customer expectation

Taking Online Shopping Offline

Posted on by f1234erose
Online Shoppers who choose to forgo shipping chargers visit Walmart to pick up items ordered online.Link to NYTimes article “Luring Online Shoppers Offline”

Online shopping has caused retailers such as Macy’s, Best Buy, Sears and The Container Store to loose millions in sales. Consumers have had such a profound obsession with purchasing a product at the lowest price possible that almost every product sold at traditional retail stores is constantly being matched up with prices online. Currently, Best Buy is even going to the extent of customizing the bar codes on their products so they cannot be scanned by consumers so they are able to look up online prices from sites such as Amazon.

To avoid having in store sales reach an all time low, retailers are attempting to lure consumers into the store by promoting their own online operations on site. Walmart has made an effort to add Web return centers, pickup locations, free shipping outlets, payment booths, and drive-through customer service centers for online sales to appeal to the growing amount of online shoppers.

Retailers like Walmart believe that they could potentially have an advantage over their online retail competitors due to the fact that shopping offline eliminates the expensive shipping fees. Walmart gives customers a variety of options such as being able to order products from their online website and then being able to pick it up and pay for it at the store, thus appealing to customers who have a trend of preferring to pay cash for products.

From focusing on the cash option, Walmart has seen a dramatic rise in demand due to promoting online pickup at their stores, which now accounts for half their sales. As a whole, Walmart has the advantage of appealing to customers that do not have a bank account of credit cards. In addition, the in store pickup also appeals to consumers that favor to buy items in bulk that do not qualify for online purchases.

Fellow retailers of Walmart such as The Container Store and Sears have taken on site purchasing to a new level by promoting a drive-through service that allows for consumers  to get what they need on the go. This service has also seen great success because it appeals to the consumers who shop online because they do not have the time to navigate their way through the retail store to purchase the products they need. Recently, a new trend has shown that customers who used this pick up  service have caused them to visit 50% more than customers who regularly shop in the store.

The competition between traditional retailers and e-commerce companies will continue to exist, but the efforts made by the traditional retailers to keep up with online shopping have been greatly significant. With all the new bells and whistles added to their offline services, will retailers truly be able to take shopping offline for good?

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/05/business/retailers-lure-online-shoppers-offline.html?_r=0

Ford, a New Leader in the Hybrid Vehicle Market?

Posted on by f1234swatch

Ford C-Max Hybrid, Ford’s first hybrid-only line of vehicles that was only available in Europe, has now introduced a 2013 C-Max Hybrid model in the United States, which was released in September 2012. Ford invested a huge amount of money in research and development in hybrid technology with an aim to become “America’s most affordable hybrid utility vehicle.” The hybrid model is developed to compete with Toyota Prius, the world’s best-selling hybrid car. The hybrid model base 2013 retail pricing starts at $25,995, including destination and delivery charge. The price is $1,350 below the Toyota Prius v, a van-like vehicle.

A federal government fuel economy rates C-Max Hybrid at 47/47 mpg city/highway while Toyota Prius v and Honda Civic Hybrid were rated at 44/40 mpg and 44/44 mpg. This shows that Ford is able to deliver better fuel economy, which allows it to beat its competitors in the industry. Even though Toyota Prius is the first mover an the largest producer of hybrid vehicles and gain competitive advantage in the market, Ford challenges the “plain styling” of Prius with its “fresh” and “modern looks.” Ford believes that it has developed a better vehicle. Ford C-MAX Hybrid “Says Wheeee” Commercial

The features of C-Max hybrid are shorter at14.5 feet long, bumper to bumper than a regular Prius. Moreover, it has comfortably raised driving position, optional high-grade amenities and smart tech displays. C-Max Hybrid is designed to have more space with the extended cabin and tall rear. A driver does not plug in the C-Max Hybrid, because electric power is generated onboard, stored and then routed out of the onboard battery pack. Another development is that C-Max has a maximum horsepower of 141 while Prius and Prius v have only 98 horsepower. This is enough for a travel range of more than 500 miles.

As I read the article, I can relate it to our recent class lectures. Ford applies many concepts we learned in order to stay in a competitive market. Ford uses a low cost of the product strategy to enter the market. It uses reverse engineering by inspecting competitor’s product to improve its products. It is able to translate customer needs in a current economy when gas prices are high into the product by using quality function deployment. Lastly, it focuses on hybrid vehicles by reducing the use of fuel. This shows that Ford is concerned about sustainability and environmentally-friendly production. Because C-Max Hybrid is more fuel efficient, roomier, cheaper, and faster, I think that it is possible that Ford C-Max Hybrid will be able to beat Toyota Prius, a top-selling hybrid car.

 

Questions:

– Do you think that Ford C-Max Hybrid would be able to launch successfully in hybrid vehicle market?

– What do you think would prevent C-Max Hybrid to gain market share of  hybrid segment from Toyota Prius?

 

Sources:

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/max-hybrid-ford-challenges-prius-17443886#.UHm1chzgzBD

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_C-Max

Image source:

http://www.ford.com/cars/cmax/features/

 

Cash Strap? Need a Job this Holiday Season?

Posted on by f1224hpham

With the holiday season approaching fast, many major retailers are opening up more jobs in preparation for the high demand of the holidays. Experts estimated about 700,000 new, temporary jobs for this year, which is a slight increase from last year. As the economy is slowly moving out of the recession, many American families are paying back their debts, which give them the extra cash to spend this year. Hence, there is a great outlook for this holiday season for those of you who are looking for a little more income or just taking advantage of the employee discount that most of these retailers offer for their employees.

Looking at previous years numbers, most of these retailers are retaining their seasonal workers well over the holiday season. These temporary, seasonal jobs are turned into full-time positions, which for most workers are a good thing if they are looking for a permanent job. I have started seeing a lot of companies doing this nowadays. Rather than hiring full-time workers right from the start, companies would look into their pool of temporary workers first before hiring outside workers for any new positions. I’ve had a taste of this through the internships I have had done in the past. Most of the firms that I want to work for usually hire from their pools of interns and offer little to no position to those who have not worked an internship at their firm.

We’ve talked about forecasting in class, and this article ties in with this topic. With the increase in demand for goods and services this holiday season, major retailers are hiring more workers to meet this demand. Some even go as far as to open temporary stores, i.e. Toys “R” Us, in anticipation for the busy holiday rush. I think that this is a good boost for the economy as it may opens more, new jobs in the future for some people. Also, for companies, this is a smart move because they do not have to deal with making enough revenue to cover for the fix costs that come with permanent stores throughout the year. They can just rent a store for three to four months just in time for the holiday demand.

Questions to consider: Are you looking for a job? Would you be interested in becoming a seasonal worker? How are these companies handling their forecasts? What are the pro and cons of the increase in jobs during the holiday season?

 

http://www.forbes.com/sites/meghancasserly/2012/10/02/700000-new-retail-jobs-for-holiday-2012-heres-whos-hiring/

Shop Like It’s 1999!

Posted on by f1223jkundrat

In a time when pennies count, retailers are looking for any competitive advantage they can find. One way which is starting to make a comeback is the layaway program. By allowing customers the opportunity to put items on hold for a set number of weeks, it gives the consumer who may not be able to afford a purchase right now the opportunity to lock in their price. These programs have several different structures, some charge upfront fees at the beginning of the layaway period, and additionally some of which accrue interest charges.

This philosophy is nothing new in the retail world, but has seen a renaissance over the past few years, with many large retailers such as Sears, Kmart, and Toys ‘R Us pushing the programs. By offering layaway, retailers hope to boost early sales and beat their forecasts for the holiday season. Layaway does, however, have its downsides for companies since many have waived their service fees if consumers do not follow through with their purchase. This leaves merchandisers holding onto the extra inventory. Also with this new push to increase sales, retailers are adding many new items eligible for layaway. This move could prove to be both a positive and a negative. While on one hand it will bring in more shoppers to put things on layaway. If enough consumers do not follow through on their contracts and the stores took precious items off the sales floor, the results could prove costly.

By offering layaway financing through the stores themselves, it gives consumers who do not have, or might not want to use their credit cards. By allowing these consumers who might not have purchased the item otherwise to purchase from your company, it opens your profit potential that much more. Because it entails more planning on behalf of the merchandising crew, and all of the other aspects listed above, the decision on whether the layaway program is beneficial to each individual company is something that is up for debate.

Question: If you had a retail company, do you believe implementing a layaway program would be a good idea? What are some other benefits and consequences in addition to the ones mentioned that might come about due to a layaway program?

http://www.cnbc.com/id/49302750

http://chainstoreage.com/article/sears-kmart-jump-layaway-bandwagon-waiving-fees

 

iPad’s Little Brother

Posted on by f1223hlodhia

Apple Inc., one of the world’s largest innovators, has, once again, announced the launch of a new product: a smaller version of their best-selling iPad Tablet. Once again, early adopters and loyal customers flock to see the newest hype that the company has to offer.

After being under the scope of the public for their iPad, Apple Inc. has decided to take on the challenge of creating a product that can compete with Amazon’s Kindle Fire HD, Google’s Nexus 7, and others. Previously, many customers had complained that the iPad itself was very large and heavy compared to its competitors., as well as being very costly. Although Apple has not commented about any specific features about the product itself, many excited and loyal Apple customers have come up with their own list of potential features and rumors of production that Apple may consider when creating the mini iPad since the company is known to put customer satisfaction at the top of their priorities.

First, a “major Apple investor” has publicly claimed that the iPad mini will be unveiled on October 17th, 2012 and that the official launch date of product will be November 2nd, 2012, which gives customers plenty of time to obtain the new creation for the upcoming holiday season.

Second, rumor has it that the iPad mini will have a 7.85 inch liquid crystal display (LCD) with a 2,048-by-1,536 pixel resolution, although the screen will not have the same retina display of the original sized iPad. This may be to simply keep the cost of the product lower and more affordable to the public.

Since the cost in the market is a major driving factor behind this new product, there has been some speculation that the cost and price was also very important to Apple. There were many concerns that the iPad was priced too high for many people, which is why Apple decided to come out with a newer, more cost effective alternative for those people who do not want to spend $399-$499 on the iPad. Instead, it is expected that the iPad mini will retail for about $249, which is slightly higher than the prices of its major competitors.

Along with the rumors of its features and displays, there have been some claims that people have obtained leaked photos of the final product. Some of the physical attributes that can be seen in the final product are:

  • Wi-Fi adaption
  • nano SIM tray for cellular connectivity (thought to be for a pricier model)
  • An 8-pin “Lightning” connector found
  • A microphone jack in the same upperleft corner as current iPads
  • Aluminum backing
  • volume buttons on the right side of the tablet with a switch
  • rear-facing camera
  • two speaker grilles at the bottom

The last major rumor about the iPad mini is the location of production. Although nothing has been confirmed by Apple, production has been thought to be in China and Brazil.

 

Potential leaked photo of the new iPad mini

More information about can be found at http://shopping.yahoo.com/blogs/digital-crave/ipad-mini-almost-know-162420535.html

American Airlines: A Battle of Wavering Trust

Posted on by f1213lpalarz

Picture is of American Airlines flipped seats displayed on ABC Local 10 Miami News Station.

American Airlines has found three separate occurrences of their seats being improperly bolted to the floor during passenger flights. Two of these incidents caused emergency landings, and in one case flipped passenger’s seats’ back midflight. On an additional aircraft, passengers were told to brace for emergency landing after the landing gear jammed shorting after takeoff. As a result of this, the airline has gradually inspected 757 aircrafts. In the past week, American Airlines has taken half of their 757 Boeing fleet out of service in order to inspect the seats. It is great that half of the fleet has been examined, but what about the other uninspected planes? Are they still safe to fly on?

Some people have pointed to mechanical sabotage instigated by recent labor issues. As a result American Airlines mechanics have lost their jobs due to outsourcing, which has people wondering if mechanics have unsecured bolts on purpose. The mechanics union refutes this claim saying that mechanical issues should be pointed the new maintenance procedures.

However, the FAA did note that the first two aircrafts had undergone maintenance, in which the seats were removed and re-installed, recently before the seat incidents.  While this opens a window of possibility to the sabotage claim, it also may indicate human error. It is very possible that these incidents occurred because they were not secured properly, which reflects the management personnel on duty and inspection of mechanical work. As Deming noted, 94% of problems occur because of a faulty system, not because of the workforce. It is possible that the process structure did not allow for sufficient time to review work or added stress to the mechanics process which created the human error.

The recent incidences have caused a lack of trust in both employees and customers of American Airlines, two areas that the airline should strive to satisfy.  Employees are scrutinized for the American Airlines mishaps and may feel like their jobs are unstable while the airline deals with this rough patch. The pilots of the aircraft with the landing gear issues have even been blamed for sabotaging the plane in an effort to sway the negotiations with the pilots’ union. Customers who have been on the defective aircrafts are dissatisfied with the service being provided to them. In one case, passengers were told to brace for crash landing, thinking that their lives were in danger. A crash landing did not end up being used.

It seems as if American Airlines has various issues that they need to resolve, and resole fast if they hope to retain their customer base. While it is not definitive what caused the mechanical issues or if labor negotiations played a part, I do not feel comfortable boarding an American Airlines plane at this time. In the airlines current condition, would you take the chance of boarding one of the uninspected planes?

http://abcnews.go.com/Travel/american-airlines-blames-saddle-clamp-loose-seat-problem/story?id=17372830#.UHBEEk3R5m0

http://abcnews.go.com/Travel/american-airlines-passengers-told-brace-crash-landing-maintenance/story?id=17382130#.UHBVeE3R5m0

IPhone 5 Apple Maps VS. Google Maps

Posted on by f1213nshah

In 2007 Apple introduced something called an IPhone which changed the world forever. Each year since 2007 Apple has been releasing new models of the IPhone. This year there newest addition was the IPhone 5. The IPhone 5 is the fastest and thinnest smart phone in the world.  Apple sold over five million units within the first couple weeks.  This is more than the amount of IPhone 4S that were sold in the opening weeks.

The new IOS6 firmware that was introduced with the IPhone 5 came with a few changes. A lot of people weren’t happy with some of these changes. One of the biggest shockers for users was that the maps application was changed. The previous five IPhones used Google Maps. Google Maps has been the leading maps application for smart phones for a while now, ever since they passed Yahoo and MapQuest.

Apple introduced its own Apple Maps application with the release of IOS6. There have been many complains about this new maps application. People have been complaining that:

  • The application has fewer details
  • There is no longer an option to select public transportation
  • There are misplaced landmarks

These issues aren’t really that big of a deal. Apple was looking at the overall picture when they decided to make the switch from Google Maps to their own. It took Google years to make it to the top of the market with their maps application. People shouldn’t be surprised that apples maps application is not as good as Google’s. The reason is because Apples application is still new. I’m sure that if consumers give Apple some time they won’t be disappointed. For years now Apple has been coming out with mind blowing innovations and I feel that there maps application isn’t any different.

People have been too busy complaining about the small issues that they don’t even realize that apple added the one thing that most users were asking for, turn- by- turn navigation.  Apple couldn’t keep Google Maps because Google only allowed turn- by- turn navigation on android devices.

I feel that Apples quality and effort can’t be beat.  They have been making top quality products for years and I feel that this is never going to change.

http://news.yahoo.com/analyst-iphone-5-demand-unfazed-map-concerns-212545406–finance.html

 

Patagonia & The Footprint Chronicles

Posted on by f1232skrissanov

Early this year, CEO of Patagonia, Casey Sheahan, raised a few eyebrows by introducing a “Don’t Buy This Jacket” campaign. Sheahan explained Patagonia must do the opposite of other businesses today for them to stay in business for a long time, as well as leaving an inhabitable planet for future generations. He goes on to say, “We ask you to buy less and to reflect before you spend a dime on this jacket or anything else.” Not only does this give a subtle hint that Patagonia strives for unparalleled quality, it shows the company highly values humanity and environmental consciousness.

More recently however, Patagonia has gone to new lengths to prove the ingenuity of their values and offer unprecedented transparency concerning their business operations to their customers. Patagonia has introduced The Footprint Chronicles, an interactive map of the world on their website that pinpoints all of the members of its operational supply chain, both textile mills and factories. Clicking on a pinpoint on the map brings up information on the location including what they are, their exact address, what they produce, work force, gender ratio, and how long they have worked with Patagonia.

For most companies, an informational map like this could just be a marketing ploy, but for Patagonia, it is an attempt to take business practices and operations to a new level of transparency for all to see. Patagonia is well known for the labor and working condition standards it surpasses every year, but nowadays it just isn’t enough for a company to have a piece of paper saying it passed regulations. This is due to the fact that sometimes these big manufacturers seemingly meet requirements for issues surrounding labor operations and working conditions, however, they are usually the ones who end up on a negative headline about underage labor practices, poor working conditions, etc.

Patagonia has always been know to champion quality over everything; not only a quality product, but quality operations that put people and the environment over profit. According to Patagonia, there are no private/closed-off managerial offices at their locations, creating a closer link between their corporate, business, and functional levels of the company. Though it may seem Patagonia’s humanity, sustainability, and environment driven business strategy leaves little room for profit, it is not true as the company has actually doubled revenue and tripled profits since 2008 ($540 million in 12 months ending with this past April) accoring to the Los Angeles Times.

Patagonia is definitely proving that not taking the easy short-cut to profits can undoubtedly pay off in the long-run. Could this be a sign that you do not have to be inhumane, greedy, or careless of the environment for your company to turn a profit and be successful?

http://www.patagonia.com/us/footprint/

Quality Control Testing; Methods That Don’t Work

Posted on by f1211kdebiase

http://www.news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_detail.lasso?id=10336

“Study Suggests Raising the Bar for Olive Oil Quality Control”

Recently UC Davis conducted a study on the effectiveness of quality control tests for the commonly used food product Olive Oil. This seems like a small detail in food regulation and not something to think twice about, however the majority of oils sold to companies in the food-service industry was below standard. Researchers found that various brands of Olive Oils were able to pass the chemical tests that are used for quality control, however failed most sensory tests- done by blind tastings- where products were described as “rancid” and “musty.” Not necessarily the type of product you want to consume. Another fault that researchers discovered, was that most products did not list where or when the product was produced. This could lead to rotten oils or bad products being sold to consumers. Because of these results, researchers at UC Davis believe that quality testing of Olive Oils should be revised to create “more accurate and less expensive tests and to develop innovative packaging that will extend olive oil freshness” (www.news.ucdavis.edu).

This article reminds me of Deming’s Red Bead Experiment which we performed last week in class. The Quality Control for the test required two “Inspectors” to count all of the red beads that were produced in each workers batch and then have a “Chief Inspector” verify these results and submit them to be recorded. While there were always some defects in the batches produced, nothing was ever done to correct the process by which the product was created. The researchers at UC Davis mentioned that about 10% of the oils tested were “adulterated” and made of other oils such as canola oil, instead of pure olive oil. While the article did not say how many of the products tested did not pass the chemical tests, I would think that there were defective products in most batches- especially in the modified oils- that did not pass the chemical tests. I wonder how many Olive Oil companies then changed their processes and how many maintained the old process, factoring in defects as an expected occurrence.

The manufacturing of Olive Oil relates well to Deming’s Experiment. These companies may not realize that their production processes are flawed and are solely relying on the feedback of basic chemical testing for quality assessment. Two of Deming’s Fourteen Points for a better organization are “Cease dependence on inspection to achieve quality” and “Constantly and forever improve the system of production and service.” It seems that based on the research done by UC Davis, most of the Olive Oil industry needs to look at Deming’s philosophies and revise their thinking on quality and the processes in production, something most companies may need to review in their operations.

Can you think of any other companies that base their quality measurements on testing that may not be relevant to the actual quality of their product?

A Simple Communication Fail

Posted on by irinb598

I have always been curious about how ideas become reality.  Perhaps that is how I ended up working in marketing and advertising, but I am always intriqued by the process in which ideas are executed.  For example, as a child, I would watch television commercials and wonder how they were created, how the idea was pitched and how it was ultimately executed.  Did a group of people sit around a room and just toss out ideas?  Did some top executive come up with the idea and required the execution and development of that idea?  How did it all happen logistically?

As my career progressed in the field of property management, I quickly realized that not all projects have a defined beginning and end.  Sometimes a project is on-going and the “execution” takes consistent communication with key stakeholders. In my current role, as the marketing director for a residential property mangement company, I oversee the marketing of 43 properties in my region, it is very easy to consider each property as a separate, ongoing project.  We manage for institutional investors and report back regularly on our operation of the property. 

Recently, it became very clear to me that our team had failed in the eyes of one of our institutional investors because of a lack of communication.  Typically, we send monthly reports to our investors and provide financial and operational information.  If they specify the need for additional information, we can provide it, but we typically have a standard format that we send.  It became very clear that this particular investor was most interested in maintaining the “high-end” brand of the property more than anything else, but he was not happy with our level of communication regarding the brand.  Unbeknownst to my team, he wanted daily and weekly updates regarding this topic. 

We recently discussed in class that some people prefer email over phone communication, others prefer phone over email.  Some want to be informed of all details, while others prefer only high-level information.  While sitting in class, I had a realization that it’s OK for people to have different communication preferences, but it just needs to be defined. 

So, where did my team fail?   We failed to ask our investor what he preferred.  It is as simple as that.   Had we prepared a communication plan from the beginning, we would have defined this relationship better and set the proper expectations for our success to deliver.  I had this realization two class sessions ago and have since implemented a proper communication plan.   This plan now clearly defines a few key factors and our invester couldn’t be happier:

  • who will receive the information
  • when we will provide information
  • what format the information will be delivered
  • how frequent the information will be delivered

Does your company define this for internal or external projects, even  if they are on-going?  If not, why do you think this simple step is often overlooked?