Shopping at Lazada 9.9 Sales Today

Just when you get so excited to do your shopping today (9th September 2019) on online shopping mall like Lazada, beware! The 9.9 Sales seem to offer many vouchers and discount, but some retail stores may try to take advantage of the sales too in a 'not-so-smart' way.

The top left store selling Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ is participating in the Lazada 9.9 sales but check the sales price carefully - RM 4,199 (same as before sales)

What is the point of having 9.9 sales when the store offering the same price to customers? 混水摸鱼?

What say you?

Latest Sales Promotion Strategy by Private Universities in Malaysia

It is normal for the marketers in service-based organisation to develop strategies that can reduce the challenges from the nature of service i.e. intangibility, inseparability, variability and perishability. This is to ensure that the resources are being utilised and quality are maintained. Hence, capacity management is often used by service organisation to reduce the losses when sales are low. Hotels and airlines are famous in using sales promotion to stimulate their occupancy and bookings during low season.

Recently, I found that a private education institution in Malaysia also adopting similar sales promotion like other hospitality businesses, "50% discount on fees for intakes between July to November 2016". Of course, any sales promotion will have its own terms and conditions, same goes to this institution promotion. So don't get so excited first.

Updated (10/6/2016): Another institution is giving out 'Buka Puasa Buffet Dinner voucher" if you register with their programme. Interesting! I just got the email :)

Ultimately, sales promotion is a marketing communication strategy to stimulate sales in a given period of time. It seems like education industry is also becoming a good example for marketing studies.

What say you?

Education Fair 2013 in Malaysia

Every time when I go to the education fair, I find something is different. I guess I am witnessing the evolution of education industry in Malaysia. 

Most private institutions dominates the main halls in the education fair, with unique constructions of a large area which consist of many booths (12-16 open booths size). Also, there are actually many private higher education providers in Malaysia and growing larger. So far, I don't see any public university there (even if they are there, they will only take very few booths with minimum spending on the booth design). It shows that the private institutions are still more desperate for students than the public. Well, this has always been the norm, just that the private institutions are becoming more competitive and aggressive in sales and marketing.

Secondly, more students involvement in the marketing efforts by various institutions. They call them the 'student helper'. Their task is to give out flyers, goodies and to collect database by stopping everyone to fill up the enquiry form. Some institutions are like those Telcos (in blue, red, yellow t-shirts), assigning there student helper to try to grab anyone who passes by their booths to fill up the form (just like Telcos promoters-signing up a data plan or buying prepaid SIM). I just wonder if this is how education fair suppose to be - "selling" or it should be a place for counselling and to find out about courses available.

In this education fair, there are also some European universities participating under the European Union education booths. Their counsellors are all standing near to their booths welcoming the potential students to approach them to ask about their courses. It is not so much on collecting database as they are mainly here to create the awareness, provide informations and encourage the candidate to apply for their programmes if they are interested; not on "selling".

To some extent, I find that the approach used by many institutions now is more like trying to sell the visitors a product, just like in PC Fair (for ICT) or Matta Fair (for Travel and Tours). It is scary because the institutions are supposed to promote their courses by creating awareness, help the candidates to choose the right course, provide information on financial aid and to cultivate learning and development in younger generations.

What say you?

Personality Traits: Materialism

Some people are so motivated to achieve their goals or desire on certain things or purposes. I belief the individual personality plays an important role to determine the level of motivation.

Gucci at Old Bond Street, Mayfair, London

I was aspired by the dedication of these people when in London few years back.  The personality trait like materialism tend to motivates these people to be so dedicated, despite of cold weather and many hours of standing. Their need to own something from Gucci was so overwhelming that they are willing to sacrifice their opportunity cost and compliance to the queuing. How good if these people can make use of this personality trait to achieve greater goals in life, work or study. If these people can spend hours to queue on a boxing day just to get into Gucci because of 'Sales', why many of us always complaint about not enough time, no patient to wait and queue why driving or getting into the train?

In front of The Claridges, Brook St, London.

Well, its easy to say than done. Perhaps, everyone of us have more than one personality traits and in different situation, desire can change our behaviour. Many other factors could contribute to individual rationality.

Hence, the more we understand our inner self and the social influences, the better we can manage our behaviour to the utmost benefits; not just ourself but to people around us. Again, it is easy to say than done.

The secret to success - intellectual knowledge and rationalisation.

By the way, I didn't joint the queue on boxing day.Check out the date date of the picture, it was before Christmas!  I am not against those in the queue but I am just not that type of personality.