Nature of Business and Scope of Business
The very word ‘retailing’ means nothing more than selling goods to people. This job is mainly done through the help of shops and other types of business outlets. Now, it is for sure that the fundamental understanding of retailing has changed a lot now from what it was in the previous century. As for example, Wal-Mart stores throughout the world have definitely provided another dimension to retailing in the 21st century.
Internet has also become a medium where retailing business has found its ground. The concept of online retailing has become very popular in the last few years. Information technology has further helped the companies to get data about the customers in no moment. The name of radio frequency identification is also mentionable in this context. Wal-Mart is the company, which has introduced it in the world market (Krafft and Mantrala, 2006)
The market research we shall carry out shall be for retailing business an example of Wal-Mart entering the United Kingdom market where there are two major competitors, Tesco and Sainsbury. This research is aimed at discovering the entry strategy that shall be employed by the company in entering into this market where it is already saturated.
The Market
The United Kingdom has a highly concentrated grocery retail sector with some 30% of the market held by Tesco, apart from some presence in Eastern Europe, Thailand and some others. The other two mega projects are those of Sainsbury’s and Asda, owned by Wal-Mart. The fact that 30% is close to dominance does not speak well for competition, but Tesco does have enough problems with suppliers, and consumers to make others think of having a chance. UK’s Competition Commission launched an investigation into the retail grocery market and came out without a scathing remark on Tesco’s marketing strategy, saying that there was scope enough for other players to make an impact in the United Kingdom grocery market.
In the event of other multinational companies establishing their retail chains in the UK, Tesco will face another kind of competition. Tesco, till now known as the ‘pile it high and sell it cheap’ store in comparison to the more up market Sainsbury’s, will have to fight against odds as it faces foreign companies which offer quality products at lower costs. Also the fact that globalization gives equal opportunity to all to benefit will not help Tesco or Sainsbury’s, which are dependent on domestic purchases for its business. Farmers and other suppliers could turn a blind eye to Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons among others, and target the foreign markets in India, Russia and China. Tesco has for the present cleverly positioned itself in mid-market, overtaking others by a distance, though Sainsbury’s is in the process of recovering lost ground. Some retails such as Marks and Spencer’s and Waitrose currently are dealing in the upper market while others such as Asda and Morrisons are competitive in pricing. The foremost complaint emanates from farmers and suppliers who feel that these retail giants use their market dominant position to squeeze the margins, while continually seek higher quality standards. In the event of these suppliers and farmers turning to export to India, China and Russia, Tesco, Sainsbury’s and others will be hard pressed for raw materials to survive. This will affect their business drastically and even lead to closure of smaller retailers who depend on them for supplies. Wal-Mart could have a partnership by which it could import fully and semi-developed produces from India, and China, for example and make an immediate impact on the United Kingdom retail market.
Tesco and Sainsbury’s have been found guilty of opening smaller outlets in town centers and this is driving out many other smaller players. Their grievances received a receptive hearing from the media and legislators, although in many cases, they were found to quote higher prices and offer poorer services. While from the consumer’s point of view this clearly is beneficial and time-saving, many would argue that if they went to a succession of shops they would get cheaper and better quality products. This may be true, but what matters is the time constraint; no one would like to shop the whole day for a paltry profit.
Supermarket keeps the prices of goods and services lower thus making it difficult for the government to act against them especially in the areas environment protection. This keeps inflation in check while benefiting the working class with families. Where Tesco may be vulnerable is if its possession of ‘land banks’ of attractive retail sites are disallowed, or imports which are cheaper is introduced into the United Kingdom market. Also if suppliers boycott supplies and concentrate on foreign markets, then Tesco and Sainsbury’s may be choked for stock, in which case, they will have to source from elsewhere where they have no control on prices or quality. Globalization and concentration in retailing is likely to be a continuing trend (Tescophobia, 2006).
This means the United Kingdom market has more than enough retail markets although the retail giants are driving out small marketers.
Competition
Tesco and Sainsbury’s are two of a number of well-known supermarkets in the UK. With Tesco finding itself pitched against protests and trouble at home, it is but natural for them to seek greener pastures elsewhere.
Other competitors who are in the United Kingdom include supermarkets like Marks and Spencer who offer a challenge to the giants in the market. Wal-Mart has a stake in the United Kingdom market therefore is a competitor. What they are trying to do in this is to enlarge their market into some town.
Future Direction
Most retail stores in the UK have started moving out of the country for international expansion especially to China and India where the economy have been performing well unlike other countries which has been like world financial crisis. This looks like the future direction for most retail businesses is in the UK. The other option available for retail business in United Kingdom is to streamline operations to ensure better customer care and services and implementation of online shopping where customer shop online and goods are delivered at their doorstep. This is a way to going to the current competitive environment where giants are competing for the markets. This trend will give way to more advanced and sophisticated methods of marketing products enhancing performance and efficiency, cutting down costs, raising customers fulfillment and controlling long term supply positioning for the businesses. The real time retailing which may be the direction Wal-Mart may take will be available to all residents within a certain radius to ensure there is success. Network connectivity among all Wal-Mart stores which is connected to Internet will be accessible by customers. A customer may order a product available in a certain store and deliver within its environment however if a customer order in the United States and the product is not available the customer should be informed it is out of stock in stores in his environment and the time that it will take to deliver the goods if it is as far as United States. This system will improve competence in the performance and attract more customers especially those who do not have time to go out shopping.
Marketing Objectives
The main marketing objective for the product is to ensure the product reaches the market at the right price, place and time. Another objective for marketing this retail shop is to ensure the customers are satisfied with our services and will continue patronizing our business. We also hope that we shall attain a 29% market share in the United Kingdom dislodging Sainsbury and Tesco as major retail stores in the United Kingdom. We shall be able to increase and maintain this market share by increasing our marketing budget. We shall also understand the customers’ needs and be able to satisfy them by preventing cheap and quality market.
Business Objectives
The major objectives of the business are:
Short-term goals
- To increase sale by 30% – 40% in the next two months
- To be able to satisfy the needs of customers
- To be able to provide all moving products to the population in quick and efficient way
Long-term goals
- To open new branches in all major towns
- The business shall buy controlling shares of banking the sectors to diversify
- The business shall be offering permanent employment to the community after
- The business shall be aimed at being the market leader.
- After three years the business shall be able to open up new branches in former England colonies
Research Objectives
- To compare and contrast the buying behavior of customers in the retail shop.
- To identify the key factors influencing the buying process of by customers
- Determine the competitors in the competitive edge
- Consumer attitudes towards retail products and services
Significance of the Research
The research carried out will have significance to the retail shop because they will know the current competitors and how to increase their market share. The future success of the retail store depends on the current activities which they carry out. Therefore the research will impact on their profits by helping them identify how to increase the market.
The study has brought a lot of light in the understanding of the retail industry and how it has grown for many years from closed economy to the open economy and how this change shave impacted the decisions of many of the people concerning purchasing in retail.
It has helped in understanding various areas which need to be improved in the retail industry in order to increase the demand for the retail products. The findings can be used as basis of developing products which best suit the customer needs by the companies. Also it can be used by the companies to gain competitive advantage over the rivals. The recommendations made will give a way forward for improvements to be done on the industry.
Areas for Future Improvements and Limitations of the Study
The research study was conducted in the best way possible to allow positive discussion of the research findings hence arriving at appropriate conclusions. However, in carrying out the study there were various limitations which were faced, the major limitation being the location in which the data was collected from, it was concentrated on one area yet people in other areas could have provided reliable data for the study. The reason for choosing the UK market was based on the financial as well as time constrains, carrying out the study around UK reduced the financial cost incurred as well as the time for carrying out the study.
In future when carrying out a similar study the data should be collected on large geographical area in order to get different view of people. Also the sample used was small; in future a large sample should be used since it can provide detailed information and diverse views on the study area.
Methodology of Research
The methods that will be used in carrying out this research will involve both quantitative and qualitative. Qualitative research method usually requires the researcher to have general thought on how he will carry out the research in a qualitative manner. It is normally descriptive. Quantitative method is where data is collected using data collecting tool and is expressed in terms of numerical and this research is analyzed into charts and graphs then the qualitative part will begin during description. The qualitative research method will give detailed results but contains ideas and new methods. Qualitative research will be used in this research by trying to understand how the people and what the people think of the research being carried out. Quantitative research will be used through: face to face interviews, questionnaires which are filled by customers and qualitative will involve selecting a group of people with similar characteristics and observing them to get what is their feeling in relations to the topic under investigations.
Sampling Procedure
Before adopting the suitable sampling technique several factors for example: cost of conducting the research, time constraint, accuracy of sources to be utilized, availability of population respondents, physical impossibilities of acquiring all the necessary items in the target population and the destructive nature of certain tests are considered in detail in order to avoid minor mistakes in the course of conducting the research.
Probabilistic type of sampling technique has been chosen since the sample identified gives each and every respondent a known likelihood of being included in the sample selected. For that reason, the research will be conducted using simple random method of collecting data because it is difficult to reach all the participants in the population. Under this technique, the selected sample gives the person identified the opportunity to have an equal chance of being incorporated in the research work.
Timetable for the Project
The Budget
Bibliography Market Research Proposal for Retail
Background
Wal-mart is one of the largest retailer businesses in the United States. If the business wants to enter to the United Kingdom market a number of issues come into play. In the United Kingdom Tesco and Sainsbury’s are the largest retail markets in the major towns. However, for the last few years this retail organizations have had problems with suppliers’ consumers, and farmers therefore an international competitor into the market will complicate their performance into the market. The company should come up with innovative ways of providing cheap products that meets international standards therefore competition will become favorable to both the consumer and supplier in the United Kingdom
This firm will come with ideas of globalization which will help the local farmers find a wide market for their products. It will offer a wide variety of solutions for prosperity and social productions for the people. United Kingdom being a highly concentrated retail sector where 30% of the market is being held by Tesco, Wal-Mart will have to prepare them before entering into this market. These calls for special means of handling the way the market will be operating. The management of orders for the existing retail companies has become difficult and it’s not properly streamlined. People will be happy to find an organization that will help them market their products with a lot of ease.
Objectives of the research
There are many objectives for this research; the following are the objectives of the research:
- To compare and contrast the buying behavior of consumers in the retail sector in the United Kingdom
- To indentify the market gap in the retail sector in the UK
- To find out entry strategy into the United Kingdom market by examining competition and how to be competitive in the market.
- To find out consumer, supplier and farmer attitude towards foreign retail outlets operating in the United Kingdom
Approach and method of research
Situation analysis in the form of a marketing audit will also be carried out. The first step is still to rake through all possible secondary information before primary information is collected, as these costs less and takes less time. Primary information is information which is collected by a formal investigation for a specific objective. The objective with the preliminary investigation is to research the secondary sources of information. The first mentioned refers to information and external secondary information which is available within the enterprise itself and the latter to information which is available outside the enterprise. It is advisable to wait until all possible internal secondary information has been searched, before consulting external secondary sources. The secondary information can be collected by a situation analysis.
This is an objective evaluation often enterprise’s present marketing position. With the audit background information is gathered on enterprise towards its products, distribution, price and marketing communication resources, and the market; the industry and so forth. The marketing researcher attempts to develop a feeling for the situation which surrounds the problem or opportunity, important sources are extensive informal discussion with division heads, sales representatives and other personnel in the enterprise.
On the basis of the information which is collected with the marketing audit and the informal survey, the causes of the problem may be very clear so that the problem can be solved at this stage without any further investigation or expenditure.
Data collection method
Since a sample of the population has identified, the researcher will utilize both open and closed questionnaires to collect the required information from the respondents that are selected from the sample identified. This method is considered and found to be effective and efficient to the researcher since he only drops the questionnaires to the respondents and collected them at a later date. The reason for choosing both open and closed questionnaires to be administered is that it gives the respondents an opportunity to answer freely to set of questionnaires that is administered to them during the study. The other methods data collection will be personal interviews. These methods are elaborated as follows:
- Personal interviews: In this method, the investigator follows a procedure and seeks answers to a set of pre-conceived questions through personal interviews. Personal interviews depend on the interview because he can influence the outcome. This can apply to those will not be able to use the questionnaire / or cannot be able to read or write.
- Questionnaires: This is the method most commonly used when respondents can be reached and are willing to cooperate. This method can reach a large number of subjects, who are able to read and write. If need be it can be translated into the language which the respondent will be able understand or the researcher can translate it for the respondent to understand.
Data analysis
The analysis of data requires a number of closely related operations such the establishments of categories to raw data through coding, tabulation and then drawing statistical inference. It should be anticipated that that the large amounts of field data should eventually be condensed into few manageable groups and tables for further analysis.
There are several steps that will be involved in the analysis of data and these steps are: understanding what qualitative data analysis is all about. The major core of qualitative analysis lies in giving a good description to the phenomenon, classifying the phenomenon and finally seeing how all the concepts interconnect. The next step will be introducing computers as a main data analysis tool. There are several aspects that will need the help of computers in their analysis and at this point the computers will come in handy.
A good analysis will depend on how well one reads and understands the data that would have been collected. This requires one to have good reading and understanding skills. Creation of categories will also be necessary in data analysis. These categories will help in easy analysis of data in a faster way. At this point, the data will have to be linked to the actual research project to make sure that everything blends with the other. Once the data or information flows, a conclusion will have to be made on the whole process of analysis.
Key Staff for Research
Business management and qualifications
Marketing research manager
- Duties: To ensure the research objectives laid down are achieved.
- To ensure that clerks do the work they were assigned to do.
- To choose qualified research clerks to carry out research
- Ensuring that the systems are put in place.
- Ensuring that all finances are properly allocated and spent.
- Responsibilities: To know the failures of different departments.
- Ensuring that all funds are properly utilized and if not why.
- Ensuring that all employees carry out duties assigned to them.
- Ensuring that workers have got a good relationship among themselves.
- Ensuring that employees maintain discipline.
- Ensuring that duties are well assigned to all employees.
- Experience: The marketing research manager has attained a seven year experience through attachment in related fields.
- Skills: Conversant with technical, managerial and research skills.
- Education: The a holds a masters degree in business administration, social sciences or marketing.
- Ability: To influence workers to be hard working.
- To influence good relationship among clerks.
- Assign duties and responsibilities to the right and qualified people.
- To make correct decisions.
Research assistant
The research assist role and responsibility will be to take over the research when the researcher is out. The research assistant shall also help the research in the day to day research activities.
- Background: should be one who has worked in a marketing department or marketing consultant firm for a minimum duration of five years.
- Education: one must have masters
- Competence: be able to influence workers to offer quality services.
- Skills: must have technical, entrepreneurial and managerial skills.
- Ability: must have qualities of motivating clerks to be more productive.
To make decisions on behalf of the research team
- Knowledge: have a clear understanding of the industry. The assistant manager shall have some duties and responsibilities to undertake.
- Duties: To ensure that the research meets objectives laid down.
Timetable for the project
The Budget
The Questionnaire
The questionnaire for the research was built on a semi-structured approach. The questions were structured in a way that there was no bias whatsoever. A sample of a focus group was taken for survey and questioning, and they were handed out the questionnaires containing a number of fifty questions. They include:
Customers
- Please indicate the age bracket you fall in:
- Below 20 years
- 21-30 years
- 31-40 years
- 41-50 years
- Above 51 years
- Please mark your religion fall in:
- Christianity
- Islam
- Others
- You sex:
- M
- F
- What is your occupation?
- What is your locality?
- What is your family composition?
- What is your monthly income?
- Less then £1000
- £1000 to £2000
- More than £200
- Marital Status:
- Married
- Single
- Do you live in a joint family or individual unit?
- How often do you go out for shopping?
- Few times a day
- Daily
- Once a week
- Once a month
- Reasons for using our supermarket chain: (Please enter the appropriate number Index: 1 for Bad 5 for Very good)
- Do you feel you have sufficient resources in life to keep it running smoothly?
- Yes
- No
- Are you content with your current lifestyle?
- Yes
- No
- What is retail shop in your opinion? How would you define it?
- Do you always go shopping to a specific retail shop?
- Yes
- No
- If yes, what influences you to continue patronizing the same retail supermarket? Explain please:
- What is your opinion of a new retail shop with a unique service?
- Do you wish to change the supermarket you are purchasing from currently?
- Yes
- No
- If yes, explain why please
- Does the brand name act as influencing factor to your purchasing in retail shop?
- Yes
- No
- Is price and location are one of the factors that influence you when you are purchasing a product from the supermarket?
- Yes
- No
- If yes, explain how please
Suppliers
- Do you get paid on time for the goods you supply?
- Yes
- No
- How satisfied or dissatisfied with the frequency of price negotiations you are?
- Please tick just one option:
- Very satisfied
- Fairly satisfied
- Neither Fairly dissatisfied
- Very dissatisfied
- Would you like to provide any additional services to our company?
- Help with marketing
- Provision of stuff in busy period
- Adapting packaging systems to conform with customer’s standard
- Delivering on pallets which conform to customer’s standards
Employees
- How old are you?
- 16-20
- 21-30
- 31-40
- 41-50
- 51-65
- Over 65
- Are you
- Male
- Female
- How long have you worked for our company?
- Less than one year
- 1-3 years
- 3-5 years
- 5-10 years
- Please indicate your ethnic origin:
- White
- Black
- Mixed
- Chinese
- Asian
- Other
- Which of the following best describes your role?
- Senior management
- Management
- Full-time staff (40 hours p/w)
- Part-time staff (less than 40 hours p/w)
- What is your monthly Income?
- Marital Status:
- Married
- Single
- Do you live in a joint family or individual unit?
- What is your department?
- What are your job functions?
- What tasks do you perform in carrying out your job function?
- On average, how many customers do you interact with on a daily basis?
- What type of products do customers usually demand the most throughout the year?
- What brand of products is in most demand from customers throughout the year?
- How many branches of your company do you know in the UK?
- What problems do you encounter when serving customers?
- Are you comfortable with current work environment?
- Do you encounter any problems in accessing the head office? If yes please state the nature of such problems?
- What features would you like to have in the proposed new branch?
- What benefits would you gain from using the proposed new branch?
- Which of the following benefits would you expect from having the proposed new branch?
- Do you have any suggestions for improving customer service at store? If so, please provide your suggestions:
Management
The people cooperated well and answered most of the questions included in the questionnaire. There were only a small number of people who were confused regarding one or two questions; otherwise on the whole there was a good feedback from the survey group.
A number of operational guidelines will be used to ensure that the questionnaire administered is taken to the correct respondents the responses received are maximized, the data collected is correct and correct code of ethics is maintained.
First, we shall begin by determining the kind of information required from the respondents. Once we have identified the kind of information required then the method of collecting the data is determined. The method being a questionnaire, the researchers will be trained on how to administer the questions to the target market.
There will be sampling of the target respondents and this sampling shall be used in collecting the data.
There are many methods of sampling the right respondents to these questions. The sampling that will be used will be either cluster sampling, stratified sampling, this is where data is divided into small groups which have similar characteristics and they are likely to give a similar information. Cluster sampling is where data is taken randomly from a specific area. To begin with in this research both methods will be applicable, cluster will be used to determine the area to be covered then to stratified sampling will be used in dividing this area into sampling units, e.g. we shall take London as a cluster sample then divide by the town into different zones where we shall choose specific areas to interview potential customers. Potential customer will mean those customers who will be patronizing the existing competitors or any person with a source of income.
Besides the above the values which are measured should be taken into account. If the marketing researcher wants to obtain detailed information about consumer preferences for two brands and it is known that a specific product is preferred by four times as many consumers as is another, a relatively smaller sample will be sufficient than would apply when both barns are equally popular. In the latter case a substantially larger sample is required. In other words, the closer the percentage is to 50, the large the extent of the error is – the variation from the correct answer – in percentage points, e.g. if the expected answer is 10 percent or 90 percent and the accepted extent to error for the answer is 50 percent, the extent of error of three per cent means that the marketing researcher wants to be within three per cent of the correct answer. This is his specified extent of error. However, he should also specify the risk he is willing to take that the particular sample that he draws is representative of the universe. That specification is usually in terms of the number of times out of 100 that the correct answer falls within the acceptable extent of error. The marketing researcher might thus specify that he wants to be correct within three per cent with a probability of 95 out of 100 cases.
In order to minimize errors for the data collected and accuracy maximized we shall choose a correct wording following a certain sequence. Questions which touch on personal matter shall be avoided because most people will not wish to disclose personal matters. The questions must be interesting in order to keep the respondent patience and give the correct data. Questions that are biased will also be avoided to reduce chances of the respondents becoming biased. That means we shall use simple, direct and unbiased wording. Most of the questions shall have multiple choices in order to enable the respondents to get interested in answering the next question. All the questionnaires collected shall be keyed in to ensure that there is no information omitted by the clerks.
The most important of all in ensuring the response rates are maximized the accuracy of information collected and code of ethics if followed and training and selecting the interviewers. The criteria of selecting the interviewer will depend on the questions above, the kind of respondent who is interviewed, and the factors peculiar to the extent of the survey. I shall ensure that an interviewer should also be able to read city map and accurately follow other instructions.
I will advise each interviewer on the objective of the investigation, how the questionnaire has to be completed as well as other information which might promote the smooth running of the survey. I will advise on where to locating the respondent; obtaining satisfactory answers and how to write down the answers.
Ethical Considerations
Ethical values were put in place while carrying out the research work, this is because there are certain issues which ought to be observed since they can bring in a lot of problems to the study work and at the same time influence the results of the study. (Colorado State University, 2008)
The people who are interviewed will be well informed concerning the purpose of the interview and it will be clear to them the way in which the information they are going to provide will be used. The information which will be collected is to be used for the specified purpose and it could not be used without the consent of the people interviewed. (City University of London, 2008)
The work of the study is only intended for the purpose of the study and for that reason it could not be used to harm any person or reputation of the people. For this reason the interviewees will not to mention their names or write them in the questionnaires. This protected the personal lives of the people in the society. (EEPSEA, 2008)
The principle of privacy, confidentiality and anonymity will highly considered, this is because the study is not to intrude too much to the people’s lives. The information which will be collected should not touch on the personal lives of the individuals in the society hence enhancing privacy. For enhancement of privacy, confidentiality and anonymity there will be no chances of giving the personal details of a person. This is because it is easier to be tempted to provide names of the people from whom you collected data and this can endanger some one life. (EEPSEA, 2008)
Advantages of Customer Loyalty Card Scheme
Identifying most customers who are making in-store transactions is difficult because they often pay for the merchandise with a card or with cash therefore it’s relatively uneasy for a retailer to construct a database of customers. To overcome this problem a retailer can use an approach of establishing a customer loyalty card scheme.
Loyalty programs – are programs that identify and provide rewards to customers who patronize a retailer. When customers enrol in one of these programs, they provide some descriptive information about themselves or their household and are issued a card with an identifying number. The customers then are offered an incentive to use the card when they make purchases from the retailer.
The main potential of the scheme, from the participating outlet’s point of view, is the resulting database which facilitates direct marketing. This allows participating retailers to carry out promotions via direct mail without the knowledge of competitors. In a competitive industry such as the grocery industry where differentiation is difficult to achieve, this advantage may prove to be critical to their success. Loyalty schemes are more sophisticated, longer term in focus, and have a strategic orientation. If carefully implemented and integrated with other marketing communication tools, may prove to be suitable as branding-building tools.
By using computers to analyse information about card holders and their purchasing patterns, the loyalty card schemes help retailers to build a more complete picture of their customers than ever before and to develop a closer relationship with them. The shopping data generated are analysed and then the results used to fine-tune the trading strategy of individual stores. In general, the most important feature of a loyalty card scheme is that it tells retailers who their customers are and what their spending patterns are. Many retailers only know how many transactions they conduct each week, and the individuals who make those transactions.
A loyalty scheme gives a wide range of information about store users, and updates constantly. It can produce maps showing where customers of each type are concentrated, how far they travel to the store and where they are being tempted by rivals. Retailers can already count hourly transactions, and identify peak and trough periods. A loyalty card, however, allows them to monitor which types of customers shop at which time of day. It may, for example, indicate the peak periods for mothers with children and those for elderly.
Potentially the most powerful use for loyalty schemes – but also the most complex – is in targeting offers at specific customers through direct mailing. In theory, heavy buyers of particular product types can be identified and targeted with offers likely to appeal to them. Customers with high spending power could be offered more generous incentives, while those who stop shopping at a store – perhaps tempted away by a rival – can be targeted to win them back. Targeting may not involve discounts – it may simply mean making certain categories of customer aware of services of products relevant to them or inviting them to special promotions.
From the retailer’s perspective, loyalty programs offer these benefits:
- customers provide demographic and other information when they sign up for the program and then are motivated to identify themselves at each transaction
- customers are motivated by the rewards offered to increase the number of visits and the amount purchased on each visit to the retailer
- more precise segmentation and targeting
- opportunities for mail-outs and relationship building
- facilitates cross-selling
- detailed knowledge of purchase patterns
- more extensive knowledge of customer’s personal details
- the effects of promotions can be precisely monitored
- direct mail can be targeted to appeal to specific customer types
Disadvantages:
- cost of launch, mail-outs and coupons
- may distract from more crucial aspects of strategy
- cost of administration and enquiry handling
The personal details disclosed on card application forms are used initially for credit-scoring, then for segmentation and target marketing. Such application forms are likely to obtain some or all of the following details: full name and address; property ownership; type of residence; length of residence; age; number of children and their age; marital status; occupation and employer; length of service; salary; previous occupation; occupation/salary of spouse; bank account(s) held. The data continue to accumulate as reactions of specific customers to specific types of offer can be monitored.
The cost of recruiting a customer is usually considerably higher than the cost of retention, even in a supermarket context (Sirohi, N., E.W.McLaughlin and D.R. Wittink (1998) A model of consumer perceptions and store loyalty intentions for a supermarket retailer)
Loyalty programmes can greatly enhance the retailer’s understanding of its customers. They also open the possibility of relationship marketing driven largely by systems, rather then depending entirely upon person-person interactions.
Loyalty programme: targeted promotional tool, strategic decision support from better understanding of customer behaviour, the basis of customer relationships, competitive strategy, store format/location decisions and company culture. If customer details are collected when a card is issued, then there clearly is scope for data-mining and relationship building. Simply knowing a customer’s address and postcode can provide a link into other geodemographic data, as well as providing invaluable data on location, travel patterns and shopping frequencies.
The customer database could then be analysed and the data could be converted into information that will help retailers develop programs for building customer loyalty.
The successful retailer should be able to turn customer data into customer loyalty. Using the information about customers, retailers can develop programs to build loyalty in their best customers, increase their share of wallet with better customers and deal with unprofitable customers.
Customer Data and Protection
The customer’s data that will be collected needs to be protected. All personal details and password of as well as the identification ID. The retail shop should ensure that the security of its customer data is not compromised and in case there is this compromise, tough decisions about what to do next will be taken. Always data breach should be examined for fraudulent activities in accounts and a common point of purchase for card realized.
To prevent and cope with data breaches, you need people on hand with the digital expertise to match with tech-savory cyber criminals and to understand the system they are targeting. You can assemble an internal team of lawyers, accountants, and experienced digital-forensic investigators enforcement or defense agencies. Armed with facts from experts yet to be assembled one should put law enforcement on notice that the company exists to serve customers and maintain its reputation.
In order to be serious about protecting their data should have a high-level of information protection. The full Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard compliant is of course, a vital first line of defense against data theft. This means that information security, hobbits hacking had evolved to become a much more sophisticated, parasitic extraction of valuable data from targeted organizations. To protect data companies and people should invests heavily in some of the best protection technology available.
The company should notify the affected customers rapidly, set up toll-free information holiness, and offer credit-monitoring services in case their data is discovered with some problem. Then they must exceed these basics with a broad range of extras to keep customers loyal.
Communication will also need to evolve to demonstrate responsiveness to developments. Tone is very important. Public statements must not only be accurate, but sincere, contrite, and honest. The management should also address the influence of blogs, viral videos, and other social media.
Network security is how data and information is secure from threats by attackers and hackers. Network security is also the availability of data and information and generally the resources in the network. This means that unavailability of resources in the network is a security threat. In our proposal there will be a joint focus of the case study based on collaboration theory. This network security research is conducted upon many different analytical levels and a range of theoretical perspectives. This study case at the end will determine the best practices and standards of ensuring and maintaining maximum network security.
Latest development of advanced technology has generated a great deal of research on how network security will be applicable to such an environment. This concern has in return forced the concerned parties to work together. It is imperative for a collaborative study approach on how to advance the network security. Network security starts right from the topologies or network setup. The organizations where these networks are to be laid or used play a major role.
In this research, emphasis on the importance of shared knowledge will be a prerequisite for collaborative theory. The major contributors will be the network administrators and the database administrators who are the closest people who work in network environments. In this research there are expectations of not extracting every piece of information as we engage collaborative learning theory and this is due to fear of concerned parties that they may divulge information and that may lead to endangering the security of their respective networks. But this will also depend on how the research is conducted throughout the period of its undertaking.
There are Internet accessible systems such as the firewalls and routers. Internet connections usually show various problems and authentication is applied to impersonate a user. Data on computers are considered rarely static and each modifications applied to the computer runs the risk of introducing viruses that could damage the computer configuration. Software controls provides security against the existing challenges such as the viruses.
Information on the systems needs to be protected and guarded to insure its security. The aim of providing this computer security may differ but it mostly entails protecting computer network information from corruption, hackers, theft or its preservation. This will depend entirely on a firm’s security policy. Network security enforces constraints on computers which vary from other systems requirements as they mostly are applied as restrictions on what a network is supposed to undertake
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