Principles of Business

School-Based Assessment

Topic: Sales Promotion

Sub-topic: An investigation into how a relaxation of COVID-19 measures affected

the sales at Pricesmart during January-March 2022.

Candidate’s name: Asheka Sinclair

Teacher’s name: Mr. E. Campbell

School: Meadowbrook High School

Candidate's number:

Centre number:

Territory: Jamaica

Year of Examination: 2023

 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Problem Statement……………………………………………………2

Objectives……………………………………………………………..3

Background/Overview………………………………………………...4

Overview………………………………………………………………5

Methodology…………………………………………………………..6

Presentation of Data……………………………………………………7-8

Analysis of Data……………………………………………………….

1
 PROBLEM STATEMENT

An investigation into how a relaxation of COVID-19 measures affected the sales at

Pricesmart during January-March 2022.

2
 OBJECTIVES

1. To identify the SALES PROMOTION methods used by Pricesmart

2. To identify the factors that impacted sales during the period January-March 2022
3. To determine how sales were affected during March- January 2022
4. To identify the methods used by Pricesmart to increase sales other than sales
promotion

3
 BACKGROUND

Sol and Robert Price launched Pricesmart, the largest membership warehouse club operator in
Central America, the Caribbean, and Colombia, with more than 3 million cardholders. The
current owner of Pricesmart is the Jim Pattison Group

PriceSmart is committed to promoting growth through the purchase of new real estate, such as
clubs and distribution centers, enhancing membership value with wellness services like optical,
pharmacy, audiology, and private label, promoting additional sales through digital channels like
pricesmart.com and offering a fun experience for finding exceptional products.

Pricesmart came to Jamaica in 2003. It is located at 11 Red Hills Road, Kingston 19, Jamaica.
This is a philanthropic partnership company. The services offered by Pricesmart are groceries,
home appliances, pastries, poultry, toys, and games; clothes, furniture, office supplies, and
electronics (television); computers, tablets, and accessories; hardware and home improvement;
sporting goods and fitness; outdoor appliances, health, and beauty; fashion and beauty; laundry
and cleaning supplies; liquor, beer, and wine; optical; movies, music, and books; restaurant
supplies; pet food and gear; seasonal decoration; home supplies; etc.

4
 OVERVIEW

A marketing tactic known as "sales promotion" aims to boost revenue, foster client loyalty, or
raise brand awareness. This is when a company employs a transient promotion or offer to boost
interest in or demand for its goods or services, and the company will run short-term campaigns to
generate buzz and demand for a product, service, or other offers by providing customers with
discounts, free products, trial offers, and sales promotions to enhance customer acquisition.

This research will investigate how sales were impacted by the relaxation of the COVID-19
measures during the period Jan-march 2022. The global coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has
changed how people spend their money and their spending patterns.

This research is essential to me because it gives us an understanding of why sales in business are
crucial to a business's success and helps us to understand how the different sales promotion
methods learned in class may be implemented.

This research will have an impact on society because it will allow future users to use the data
gathered and it will help prospective users select the most suitable sales promotion methods to
make their businesses successful.

5
 METHODOLOGY

A questionnaire and a phone interview are the methods I want to use to acquire information.

A questionnaire is a research tool made up of a list of questions used to collect data from
respondents during a survey or statistical analysis. Typically, a research questionnaire will have
both closed-ended and open-ended questions. It is possible to utilize it to gather quantitative
and/or qualitative data. Surveys are frequently employed in market research.

An interview is a formal, in-depth discussion in which information is exchanged between two or

more people.

Data collection is the process of collecting and evaluating the information on variables of interest
that enables one to respond to inquiries, test hypotheses, and assess results. We can use your data
collection to our advantage by using it to analyze business decisions, apply the information to
make changes, etc.

I plan to use a questionnaire made in Google Forms and sent to the company's email and also a
phone interview to ask other questions that may still need to be submitted on the questionnaire.

A questionnaire allows respondents to change their previous answer if it contradicts the

subsequent answers, is time-consuming, and has a low response rate.

Phone interviews tend to be shorter than face-to-face interviews, and respondents have to be
available to answer the call and can hang up at any time.

6
 PRESENTATION OF DATA

The Pie Chart below shows how the sales were affected during March-January 2022
because of the covid 19 measures at Price Smart

Figure 1

The bar chart below shows the factors that impacted sales during the period of January-
March 2022

Figure 2

7
Column chart showing the sales promotion methods used by Pricesmart

Figure 3

Table showing the methods used by Pricesmart to increase sales other than sales
promotion and the percentage used

Methods used to increase sales Percentage Used

Raising the prices 25%

Increasing the average order size 12.5%

Increase the number of repeat purchases 37.5%

Increasing the frequency of transactions 25%

per customer
Figure 4

8
 ANALYSIS OF DATA

According to the data gathered and displayed in figure 1 on page 7, Pricesmart saw a rise
in sales of 87.5% and a drop in sales of 16.5%. The statistics showed that, on average, the
covid-19 measures influenced sales from January to March 2022.

The bar graph on page 7, figure 2, demonstrates a 26.7% increase in product quality, a
26.7% increase in price, a 13.3% increase in customer service, a 10.0% increase in
employee shortage, a 20.0% decrease in departmental collaboration, and a 3.4% increase
in budget for sales activities. The information displayed the variables that affected sales
between January and March 2022.

Limited-time free shipping or transfers between platforms or services saw a rise of 7.1%
in Figure 3 on page 8. For the sales promotion strategies employed by Pricesmart, buy
one, get one free saw an increase of 21.4%; free samples saw an increase of 25.0%,
subscription offers saw an increase of 21.4%, and premiums saw an increase of 25.0.

Figure 4 for the table on page 8 illustrates that raising prices resulted in a 25% increase,
while increasing average order size contributed to a 12.5% increase, increasing the
number of repeat purchases given rise in a 37.5% increase, and increasing the frequency
of transactions per customer yielded in a 25% increase.