Transcript 8. Interview with Mr. Joo IL Gam, Sales Manager of Supermarket Channel.
Date: March 14, 2019
Time: 3:00 P.M
Location: Sales Department, Lock&Lock office, 9th Floor, 77 Hoang Van Thai, Tan Phu ward, district 7, Ho Chi Minh City
Interviewer: Hi Mr Joo, thank you very much for working with me in the interview today.
Mr. Joo IL Gam: Nine to meet you.
Interviewer: The purpose is we work together to find out what problems the company is facing so that we can come up with solutions to improve our company is better.
Mr. Joo IL Gam: Ok I see. I am ready.
50 Interviewer: So let's start now. Recently sales of supermarket channels did
not reach the target as expected, according to you think, the cause or problem causing the sales of supermarket channel is not as good as expected?
Mr. Joo IL Gam: My employees have complained about the complicated order process at the factory, which is the process of Lock&Lock company, however, we also have temporary solutions, and still provide enough goods for supermarket systems
Interviewer: According to you, the reason of not gainning the sales expectation is the shortage of good. How do you evaluate your Lock&Lock’s products compared to competing companies’ products ?
Mr. Joo IL Gam: With a positioning strategy to become a premium brand in kitchenware manufacturing in Vietnam, Lock & Lock has opened 30 key stores, products of Lock & Lock are widely distributed on more than 546 shopping channels. such as supermarkets, electronics stores, online shopping channels and B2B channels. Lock&Lock brand focuses on high-end product segment. In many international consumer goods exhibitions, customers have praised Lock & Lock products very well..
Interviewer: So Lock & Lock products is good, goods still provide enough, so what do you think is the reason for the reduction in sales of supermarket channel?
Mr. Joo IL Gam: For the purpose of boosting the brand of Lock & Lock, Lock
& Lock want to become a high-end household appliances brand in the eyes of all Vietnamese consumers, Lock&Lock promotes the development of Shop channel in all big shopping
51 mall in Vietnam. Therefore, the development speed of supermarket channel cannot be equal to Shop channel.
Interviewer: Do you think there are any other reasons?
Mr. Joo IL Gam: “Digital economy” is an indispensable development, consistent with the new trend, bringing efficiency and high profit value while the traditional economy is gradually saturated, so that the revenue of supermarket channel may be reduced because of the online channel.
Interviewer: So in Mr. Joo’s opinion, do you have any solution to solve this situation?
Mr. Joo IL Gam: I think that B2B channel must be responsible for working closely with its customers, having contracts with strict and clear terms, binding customers to be responsible for Lock &
Lock products purchased to make gifts, must not let goods slip out of the market for business purposes, like that, we can solve the root of the problem. In addition, we need to cooperate with e-commerce sites, customers of online channels such as Lazada, Tiki, Shopee in order to limit the status of gift goods being released for business purposes.
Interviewer: Thank you for your anwser.
Mr. Joo IL Gam: You are welcome.
Transcript 9. Interview with Mr. Kim Young Woong, Sales Director.
Date: March 15, 2019
Time: 9:00 A.M
Location: Sales Department, Lock&Lock office, 9th Floor, 77 Hoang Van Thai, Tan Phu ward, district 7, Ho Chi Minh City
52 Interviewer: Hi Mr. Kim, thank you very much for working with me in the
interview today.
Mr. Kim Young Woong:
Nine to meet you.
Interviewer: The purpose is we work together to find out what problems the company is facing so that we can come up with solutions to improve our company is better.
Mr. Kim Young Woong:
Ok I see. I am ready.
Interviewer: So let’s start now. Recently sales of supermarket channels did not reach the target as expected, according to you think, the cause or problem causing the sales of supermarket channel is not as good as expected?
Mr. Kim Young Woong:
The sales of supermarket channels in recent years have not grown as expected due to the strong development of online channels in the 4.0 era. E-commerce is growing so fast, people are gradually rushing to buy goods online rather than strolling around stores and supermarkets.
Interviewer: Do you think there are any other reasons?
Mr. Kim Young Woong:
Recently, we invested heavily in the shop channel to focus on brand positioning in the eyes of consumers, so in the period of 2017 - 2018, the sales of the supermarket channel did not meet the expectation partly because of the this cause.
Interviewer: I heard that employees reflect a lot about the order process and inventory data management, can you share more about this issue?
Mr. Kim Young Woong:
In terms of goods, because the characteristics of the Household Appliance Industry are to constantly innovate and develop
53 products in a short time, we have planned to calculate and anticipate the market, however, it is not possible avoiding the risk of new items not being accepted by the market, moreover, the old items still have to maintain the sales, therefore, the company's policy is not to allow to order too much from the factory, if so, it must be divided into several batches of goods.
And about data errors in inventory management, it is normal, because the gap between actual data and system software is in the allowable range, all businesses will do the stocktaking regularly to correct the data.
Interviewer: I heard PG staff at supermarkets said that customers compare prices very much, products outside the market are suffering from price disturbances, do you know where the cause is?
Mr. Kim Young Woong:
Normally, the company’s products are listed price uniformly between retail channels, Lock&Lock has a contract that requires distribution channels to officially sell at the retail price offered by the supplier and only get a discount by percent on retail price in a few promotions. There are stores where they make their own promotions to clear stock or or they adjust prices themselves, we still accept this because this does not cause much retail price difference. However, about Lock&Lock electric home aplliences in the market with the price difference is up to millions VND, I think this sources is from B2B channel or fake products, not genuine and no Lock&Lock genuine warranty.
Interviewer: Regarding the solution to this problem, Mr Joo has proposed a solution to solve the core problem with B2B customers by clear trading terms, do you have any suggestions?
54 Mr. Kim Young
Woong:
B2B channel has a small number of customers, however, big name customers in the market such as Samsung or Heineken, with great sales, standing in business position, we cannot force them with a contract binding on goods management terms.
They are likely to leave us to look for other suppliers, our sales will be significantly affected. We have to be flexible in this, especially at this time. B2B channel customers are extremely important. As for the solution, I think there should be a marketing campaign aimed directly at the minds of customers, not letting them buy non-genuine goods in the market, besides, train PGs of supermarket channels to advise to promote additional revenue
Interviewer: Thank you for your anwser.
Mr. Kim Young Woong:
You are welcome.
Transcript 10. Interview with Ms. Nguyen Thi Huyen Trinh, B2B Channel Sales Manager.
Date: March 8, 2019
Time: 3:00 P.M
Location: Sales Department, Lock&Lock office, 9th Floor, 77 Hoang Van Thai, Tan Phu ward, district 7, Ho Chi Minh City
Interviewer: Hi Ms. Trinh, thank you very much for working with me in the interview today.
Ms. Trinh: Nine to meet you.
55 Interviewer: The purpose is we work together to find out what problems the
company is facing so that we can come up with solutions to improve our company is better.
Ms. Trinh: Ok I see. I am ready.
Interviewer: So let’s start now. Recently sales of supermarket channels did not reach the target as expected, according to you think, the cause or problem causing the sales of supermarket channel is not as good as expected?
Ms. Trinh: In fact, I don't know much about the sales of supermarket channels, but I only know that in my sales team the revenue is the highest.
Interviewer: I heard Mr Kim say that the goods of the channel you might get out of the market for business purposes, what do you think about this issue?
Ms. Trinh: The revenue of our big channel accounts for more than 50% of the company’s total revenue. We supply large quantities to big customers like Samsung or Heineken with the purpose of making gifts. However, on how goods of Lock&Lock of B2B channel go in the market with the purpose of trading, we cannot control.
Interviewer: Thank you for your anwser.
Ms. Trinh: You are welcome.
56 4. Interview with Lock&Lock’s distributor: MESA GROUP, one of enterprises authorized to distribute household appliances of Lock&Lock brand in Vietnam Transcript 11. Interview with Mr. Nguyen Anh Tu, Sales Manager of MESA.
Date: March 18, 2019
Time: 8:00 A.M
Location: MESA GROUP office, 202 Ly Chinh Thang, ward 9, district 3, Ho Chi Minh City
Interviewer: Hi Mr. Tu, thank you very much for working with me in the interview today.
Mr.Tu: Nine to meet you.
Interviewer: The purpose is we work together to find out what problems the Lock&Lock company is facing so that we can come up with solutions to improve Lock&Lock company is better.
Mr.Tu: Ok I see. I am ready.
Interviewer: So let’s start now. Recently sales of supermarket channels did not reach the target as expected, according to you think, the cause or problem causing the sales of supermarket channel is not as good as expected?
Mr.Tu: As far as I know, my sales staff have been complaining about price issues by customers, I guess, the source of gift products that B2B channels of Lock & Lock have leaked out can be the main reason for the problem. This, or it can also be fake goods, poor quality goods.
Interviewer: So what else causes do you know?
Actually, I only know what is going on in the market, and the problem of Lock & Lock company is not clear, but the Lock &
57 Lock product is very good so I think the problem is only the price.
Interviewer: So how do you solve that problem?
Mr.Tu: When buying products provided by MESA, consumers may incur a higher price but in return, they will enjoy genuine warranty and after sales service. Besides, we also provide replacement parts provided by Lock & Lock. All MESA products distributed have CO/CQ certificates. However, in recent years, our revenue has hardly increased because the taste of Vietnamese consumers is finding cheap products, regardless of whether the quality is guaranteed or not.
Interviewer: Thank you for your anwser.
Mr.Tu: You are welcome.