Enhancing Consumer Satisfaction: A Study On Woolworths Supermarket In Australia
Objectives of the Study
The term consumer satisfaction can be defined as the measurement of the degree to which the product or service offered by an organization is able to meet or surplus the satisfactory level of the consumer. Considering the fact that the competition level between the organizations in any industry has increased to a huge extent in this era, consumer satisfaction can be considered as a crucial factor that posses the potential to enhance as well as maintain the satisfaction level o the consumers. Woolworths supermarket is referred to a popular Australian grocery store chain which is owned by Woolworths Limited. The company along with Coles has formed a near duopoly situation in the Australian supermarket that account for about 80 percent of the Australian retail industry. The company since its time of establishment is widely known for its high product quality. However, recently the market value and the consumer loyalty of the company are found to be decreasing to a good extent. Considering the fact that this decrement of consumer loyalty has already started imposing impact on the revenue of the company, the purpose of this study is to detect the issues so that the consumer satisfaction can be improved.
The chief aim of the research is to enhance the experience of the consumers of the Woolworths organization. The major objectives of the research are as follows:
- To identify the chief issues associated with consumer satisfaction of the company
- To identify the specific needs of the consumers
- To develop effective measures which has the potential to enhance consumer experience of the organization.
In order to conduct the research, both primary and secondary data will be collected.
The purpose of collecting primary data is to understand the specific issues associated with the consumer satisfaction of Woolworths. The primary data collection has also helped the researcher to understand the specific requirements of the consumers which in turn has been suggested to the management of the company in order to enhance their consumer experience. In order to perform primary data collection a survey has been conducted. In order to conduct the survey, a questionnaire containing 8 questions has been developed.
The purpose of collecting secondary data is to understand the issue associated with the organization from the core and obtain detailed knowledge about the factor that impose both positive as well as negative impact on consumer satisfaction. In order to collected secondary data, 5 scholarly article based on factors that effects consumer satisfaction has been reviewed. Along with that three social media reviews has also been analyzed I order to understand the needs and expectation of the consumers from the Woolworths organization.
Data Collection and Analysis
In order to conduct the primary data collection, that is the survey, a random sampling as been done. 15 consumers who had visited Woolworth on the day of the survey have been interviewed. When it comes to secondary data collection, 5 scholarly articles which are relevant to research topic has been reviewed. Along with that, three social media reviews from popular social media platforms has been analyzed.
In order to analyze the data, the mixed data analysis method has been followed. In order to analyze the primary data, the quantitative data analysis method has been followed and in order to analyze the secondary data, the quantitative data analysis method has been followed.
From the result obtained it has been found that majority of the consumers of Woolworths are female. Majority of the consumers are of age range 26 to 35 years.
From the above result, it has been found that majority of the respondents are less likely to recommend the brand to his or her friends. All the respondents are found to be detractors.
60 percent that 6 respondents agree with the fact that the quality of the product offered by the organization is high.
Out of 10 samples, 7 samples agreed with the fact that the price range of the products offered by Woolworths is on the higher side.
Majority of the samples are found to be visit Woolworth at least once in a week.
While 5 samples stated that they don’t feel comfortable enough while negotiating with the service providers when it comes to the price of the product, 4 samples stated that they feel extremely uncomfortable while negotiating price at the store.
Majority of the service users agreed with the fact that the quality of home delivery provided by the organization is high.
When it comes to the service offered by the service providers at Woolworths, majority of the respondents stated that they are not provided with enough attention and their questions were not at all answered properly by the service providers.
Consumer satisfaction is considered to be one of the most crucial aspects in the Australian retail industry. The chief reason behind this is the high saturation in the mentioned industry. According to (), consumers of the retail industry posses high switching power due to availability of a huge number of similar options. Hence, it is highly crucial for the Australian retail organizations to invest both labor as well as money in enhancing the experiences of the consumers. According to Raharjo & Amboningtyas, (2017), there are several factors on which the satisfaction of the consumers are highly dependent. This includes the capability of the suppliers, the behavior of the consumer service executives. The quality of the products offered by the organization and the price range of the products or services in comparison of the majority of the competitors. Hill & Brierley, (2017) stated one of the best way to gain consumer satisfaction as well as competitive advantage is to offer the consumers with products and services at price range slightly lower than that of the competitors without compromising with the quality of the products. However, according to reviews of the consumers at popular social media sites like Facebook and Linkedin, majority of the consumers think that the price range of the products offered by the mentioned organization is much higher compared to that of its competitors. However, the quality offered by the company is somewhat same or sometime even worse than its competitors like Coles and Adele. Thus, it can be clearly understand that Woolworth is losing its consumer base due to high price range. Another issue that has been detected from the social media reviews of the company includes low product quality. According to Eid, (2015), product quality of an organization is directly proportional to the consumer satisfaction. When it comes to the retail industry, consumers are found to be highly attracted to the organizations that offer fresh food items and high quality groceries. Bansal & Taylor, (2015) stated that other factor like effective employee behavior as well as lower price range cannot ensure consumer satisfaction of an organization with low quality of products and services. Considering the fact that the chief reason behind the attraction of consumers towards Woolworths is its high quality of products and fresh food items, the above mentioned issue has imposed highly negative impact on the consumer base as well as revenue of the company. According to a social media review, it has been found that lack of cooperation of the consumer service executives of the company with the consumers is another chief reason behind lack of consumer satisfaction. Sales executives at Woolworths are found to be lacking appropriate training which is imposing negative impact on the satisfaction of the consumers. Another consumer satisfaction issue that has been detected from the social media review of the organization is lack of commitment when it comes to home delivery. Ramanathan, Subramanian & Parrott, (2017) state that, being a aged population, more than 55 percent of the Australian consumers opt for home delivery instead of visiting the outlet for purchasing purposes. Hence, delivering items within the stipulated time is highly crucial in order to prevent switching of the consumers to the competitors.
From the result obtained from both the primary as well as secondary data, it has been found that the chief three issues associated with the consumer satisfaction of the Woolworth organization are as follows:
- Low quality of food items: While the survey that has been conducted states that majority of the consumers are satisfied with the quality of the products, according to majority of the social media review, the food items provided by the organizations are often found be of low quality.
- Higher price range than its competitors: Both the survey as well as the information obtained from the secondary research states that the price range of the products offered at Woolworth is higher compared to its competitors.
- Low quality of consumer services: both offline and online: both the primary and secondary research states that employees at Woolworths is non-cooperative and lacks marketing skills.
Conclusion
From the above discussion it can be concluded that Woolworths as a retail organization is experiencing a decreasing consumer base due to several issues associated with its ability to satisfy consumers both online and offline. In order to deal with this issue, the first step that should be taken by the company is to monitor its supplied products and the food items before offering them to the consumers. Secondly, in order to gain competitive advantage, the management must conduct an external environmental analysis in order to find out the price range of the products offered by its competitors and keep the price slightly lower than the competitors so that competitive advantage can be obtained. Finally, the sales executive should be provided with effective training so that they can greet the consumers and provide service to them effectively.
Reference List
Bansal, H. S., & Taylor, S. (2015). Investigating the relationship between service quality, satisfaction and switching intentions. In Proceedings of the 1997 Academy of Marketing Science (AMS) Annual Conference (pp. 304-313). Springer, Cham. Retrieved from: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-13141-2_107
Eid, R. (2015). Integrating Muslim customer perceived value, satisfaction, loyalty and retention in the tourism industry: An empirical study. International Journal of Tourism Research, 17(3), 249-260. DOI: 10.1002/jtr
Hill, N., & Brierley, J. (2017). How to measure customer satisfaction. Routledge. ISBN no: 0-566-08595-X
Raharjo, C. A., & Amboningtyas, D. (2017). THE EFFECT OF SERVICE QUALITY, PRICE AND BRAND IMAGE ON CONSUMER LOYALTY WITH CUSTOMER SATISFACTION AS MODERATING ON THE POINT” BAROKAH” SIKOPEK. Journal of Management, 3(3). Retrieved from: https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2402&context=dissertations
Ramanathan, U., Subramanian, N., & Parrott, G. (2017). Role of social media in retail network operations and marketing to enhance customer satisfaction. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 37(1), 105-123. Retrieved from: https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/28817/1/PubSub6354_Ramanathan.pdf