2020 Volume 37 Issue 2 Pages 52-60
Many food business operators have developed various products based on the idea that good products will be naturally recognized and that sales will grow. Marketing capabilities have become particularly important for growth because of food business operators’ inadequacies in terms of product development capacity compared to large companies. Earlier studies have not specifically examined the new customer acquisition through marketing activities.
This study verified that new customer development through marketing activities is important for food business operator growth. At the same time, this study specifically examined business fairs, which are one means of customer development, reviewed the methods of carrying out business fairs, reviewed and evaluated the track records of business fairs, and examined issues discovered through evaluation.
At a business fair held in Niigata in January 2016, 12.2% of business operators found new customers, which demonstrates that business fairs are an effective means of finding new customers among the many customer development methods. The study also revealed that food business operators did not carry out marketing activities to target those buyers who intended to continue negotiations after the business fair.
Food business operators aiming to grow through new customer development will likely increase the possibility of finding new customers rather than waiting for buyers to come after developing a new product, carrying out sales activities voluntarily for buyers who are interested in their product at a business fair or other occasions and improving their sales capabilities to be able to adapt to customers by adjusting product specifications for buyers to develop business ties.
