Định hướng hoàn thiện hoạch định thị trường chiến lược của doanh nghiệp thương mại nội địa

Đề tài này tập trung làm rõ thực trạng hoạch định thị trường chiến lược của các doanh nghiệp thương mại trong nước, từ đó xem xét và đề xuất một số giải pháp hoàn thiện công tác này. Để hiểu rõ hơn mời các bạn cùng tham khảo nội dung chi tiết của bài viết này.

DIRECTIONS TO IMPROVE STRATEGIC MARKET PLANNING

OF DOMESTIC TRADE ENTERPRISES ĐỊNH HƯỚNG HOÀN THIỆN HOẠCH ĐỊNH THỊ TRƯỜNG CHIẾN LƯỢC CỦA DOANH NGHIỆP THƯƠNG MẠI NỘI ĐỊA

MA, Dao Le Duc Thuongmai University

dlduc@tmu.edu.vn

Abstract

Strategic market planning is receiving more and more attention from scientists and business professionals, as the business environment is changing rapidly, more complex and unpredictable Strategic market planning is considered to be highly adaptable and flexible, integrating plans of all levels in the business, thereby achieving market goals, creating and developing a competitive position The high growth potential of the domestic market has prompted commercial enterprises

to soon apply strategic market planning, as well as to change technology, improve quality and diversify products On the basis of a general assessment of domestic trade, the article focuses on clarifying the current situation of strategic market planning of domestic commercial enterprises, thereby considering and proposing some complete solutions this work.

Keywords: Strategic market planning, trade

Tóm tắt

Việc hoạch định thị trường chiến lược ngày càng nhận được nhiều sự quan tâm của các nhà khoa học và các chuyên gia kinh doanh, khi môi trường kinh doanh ngày càng thay đổi nhanh chóng, phức tạp và khó lường Hoạch định thị trường chiến lược được đánh giá là có tính thích ứng cao và linh hoạt, tích hợp các kế hoạch của các cấp trong doanh nghiệp, từ đó đạt được mục tiêu thị trường, tạo dựng và phát triển vị thế cạnh tranh Tiềm năng tăng trưởng cao của thị trường nội địa đã thúc đẩy các doanh nghiệp thương mại sớm áp dụng hoạch định thị trường chiến lược, cũng như thay đổi công nghệ, nâng cao chất lượng và đa dạng hóa sản phẩm Trên

cơ sở đánh giá chung về thương mại trong nước, bài viết tập trung làm rõ thực trạng hoạch định thị trường chiến lược của các doanh nghiệp thương mại trong nước, từ đó xem xét và đề xuất một số giải pháp hoàn thiện công tác này.

Từ khóa: Hoạch định thị trường chiến lược, thương mại

1 Introduction

Research results of many scholars around the world have identified that most successful businesses have strategies that are effectively planned and implemented (Porter, 2009; Chandler, 1962; Mintzberg et al., 2009) Strategic planning helps to determine the right directions to bring the company to prosperity In any business, planning is always a difficult task as thousands of

variables have to be evaluated and the decisions that lead to success, survival or failure must be made For commercial enterprises, the competitors are growing stronger and more fiercely competitive, the constantly changing needs of consumers and the ability in decreasing input costs

to relatively low that cause planning to become more and more difficult This poses a problem for businesses that can plan strategic directions more effectively and more adapt to volatile market movements (Mintzberg et al., 2009) Accordingly, strategic market planning (SMP) is considered

to be highly adaptable and flexible, integrating the plans of company-level managers (participation and resource allocation), managers business management (competition, product and market decisions), and functional administrators (marketing strategies, operations, human resources that support market strategy) SMP can be defined as the process by which the firm achieves a sustainable good fit with its market and broader environment Therefore, SMP is concerned not with day-to-day issues but with market issues which are: company wide, high level, long run, ir-reversible, visionary, infrequent, unique and risky Many businesses have applied strategic market planning to varying degrees for more than half a decade as a managerial aid in establishing focus and direction for an organization, with transformations analytical techniques in implementation Over the past years, Vietnam has become one of the most attractive retail markets globally (ranked 6th in the group of 30 countries with potential and attractive investment in the field global retail sector) Total retail sales of consumer goods and services per capita of the whole country increased by 2.65 times in the past 10 years, from 19.3 million VND / person in 2010 to 51.2 million VND / person in 2019, with the contribution to GDP approximately 8% In 2020, despite a decline in purchasing power due to the widespread influence of the Covid-19 epidemic, the total retail sales of goods in the first 8 months of the year still reached 2,553.6 trillion VND,

an increase of 4% over the same period of year 2019 According to the World Bank, the domestic market can partially supplement or even counterbalance the foreign market Up to now, nearly one-sixth of Vietnam’s population has joined the global middle class (with per capita spending more than $ 15 per day) At the current rate, each year an additional 1 million Vietnamese will join this group This emerging middle class will consume not only more products and services, but also better quality, requiring domestic firms to improve capacity through efficient use of resources and innovate and create more The dynamics of the domestic market have created opportunities and challenges, thereby prompting commercial enterprises to soon apply strategic market planning, as well as need to change technology, improve quality, product diversification Accordingly, the article focuses on researching and clarifying the current situation of planning the water safety of domestic commercial enterprises, then considering and proposing some solutions to complete this work

2 Theoretical framework

The management planning system started early around 1900 with the content of budgeting and control (Aaker, 2007) The main focus is on the wrong control of the budget in perceiving the cyclic external environment in the past In the 1950s, theory introduced long-term planning, assuming similar external contexts, and the future could be forecasted based on extrapolating analysis of economic, technological, cost and business cycle The primary task of planning is to prepare the business to grow or shrink revenue based on these trends

By the 1960s, scholars assumed that simple trend analyzes based on the extrapolation of the past are no longer relevant, but need to predict changes in the future market environment weak in terms of customers and competitors), to prepare for change According to Mintzberg & ctg (2009), in response to the need for a quicker response planning system to rapidly changing markets compared to the annual planning cycle, strategic market planning began to go into business terminology in the 1970s The foundation of this activity was the continuous review and analysis of environmental factors, markets, and internal capacities to provide the information necessary for administrators to identify key strategic problems, as well as operational gaps, and develop rapid responses to sudden and constant market changes (Reich, 2002) Accordingly, strategic market planning is a broad or comprehensive approach to corporate school planning and governance

In most studies on strategic management, the majority of scholars studying business planning emphasize the focus of business activities is production and relatively static life cycle Therefore, research focuses on product, operations and management of people, equipment, finance, and the facilities needed to manufacture select products However, the current trend is

to focus more on the multifunctional integration of the strategic planning process with marketing and marketing (Peter & Townsend, 1986) With the evidence of a positive relationship between market strategy and variables such as profitability, performance, the role of market strategy becomes more prominent, and strategic market planning is received More critical corporate assessments (McNamee, 2000) According to Kotler (2003), the focus of business managers should not only be on providing the best products/services, but on offering the alternatives that best meets the needs of its chosen market The transition from quality planning to quality marketing planning requires senior managers to develop proficient market capabilities or the active participation of market managers in decision-making (Aaker, 2007)

Strategic market planning is defined as the overall preparation of a long-term strategic plan with functional supporting strategies, to ensure continuous and interoperability between enterprises’ objectives and competencies in a competitive environment (Kotler, 2003; Porter, 2009; Reich, 2002) Strategic market planning looks at general decisions about new and existing products - markets From a theoretical point of view, these strategic decisions influence a company’s cash-generating ability and profitability, the long-term success of the business, often approved by top management, commit to a large amount of physical, financial or human resources, and affect most areas of the business (Pearce et al., 2018), thereby developing business markets in a consistent manner, key and long term Strategic market planning requires decisions that have a strong, long-term impact on the organization, resulting in later changing or reversing business strategies that are time-consuming and resources (Aaker, 2007)

An overview from previous studies allows the article to form a model to show strategic market planning process content (Figure 1) In fact, long-term profits are driven by a series of short-term profits However, short-term returns are sometimes maximized at the cost of long-term returns, such as reducing maintenance, training, research and development costs that increase short-term returns, but possibly reduce long-term profit This requires that the market managers

of the business must predict and analyze the trends of the market situation, in order to gain and exploit the greatest advantage from the market Without a thorough analysis of internal strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats in the market, it is difficult for businesses to fulfill their full potential

Figure 1 The firm’s strategic market planning model

Therefore, analyzing the strategic market situation requires a long duration and degree of thorough analysis According to Worrall (1988), strategic situational analysis is the understanding

of an organization’s operating environment and its interaction with it to improve the organization’s efficiency and performance by enhancing its capacity to intelligently deploy and re-deploy resources Strategic situational analysis enables a company to identify and evaluate data related

to strategic planning as well as perceptions of the analyzed external and internal environment The research scope of market situation analysis is very wide, requiring enterprises to invest time and resources thoroughly in collecting and processing information (Nguyen Canh Chat, 2009) This content includes analyzing and evaluating the overall market: macro environmental factors, stakeholders, current and potential customers, competitors, as well as factors affecting the market and business These information and data are the basis for determining the strategic market of an enterprise based on the size and growth of the market, its potential sales and profits (Anderson

et al., 2009), and its important role and the suitability with business goals and conditions (Tran Thi Hoang Ha, 2012) After identifying and selecting a strategic market, managers need to establish a TOWS pattern, plan possible strategic options that businesses can implement in strategic markets, to achieve get a competitive advantage in the market TOWS model is built on the overall information that businesses get from analyzing and evaluating existing factors of opportunities, threats, strengths and weaknesses

After conducting comprehensive identification and analysis of market and business

environment issues, enterprises need to plan their objectives and strategies to effectively meet the strategic market This requires a long-term vision as well as taking into account the short-term developments of the market and taking into account the different parameters to plan for each strategic market (Silverblatt & Korgaonkar, 1987) Strategic market content planning will often include setting strategic market business goals, identifying viable strategies, selecting and proposing market supply values, and planning development strategic partnership (Nguyen Canh Chat, 2009) Here, managers need to establish and build clear, coherent and systematic content

on strategic markets, it is necessary to make appropriate adjustments and differences between the strategic market segments, to highlight the competitiveness of businesses as well as create advantages in the strategic market execution phase

First of all, enterprises need to build a system of strategic market business objectives of the strategic market based on the current market outlook and business potential Ensure the feasibility and challenges of market targets to keep and motivate businesses on the right track in the strategic market, to achieve higher than expected results (Nguyen Hoang Long & Nguyen Hoang Viet, 2015) With the defined objectives, based on the possible strategic options from the TOWS model, the managers will plan the contents of market strategy and competitive strategies

in strategic markets Marketing and competitive strategy planning is the process of researching and building a business plan on each market and how to exploit the resources of the enterprise in the market to succeed, based on deciding a a series of necessary actions (David, 2015) Next, managers will need to plan the customer supply values in the strategic market, to satisfy the needs

of customers in the strategic market An important point that businesses need to emphasize is to provide maximum value to customers, thereby forming loyal customers and a strong competitive position (Best, 2012) To perform better in providing customer value, businesses need to develop

a strategy to develop partnerships with suppliers and distributors in the market (Anderson & et al., 2009)

3 Methodology

Overall Design

Inheriting previous studies of Aaker (2007), David (2015), Tran Thi Hoang Ha (2012), Anderson et al (2009), Powell (1992) and Kukalis (1991), articles synthesizing and building questionnaires for strategic market planning of enterprises To ensure convenience and accuracy during data collection and analysis, a multi-stage study design was adopted First, data relating

to the domestic trade in recent years are identified and standardized for collection Second, identifying the study sample and sending the questionnaire to the members of the study sample Third, gather responses and perform descriptive statistical analysis to clarify the status of strategic market planning Fourth, build a number of recommendations to complete this content in commercial enterprises

Sample and Data Collection

Data is collected through three forms: emailing, face-to-face personal interviews, and phone calls with managers who are directly involved in strategic market planning These forms allow

to collect the status of strategic market planning in commercial enterprises on a large geographical area in a sufficient time period The questions developed also ensure that (1) the selected

administrators who are directly involved in planning, (2) that the administrators fully understand the purpose of the study and content of the investigation

The study was surveyed in two cities with the most active commercial activities and the most freely competitive market, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City The list of commercial enterprises

is searched from General Statistics Office, Statistical Yearbook and Internet Telephone Directory The survey was conducted from November 2019 to May 2020, the sampling subjects were directors or managers who directly participated in strategic market planning at the enterprise Before sending the questionnaire, respondents will be contacted first by phone to collect email addresses, then the survey questionnaire is sent to the sample set in 3 ways; (1) 190 emails were sent, in which the valid response rate was 49.47%, (2) the questionnaire was distributed directly

to 20 people, the full response rate was 75%, (3) interview by phone with 10 people, the response rate is 60% Respondents’ work experience in domestic trade ranges from 3 to 20 years, with an average of 7.4 years The businesses surveyed have sizes from 100 to 1500 employees, with an average of about 630 employees Thus, with 220 questionnaires sent, 115 administrators responded, reaching the rate of 52.27% The response rate is considered acceptable (Zalloco et al., 1983)

Table 1 Summary statistics for the sample

Survey questionnaire

Based on previous studies, the survey questionnaire is divided into two main parts about analyzing the strategic market situation and planning strategic market content Scale questions will be designed in a closed format with fixed answer options To facilitate the research process,

a note explaining the concepts is attached to the email, or explained in person by the author in personal interview or by phone The content of the survey questionnaire includes the following main contents:

a Analyze the strategic market situation

- Fully identify the environmental variables affecting the business operations of the business

- The collected business environment data and information are up to date and timely.

- Conduct segmentation and strategic market selection to ensure goals and requirements

- To research the market methodically, update information about customers and competitors

in strategic markets

- Practice strategic market analysis and strategic environment analysis

b Planning goals and strategies to meet the strategic market

- Develop clear and suitable long-term goals and orientations for strategic markets

- Market and customer-oriented strategic market objectives

- There are administrators and / or departments for strategic market planning

- Market strategies and competitive strategies that are consistent with the strategic market objectives

- Suggest suitable and differentiated supply value for strategic markets

- The partnership is maintained and sustainably developed in strategic markets

4 The current situation of strategic market planning of commercial enterprises

4.1 The current context of domestic trade

GDP growth in 2019 achieved impressive results with an increase of 7.02%, of which trade continued to maintain a high and stable growth rate, with the total retail sales of goods and serv-ices reaching 4,940.4 thousand VND billion, up 11.8% compared to 2018, reflecting high do-mestic demand in recent years (General Statistics Office, 2020) Total retail sales of groups with high growth were mainly essential goods such as food, food (13.2%), household appliances (11.3%), and apparel (10.9%), cultural and educational products (14.4%) This leads to very pos-itive comments about the development potential of the domestic commercial market in the coming years for commercial enterprises in the market

One of the factors driving domestic trade to rapidly develop is the distribution system and commercial infrastructure It can be clearly seen that in recent years, the distribution network and various types of commercial infrastructures (markets, supermarkets, shopping centers, convenience stores ) continue to be invested, upgraded and expanded (Dinh Van Son, 2020) Along with traditional commercial infrastructure (markets), modern types of commerce such as supermarkets, shopping malls and convenience stores are playing an increasingly important position in the consumer choice and shopping of people, even in suburban areas

The market for essential goods remained stable Although there are fluctuations in some products, in general, there have been signs of recovery in 2018 and 2019, meeting the needs of both the domestic market and for export The proportion of Vietnamese goods in domestic supermarkets has always remained at a high level, from 80% to 95% As for traditional retail channels, the proportion of Vietnamese goods in convenience stores and markets accounts for more than 60% Along with the development of supermarkets, convenience stores, and points of sale to stabilize the market, Vietnamese products have been brought to consumers more and more Favorable policies together with domestic market development campaigns have created a very positive effect for consumers to prioritize looking for Vietnamese products and services

E-commerce in recent years is also developing very quickly with the number and value of transactions becoming much larger than before, reaching the size of the e-commerce market in

2018 8, USD 06 billion, up 30% compared to 2017 (Department of E-Commerce and Digital Economy, 2019) With the number of Internet users of about 59.2 million people (accounting for 60% of the population) and 35 million smartphone users, Vietnam’s e-commerce market is giving many favorable conditions to businesses and individuals with space multiplication to develop domestic trade The above analysis shows a great opportunity for businesses to further develop their business activities in the domestic market in the coming time

Vietnam’s retail market in recent years has been operating quite actively with the participation of more and more domestic and foreign enterprises with greater financial potential and investment The year 2019 witnessed the strong development of modern retail models such

as convenience stores, supermarkets, and commercial centers instead of traditional models such

as markets and department stores Some domestic retailers that have grown strongly and successfully include Vinmart, Saigon Coop Mart, Satra, Vissan, and Hapro The retail market has also seen the arrival and departure of many retail names, but brands that are planning and developing a strong strategy are Aeon, Lotte and the upcoming brands such as CJ and Emart of Korea, Central Group of Thailand

According to Savills (2020), only the two largest markets in Vietnam, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, the total supply of retail space is more than 3 million m2, an increase of about 13-14% compared to in the same period last year In the last 2 years, the number of shopping centers has continuously increased to serve the needs of people for shopping and entertainment Increasing retail density in CBDs and new urban areas makes businesses aware and change the structure of products and services and business orientation in the future According to Savills (2020), by the end of 2021, the Ho Chi Minh City market will supply about 390,000 m2 more, and Hanoi will provide about 241,000 m2 of premises Most of these are located in the non-CBD area, showing adjustments in firms’ performance

With the attractions of the domestic retail market, many foreign retailers with great capacity such as Aeon, Lotte, Big C are gradually expanding and developing retail systems, after a long time of researching and testing the market, gradually grasping the tastes and consumption habits

of the people, thereby making suitable business strategies and expectations, increasing competition with domestic retailers This makes the domestic commercial market become more competitive, and gradually more professional with capable businesses that actually grow In recent years, the market has seen many businesses withdrew from the market such as Shop & Go, Fivimart, Giant, and Auchan, as well as acquisitions and expansion by corporations such as Masan, Saigon Co op Mart

With rising incomes, with a rapid adaptation to modern consumption trends, domestic consumers are increasingly demanding in purchasing and consumption They aim to experience more in the selection and shopping with a more diverse demand for quality goods and services

at commercial centers, as well as at regular retail points Recent studies, like Nielsen Vietnam,

show that 47% of consumers like to experience new products, and the number of loyal customers

is only 7% This shows that customers in the current market are not loyal to brands is becoming commonplace When buying a product, customers consider a lot, when on average they consider about 5 brands before deciding to buy the product Notably, customers consider the value they get when they spend money to buy the product, not just the price Then comes the quality, features and specialties in the current era is the simplicity and convenience because they are very busy Besides, consumers are also interested in the brand’s community value This can be seen as a fairly new trend and is being endorsed in the Vietnamese market, when a preliminary survey shows that corporate community and business transparency will help the brand impress users Local customers are also spending more on products sold on online channels (online) They are realizing that this method has many promotions, convenience, saves time, and can shop across borders, buy in Vietnam or abroad very easily Accordingly, consumers, especially the young, use non-cash payment services increasingly, not only through online channels but also in modern retail channels such as supermarkets, shopping malls, and convenient shops

4.2 Reality of strategic market planning of trade entrepreneurs

4.2.1 Current situation of analyzing the overall market situation and determining the strategic market of commercial enterprises

Market situation analysis plays the role of providing necessary data for the strategic market planning phase, as well as the execution of future strategic market contents Currently, most commercial enterprises are increasingly aware of the importance of market information to the effectiveness of their business in the market Accordingly, the administrators have guided and directed more closely in collecting information about the business environment both outside and inside the enterprise to identify factors of opportunities, challenges, strengths and weaknesses faced on the strategic market segment expected The survey results show that, nearly 90% of the interviewees said that their businesses have fully identified environmental variables such as economy, politics - law, culture - society, technology, customers, and competition affects business activities in the market Administrators also evaluate the data and information about the business environment collected to be kept up-to-date and timely with the business requirements of the departments and individuals, and with changes of the market The analysis and review of external environmental factors help the company track and evaluate the changing factors of the general market context This has greatly assisted in making decisions and implementing work in reality Obviously, the business market of any business is always changing, so if you do not conduct regular market research to update information, it will be difficult for businesses to grasp the general market situation and strategic market situation to have timely responses

Source: Investigation result

Figure 2 Situation analysis of strategic market situation of trade enterprises

* The Likert 5 scale was used, with “1” being the least satisfied, and “5” being the most satisfied

Based on the general information and description of the overall market, in general managers have segmented and selected strategic markets According to the research sample, strategic mar-kets are segmented and established to ensure the goals and requirements set in the general busi-ness, when nearly 80% of respondents rated at the level of agreement and completely agree The survey also shows that the current enterprises have gradually conducted market research method-ically, systematmethod-ically, updated information on customers and competitors Data about customers and the influence of different customer groups on sales, distribution channels, and marketing pro-grams are closely watched and directed by businesses to collect and process Information about competitors is also identified, localized and investigated by analysts, gathered through reliable sources such as internal investigative information sources, external expert reports, Industry re-ports, and data from the General Statistics Office and the Ministry of Industry and Trade The in-formation obtained from these sources according to the interviews of administrators, the relevant, accurate and up-to-date level must be at 65-70% of the administrator’s need

The conduct of market research more and more seriously allows enterprises to practice an-alyzing strategic market and anan-alyzing the strategic environment carefully, carefully and with better results Some businesses have applied analytical tools such as TOWS and BCG in market research to more accurately assess and evaluate the current strategic market situation However, the number of application units is not really large, as up to 75% of enterprises surveyed currently

do not perform TOWS or BCG analysis in their business activities The survey also shows that more than 80% of current managers grasp and follow the process of strategic market analysis and have directions to correct problems that may arise in this activity However, quite a lot of businesses today still do not understand the differences in the market segments in order to make responsive decisions for each strategic market segment in accordance with their characteristics Only a handful of managers believe that they fully understand the characteristics of each strategic market The main characteristics that businesses clearly grasp are spending levels of customer