Market positioning strategies adopted by courier companies Kenya

Abstract

This study was conducted with the objective of establishing the Market positioning strategies adopted by Courier companies in Kenya, and the challenges faced by Courier companies in their attempt to position their services in the market. The study considered the whole population of Courier companies that are licensed by the Communications Commission of Kenya to operate in the country of which there were 75 firms as at the time of this study. Primary data was collected using questionnaires that had both closed and open-ended questions. Closed questions mainly adopted a five point Likert scale. The questionnaires were distributed to those in managerial and supervisory positions who were deemed instrumental in making marketing decisions in the firm and the same were later collected for analysis having been duly completed by the various respondents. The response rate was 100% of the targeted population. The highest percentage (84%) of the organizations that responded were locally registered, while a small percentage (12%) are foreign registered, and the rest (4%) are multinational. The data was analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The study revealed that all Courier companies appreciate various positioning strategies. The findings also revealed that majority of the Courier companies use similar attributes such as physical evidence and processes, Personnel, distribution, price, and products to position their services in the market place. From the findings of the study it can also be deduced that Courier companies have used various positioning strategies to position their services ill different market segments, but largely to different extents. The findings also revealed that the extent to which Courier companies use different media was varied and that all courier companies largely use word of mouth communication. This may serve to explain the low advertising expenditure in the industry but a high use of sales people for purposes of gathering market intelligence, a situation that perhaps lends credence to customer ignorance as cited by majority of the courier companies as a major challenge in positioning. The findings also revealed that almost all courier companies largely strive to use easily located points and within close proximity to their customers as positioning strategies to serve their customers. However, despite most courier companies positioning themselves in less congested areas and providing mobile services, there seemed to be a wide disparity among respondents as revealed by the findings. The study also revealed that market activity and target market positioning are moderately utilized by Courier companies. The findings of the study also revealed that the Courier industry faces the challenge of slow growth. This is an aspect that poses a challenge more especially to courier companies that have chosen to serve niche markets whose growth is deemed to be slow, in addition to a high number of courier companies that are currently operating without licenses that pose a major threat in the competitive arena. Given that the current study was limited to courier companies that are registered by the Communications Commission of Kenya, it was recommended that a similar study be carried out on Non-registered companies in the courier industry to establish the market positioning strategies that are used by these companies to position their service offering in the market place. It was also suggested that a similar study be carried out to establish the perception of customers on the various market positioning strategies that are used by Courier companies.