CHAPTER I

THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

This chapter includes the introduction, setting of the study, statement of

the problem, significance of the study, scope and delimitation, and the

definition of terms used. The contents of this chapter establish the problem

being investigated by this research.

INTRODUCTION

Competition in businesses today is very high due to the sudden trend

of online businesses. They see competition in the form of price, quality,

design, sales, location, and almost every business process. Many businesses

produce similar products, promote on the same platforms, and even target the

same audience, which means it will all depend on how they build their market

to attract customers using marketing strategies.

Marketing strategies are comprehensive plans formulated particularly

to achieve the marketing objectives of the business. It is used as a guide by

the businessman to help the business grow. It allows a company to focus its

limited resources on the best available opportunities in order to improve sales.

A good marketing strategy helps companies identify their best customers. It

also helps them understand their customers’ needs.

May it be a small or large business, the main aim of companies is to

sell their products and generate income. It is why businesses must have

strategies so they can have an advantage against their competitors. Define

what the business does in clear and concise words so the target market

knows what product is and what is it about. Get to know the target market as

1
well and create an approach that will give more focus on the customers rather

than the products. These steps in building a strategy can ensure the business

gets started on the right track and that it’s heading in the right direction.

The Department of Labor and Employment announced that an

estimated number of 10 million workers may lose their job as the country

continues to struggle against the pandemic. Due to this, there has been a

sudden increase in the number of online businesses as well as people who

plan to start one. Everyday there are people losing their jobs because

companies, especially service type companies, are unable to accommodate

enough customers and are forced to send home their employees. In line with

this, this research can help aspiring online sellers earn income effectively

without losing money.

The main goal of the researchers is to find effective business strategies

so that they can help people who lost their jobs during the pandemic and

those who plan to build their online businesses. Aspiring online sellers have

some things to learn that can improve and make their business successful.

The purpose of the researchers for this study is for the people who are

planning to venture into the online business industry to be assured of starting

a business and not hesitate in using strategies to develop and improve the

business they are planning to build. Lastly, its goal is to serve as a job

opportunity for the people who plan to build their business online since many

people lost their jobs because of the pandemic

2
SETTING OF THE STUDY

The setting of the study takes place in the Philippines, particularly in

Binangonan Rizal. The researchers ask the online sellers by providing

questionnaires containing the questions that they need to answer and fill up.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The problem to be resolved in this study is the mismanagement of the

online sellers with regards to marketing their product. A lot of people lost their

job due to this pandemic, and their alternative way of earning money is to

have an online business. Some succeeded but some did not, and one of the

problems is their marketing strategy. This study aims to identify the strategies

of online sellers in promoting their products and services and determine the

effectiveness of such strategies. Furthermore, by investigating how these

strategies work, it would answer the general question: What strategy could

aspiring online sellers use based on their products and services?

Specifically, it aims to answer the questions:

1. What are the strategies used in online selling?

2. What are the effects of these strategies on the operation of the

business?

3. How effective are these strategies?

4. How can aspiring online sellers benefit from these strategies?

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This study will be beneficial for the following:

3
 Aspiring Online Sellers - This study is important for aspiring online

sellers to gain information about some strategies they can use to improve

their business. Having marketing strategies can be helpful for a business to

be recognized by the customers.

Teachers - This can also help the teachers who are teaching topics

about marketing strategies. This can be a reference for them to give additional

information about some related topics.

SCOPE AND DELIMITATION

The focus of this study is on the different strategies used by online

sellers and their effectiveness. This research includes the opinions and

suggestions of online sellers regarding the marketing strategies they used in

promoting and introducing their business. This involves a survey for those

who are selling products or services online. The respondents will be from

different online sellers who have a business, and the survey will be done

online.

DEFINITION OF TERMS

Adequately- to a satisfactory or acceptable extent.

Allocate- to distribute according to plan.

Business- an organization that produces and sells products and provides

services to the people.

Content Marketing- form of marketing focused on creating, publishing, and

distributing content for a targeted audience online.

Competitive Advantage- when an organization outperforms its competitors.

4
Effectiveness- the degree to which something is successful in producing a

desired result.

Enterprise- a business or company.

Expenses- cost or money spent on something.

Foundation- the action of establishing an institution or organization on a

permanent basis.

Framework- a basic structure underlying a system, concept, or text.

Frequency- the rate at which something occurs.

Income- money that an individual or business receives.

Profit- financial gain on the business.

Resources- a stock or supply of money, materials, staff, and other assets that

can be drawn on by a person or organization in order to function effectively.

Revenue- income a business has from its sales.

Sales- number of goods sold.

Social Listening- monitoring the brand’s social media sites for customer

feedback or direct mention of the brand’s name.

Social Media- websites and applications that enable users to create and

share content or to participate in social networking.

Strategy- a plan of action or policy designed to achieve a major or overall

aim.

Synergy- an interaction or cooperation giving rise to a whole that is greater

than the simple sum of its parts.

Venture- it is to go somewhere risky or dangerous.

5
 CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

This chapter includes the ideas, finished thesis, generalization or

conclusions, methodologies and others. Those that were included in this

chapter helps in familiarizing information that are relevant and similar to the

present study.

Usage of Strategies in a Business

According to Baron (2014), mindset is probably the major determinant

of success in pretty much every walk of life. The thinking patterns that a

person habitually adopt largely govern the results they achieve. When starting

a business, the businessman is responsible for all decisions, whether it is

good or bad. Learning to understand where to find opportunities even short-

lived, can help in developing and improving any business organization. A

better understanding of these strategies may help businesses to become

successful.

Knowing the product is an important choice since it can determine

whether the business launch can succeed or not. Understanding what the

product is, how it is used, and what its competitive advantage can help to

market the product. Secondly is knowing the market. Every market has its

own strengths and weaknesses. When choosing a market, a businessman

has to know and research what market they can use to their advantage.

Lastly, knowing the customers, an existing customer is more likely to buy from

the trusted seller again as opposed to a new visitor to the business.

6
Communication is the key to know and understand what customers need and

want (Debrincat, 2017).

One study by Battman (2017), social media is simply another way to

get their voice heard by a wider audience. Allowing them to communicate

faster, more often, and with greater relevance. Satisfied customers are more

likely to share their experiences with others online which will in turn help to

promote their brand and bring in new customers. Social listening allows

business owners to observe their customers on social media. They can also

get immediate qualitative feedback on their campaign as the followers may

comment.

It is essential for both small and large businesses to maximize the

benefits of having a strong web presence. An online presence for the online

business creates a virtual point where people can find useful information on

the website and interact with them through social media networks. Using

social media gives access to a much larger audience that includes people

within the location and beyond. This exposes online businesses to even more

opportunities and gives the business a chance to operate at a larger scale

(Sharma, 2015).

The latest work by Li et al (2020), the strategy provides the approach

for utilizing the resources of an organization in order to achieve its set goals

and objectives. Before a businessman starts a business, they have goals and

objectives for their business itself. Having strategies will help in dealing with

the effectiveness of their resources in achieving the goals and objectives they

set.

7
 One of the most popular ways for businesses to earn customers online

is by utilizing content marketing to solve problems for their target market.

Content marketing can be done in a variety of different ways such as blogs,

tutorial-videos, and intensive guides. While many companies have seen

success with their content marketing strategies, many others still leave a lot to

be desired. Creating a goal that aims to solve the problems of the customers

can be highly effective because it can both build the brand and build trust

among consumers in the target market (Macdonald, 2019).

One study by Baptiste Debever (2019), customers are the most

important piece of the business simply because the more loyal the customers

buy from the brand, the more likely they are to recommend it to other people.

Mastering and increasing customer loyalty is a crucial component for the

business to succeed. Improving customer service plays a major role in

breeding loyalty so take a moment to observe the business from the

perspective of the customers. Make it easy for people to reach out at all times

by displaying accurate contact information and address concerns in a timely

manner.

Importance of Strategies in a Business

Building specific business strategies is an absolute necessity to

increase the odds of success. As the business progresses, the importance of

the strategies becomes apparent. How will it run? What is the market? And,

ultimately, the answers to those questions are used to form a good business

strategy. Without the strategy, a path to achieving goals is not clearly defined,

8
and the business will rock-bottom without any immediate solutions to move

forward (Lazzari, 2019).

According to Bhasin (2017), the importance of strategy is numerous

however the most important aspect is a competitive advantage. Because of

marketing strategy, the business is able to stay ahead of its competitors, or at

least are able to beat the competitors who are below them in market standing.

Strategies are important for the reason that they help the business achieve

sustainability and competitiveness. When making a strategy, look at where

the business stands in the market and plan according to it. Seeing that the

businessman knows the goals for the business, it can be a tremendous

advantage that can be built over time.

The latest work by SEAN (2019), it is important to understand the

purpose of having a strategy. There is no single answer when it comes to

defining the strategy for small businesses. The strategy is different depending

on the needs of the owner’s business. Every business strategy will vary from

others depending on the needs of the business. Creating the digital strategy

only happens after research, trial & error, and knowing how to optimize the

campaigns for the best results. It’s a combination of tools and tactics, tailored

for the business that will work.

Thompson, Strickland, and Gamble (2006) identified two primary

reasons why strategy is important in a business organization. The first

important aspect of the strategy is that management needs to proactively

shape how the organization’s business will be conducted. They conclude that

a clear and reasoned strategy is management's prescription for doing

business, its road map to competitive advantage, its game plan for pleasing

9
customers, and improving financial performance. The second reason is that a

strategy-focused enterprise is more likely to be a strong bottom-line performer

than a company whose management team thinks that strategies aren’t that

important in business. Companies who prioritize having effective strategies

can significantly have better results in terms of the operation of their business.

According to Langly (2008), there are three main reasons why having

an online business strategy is important. The first reason is consistency. In

order to obtain a steady income, the seller must have a plan in place to get it.

The second reason is due to the fact that they can reduce distractions. One of

the most challenging things about working online is that it is very easy to get

distracted and not be able to focus on work. By having a strategy in place,

and then sticking to it, the seller is more likely to have productive work done

by the end of the day, rather than a non-productive work. The last reason is

that it gets the business on where the online seller wants it to go. Needless to

say, all aspiring online sellers have goals for their business.

One study by O. C. Ferrell & Michael Hairline (2007) states that the

success of a business depends on the five purposes that a marketing strategy

fulfills, however, the most pressing concern out of all of them lies in identifying

the needed resources of a business. The marketing plan is the means of

communicating the strategies to the involved parties who make the decisions

of where to allocate the business’ funds. Marketing plans may be

unsuccessful if the implementation of the plan is not adequately funded. It is

important to remember that marketing is not the only business function

competing for resources. Other functions such as finance, research and

development, and human resources need funds on their own.

10
 A good strategic framework provides focus by limiting the number of

directions the organization runs. A businessman must choose a strategy and

focus on it to make great progress on their businesses. A businessman needs

to sequence the efforts to maximize impact and synergy while minimizing

chaos, complexity, and risk. This isn't just an issue of using a strategy. It is

also an issue of risk, learning, complexity, and credibility (Latham, 2017).

CHAPTER III

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter presents the research methodologies used in the study.

This includes the research design, sampling and sample, and procedure of

the study. This chapter outlines how the researchers conducted the study.

RESEARCH DESIGN

The design used in the study is a Case Study. A case study is a type of

qualitative research that involves a long-term study of a person, group

organization, or situation. It seeks to find answers to why such things occur to

the subject. The topic is about the effects of the strategies that the online

sellers used in selling. The researchers are searching for how effective these

strategies are in online selling. They also want to study how beneficial these

strategies are for aspiring online sellers.

SAMPLING AND SAMPLE

The researchers are about to conduct a survey online and the

participants of this study are the online sellers. They are part or owners of

11
different online businesses here in the country. The requirement is having a

business that is established before or a new business, as long as it is still

providing its service or products. The researchers decide to use purposive as

the sampling of their study. They are the one who chose the respondents for

answering their questionnaire.

PROCEDURE OF THE STUDY

The first thing that the researchers must do is to determine what is the

topic that should be discussed, and they end up with the effects of the

strategies that the online sellers should consider to have a successful

business. The next thing to do is to have a questionnaire, it is a set of printed

or written questions with a choice of answers, devised for the purposes of a

survey or statistical study, containing the information that the researchers

must gather and that the online sellers must fill up. The next thing to do is

identify who would be the beneficiary, and it is the aspiring online sellers that

want to build their own business since many people lose their jobs because of

the pandemic that greatly affects their occupation. Aspiring online sellers are

not the only one who can get benefits in this research but the teachers as well

since they can get additional information to this study that could be helpful in

their discussion. The last thing that the researchers must do is to give the

gathered information to the beneficiary of the study in order for them to use

that strategy in their business.

12
 CHAPTER IV

PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF FINDINGS

This chapter presents the data gathered from the respondents, its

analysis, relation to related literature, and interpretation.

13
 Table 1: Strategies used Based on The Products

The effects of the strategies on the operation of the business in terms of

the sales is that 35 out of 40 respondents responded that they tend to have

more sales if they used the strategy they had been using. When it comes to

profit, 30 out of 40 respondents gain more profit while the remaining 10

respondents have less profit or some of them did not respond properly. In the

expenses, 23 out of 40 respondents have less expenses while the remaining

17 respondents have more expenses or did not answer correctly.

Based on the products they sell, 32 respondents responded that their

business is successful because of the strategy they used and 5 respondents

answered that they are not successful while the remaining 3 respondents are

not sure if their business is successful or not.

Due to these strategies and its effects that have been stated, aspiring

online sellers can benefit from it by using a certain strategy that can help with

their product when they decide to start their business. Another thing is that

aspiring online sellers will know and can decide the products they could sell

which are in demand.

Discussion of Findings

The researchers found out that the strategy that is the most effective to

use when a person decides to have an online business is to use social media.

In the results of our survey, all online sellers use social media as their way to

14
promote their business and advertise their products like posting in their social

media accounts, sharing their business products to their friends, joining

different groups, and asking for feedback. Social media is simply another way

to get their voice heard by a wider audience. Satisfied customers are more

likely to share their experience with others online which will in turn help to

promote their brand and bring in new customers (Battman, 2017).

Due to the different products that online sellers sell in their business,

they must know the strategy that can bring out the essence of it. Every

product can be sold by a businessman and bought by a customer if the

product has enough presence to be known by the people. It is essential for

both small and large businesses to maximize the benefits of having a strong

web presence. Using social media gives access to a much larger audience

that includes people within the location and beyond (Sharma, 2015).

The expenses can directly affect the profit when the online seller

spends in order to plan out their marketing strategy. According to the results of

the data gathering, online sellers either spend more on their strategies to gain

a profit or spend less on strategies yet still gain profit. Marketing plans may be

unsuccessful if the implementation of the plan is not adequately funded. It is

important for online sellers to know how to allocate resources since it is not the

only business function that is competing for resources. Other functions such as

finance, research and development, and human resources need funds on their

own (O. C. Ferrell & Michael Hairline, 2007).

Having effective strategies can help a business to grow. Based on the

response of the respondents, most of them use social media as their strategy,

and it is effective since their businesses are successful. The researchers found

15
out that if aspiring online sellers will use this effective strategy, their business

can succeed as well. A good strategic framework provides focus by limiting the

number of directions the organization runs. A businessman must choose a

strategy and focus on it to make great progress on their businesses (Latham,

2017).

The mindset of a businessman can show the characteristics of what a

business has to offer. They will always find opportunities just to make progress

on their business and also find improvement for it. Learning to understand

where to find opportunities, even short-lived, can help in developing and

improving any business organization. A better understanding of these

strategies may help businesses to become successful (Baron, 2014).

This research will help aspiring online sellers to know a lot about the

business they are going to have, the product they are going to sell and their

target market to start their business. This can decide whether their business

will succeed or not. Understanding what the product is, how it is used, and

what is its competitive advantage can help to market the product. Every

market has its own strengths and weaknesses. When choosing a market, a

businessman has to know and research what market they can use to their

advantage. Communication is the key to know and understand what

customers need and want (Debrincat, 2017).

The strategy that could aspiring online sellers use based on their

products and services are using social media, promos, word of mouth, service

approach, trending, and quality products. This only proves that the online

sellers nowadays are really good at improvising since they tend to explore

and find what will be beneficial to their business and due to the fact that there

16
are many businesses that could be their rival, they manage to search for ways

in order for their business to step up from them. Just like what Baron stated,

the online seller must have a positive mindset in order to have clear results

when it comes to deciding what strategies will suit the business. With that

being said, do not be afraid in trying many strategies since it will take time to

notice if the business is progressing.

CHAPTER V

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

This chapter presents the conclusions drawn from the study and the

recommendations offered by the researchers.

CONCLUSIONS

The researchers concluded that for the business to be successful and

take off, aspiring online sellers must first know what product they would like to

sell and then use the strategies that they think will suit it. Social media is one

of the best strategies to promote their business online as the surveys aside

from it is free and hassle free, many people nowadays use it every day. The

researchers also end up that the aspiring online sellers should catch the

attention of customers by having promos once in a while, and should sell

products that are trending. After all that being stated, aspiring online sellers

must also believe and hope for the best in their business since it will have a

positive result if the online seller has trust in themselves.

17
RECOMMENDATIONS

The researchers recommend that the aspiring online sellers must

establish strategies and plans before engaging into business since it will help

them decide what are the things, they need to consider in it. If they would

like to sell clothes, foods, accessories, and other stuff, the best way is to use

social media and should at least have discounts and promos. With the help of

it, their business will become successful as time goes by. The researchers

recommend to the teachers that use this study as a learning reference to their

students since this research contains additional information that they could

use when discussing marketing strategies and business plans.

18
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APPENDICES

23
Effects of Online Selling Strategies

Questions:
1. What are the reasons why you started online selling?
2. How long is your business running?
3. What type of product are you selling?
4. What are the different strategies you used in your business? Is it
effective or not?
* Can be past or failed strategies.
5. What are the effects of these strategies in the expenses of your
business?
* Can be past or failed strategies.
6. What are the effects of these strategies in the sales of your business?
*Can be failed or past strategies
7. What are the effects of these strategies in the profit of your business?
*Can be past or failed strategies
8. Do you think your business is successful? If yes, why do you say so? If
not, state the problem why did it fail?
9. What can you say or suggest to help the new online seller who just
started selling online?

24
25