Marketing mobile payments and mobile donations

For the Chinese New Year, hundreds of millions of people sent the traditional red envelope of cash to friends--but for 2017, these were digital packets and digital payments delivered via social media networks and mobile apps.

In fact, mobile apps facilitate many e-commerce and personal payments, not just holiday gift traditions.

Mobile payments are gaining ground around the globe, sometimes aided by government actions to remove obstacles, as India is doing. In-store mobile payments are also increasing, with Chinese shoppers especially enthusiastic about the convenience and speed.

French shoppers are less enthusiastic, however, and German shoppers are not adopting mobile payments in large numbers either.

In the UK, mobile payments are more popular than in many other markets. Why? One reason is that credit and debit cards are widespread in the UK, so linking them with a mobile payment app streamlines the process and makes everything simple. Also, national retailers like Tesco have their own mobile payment plans, which encourages shoppers to try when they buy.

Now Oxfam and other UK charities are inviting cashless mobile payment donations, making it convenient to give a small preset amount with just a tap or swipe or click.

Dell's Distribution Strategy in India

Dell was founded in 1984 by Michael Dell, a college student who sold build-to-order PCs from his dormitory room. Three years later, the fast-growing company opened its first international division, in the United Kingdom.

Today, despite intense competition from tech leaders like Apple, Lenovo and Hewlett Packard, Dell has ambitious marketing plans for future growth in overseas markets like India.

The PC market in India showed some growth in 2013 but 2014 is not expected to be as strong. Dell is the second-largest PC marketer in India, with an estimated market share of 13.2%. The largest PC marketer, Hewlett Packard, has an estimated market share of 28.5%, more than double Dell's share.

To increase share and boost brand availability outside of major urban areas, Dell's distribution strategy in India relies on two key elements:

• Targeting consumers, the company is doubling the number of Dell-brand stores in small cities and villages. These smaller markets are where Dell expects growth to be strong in the coming years, because PC ownership is not as widespread as in major urban areas. In addition, Dell is assembling laptops to keep in inventory, so distribution centers can ship laptops to the stores very soon after customers place their orders. In the past, Dell's build-to-order process minimised inventory costs--now, customers will receive orders more quickly, which in turn should increase customer satisfaction.
• Targeting businesses, including partners, Dell is using a roadshow approach to bring its experts and products to major commercial centres like New Delhi and Mumbai. The objective is to increase support for channel partners, expand market coverage and demonstrate its ability to provide full solutions to commercial customers.

Rolls-Royce 'not a volume-driven luxury car brand'

Rolls-Royce has great expectations for its latest Wraith model in India, a powerful yet elegant car. 'Wraith is drawing interest from the new customers who have not considered a Rolls-Royce before', says the automaker's general manager for emerging markets-Asia. 

Who is the target market for Rolls-Royce in India? Highly successful entrepreneurs, says the general manager. Although Wraith may attract new customers, it may also be purchased by current Rolls-Royce owners who own more than one car (the Ghost model might be used for business while the Wraith might be used for non-business driving, for instance). 

The company's approach to the market is not volume-driven, because the product is so very upmarket. Yet surely Rolls-Royce monitors sales units and revenues as metrics, and will be tracking progress toward sales goals, especially since overall car sales in India have been trending lower as petrol prices rise.

Festival time is traditionally a time when car purchases occur--and many brands are hoping to gain market share in the competitive Indian market. Rolls-Royce chose to announce its Wraith on its Facebook page, just one of many ways the company stays in touch with its market.

Yum Brands Targets India

Yum Brands--which owns Pizza Hut, KFC and Taco Bell--sees India as the next big growth market, after its ongoing success in China. KFC was among the first fast-food chains to enter China, and now it sees India as a market where it can expand and profit from changing demographics and increased demand for fast/casual food.

Already, Yum has more than 450 outlets in India and plans up to 1,000 units by 2015. One reason for Pizza Hut's popularity in India is its introduction of small 'snack' pizzas with small prices--the lowest price, in fact, of any major pizza brand. Pizza Hut Delivery (the Indian pizza unit of Yum) has more than 650,000 Facebook likes (its profile photo is at left).

The KFC India Facebook page has nearly 1,000,000 Facebook likes...and the chain's menu items are spicier than in other markets, to appeal to Indian tastes. From 2010, Yum's Taco Bell Mexican food chain has also been represented in India.

One priority is increasing and defending Yum's market share for long-term competitive strength. Another is building profits to fuel product development and future growth. Meanwhile, some local businesses are planning new fast-food chains, even as Starbucks and other U.S.-based competitors are working with local partners to enter the Indian market. Yum will have to clearly demonstrate what each of its fast-food brands stands for and consistently deliver on those brand promises in the years ahead.

Made-in-India autos drive into South Africa

The South African car market is alive with import activity from India:

• Toyota Kirloskar (the Indian joint venture of Japan's Toyota) will begin marketing small cars in South Africa from spring of 2012. Shown above is the Etios, one of the made-in-India autos to be sold in South Africa. 
• India's Tata Motors already sells a hatchback, several small car models, its Xenon pickup truck and its Safari SUV in South Africa through a joint venture. Next it will bring its Manza cars and Prima trucks to the market.
• Mahindra & Mahindra has introduced its XUV SUV in South Africa, part of its global expansion.

Other imports competing in the South African market include Peugeot, Fiat, Dodge and Mitsubishi. As the worldwide economy improves, watch for South Africa's car market to become even more attractive.

Targeting rural shoppers

Reaching rural shoppers--consumers who live far from cities and shopping centers--can be a major challenge for major marketers. Infrastructure may not be in place to support traditional distribution and marketing strategies.

United Villages, however, is now leveraging mobile technology to reach outlying villages throughout India. The firm's staff discuss products with retailers in small villages and use their mobiles to immediately place orders. At the warehouse, United Villages picks and packs orders in boxes for each retail location, and speeds the purchases back to the stores where shoppers can buy what they need.

Big companies usually can't afford to visit individual retailers in outlying areas, but United Villages can--and fast order delivery is important to the store owners, who want fast inventory turns for cash-flow reasons. Such an arrangement also saves store owners from having to close their stores and pay to travel to a market or wholesaler location.

This isn't the first time United Villages has targeted rural shoppers, as you can see from the 2007 interview with Amir Alexander Hasson, one of the founders. United Villages has also been working on providing rural India with telecentres and e-mail access for several years. Will this distribution approach become popular and spread to other nations?

Super-sub-compact cars in India

Sales of super-sub-compact cars like Maruti Suzuki's Swift, GM's Spark and Hyundai's Santro are accelerating in India. Basic models lead the market, although larger vehicles appeal to specific customer segments.

Maruti Suzuki forecasts more than 18% growth in 2010, fueled in part by sales of the new EECO van (with 5 or 7 seats), which should sell about 40,000 units in the coming year.

Big year-end deals are helping to boost demand while the automakers look toward better revenue as global economic turmoil subsides and consumers feel more confident about spending once again. As auto demand improves and industry turnover rises, demand for parts, accessories and related services will improve, contributing to the economic recovery worldwide.