Aaron Rodrigues

Marketing B
Roll No : 42338

Retail Marketing Assignment

Q1. 'Discuss the unique strategies followed by any retailer who is not operating in
India'.
Answer: For this assignment I would Intend to choose Jarir Bookstores as a brand for study
of unique strategies.
The journey of Jarir marketing company (Jarir) started with the opening of a retail store dates
back in 1974 and a wholesale store in 1979; where both stores were primarily dealing in the
sale of stationeries and school supplies. The company, in the past, continued to grow through
its unique business strategy and quick response to the change (in KSA socio & economic
environment). Thus, these factors played vital role to evolve Jarir in KSA as among the
market leaders in wholesale and retail industry of related products. Following the successful
operation in the local market, the company started to expand its focus geographically in the
GCC region, where the customers’ demography, preferences and needs are identical to the
local market. Consequently, at present, a single store company has now transformed into a
regional retailer & wholesaler of generic and verity of specialty products including
electronics and others. Jarir is ranked among the top 100 companies in KSA and top 10 most
recognized brand names in the Middle East in 2019.
The company’s operational structure is mainly based on two divisions i.e. wholesale and
retail. Initially these two divisions were operating separately but later on these were merged
and shared internal resources to form Jarir in 2000. The company is offering a wide range of
products including school & office stationeries/supplies, education aids & books, PCs &
laptops, PCs & laptop accessories, digital electronics & video games and smart phones & PC
tablet. According to the given information, the company has strong relationships with
worldwide leading brands and companies particularly in PCs segment. Moreover, Jarir has a
strong and well-diversified wholesale customer base, which includes oil companies, banks,
government and health care.
In both its physical and online stores, Jarir Bookstore offers an extensive range of products
that includes Arabic and English books, office and school supplies, children’s toys, arts and
crafts materials, computers, mobile phones, audiovisual instruments and photography tools.
For the brand’s latest campaign, it aimed to connect online with consumers who had no
physical stores in their cities.
Although Jarir delivers its products across Saudi Arabia, data shows that remote cities in
which the brand does not have physical stores actually boast more sales potential than major
cities that do have shops. Jarir’s goal was to develop a strategy to achieve awareness around
its e-commerce platform, as well as reach and influence users in remote cities.
 Aaron Rodrigues
Marketing B
Roll No : 42338
Jarir had a two-pronged approach to meeting its objectives. Combining location targeting
techniques with effective audience targeting strategies, it executed its strategy through an
always-on campaign that captured ongoing opportunity.
Location targeting allowed for accurate inclusion and exclusion of geographic areas:
 City targeting: Through location targeting using Google Ads, Jarir was able to reach
consumers in remote cities such as Al Baha, Najran, Arar, Haqil, and Buraydah.
 Radius targeting: Jarir used radius targeting to showcase ads to users within a 50-
kilometer radius of a selected location.
 City exclusions: Location exclusions helped Jarir prevent ads from showing in major
cities in which it has physical stores, namely Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam, Madina, and
Abha.
The brand’s audience targeting strategy helped Jarir find relevant users:
 Affinity and In-market: Jarir reached consumers in remote cities based on their
interests and habits, and what they were actively researching online. Segments
included technology enthusiasts and shoppers in the market for consumer electronics
or gifts.
 Custom Intent: The brand reached consumers across YouTube and the Google
Display Network based on the searches they made on Google Search.
 Remarketing: Jarir was able to build remarketing lists populated with users who had
previously visited the website in remote cities, viewed specific product pages, and
watched relevant videos on the brand’s YouTube channel. The brand then showed
them ads relevant to their browsing history.
A mix of formats went into Jarir’s always-on campaign. To serve the upper funnel, Jarir
served ads on the Google Display Network featuring customized images for each remote city.
On YouTube, the team used Bumper and TrueView for Action ads to drive awareness and
user actions. For the lower funnel, tailored search ads promoted a message emphasising the
fact that Jarir not only delivers to users’ areas but also accepts cash on delivery.
Jarir’s search campaigns improved conversion rate threefold, increasing return on ad spend
by a factor of 2.5 compared to the website’s average rate. The TrueView for Action
campaign, that ran in remote cities, also positively affected brand metrics: a Brand Lift Study
showed a best-in-class lift in awareness (6%) and consideration (10%). The accuracy rate was
excellent, too: 95% of orders generated by the Google campaigns came from the targeted
cities.
The Company subsidiaries include United Company for Office Supplies and Stationeries
WLL, Jarir Trading Company LLC, United Bookshop, Jarir Bookstore and Jarir Egypt
Financial Leasing Co SAE.