Case/scenario

We are passing an uncertain time that can be very difficult for us to comprehend. Many are assuming that this pandemic of COVID-19 might be here for a long time, couple of years at least. Businesses are facing an unprecedented challenge to survive. The impact of this pandemic will affect different industries differently and hence, they need to adapt accordingly.

The post pandemic world can be very different from the one that we know. Consumers will adapt a different lifestyle and a conservative economic approach. The overall economic situation might continue to decline for a long time before it starts to pick up again. Even global leaders are not thinking any differently for businesses in 2020.

"For people in business, 2020 is really just a year for staying alive. Don't even talk about your dreams or plans. Just make sure you stay alive. If you can stay alive, then you would have made a profit already" - Jack Ma

In our country, businesses have started to operate in limited scale and might get back close to full scale after the month of September 2020.

E-commerce industry (Daraz, Chaldal, Pickaboo, Evaly, Othoba etc.): Although few of the market experts/ leaders have been saying, this year is a good start for e-com industry to established themselves as they are in high demand now, in reality, only few of the companies are standing tight in this challenging time, especially those who were previously involved in few specific categories like- grocery, food & snacks and FMCG. Even highly contributed categories like electronics; home appliances and fashion have been declining ever since the pandemic started. Just to survive, some of them have already shifted their focus in between these categories and investing more on groceries and other household items (i.g Daraz) and some have added new services along with their existing ones (i.g. Foodpanda adding 'Panda Mart'; Pathao adding 'Tong').

TASK

Let's assume that you have just graduated from North South University and opened up a marketing consultation firm where you help brands/companies not just with their advertising needs but also with overall marketing strategies PriyoShop.com has chosen your company as their marketing consultant and the Management has assigned you the responsibility to make a plan for the changes required in strategies due to the Covid-19 crisis.

Q.

Identify two-market segment you think the given company should target with their online business during this crisis; for each segment, describe their profile using market segmentation variables. Write the positioning statement for the chosen company that is targeted to one of the segments you just identified. Other that competitors, what factors might cause the given company to reposition its products?