Ceramicas of Costaragua: The Challenges of Selling to Low-Income Citizens

Cerámicas de Costaragua (CC) began producing ceramic tile in 1953. The founders were interested in forming a vertically integrated chain. During the 1990s, CC suffered the consequences of policies that liberalized the economy and, amidst a decline in sales, it decided to enter into a new unexplored market in the ceramic sector: low-income consumers. Lack of knowledge about the behavior of low-income consumers was a challenge for CC. Therefore, it sought the support of a social leader who knew the inhabitants of low-income sectors. A program called "Remodeling your Home" was launched and the community was actively included. Existing community organizations were responsible for convening and coordinating sales promoters. Two years after the initiative was established, CC expanded to other areas of city and to other cities. Strengthening of the distribution channel with specific adjustments for the low-income populations generated a growth in demand that led to a mid-term sales projection of one million m2 of ceramic tiles per month. To achieve this, Remodeling depended on the vertically integrated value chain of CC, but required a new distribution channel that was suitable for the expanded sales expectations in this market. The case poses three options to achieve the most appropriate distribution of the Elénica products: • The first assigns community organizations the most active role in distribution, putting them in charge of maintaining product inventory in their offices to supply demand for a zone; • The second proposal proposes that CC be the direct distributor of the product from the factory to the consumer's home, maintaining the role of the Elénica Service Centers that the company created in neighborhoods; and • A third option creates larger service centers that function as storage warehouses near consumers.

• Product distribution
• Profitability