THIRD-PARTY LOGISTICS AND MARKETING PERFORMANCE OF FOOD AND BEVERAGE FIRMS IN PORT HARCOURT

Abstract

This study investigated the relationship between Third-Party Logistics and Marketing Performance of Food and Beverage Firms in Port Harcourt. The objectives of the study were to determine how transportation management and order fulfillment relate with market share growth of food and beverage firms in Port Harcourt. The correlational research design was adopted. The population for this study comprised of all thirty-five (35) registered food and beverage firms in Rivers State. 175 respondents were drawn from the population through census approach in a frame of five (5) managers per firm. However, only 135 managers provided data for the study through questionnaire that was designed in the Likert 5-point scale of strongly disagree to strongly agree. Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC) was used to test two null hypotheses. From results of the analysis it was revealed that transportation management and order fulfillment which are the dimensions of third-party logistics positively and significantly relate with market share growth (i.e. measure of marketing performance) of food and beverage firms in Port Harcourt. Based on these findings, it was concluded that while effective transportation management is beneficial, optimizing order fulfillment processes is more critical to achieving market expansion. Therefore, the study recommended amongst others that food and beverage firms should invest in advanced inventory management systems and staff training to minimize errors, reduce delivery times, and ensure customer satisfaction, which can boost market share growth.