Rishabh Baiswar ( FT13159)

Marketing in Non-Competitive Market- Akshaya Hotel (SWOT Analysis)

The closest town to Great Lakes is 9 km away. One of my vices includes alcoholic beverages and Akshaya is the closest and most effortless place to indulge. Having lived in proper cities, I never had a chance to be a regular at a place which is not even as good as a "Dhaba" on North Indian highways.

Great Lakes has people from all walks of life who are experienced and mature. The percentage of alcohol consumers and non-vegetarians is equal to what it would be in this age group of 25 plus across India. This fact gives Akshaya a strategic advantage due to its location right outside the institute gates.

Akshaya is the first choice among all Great Lakers due to following reasons-

1) Proximity

2) Non-veg food

3) Alcohol

The primary reason is proximity only as food and liquor served are quite sub-standard.

Liquor served does not have any variety in terms of category as beer is the only beverage available. Most of the times, beer is not even cold enough let alone chilled. The brands available never heard of and it doesn’t matter you are having a Kingfisher Lager or some brand called Kalyani, they are priced at Rs. 125 flat. The food menu does not have anything much to offer. There are not more than 8-10 items which are available and most of the times they too elude us. The service quality is poor in the sense that there are only 2 waiters who double as cooks as and when required.

Having said that, I would like to analyze the situation now. The reason behind Hotel Akshaya's positioning is that it does not have to face any sort of competition. Lack of competition has made its management complacent in terms of service quality. The management knows that all beer guzzling souls will head to them as soon as the frequent craving for a chilled beer stimulates them, which is quite frequent.

The situation doesn't mean the management is not at all concerned for the consumers. Its just that they are not enough motivated to improve as the business is profitable anyways. After repeated requests for better food variety and liquor, on one of the weekend eves, to my surprise I found that there was a special food menu(refer picture). The menu included all dishes we have been requesting for. I did not even expect them to even try for consumer satisfaction given the scenario. But they did try, though the attempt went futile as it clashed with a party already planned in Mammalapuram pub "Bay Treasure" and most of the students already left the for it before the word about Akshaya could have got out. This remains their one and only attempt till now.

This makes me conclude that in non-competitive hospitality market, small players like Akshaya might want to achieve customer satisfaction in spite of absence of competitors but they cannot remain invested in the effort as they don't have deep pockets. They will do so only if they earn enough to stay motivated on their trial day. It might click though if Akshaya plans it beforehand and spreads a word of mouth about its special arrangements and students do turn up. The profits earned will keep it motivated to try and position itself better. I have also done a SWOT analysis below:

SWOT Analysis-

Strengths - The most prominent strength of Akshaya is its location. Akshaya would not survive a day in even a slightly competitive market given its current state. The location close to a mature student population and away from competitors keeps it at an advantage. The other strengths include a TV where all sports are played and gives consumers an advantage of watching games while dining, a luxury unavailable in the campus. Another strength is availability of AC as well as Non-AC dining space and Non-Veg Food.

Weaknesses - Lack of variety in alcoholic beverages and food and poor food quality. The service is another weakness which is a consequence of under-staffing. Lack of motivation to provide customer satisfaction. Inadequate storage facility also adds to it. Lack of funds might also be one of the causes to under invest in marketing.

Opportunities - Great Lakes is a huge potential market for it. Students come from a professional background and have certain level of purchasing power. The market can be tapped to maximum in case Akshaya management decides to improve its services in order to achieve customer satisfaction.

Threats - The biggest threat is monotonity of the menu. As most of the people have convenience issues in travel, people dont mind ending up at Akshaya but once people get familiar to the place with time, they might want to try new places in Mamallapuram and beyond. They will only go to Akshay in a situation when there is certain level of variety.

Rishabh Baiswar(FT13159)