Promotional activities in trade and different ways to improve them

Abstract

Abstract: It is well known that advertising is one of the main means of improving the efficiency of trade. However, promotional activities do not always bring sufficient effectiveness. The main subject of this article is search of the causes of low efficiency of promotional activities in modern conditions, and finding the way how to resolve them. Keywords: trade, retail trade, sales promotion, advertising campaign, BTL-advertising. The sphere of trade is characterized by a high level of com-petition. In order to operate business successfully, trade orga-nizations need to carry out various actions to obtain sales. At present time, various promotional activities are widely used in trade. At the same time the number of outdoor advertising is so huge that the person will not just pay attention on it. Tradi -tional methods of advertising every year more and more lose their effectiveness. Today’s fast rhythm of life and oversupply of information lead to the fact that people sometimes do not notice numerous outdoor advertising. This factor applies to an even greater degree to advertising on television. But on the other hand, no matter how the sphere of influence of BTL ad-vertising is expending and so non-standard advertising projects are on the top. So an integral part of life of the typical citizens is different kinds of promotional activities which are often car-ried out directly in the place of trade. The retailers offer dif-ferent activities such as tasting, consultations of the specific brand, the campaign “gift for purchase” and samplings (distri-bution of samples or probes, from the English. — Sampling).Different types of BTL — advertising have been used for quite a long amount of time, however, the results of analysis give the information that the promotional activities are often not effective enough. In most cases it is possible either to per -form a promotion at a lower cost, or to achieve a greater level of its effectiveness.In the context of rapidly increasing competition among advertising agencies there is need of looking for the new ways of developing and solving urgent problems. Only then it is possible to improve the effectiveness of work and win a firm place in the field of advertising. The main purpose of the ar-ticle is to identify the main problems faced by the trade or-ganizations during activities of sales stimulating and to offer some solutions to these problems.The problem of sales promotion is widely presented in the modern literature. For example, modern methods of stimu-lating are found in the work of RuchinaE.M. [1], the use of intangible assets and the objective to increase the efficien-cy of the trade organization in the work of IvanovG.G. [2]. Features of promotional activities of wholesale enterprises are considered in the work of Bazhenov J. K. [3]. The main direc-tions of development of managerial innovations in the adver -tising agency are addressed in article of Hapenkov V. N. [4].Promotional activities begin with different trainings for staff and promotional meetings for supervisors. The main topic of discussion is penalties for theft because theft is the biggest problem of the advertising agency for any time.Promotional activities are held throughout the city and at the same time in several trade organizations. It one store are usually involved two or three promo employees and one stationary supervisor. Thus, a manager has approximately fifty employees and it is not possible to control them carefully.Moreover, the work of manager is practically impossible to check and that is why often he does not perform his func-tions well or does not perform at all. This leads to the fact that the advertising product does not apply for promotions. It is derived from the weight of advertising material by the promot -ers and then they sell it in different places.In the markets and in small-town kiosks it is easy to find promotional product which illegally overbought from super -visors. On the one hand, this leads to the fact that the promo -tional action is less effective because of the possible lack of advertising material, on the other hand, the number of legal sales is reduced.Promotional material which uses in advertising cam-paigns is attractive not only for supervisors but also for em-ployees themselves. Employees of security service do not let the promo staff go into the store until they get a pair of boxes with the name “sample is not for sale”.The same price managers appoint for registration in the store and the allocation of space for advertising board. All this leads to the fact that a significant proportion of the target audience which is a potential customer for the trade organiza -tion is lost due to the simple lack of promotional products.Store employees play a very important role in organiza-tion of various promotional activities. Meeting consultants, holding them up to the point of sale, a demonstration of the