Street Vending and Competitive Advantage: Towards Building a Theoretical Framework

Authors

Aborampah Amoah-Mensah, University of Cape Coast, GhanaFollow

Abstract

The study examines the strategies adopted by street vendors or hawkers in Ghana in a bid to gain competitive advantage. Drawing on six focus group meetings held with street vendors in two sub-metropolitan assemblies (Bantama and Tafo) in Kumasi, Ghana, the study finds that street vendors adopt ten strategies – networking, multiple undifferentiated market strategy, the sale of convenient products, “dying and resurrecting” (strategic exit and return into business), regular changing of goods and services, exploitation of flexible operating hours, cost-based pricing strategy, sales promotion, trade credit and locational advantage – to gain competitive advantage. Using these strategies, a theoretical framework for street vendors’ competitive strategies is developed.

Keywords

Street Vendors, Strategies, Competitive Advantage, Informal Economy

Author Bio(s)

Dr. Aborampah Amoah-Mensah is a lecturer at the University of Cape Coast, Ghana. His research interests include SMEs, innovation and technology & Business Ethics. Correspondence regarding this article can be addressed directly to: rampahh@yahoo.com.

Publication Date

9-12-2016

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

DOI

10.46743/2160-3715/2016.2438

Recommended APA Citation

Amoah-Mensah, A. (2016). Street Vending and Competitive Advantage: Towards Building a Theoretical Framework. The Qualitative Report, 21(9), 1651-1673. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2016.2438