gain competitive advantage. This is to the researcher’s mind, has created room for appreciation of retailer’s role in marketing goods and services and set the stage for further research

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

1.0            STUDY BACKGROUND

Ideally, consumers form expectations about what they buy and use not only in the area of quality, performance, or appealing features that such product offers but also in the method, or manner in which the goods and services are being delivered to them.

Consumers will be very delighted and compelled to patronize firms that can effectively and efficiently deliver their needs, wants, and other related services and fulfilling their requirement in order to derive satisfaction. This calls for proper distribution of manufactured goods for consumers acquisition and use.

This role can be effectively performed by the marketing intermediaries such as agents / brokers, wholesalers or retailers.

Marketing institutions are those institutions charged with the responsibility of effecting exchange functions. They perform the various marketing functions. Busch and Houston (1985) had categorised marketing institutions into five namely – manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers, agents and buyers. In this aspect we will be looking at the retail institution and its role in distributing consumer goods in Nigeria.

Retailing includes all the activities involved in selling goods or services directly to final consumers for personal use. A retailer or retail store is any business enterprise whose sales volume comes primarily from retailing. A retailer is also an individual that sells to ultimate consumers. Retailers rendered services related directly to the sale and purchase of goods as it flows from producers to the final consumers.

A retailer is also a merchant middleman who sells primarily to ultimate consumers. The term retailer when considered from a broader perspective include such professionals as doctors, lawyers, teachers, etc. who render direct services to their patients, clients, students etc. Viewed from this angle, it is not only the shop from where people buy some products that qualify to be called a retail outlets. Colleges, hospitals etc, are also retail outlets with students and patients as their customers. It can therefore, be seen that, retailing pervades many aspects of human activities.

1.1     BACKGROUND OF SELECTED SUPERMARKETS IN KUBWA

          The following are the selected supermarkets used:

–         Chemzo supermarket

–         Wuse in Kubwa supermarket

–         Uncle Joe’s supermarket

History and activities of the above supermarket

CHEMZO SUPERMARKET

Chemzo supermarket was established in December, 2008. it is located at Phase IV close to Kubwa General Hospital Abuja. Chemzo supermarket started as a mini supermarket, later it grow to be one of the biggest supermarket in Kubwa. The supermarket is divided into three (3) sectional units. One of the unit is for provision and cosmetics, the second unit is for boutique and the third unit is for herbal drugs like GNLD products. It has different sales person and also have a cashier which is responsible  for collecting of sales proceeds from customers.

In the supermarket, the goods sold carry fix price tags. Hence, customers need not to ask for the price.

WUSE IN KUBWA SUPERMARKET

This supermarket was established in the year 2009. It is located at Phase IV Kubwa Abuja. The supermarket was formed because the things sold in Wuse market are cheap.

           1.2            STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Average consumers want their needs to be supplied to them at (a convenient location) their door step, they want the goods supplied in convenient shapes, units, sizes, style and package, and also desire to have good title to what they are buying. Obviously, matching every consumers expectations will be a difficult task for retailers.

          1.3            OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

Every company pursues a set of strategies, goals or logics that is capable of assisting them to expand their business scope. This study is undertaken to understand how retailers can design a customer – driven marketing strategies. In this view the objectives are as follows:

i.                   To understand the role of retailer in distributing consumer goods.

ii.                 To determine at what extent the retailer is needed in the distribution of consumer goods.

iii.              To identify the problems associated to retailing distribution of consumer goods.

iv.              To know the importance of retailers in the distribution of consumer goods.

v.                 Finally to assess the role of retailers in creating time, place and possession utility.

           1.4            STATEMENT OF HYPOTHESIS

H0: That the inability of retailers to meet consumer’s assortment expectations will significantly affect their role in the distribution of consumer goods.

H1: That the inability of retailers to meet consumer’s assortment expectations will not significantly affect their role in the distribution of consumer goods.

1.5            SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This research is significant in the sense that it broadly enlightened on the immense contribution of retailers in the distribution of consumer goods in Nigeria. It is generally believed that production is not complete until the product get to the hands of ultimate consumers. Hence, retailer play a significant role by focusing on the entire marketing process-from product and brand development to logistics, promotion and merchandizing toward turning shoppers into buyers at the point of sale.

1.6            SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The scope of this research work will be the role of retailers in the distribution of consumer goods in Nigeria. Also, the study will focus mainly on selected supermarkets in Kubwa Abuja been the immediate environment of the study.

1.7            LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

As it has been noted that, no one is self-sufficient. The following are some of the problems encountered by the researcher which tend to limit the scope of this research work.

They includes:

i.                   The researcher encountered problem in financing the project. Lack of funds was a major obstacle to the research work.

ii.                 The researcher being a student was faced with the problem of the needed time to carry out the research.

iii.              The attitude of respondents in giving out accurate and reliable information contributed as constraints to this research work.

1.8            DEFINITION OF TERMS

RETAILING: This includes all the activities involved in selling goods or services directly to final consumers for personal use.

RETAILERS: Retailers are merchant middleman who sells primarily to ultimate consumers.

CONSUMERS: They are the persons who buy goods or services for final usage or consumption.

MARKETING STRATEGY: This is the marketing logic by which the business unit hopes to achieve its marketing objectives.

PRODUCT: Product is anything that can be offered to a market to satisfy a want or need. Examples are physical goods, services, experiences, events, persons, places, properties, organizations, information, and ideas.

DISTRIBUTION: It is the marketing activity that makes product available to consumers when and where they want to purchase them.

END NOTES

Aham Anyanwu (2000), Dimensions of Marketing. 2^nd Edition. (Owerri: Pascal Publications), P.146.

Philip Kotler and Gary Armstrong (2010), Principle of Marketing. 13^th Edition (New Jersey: Prentice Hall Inc.), P. 394.

Philip Kotler and Kevin Lane Keller (2006), Marketing Management. 12^th Edition. (New Delhi: Pearson Prentice Hall), P. 466.