Marketing strategies for convenience foods, online purchases, and fax machines

Strategic and Innovative Marketing

Future Product Demands

The world around us is changing at a rapid pace, forcing us to change in order to keep up with it. Technologies evolve so rapidly that what was cutting edge five years ago is now a thing of the past. Consumers' behaviour, demands and expectation also change, forcing manufacturers to adapt to the new requirements. In all, the micro and macroeconomic forces work together and generate mutations on most features, including the products we purchase on daily or yearly basis.

Convenience foods

Convenience foods are both praised and blamed for their advantages along with their disadvantages. The factors that might influence the demand for this type of products include:

Increased concern for health and alarming rates of obesity could generate a decreased demand for convenience foods (15%). This type of products is blamed for high caloric content, generating heart diseases, diabetes and obesity

Reduced leisure time and increased stress which drive people away from the kitchen and force them to eat fast food products or frozen nutrients which are cheaper and easier to prepare. This factor could generate an increased demand (55%)

Increased current consumption, which could easily create addiction, therefore increasing the demand (10%)

Women's working patterns and focus on careers in the detriment of family (20%)

Note: The percentages in brackets reveal the importance each factor has on influencing the future trend of the product demand b. Products purchased on the Internet

The online purchases have increased significantly during the past years and they are prone to follow their ascendant trend for the future too. "The Department of Commerce recently stated that the total eCommerce sales for 2005 were $86.3 billion and that is an increase of 24% over 2004." According to the same source, out of the entire population that browses the World Wide Web for products, 63% decide in favour of online purchase and 37% actually complete the transaction, their numbers growing on yearly basis. Among the most relevant factors that generate increased demands for online product purchases, one could point out:

Increased focus on career and reduced time for shopping (20%)

Technological developments that ease the online purchase process and make it more accessible and more secure (30%)

Suppliers' desire to adapt to consumers' needs (20%)

Growing economies and individuals' wages which allow better access to computers and the internet (5%)

Increased demand for hi-tech products in the detriment of classic ones (30%)

The existence of nostalgic individuals who prefer film cameras and the existence of collectors (11%). This can only insure a limited demand, getting lost in the overall declining trend.

e. Video rented from retail outlets

During the 1980s up to the mid 1990s, the renting and selling video cassettes business was an extremely successful one. However, the past decade has been confronted with a slow but steady decline of video rentals. Factors that might influence the future trend include:

Better access to cable television, improved quality of the films aired on cable and the existence of channels that air the latest movies (such as HBO) contribute to a decreasing demand for rental tapes (20%)

Increased incomes combined with the desire to own the videos might lead to an increase of video purchases in the detriment of rental (30%)

Increased web piracy which generates the theft of films from the internet, in the detriment of rental (35%)

Reduced time for leisure activities, including going to the cinema, could generate an increased demand for rentals (15%) f. Pay-per-view television programming

The pay-per-view system was introduced in the mid 1970s and its aim was to allow cable consumers to watch a recent film or special event and then only pay for what they watched. There are some factors that could generate both increase as well as decrease of the PPV demand.

The emergence of television channels which air new films and programs for cheaper monthly fees that those of the pay-per-view system (such as HBO) could lead to a decrease in the demand for PPV (33%)

The law on the matter could also contribute to a declining demand for PPV as it only allows television channels to air recent films after a period of 30 up to 90 days since the video was made available for renting (34%)

Further technological developments and improvements of the television programming system could increase the demand (33%) g. Crude oil

The future demand for crude oil could follow both a decreasing as well as an increasing trend, based on the factors we consider. As such:

The emergence of alternative combustibles and forms of energy could produce a decreased demand for crude oil (30%)

Macroeconomic forces that affect the international price of crude oil. The economic theory and practice has shown that an increase in price generates a decrease in demand, and vice versa, a decrease in price generates an increase in demand (10%)

An increase in the future demand for crude oil could be generated by the reduction of natural resources and the international hysteria (40%)

The increased consumption of crude oil adherent to the past years, and the continually growing trend are prone to generate an increase demand. (20%)

Source: The Macro Perspective on the Capital Markets, 2004 h. Computer memory chips

The it market has registered significant growth along the past years and the computer memory chip is no exception. Not only that the demand for these products is constantly increasing, it is increasing at such high rates that the producers are unable to complete all orders, leading to a shortage of memory chips. Here are some forces prone to affect the future demand for computer memory chips:

Technological developments that produce better and innovative it products (such as smart phones, iPods or laptops) which require enhanced memory would most definitely lead to an increased demand for chips in the years to come (40%)

Continuous investments in research and development and the need to store more data would also generate an increased demand for computer memory chips (25%)

The need to stay in trend and keep up with the technological developments will affect consumers' behaviour, directing them to demand more computer memory (35%) i. Hotel rooms

The demand for hotel rooms is given by the combination of a series of forces, such as the consumers' inclination towards travelling, the occurrence of business or family trips or the resources of the area where the hotel is located. The future demand for hotel rooms could be influenced in the following meaning:

The growing economy produces increased wages which offer people the possibility of travelling, generating as such an increased demand for hotel rooms (25%)

Business trips occur more frequently and generate an increased demand for hotel rooms (40%)

Developing countries place more emphasis on their natural and touristy resources, developing their touristy industry, attracting more foreigners and generating an increased demand for hotel rooms (20%) forth factor is of a demographic nature and it refers to the aging of the American and Canadian baby boomers. Since the generation with the highest birth-rate is reaching the retirement age, they are prone to travel more and lead to an increase demand for hotel rooms. (15%) j. Fast food outlets in emerging markets

The fast food industry is expected to register an increase during the following years, especially within emerging markets. Here are some factors that would generate the increase in demand for fast food products:

Increased interest from foreign investors which enter the emerging markets and strongly promote the products (45%)

Growing economies and wages, implying an increased focus on jobs, in the detriment of home cooking (35%)

Changing consumers needs (20%) k. Credit cards issued by financial institutions

Credit cards encompass products offered by banks or other financial institutions which allow their clients to use the bank's money and then pay them back at a previously specified interest rate. Credit cards have always had great success among clients and even though the demand has not drastically reduced yet, this seems to be the trend. The future demand for credit cards could be influenced in the following meaning:

The maturation of the market could generate an increased demand for credit cards (25%)

People's option towards savings, instead on investments and additional expenditures could as well lead to a decreased demand for credit cards (50%)

The increase of personal loans in the detriment of credit cards would also generate a reduced demand (25%) l. Laptop computers

The demand for laptop computers has increased drastically during the past years. So large is the demand for these it products, that chip producers are unable to keep up with it. "Right now demand is strong enough that I haven't been able to build up inventory." The future demand for laptop computers could be increased by the following factors:

The population's desire to keep up with the technological changes and their purchasing of the latest it gadgets, currently the most popular one being the laptop (15%)

The Increasing number of business travels during which employees must be accompanied by a laptop (30%)

Increased wages that lead to more households affording personal computers and laptops (20%)

The profits realized in the it sector inspire the youth to study computers; therefore they need laptops (10%)

The population's desire for more efficiently used space and the replacement of large personal computers with the small size laptops. (25%)

Diagrams showing the proportion each factor holds in influencing the future demand of products a. Convenience foods b. Products purchased on the Internet c. Fax machines d. Film and cameras e. Video rented from retail outlets f. Pay-per-view television programming g. Crude oil h. Computer memory chips i. Hotel rooms j. Fast food outlets in emerging markets k. Credit cards issued by financial institutions l. Laptop computers