1. Regardless of wholesale supermarket type, the prices are by far lower than at retail markets. Such a model allows big families to make purchases at least for a week with minimum cost loses. (Boyes et al., 2007). However, these purchases require car availability. Apart from the USA, an average citizen, for instance, in Eastern Europe cannot afford himself vehicle possession till age around 30, thus he/she shall give preference to retail store nearby the house. The same goes to the elderly families who may not allow themselves reach the wholesale markets which are usually located outside of living districts abroad. While this is true, the consumer reports and development strategies’ statistics show that big box stores remain extremely popular among the population. It was reported that since 2011 had been opened more than 100 stores in the US, including from 50 to 60 hypermarkets, 85-95 Neighborhood Market grocery stores, and from seven to ten wholesale centers Sam's Club. In addition, Walmart opens in average 200-240 stores in other countries within the year. (Barkworth, 2014)
2. The basic problems interfere with the questions that face the consumers. Shipment issue: if the customer lives far from the city, where the order was placed, the delivery of the goods sometimes may cost more than the product itself. Service quality: In most of cases the customer prefers to familiarize himself with the product prior to procurement. Otherwise, the customer can be afraid that the courier will deliver the defective product. The photos on the website of online-store may run greatly in contrast with the actual goods. In such case it is possible to request exchange the item or return the money for it. But the trouble is that the procedure for return of the goods and the exchange in some online stores is complicated to such an extent that many simply do not even want to be involved in this process.
3. The main focus group for surveys remains the elderly. This segment exhibits a tendency keeping unwilling to be active online-users, thus in order to cover the most of audience the companies still tend to use mail. Furthermore, e-mail notifications are often perceived as a spam.
4. Spending on marketing campaigns targeting ethnic minorities make up an annual 900 million dollars. Large corporations such as Colgate-Palmolive, Wall-Mart, Polaroid, etc. use all opportunities to enter the ethnic market, their policy is aimed at concentration and a steady increase in the efforts focused on the retention of loyal customers among the national minorities. Kmart network, for instance is continually adding to its range so-called "ethnic" brands, designed for clients - representatives of various cultures. As part of the promotional campaign, the companies attract top artists in a number of ethnic communities. Major retailers around the world are trying to hire bilingual staff to work in shopping centers located in areas with a heterogeneous ethnic population. With regard to the treatment of ethnic audiences, the American experts recognize the importance of using the native language of the target audience for their advertising messages. About 20% of Americans consider themselves to be bilingual. (McGhie, 2012)
5. STP process is an integrated marketing strategy, which is based on the concept of the target audiences’ separation from general public and formation for each of them of a certain image of the company - positioning. Thus, this process comprises three main stages: market segmentation, selecting target markets and positioning. Social networking tools allow us to accurately configure thorough advertising campaign. In addition to standard parameters, such as gender, age, geography, SMM advertising settings allow to display others very narrow frameworks. For example, on Facebook audience for advertising can be chosen as only a group of people interested in fashion, with higher education, married less than 3 months ago and who recently changed their place of residence.
6. Being the center and foundation of the marketing strategy, the consumer is becoming a major element in the creation of a new chain, called the supply chain. Rather than build links of the supply chain from the manufacturer to the market, the best companies create a chain, starting from the needs, desires, problems and way of life of customers.
The company needs to know who and what a role plays in the purchase decision, because it affects both the focus of advertising and the product design. For example, it is known that the decision to come to the island of Roatán, located near the Honduran commonly accepted by men aged from 25 to 40 years, because this resort is popular among amateur divers. It is also known that female-companions of these scuba divers have a disproportionate great impact on the choice of the hotels, which are preferable to stay on the island. Thus, the hotel companies, oriented to the divers should take into account both categories of travelers in their advertisings, as they influence the decision. Knowing who and what role is played in the decision, it is possible to adjust accordingly the consumers’ plans.
Southwest Airlines Company clearly understands the role played by the secretary of the corporation in the choice of airlines. Many airlines forget that in most cases it was up to her (or him) to decide, not the boss. The secretary may be "advisor" in the collegial decision-making as well. Many airlines ignore this factor, while Southwest Airlines kept it as bullet-point when opening their office in Dallas, organizing lunches for secretaries of large local corporations at the end of which all were given bowls of sweets, known as the "candy-kisses" from airlines that love you so much." Secretaries had rated airlines love so high that these bowls still adorn their table, even though the candies had been eaten for a long time. There is a phone number on this bowl in order to call and book a ticket on Southwest Airlines, - number, which, apparently, is being used a thousand times.
References
Boyes, W. J.; Lynch, A. K.; Mounts, S. (2007). Why odd pricing? Journal of Applied Social Psychology 37(5), 1130-1140. Retrieved August 07, 2016, from <http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/wol1/doi/10.1111/j.1559-1816.2007.00203.x/full>
Barkworth, H. (2014, Feb 4). Six Trends That Will Shape Consumer Behavior This Year. Forbes. Retrieved August 07, 2016, from <http://www.forbes.com/sites/onmarketing/2014/02/04/six-trends-that-will-shape-consumer-behavior-this-year/#5a38b7077f84>
McGhie, A. (2012). Brand is a Four Letter Word: Positioning and the Real Art of Marketing. Charleston, South Carolina: Advantage. 233-234. Retrieved August 07, 2016, from <https://books.google.com.ua/books/>
