User:Kchidzonga/Mass market

= Mass market = From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the form of book binding, see Paperback § Mass-market.

The term "mass market" refers to a market for goods produced on a large scale for a significant number of end consumers. The mass market differs from the niche market in that the former focuses on consumers with a wide variety of backgrounds with no identifiable preferences and expectations in a large market segment. Traditionally, businesses reach out to the mass market with advertising messages through a variety of media including radio, TV, newspapers, internet and various social media platforms.

Contents

 * 1Overview
 * 2Marketing
 * 2.1Mass Market Retailers
 * 2.1.1Mass Market Retailers Vs Luxury Retailers
 * 2.2Mass Market Advantages
 * 2.3Mass Market Disadvantages
 * 3The Decline
 * 3.1 Covid-19 Impact
 * 4See also
 * 5References

Overview
The mass market is the group of end consumers of common household products who are perceived as "average". This group encompasses such a wide variety of people that their need, uses, and price point for market offerings may vary greatly. The myriad of customers' needs makes it difficult to target each and every customer in the mass market via mass marketing. Electric and gas utilities, soap, paper towels and gasoline are typical examples of goods for a mass market. Mass Marketing retailers sell items in bulk to lessen consumer prices and create economies of scale. Products that are associated with a mass market are often ones that are essential for the vast majority of society, anything outside of that becomes a niche and luxury retailer in nature.

Marketing
Main article: Mass marketing

Marketing plays a vital role in setting companies apart from each other in a mass market. Developing a brand new product to be driven by the manufacturer is a key factor several companies have had success in. There are a wide variety of brands that use different advertising techniques to sell their products or services. The popularity of social media platforms have given brand advertising the ability to interact with a wider audience. Consumers are now introduced to numerous options for brands and services, making it difficult to choose from the array of options.

Mass marketing advertises to everyone, as opposed to a specific group, or demographic. Corporations are known to successfully advertise to the largest number of customers by using multiple channels such as, television, billboards, and events. The techniques corporations apply are profitable based on advertising mainly essential products or necessary services. Products especially are advertised at the lower price in order to gain sales.

Mass marketing is a very competitive battle for companies in today’s world. Manufacturing costs are necessary to keep low to produce mass items and compete with prices of competitors. “Meanwhile, as technological developments resulted in cheaper consumer goods and disposable incomes rose, price became less of an issue in purchases and brand names became more important.”

Mass Market Retailers
Mass-market retailers are composed of large chain stores which sell mass produced products at brick-and-mortar locations or online. Some known mass-market retailers include stores such as Target, Walmart, and Costco. The indicated stores are popular options which meet the everyday needs of consumer purchases. The competitiveness among mass-market retailers is strong with each business establishing unique brand items to appeal to consumers. Many Mass Market retailers now include other services in store such as pharmacy.

Mass Market Retailers Vs Luxury Retailers
In terms of mass market vs luxury retailers, luxury retailers sell their products to specific consumers. The target market for luxury retailers are wealthy consumers who purchase upscale products. Luxury retailers are associated with higher quality and superior customer service. Mass Market retailers sell in abundance at a low cost and luxury retailers sell fewer items of quality. Stores associated with luxury retail are Saks 5th, Gucci, and Bloomingdales. Although the market sells exclusively to wealthy consumers, there is segmentation of old and new luxury businesses being offered to consumers. Brands in the market such as Coach handbags and Burberry, are now expanding by offering affordable options.

Mass Market Advantages

 * Mass Marketing is the degree and cost-proficiency of advertising on a bigger scale compared to smaller business Marketing systems.
 * Increases brand awareness
 * Power to control the Market (scare future competitors away)
 * Wider potential customer pool - Ability to cater to large segment of customers.
 * Costs can be saved in advertising and marketing based on the uniformity of the product.
 * Favorable economies of scale - Higher sales would mean lower production costs.
 * The uniformity and standard nature of the products makes it immune to changing tastes/ trends.

Mass Market Disadvantages

 * Will leave smaller companies more vulnerable
 * Always changing consumer Market
 * The potential for high price wars due to low differentiation, low loyalty, and price becomes the basis of competition.
 * The competition is high based on many companies that are present in the market.
 * The profit margin per unit is low due to low prices.

The Decline
“Technology has enabled consumers to skip over these mass-market models. Amazon and Google allow them to quickly and easily search out specific products that speak to them. Consumers are not associating or committing to a certain brand no longer. The convenience of e-commerce provides quality, price, and availability.

 Covid-19 Impacts 

During the height of the pandemic, many retailers were forced to close leaving only supermarkets, small business essential suppliers, and big box stores open for essential products. The essential items many consumers bought were toilet paper, paper towels, disinfectant products, and sanitizers. These mass produced items saw many supermarkets, big box stores, and small business essential suppliers sold out. Brick-and-Mortar stores such as Target and Walmart saw an increase in sales for mass marketed essentials. E-commerce too saw an uptick in sales from the height of the pandemic for the same products. Unfortunately, many retailers remained closed until infection rates decreased and guidelines were in place.

Small Businesses were impacted despite consumers bringing business to the sector. The beginning of the pandemic shuttered many mom and pop stores due to the seriousness of the virus. Consumers have stepped up to support their local businesses due to the significant importance of customer service, high-quality products, and supporting the local community. Consumers have found the same essential goods at small retailers which also benefits the community. The slogan "shop small, shop local" worked in the favor of small businesses.