Marketing Strategies Adopted to Gain a Competitive Advantage by Supermarkets in Kakamega Town, Kenya

Abstract

Shopping in Kakamega and other major towns in Kenya has seen a shift from retail shops to supermarket chains. Shoppers will prefer to visit a supermarket and get all the products they want under one roof. Besides, there is no bargaining or haggling in a supermarket. This has seen the growth of supermarkets in Kakamega to four, namely; Tuskys, Nakumatt, Yako and Wallias. Buyers are becoming more aware of what they want and what they consume as most people are not only educated, but learned. When the buyer has full information about prevailing market conditions, actual prices and even supplier costs, the buyer gets greater bargaining leverage than when information is poor. The acquisition of such information has been facilitated by development of information technologies via the internet which has simplified the information sharing between consumers and suppliers, giving consumers greater bargaining power which in turn has forced supermarkets to devise strategies so that they can adopt to the ever-changing marketing environment in order to be competitive and it’s for reason that this study evaluates promotion, price variation, location and improved customer as strategies adopted for competitive edge and identify a strategy with greater returns. This study will be conducted in supermarkets in Kakamega town using descriptive research. Questionnaires, interviews schedules and observation will be used as instruments of data collection. This will provide information that will help draw conclusions on the marketing strategy that the supermarkets employ to gain a competitive edge. The conclusion of the research can help the marketing managers of the supermarkets improve in their day to day operations and also help future researchers develop on this study.