Proposed Marketing Strategy to Increase Sales of SAMI RAOS

: Ready-to-cook food has become more popular since post-pandemic. Remote work and government regulations to avoid crowds have shaped mealtime routines, making convenience a priority. Ready-to-cook foods are in demand because people want quick, easy meals without disrupting their work schedules. This shift in consumer behaviour favours the ready-to-cook food industry because consumers want fast, convenient meals. Given the ready-to-cook industry's remarkable progress and resilience in difficult pandemic circumstances, MSMEs are competing to produce products with diverse culinary options to gain an edge in the market. The ready-to-cook food industry offers international, traditional, and health-focused options. SAMI RAOS is a MSME that sells a variety of ready-to-cook foods. The company has been recognized for preserving and promoting Indonesian and Sundanese cuisine, such as baso aci , cuankie , and mie yamin in ready-to-cook form. The objective of this study is to identify the determinants that impact and improve the sales of SAMI RAOS products. This study employed quantitative methods, including consumer analysis, with a sample size of 227 individuals. The questionnaires were distributed online and utilised the Likert scale for measurement. The author employed both internal and external analysis techniques to conduct a comprehensive descriptive analysis of the company. The research employed internal analysis techniques such as Marketing Mix, STP (Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning), Value Chain Analysis, and VRIO Analysis. The research incorporated various external analysis techniques, including PESTEL analysis, Porter's Five Forces analysis, competitor analysis, and customer analysis. The data obtained from these analyses will be used to generate a SWOT and TOWS analysis, which will serve as the basis for developing a business solution and implementation plan. According to the research findings, SAMI RAOS needs to make various improvements to its promotional activities and revamp certain management activities in order to strengthen its position in the market, optimize company resources and capabilities, and mitigate external risks.


I. INTRODUCTION
Indonesia has experienced a significant increase in the number of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME) operating in food industry in recent years.MSMEs have a crucial impact on the economic progress of Indonesia, making substantial contributions to job creation, income generation, and overall economic expansion.The F&B industry in Indonesia has proven to be highly resilient during the pandemic due to its successful adoption of digitalization.The resilience of the F&B industry also seems to be influenced by changes in consumer behavior after going through the Covid-19 pandemic.The post-pandemic era has witnessed a significant increase in the preferences for ready-to-cook food.According to [1] this preference has been driven by a number of interconnected factors that have reshaped consumer behavior and shopping choices.Mealtime routines have been shaped as a result of the shift toward remote work and government regulations to avoided crowded area, which has made convenience a top priority.Individuals are looking for quick and easy meal solutions that do not disrupt their work schedules, which has led to an increase in the demand for ready-to-cook foods.This demand has increased while the number of people working from home has increased.Taking into account the remarkable progress achieved by the ready-to-cook industry and its remarkable resilience in challenging circumstances, MSMEs are competing to produce products that differentiate themselves by incorporating diverse culinary option in order to gain a competitive advantage.The ready-to-cook food industry has diversified its product offerings, including international cuisines, traditional cuisines, and health-focused alternatives.Some MSME's have developed ready-to-cook products that suit to cultural preferences by offering specific traditional cuisines that are highly appealing to local consumers.MSMEs, cognizant of this cultural connection, have strategically aligned their readytocook offerings with the diverse and rich Indonesian culinary heritage.The use of authentic ingredients and adherence to traditional recipes distinguish these products.Consumers value the genuine taste and experience of traditional dishes, and ready-to-cook options that stay true to these elements attract a loyal customer base.To give clearer picture of how MSME's that specializes in readytocook products that offering traditional cuisines.This study will use SAMI RAOS as subject for further examination.SAMI RAOS is mainly producing ready-to-cook Sundanese food ranging from cuankie, baso aci, and mie yamin.
A. Business Issue SAMI RAOS, a player in the ready-to-cook Sundanese cuisine market, finds itself at struggling in maximizing effective marketing that leads to purchase intention.In a recent interview with several employee and Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) of SAMI RAOS, critical business issues surfaced, revealing the company's struggle with unorganized marketing campaigns, ambiguous segmentation and positioning, and a pricing strategy solely anchored in activity costs.The absence of a well-defined marketing plan hinders SAMI RAOS's ability to effectively communicate its brand identity and value proposition to its target audience.The challenge of positioning within the market landscape leaves the brand vulnerable to being overshadowed by competitors.SAMI RAOS faces the daunting task of identifying and leveraging a competitive advantage that sets it apart in the fiercely competitive ready-to-cook Sundanese cuisine market.Furthermore, SAMI RAOS pricing strategy revolves solely around activity costs signals a narrow perspective that overlooks crucial factors influencing consumer behavior.Pricing is a multifaceted aspect that extends beyond production costs, encompassing market demand, competitor pricing, and perceived value.By relying solely on activity costs, SAMI RAOS may inadvertently miss opportunities for strategic pricing that reflects both market dynamics and the value proposition offered by its products.Without a clear differentiation strategy, the brand risks blending into the broader landscape, making it challenging to capture and retain consumer attention.The unorganized marketing campaigns, segmentation and positioning challenges, and the limited scope of the pricing strategy underscore the pressing need for a comprehensive strategic overhaul.This challenge underscores the critical need for a structured marketing plan that aligns with the company's overarching goals and resonates with the preferences of its diverse customer base.

II. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORKS
Author has provided conceptual frameworks that consist of hypotheses that can be examined further using several approaches and analyses: A. Product Quality on Purchase Intention [2] revealed that convenience food products' quality and safety attributes developed brand trust amongst the consumers, leading to brand loyalty and repeated purchase decisions.According [3] research, several factors, including quality and safety, influence consumers' perceptions of a product.Because convenience food is produced to a high standard, consumers choose to buy it.Several factors determine the quality of food, such as packaging quality, certification, and durability.H1: Product quality positively influences consumers purchase intention.

B. Product Features on Purchase Intention
Understanding the variables that influence a buyer's selection of a product becomes crucial to the development of a company's competitive strategy in convenience food market.According to [4] customers in markets for specific food products vary from one another in a few ways, including needs, eating habits, preferences, consumer behavior, attitude toward health and dietary aspects, and brand loyalty.They also differ in their desires, resources, places of residence, attitudes, and shopping customs.As mentioned earlier, apart from fulfilling consumer needs, businesses need to focus their attention to broaden product features to create competitive advantage through distinction.Companies can make distinct features that appealing for their segmentation according to their selection features.Based on [3]; [5] research, convenience food product features can take the form of competitive price, wide variety of products, convenience of use, nutritional value, and etc. H2: Product features positively influences consumers purchase intention.

C. Product Style and Design on Purchase Intention
Product style and design, play a crucial role in influencing purchase intention for several reasons.It can contribute to the consumer's first impression and perceived quality.[6] explain that aesthetic appeal (color, shape, image, line and typography) are important characteristics that can stimulate consumers' senses and affect their purchase decisions.Food packaging is also as a medium for brand communication.Packaging can build consumer perception about brand quality and performance by reflecting brand values and food attributes [2].[3] explains that features that can be applied to product style and design consists of appearance, convenient shape and size, informative packaging, etc. H3: Product style and design positively influences consumers purchase intention.

D. Sales Promotion on Purchase Intention
According to [7] sales promotion, is one of the marketing communication strategies that can be applied to drives sales numbers.According to [4], marketing tools like price, special offers (promotions), and sales conditions are examples of external stimuli that affect consumers purchase decisions.Furthermore, [8] research revealed that sales promotional technique like price discount, coupon, free samples, and bonus pack are motivating consumers to purchase products during sales promotion window, this occurred because they believed they were saving money by buying items at reduced prices, so they felt they were getting a good deal.[9] research shows that online consumers in e-commerce platform are reacting positively to three types of sales promotions (discounts, vouchers, and games), the findings showed that stronger marketing sales promotion would encourage consumers impulsive buying behavior.H4: Sales promotion positively influences consumers purchase intention.

E. Social Media Marketing on Purchase Intention
According to [10] it was found that there was a positive correlation between social media marketing and purchasing decision.Based on that research, an assessment of the social media marketing can be viewed from five indicators: online communities, interaction, sharing of content, accessibility, and credibility.H5: Social media marketing positively influences consumers purchase intention.

III. METHODOLOGY
Primary data is collected by researcher directly from the source or participant in the research using interview and questionnaire method.The data for this study were collected by distributing questionnaires to 227 people among various populations throughout Indonesia.The distributed questionnaires originated from various variables that influenced the purchase intention of ready-to-cook snack / convenience food, as described in the preceding conceptual network.The mentioned variables have been used as indicators, which are derived from existing literature.The research was conducted since February-December 2023.

IV. RESULT AND ANALYSIS
The research design will employ both internal and external analysis to examine business issues.The author employs analytical methodologies such as marketing mix, STP analysis, value chain analysis, and VRIO analysis to examine the internal environment.The author will utilize Porter's five forces, PESTEL analysis, consumer analysis, and competitor analysis to examine the external environment.The results of these analyses will be thoroughly investigated utilizing SWOT and TOWS methodologies to develop solutions that will enhance the business and address the issues at hand.

A. Internal Analysis
1) Marketing Mix Analysis Author using 4 P which is consisted with product, price, place, and promotion.In terms of product, one notable characteristic of SAMI RAOS approach is its consistent emphasis on providing ready-to-cook products that are deeply rooted in Sundanese culinary heritage.Sami Raos has strategically designed its ready-to-cook products, such as cuankie, baso aci, cireng, seblak and mie yamin, to serve a dual purpose.In terms of price, SAMI RAOS utilizes a pricing mix bundling strategy to increase its appeal and value to consumers.This involves amalgamating various products or variations into bundled packages, thereby creating an appealing proposition for consumers.In terms of place, SAMI RAOS has adopted a dual-channel marketing strategy that aligns with current business trends.The brand promotes its products through multiple e-commerce platforms on the internet.SAMI RAOS products are also sold in many retail stores.SAMI RAOS has a distribution network that covers around 180 retail stores in the regions of Jawa Barat and Jabodetabek.In terms of promotion, SAMI RAOS promotion strategy integrates digital and offline approaches.On TikTok, SAMI RAOS embraces the platform's short-form video dynamics to capture the attention of a younger demographic.On Instagram, SAMI RAOS utilize its product visual appearance and craft an entertaining narrative to showcase its product feature and appeal.
2) STP Analysis SAMI RAOS utilizes a strategic geographic segmentation strategy, with a primary emphasis on distributing its product throughout the dynamic and diverse region of West Java, including its rural areas.SAMI RAOS primarily targeted young women in the early adult phase, which is roughly between the ages of 20 and 30.They choose to focus on employees because they are more likely to use social media and have access to brand exposure than other potential customers.From positioning statement, for customer who wants durable traditional snacks product that can preserve its quality for a long period of time.Product is accessible through ecommerce and easy to reach for customer who actively used and make purchase in social media and e-commerce.
3) Value Chain Analysis In the SAMI RAOS value chain, the procurement of raw materials requires the selection of suppliers approved by SAMI RAOS.This ensures that the raw materials obtained from these suppliers align with the company's requirements during the production of the final products.According to the value chain, these three components are categorized under inbound logistics.In the realm of inbound logistics activities, a crucial component is the supply chain network that encompasses various supply stores.These stores cater to the procurement of essential raw materials, including meat, tapioca starch, salt, eggs, noodles, and more.The relationship in question is between the value chain and the supply chain network.It involves the connection between the supplier, local sellers, MSMEs, and SAMI RAOS.When selecting suppliers, SAMI RAOS prioritizes finding the most cost-effective raw material prices while also ensuring the quality of these materials.Once SAMI RAOS places an order for raw materials, the payment transactions and delivery of the raw materials will be handled by a courier.In this scenario, there are extra expenses associated with the delivery of raw materials.Once the raw materials are received, they undergo an initial inspection before being stored in the inventory or storage area.If there is any damage to the raw materials that SAMI RAOS has sent, they have the option to file a complaint.This will initiate a process of communication between SAMI RAOS and the supplier.SAMI RAOS will return the damaged raw materials to the supplier's store, and in return, the supplier will provide replacements for the damaged materials.SAMI RAOS distributes its products to retail stores before they are made available to consumers.SAMI RAOS operates by utilizing a consignment model to offer its products.SAMI RAOS and the retail store are planning to enter into a sales agreement.As per the terms of this agreement, the retail store will set a fixed price for every SAMI RAOS product.The retail store's profit will be calculated by subtracting the selling price of SAMI RAOS from the normal price of the product.As per the mutual agreement between both parties, any products that are not used will be returned to SAMI RAOS.In this scenario, the value chain is connected to the channel network through SAMI RAOS, retail stores, and consumers.SAMI RAOS strategically established a value chain by partnering with an e-commerce platform to launch an online store.This collaboration allows SAMI RAOS to efficiently distribute and sell its products through the online platform.An e-commerce platform enables users to engage in buying and selling activities through the platform.In addition, the e-commerce platform provides delivery According to VRIO analysis above SAMI RAOS has temporary competitive advantage with its product packaging design and style that adopting visually appealing and convenient packaging.However, this capability is not difficult to imitate by other competitors.SAMI RAOS also has strategic distribution channel that allow broader customers to access the product offline in several retail markets, this capability however only give SAMI RAOS competitive parity, because other competitors also do the same strategy.SAMI RAOS also had the capability to offer discounted price and more bundling option for customers, but the floor price for individual items still higher than other competitors and need a further investigation and adjustment to gain a competitive pricing advantage.

B. External Analysis 1) Porter's Five Forces
Due to Indonesia's large and growing consumer base, the food processing industry has few barriers to entry.The very open ecommerce access makes this possible.SAMI RAOS may face fierce competition in saturated markets to gain a competitive edge.Obtaining raw ingredients for SAMI RAOS products is usually easy due to supplier bargaining power.These raw ingredients include meat, tapioca flour, etc. SAMI RAOS also has a home factory in Garut, allowing them to produce more cheaply and in bulk.Buyers have significant bargaining power because they carefully weigh the cost-benefit ratio of available products.Due to the abundance of options, consumers are more sensitive to pricing, so even a small price difference can cause them to switch brands.Cultural trends, health awareness, and a desire for new experiences shape consumer preferences, posing a threat to substitute products.The wide variety of snacks available to consumers makes substitute products a major risk.The options seem endless, from healthier alternatives to international snacks.In conclusion, the ready-to-cook traditional food industry is fiercely competitive due to changing consumer tastes, increased convenience, and a growing interest in authentic flavors.Well-established food companies, emerging businesses, and local players compete for market share.
2) PESTEL From political factors, SAMI RAOS recently cannot use one of its e-commerce channels because of prohibition from Indonesian law.From economic factors, the inflation rates, particularly in commodities related to the ingredients used in SAMI RAOS products, can raise the production costs and impact SAMI RAOS's operational expenses.In order to sustain profitability, the company may have to make adjustments to product pricing or product manufacturing.From social factors, the public's growing interest in traditional foods presents an opportunity for SAMI RAOS to offer its product.From technology factors, embracing e-commerce platforms can provide opportunities for SAMI RAOS to develop a strong online presence and expand its market reach.E-commerce platforms also provide data analytics for consumer insights, allowing SAMI RAOS to directly gather reviews and complaints from consumers.From environmental factors, it is anticipated that an El Niño occurrence in the latter part of 2023 will have consequences and potentially heighten the likelihood of drought.Based on information from the BMKG and international meteorological and climatological organizations, the mild El Niño is progressing into a moderate El Niño, which is anticipated to continue until the end of 2023 or the beginning of 2024.The shifting weather conditions have the potential to impact the availability of ingredients used in SAMI RAOS products, particularly agricultural commodities such as pepper, tapioca flour, garlic, etc. From legal factors, SAMI RAOS has, fortunately, been accomplished in passing food safety inspections and has received a halal certificate from BPOM.This certificate has the potential to leverage the trustworthiness of the SAMI RAOS product.3) Consumer Analysis This analysis used partial effect test to determine if the independent variable partially affects the dependent variable.The analysis revealed that the p-value for Product Quality (PQ) is 0.510 and for Product Feature is 0.141.This indicates that there is no significant impact on Purchasing Intention (PI) from these factors.Additionally, the independent variables Product Style and Design (PS) had a coefficient of 0.032, Sales and Promotion (SP) had a coefficient of 0, and Social Media Marketing (SM) had a coefficient of 0, indicating that they were all below the threshold of 0.05.Furthermore, it is evident that the t-values of PS, SP, and SM surpass the tvalue from the t-table.Hence, it is valid to infer that these three variables make a significant influence on PI.According to that results the hypotheses will be:

1.
Invest to hire marketing data analyst to help analyzing market trends, consumer behavior, and performance to enable better pricing and promotional campaign.(W1, O1, O4).

3.
Utilize the potential of liveshopping feature in other e-commerce that legal and allowed in Indonesia like Tokopedia and Shopee.(W3, O5).
1.Enhance ingredient efficiency by identifying key ingredients that can be utilized in multiple products and eliminating products that necessitate a significant number of diverse ingredients, resulting in excessive waste.(W2, T4, T5)

D. Business Solution
After consulting with the marketing division and business owner of SAMI RAOS and considering the company's resources and capabilities, several strategies can be implemented to address business challenges.Consequently, here are several strategies that can be modified to suit the situation.
1. Make attractive campaign by highlighting SAMI RAOS specialization in authentic and high-quality Sundanese food on every media platform like social media and packaging.