Retail Store Execution: An Empirical Study

This study will assist retailers in identifying actions that can increase sales and customer satisfaction. It uses proprietary data from over 500 large retailers. Retailers have been conducting surveys to customers for years to gauge their satisfaction with their stores. Many of these questions are related to store execution. The most common question, “Did your search yield the results you expected?” is related to the previously mentioned issue of missing inventory. Therefore, it is natural to use this data to better understand store execution issues, including how quality and output variables are affected by execution. This paper presents an attempt to understand these issues using proprietary data gathered from over 500 retail chains. This data is kept track at each store for a period of 17-months.

1) Financial store performance data, including sales and transactions, 2) results of an ongoing customer satisfaction study

Which asks a number of questions to determine if a customer is satisfied with their shopping experience. This data was analyzed to determine

1) Sales

2) Customer satisfaction overall

3) The percentage customers who said ‘yes’ when asked if they found everything they were looking for.

Customer perceptions of visual merchandise and customer satisfaction drive the rating of employee know-how and overall customer satisfaction. Check-out efficiency and actual in-stock are also important.

Modernization and Strategy for Retailers

G/S strategy is what a retailer uses to decide the product categories it will offer its customers. It is also called the width of assortment decision. It is distinct from decisions regarding the depth and variety of retail assortments, which are based on the number of individual items within each category. G/S is an important component of any retail strategy and helps to position a store in consumers’ minds when considering other retail options. Generalist retailers provide a wide range of product categories. The outlets are a one-stop shop and provide shoppers with significant savings in time and effort. This is especially true for those who are “basket-shoppers”. People who want to purchase products from different product categories. Gagliano, Hathcote227 State that specialist retailers offer a unique retail brand in a specific product space. These specialists also provide professional information, selected items, and retail service. This suggests that specialists and generalists have different needs and each retail format can be served by a variety of operational and organizational know-how. The study found that both types differ in terms coordinative skills and operational flexibility, as well as their ability to coordinate and decentralize decision-making. Generalists may offer multiple product categories. This allows them to expand and contract their existing retail concepts while also offering new product lines. If their particular product lines are not profitable, specialist retailers may lose their entire retail concept. Generalist retailing offers a better strategy for survival and strategic success than specialist retailing. Senauer228 and Kinsey228 pointed out that generalist retailing is more likely to retain product variety if it can efficiently and smoothly manage and coordinate multiple supply channel channels. They also need strong logistical and marketing capabilities. Smith and Agrawal229 explained that specialists who only carry a small number of product categories must manage fewer channels and channels and channels flows and don’t need as much coordination skills.

Gates & Egelhoff230 highlight the fact Organizational Research has shown that generalist and specialist retailing are more complex than those of a similar size with similar global coverage. Generalist retailing organizations require that individual managers make decisions about many product lines and take into account their possible interactions. They must be independent and able to make their own decisions, which requires decentralization within the organization. Sully De Luque231 believes that the above differences in the skills and organizational cultures that are required for retail specialists and generalists mean that different national cultures could influence the selections of retail formats. Uncertainty avoiding is a national cultural asset. This dimension measures how individuals feel about ambiguous situations. Uncertain, unstructured, and ambiguous situations are perceived as threatening by societies that have high levels of uncertainty avoidance. Large-scale retailers often operate in countries other than their homelands. According to the Uppsala school for incremental learning, international experience increases and firms gain more knowledge and confidence. This can lead to organizational culture and practices changing. This could influence the impact of cultural values in a retailer’s origin country on retail strategy.

Findings and Suggestions

Suggestions

To maintain a good customer relationship and increase interaction with customers, regular follow-ups should be performed for at least half an hour.

O Black Card expiry-renewal notification should be sent to all customers who have black cards at least one month prior to expiry to allow them to use any remaining coupons or vouchers that still have a year validity.

O Crossword needs to keep an inventory of instant feedback devices near the billing counter. Crossword can use these machines to collect random information from customers, and help them track their needs.

O Crossword comes with a card that is chip-based. The card stores all vouchers and coupons for black cards, so you don’t have to give it in a separate publication.

Restrictions

O The research is a snapshot of crossword operations. However, perceptions and attitudes change constantly.

O This study focuses on a single outlet, Crossword Corner.

O This survey was performed with a very small sample of the population. It cannot therefore be generalized to all people.

O Based on the questionnaire, information from customers was taken as factual.

O The entire research took 2 months due to time constraints

O Data obtained in certain cases might be biased

Results of education

O Crossword not only encourages reading habits for customers, but also believes in them and creates an environment that fosters learning.

O They inspire employees to learn and read more. All levels of employees receive extensive training.

They always make every effort to ensure that customers have a pleasant experience.

O All policies have been designed fairly. No hidden rules. It is designed to foster a win-win environment for both employees and organization.

O To preserve the employee’s passion and make up the lost enjoyment, they offer a compensatory bonus and one extra day’s salary to employees who work during public holidays.

Integrity is not subject to compromise. Employees have been fired when they violated the code of integrity. They adhere to the Whistleblower policy in order to make sure that all crimes are reported and not afraid of any negative consequences.

O An open door policy is followed in Crossword. The sitting area has open cubicles. Transparency is at 100%. Everyone can see the activities of others. All staff, including the most senior members of management, have the same seating. This fosters trust and allows everyone to express their opinions.

O Employees are encouraged to engage in activities that keep them happy, motivated, and engaged. They include birthday celebrations, online lotto, festival celebrations, parichay, etc.

In conclusion, it is clear that…

Crossword does not have a bright future. Despite being in the business of books for over a decade, they have lost a lot of money. As they are facing stiff competition, maintaining their market position will prove difficult. Crossword may be able to grow and mature in the ever-changing market if it considers some of these things. Because growth is the only way to ensure a company’s survival

Retail productivity and cost cutting opportunities will diminish as the marketplace changes. Retailers must be able to distinguish themselves from the rest of the competition by offering value, experience and building relationships.

Remember that strategies don’t have to be independent. Value isn’t just about price, service and quality. Personalization can make your experience memorable. In fact, relationships can be a key factor in improving customer satisfaction and the perceived value. It is crucial to be able to identify the value of the customer and create an offer that delights them. This will allow you to win in this highly competitive market.