Abstract
Fashion is very dynamic and way of life for humans in many consumer products, clothing included. In Kenya, the clothing industry is characterized by a dynamic environment and intense competition caused mainly by enlarged globalization, trade liberalization and importation of second-hand (mitumba) clothes. In this kind of environment, it is becoming increasingly difficult for an enterprise to maintain long-term success. Thus, the clothing enterprises are faced with challenges that demand them to offer higher value added products that meet the demands of the customers. As a solution, sound marketing strategies are critical to the survival and growth of micro-enterprises in the garment making sector. However, there is limited research that has looked at the enterprises from a marketing strategy perspective in terms of the type of marketing strategies that are embraced. This paper aims at highlighting the various marketing strategies. The study used ex-post facto research design targeting garment-making micro-enterprises with less than ten employees in Nakuru town. The main data collection instrument was a questionnaire that comprised closed and open-ended questions. Principal component analysis and Chi-square goodness-of-fit test (x2) were used to determine the various marketing strategies and test the hypothesis that there was no variation in the marketing strategies implemented by garment-making micro-enterprises. Eight strategies were identified as being implemented by garment-making micro-enterprises. Based on the results of this study, it is concluded that interactive marketing is the most implemented strategy while e-marketing is the least. However, further research is required to explore the impact of implementing the various marketing strategies on the growth of the enterprises. Key words: Garment-making, micro and small enterprises, marketing strategies.
Highlights
To survive and out of necessity, many people engage in entrepreneurial activities such as garment-making as micro enterprises
The garment-making entrepreneurs must adopt marketing strategies that will make them achieve a competitive advantage and enable them remain relevant in the market place
The remaining 22 variables yielded eight strategies, namely; E-marketing; Interactive Marketing; Market Penetration; Pricing; Branding and Cost Reduction; Product Differentiation; Customer Focus; and Product Quality. These strategies had eigenvalues greater than 1 and the total variance accounted for was about 64%. This indicates there are the eight strategies are associated with marketing efforts by the garment-making micro-enterprises (Tables 1 and 2)
Summary
To survive and out of necessity, many people engage in entrepreneurial activities such as garment-making as micro enterprises. These enterprises are aimed at providing specific goods and services to targeted apparel consumers. According to Mulu-Mutuku et al (2004), many manufacturing micro-enterprises in Nakuru have generally stagnated in terms of growth mainly due to competition. This is witnessed especially in the garment making sector that is characterized by a variety of substitutes and free entry and exit into business. The garment-making entrepreneurs must adopt marketing strategies that will make them achieve a competitive advantage and enable them remain relevant in the market place
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