The Importance Of Customer Satisfaction In The Supermarket

The challenges that retailers may face are customer service, low inventory, store appearance, and brand selection. For JC Penney it’s important to put the customer first and make the customers shopping experience a memorable one. Customer service is always mentioned through coaching to employees because the customer’s worth means a lot to JC Penney. JC Penney strives to greet and help the customer find exactly what they are looking for, or something similar. Adding value to a customer’s shopping experience is more likely to keep the customer coming back then giving poor service.

Due to Wal-Mart’s superior ability to order inventory on demand, they are in a position to also meet customer demand better than their competitors. This is especially true with fad products, because they are only popular for a limited amount of time when they become unpopular they can leave massive amounts of inventory that nobody wants to purchase. Due to Wal-Mart’s superior supply chain and their technology they are better able to avoid carrying an oversupply of fad items, and regular items as well.

However, one implementation of the idea of cooperation called Efficient Consumer Response (ECR) is successful. It is defined as “a grocery industry strategy in which distributors, suppliers and brokers jointly commit to work closely together to bring greater value to the grocery consumer” (Salmon 1993). ECR process reduces the border of some functional department such as logistics and marketing in order to decrease the unnecessary waste and increase the efficiency of connection (ibid). According to Alvardo and Kotzab (2001), ECR has had a considerable impact on the grocery industry with the support of logistics and marketing researchers and the application of ECR principles also has a huge saving potential in the future. For example, Salmon (1993) states that the value saving for the U.S. grocery industry was 30 billion dollars and there will be 10.8% added value because of the reduced price for the end

Even when utilizing an inventory management system, occasional shortages will still occur. To be successful in today's fast-paced, highly-competitive environment, business’ need to have the necessary parts in stock or have reliable suppliers to meet customer demands at a moment's notice. Either way, shops must have a practical, efficient method for managing inventory in order to stay in business and satisfy their customers. The most efficient way to get this done is through the use of a Just-In-Time (J-I-T) system of inventory management. The service that Cardinal Health provides is an example of this type of J-I-T system which allows them to get the right quantity of goods to the right place and at the right time.

Purchasing has made small steps by implementing a supplier relations program, but this could go further. Using the point of sale system that updates the items on-hand as sales happen in real time, and also establishing quantities at which orders can automatically sent to purchasing will further ensure that the stores will not run out of any particular items. Marketing’s new initiative is tracking the purchase habits of the individual customers. This will help the stores offer the most wanted products, which is one of Kudler market areas. Instead of offering discounts Kudler has teamed with other stores and businesses such as airlines, gift shops, etc…offering points to its customers that can be redeemed at said stores.

The objectives of the supermarket need to be looked at and worked towards very carefully. The diagram below shows the main performance objectives that are worked towards in the supermarket. Things operations should do… Objective Provide error free goods and services Quality Minimise lead time Speed Keep delivery promises Dependability Adapt to change in circumstances Flexibility Minimise cost Cost Dr Andi Smart, University of Exeter For the customer to have a hassle free shopping experience then most, if not all, of these objectives need to be met. The first, and arguably the most important, objective in the store is quality. It is important because it is the most visible part of what operations do and therefore customers are easily able to make judgements on quality.

Another of WH Smith ’s aims is to look after their customers as customers are very important because they provide income to the business. Also WH Smith need to do their best to deliver good products at a cheap price to their customers and the public. WH Smith aim to treat all their customers in an appropriate manner. By doing this WH Smith will gain customer satisfaction and lifetime loyalty. By treating their customer’s well WH Smith will also get a good reputation and also they may gain other competitors customers.

In conclusion, Kudler fine foods has a market that specializes in providing the best service possible to their customers . Market research is a main factor that will identify market need, size and competition. The gathering of information from other business owners in other states and increasing services for frequent shoppers that is needed implements more profits. Competitive intelligence gives and outlook on what other business owners are doing. Therefore your able to strategies against what other organizations are doing within their business.

An Appraisal of the Techniques Used in ASDA for Monitoring and Improving Customer Service Asda is a huge organisation and they know that the secret to being successful and reliable is to provide good Customer Service. Asda monitor the customer service progression via Benchmarking. This method in used by many organisations and is helped to show the performance of Customer service with other supermarket outlets. Asda can improve Benchmarking but they have to set standards and monitor the progress of themselves and competitors. Here is a list of Advantage for Benchmarking: § Imitating and improving on best practice can lead to cost reduction § Gives a target to aim at § Can lead to improved quality and productivity § Enables genuine comparisons of performance to be made Here is a is of Disadvantages for Benchmarking: § Badly performing companies can find matching best practice demoralising § The organisation needs the culture and structure to change § The organisation must be willing and financially able to improve § Companies may be unwilling to reveal the secret to their success Other techniques used by a lot of organisations like Asda are called Appraisals; this is looked at by observations of employees at Asda.

It is used to help with both of the suppliers and customers to manage the ordering process. It can help to control the availability and flow of goods to become more accurate. Walmart has used this system because it can benefit both of the suppliers and customers. To benefits the suppliers, this system may help to maintain the predetermined inventory and avoiding the problem, such as stock outs. Then, for customers, it shows that it may help to reduce uncertainty.