E-magzine: Conclusion

As time goes by, the traditional market has been on the downgrade because the coming of new generations and the rising of living quality affect the change of consuming conditions. The customers of younger generations nowadays may prefer to go to supermarket to buy food rather than going to traditional market. They may not care about whether the customer service that the clerk offers is humane or passionate or not. They may pay their much attention to consuming environment, convenience, and the variety of merchandise of the super market. However, through interview, we still find that customers of certain age or generations would like to buy food in the day market because they claim they are more used to it.
Although the differences between traditional markets and super markets are quit many and huge, the differences do not mean which one is better than the other. From the chart above, we see both traditional market and super market have its own advantages and weaknesses. These different advantages will be still attracting to different groups of consumers who have different needs. So, the traditional market still has its own value of existence in Taiwan and cannot be replaced. However, how to learn from the advantage of super markets, keep frequent customers of old generations, and attract new customers of younger generations must be the key issues that traditional market must note in the future, so that the traditional market won’t fade with time.

E-magzine: Compare & Contrast

Compare and Contrast: How are traditional market and super market different and similar?

Tradition markets are very different from super markets in many ways. Firstly, the merchandise of traditional market is much fresher than the freezing food of super market. For example, the pork seller might draw his merchandise from the pig killer on that day and sold it out on the same day. Secondly, speaking of the price of merchandise, buying things in traditional market would cost you more than in super market. The reason is most sellers in traditional are just retailers. They won’t wholesale too much in case the merchandise cannot be sold out on the same day. Compared to the traditional market, the super market wholesales a lot and the wholesale price that super markets get must be much cheaper than the traditional. So, the price of merchandise in super market can be cheaper. However, although the price of merchandise in the traditional markets is much more expensive, it’s also more flexible. Customers can bargain with the sellers to get a satisfactory price in the traditional market, but they cannot do the same things in the supermarket. The price of merchandise in the supermarket is fixed. Thirdly, customers can buy many kinds of things at the same time in one super market, but they have to go to different stalls to buy pork, vegetables, and so on in the traditional market. Fourthly, if the customer needs only a small amount of merchandise, going the traditional market would be a best choice. The reason is that customer cannot buy a small amount in the super market. Fifthly, customer service that the traditional markets provide is better and more humane. The sellers in the supermarket would try to offer services to meet customers’ needs such as recipe, suggestions, chat, care, and gifts. However, the clerks in the supermarket may not offer the same services to customers. They won’ chat with you, give you discount, or give you anything as the present while you buy a lot. The interaction between clerks and customers are passive and less. Sixthly, the open hours of the traditional market are from 6 a.m. to 12 a.m. When they have to work, they might have no time to go to the traditional market. If they don’t have to work on weekends and plan to buy things in the traditional market, they have to get up early. However, the open hours of super market is much more available for the young people who have jobs. They can go to supermarket after job in week days, and they can go to super market in the afternoon if they get up late in the weekend. Seventhly, the packing of merchandise in the supermarket is more elegant and attracting. Eighthly, another reason that people choose to go to supermarket is clean and comfortable consuming environment. They don’t’ have to worry about the weather, bad smell, or messy ground. In the end, customers can bring little money and pay via a credit card in the super market.

E-magzine: Character Sketch: A Vegetable Seller (Ms. Lin)

Hsin Chuang Food/Day Market
Character Sketch: A Vegetable Seller or Another family care-taker
Ms. Lin has sold vegetables for more than 20year, so she is a master of sale. Gaining the experience of sale is not easy. While people are getting their sweet dreams in the beds, she has to get up to wholesale a variety of vegetables from Pan Ch'iao terminal market at four clock every morning. In order to compete with other vegetables sellers and please the customers, she chooses merchandise of quality very carefully and set the price as lowest as she could.

In addition to making a balance between quality and price, Ms. Lin also adopts several strategies of marketing to promote her merchandise. First of all, she tends to call her female customers below their age such as younger sister, young lady, beauty, miss, or ms and calls the male customers “young brother, young guy, handsome boy or mister. Second of all, she would intend to call everything is final sale in order to promote her merchandise. Third of Ms. Lin’s strategies of marketing, Ms. Lin would not force the customers to buy a lot. Instead, she would encourage her customers to buy the amount that he or she needs. If the customer only needs a small amount, Ms. Lin would also like to do this deal. Fourthly, if the customer wants need certain vegetable to be peeled with a knife, she would provide this service without any additional pay. Fifthly, Ms. Lin would give green onion, ginger, or cayenne pepper as a present if any customer buy vegetables above 100 dollars. Sixth of all, customers can buy vegetables at a cheaper price in Ms. Lin’s stall. The price is more flexible. Ms. Lin accepts bargain and she would count the total price into a round number. For instance, if things that you buy are 23 dollars, it’s very possible and easy for Ms. Lin to tell you the favored price is 20 dollars. Seventhly, Ms. Lin would like to chat with her customers because she cares about them. Besides, Ms. Lin regards what is between her and her customers are not only dealing, but also a relationship. Eighthly, she thinks “customers are always right”, so she is always trying to be nice with her customers. She communicates with them in a soft attitude. Ninthly, she would offer her customers each thing’s clear price again before turning in customers what they bought. Finally, she would try to provide services to meet customers’ needs. For example, if a lady of younger age comes to her stall and looks confused about what to buy, Ms. Lin would love to provide recipes for vegetables and suggest the lady what to buy for the recipe. For another instance, we found out Ms. Lin provides knowledge of regimen and recipe. While interviewing with Ms. Lin, an old lady about 50 years old standing by the stall hesitated whether to buy gumbo which she has never bought or cooked before. Aware of her customer’s problem, Ms. Lin told the old woman that how gumbo helps to keep the health of stomach and how important the health of stomach is for every family members. She also provides the best way of cooking gumbo. In the end, she persuaded the old women to buy and to try to cook gumbo for her family’s own good. According to her experience in providing recipes and selling vegetables, Ms. Lin found out customers of young age focus much more on the flavor of vegetables and customers of old age would pay much attention on healthy vegetables. I guess Ms. Lin can win her customers’ heart and trust because she tries her best to observe the customers’ needs with care and help them out with passion and patience.