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Changing Mono Brand To Multi Brand

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Singer Plus

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PART I: ORGANIZATION

Chapter 1: The Organization

1.1 Company Profile

Singer has been operating in this region (now in Bangladesh) since 1905, when the first Singer sewing machines went on sale at Chittagong and Dhaka shops. Today, Singer Bangladesh Ltd. is a large, diversified company with unmatched presence throughout Bangladesh. It remains a member of the worldwide Singer family. Singer holds the majority shareholder in the Company, holding a stake of 80%. The public shareholding accounts for 20%. Singer Bangladesh Limited was listed with the Dhaka Stock Exchange in 1983 and Chittagong Stock Exchange in 2001.

Since its inception in Bangladesh, the name Singer has been synonymous with the sewing machine. Although sewing machines are Singer’s core business, the Management realized that this product alone could not substantiate growth for longer periods. This realization led to a diversification into numerous product ranges. Thus, the transformation of Singer from a single product sewing machine company into a multi-product consumer durable company began in 1985 for further growth and expansion.

This diversification into consumer durables has continued unabated. At different times Singer has introduced Color and Black & White Televisions, Fans, Washing Machines, Irons, Microwave Ovens, Rice Cookers, Audio Products, Air Conditioners, Motorcycles, Instant Power Supply, DVD Players, Dish Washers, Room Heaters, Water Heaters, Vacuum Cleaner and Kitchen Appliances. Laptop and Desktop Computers are among its newest offerings.

Today Singer Bangladesh is a household name. It has earned the trust and confidence of the consumers and is one of the leading manufacturing and marketing companies of consumer durables in the electronics and home appliance sector of the country.

With introduction of Singer plus stores Singer stepped into multi-branding in 2005. The concept of Singer plus stores is to provide valued customers with a variety of choice under the same roof. Singer is offering products of world famous brands along with Singer branded products at Singer plus stores. Consequently same world famous brands like – Samsung, Haier, Whirlpool, Hitachi, MEG.XL, Kodak, Philips, Emeishan, Moulinex, Sebec and Yashica along with Singer branded products is available at its outlets.

As part of company’s continuous diversification program in 2006 Singer ventured into the manufacturing and marketing of household and industrial cables with the promise to keep customer home safe.

1.2 Company History

In 1851, with a borrowed capital of only $40, Isaac Merritt Singer set up a company to manufacture and sell a revolutionary product – a machine to automate and assist in the making of clothing. Little did he realize that the newly formed I. M. Singer and Company was destined to become the world leader in the manufacturing and distribution of sewing related products and that the Singer brand name would one day become famous around the world.

As a youth, I. M. Singer, a native of Troy, New York, had an exceptional aptitude for mechanical things. Born in 1811, he spent his early adulthood as an actor. At the age of 38, he settled in New York City and devoted his time to become an inventor. His fascination with early attempts at automating the sewing process grew and by 1853, the first Singer machines, manufactured in a New York City factory, were selling for $100. Two years later, with a first prize at the World’s Fair in Paris, Singer originated the “hire-purchase” plan to increase sales, the first company ever to do so. This plan was to have almost as much influence as the brand name itself. Today, over half of Singer’s sales in developing countries use this method of payment to generate sales and additional income.

Singer's manufacturing base of electronic and electrical products gradually spread in Asia, East Africa, Middle East, Latin and South America. Today Singer's name is synonymous with household goods across the World.

1.3 Singer Bangladesh’s Vision, Mission, Objective and Strategies

Singer Vision

To be the most admired and respected family company in the country.

Singer has been successful in realizing this vision by creating a lasting brand name in every household all over the world. Singer has continued to expand in the field of consumer durables by acquiring new companies producing related products.

It also describes aspiration for the future, without specifying the means necessary to achieve those desire ends. Singer has continued to expand in the field of consumer durable and also increasing social responsibility. It has created a lasting brand name in every household all over the world.

Singer Mission

Singer mission is to improve the quality of life by providing comforts and conveniences at affordable prices.

The mission statement emphasizes on the company's inclination towards fulfilling the need of the people, by offering them a novel set of quality products at a reasonable cost. Over the years, Singer has come up with a variety of goods like Sewing Machine, TV, DVD, Air-conditioner, Refrigerator, Computer etc. to meet the ever-changing needs of people.

A vision becomes tangible as a mission statement. This statement has some parts, those are listed below:

← Improve the life of people.

← Providing comfort and conveniences.

← Affordable price.

Last but not in the list,

← Providing service generation to generation.

These entire conditions make Singer mission successful.

Singer Value

To treat our employees, recognizing them as assets of the company to honor and maintain high ethical standards.

1. Consumers: We live up to the expectations of a responsible Organization by contributing to the improvement in the Quality of life of our customers through outstanding product & services.

2. Employees: We respect each other as individual and encourage cross functional teamwork while providing Opportunities for career development.

3. Shareholders: We provide a reasonable return to our shareholders while, safeguarding their investment.

4. Suppliers: We develop our suppliers to be partners in progress arid share our growth with them.

5. Competitors: We respect our competitors and recognize their contribution to mixed value.

6. Community: We conduct our business by conforming to the ethics of our country and share the social responsibility of the less fortunate.

Singer Objective

To be the market leader in our Product range and Market Segment.

Provide our consumers with the Best Service & Shopping Experience in the Country. Provide our Consumers with Products of Latest Technology. Develop our Employees to achieve their real potential. Provide our Shareholders with steady Asset Growth and Return on investment above our Industry Norm. Grow our Revenue and Profits at a rate above the Industry Norm.

Management Strategy

Singer Bangladesh consistently focuses on growth and risk minimization through product diversification and increasing the market share of existing products by responding to changing customer needs.

1.4 Singer Bangldesh’s Organogram and Departments and Their Functions

HUMAN RESOURCES DEPARTMENT

Creating a complement and healthy working environment, Singer values its Human Assets and committed to their growth and prosperity. The success of any business organization depends on the quality of its human resources i.e. their caliber and commitment. Singer Bangladesh is committed to ensure that the Company is capable of continued growth and profitability by satisfying customers' needs and to provide employees with high level of job satisfaction. Consequently, Company's personnel initiatives are designed to encourage open communication, creativity, innovation and initiative. Because the Company believes well trained and proactive employees with high level of job satisfaction will ultimately contribute to the increase in profitability of the Company.

Major functions of this department are:

← Recruiting, transferring, promoting and terminating of employee.

← Arranging training both in-house and outside.

← Personnel policy evaluation and implementation.

← Maintaining protocol, counseling and discipline of organization.

← Legal aspects.

← Recording employee’s salary, leave administration and annual performance evaluation.

MARKETING DEPARTMENT

Singer Bangladesh has a unique retail network. Its products are sold at more than 254 outlets across the country. These are strategically located all over Bangladesh. Singer is the only company in the country with such an extensive retail network. As a retail company, marketing consumer durable products, Singer’s efforts have been focused on the store-merchandising concept. The company has successfully given a different perspective to all the retail stores keeping in mind what makes up for a good shopping experience.

This division is headed by the Marketing Director, who is reportable to the Managing Director (MD). Under him have three units:

1. Sales

2. Distribution

3. Sewing School.

Marketing Director is assisted by two National Sales Managers. One is for Retail part another one is for Wholesale part. Also reported be Deputy Manager, who is assigned for Distribution part and Assistant Manager, who is assigned for Education part. All other employee works for this department and all time get connected. By this they report to their superior.

MANUFACTURING DEPARTMENT

Singer set up its first manufacturing facility for sewing machines in 1980 at Chittagong. In 1993 Singer’s product range was enhanced with the establishment of a new Audio Video Plant at a rented premise at Savar near Dhaka. The company also initiated assembling of Washing Machines in 1996 at another rented premise. The company established Singer Electronics Complex on its own land at Savar, at the outskirt of Dhaka. For effective Management and Manufacturing Operations all its assembly operations were shifted under one roof with provisions to diversify into other product categories.

Singer’s complex at Savar assembles the following products:

1. Colour Television

2. Motor Cycle (80cc, 100cc, 110 cc & 125cc)

3. Electric Cable

A new cable manufacturing plant with most modern machineries combined with the sophisticated QC lab was established at the Singer Manufacturing Complex in 2005. The factory is equipped to manufacture cables conforming to Bangladesh and International Standards.

This entire complex is now known as Singer Manufacturing Complex which also accommodates a pre-fabricated steel warehouse covering 10,000 square feet. The warehouse, which is in addition to the warehouse located inside the main building, will greatly facilitate inventory management.

Singer manufacturing complex is three stored building. In ground floor they manufacture cables. In first floor they assemble television. And in second floor they assemble motor cycle.

Daily average assembling amount of Television is 30-50. Average assembling amount of Motor Cycle is 7-20 and Cables production is depends on customer order. In factory for all kinds of product they have separate testing lab for Controlling Quality. Before distribution Quality Control Manager always test product in the testing lab.

Everyday they count and match with targeted production like, what amount they produced and what amount they should produced. In the factory on third they have little store for spare parts like pigeon hole. After complete production and packaging product either store in the warehouse or directly send to shops.

 

FINANCE DEPARTMENT

This department is responsible for ensuring optimum and most efficient uses of the company's resources through various controlling and monitoring activities. It is headed by the Controller & Finance Director, and consists of the Audit, Corporate Affairs, EDP, Credit, Commercial, MIS and Accounts. However, the last four units are reportable to the Chief Accounts Manager, who is himself reportable to the Controller. The Accounts unit may be considered a department by itself, for it has the following functional units - Sales Accounts, Costing & Inventory, Payables, Cash Management, and General Ledger.

The company accounts represent the financial statements of Singer Bangladesh Limited. The investment in associate companies was accounted under the cost method. The carrying value of associate company investments is shown at cost and only dividend income received from associate companies is recognized as income. The following is the organization chart of the department:

Financial Management

Credit Management

The functions of this department range from the time of contract initiation through to its termination for each hire sale. Since 75%-80% of Singer's business is done through credit sales the activities of this department is quite vital for the company. Credit is the only direct controlling department that is working at grass root level. Credit Manager is in the overall charge of this department. Twenty credit inspectors along with five trouble shooters are headed by a Chief Credit Inspector. The scope of the credit inspectors range from the time of contract initiation through to its termination. Though they are under the authority of the Chief Credit Inspector, they have to work in parallel with the District Managers.

For each hire sale a history card is created and maintained.

Accounts Management

← Accounts department creates and maintains records of company transactions for both internal and external audiences

The specific functions of these units are discussed below.

1. Costing & Inventory:

Inventory Management

This sub-unit monitors all the inventory of finished goods that is owned by the company in both its-warehouses & the shops all over the country. The F-246 form that is sent to BMO from warehouses & from shops on a weekly basis provided the required the information such as-

← Opening inventory balance

← Closing inventory balance

← Sales in each week

The person in charge of the inventory management has the responsibility to reconcile the inventory figures with the help of warehouse vs. shop vs. sales figures cross-checking.

Inventory Reconciliation Process

1. The warehouse data is input.

2. The inventory information is checked against shops F-246 form. This information is generated by Sales Accounts Unit.

3. A balance report is generated on a monthly basis - for the warehouse, and the shops.

Costing

Cost of each and every kind of procurement - both local an d foreign (in dollar terms) is calculated by the costing unit. The necessary information is generated by the commercial department. Costing is done basically for - raw (SKD/CKD) and finished goods (CBU) purchased.

For each import all Costs are totaled up to delivery of the product to the plant, CKD's or SKD's and to the port in case of CBU's. Then the total cost involved is allocated unit-wise. In case of raw material purchased value-weighted cost allocation method is adopted. For monthly costing average-weighting method is used.

Commercial

This department is headed by an Assistant Manager, whose job covers a wide variety of areas. He is responsible for:

1. Opening of L/Cs.

2. Keeping track of imported materials that are on the way to Bangladesh

3. The purchasing of ail materials needed for office use.

4. Acting as a liaison between the Marketing Services Department and Marketing Department.

Audit

“We trust everybody and we trust nobody”- Main motto of Singers Internal Audit Team. The internal audit department was added during early 1995 when the management decided to keep a check on its vast internal operation. The Audit Manager heads this department, and is supported by two audit officers and four supervisors, as well as a deputy audit manager, which post is currently vacant. The main responsibilities of the manager are:

1. To ensure efficient and economic uses of resources

2. Check whether policy and procedures are correctly followed.

3. Ensure plan and mission accomplishment

4. Organization objective achievement

5. Verification of physical existence of inventory, check their origin and evaluate control.

6. Check reliability of accounting data

7. Demand information availability from any area

This unit also sees to the propriety of cash and hire sale, report recording. "Spot checking" is often done to investigate any records or materials. Audit has unlimited authority to inquire into any company matters in the best interest of the company.

The Internal Auditors often relies on their experience to evaluate the company activities. These methods are also developed through experience and on-the-job-training. The manager is in charge of conducting audit of Singer sales centers and shop managers. The auditors check into the following areas:

← Physical verification of cash.

← Inventory control.

← Stock of receipts and receivable.

← Short-over remittance.

The inventory is taken from the warehouses and the paperwork is done through a debit note. This debit note is sent both to the shop and the BMO. If there are any discrepancies between these two numbers, the auditors go to the shop and find out the reason. The audit department also performs shop audit on each of the sales centers once or twice a year. The manager also makes sure that the shop manager is keeping correct financial records and is reporting the sales correctly.

MIS (Management Information System)

ERP (Enterprise Resources Planning) is a new division which deals with computerized financial data transaction within the organization. There are more than 50 computers in the BMO. At present there is only a partial network of the computers, which is expected to be extended soon.

The Electronic Data Processing Department's functions are:

1. Maintenance of computer hardware and software.

2. To incorporate VAT related information.

3. Supports the Sales Accounts Department in preparing the reports.

4. Prepare some special reports such as unit sales report (shop and item wise) weekly or monthly.

5. Mail the shop performance report to each District Manager & each Area Manager.

6. Internal computer operation between employees to share data instantly.

Shortly MIS section will bring online transaction system. This system will connect all shops together. By this concern department can get idea about shops instantly. By this system real time transaction will record instantly.

MARKETING SERVICES DEPARTMENT

The head of this department, the Marketing Services Director, has three sub-sections management team under him. They are:

1. Product Management.

2. Advertisement & Sales Promotion.

3. Service Center.

The first section is Product Management, which is headed by the Business Development Manager, second is Advertisement & Sales Promotion, which is headed by Advertisement & Sales Promotion Manager, while the last section Service Centre is headed by Techno Service Manager. All these managers are under Marketing Services Director. And Marketing Services Director reports directly to Chief Operating Officer.

Product Management

The Business Development Manager is responsible for supervising all the activities related to product management in this department. He reports directly to the Marketing Services Director and therefore, he needs to have all relevant information to report back to the MD or help him make a decision. There are four product officers under him. These four people take responsibility of all Singer products for Product Management and do routine duties about product.

Advertisement & Sales Promotion

This section always force sales pressure by giving advertisements and offering more n more promotional activities. These advertisements are telecast on Television, Radio, and Newspaper.

Singer Bangladesh uses two forms of promotions for its products: internal and external, which in marketing terms may be called "push" and "pull" strategies. Internal promotions are "push" strategies, whereby shop managers and sales agents are given financial, as well as other forms of incentives for increased selling. Also, to aid internal promotion there is in-house publication of a magazine, Singer Barta, which informs the employees about the company's activities, joining of new employees, marriages, birth of children to employees, extraordinary performances of shop managers, etc. This publication, where only Singer employees may give writings, goes a long way to cement the bondage of the 'Singer Family'.

The external promotions, the "pull" strategies, are relatively less important in case of Singer, and include merchandising, shop decoration etc., which are used mainly as reminders, and in some cases for informing customers about new products.

Service Centre

There are two Service Centers owned BY Singer, in Dhaka and Chittagong. There are many other contract based franchise service firms. The Manager, Assistant Manger, Service heads these centers with the help of service supervisors and technicians. These centers provide repairing services for TV, stereos, refrigerator, washing machine, deck set, etc. There are also technicians at shop levels who are given training periodically. Shop managers only pay them the salary.

A service center's role is vital in the sense that it can enhance customer satisfaction, help in avoiding non-payment of installment, and increase goodwill and company image.

PART II: PROJECT

Chapter 1: Introduction

1.1 Origin of the study

Consumer Electronics Market has been an extremely important part of Bangladesh’s economy for a very long time for a number of reasons. Most of us use consumer electronics goods to easy our life and gain productivity and it is also symbol for lifestyle products. We are in the midst of a very exciting growth phase for consumer electronic products. New digital technologies are now reaching consumers through an array of products for the home, car, and personal (portable) applications. We see strong growth trends for consumer audio-visual-communications equipment including flat TV–both plasma and LCD–digital TV, and DVD recorder products. In contrast, shipments of analog TV, VCR, and CD-DA players are all either in decline or expected to decline in the near future. But there are few companies who can provide us reliable consumer electronics goods and provide after sales service. Singer Bangladesh Ltd is pioneer for consumer electronics goods provider and I have the opportunity to work for singer for three months. There I have got the opportunity to learn the realistic preview of the function of sales and distribution. I find some dissimilarities and disjunction in the real field. But it is possible to reduce the gap by proper judgment.

Masters in Business Administration (MBA) is a comprehensive professional course designed to develop better knowledge. Internship is an important phase of MBA Program where students get the opportunity to learn about the real business world. As a business student one must be acquainted with the conceptual and practical knowledge of business. Thus, it is an important responsibility of the concerned business school to make arrangements for the pupils to get the essence of professionalism. As a part of this activity IBA had been successfully placing the students to different professionally renowned organizations to give the respective students the orientation of the business environment.

Internship Program of Institute of Business Administration (IBA) is a graduation requirement for the MBA students. This report is a partial requirement of the Internship program of MBA curriculum at the Institute of Business Administration.

1.2 Objective of the study

The objective of the report can be categorized as below:

Broad objective:

The broad objective of the report is to study the challenges and opportunity of multi brand “SINGER PLUS” retailing.

Specific objective:

The specific objectives of the report are to

• To conduct SWOT Analysis of Multi brand retailing.

• To find out customer acceptability of “SINGER PLUS” shop as multi brand.

• To find out profitability of “SINGER PLUS”.

1.3 Methodology

The study is divided into two stages. In the first phase, exploratory research was undertaken to gain better understanding of retail and distribution channel. The study started with secondary data and information collection regarding retailing, multi brand concept, consumer electronics market in Bangladesh and singer plus brand.

The second phase of the study was a study try to analysis customer acceptability of multi brand store.

Primary Source:

The survey is done within the customers of Singer Bangladesh Ltd.

In-depth interviews were conducted with the key marketing and sales personnel of the Singer Bangladesh’s Sales and Marketing services team. The idea was to obtain information related to introducing multi brand retailing of Singer Bangladesh. Several sales personnel were also interviewed to get the idea of the present situation. I also do KII (Key informant interview) with Business Development Manager and National Sales Manager for better understanding of current market place scenario.

Secondary Source:

Majority of the secondary data was obtained from the MIS Department of Singer Bangladesh Ltd. Annual reports and different other departmental analysis augmented this report to take a comprehensive shape. I also take information from websites for getting insight of worldwide consumer electronics market.

1.4 Scope of the study

The report limits its scope to singer Bangladesh ltd only. But the analysis part may be helpful for solving retailing consumer electronics related problems in other companies. The report will be beneficial and useful particularly for understanding the smooth transformation to “singer plus” retailing of the Singer Bangladesh Ltd. The management will get an organized picture of the retailing channel of their organization from various perspectives and the analysis will allow the management to rethink on the existing distribution strategy and resolve the loopholes in the current distribution function.

1.5 Limitation

Limitation, which I have faced while doing my internship report are discussed below:

□ Information at SINGER is confidential & critical.

Like all other business organization, SINGER is also very conservative and strict in providing information on its operational and distribution channel. So I relied on published data like Annual report, News article on news paper and website.

□ The findings are not statistically validated.

No statistical analysis is done. The findings are not statistically validated. It is done on a subjective analysis approach. The information is solely from different managers of concern departments and the trade bodies and newspapers published articles.

Above all, this internship report was prepared just after staring my fist job at SINGER. So, it was very hard for me to accommodate time for preparing this report. Mostly, our office timings at SINGER are from early morning till 8 p.m. During office hours it's simply hard to manage time for working with the report. And, working with the report after regular office hours is quite hectic.

Chapter 2: Distribution and Marketing Channel Concept.

2.1 Introduction

A truly marketing concept oriented organization selects its channel of distribution in such away that suits the present customers and capable of attracting new customer is a decision of great strategic importance. It is a decision, which helps to drive the subsequent logistics system, and providers the customer satisfaction envisaged by the marketing process. From company’s viewpoint, choice of the wrong channel can push up the distribution costs alarmingly, whereas choice of the right channel can provide the company with a compressive edge.

Each channel system creates a different level of sales and costs. Once a distribution channel has been chosen, the firm must usually stick with it for a long time. The chosen channel strongly affects, and is affected by, the other elements in the marketing mix. Each firm needs to identify alternative ways to reach its market. Available means vary from direct selling to using one, two, or more intermediary channel levels.

Channel design begins with assessing customer channel service needs and company channel objectives and constraints. The company then identifies the major channel alternatives in terms of types of intermediaries, the number of intermediaries, and the channel responsibilities of each. Each channel alternatives has to be evaluated according to economic, control, and the adaptive criteria.

Just as the marketing concept is receiving increased recognition, more business firms are paying attention to the physical distribution concept. Physical distribution is an area of potentially high cost saving and improved customer satisfaction. When order processors, warehouse planners, inventory managers, and transportation managers take decisions, they affect each other’s cost and ability to handle demand. The physical distribution concept calls for treating all these decisions within a unified framework.

From an operational standpoint, a marketing channel is the path a product or service takes as it moves from the manufacturer to its end users or customers. The very basic channel structure shown in Exhibit was the rule in the years following World War 2nd. In those days, the path between manufacturer and consumer was a straight one. A manufacturer faced only one decision: whether to use a direct or indirect channel of distribution (COD).

Exhibit: Basic channel structure(

|Manufacturer----Marketing channel of distribution----Eventual end user/consumer |

If the manufacturer selected a direct channel, it hired a sales force to get the product on the shelves or into the hands of consumers. If the manufacturer was too small to hire a proprietary sales force, it opted for an indirect channel and hired a distributor to sell to end users. As time passed, the path between manufacturer and end user developed a thousand twists and turns. In fact, today it is less like a path and more like a wheel, with the manufacturer at the “hub” connected to the end user at the “tire” by dozens of direct and indirect channel “spokes.”

Figure 1: A chronicle of distribution marketing showing how the number and complexity of channels has multiplied [pic]

2.2 Retail Distribution Channel of Singer

Singer moved ahead to retain its position as a national retailing icon, with consumer-centricity as our focal point. Progression towards a comprehensive expansion of singer retailing presence throughout the nation. It is pertinent to record that the Company’s focus shifted somewhat towards Channel Management, away from its customary emphasis on Brand and Category Management. We built further on the strengths of our Retail Channels namely ‘Singer Plus’ along with the Trade and Institutional Channels. Channels of Distribution are the conduits by which our multifaceted Brands and Categories are introduced to consumer’s homes and it is imperative that the foundation of a strong retailing presence must rest therein.

During the last year Singer established world class merchandising standards for retailing across this distribution network, substantially increased product knowledge of its sales teams through continuous training and filled gaps in the distribution network with new stores. These initiatives further enabled us to standardize singer consumer offer across the nation, overcoming disparities between the Urban Rural divide.

Singer has over 254 retail stores over Bangladesh and have 7 ware housing facility at various points of country. It facilitates quick and smooth distribution of products and maintains fair level of inventory to meet the demand of a particular region.

The physical flows of goods are usually:

1. Warehouse to warehouse

2. Warehouse to shop

3. Shop to shop

4. Shop to warehouse to shop

The products are transported by trucks from transport companies. The District manager has the authority to arrange transfer of goods between shops/warehouse in his district with approval from his Area Manager. In case of shop to shop transfer in same district, the District manager handles it. If the transfer is to be between different areas then the district manager contacts the Area Manager.

The District Manager monitors the distribution of goods for the warehouse in his district. All the transfer of goods is recorded with debit notes, copies of which are maintained in the shops, warehouses and BMO.

In case of any damage to goods received, the shop manager will inform the District Manager, who will investigate the matter and inform the assistant Distribution manager. He will then instruct the warehouse to charge the transportation company for compensation.

Another important job done by this Department is to generate yearly physical inventory report through the Credit Inspectors. In a warehouse Product is store under Distribution and Administration of warehouse is under Commercial department. For store inventory factory asked by central warehouse, sale of product in warehouse asked by Distribution department.

[pic]

Fig 2: distribution network of SINGER

[pic]

Fig 3: SINGER Retail Network

Singer Retail network consist of singer plus, sisal world, sales agent, whole sales, singer cables, sewing academy. Each channel has its own strength and has its target customer base,

Performance of each channel:

Singer plus: this is the most active network of singer network. It consists of over 254 shops and outlets. With introduction of Singer plus stores Singer stepped into multi-branding in 2005. The concept of Singer plus stores is to provide valued customers with a variety of choice under the same roof. Singer is offering products of world famous brands along with Singer branded products at Singer plus stores. Consequently same world famous brands like – Samsung, Haier, Whirlpool, Hitachi, MEG.XL, Kodak, Philips, Emeishan, Moulinex, Sebec and Yashica along with Singer branded products is available at its outlets.

Singer plus contributes 80% of the revenue.

Sisil World: it’s a new distribution channel .yet to official inauguration sisil world promises targeting new market segment and generating more revenue for company. It will consist of product with different pricing strategy and more options for young buyers.

Sales Agents: for remote place or serving small community company gives a person sales agency of singer product with same guide line of singe shop. Typically it have low sales volume compare to singer plus. But it serves as singer voice in distant location.

Singer sales agents contributes abut 8% of revenue which includes in singer plus.

Whole sales: this is distribution network of independent business owner with affiliation with singer. They follow their own guide line but receive products from distribution warehouse.

Whole sale contributes about 5% of total revenue of singer.

Singer Cable: it deals with copper cable selling unit of singer. It contributes 6% of revenue for singer.

Sewing Academy: one of the parts of sewing academy is to provide sales through sewing teachers and it contributes 1% of singer sales.

2.3 Brand and Category Management

Singer has many different brand and product category. To become market leader in each category it traditional emphasis on product management and product department have do the followings. They manage which product will come, which product will stay and which product will not come.

← Supervising the launching of new products. This involves "pushing" the product departments to find new products to sustain company growth, or advising them to study the feasibility of particular products.

← Continuous monitoring of the sales of new and existing products and analyzing.

← The reason for a decline in sales.

← Reviewing trend analysis reports to find out long term demand for products and giving feedback.

← Feasibility study of product: All feasibility studies are done through "in-house" teams, and no external agencies are used.

← Determining degree of optimum CKD. The more "knocked-down" lower the product cost per unit.

← Determining which source is most efficient in terms of price, transportation cost, production cost, etc.

← Determining when to bring, how much to bring, what frequency

← Inventory plan

← Financial feasibility

|Task |function |Time distribution |

|Supporting |Technical knowledge management. |60% |

| |Minor modification and change of models. | |

| |Base line product management. | |

| | | |

|Prospecting |looking for new market |40% |

| |looking for new category | |

| |innovative products | |

Fig 4: product management in singer

Chapter 3: Analysis of SINGER Plus

3.1 SWOT Analysis

The SWOT analysis of singer plus disclose that overall concept of multi brand retailing is a more power channel than mono brand. SWOT analysis consists of an analysis of the external and internal environments. So I do analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats are as follows:

STRENGTHS

1. Multi brand store is more attractive to consumers compare to mono brand store. Consumer has more choice to make and have options to test different features of various brands in same product category.

2. Singer has already a large customer base. Its presence in this region more that 100 years make generations of customer who use singer products and see their ancestors to use them.

3. Customer has trust on brand “singer”. For many reasons singer name is similar to quality and trust. So it can be transformed to singer plus with few steps.

4. Company has sufficient ability to research, develop and change product line and category. For example singer introduce singer, Haier, MEG XL, Samsung color TV in its CTV product category. It continuously changes minor features of individual models and some times introduce new and improved models. So it is unique advantage of company to control product category.

5. Ability to introduce customized version of products that is environment friendly to Bangladesh and suitable to weather and other condition. So IPS of singer has more suitable for local weather and same applicable to CTV, Ref and other products.

6. Singer Bangladesh ltd has more competence and expertise about consumer electronics business in Bangladesh.

7. Singer Bangladesh has 12 month warranty for all its products and customer perceives it as valuable for them. Singer also provide extended warranty if necessary and have customer protection plan which assures user complete mind satisfaction

8. Singer has existing plant facility for electronics products and can take advantage over who don’t have. So if necessary singer can introduce new model of products in shortest possible time frame.

9. Singer has country wide sales, distribution and service network. So it can easily serve large community anywhere in Bangladesh.

10. Singer have good liaison with other manufacturer and OEM vendors. So it can virtually introduce any compatible products to competitor.

WEEKNESSES

1. Cannibalized by own brands in same product category. As customer seeing singer as mono brand and thus new introduce brand some time reduces sales of convenient popular models of singer products. For example- introducing haier Air conditioner reduces sales of singer brand in short time. So it should be consider more cautionary before introducing similar products.

2. Singer service center is more capable in servicing its own branded products and have weakness in serving other brands. Some time it is lacking of product knowledge of technicians and some times scarcity of spare parts of new models. So customer gets disappointed when they expected same level of service for new brand products.

3. Price of same model is significantly different compare to products sold by other individual vendors. So customer perceives price of brand other than singer sold in singer plus store is higher and find no differences in product or after sales service.

4. Existing support personal cant handle frequent introduce of new models or new product range. So singer can’t do any radical change in its product line in short time.

5. Singer emphasis more on entry level models of products, so customer who seek new and improved features frustrated by lack of visible distinctive features that can justify the premium price it charges.

6. Absence of traceable market potential barred singer from introducing new and innovative products. So singer is not market leader in many product categories. For example- singer motor cycle fail to become any big share despite the fact that motor cycle market is big in Bangladesh.

7. High cost of setup and operation make it difficult for singer to experiment with new products or any radical change in product line.

OPPORTUNITIES

1. Freedom of customer is rising day by day, so if we offer more choice for them, they will more loyal to store.

2. Customer preference to new and innovative products is rising. So new model IPhone create market demand in Bangladesh also after introducing the product. So market is not local anymore .we are citizen of global market place. So singer has option to response in these phenomena.

3. As singer is the largest network in Bangladesh .It has fewer competitors who have same capacity. So there is more opportunity to play in this small market.

4. Singer have strong distribution network in Bangladesh. So if singer plans to introduce new product which have sufficient demand that can produces windfall sales and revenue. As singer already move from brand and category management to channel management. So more opportunity is there for singer.

5. There are potential customer market which is not reached yet and new generation of customer who have more buying power and have great potential for any dynamic company. As some source said that mobile phone, portable music player and digital came also have 400 crore market potential. But singer yet to enter the market.

6. Many small producer and importers willing to use the country wide distribution channel and in this sector singer has more opportunity then ever. So if possible singer can offer wide range of products for new and old customer base. As it is no more mono brand store but a multi brand retailing store.

7. Singer has more brand value than new compactors. So singer is in stronger position from very beginning.

8. Singer plus offer brand which already have significant market value and market share.

THREATS

1. Singer has well organized and old rivals like LG-Butterfly, Sony- RANGS, Toshoba-Rangs, and Philips-Transcom. They are always tried to beat singer in many ways.

2. Singer also has small and dynamic competitors who are small in nature but have very dynamic in action. So they response quickly to any market change and take the first harvest. So in this respect singer is slow in response in market change.

3. Same level of product feature offer by competitor and there is no unique selling feature that can be transfer prospects to loyal customer. So products offered by rivals have no different and thus customer perceived them as more generic products.

4. Predatory pricing by competitors compare to premium pricing by singer plus. With similar types of product with no unique feature, it is difficult to compete with fly by night competitors.

3.2 Feasibility test of SWOT Analysis of singer plus

For testing the feasibility of singer plus SWOT Analysis, I assume value of -3 to +3 for evaluating any given point weight age. Taken 0 for base standard.

|STRENGTHS |Factors |Points Score|Total Points |

| |Multi brand store is more attractive to consumers. |+2 |+18 |

| |Singer has already a large customer base |+2 | |

| |Customer has trust on brand “singer”. |+2 | |

| |Company has sufficient ability to research, develop and change product line and|+1 | |

| |category. | | |

| |Ability to introduce customized version of products. |+1 | |

| |Singer has more competence and expertise about consumer electronics business in|+3 | |

| |Bangladesh. | | |

| |Singer Bangladesh has 12 month warranty for all its products. |+1 | |

| |Singer has existing plant facility for electronics products. |+1 | |

| |Singer has country wide sales, distribution and service network. |+3 | |

| |Singer have good liaison with other manufacturer and OEM vendors. |+2 | |

|WEEKNESSES |Factors |Points Score|Total Points |

| |Cannibalized by own brands in same product category. |-2 |-10 |

| |Singer service center have weakness in serving other brands. |-2 | |

| |Price of same model is significantly different compare to products sold by |-1 | |

| |other individual vendors | | |

| |Existing support personal cant handle frequent introduce of new models or new |-1 | |

| |product range. | | |

| |Singer emphasis more on entry level models of products, |-1 | |

| |Absence of traceable market potential barred singer from introducing new and |-2 | |

| |innovative products | | |

| |High cost of setup and operation make it difficult for singer to experiment |-1 | |

| |with new products or any radical change in product line. | | |

|OPPORTUNITIES |Factors |Points Score|Total Points |

| |If we offer more choice for them, they will more loyal to store. |+3 |+19 |

| |Customer preference to new and innovative products is rising |+2 | |

| |Singer has more opportunity to play in this small market. |+3 | |

| |Singer have strong distribution network in Bangladesh |+3 | |

| |There are potential customer market which is not reached yet and new generation|+2 | |

| |of customer who have more buying power and have great potential for any dynamic| | |

| |company. | | |

| |Many small producer and importers willing to use the country wide distribution |+2 | |

| |channel | | |

| |Singer has more brand value than new compactors |+2 | |

| |Singer plus offer brands which already have significant market value and market|+2 | |

| |share | | |

|THREATS |Factors |Points Score|Total Points |

| |Singer has well organized and old rivals |-3 |-9 |

| |Singer is slow in response in market change. |-2 | |

| |Products offered by rivals have no different and thus customer perceived them |-2 | |

| |as more generic products. | | |

| |Predatory pricing by competitors compare to premium pricing by singer plus. |-2 | |

|S(+18) |O(+19) |+37 |

|W(-10) |T(-9) |-19 |

|TOTAL SCORE |+18 |

From above analysis we can say that singer has fair chance to run as multi brand retail store “singer plus”

3.3 Competitive Position of Singer plus

Consumer electronics market is big and has many player and rivals. So to analyze singer plus ,we have compare singer position as product category wise which shows position of singer in various level.

Competitive Position of Singer plus in consumer electronics Segments

|Segment |Singer Plus Position |Enabling Factors |Limiting Factors |

|SEWING MACHINE |High |Strong brand value and brand |Limited supply of iron core makes short supply |

| | |association. |of products. |

|Large LCD TV,PLAZMA TV |Very low |New market and more opportunity |High value customer but singer has low to |

| | |in future |medium level customer. No position in present.|

|Color TV |High |Have stable market position and |Chine made generic CTV is attractive to low end|

| | |loyal customer base. |customers and less brand loyalty. |

|Refreezatator |Medium |Strong position with ALD series |China made generic Ref market is big and singer|

| | |and new position with Samsung RT|also try to enter there. But rivals are more |

| | |series |active in this segment. |

|Washing Machine |Low to Medium |Good customer base in urban |Very small market due to consumer pattern in |

| | |area. Good position with multi |Bangladesh. |

| | |brand products | |

|Air Cooler |Medium |2nd largest distributor of AC in|Price sensitive to international market and |

| | |Bangladesh. Have low price; |limited market due to worst power situation in |

| | |value plus model enable this |Bangladesh. |

| | |position. | |

|Fan |Low to Medium |Strong brand association with |Factory is closed and now OEM by other source. |

| | |singer four blade fans. |So no real profit make in this segment. |

|Iron |Low to medium |Have low to medium demand in all|Market is not growing due to high power use by |

| | |season. Also attract customer to|iron. |

| | |shop. | |

|Micro Oven |Low to medium |New and innovative product which|Partially depends on 3rd party supply and cant |

| | |have growing demand and have |supply according to market demand. |

| | |good reputation for quality | |

| | |service. | |

|Computer |Low to medium |Low price alternative to brand |Only limited number of models are available and|

| | |PC. High demand on low to mid |only Haier brand is available. So customer has |

| | |level customers. |very little choice. So market is not captured |

| | | |as desired. |

|IPS |Low to medium |Reliable service and warranty |High price and continuous rising of retail |

| | |attract more customer .so there |price make market condition unstable and demand|

| | |is growing market for IPS. |for low end IPS rises and demand for high |

| | | |priced IPS fallen. But Singer offer only high |

| | | |priced IPS and have limited market share. |

|Motor Cycle |low |High market growth and demand |No quality matches for Indian motor cycle like |

| | |for quality product is in the |Hero Honda, Bazaz. Or don’t have spare parts |

| | |market place. Singer motor cycle|available like other Indian and china made |

| | |is |motor cycle have. So singer motor cycle market |

| | | |is isolate from main market and only attracts |

| | | |novice customers. |

|Guarantor |low |Low priced compare to other |Price hick of gas limits the market and quality|

| | |Indian and china brand. So |of products are not over than other generics |

| | |customer has willing to test |available in market. |

| | |this product. | |

3.4 Situational Analysis: PEST Analysis of “Singer Plus” retailing.

Political Factors:

Form past experience it shows that political factors contributing very low in consumer retail business. There is always demand for consumer goods despite the political situation. So although year 2007 goes under various political torn moil but sales of singer products is good. So it explains that political factors are not so important for CE business. But there are some impacts for bureaucratic influence over business and level of corruption and other facts that controls how to do business in Bangladesh.

Economic Factors:

Now a days pro reform policy of government leads to many privatization of industry and business. So there is some improvement in business sector. But traditional Bangladesh is an agricultural country. So consumer electronics sales in this region are not directly proportioned to global scenario. But Bangladesh has some potential new industry and promises future growth. Buying power of consumers is low, so there is always risk of doing business of electronics good which some time consider as luxury goods. There is also constraining from electricity production and consumption demand ratio. This is very alarming situation for industrial growth and other development. So due to this reason Bangladesh is lacking behind.

Government has policy which encourages FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) and thus many global companies have business in Bangladesh.

Socio- Cultural Factors:

By nature mid level consumer are value driven. So there is high demand for durable home appliance which offers best value for money. Thus singer plus have great opportunity in this market condition. Traditionally singer offers goods which are durable in nature and have good will for its service. So socio-economic factors are in favor of introducing singer plus retailing. But lack of electricity in rural area barred singer plus form expanding its network to root level.

Technological Factors:

Singer has heritage of supplying technically sound products. Singer has relation with major OEM players in China, Thailand, and India and thus its power of outsourcing production plant to 3rd party make possible singer to thing only marketing and distribution of goods. Thus technical infrastructure e is in favor of singer. More over in present situation Bangladesh has very little option for making a factory for refreezaretor or air cooler. So out sourcing is the only solution.

Chapter 4: profitability and customer acceptance of singer plus as multi brand retailing

4.1 profit and pricing

Many companies formerly thought that they would make the most profit by paying the least to their suppliers, employees, distributors, and dealers. This is zero-sum thinking, namely that there is a fixed pie and the company keeps the most by giving its partners the least. This is not true; the company ends up attracting poor suppliers, poor employees, and poor distributors. Their outputs are poor, they are demoralized, many leave, replacement costs are high, and the company is impoverished. Today’s winning companies work on the positive-sum theory of marketing. They contract with excellent suppliers, employees, distributors, and dealers. They operate together as a team seeking a win-win-win outcome. And the company ends up as a stronger winner.

Pricing is one of the core elements of marketing management. The American Marketing Association offers this managerial definition Marketing is the process of planning and executing the conception pricing, promotion, and distribution of ideas, goods, and services to create exchange that satisfy individual and organizational goals. There are different ways of pricing products and service. Each has its own advantage and disadvantage. Pricing of a brand is a challenge. Companies need to define the brands basic essence to be delivered wherever it is sold. Local executions can be varied as long as they deliver the feel of the brand. Companies must measure their brand-building effectiveness not by the old measures of awareness, recognition, and recall, but by a more comprehensive set of measures including customer perceived value, customer satisfaction, and customer share of wallet, customer retention, and customer advocacy.

4.2 Pricing at Singer Plus:

Singer follows a cost plus mark up policy as this is best suite for a retailer and company can control its cost and maximized its profit. Before introducing multi brand it is singer mono brand. It has already a well established network and new channel can use it as expansion. So if consider incremental cost of introducing singer plus, this is very nominal and most of the cost are already incurred by singer stores. So if we can consider new costs incurred by singer plus as follows. It can be seen that there are no or minimum cost associate with introducing the new channel concept singer plus. Thus it enable company to further stronger its position on Bangladesh market.

|Cost head |Singer |Singer plus |

|Channel establishment cost |Yes |no |

|Brand management cost |Yes |no |

|Administrative cost |Yes |no |

|Initial setup cost |Yes |no |

|OEM cost |yes |yes |

|Transportation cost |Yes |yes |

|Warehousing cost |Yes |no |

|Promotional cost |Yes |partial |

So if we sell singer plus new brand as OEM cost and transport cost and profit margin then it enable company to capture the market in shortest possible time. So we can view singer plus project as positively. An only chance of negative option is if company can’t sell it at cost price. This possibility is very low.

4.3 Customer acceptability of “singer plus” as multi brand retailing.

Multi brand retailing in consumer electronics business is fairly new in Bangladesh. Singer Bangladesh has already a countrywide distribution network and has good liaison with multiple vendor. So it is easy for singer Bangladesh to introduce multi brand retailing channel “Singer Plus”. But here we try to find customer acceptability of “Singer Plus”. Singer has mono brand presence in this country more than 100 years. So there are legacy which must consider in this case.

We review customers and prospects of singer brand to study the effect of introducing multi brand “Singer Plus”. Based on the result of the study findings are as follows.

4.3.1 Customer view point of “singer plus”

Traditionally consumers see singer as a brand of Sewing Machine Company. Over Time Company transform to retail distribution channel. But legacy continue, still singer company can’t deliver singer sewing machine quantity to fulfill the customer demand. Still sewing machine sales is stable despite the fact that home use of this product is narrow market.

I found 85% of customers welcome multi brand “singer plus”. Out of 67 respondent 57 welcome singer plus, others want to stick to only singer brand.[pic]

Fig 5: Singer vs Singer Plus

4.3.2 Customer ranking of brands at singer plus

Which brand do you give most priority? In this response it reveals that singer is most popular brand in singer plus store, but Samsung is also very important place, haier brand get some popularity in short time for its air cooler series. Other brands are not that significant.

[pic]

Fig 6: Brand Ranking at Singer Plus

4.3.3 Customer’s priority when purchasing a product.

When purchasing a durable consumer product customer prefer product quality as most priority thing, price is also important factor. Customer response in this question is mix. Result is as follows

[pic]

Fig 7: Priority element of product

|Most preferred thing when purchasing products? |

|priority |one |two |three |four |five |

|Price |20 |35 |5 |4 |3 |

|Product Quality |5 |15 |20 |20 |7 |

|Brand Name |40 |10 |10 |6 |1 |

|After Sales Service |2 |7 |12 |27 |19 |

|Others |0 |0 |20 |10 |37 |

Fig 8: Priority data of product purchase

4.3.4 Customer’s Brand Loyalty in Singer plus store.

Regarding Brand Loyalty which best describe you? Answering to this question 60% customer said they prefer singer product,23 % said it depends and 17 % customer don’t have any fixed brand preference.

[pic]

Fig 9: Customer Brand preference at Singer Plus

Chapter 5: Conclusion & Recommendation

Based on the study of singer plus. I find it positive and welcoming of introducing new distribution channel and marketing channel named “Singer Plus”. My recommendations are as follows

▪ Marketing is become more based on information than on brute force sales power. So company should know industry, prospects, problems or potentials. I recommended sales automation software where a sales person can record each prospects and customer needs, interests and options.

▪ Besides sales automation software I also recommend real time inventory management, where a marketer can tell what the company and its competitor sold yesterday and with more details. This will enable not only more synchronous production planning but also real-time tactical responses.

▪ Nurturing and caring each brand name with detailing and to make sure there is no cannibalizing brand or category. Conflicting brand and products will hamper overall company image. So singer plus should take care when introducing new brand.

▪ Market segmentation and proper product mix and marketing mix are necessary for success of multi brand retailing. So some marketing research project need to start for better understanding the market and customer.

▪ A unified pricing strategy for product category .so that company can take advantage of attracting different customer segment.

▪ More intermigration with OEM vendors, Supplier is need for better product availability.

▪ 3 times inventory of sales forecast or sales target is necessary for proper merchandising and promotion attractiveness.

▪ Improved service center and customer service in key to manage multi brand retailing successful.

( Rolnicki, Kenneth, Managing Channels of Distribution, 121 (book reference)

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