The main objective of this research was to establish the effect of store branding on the brands sales performance of consumer goods in the retail stores in Nakuru Town, Kenya. The study adopted a descriptive case study research design. The target population for this study was the 60 top managers working in the retail shops in Nakuru Town which included; Nakumartt, Taskys, Woolmatt, Ukwala, Naivas, Stage Matt, Quick Matt, Revanas, Ereto and Uchumi. The study adopted structured questionnaire as the main data collection instrument with the following major attributes; elements of market mavens, functional risks, value conscious, smart shopping reinforcement and sales performance. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics more especially central tendencies; mean and standard deviation. The study used Pearson Correlation to establish the relationship between the independent variables and dependent variables. In order to establish the independent variables that affected the sales performance most, Regression Analysis was used. The study found out that market mavens and the brands reinforcement of smart shopping to the customers had positive effect on the brands sales performance.
The main aim of this study was to analyze factors affecting competitiveness of Kenyan cut flower in the international market. The study used descriptive case study design with a purposive sample size of 126 senior managers in the flower farms in Nakuru County. The study used structured questionnaire as the main data collection tool. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and information presented in frequency tables and charts. The study used factor analysis to establish the most important elements of the Porter's five force factors that are adopted in the flower industry in Kenya. The study found out that competition of Kenyan Cut in international market was affected by the following factors; activities along supply chain which were extremely many and also challenging; actors along the supply chain which were; difficult to manage, situated diversely in terms of physical distance, different laws, diverse requirements, expensive to manage and were also unpredictable; lastly international standards which were not consistent. Some of the recommendations put forward to make Kenya Cut-Flower Sector to be more competitive in the international market were; the players in the cut flower industry should develop systems that can help them identify actors in the cut flower supply chain their locations and their roles in the transmission of both the supplies and goods. This will help in making the actors more responsible and make these transmissions faster. The players should review the laws in cut flower sector in all the countries involved in the business and harmonize them as a way of making the Kenya cut flower more competitive in the international market. Third the cost associated with the diverse and unpredictable actors should be normalized through the flower councils and other associations.