Introduction
Distinction Home one of the major home appliance and furniture supplier in Philippines. The store is owned and manages by Ms. Rocio Pantaleons, before 1992 Ms. Pantaleons partners owned the company. The organization made up of seven people. Ms. Pantaleons have had work experience in retailing. She believes that she is best as a designer and not really a marketing person.
Central problem of Distinction Home
However, it is one of the first lamp store started operation in Philippines and do furniture and appliers business successfully over many years, but it has many problems. Like poor market targeting, no formal marketing strategy, space design, and merchandise planning, lake of using technology, no promotional activities etc. However, we realize that the central problem of the store is its space planning.
As mentioned,
- Distinction Home has only space of 130 square meters which is not enough particularly this type of store.
- Distinction home has no enough space for idea-oriented display.
- Most merchandize are no display hence their lack of need for big stock room.
- Informal merchandise planning.
- Merchandise revealed a very wide assortment of products each with limited variety.
- Distinction home a small stock room is estimated to be 5 square meters and aside from this stock room they don’t have any other warehouse.
- Furniture is arranged in a way that it occupies most of the floor space which create problem to customer moving easily and as well as creates problems to show variety of their products.
Critical factors
There are many critical factors, which creates operation problem at Distinction Home. We consider under mentioned factors are very critical to successful operate Distinction Home. The factors are poor market targeting, no formal marketing strategy, lack of using technology, promotional activities, limited variety of assortment, no catalog facility, lack of capital etc.
● Poor market targeting:
- Do not identify their actual customer.
- There have no actual market target strategy.
- Being absence of market targeting they do not emphasize on customer preference and buying trend.
● Lack of using technology:
- Have no use of technology.
- There have no database of customer.
- No appropriate accounting system to record transaction particularly for the store.
● Promotional Activities:
- Do not advertisement activities.
- Discounts are only given when asked by customer.
● Marketing strategy:
- There have no formal marketing strategy.
- Discount facility is limited (only for loyal customer & relative)
●Assortment:
- Limited variety of assortment.
- Maximum of product have no alternative.
- Reflect only the owner taste and ignore the customer taste.
● Credit facility:
- There have no credit facility to customer.
- No installment payment method
●No catalog facility.
●Capital is not sufficient.
●No trolley or bucket facility
These are the critical factors which directly or indirectly hampered the operation of Distinction Home.
Recommendations
After studying various problems of Distinction Home, we realize there would be some improvement to operate and manage Distinction Home to achieve some improvements we reached to create some recommendations. These recommendations are given bellow:
Store layout &merchandize design & space planning:
- Store layout should entice customers to move around the store.
- Should formally merchandise design & design should be consistent with image, strategy, flexible, positively influence consumer behavior & consider cost vs. value.
- Store layout space should be increase and consists of planned space. Should proper allocated of space for different categories and items.
Customer service:
Customer service is the set f program undertaken by retailers to make the shopping experience more rewarding for their customer.
- Should provide discount facility to all customers.
- Should keep catalog system.
- Should give delivery van service.
- To appoint customer managers & to consider costumer problem & give quickly solution.
- Give quality product or service comparatively low price.
- Give after sales service.
Competitive advantage:
Competitive advantage is a position of a company in a competitive landscape that allows the company earning return on investments higher than the cost of their investment. Competitive advantage should be relevant, unique, and sustainable.
- If increases image & strategy than, it will create competitive advantages.
- It is positioning condition and luxury image or brand image create competitive advantages.
- Should be attractive display of merchandise then, it will create competitive advantages.
- This store can be viewed from the others levels of the mall for this reason this store in front of customers that create competitive advantages.
- If they use modern technology in the store, that will create competitive advantages. Should create standard price in the market, so that all customers purchases product in his buying power that create competitive advantages.
Retail growth strategy:
Retail strategy is a statement identifying the retailer target market, the format retailer plans use to satisfy the target market needs & the bases upon which the retailer plans to build sustainable competitive advantages. Retail growth strategies of distinct home should be:
- Achieve that growth strategy either by attracting customer in its current target market.
- Should developed retail format by offering a new retail form ate with a different retail mix (nature of merchandise, service offered, pricing policy, advertising & promotional program & store design) to the same target market.
- Competitive advantages should over completion that can be maintain over a long time.
- Should be existing retail format in new market segments.
Other recommendations:
- Should follow formal marketing strategy.
- Store reflects should be customer lifestyle.
- Should keep a big stock or warehouse room.
- Should improve their promotional activities.
