Nazif is an online retailer who sells t-shirts from his parents' house and garage. All the t-shirts are stored in the house and garage. He uses social media to advertise his t-shirts as shown in Fig. 1.1. [Figure 1.1] Use Fig. 1.1 to help you answer the following questions.

Mark scheme

Marking points from the official mark scheme (Oct/Nov 2022). The mark or mark type is shown in brackets.

1. [1] Someone/seller who sells goods/services using the internet/website/ecommerce/phone/app or sells goods not from a shop
2. [3] Up to 3 marks for justified reasoning of yes and/or no responses
3. [3] Yes - Social media has a large market (1) increases sales/goods bought/seen by many consumers (1) used 24/7/anytime (1) across the world/anywhere (1) cheap to advertise (1) able to edit (1) is interactive (1) encourages conversation/engagement (1) e.g the use of a question attracts people to comment (1) like a post/favourite is liked (1) which design is popular (1) share with others (1) easy to give feedback/contact by app / buy the goods (1) e.g. what they like about the plain t-shirt (1) enables consumers to make a choice/select (1) from a variety/range of t-shirts (1)
4. [3] No – Does not show anyone wearing the t-shirts (1) no video to show t-shirts (1) not eye-catching/not catchy (1) lacks information (1) e.g. prices (1) e.g. no sizes (1) no positive content on people's reactions to wearing the t-shirts (1) result in consumers wanting more advice (1) will take up Nazif's time (1) has no branding (1) does not make advert stand out from competitors (1) no method of appeal (1) not persuasive (1) no colour (1) no contact details (1)
5. [4] Any 2 difficulties and explanation of each to a maximum of 4 marks
6. [4] His parent's garage may not be suitable for storing fabric (1) stock may be damaged (1) e.g. oil/termites (1) leading to wasted stock (1) that he cannot sell (1)
7. [4] May not have enough space to store his stock / house/garage may be too small (1) could affect sales if he cannot supply customers in time (1) if there is an increase in demand (1)
8. [4] May not have adequate security (1) leading to theft (1) may have to pay increased premiums (1)
9. [4] Difficult to manage/organise stock/inventory (1) in a congested space (1) as house/garage will have other items (1) so difficult to arrange stock / find stock (1) time consuming (1) leading to delays (1) and wrong orders (1)
10. [4] Unable to park car/van in garage (1) less convenient (1)
11. [4] Difficult to grow the business (1) if there is a lack of space to store the t-shirts (1)
12. [4] May affect home activities (1) which could result in having to obtain extra/separate storage elsewhere / e.g. if parents unhappy (1) will increase his costs (1)
13. [2] 1 mark for each correct circled answer
14. [2] A person who can persuade others to buy goods on social media is a/an influencer.
15. [2] One way to reduce the impact of fashion on the environment is to buy fewer clothes.
16. [8] The candidate is able to offer a thorough evaluation of whether the Nazif should be supplying T-shirts to small retailers or supplying through a wholesaler.
17. [8] Candidate offers a satisfactory analysis of the advantages and/or disadvantages to Nazif of supplying T-shirts to small retailers or supplying through a wholesaler.
18. [8] Candidate demonstrates some knowledge and understanding, with application to using small retailers and/or wholesalers to sell Nazif's T-shirts.
19. [8] Option 1: supplying to small retailers directly
20. [8] Retailers carry out many functions e.g. sells the goods / clears Nazif's production line/buying his t-shirts / provides advice or information / delivery / after-sales service / displays goods / provides credit / storing goods / packaging (ALLOW any retailing function as all separate L1 marks up to maximum of 4 L1 marks)
21. [8] Extends Nazif's market (L1) with more potential customers / increased sales (L1)
22. [8] No need to deliver/send t-shirts to many individual customers (L1) as customers will purchase in store, reducing distribution costs (L2)
23. [8] No need to sell in bulk (L1) as he can sell in small consignments (L2)
24. [8] Direct communication with retailer (L1) so can be flexible in decision-making (L2)
25. [8] The t-shirts can be seen and felt by customers (L1) so there will be fewer returns (L2)
26. [8] Lack of control/relationship with customers (L1) as Nazif is relying on retailers to provide good customer service (L2)
27. [8] Retailers might not promote the t-shirts as Nazif would like (L1) so less sales compared to branded goods (L2)
28. [8] Nazif will need to consider location (L1) local retailers will reduce costs (L2)
29. [8] May have less sales (L1) as competition from large-scale retailers (L1)
30. [8] Lower profit margin on sales than selling online (L1) as retailers will expect to receive a good profit margin (L2)
31. [8] Option 2: supplying through a wholesaler.
32. [8] Wholesalers carry out many functions e.g. buying in bulk / breaking bulk / advice / delivery / storage / display / risk bearing / pay promptly / discount / selling to small retailers (ALLOW any wholesaling function as all separate L1 marks up to maximum of 4 L1 marks)
33. [8] Wholesaler will buy in bulk (L1) so clearing all of Nazif's stock (L2)
34. [8] Saves Nazif from making numerous deliveries to many small retailers (L1) therefore reducing Nazif's costs (L2)
35. [8] Reduces the problem of holding stock in his parents' home (L1) so less chance of goods being stolen/damaged (L2)
36. [8] Wholesalers provide market research information (L1) so that Nazif is kept informed of customer demand and trends (L2)
37. [8] Wholesalers will advertise widely (L1) increasing Nazif's sales (1)
38. [8] Wholesalers know about target customers (L1) so can increase sales (L2)
39. [8] Selling to wholesalers will be at a reduced price (L1) which means a percentage cut in profits/less profits for Nazif (L2)
40. [8] Wholesalers will expect large orders only (L1) to make selling the t-shirts worthwhile / Nazif may not be able to produce enough orders (L2)
41. [8] Evaluation: The recommendation depends on how many t-shirts reach the target market and the profit margin that he can obtain. If he can develop strong relationships with small retailers, who are able to promote his goods effectively and at reasonable profit margins, then they may be the better option. However, if he can sell more t-shirts to wholesalers, who would sell them into more retail stores than he could have found on his own, that would result in a bigger increase in his brand awareness and profit margins, so long as he makes a good deal on price with the wholesaler.