Title: Marketing strategies in grocery stores during high inflation
Level: Student thesis, Bachelor Degree in Business Administration
Authors: Adris Ahmady och Maryam Mohammed
Supervisor: Peter Ek
Date: 2023-june
Aim: The purpose of this study is to investigate marketing strategies for companies in the grocery trade during a high rate of inflation. In order to contribute to an increased understanding of how companies' marketing is affected, a comparison is made between marketing strategies that companies apply under normal economic circumstances and how these have changed or have been affected during an economic crisis, in this case rising inflation.
Method: A qualitative research method has been applied in this study, with the implementation of four semi-structured interviews with company managers within ICA and Coop. All the respondents are store managers, who are also locally responsible for the respective store's marketing.
Results and conclusion: The results of the study have shown that companies in the grocery trade have been affected by the prices and a change in customer behaviour has been observed, which has contributed to the fact that the companies have had to take measures not to lose their customers. During normal circumstances, Coop has placed great emphasis on positioning through assortments that are exclusive, and ICA has similarly made great use of ICA's own brand to stand out from the crowd. During rising inflation, the main focus for these companies has been on offering competitive prices, as well as adapting the stores' supply to customer demand. For ICA, online shopping has been a great opportunity to keep their customers, even if not many changes have taken place in online shopping. Offers and campaigns as well as large price reductions have been current for various goods, depending on customer segments and demand. Social media has also been an important communication strategy for all companies that were interviewed. The respondents have mainly represented smaller local companies, which means that the results of this study cannot be generalized for all markets in the retail trade, or for all companies in the grocery trade.
Contribution of the thesis: The study has contributed to an increased understanding of the impact of economic crises on companies in the grocery trade, but also provided a little insight into how consumer behavior changes during economically tough times, although the latter has not been part of the purpose of the study.
Future research: Proposals for further research are an examination of marketing strategies at larger companies in the grocery trade, as well as at wholesalers and suppliers.
Keywords: Marketing Strategy, inflation, grocery stores, marketing mix