Published on: October 2026
CUSTOMER FOCUS PROGRAM (CFP) IN A REGULATION-CONSTRAINED CATEGORY: A FIELD-BASED QUALITATIVE STUDY OF DISTRIBUTION AND MERCHANDISING EXECUTION IN INDIA'S ORGANIZED CIGARETTE TRADE
Dhananjay Kankhar
Dr. Shweta Vyas
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Abstract
Design/methodology/approach: The study is a descriptive, qualitative, field-observation-based case study conducted over a two-month period (15 May to 15 July 2026) in the Sambhajinagar (Aurangabad) territory of Maharashtra. Observations were recorded during accompanied market visits across convenience, grocery, wholesale, sub-wholesale, stockist, moped and van direct-selling channels, using a four-field recording format (objective, activity observed, practical observation, relevance to customer focus). Observations were mapped to an Availability–Visibility–Freshness (AVF) framework and to an eight-step CFC field-execution flow.
Findings: Four findings emerge. (1) Availability is produced by layered, complementary coverage formats rather than by any single actor. (2) Effective execution must be segment-aware and margin-aware, because retailers' stocking and promotion choices respond jointly to product segment and trade pricing structure. (3) Merchandising and planogram discipline is the primary visibility lever when above-the-line promotion is unavailable. (4) The salesman–retailer relationship is the mechanism that sustains the program.
Originality/value: The paper offers a field-grounded account of customer orientation as enacted at the last mile in a heavily regulated category, an area where the marketing-channels and customer-orientation literatures rarely meet. It proposes a conceptual framework linking channel layering, segment-and-margin awareness, compliant merchandising and relationship quality to retailer-level and consumer-level outcomes, and sets out testable propositions.
Research limitations: Single territory, short observation window, no survey or proprietary performance data; findings are analytically transferable, not statistically generalisable.
Keywords: customer focus; trade marketing; sales and distribution; retail execution; merchandising; regulated categories; FMCG; India
How to Cite this Paper
Kankhar, D. (2026). Customer Focus Program (CFP) in a Regulation-Constrained Category: A Field-Based Qualitative Study of Distribution and Merchandising Execution in India's Organized Cigarette Trade. International Journal of Creative and Open Research in Engineering and Management, <i>02</i>(10), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.55041/ijcope.v2i10.232
Kankhar, Dhananjay. "Customer Focus Program (CFP) in a Regulation-Constrained Category: A Field-Based Qualitative Study of Distribution and Merchandising Execution in India's Organized Cigarette Trade." International Journal of Creative and Open Research in Engineering and Management, vol. 02, no. 10, 2026, pp. 1-9. doi:https://doi.org/10.55041/ijcope.v2i10.232.
Kankhar, Dhananjay. "Customer Focus Program (CFP) in a Regulation-Constrained Category: A Field-Based Qualitative Study of Distribution and Merchandising Execution in India's Organized Cigarette Trade." International Journal of Creative and Open Research in Engineering and Management 02, no. 10 (2026): 1-9. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.55041/ijcope.v2i10.232.
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- •Published on: Oct 31 2026
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