By Philip Tengzu, GNA
Wa, (UW/R), Aug. 31, GNA – A study on the retailing strategies of West African itinerant immigrant traders in Accra has called for enterprise-support programmes that build on traders’ existing business skills to make informal retailing more productive, sustainable and fair.
The study found that itinerant traders were using a range of entrepreneurial strategies to attract and retain customers, set prices, advertise products and increase sales despite operating largely outside formal business structures.
It, therefore, recommended that policymakers move beyond viewing informal retailing primarily through the lens of regulation, taxation and competition with formal shops and recognise the practical business capabilities embedded in the sector.
This was contained in a policy brief on the research findings by Professor Elijah Yendaw, a Professor of Population and Migration Studies at the University of Business and Integrated Development Studies (UBIDS), Wa.
The study, which was part of a broader investigation that sampled 779 West African itinerant migrant traders within the Accra Metropolis, found that about 61 per cent of the respondents had built customer networks while 38 per cent retained clients through lower prices.
It also found that 50.8 per cent relied on street vending, and 74 per cent advertised their products by loudly calling out their names.
The brief said the traders demonstrated capabilities in customer relationship management, flexible pricing, product promotion, cash-flow management and location strategy that could be harnessed for microenterprise development.
“Informal does not mean unskilled. The challenge is to turn street-smart retailing into stronger, fairer and more sustainable enterprises,” the policy brief stated.
The study, titled “Street-Smart Retailing: What Ghana Can Learn from the Pricing, Client-Building and Sales Strategies of West African Itinerant Traders”, was conducted in nine neighbourhoods.
The study identified customer networks as an important business asset among the itinerant traders, with 61 per cent reporting that they had built networks of customers.
Among the strategies used to retain customers were lower prices, quality products, diplomacy, credit opportunities and timely supply.
The research also found that 62.4 per cent of respondents did not have fixed prices, which demonstrated the extent to which traders adjusted prices according to market and personal circumstances.
The study noted that interview participants associated credit sales with payment default risks and difficulties in recovering debts within a mobile urban trading environment.
It said street vending enabled traders to reach more potential customers and urged authorities to distinguish between the need to manage congestion and the economic value of mobile retailing, which brings goods directly to consumers.
The study found that 74 per cent of respondents advertised their products by shouting their names, while others communicated information about price, quality or durability.
The brief indicated that enterprise programmes could build on these existing communication skills by introducing basic branding, signage, mobile-phone marketing and truthful advertising practices.
Persuasion and price reductions were also identified as the leading techniques for increasing sales, which the policy brief said could be transformed into ethical selling, negotiation and customer-service skills.
The brief, therefore, recommended six policy actions, including building microenterprise training around traders’ existing skills, promoting transparent and sustainable pricing and encouraging simple digital payments and transaction records.
Others were creating designated arrangements for mobile trading in appropriate high-footfall areas, promoting ethical sales and using migrant and trader associations as enterprise-support partners.
It said entrepreneurship programmes should, among other things, focus on practical skills such as customer acquisition, repeat sales, negotiation and market observation before adding structured skills in costing, bookkeeping, stock control, savings and reinvestment.
GNA
Edited by Benjamin Mensah
Reporter: Philip Tengzu, GNAÂ
[email protected]Â