Effect Of Purchasing Segmentation As A Tool For Achieving Organizations Sales Objectives

1.0 INTRODUCTION
This chapter describes the definitions and the background history of the purchasing segmentation and their objectives and significance of study.
Stanton (1981: 65), opined that purchasing is defined as people with needs to satisfy, money to spend and willingness to spend it. In purchasing demand, we have three factors to consider; people with needs, their purchasing power and their buying behaviour.
Purchasing segmentation is defined as the sub- division of heterogeneous purchasing to homogenous sub- sets of customers where any sub- set may conceivably be selected as a purchasing to be, reached with distinct Purchasing mix. In the case of Iwanye (1998: 339), purchasing segmentation is a process of dividing the heterogeneous ( mass or divergent) purchasing into homogenous sub- sets so that each sub- purchasing could be satisfactory be served by the business or enterprise through application of its Purchasing resources that could reach these segments as desired by both parties.
The purchasing segmentation includes a company to introduce differentiation strategies to serve the needs and wants of each segment and sub- segment. NBC PLc uses this strategy to serve its customers. It uses the product features and advertising to convince the prospective buyers that its product are not different in outlook, but better satisfying than the existing ones in the purchasing. Their product differentiation can be physical attributes like product image, price, quantity, durability and dependability etc.
At this juncture, it is used vital to discuss the bases for segmentation consumer purchasings. They are:
GEOGRAPHIC FACTOR:
In more term, it deals with dividing the buyers into regions, states, nations, climate etc.
DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS:
In demographical factors different group are distinguished on the basis of age, sex, family life cycle etc
PSYCHO GRAPHICAL FACTORS:
The behavioural factors of segmentation take into account different characters of people or how people behave and also human attributes.
SUB- PURCHASING SEGMENTATION.
It consists of metropolitan or urban and rural areas. eanwhile, organization undertakes this process of sub- dividing larger purchasing into subsets to achieve the following benefits. It allowed small firm with limited resources to compete with its limited resources.
It must have to be emphasized have that purchasings can be segmented if sufficient information of customers needs and more focuses decision making, imagination achieve their sales objectives of by the application of purchasing segmentation concepts.
NIGERIA BREWERIES

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEMS.
It is indispensable fact that the primary objective of every firm that engages in any business is to make profit. In otherworld, one thing is for a company to produce goods and services and another thing is to segment those goods and services for profit.
This means that goods and services produced have to be sold profitably so as to achieve the organizational goal. The statement of problems include:-
1. It suffices to point at the purchasing that appears to be most effective in mobilizing and seeing the customers active participation and interest.
2. Also to point out if effective purchasing segmentation boasts and increases the sales brands, products and services in the short or in the long run.

1.3 OBJECTIVES OF STUDY.
Generally, the purpose of the study is to evaluate purchasing segmentation activities of Nigeria Breweries company PLC Owerri with a view to fishing out how segmentation can help to achieve the company’s sales objectives.
In more specific terms, we shall seek to:
1. Find out if NBC apply segmentation in the Purchasing of its product and how it does it.
2. Identify the problems militating against effective segmentation of its purchasing.
3. Define how purchasing segmentation should be carried out to attain higher level of sales turnover.
4. Make recommendation on how best NBC should carry out the segmentation of its purchasing in order to achieve increased sales volume.
5. Determine the causes of decline in sales turnover and purchasing share.

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTION.
For the researcher to really concentrate on her area of research, she will develop research questions so as to effectively carry out the research successfully. The questions are as follows:
1. Do the problems of low sales turnover emanate from the quality of drinks they produce or is from its wrong identification of the larger purchasing?
2. Is it actually reduction in the firm’s purchasing share and sales turn-over?
3. Does the company use proper Purchasing programmes to get customers?
4. How do customers react to the feature, style and price of the company product?
5. How do customers react towards company’s product and that of competitors in the industry.
6. What are the variables that NBC considered in segmentating its purchasing?

1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY.
Business in Nigeria presently is from being on easy endeavour mainly because of the prevailing economic crises in Nigeria and the world in general. This has prompted business men to be careful, that is by making use of official figure gotten from research before investing in any ventures.
The findings of the study got help in away in improving sales turnover and purchasing share to the firm. This will invariably lead to an increase in general profit generation and better revenue position.
Moreover, the finding would help the firm overcoming most of its constraint and problems like the firm’s poor competitive stand and high selling expenses. It is also expected that most of the finding shall help in the customer satisfaction and consequently lead to increase sales turnover. It will assist the up coming researchers as a reference material and to the researcher, it will helps in the award of ND certificate after its completion.

1.6 LIMITATION OF THE STUDY.
1. Targeting multiple segments increases Purchasing costs.
2. Segmentation can lead to proliferation of products.
3. Narrowly segmenting a purchasing can hamper the development of broad- brand equity.

1.7 SCOPE OF THE STUDY
This research work is restricted to Nigerian Breweries company plc Owerri, manufactures of soft and beer drink,

1.8 DEFINITION OF TERMS.
PURCHASING SEGMENTATION: It is the sub- division of a heterogeneous purchasing into homogenous subset of purchasing (segment) where each subset of many conceivable be selected as a target purchasing to be reached with a district Purchasing mix.
NBC: = Nigeria Breweries Company.
TARGET PURCHASING: = it represents the set of buyers of the firm’s product that commands the highest profitable sales.
INTERNAL PURCHASING ENVIRONMENT OR PURCHASING MIX: = it is the set of Purchasing controllable variable that firms uses to achieve a competitive position in the purchasing place. The component of this variable includes prices, product, promotion and distribution.
CUSTOMER:= a person or an organization that buys some thing from a particular shop or store or business.
PURCHASING: = A purchasing is said to be an occasion or a particular area where goods and services are sold.
PRODUCT: = A thing that is produced or grown, usually to be sold.
PURCHASING SHARE: = The amount that a company sells of its products or services compared with other companies selling the same things.