Marketing mix and STP strategies: a qualitative inquiry into grocery retailers in Malaysia

The rapid changes of retailers are always the primary concern faced by the players in the competitive industry. Without a proper understanding of the market needs in the volatile market environment, retailers are facing shutdowns and experiencing a drastic drop in demand. With this in mind, retailers need to identify the segmentation and marketing mix strategies in order to enhance the shopping experience for their customers and to maintain sustainability in the competitive market. This paper hence aims to present the empirical findings of a qualitative study into grocery retailer, comparing across three retail formats (e.g. supermarket, minimarkets and convenience store) in Malaysia, and exploring how these local grocery retailers segment, target, position (STP Strategies) and plan for their marketing mix strategies. In order to investigate the experience shared among the retailers, textual data has been collected with the interview approach, and analysis focused on comparing the similarities and differences in retail strategies adopted by these grocery retailers. The data were transcribed and analysed using content analysis with the aid of Quirkos software. The study adopts face to face pre-planned semi-structured in-depth interviews to ensure consistency. The findings of the paper provide an alternative perspective for the retailers and marketers towards the importance of STP and marketing mix strategies in the grocery retail industry. The paper also demonstrates the extension in the current marketing literature, which highlight the crucial contribution of STP and marketing mix strategy in the marketing discipline