The Analysis of the Challenges of Marketing Fish Products Faced by Traditional Fish Trader in the Covid-19 Era

Abstract

The Covid-19 related study aimed at analyzing the challenges in marketing and selling fish products faced traditional merchants during the pandemic crisis. Many studies proved that more marketing and selling of basic needs face various challenges caused by economic difficulties since the outbreak of Corona Virus 2019. To understand this specific problem, a series of data collection ranging from observation, online literature review, and in-depth interviews to several local fish traders have been successfully carried out. The proposed products are fresh fish including shrimp, oysters, and shellfish which are generally traded in traditional marketing method in Indonesia. To make the data collected understandable as proposed in this study, descriptive research methods under a phenomenological approach were applied to see whether the results of the study met the evidence of validity and reliability as needed in most scientific works. Referring to this research question, we have successfully investigated 7 challenges as follows: 1) restrictions on accessing wider customers, 2) Difficult to find new customers, 3) changing buyer behavior, 4) Tight competition, 5) Lack of innovation, 6) Financial and capital problems, 7) maintaining inconsistent sustainable. In order to be able to understand wider results, further complete related studies are needed in order to understand the business development mainly the challenges and opportunity of small fish marketing so that they can help developing this business which is in financially crisis and other limitations due to Covid-19 pandemic.