It is observed that countries around the world have all been impacted by the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The global average out-of-stock % rate for soft drink products sold online was 5.3% for the first few months of 2020. Monitoring changes in the number of available SKUs sold online shows that soft drink product availability declined drastically due to the COVID-19 outbreak. New Zealand, China and Italy saw the largest declines in available SKUs from January to August, leading to frustrated or confused online soft drinks shoppers. As per different research estimates, the demand for beverages has come down sharply in the country due to coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic despite the scorching hot. According to business insiders, the demand for beverages dropped immensely as most shops, hotels, restaurants, movie houses, convention and party centres (the hotspots for selling those items) were closed with the outbreak of the pandemic, that made the companies curious about how to attain goals. 

Moreover, soft drink manufacturers are facing pressure on two fronts: the amount of sugar in their drinks and the amount of plastic waste their products produce. In this regard, coco-cola is attempting to solve the second problem with the development and testing of a paper bottle prototype. Although many scholars have pointed out the benefits of using innovative marketing campaigns that might influence growth, companies are continuously striving for adopting with suitable advertising strategy and sales promotion measures. Companies like Coca-Cola has already pledged to collect a bottle or can for everyone it sells by 2030 and offer 100 per cent recyclability and zero waste, so a paper bottle would go a long way towards achieving that. It's not a completely plastic-free bottle, though. While collecting information other than the problem at hand, companies feel that this type of data might lack accuracy, or they might not be completely current or dependable. Producers and traders said the demand marked a fall by 20- 30 per cent during the pandemic after it hit the country on March 8 last, reports UNB. Director (Marketing) of PRAN-RFL Group Kamruzzaman Kamal said at the initial stage of the virus outbreak, many people thought that the beverage products needed to be avoided to save themselves from the virus as its patients suffer mostly from cold fever. Hence, it has become essential for them to undertake different strategies to collect wider range of information, insights and ideas from customers. The companies also need to ensure the respondents are not forced to express their opinion as well. They also need to discuss with researchers about the nature of the description to reduce scale ambiguity. Moreover, to understand the customers’ relative attitudes, opinions, perceptions and preferences, the research should undertake solid scale. Zillur Rahman, a beverage vendor in Old Dhaka, said the sales of different beverages, including bottled water, declined sharply over the last several months. They predicted that Summer is a good time for selling beverage items but this summer has been an exception. The global market also took the heat, particularly during the period when the lockdown was enforced to prevent the transmission of the virus, Kamal added. Instead, “bottled water has a good demand for customers this time. But the sales have been reduced more than 30 per cent this year compared to previous years,” he added. In this case, there could be a chance to get the data having variation between the information sought and the information generated by the measurement process. There could be a room of error about the variation between the populations defined by the researchers as implied in the checklist, as it is difficult to reach the target market. SM Jahangir Hossain, Managing Director of Bangla Food and Beverage Ltd, said,

“The virus has affected much of the businesses in the country. However, some 300 beverage-manufacturing companies are members of our association (BAPA). All of them have been affected by the pandemic,” he added. Jahangir hoped that the sales would go up after the reopening of all shops, hotels, restaurants, educational institutions, convention and party centres.

[The case information is sourced from renowned newspapers in the country and is acknowledging the authors for the valuable insight]

A. What research strategies would you recommend the companies to overcome this scenario based on the context? (Use the relevant concepts and make the terminologies bold and justify)
B. Can you develop your own conceptual model based on the context and explain a process to understand the strength of the relationship of those variables? Only Explanation of the process is required, use your own chosen values.