Wal-Mart Consumer Analysis Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Wal-Mart Consumer Analysis - Research Paper Example The history of Wal-Mart began a little after 1972 as a rural shopping store chain in Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Missouri (Lecavalier). The Wal-Mart company has four major divisions at the retail level: Wal-Mart Discount stores, Wal-Mart Super Centers, Sam’s Club Warehouses, and Neighborhood Market stores. The company‘s size can be emphasized by the fact that it employees more than 2 million people, reports a profit of close to 100 billion dollars, and has more than 7,000 outlets and counting. The success of the company lies in their customer strategy (Lecavalier). Being the world’s largest retail stores has been part of the growth challenge and customer care improvement. The rapid growth of the company led to new research strategies on the ways of improving its services to its customer base. The major focus was ways of improving customer care services and customer experiences while shopping at the stores. There are several sources of customer information at the dispo sal of the giant retailer, with some of these not used appropriately. The best and reliable sources of customer information are the touch-points of interaction between the company and the firm. There are majorly two touch-points in the Wal-Mart scenario: the pre-consumption stage and the consumption stage. In the pre-consumption stage, Wal-Mart acknowledges that the consumers interact and share a certain amount of with the customer service or the salespeople. This is an important step for Wal-Mart, and the next decision is that of determining what information to capture, and the manner in which the collected data will assist in making decisions on improving customer care procedures. The frontline operation personnel of Wal-Mart are well positioned to gather customer information, and the firm uses them to obtain the information it requires. The frontline personnel receives training on the what, when, and how of eliciting or observing customers and obtaining information (Feller, Shunk , and Callarman, 2006). The other means of obtaining these consumer data is using intermediaries and resellers of the retailers’ products, mainly through promotion, distribution, customer service, or delivery. Wal-Mart uses the gathered information for negotiating with the leading packaged goods manufacturers like Proctor and Gamble for customized products. In the consumption phase, the firm collects consumer data on the enquiries made by consumers on the directions of use. This data provides the company with a wealth of information, especially in the areas of recovery situations and service failure, and assist in product improvement and development efforts. The consumer data collection processes applied by Wal-Mart are systematically maintained and recorded. Nonetheless, there may be other data requirements not available in the above collection methods. The company collects that information through other forms of data collection techniques, mainly research. However, the comp any first determines the most appropriate and effective information that will assist in understanding consumer preferences and needs (Lisanti). The company then decides on the appropriate decision and choice regarding the suitable consumer research method (Feller, Shunk and Callarman, 2006). For instance, there are several formal and informal measures in the determination of the changes required to improve consumer satisfaction. These methods may be qualitative