THE ROLE OF SALES PROMOTION IN GAINING STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES OF RETAIL TRADE

Unstable political situation in Ukraine negatively affects all the sectors of the economy, including the retail sector. Adverse market conditions require, on the one hand, reduction of retailer's costs, and on the other hand, active marketing efforts to retain the competitive position. For this purpose retailers should consider using sales promotion as it requires relatively low expenses. Modern scientific literature considers the sales promotion as a very limited tool, and does not show its full potential. According to the definitions of sales promotion one can identify its common characteristics: the focus on three market participants, the availability of incentives aiming to accelerate and/or increase sales, instant results and a short-term effect, a temporary effect and irregularity. Sales promotion in the modern literature is mostly seen in terms of the manufacturer, and the listed characteristics are more valid for the producers. The authors of this article insist that the role of sales promotion for retail and industrial enterprises is not the same. A detailed analysis of sales promotion features induced by retailers and manufacturing companies showed that they differ on a number of grounds. Thus, retailers rely on sales promotion constantly and regularly, as opposed to industrial enterprises, for which frequent use of promotions may lead to negative consequences in the long run. While factories are expecting instant but not long-lasting results from the sale promotions, retailers can also count on the delayed positive effect, such as growth in demand for private labels or a product category. Moreover, sales promotion can be used to achieve long-term goals such as increasing competitiveness, enhancing customer loyalty and strengthening the brand positioning of the store.