A research on the marketing activities of textile companies during the COVID-19 pandemic

In December 2019 COVID-19 virus started in China and affected the whole world in a short time led to the pandemic and global health struggle. Countries have taken restrictive measures in social and economic fields in order to reduce the spread of the virus. These measures affected each sector at different levels, causing supply and demand shrinkage. One of the affected sectors is the textile sector. The uncertainty caused by the virus also affected marketing activities by causing changes in consumer demands. Within the scope of this study, effects of the COVID-19 on the textile industry were examined and information was gathered about the measures that textile companies have taken and also their marketing activities during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this context, 20 companies that operate in Turkey were selected by using judgmentsampling method. In the research, a semi-structured in depth interview method was used which is one of the qualitative research methods. Zoom program was used for online interviews because of the pandemic. Data collected were analyzed with content and descriptive analysis which is one of the qualitative research methods. Data were analyzed by using Excel program converted to frequency and percentage. As a result of interviews, companies stated that they prevented the spread of the pandemic within the company by using the measures they took. More than half of the participants were affected negatively by the pandemic and their orders decreased compared to the pre-pandemic period. Participants that increased their orders during the pandemic stated that they heavily focused on customer relations and marketing activities. Some participants stated they increased their orders by changing the existing product or developing new products according to customer demand. Most of the participantsstated that they made flexibility in the prices of products during the pandemic. Textile companies stated that they used video conference tools more compared to other media tools while doing marketing activities. Participants stated that they prepared professional shots and short videos so customers could see the product and texture of the fabric clearly. As a customer acquisition strategy, even the smallest demand of the customer tried to be met quickly. Participants stated that their costs increased because of increased textile raw material and freight price increases in the pandemic. In this context, textile companies applied a cost reduction strategy. More than half of the companies stated that they benefited from government support. In this period, more than half of the companies stated that they applied different marketing strategies for each market. After the pandemic, most companies stated that they continue to use video conference programs, continue their investment in digitalization, produce products by customer demands, continue to work efficiently and give more importance to sustainability.