Essay on "Market Research at Kudler Foods"

Essay 4 pages (1089 words) Sources: 2

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Market Research at Kudler Foods

The market segments that Kudler Fine Foods sells into are significantly different from those of a typical grocer as their customers include commercial chefs and "foodies" or those who passion and interest is in cooking upscale meals and desserts at home. While the company has carved out a very profitable market niche, there is significant room for growth if market research programs and strategies are put into place. The intent of this analysis is to recommend a series of areas where Kudler Foods can increase their use of market research and gain additional sales as a result. Areas where additional research is needed are discussed in the following section. One aspect of their customer listening system is the need to get focused on what their reputation is on social networks. The company has not taken any steps to use Facebook, Twitter or any of the other social networks to listen to what their customers are saying, which for many companies has turned into a wealth of competitive and market data (Bernoff, Li, 2008).

Structuring the Kudler Foods Research Strategy

At its most fundamental level, the market research programs at Kudler are not keeping pace with how rapidly their customers are changing over time. This is a major strategic threat to their well-being as they need to know existing customer needs and anticipate future ones. As is evident from an analysis of their website, the company is doing little outside the traditional direct mail and e-mail campaigns to get in touch with customers first, and capture their information to research what preferences later. No ongoing customer advisory councils, no customer panels, no approach to a systematic and complete capturing of customer data is underway. This leaves Kudler at a significant weakness strategically compared to other stores in the area. They are also not focusing on how their psychographics of the commercial chef and "foodie" their two core markets, are changing over time as well. From this lack of understanding of who their customers are many other market research needs emerge. The following is a list of those areas that Kudler needs to concentrate on in order to gain greater insight into their customers, their buying dynamics, competitive landscape and broader market trends as well. Here are the suggested areas of initial study focus, as these studies concentrate on the areas of the most vulnerability to the profits of Kudler over the long-term.

Price and Product Mix-based Elasticity Studies

Kudler is in a unique and high-end area of the retailing market and as a result has the potential to actually charge more for those products that have the lowest levels of elasticity. When a product is highly inelastic it is possible to charge even more for it as the substitutes to them are not as easy to get. Kudler has the potential to be much more profitable than it is by using pricing research and studying how the elasticity of their products vary when sold within a mix. These are two areas that large-scale grocery chains routinely study to determine which two products to bundle in order to increase sales and profits at the same time. Kudler also has not completed an analysis of how its pricing decisions impact how commercial… READ MORE

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