Marketing in transport services

The service sector is one of the promising and developing sectors of the country's economy. Today, almost every company in one degree or another is in contact with the service sector. Services should include a type of activity in the process of which a new product is not created, but only the quality of an existing, previously created product changes.

The famous scientist F. Kotler gives the following definition of a service: “A service is any event or benefit that one party can offer to the other and which are basically intangible and do not lead to possession of something. The production of services may or may not be associated with the goods in its material form. ”

The most ancient types of services include transport, medical, financial and certain types of household services. At the present stage, information, computer, scientific, consulting, audit and other types of services have received significant development.

Markets for goods, markets for services are significantly different. This is because the service itself does not exist until it is provided. Therefore, it is not possible to evaluate the service and give it an assessment before it is received.

It should be noted that there is a constant increasing demand for services as the market is saturated with goods and production becomes more complicated. In most developed countries, the service sector is ahead of the manufacturing sector not only in terms of growth, but also in its adaptation to market needs.

The increasing role of services in the modern economy is due primarily to the emergence of new activities in the service sector due to the influence of scientific and technological progress, the complexity of production and the saturation of the market with new technically complex goods. This necessitates the creation of a range of additional services for the sale of goods, increasing financial, transport, information and other types of services in connection with the development of production.

As a result of the growth of the service sector, over 40% of foreign direct investment placed in the world has been invested in the service sector. These investments were made mainly in trade, banking and insurance services, and the share of the services sector in the GDP of developed countries reaches 70%. At the same time, the growth of new jobs due to the growth of the service sector reaches 80–90%.

The dominant position in world practice in the growth of the service sector is occupied by such countries as the USA, Germany, France, Japan and South Korea, which provide mainly financial, telecommunication, information, and educational services. These countries account for more than 50% of global trade in services.

In our country, the service sector is also growing at a faster pace. So for the period 2005-2012. the growth rate of paid services per capita was 266%, transport services - 243%, communication services - 268%, travel services - 360%.

Taking into account the specifics of the market for the service sector, the features of marketing in the service sector are also determined, which is designed to evaluate the services provided to consumers and to assist in their correct choice. Using marketing services allows you to decide how to achieve maximum savings, what part of the profits should be directed to the development of production and the quality of customer service.

Significant cost savings for enterprises are obtained through the use of marketing in the field of transport services, since the scope of transport is related to the provision of many different types of services to enterprises and organizations, intermediary firms and other organizations in need of various types of services.

Transport operations are usually considered inextricably linked with trade transactions, as a means for their implementation. At the same time, transport operations, as an independent type of entrepreneurial activity, have their own specific features and their own marketing issues.

Wholesale trade in means of production and market relations between cargo owners, as a rule, affect an increase in the level of uneven transport and lead to uncertainty in transport and economic relations, compared with a centralized distribution system.

The freedom to choose a supplier required a certain freedom of choice of transport, method and conditions of transportation. All this predetermined the need for a new approach to transportation planning, taking into account market relations.

The use of marketing, its principles and management methods, can greatly contribute to the solution of these problems.

It is known that transport does not increase the material volume of a commodity product. Therefore, the company is interested in reducing transport costs, added to the cost of goods in the process of their movement. Transport products, possessing the specificity only inherent in it, at the same time is a commodity and, therefore, an object of marketing.

In relation to the practice of a market economy, the role of marketing can be evaluated from two perspectives: firstly, from the perspective of studying the market, demand, consumers, orienting production to these requirements, targeting products; secondly, from the point of view of active influence on the existing market and existing demand, on the formation of needs and consumer preferences. The main reasons for the need to introduce marketing in domestic transport is the need to optimize operating costs and maximize revenue. The growing imbalance between supply and demand in the transportation market requires a restructuring of management activities with a focus on the market.

Marketing activities in transport should include comprehensive market research, adapting production to market needs and promoting transport services to the market. This will allow a systematic approach to the use of marketing principles to improve the activities of transport enterprises.

It should be noted that today the market for a buyer of transport services has already developed sufficiently. At the same time, the buyer presents new requirements and conditions for the operation of transport.

The main objective of marketing transport services is to convince consumers of the acquisition of these services. The interests of the consumer determines the main activity of transport. Transport enterprises should be guided by market conditions, the maximum adaptation of the developed conditions to the needs of consumers, the satisfaction of their interests.

Marketing at transport enterprises, first of all, carries out marketing activities aimed at promoting services from seller to consumer. At the same time, marketing can be considered as a process of organizing and managing all the activities of an enterprise, aimed at providing such services that correspond to potential demand.

The central figure is the consumer, who has certain requirements for transport services. Therefore, the main directions of marketing research in transport can be reduced to two: maximum satisfaction of the interests of consumers of transport services; formation of demand for transport services.

The product of the activity of transport enterprises is the provision of various kinds of services that are associated with the transportation of goods, passengers, freight forwarding services, etc. Broad services include not only transportation, but also delivery, storage, storage and packaging. Therefore, transportation services are classified as the main types of services. They are adjoined by loading and unloading services, forwarding, preservation, etc. In addition, commercial services can be classified as transport services: rental of buildings, land, warehouses, maintenance, car repairs, etc. In recent years, transport insurance services and legal advice began to develop.

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"Экономика и социум" №12(67) 2019