Analysis of Data

Brands Sold by retailers There are three major brands seen in central and harbor line of Mumbai-ACC,ACL(Ambuja Cement Limited), UTCL(Ultratech Cement Limited) which are giving tough competition to each other. From the survey done, it can be analyzed that there are very few retailers which sell only one brand of cement. They sell one or more than one brand of cement to meet end consumers demand.
all three brands ACC ACL UTCL ACC & ACL ACC & UTCL UTCL & ACL others 33 5 6 6 7 21 15 9

35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0

33

Brands retailers sell

all 3 brands 21 15 7 9 ACC ACL UTCL 5 6 6 ACC & ACL ACC & UTCL UTCL & ACL brands others

Interpretation: From the above graph, we can analyze that most of the retailers keep at least two brands to be in competition because customer nowadays are very alert about purchasing cement. There are very few retailers who sell only one brand except the retailers who are exclusive retailer of any cement brand.

No. of dealers from which retailers get cement Its very important to know that from how many dealers cement is supplied to retailers because that helps to analyze that what is their selling and what is their reputation in market. ACC have policy of one-to-one linkage where retailer can take cement from only one dealer with which company is connected. However, retailer can change its dealer due to any genuine problem but no. of dealer is only one. UTCL had taken advantage of ACCs policy because in Ultratech there is no such policy, so retailer can get cement from how many dealers he want. By this way, Ultratech had increased it sales and retailers do their business by rolling dealers finance.

NO. OF DEALERS brands ACC ACL UTCL 1 67 29 14 2 0 23 12 3 0 3 26 4 0 1 6 5 0 2 7 6 0 0 5 7 0 0 4 8 TOTAL 0 0 1 67 58 75

No. of dealers from which retailers get cement

80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 No. of dealers

ACC ACL UTCL

Interpretation: From the given chart, we can analyze that how Ultratech had taken benefit of ACCs policy and how many dealers it offers to retailers.

Demand of Customer Customer is considered as king of market. So it is duty of retailer to keep cement brand which customer wants to purchase. Companies do lots of promotional activities and advertising to remain visible in customers mind. Retailers had given their view that customer comes to their counter with some brand decided in their mind but they can easily convert them into other brand of which they have stock if they do not have that cement which is demanded by customer. From below chart, we can conclude that what is demand of customer.

Demand of Customer

Brands ACC ACL UTCL

ACC ACL UTCL

no. of votes 24 32 44

24% 44%

32%

Interpretation: From the above chart, we can come to know that most of the customers demand Ultratech cement because Ultratech cement is very powerful in advertising. It had hoardings, advertising on buses, signage, promotional activities which make their product visible and customer to remember it easily.

Recommendation of retailers As above mentioned, it is up to retailers that which brands they want to sell. So it is very important for company to maintain their retailers so that their sale does not get affected. Company does various types of activities to attract retailers because they know that if retailers are satisfied then automatically their sales will go high. In this question, Net Promoter Scale (NPS) is used which shows that what ranks are given by retailers which can promote their product. Scale is from 1 to 10. If rank comes between 1 to 3 then they are detractors, if ranks come between 4 to 7 then they are fence, if rank comes between 8 to 10 then they are called promoters. Company has to take immediate actions if NPS comes to detractors because it is harmful to company.

rank 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

No 1 6 5 4 14 19 8 6 0 9

rank
1, 2% 2, 4% 3, 5% 10, 18%

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

4, 7% 5, 9% 6, 11%

9, 16%

8, 15%

7, 13%

Interpretation: From the below data, it was identified that ACC is on fence because it was mostly scaled between 5-6-7, it is neither harmful nor advantageous to company. Also it was found out during survey that retailers recommend UTCL more to customers because UTCL do lots of promotional activities which attract retailers to purchase their cement and recommend to end-users.

To which parameter more priority is given by retailers Retailers have some parameters set in their mind to which they give priority. In other word, retailers rank these parameters according to their requirement. Company has to identify these parameters and satisfy retailers expectation. In this questionnaire, certain parameters were identified such as brand pull, cash and non-cash incentive, time and quantity, access to credit etc which are generally expected by retailers. From that, one is able to identify that what is retailers requirement and what should be companys plan of action.
Promotional brand cash non cash access to time and price company sales support pull/prestige incentive incentive credit quantity discipline force support and events 1 2 0 7 33 29 3 14 3 10 1 6 33 21 11 5 10 8 6 19 5 19 11 11 17 23 2 13 6 0 14 15 6 14 21 24 4 3 15 3 11 13 30 13 5 3 12 5 18 19 18 4 2 2 13 14 24 1 12 4 2 13 11 23

rank 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

priority given by retailers

35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Rank 1 Rank 2 Rank 3 Rank 4 Rank 5 Rank 6 Rank 7 Rank 8 parameters

Interpretation: From the above graph, one can conclude that retailer give more priority to time and quantity and then price discipline. It means that retailers want delivery should be on time and they want that packaging should be done in way that it can be stored in rainy season also. Further, it was found out that retailers are very unhappy with fluctuation that occur in price of cement, they said that price should be maintained up to some period of time. Cash incentive and non cash incentive was ranked average which concludes that retailers want that incentives such as cheques, free trips to out of state or out of India, complimentary gifts, gold coins, gifts on auspicious occasions etc. Promotional support and events was ranked high so it means that retailers want promotional activity to take place, events such as contractor and mason meeting, free hoarding on their shop, social get-together of all retailers, awards to highest selling retailer etc. This plays an important role for a company because if they had done promotion of their product and make their promotion visible to end user then sale will automatically increase. Here, one parameter draws attention that they do not give importance to brand pull but to incentives and promotional activity. So they want incentives which benefits to them and not to brand.

Comparison of parameter with competitors ACC is not the only leading cement company in India so it become important for them to check that how competitors are doing with that parameter and where they are behind from them. This question will help ACC to analyze that what is actual situation in market, what is competitors strategy, how can they take competitor advantage and where they can improve to gain market share. Here shown is how companies are actually working on parameters. There were 10 counters who did give response to these questions. ACC
promotional support and events 5 3 10 6 2 7 8 16

brand cash non cash access to time and price company sales rank pull/prestige incentive incentive credit quantity discipline force support 1 2 0 0 0 16 17 17 2 4 7 0 1 19 13 9 3 5 7 12 10 4 4 4 4 11 10 9 12 4 3 2 5 3 8 8 18 2 7 8 6 17 7 11 9 3 1 2 7 7 14 5 3 4 6 8 8 7 3 11 3 4 5 7

ACC's actual performance

20 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 Rank 1 Rank 2 Rank 3 Rank 4 Rank 5 Rank 6 Rank 7 Rank 8 Parameters

Interpretation: ACC has highest ranked first in time and quantity, price discipline and company sales support so company do not need to focus more on this parameters because retailers are happy with companys logistic system and customer support service. Further, company had ranked average in cash and non cash incentive so company has to put more efforts to change their incentive system which can be accepted by retailers. Parameters in which company is far behind are brand pull and promotional supports and events. ACC has to make a plan of action on how to create brand pull and what innovative ways can be carried out for promotions of ACC premium cement. ACL
promotional support and events 3 4 9 6 6 2 8 19

brand cash non cash access to time and price company sales rank pull/prestige incentive incentive credit quantity discipline force support 1 27 0 0 10 6 7 2 2 7 1 2 9 11 14 9 3 0 1 6 12 14 15 1 4 8 4 5 7 7 4 15 5 3 22 7 9 3 1 6 6 4 14 23 4 2 7 1 7 6 7 9 5 5 5 14 8 2 8 5 1 9 4 9

ACL's actual performance

30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Rank 1 Rank 2 Rank 3 Rank 4 Rank 5 Rank 6 Rank 7 Rank 8 Parameters

Interpretation: On the contrary, Ambuja cement ranked highest in brand pull and due to it, it does not require to do promotions to increase their sales. It knows that customer will purchase its cement even if it does not give any incentives to retailers and so it had ranked less in giving incentives. Ambuja is so well known among contractors and masons that in spite it ranked low in time and quantity and price discipline, contractors wait for its delivery so that they can use Ambuja cement only. Due this carelessness, It may be possible that in long run Ambuja can lose its market share. UTCL

rank 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

promotional brand cash non cash access time and price company sales support pull/prestige incentive incentive to credit quantity discipline force support and events 0 2 0 9 4 11 4 39 1 2 5 8 13 20 12 6 6 3 0 21 18 6 6 8 4 7 10 18 11 3 12 4 11 11 13 8 7 8 10 2 9 12 23 0 9 4 6 3 14 24 10 4 4 10 3 2 24 8 8 1 3 7 15 4

UTCL's actual performance

45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 brand cash pull/prestige incentive non cash incentive access to credit time and quantity price discipline company promotional sales force support and support events Rank 1 Rank 2 Rank 3 Rank 4 Rank 5 Rank 6 Rank 7 Rank 8

Parameters

Interpretation: Ultratech cement is below average in brand pull, company sales support, price discipline and time and quantity, still it is demanded highest by customer. Its only reason is promotional support and events done by him. It constantly give PoPs, passes of any event, sponsored trips etc to retailers which attract them to sell Ultratech cement more. ACC can study their market strategy that Ultratech is doing its marketing and then ACC can also create innovative strategies to attract retailers and end users.

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Area of improvement Any company who want to touch sky of success has to constantly improve and update itself with latest technologies and competitors marketing strategies and most importantconsumers demand. ACC is a company which believes in changing itself for betterment of consumer and retailers. It always tries to remain updated with what is happening in market and how they need to change to meet consumers and retailers need. So, they had asked to add a question in questionnaire from which they can come to know that how actually retailers want company to be improved. In this question, parameters such as product availability, pricing, execution of scheme, logistic support, promotion initiative e etc are included which are generally need to be improved. Many retailers do not answered to question and many retailers did not felt that company need to improved i.e. they are very satisfied with whatever company is doing. There were many retailers who were negative to this question and said that company will not change its entire policies and strategies for few retailers, so this question is not of any use. It is not going to change working of company. There were 32 counters who did not give response to this question because some were busy and some did not find this question necessary to be answered.

product execution logistic promotion dealer stock out sales person end-user rank availability pricing of scheme support initiative accounting problem visit CSS education 1 6 8 23 7 13 5 2 2 0 2 2 7 19 20 5 9 1 2 5 0 0 3 11 14 9 2 3 12 2 2 11 2 4 9 9 5 7 17 8 8 4 0 1 5 8 2 5 10 5 16 4 9 8 1 6 4 8 2 11 4 10 9 6 8 6 7 9 3 1 6 8 7 9 12 10 2 8 4 0 1 4 3 6 20 19 7 3 9 4 1 2 13 2 3 9 7 20 6 10 6 4 0 3 4 0 2 1 3 44

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ACC's area of improvement

50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Rank 1 Rank 2 Rank 3 Rank 4 Rank 5 Rank 6 Rank 7 Rank 8 Rank 9 Rank 10

Parameters

Interpretation:From the above graph, we can analyze that most of the retailers ranked first and second to execution of scheme because they complained that in ACC, even after scheme is launched, there is no proper execution of scheme. There is no proper plan of action of how scheme need to be worked out. Secondly, they had ranked to promotion initiative that there is no promotion initiative in ACC as compared to UTCL. Retailers complained that they arrange sponsored trips in same place again and again, they did not give extra passes when needed, no inclusion of them in gettogether. Talking about logistic support, retailers gave feedback that all companies give fast delivery in off season i.e. during rainy season but when there is high demand of cement, company fails to deliver them on time. They correctly said that if company knows that what annual demand of cement in market is then company should produce accordingly to meet demand.
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While, product availability, sales person visit and customer support service is ranked average so ACC is remarkably good in it. Still, they cannot afford to overlook it because competitors are very much aware of what is lacking in other companies. Lastly, Stock out problem is genuine problem faced by retailers but still it is not as important as logistic support.ACC need to study that what is reason of stock out and how they can deal with it. ACC is leading Cement Company in India and they are always ready to do improve so if they focus on this parameters, they will definitely be ahead than its competitors.

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Comparison of parameters with competitors Its very necessary for any company to know that what their competitors are improving and changing themselves to increase their market share. They can be step ahead of their competitors if they learn something from their competitors and gain competitive advantage. Similarly, this question is added to know that what UTCL and ACL are doing with parameters as compared to ACC. From this question, we can come to know that ACC is lacking to be retailers most favorite brand and how its competitors are ahead of them. ACC
product execution logistic promotion dealer stock out sales person end-user rank availability pricing of scheme support initiative accounting problem visit CSS education 1 1 2 1 12 2 5 8 12 0 0 2 2 0 9 1 7 5 6 4 0 0 3 5 7 5 3 3 6 1 3 1 0 4 2 1 6 8 1 5 5 3 1 2 5 6 0 5 3 4 1 1 0 6 2 6 6 7 0 5 2 1 1 6 9 3 7 0 4 4 1 4 4 6 1 6 4 8 3 4 1 1 3 4 2 3 0 4 9 8 5 0 0 3 1 1 2 10 3 10 1 4 3 0 4 2 3 0 1 16

ACC
18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 Rank 1 Rank 2 Rank 3 Rank 4 Rank 5 Rank 6 Rank 7 Rank 8 Rank 9 parameters Rank 10

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Interpretation:From the above graph, we can conclude that ACC is doing its best in logistic support and sales person visit but in same time it deals with stock out problem and execution of schemes. Due to one to one linkage policy of ACC, it becomes a major drawback for company as retailers sometime does not get delivery of cement due to their unclear payment. ACL

rank 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

product execution of logistic promotion dealer stock out sales person end-user availability pricing scheme support initiative accounting problem visit CSS education 11 11 3 0 2 6 1 3 1 0 0 0 6 0 10 0 2 6 2 0 2 2 2 6 0 8 3 0 0 4 3 3 1 1 1 1 6 2 2 1 2 2 3 7 2 3 2 1 4 1 1 1 2 7 6 2 0 2 4 2 0 0 2 1 2 4 4 2 0 4 6 6 4 3 0 2 1 6 3 0 2 2 2 1 2 1 7 2 9 1 0 0 2 1 2 0 1 3 2 14

ACL
16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 Series1 Series2 Series3 Series4 Series5 Series6 Series7 Series8 Series9 Series10 Parameters

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Interpretation:ACL is ranked highest in pricing because its rates are low comparatively, its dealer accounting is very liberal so retailers choose to purchase ACL. It is ranked lowest in logistic support and Customer Support Service as retailers complained that ACL does not give fast delivery service and does not get any support from customer service if they any problem with product so now many retailers are switching to some other for better service.

UTCL
product execution of logistic promotion dealer stock out sales end-user rank availability pricing scheme support initiative accounting problem person visit CSS education 1 0 0 3 0 21 2 1 10 4 2 2 0 0 15 2 8 6 1 5 1 0 3 2 2 4 5 7 4 6 2 0 1 4 7 7 9 1 1 7 4 1 3 4 5 7 7 3 9 0 1 2 3 3 4 6 5 5 3 11 0 3 1 5 7 2 7 2 2 0 4 0 5 4 5 6 3 8 5 5 0 5 3 2 12 5 4 3 9 7 7 1 3 0 6 6 4 8 2 10 5 5 2 0 0 4 3 0 4 18

UTCL
45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0

Rank 1 Rank 2 Rank 3 Rank 4 Rank 5 Rank 6 Rank 7 Rank 8

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Interpretation:From the above graph, we can find out that UTCL is doing remarkably good in promotion activities, they had innovated such attractive schemes which no retailer can ignore it. They take retailers to trips, to see IPL, give gifts on every single occasion, give cheques on accomplishment of target etc. And most important, even if they do less promotion, they make it visible to public and retailers that everyone thinks that UTCL is spending for them. It is a fact that UTCL is good in execution of schemes, they communicate their schemes to retailers and help them to work out in that schemes. This motivates retailers to sell more UTCL and they are getting benefit of schemes also. One parameter by which selling is affected is dealer accounting. If dealers do not pressurize retailers to clear their payment then retailers will think that company is co-operating them and they will started trusting company and they will sell their product more. Similarly, UTCL never force retailers to clear their payment, in Fact, they give them time they required to make their payment clear. This is one of the strongest factor due to which UTCL is recommended by retailers.

One common thing which is seen in all three brands is companies are not giving importance to end-user education. It may be possible that other leading company can take advantage of this and attract end user by arranging factory visits for end-users like contractors and masons.

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Frequency of visits of Sales representatives of company Sales representative are not the persons who represent only sales only but they are the one who carries image of the company also. If Sales representative does not visit to counters and does not solve out problem of retailers then chances are more that retailers will stop selling that companys product. In case of cement industry, sales representative plays very important role because along with taking orders, they have to take care that retailers have smooth relation with their dealers, they do not have any problem with quality of cement, communicates schemes with them and make sure that retailers are executing it properly, arrange meeting with contractors and masons to build up relations with them, do promotion of company wherever necessary. We can understand from below graph that how frequently companys Sales representatives are visiting to counters.
frequency ACC fortnightly weekly ACL 11 58 16 38 UTCL 11 61

visit of sales representative

70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 ACC ACL UTCL 38 58 61

fortnightly weekly

Interpretation: We can see that there is no high inequality in visits of Sales Representatives of ACC and UTCL, this both companies are giving tough competition to gain market share and that is the reason why they want that their sales representative to remain in contact with their retailers so that they can satisfy retailers need immediately.
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ACC is very active in visits to counters; they have different PDSF (Premium Dealer Sales Force) who are given different areas to look after. So as areas are divided, PDSF can give more time to each retailer and they try to make retailers feel that they are part of company and company needs them. Whenever sales representatives visit to them, they give them pens, pocket diaries, caps and attractive stationeries. They even arrange contractor and mason meeting frequently at their shops, solve their cement related queries and build professional as well as personal relations with them. I also got a chance to attend contractor meeting which was held at Satyam Ceramics, Ghatkopar. It was held in evening so that contractors and mason can come after completing their work. Two employees from Customer service department had carried out this meeting where they tell them about types of cement, their advantage and disadvantages, how to mix cement-proportion of sand, water and aggregates, why ACC is different from other companies, why one should purchase ACC premium cement only, what are current schemes of ACC etc. One important aspect of this meeting is this meeting is not held only for those who use ACC cement but all contractors who use cement of different company also. This creates value of ACC in contractors mind and it leads to increase in sell. At the end of meeting, snacks and complimentary gift such as watches, caps etc are given to them. This was a learning experience for me; I came to know that what exactly end users want, how we need to communicate to them, how we can persuade them to purchase our product without saying bad about our competitors etc . Among this, ACL is very low in sales representatives visit. One of the main reasons for this is that they have so strong brand pull that they do not need their employees to visit to counters to get order; they know that due to demand retailers will call themselves for purchasing cement. They are very less active in promotion activities, logistic support, customer support services but as they give high access to credit; retailers still prefers to keep ACL.

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Sales of cement Bags Whatever promotion is done, how many times sales representatives had visited how many counters; it does not matter till it does not lead to sales of cement bags. So at the end it becomes important to analyze that how much cement bags are sold by company. In this question, bags are divided into equal intervals to know that how much cement is sold by which company.
bags 0-100 100-200 200-300 300-400 400-500 500-600 600-700 700-800 800-900 1000-1500 1500-2000 2000-2500 ACC 50 19 9 8 3 2 0 1 0 2 1 1 ACL 65 14 3 3 4 0 0 1 0 5 0 0 UTCL 51 16 23 5 3 3 2 1 1 3 2 0

total selling
70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 ACC ACL UTCL

Interpretation:From the above chart, we can conclude that in spite of less service given by ACL, it is the highest in selling cement bags as compared to ACC and UTCL. Its main reason as mentioned above is brand pull and credit limit of company.

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No. of years from which retailers are in this cement industry It becomes necessary to know that from how many years retailers are in cement industry because as generation changes, their beliefs, demand, taste and preferences also changes. If retailers are in this business since 40-50 years then they give priority to logistic support, price and quality of cement but if their son or young relative or new entrant is in this business since past 5-10 years then they give priority to promotional activities, customer support service and end user education as well.

over all
no.of years 0-5years 5-10years 10-15 years 15-20 years 20-25years 25-30years 30-35 years 35-40years 40-45 years 45-50years 50-55years 55-60years retailers 4 6 25 12 14 6 5 18 0 0 1 1
30 25 20 15 10 5 0 overall

Interpretation: From the above graph, it can be concluded that demand of cement has been start increasing since 35-40 years so people start investing in cement but gradually it started decreasing in next decade but again demand took place but this time it was less as compared to previous demand, people had moved towards different business. Again, people started investing in cement industry before 10-15 years because infrastructure had start developing and people thought that it is beneficial to invest in this business. But since past 10 years no. of retailers are decreasing because nowadays, people are getting health conscious, they do not want to sell products which is dusty, polluted and harmful to them. Further, young generation thinks that cement business is out-dated and there is no high profit involved in it, they think that there is nothing exciting about selling cement.

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Another reason for decreasing in no. of retailers is change in tax system; retailers are not interested in selling products in which they have to pay high service duty and other taxes. Other reason is fluctuation in price of cement, even if they invest in cement when price of cement are very low, they face high uncertainties and risk because they never know when cement industry change its price. Lastly, the reason is demand of cement is seasonal i.e. demand of cement is very less in rainy season so retailers find it very difficult to store cement because even after rainy season gets over, no contractor will purchase cement which is stored during rainy season because cement lose its strongness . Due to all this reason, no. of retailers is day by day decreasing in this business. Company should make a strategy through which people start investing in cement business because in developing country like India, cement is the product which can never have zero demand.

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