A REPORT
ON
MARKETING AND SALES OF E-READING
PRODUCT
AT
“TENHARD INDIA PVT LTD”
BY
ZAID ALI QADRI
ENROLLMENT NO.: 2 0 B S P 2 9 0 1
1
A REPORT ON
` “MARKETING AND SALES OF E-READING
PRODUCT”
AT
“TENHARD INDIA PVT LTD”
BY
ZAID ALI QADRI
ENROLLMENT NO.: 20BSP2901
A REPORT SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL
FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS OF
PGPM PROGRAM OF
IBS MUMBAI
DISTRIBUTION LIST:
FACULTY MENTOR: SHOBHA PILLAI
MENTOR: MR ASHISH SINGH
2
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Sr. No
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Contents
Page No
Declaration
4
Authorization
5
Acknowledgement
6
Executive Summary
7
Introduction
11-22
Introduction of E-Reading Industry
Introduction of Company
Advantages of E-Books
Current state of Taxation of E-books
and
resultant issues
SWOT analysis
Porter 5 forces analysis
Job Description
Detailed work of Internship
Sales and Marketing
Consumer Behaviour
Target Market
Market Trends
Distribution channel in E-Reading
Industry
Competitor Analysis
Learnings
Recommendations
Bibliography
23
25 -34
35
39
43
44
45
3
DECLARATION
I, Mr. ZAID ALI QADRI hereby declare that the project work entitled
“A REPORT ON MARKETING AND SALES OF E-READING PRODUCT”
submitted to the IBS Mumbai is the record of authentic work carried out by me
during the period from 24th February 2021 to 30th May 2021 and has not been
submitted to any other University or Institute for the awards of any degree or
diploma etc.
ZAID ALI QADRI
20BSP2901
IBS MUMBAI
(2020-2022)
4
AUTHORIZATION
This is to certify that ZAID ALI QADRI a student of the Post Graduate Program for
Management (PGPM) of the IBS, Mumbai has completed his summer project on
“A REPORT ON MARKETING AND SALES OF E-READING PRODUCT”
The Project was successfully completed under my guidance and supervision from
24th February, 2021 to 30th May 2021. We have derived immense benefit from the
project and his contribution to our organization is highly appreciated.
I hereby convey my best wishes to him for all the future endeavours.
Sign:
Date:
Mr. Ashish Singh
Tenhard India Pvt Ltd
5
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I take this opportunity to extend my sincere thanks to Tenhard India Pvt Ltd for
offering a unique platform to earn exposure and garner knowledge in the field of
Marketing and Sales Management. I am glad to express my profound sentiments of
gratitude to all who rendered their valuable help for the project report titled – “A
Report on Marketing and Sales of E-Reading Product.”
I wish to extend my sincere and heartfelt gratitude to my company guide Mr. Ashish
Singh who guided, supported and encouraged me during the entire tenure of the
project. I am able to say with conviction that I have immensely benefited from
auspicious and prestigious association as a summer intern with Tenhard India Pvt
Ltd. I also thank Prof. Shobha Pillai my faculty guide, who inspired me by her
discussions and showed me the right course to pursue.
I also wish to thank all people in the Head Office for their constant support and help
in accomplishing the objectives of the project. There are many who I may have left
out in the acknowledgement, but whose co-operation no doubt went a long way in
the project completion.
NAME- ZAID ALI QADRI
ENROLLMENT NO- 20BSP2901
INSTITUTE- I.B.S. MUMBAI
6
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Executive summary submitted in partial fulfilment of, the requirements of, PGPM
program of, IBS MUMBAI.
Student Name
ZAID ALI QADRI
Enrolment No
20BSP2901
Organization: TENHARD INDIA PVT LTD
56/12, C Block,
Phase 2, Industrial Area, Sector 62,
Noida, Uttar Pradesh 201301
Industry Type: DIGITAL READING (E-Reading)
Title of the project: A Report on Marketing and Sales of E-Reading product.
Objective: The primary objective of the summer internship was to understand the
various aspects of sales and marketing in real time basis , work on customer
acquisition and business development by applying various marketing and sales
strategies to achieve the larger goal of creating brand identity , increasing customer
base, and profitability throughout the E-Reading vertical.
Background: Company was originally incorporated on July 20, 2020 under the
Companies Act, 1956 as ‘Tenhard India Pvt Ltd’. The Company is still a private
unlisted company located in East Delhi (Noida). The Company’s sole aim is to take
digital reading to next level and provide a one-stop destination for all the reading
needs.
Conclusions: It is committed to serve the end-to-end digital reading requirements
by providing various reading services such as Magazines, Newspapers, Blogs and
Articles from different genres.
7
E-Reading Industry in India
Introduction
An e-book (short for electronic book), also known as an e-book or eBook, is a
book publication made available in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both,
readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices.
Although sometimes defined as "an electronic version of a printed book", some ebooks exist without a printed equivalent. E-books can be read on dedicated ereader devices, but also on any computer device that features a controllable
viewing screen, including desktop computers, laptops, tablets and smartphones.
Though still at a nascent stage of market development, eBooks have slowly gained
a foothold, given their many advantages including easy accessibility, lower costs
(compared to print books), and portability. Nielsen India Book Market Report
revealed that 56% of the respondents surveyed in urban India bought at least one
eBook a year and nearly half of these bought at least 3-4 eBooks a year, indicating
a growing demand for digital books in India
Market Size
According to the 2015 Nielsen report on the India’s Book Market, India is home to
both over 9,037 publishers who directly employ over 40,000 people, as well as to
over 21,800 organized and unorganized book retailers. India's overall book market,
worth INR 261 billion (USD 4 billion) in 2015 is understood to be the 6th largest
in the world, the 3rd largest with respect to books in English, and is expected to
grow at a CAGR of 19.3% to touch INR 739 billion (USD 11.311 billion) by 202.
However due to a lack of regular market analysis, estimates with respect to its
worth and its exact growth potential vary. Nevertheless, there is uniform consensus
on the sector’s upward growth, with the same being attributed to a variety of
factors, including India’s economic boom and the country’s increasing literacy rate
predicted to reach 90% by 2020. Apart from English books that lead the pack with
a 55% market share, India has organized or semiorganized publishing in 16
languages. Within the regional language market share, Hindi dominates at 35%,
while the other regional languages together make up the remaining market. The
Indian publishing sector is also mostly fuelled by its sale of textbooks and
educational content, with the trade books only amounting to a miniscule 6%. Of
the trade books sold in India however, 25% were children’s books, 45% were
nonfiction, with fiction constituting the remaining 30%
8
In terms of book types, physical books and eBooks hold sway while audio books
are a small percentage. EBooks in particular, have emerged as a game changer in
the Indian book industry, estimated to have a market segment volume of USD
125m in 2018. Potential revenue growth in eBooks at CAGR of 14.3 % is expected
to result in a market volume of USD 214m by 202226. The Frankfurter Buchmesse
Report on Perspectives on Publishing in India (2014-15) highlighted that the
electronic consumer publishing sector had been growing at 17%, which is almost
thrice the growth of the overall book industry at 6%
9
These trends might escalate as India's internet penetration increases, from 28% of
the total population in 2016 to an estimated 59% by 2021, according to CISCO.
Urban India already has an internet penetration of almost 60%. Rural India has
only 163 million (17%) current Internet users which means that there are another
750 million users yet to come online. 62% of the publishers are publishing eBooks
already, and 69% of them have priced their eBooks lower than the print version,
given the lower handling costs and ease of distribution associated with eBooks.
10
INTRODUCTION OF COMPANY
Our History:
Tenhard India Private Limited is an unlisted private company incorporated on
20 July, 2020. It is classified as a private limited company and is located in East
Delhi, Delhi. It's authorized share capital is INR 1.00 lac and the total paid-up
capital is INR 1.00 lac.
The Corporate Identification Number (CIN) of Tenhard India Private Limited is
U22300DL2020PTC366500. The registered office of Tenhard India Private
Limited is at J 68 LAXMI NAGAR, DELHI, East Delhi, Delhi.
Tenhard India Private Limited has two directors - Ajay Kumar Singh and Parul
Puri
Tenhard India Pvt Ltd is a leading name in the e-media industry. We are publishers
of renowned titles like Tenhard Traveller and Food. We provide digital versions of
media from various publishers. Using the latest technology, we help people get the
latest news, digitally. We also provide a huge platform to those who want to make
their career in sales, marketing, content writing or blogging by promoting their
talent on our e-media platform.
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OUR VISION
The 4 pillars of our vision that will help us achieve it are:
To be a leader – we are committed to being a leader in all facets of our businesses,
rather than being just another participant in this race.
To be a role model – we will not become leaders by cutting corners or making
compromises. Whatever we do, we will strive to be the best in class. And if we are
the best, then our customer will have no reason to go elsewhere – therefore our
leadership is assured, on pure merit.
To be a broad-based player – we are committed to meeting all the felt and unfelt
needs of our target customer. And thereby, we can retain him or her across their
needs and life-stages.
We aim to be an integrated player –we believe that this approach gives us a
competitive edge through sharing of best practices, deriving cross – business
synergies & providing talent pool with world of opportunity to grow.
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ADVANTAGES OF E-BOOKS
Lowering costs: One of the most obvious benefits of eBooks is being able to do away
with printing, packing, distribution, and shipping expenses. As discussed earlier, 69%
of publishers have priced their eBooks lower than the print version to pass on the
benefits of lower input costs to consumers. For example, on Amazon India, the
average price of eBooks is INR 187 while that of a physical book is INR 334. To
leverage this cost advantage, countries across the world like France and Thailand are
experimenting with the use of e-readers and tablets in education. This one-time cost is
lesser than buying print books every year which compound during the entire education
life-cycle of a student. Several state governments in India have also explored the
possibility of providing e-readers/tablets to students. The Indian Government’s own eBasta project is also geared towards this. Given the high annual expenditure on school
books per student in India, it is important that course material be digitized. This also
becomes pertinent as the price elasticity of demand for books globally has been
estimated to be between -1.0 and -2.531, which means that a 10% decrease in prices
can increase the demand of books by 15% at the minimum and an increase of up to
30% in some cases. Online platforms such as Amazon report that the percentage fall
in sales of books due to GST at various price points is estimated to be a minimum of
1-5% fall for inexpensive eBooks (up to INR 50), and a maximum of 90% fall in sales
at higher price points. The price elasticity of demand for eBooks is likely to be
similar, especially in contexts where eBooks are perfect substitutes for print books.
Therefore, eliminating GST of 18% could lead to a significant reduction in prices of
eBooks, thereby increasing demand and facilitating better educational outcomes.
Improved Access: All printed books are not available to students, especially those
who reside in remote areas where there are demand and supply constraints.
Distributors have little incentive to service areas where there is low demand for
advanced books. The start of every academic year witnesses reports of delays in
distribution of NCERT textbooks in schools across the country. This forces many
Indian parents to rely on private publishers who often charge 3 times as much as
NCERT for the same books. These problems of inequitable reach and distribution
exist in most developing countries. A 2008 World Bank study found that only one out
13
of nineteen African countries had adequate school textbook provisions. Hence many
African textbook publishers such as Via Afrika are increasingly adopting the digital
route and have been met with impressive demand, from having sold only 1,000
eBooks in 2012, to selling an impressive 65,000 in 2015 alone. Likewise, since 2015
Indonesia has, through a partnership between their Ministry of Education and Culture,
the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology, and local telco giant
Telkom Indonesia, begun to support their rural students who have limited access to
print books to shift to digital education via its e-Sabak project. The project seeks to
convert much of the educational content into eBooks, and disseminates them via
tablets
Space & Portability: E-Books are custom made to suit the increasing pace of today’s
life, given the mobility and portability of e-readers and smartphones that carry ereader apps. The negligible demand on physical storage space could prove to be very
useful for educational institutions and public libraries where providing e-readers will
allow readers to access a plethora of books, without having to bear the costs of buying
and storing the same. The Indian Government’s e-Basta project, for instance, has
created a framework to make school books accessible in digital form as eBooks to be
read and used on tablets and laptops. The objectives of the project clearly highlight the
need to reduce the burden of print books on students, in addition to reducing costs of
education in the long term. This initiative was launched as a response to the increasing
reportage of health issues triggered by heavy school bags.One survey found that the
average weight of a school bag is 17% of the average body weight of a student,
outside the recommended range of 10-15% of body weight. Another survey conducted
by ASSOCHAM showed that more than two-thirds of students below 13 years of age
run the risk of backaches and hunchbacks due to heavy school bags.
Virtual libraries: Given the net-savviness of library users, libraries are adopting
digital content to satisfy user demands. Public libraries across India, especially in
schools, colleges, and universities, are exploring virtual libraries where students and
members can log in through their e-readers and tablets. Through these libraries,
students can have greater access to books from around the world, even the more
14
expensive ones. This had already become the norm for public libraries in developed
countries. For instance, 94% of U.S. public libraries now offer eBooks, a significant
increase in comparison to the 2010 figure, when only 72% of the public libraries in
the U.S. had eBooks available.
Self-Publishing & Author Opportunities: Due to their cost advantages, EBooks lead
to lower entry barriers for new authors resulting in an increase in available content/
information in the economy. In the US, according to bibliographic company Bowker,
the number of books self-published in all formats rose from around 80,000 in 2006 to
a staggering 800,000 in 2015-16. It is estimated that as many as two thirds of US adult
fiction sales are digital and almost half are released without the input of a traditional
publisher. This however, is not a US phenomenon alone. In the last few years, self
publishing has gained momentum in India too, with many authors choosing to forgo
using traditional methods of publishing to cut costs. On Amazon India, 74% of all
self-published books were sold as eBooks. In addition to this being an inexpensive
and quicker option, upcoming authors also opt to release digital versions of their
books to retain better control over their content. More importantly, self-publishing
authors get 50%-70% royalties from the official price of self-published books, which
is a substantial leap from the usual 15%-17% royalty they get from traditionally
published books.This trend holds relevance for India. India’s publishing has been
sluggish, with the book title output per 100,000 people at 8 in 2009-10. This figure is
much smaller than the corresponding number for countries like the United Kingdom,
the United States of America, France, and Germany. A low book title output is
especially concerning as India’s growing demographic of young and literate citizens
are keen to access published content at affordable prices. EBooks and self-publishing
can help in bridging this gap by increasing the volume of published content, thereby
aiding the growth of India’s knowledge economy in the coming years.
Promoting local content: The government has been focusing on promoting content in
Indian regional languages through its initiatives such as the E-Pathshala and the
National Repository of Open Education Sources to make education more accessible.
The Indian government has also made the provision of local languages mandatory on
15
mobile phones to improve the infrastructure around devices compatible with Indic
languages. A 2012-13 Report compiled by the German Book Office revealed a
growing demand for local content in Indian languages. The per capita number of titles
published per 100,000 persons is 6.3 in Bangla, 6.2 in Gujarati, 5 in Hindi, 4.8 in
Kannada, 4.2 in Telugu, 3.9 in Urdu, with the highest being Assamese at 7.760. These
relatively small numbers suggest that despite demand, the local language market
segment in India remains niche and small in comparison to the English one, possibly
due to associated publication costs. By reducing publication costs and eliminating
physical distribution costs, eBooks can lower entry barriers for indigenous authors.
Realizing their potential, publishers also seem to be investing more in eBook editions
of regional books which are being made available at cheap prices. Data from Amazon
shows that 77% regional language eBooks are priced below Rs. 100, making them
extremely affordable. This trend is enabling growth of contemporary literature in local
languages, a plus in a diverse country like India where Hindi and English have long
ruled the roost. In fact, 90% of multinational publishers have noticed a rise in their
local publishing program, mainly driven by higher demand for local content in India.
Piracy: Piracy has been the bane of the publishing industry worldwide, and the Indian
book publishing industry has not been spared either. As far back as 1999, a study of
copyright piracy in India sponsored by the HRD Ministry revealed that piracy in India
primarily centred on two factors - the price of the book and its popularity – and was
largely confined to foreign books and good indigenous books which were in demand
and/or priced high. In addition to popular fiction, the study revealed that piracy was
widespread with respect to professional books/texts for medicine and engineering, and
encyclopaedias64. This trend also manifested with respect to books published by the
National Council of Educational Research & Training (NCERT), the National Open
School, and the Board(s) of Secondary Education because despite being priced low,
the supply of such books was much lower than the demand for them.The 1999 study
estimated that about 20-25% of the books sold then in India were pirated. The
numbers haven’t really shown much of a decrease; a 2014 CII study suggests that
piracy levels remain between 17-20%. The CII study also attempted to quantify the
estimated revenue loss due to piracy. This was understood to stand at INR 83,340
million with the accompanying tax loss due to piracy estimated at INR 6875 million
for the same period.
16
With eBooks, the potential for piracy is reduced. The enforcement of strong Digital
Rights Management protections is done by either encrypting the eBook to be read
only through e-readers like Nook and Kindle in specific formats, or by offering them
through online, paid, low-cost subscription models like Scribd, Issuu, iBooks etc.
Also, unlike the case of print books, those who engage in the supply of pirated eBooks
do not always do so for making a profit. Such behaviour is usually driven by the
user’s attitude to piracy, and the presence of a reciprocity mechanism. Thus, people
who illegally download eBooks are largely ordinary consumers, students and working
professionals who access eBooks from a wide range of digital sources, including
online auction sites and via emails from friends. Such people can be incentivized to
leave piracy behind and move to reading eBooks legally, particularly if the same is
provided to them via subscription models, which allows them to access numerous
books at one go, without the hassle of having to pay for each individual book
separately.
Environmental Sustainability: Since eBooks require no printing, they are also
environment friendly, and ensure a sustainable way of enlarging readership. The
carbon released from the amount of paper used for books in one year was estimated at
1.5 million metric tons, and each book produced, gave off an estimated 8.85 pounds of
carbon dioxide.In contrast, according to estimates by the National Geographic, it takes
14 eBooks to produce as much carbon as is needed to produce a paper book. Thus,
eBooks clearly emerge as the more environmentally sustainable option.
Inclusivity: Recognizing that different readers have different needs and preferences,
eBooks have the potential to meet a wide range of accessibility needs, such as Braille
and large font sizes (to those who are visually impaired), text-to-speech (to those
having learning disabilities such as dyslexia) and lightweight devices (to those unable
to hold a printed book due to physical disabilities). EBooks also hold the potential to
reach people in remote places which are not serviced by printed books due to cost
implications.
17
18
CURRENT STATE OF TAXATION OF EBOOKS &
RESULTANT ISSUES:
The GST rate tariff in India has six categories of goods and services with the most
essential goods and services attracting zero rate of GST or falling under exempted
categories. The Indian Government has made a concerted effort to not tax print
books (nil rated) acknowledging the positive externalities of affordable education,
and to promote the knowledge economy. In contrast, eBooks are classified as a
service (SAS 998431) taxed at 18% under India’s GST regime, which is in line
with the earlier classification under India’s erstwhile Service Tax regime. In a
similar (discriminatory) vein, while public libraries that offer “services of lending
of books, publications and other knowledge enhancing content or material” have
been exempt from GST, those that run “operations of public and historical
archives, including digital ones” (SAS 998452 & 998453) have not been afforded a
similar exemption, and continue to be taxed at 18% similar to eBooks. While the
former creates an unequal playing field between eBooks and print books, the latter
disincentivises public libraries from going digital, maintaining digital libraries, or
offering digital content, and will also put a hold to further digitization of rare
and/or endangered texts by public archives
1) Create level playing field for physical books and eBooks in India
Currently in India, physical books do not attract GST, keeping in mind the social,
educational and cultural value that books carry in a civilized society. The
imposition of tax on physical books is rightly understood to be a tax on
knowledge, education and literacy, and so the GST, like its predecessor tax
regime, continues to keep physical books untaxed in India. As eBooks are just as,
if not more impactful than physical books in today’s digital age, they should be
treated at par with physical books in terms of indirect taxation. Given the elasticity
of demand for books, this can have a huge impact on the consumption of books,
while the revenue that the government will have to forego is likely to be miniscule.
The GST collection from eBooks in the year 2018-19 is estimated to be INR 146.8
crores, which comprises less than 0.02% of the total GST revenue estimate of INR
19
7.44 lakh crores for the same year. Thus, exempting eBooks from GST will cause
only a negligible revenue loss to the exchequer and the positive externalities of
eBooks is likely to far outweigh the costs.
2) Make both eBooks and physical books zero rated
The current tax structure for physical books is not without its own problems.
Under the present system there is no tax on physical books but the inputs that go
into its publishing have not been accorded the same courtesy; this runs counter to
earlier practice where both books and inputs that go into book publishing were
kept exempt from tax payments. For publishers, this means that inputs such as
royalties to authors now attract 12% GST. They are forced to operate under the
reverse-charge mechanism, but with books (the final output) being exempt from
GST, publishers are unable to avail themselves of any input tax credit on this cost.
Earlier, where service providers were unable to utilize their input credit, they were
able to claim a refund; now they are unable to do so, since refunds have been
confined only to those services specified under the zero-rated duty structure or the
inverted duty structure, neither of which apply to physical books. All of this
automatically drives up costs, forcing them to be passed to customers in the form
of higher prices. In an ideal scenario, eBooks and physical books should be made
zero rated - a system that will allow publishers to avail of the benefits of input
credit, thereby bringing down their costs and in turn benefitting the end consumer.
20
SWOT ANALYSIS OF TENHARD INDIA PVT LTD
Strengths The extending product line and strengthening technical platform, through
strategic acquisitions and collaborations, with various authors and
publication houses help the company gain a competitive advantage.
 The company provides a variety of e-book content, along with blogs,
newspapers and articles, which helps it to expand its user base across various
verticals.
Weaknesses
 Low Presence in overall market.
 Lesser advertising as compared to competitors
 Lack of trust amongst prospect clients being a new entrant in the industry
Opportunities
 The company focuses on new author acquisition and genre upgrade on a
regular basis, which enables it to serve the changing needs of the market.
 Considering the current pandemic situation, and being an E-Reading
website, Tenhard can spread its roots in the E-reading industry and creating
a brand for itself by focusing on delivering compelling reading experiences,
eliminating the need for physical books as well as newspapers.
Threats
 Stiff competition from other leading E-Reading websites.
 Competitive Pricing of other E-Reading websites
 Lack of reading options in niche genre.
21
PORTER’S 5 FORCES ANALYSIS OF TENHARD
INDIA PVT LTD
1. Competitive rivalry
 E-Reading industry is becoming highly competitive with major settled players
operating in the industry
 Companies are competing on price and also using low price and high return
strategy for customer to lure them
2. Threats of new entrants
 Other E-Reading companies can enter the industry
 Difficult to enter E-Reading industry as a small “start-up” player due to capital
and regulatory requirements
3. Substitute product
 Similarity in services makes switch over a potent threat
 Quality and option-oriented customers can switch to other avenues.
4. Bargaining power of supplier
 Suppliers being the Authors or Publication houses have high bargaining power
because they have customer database and can influence Customers in making
choices
 Threat of suppliers or other competitors hiring away key professional and
executive talent
5. Bargaining power of buyer
 Bargaining power of customers especially in corporate is very high because
they bring in a lot of potential readers.
 Individual consumers are not a major factor
 Many substitutes in the E-Reading industry
22
JOB DESCRIPTION
JOB ROLE:
The job that I was offered at Tenhard India Pvt Ltd was the position of Intern in
the marketing and sales department. In this department the main aim of all the
members was to communicate the product of the company through various
campaigns and other marketing techniques to the potential customers of the
company. Along with this we have to sell the product of the company to the
customers sales was the primary role assigned to us in this internship.
RESPONSIBILITIES:
This part explains the various responsibility that I was assigned during my
internship period.
Brainstorming: Our most important task here was to brainstorm and come with
ideas that are unique in accordance with the product of the company and
implement these ideas in order to boost the sales and meet the timely targets
assigned to each of us.
Planning: We have to plan that how and when to approach the potential customers
and reach our target market and attract more potential customer for the company
and along this we had to plan about the potential companies with whom we can
collaborate with in order to achieve Pan India presence.
Day to day operations: As an Intern there were some day to day task in sales
department that we have to pitch customer about our company product along with
this we have to continuously work on the achieving our targets. We had to
implement various sales and marketing techniques on daily basis in order to
achieve optimum results for the betterment of the company.
23
Furthermore, we were assigned an additional task where we had to create a list of
prospect companies from various fields like Pharma, IT, Education , Media and
advertising with which Tenhard can collaborate and tie-up with in order to increase
it’s readership and presence in overall market.
24
DETAILED WORK OF INTERNSHIP
A. SALES AND MARKETING
The internship involves on job sales and marketing of the company’s product using
various sales and marketing techniques and based on the feedback received
understanding the customer behaviour and modify the previously used techniques
in order to achieve the desired targets.
What is sales ?
Sales is a term used to describe the activities that lead to the selling of goods or
services. Businesses have sales organizations that are broken up into different
teams. And these sales teams are often determined based on the region they're
selling to, the product or service they're selling, and the target customer..
Salespeople reach out to contacts that might be interested in purchasing the product
or service that their company is selling — prospects that demonstrate interest
through actions like visiting the company website or interacting with the company
on social media.
The goal is to reach out to leads who have shown interest in or fit the description of
the company’s target customer, in hopes of providing them with a solution that
results in a purchase of your product or service.
Types of Sales Strategies:
1. Inside Sales
As an inside sales rep, you would be responsible for maintaining existing client
relationships. You are the main point of contact for your company’s clients and are
expected to retain their business and build a strong business relationship. In recent
25
years, there has been a significant shift in sales activity from outside—or
traditional—sales to inside sales, where inside sales are now considered more
effective and efficient when used in tandem with inbound marketing strategies.
2. Outside Sales
Outside sales is considered as a traditional method in that it is face-to-face, done
primarily outside of the office in direct interaction with their customers. An outside
sales rep will typically spend more time in their customers’ offices than in their own.
In order to be successful in outside sales, you’ll need to be self-motivated and goaloriented in meeting your own deadlines with little to no supervision.
3. Sales Support
As team-based sales operations are becoming a more common strategy, working in
sales support does precisely what its title suggests: you work to support the sales
reps. Working primarily “behind the scenes,” sales support takes care of the details
to help sales reps—those who perform client-facing roles like outside sales—close
their deals faster. This is a dynamic role, capable of cutting time and costs from the
company budget. Sales support can be responsible for a number of duties such as
investigating leads and creating customer profiles, analyzing data, and performing
research.
4. Client Services
Working in client services is similar to working in inside sales. As client services,
your responsibility is to work with customers to ensure their needs are met and to
nurture a strong business relationship. By ensuring customer satisfaction, client
services work to increase company growth through the existing client base. If you
like to go beyond what is asked of you, create real relationships, and are always
asking the right questions, then this role may be the right fit.
5. Lead Generation/Development
Lead generation/development is responsible for conducting research and
networking to make new business contacts. The right research could lead you to
discover untapped sales potential. You’ll also be responsible for assessing the
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viability of the connection and to what extent it’s worth pursuing and forecasting
potential results. With growing technology, there are a number of ways to generate
leads through inbound marketing techniques such as eBooks or blogs.
6. Business Development Managers
Business Development Managers bring in new business for your company through
a number of methods ranging from cold calling to door to door. Like outside sales,
they most often make their sales face-to-face. To succeed in this role, you’ll need
to be consistently bringing new sales and clients to the company.
What is Marketing ?
Marketing is the process of getting potential clients or customers interested in
your products and services. The keyword in this definition is "process". Marketing
involves researching, promoting, selling, and distributing your products or
services.
The definition of marketing is the action or business of promoting and selling
products or services, including market research and advertising. Today, marketing
is something that every company and organization must implement in its growth
strategy. Many companies use marketing techniques to achieve their goals without
even realizing it. Marketing refers to actions a company or organization takes to
promote themselves and increase sales of their product or service. It is one of the
key aspects of business.
People often do not know exactly what marketing is and, when asked, they define
it as selling or advertising. While these answers are not wrong, they are only a part
of marketing. It involves many other things like product distribution, promotion,
designing and creating materials like landing pages and social media content,
building customer experience, doing market research and establishing target
markets, and much more.
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The 4 P’s of Marketing:
According to E. J. McCarthy, the 4 Ps of Marketing are a simple formula for
identifying and working with the essential elements of your marketing strategy.

Product. Having a product is key and is the root of all
things marketing. A product could be anything that a company offers
consumers to satisfy a need. The best thing to do is to decide on your product
or service based both on the needs and motivations of consumers and how the
product would benefit the consumer, rather than on the object’s physical
characteristics or attributes.

Place. Strategic merchandising locations can be anything from an online store
to a channel of physical stores across multiple towns or countries. The goal of
the distribution strategy is to enable potential clients to have easy access to
your products/services as well as offer a good experience throughout the
purchasing process.

Price. How we price our products and services is an extremely important
part of the marketing strategy. This factor affects other factors such as:
o The margin we hope to obtain.
o
o
What target market do we want to present ourselves to and what
purchasing power do our consumers have? Do we want to enter the
luxury market or bet on the mass market?
The company's financial goals.
o
How does the competition price their products and what possible
product substitutes are there?
o
Trends and fads.
o
Increased price in order to give a better perception of quality.
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
Promotion. This refers to all the marketing and communication actions
we carry out in order to diffuse the benefits and characteristics of our
product or service within the market. This is how we increase sales.
Types of Marketing:
The following marketing strategies were implemented in the tenure of the internship
to improve the overall business of the company.
1. Relationship marketing
This type of marketing is basically focused on customer building. Enhancing
existing relationships with customers and improving customer loyalty.
2. Word of mouth
It totally relies on what impression you leave on people. It is traditionally the most
important type of marketing strategy. Being heard is important in business world.
When you give quality services to customers, it is likely that they’d promote you.
3. Internet marketing
It is also known as cloud marketing. It usually happens over the internet. All the
marketing items are shared on the internet and promoted on various platforms via
multiple approaches.
4. Transactional marketing
Sales is particularly the most challenging work. Even for the largest retailers, selling
is always tough especially when there are high volume targets. However with the
new marketing strategies, selling isn’t as difficult as it was. In transactional
marketing the retailers encourage customers to buy with shopping coupons,
discounts and huge events. It enhances the chances of sales and motivates the target
audience to buy the promoted products.
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5. Diversity marketing
It caters diverse audience by customizing and integrating different marketing
strategies. It covers different aspects like cultural, beliefs, attitudes, views and other
specific needs.
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B. CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR
Consumer behavior is the study of how people make decisions about what they
buy, want, need, or act in regards to a product, service, or company. It is critical to
understand consumer behavior to know how potential customers will respond to a
new product or service. It also helps companies identify opportunities that are not
currently met. For E.g. recent situation of pandemic where washing hand and
maintain social distance and use of mask is the new behaviour.
Consumer behaviour Are affected by three factors they are
Psychological Factors
In daily life, consumers are being affected by many issues that are unique to their
thought process. Psychological factors can include perception of a need or
situation, the person's ability to learn or understand information, and an
individual's attitude. Each person will respond to a marketing message based on
their perceptions and attitudes. Therefore, marketers must take these psychological
factors into account when creating campaigns, ensuring that their campaign will
appeal to their target audience.
Personal Factors
Personal factors are characteristics that are specific to a person and may not relate
to other people within the same group. These characteristics may include how a
person makes decisions, their unique habits and interests, and opinions. When
considering personal factors, decisions are also influenced by age, gender,
background, culture, and other personal issues.
For example, an older person will likely exhibit different consumer behaviors than
a younger person, meaning they will choose products differently and spend their
money on items that may not interest a younger generation.
Social Factors
The third factor that has a significant impact on consumer behavior is social
characteristics. Social influencers are quite diverse and can include a person's
family, social interaction, work or school communities, or any group of people a
person affiliates with. It can also include a person's social class, which involves
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income, living conditions, and education level. The social factors are very diverse
and can be difficult to analyze when developing marketing plans.
So, while preparing or designing an advertisement we have to jot down the
behaviours of the customer and plan our campaign accordingly to attract more
potential customers from the target market.
C. TARGET MARKET
A target market is a group of consumers or organizations most likely to buy a
company’s products or services. Because those buyers are likely to want or need a
company’s offerings, it makes the most sense for the company to focus its
marketing efforts on reaching them. Marketing to these buyers is the most effective
and efficient approach. The alternative - marketing to everyone - is inefficient and
expensive.
To determine who your best target market consists of, start by answering three
basic questions:

What problem does your product or service solve? Does it help soothe
teething babies? Does it make men feel taller? Does it help companies garner
more publicity?
 Who is most likely to have this problem? In what situations do they use it?
This is where you start breaking down who you should be focusing on. Is it
individuals? Businesses? Families?
 Are there different groups with different needs? You may have more than one
target market, or market segment, based on how they use a product or service.
For example, a bike shop may help families with young children choose a safe
bike for their 5-year-old, while a 30-something athlete may want advice in
choosing a professional racing bike.
Once you are clear about who is most likely to need or want your product or
service, it’s time to get even more specific about this group, or groups, of people.
There are several different ways to define your target market, based on different
characteristics. You should decide which approach comes closest to exactly
describing your perfect customer:
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







Consumer or business – Start by clarifying if you have a B2B (business-tobusiness) or a B2C (business-to-consumer) offering.
Geographic – Local brick-and-mortar stores may find that their most likely
customers are within a two-mile radius of their store, or within a particular zip
code. This target market is defined geographically, based on where they live or
work or vacation or do business.
Demographic – Describing your best customer demographically means that you
define your target market in terms of their gender, age, income level, education
level, marital status, or other aspect of their life.
Psychographic – Sometimes customers don’t fit into a particular group based on
outward characteristics, but more based on internal attitudes and values. These
are psychographic characteristics.
Generation – Many companies today define their target market based on which
generation they were born in, such as baby boomers or Gen Y.
Cohort – Other companies find that their target market is better defined by
looking at cohorts, or groups of people who had similar experiences during
childhood, such as being raised by a single mom or attending boarding school.
Life stage – Other target markets are more alike because of the stage of life they
are in, whether it’s post-college, retirement, newly married, newly divorced, or
parenting young children, for example. Husband wife with two children, joint
family or nuclear family etc.
Behavioural – Another approach is simply based on frequency of use, or
behaviour, which could be a good choice for nail salons, car washes, or vacation
rentals
Specifying your target market reduces the cost and increases the benefit from the
campaign and advertisement as right things are shown to right group of people.
D. MARKET TRENDS
Marketing trend is nothing but a technique to Keep up with the way your consumers
shop and research your products and services (and those of your competitors') Stay
up to date with changes in consumer behavior and priorities. ... Stay relevant in your
target marketplace and among your competitors
Marketing trends allow you to:
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A. Keep up with the way your consumers shop and research your products and
services (and those of your competitors')
B. Stay up to date with changes in consumer behaviour and priorities
C. Ensure you're ahead of the curve in terms of knowing who your target audience
is and what they need from your business
D. Listen and respond to changes in the market to help you save money
E. Stay relevant in your target marketplace and among your competitors
E-Reading sector has to keep keen eyes on market trends as it affects them
majorly.
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DISTRUBUTION CHANNEL IN E-READING
INDUSTRY
Distribution Scenario in the India in today’s E-Reading market, the challenge to
the company and intermediaries is two-pronged:
 Building faith about the company in the mind of the client
 Intermediaries being able to build personal credibility with the clients
Prior to digitalization, the book and reading sector in India opted for various
different techniques for the distribution of books in the market. The various
conventional techniques used by various publishing houses were
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Direct Sales
Independent book stores
Libraries
Online retail
Local stores
Author events
Out of the above-mentioned conventional techniques, some are not applicable to
the E-Book distribution while some are still prevalent and quite effective in the
current scenario as well.
Whilst, the traditional books distribution can be done via various channels, the EReading distribution can be only done through online distribution via various
mediums. Abroad categorization of channels and mediums currently being used in
the distribution of E-reading products is presented below-
Direct Sales: -
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Direct sales is the largest distribution channel of almost all E-reading companies,
comprising a large forces that targets various customer segments. The sales of the
products can be done directly by the company itself by hiring a professionally
abled staff that is an expert in handling the overall operations and achieving the
target on regular basis. The strength of direct sales channels lies in an aggressive
strategy of expanding and procuring quality business. With focus on sales &
people development, this method has emerged as a robust, predictable and
sustainable business model.
Educational InstitutionsThe new strategy that various E-reading companies have opted for these days is via
Educational institutions. There are various benefits of opting for Educational
institutions as a distribution channel.




Large reader strength
Proactive age group
Trusted readers which can be carried on for a longer time
Tech savvy readership which is comfortable with digital reading
CorporatesThis section deals with analysis of distribution channel via corporate companies.
Corporate distribution in its simplest form is the distribution of E-reading products
products through a corporate companies’ distribution channel. E-Reading
companies see corporates as a tool for increasing their market penetration and
premium turnover. The major advantage of corporate distribution is advertisement
of the product on international level via its readership.
Internet MarketingThe growth of the Internet has led to a great deal of speculation and discussion
regarding its potential impact on traditional distribution channels. India is joining
the fast-growing breed of net users, using net for reading has over the time caught
up. Internet marketing can be done through various platforms like




Email Marketing
Social Media Marketing
Blogging
Online Ads
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 Sponsorships and Paid promotions
Why E-Book is important and a thing for the future.
The aim of eBooks is to simplify and enhance the overall learning experience.
Digital Books make the learning process more interactive and engaging. The main
reasons for people buying e-books are possibly lower prices, increased comfort (as
they can buy from home or on the go with mobile devices) and a larger selection of
titles.
With the advancement in technology and in order to level up with other industries
going digital , E-books are the thing for the future since they are Easily accessible ,
reusable , printable, portable and much more.
1. One Device, Many Books:
eBooks are portable and lightweight, making it easy to carry around. Instead of
carrying multiple bulky books, one eBook reader can hold thousands of eBooks. It
saves a lot of space- in your home and in your bag. One doesn’t have to worry
about the storage limit.
A single device is enough to read any number of books you want. Students benefit
the most out of it as they do not have to carry a bag full of books every day. It
allows the user to store plenty of books on the device, way more than anyone can
read in their lifetime.
2. Accessible Everywhere:
eBooks can be downloaded and stored for later use. One can carry the eBook
around and read them whenever they want. Students and employees can go through
the learning material while at home and even while travelling. It is convenient for
people on the go. Some e-readers come with the option of offline accessibility,
allowing people to use it even in the absence of an internet connection.
Unlike printed books which have to be ordered or purchased from the bookstore,
with time lost in waiting for delivery or travelling to the bookstore; readers can
easily access any eBook anytime and anywhere.
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3. Easily Updates:
The contents on the eBooks are mostly cloud-based, meaning it can be updated any
time. Authors and publishers can always add the up-to-date information, providing
users with the latest digital content. This saves reprinting costs and the time
involved in the process.
4. Shareable Content:
You can share the eBook contents with multiple users. The social feature on the ebook allows sharing and liking of content, which is not possible with printed
books.
You might share a printed book with one person at a time, but an eBook can be
shared with many people at once. Students and employees can use this feature to
collaborate with their peers.
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COMPETITORS ANALYSIS
With the advancement in technology and with rigorous use of internet, E-reading
industry has reached the highest peak over the years. There are currently, a lot of
companies providing E-Reading subscription in India out of which a few which are
a real time of Tenhard are listed below.
So, the main three competitors of Tenhard India are
1. Kindle
2. Scribd
3. Bookmate
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KINDLE
Amazon launched its eBook subscription service Kindle Unlimited in 2014, and in
a short time, the platform became one of the big players in the industry.
Kindle Unlimited offers unlimited reading on any Amazon device or Kindle app,
contrary to the popular notion that it’s available only for e-reader devices.
A major downside of the Kindle Unlimited subscriptions is that among the wide
selection of books you won’t be able to find titles from the “Big 5” publishers
(Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Penguin Random House, and Simon &
Schuster).
The Kindle store lacks best-selling authors and contemporary literature, but it
offers a great choice of indie and self-published authors.
When it comes to reliable rating systems, Kindle Unlimited beats the competition.
Just like any other product on Amazon, books on Kindle unlimited also get
thousands of reviews. So, if reading reviews helps you avoid lousy books, then
Kindle Unlimited may be the best eBook subscription service for you.

Key Features







Readers get unlimited access to over 1 million eBooks and audiobooks.
The Kindle reading app is available for free on iOS, Android, Mac, Web,
and Windows.
A great selection of magazines including Time and People magazine.
The platform offers a reliable rating system.
User-friendly app.
Customer support team available via live chat 24/7.
Pricing


Unlimited reading for $9.99/month.
30-day free trial.
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SCRIBD
Scribd is considered “the Netflix of books” and for a good reason.
For $8.99/month you get unlimited access to Scribd’s entire database of eBooks.
We're talking about 1 million eBooks, plus Scribd’s amazing digital library which
includes audiobooks, magazines, sheet music, academic papers, and court filings.
You can also upload and share your own papers and eBooks with over 700,000
monthly subscribers.
Scribd is the perfect platform for keen readers eager to browse through thousands of
books and students looking to gain access to academic papers.

Key Features


Over 1 million eBooks, audiobooks, magazines, and documents.
Access to over 1,000 publishing houses including Penguin Random House,
Macmillan, HarperCollins, and Hachette.
Users can upload their own papers, documents, and books.
Users subscribed to Scribd get free access to other cultures-and-arts-oriented
platforms including MUBI, AUDM, and Farfaria.
Available on Web, Android, iOS, Kindle Fire and Nook devices.
Available worldwide.

Pricing

Unlimited reading for $8.99/month or $84.99/year.
60-day free trial





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BOOKMATE
Bookmate is a mobile reading app and an eBook subscription service.
Bookmate's users can browse through 12 million titles organized by genre and
editorial lists.
What sets Bookmate apart from its competitors is that the platform offers users a
chance to browse through friends’ feeds and bookshelves. Users can also upload
their own EPUBs and FB2 books and sync them across all devices.
Bookmate offers an amazing reading app which is well-designed and has a userfriendly interface. Users can highlight words, look up definitions, and use
translation words.
One downside of Bookmate is that Bookmate’s library lacks well-known titles, so
don’t expect to find recent New York Times bestsellers.
However, if you're interested in discovering new titles, Bookmate is a good choice.

Key Features

Users get unlimited access to 12 million books from 600 different
publishers.

Books are available in 12 languages.

Users can upload books in EPUBs and FB2 formats.

Amazing comics selection.

Readers can save audiobooks on their devices and listen offline.

Bookmate is available on Web, Android, iOS and Windows Store.

Pricing

Unlimited reading for $9.99/month or $99.96/year.

7-day free trial.
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LEARNINGS
1. E-Reading sector is penetrated over the recent years, and it is growing by time,
however it is still not at its peak and there is a lot of scope for improvement.
2. The industry will be benefitted, with the advancement in technology and
digitalization
3. Customer behavior is more on brand image and in brand loyalty which make the
customer buying easy.
4. We also learned to implement the different marketing and sales strategies in real
time basis.
5. Most importantly we learned that team work, time management skills, and focus
on common goal is a crucial part of any organization to excel.
6. E-Reading industry is very dynamic in nature. It keeps changing and gives more
challenges according to the time.
7. We learned that sales is an integral part of any business, and the various sales
strategies like negotiation, convincing, and the importance of positive approach.
8.Most of the readers are relatively young which is a great positive for the years to
come.
9. We learned to implement marketing and sales strategies every day and
reciprocating to consumer behaviour modified our strategies to attain the desired
results.
10. Social media marketing, digital marketing, telemarketing, cold calling and
email marketing were some of the techniques that we followed in the tenure of the
internship.
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RECOMMENDATION
1. We should innovate and launch a dynamic company website
2. Create an App compatible on Android as well as Ios platform for the readers.
3. We should provide after sale services through calling, email, or message
4. Focus towards pull strategy, innovative offers and customization because
according to the business we have to keep changing the process.
5. We should keep increasing the number of books in each genre on a regular basis
in order to keep the readers stick to our subscription.
6. Increasing promotions by increasing the advertisement via various mediums like
social media platforms, traditional advertising, SEO, etc and create an industry
presence.
7. There should be a free trial available to check the quality of the books available
on our website.
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BIBILOGRAPHY




https://www.tenhardindia.com/
https://salesforcesearch.com
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/
https://scientificamerican.com
BOOKS REFERRED:
 Marketing Management, By Philip Kotler
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