The four Ps have just shrunk

MOST marketers went into a sales mode in 2020, focused on drawing out customers to spend. However, a silent marketing shift occurred in the background. Life during the continuing pandemic has jolted many businesses and their long-held gospels of excellence.

The four Ps of marketing - product, price, place and promotion - are as old as organised marketing is. But it just lost one of its quartet - the place. Physical restrictions have eroded the practicality of physical shopping or entertainment or dining, even as question marks are hovering around even the charm of it or resumption in the long term.

Shopper traffic at US retail stores is expected to have shrunk 22-25 per cent last year during the six key weeks of the holiday season, a ShopperTrak forecast said in October. It is clear that retail shopping in physical stores has taken a tumble. Some, especially those with high fixed cost structures, are admitting the decline in viability and considering closure.