NMIMS JUNE 2020 ASSIGNMENT - MERCHANDISING MANAGEMENT CUSTOMIZED ANSWER

MERCHANDISING MANAGEMENT

1. What are the elements of a store How would you go about starting your own exclusive store of potato chips using innovative techniques of display, promotions and selling

2. What are the functions of a Merchandising Manager

3. Case Study

PepsiCo lays its chips on the hyperlocal highway

The company finesses the regional game for Lay&rsquos and Kurkure, acquires local taste and habits to beat back competition from homegrown snackmakers.

With southern markets on its radar, PepsiCo India is drilling down into local tastes and food habits to develop local and hyperlocal variants while rethinking its positioning tactics. It has just launched a variant for Lay&rsquos that seeks to replace the traditional papad rice and lentil crispies as a meal time snack for southern market. Lay&rsquos Wafer Style comes close on the heel of its launch of another product aimed at the same market, Kurkure Masala Munch with gingelly sesame seeds oil, a taste earlier catered to only by hyperlocal labels.

What makes PepsiCo focus so keenly on south and its regionalisation the way to counter the growing power of the local brands such as Haldiram&rsquos, Bikanerwala, Balaji and numerous startup labels promising healthy snacks

However, catering to specific local tastes is not the only challenge. With increasing health consciousness among consumers, brands have to walk the line between taste and wellness with care. The Mintel study shows that some brands address this by introducing healthy ingredients into their recipes, while some offer snacks with high fibre content. It depends on the insights the brands are playing with and given the market potential, the global brands are all ramping up their ambitions and efforts to think and act local.

a. Pepsi is trying to cater to the southern market by trying to change the habits of the consumers with its two new launches. Will this strategy succeed Why is south so important market for pepsi. Why do you need local stars to endorse your brand

b. Why are they trying to market this product as a meal time snack and what is the percentage of people having salty snack along with their meals and how do you increase this number How do people relish their lunch and dinner in south and what should pepsi do diffent than what the south manufacturers are doing to retain their market share