IFT students innovate business model for local SME
IFT students from the Programme of Tourism Retail and Marketing Management engaged in a consultancy project to serve a local retail business called Tin Vek, which focuses on the sales of video and audio entertainment products such as movies, television series, music, and the likes. This industry has been facing challenges due to changes in consumer attitude and behaviour towards audio-visual products. For example, consumers can purchase music and videos from online stores via their smartphones, subscribe to streaming services to access to unlimited content from various online platforms, or even download pirated materials for free. As a result, the traditional business model has to be changed in order to adapt to the needs of the current market.
Led by the course instructor, Dr. Fernando Lourenço, the students developed new business models for the store based on the results of their marketing research. They also proposed new ideas on store design and visual merchandising prior to the relocation of its new retail space in the first quarter of 2019.
The outcomes generated from this project were of great quality, considering it was the first time that the students engaged in a design project. Store design and visual merchandising are important aspects which cannot be ignored in retail industry. IFT students are always given opportunities to apply their knowledge into real-world projects. Supporting a local SME like Tin Vek gave students fresh insights and practical experience relating to business start-up, retail and marketing, store design and visual merchandising.