TIP TOP MARKETS CASE

Moldoveanu Florentina

Tip Top Markets is a regional chain of supermarkets located in the Southeastern United States. Every Tuesday for nine weeks, Tip Top Markets diligently recorded all of the complaints or comments sent in by customers.

There were a total of 184 complaints received during the past 9 Tuesdays. As you can see into the chart below, the number of complaints received every Tuesday are moving horizontally with no indication of either going up or down in the coming Tuesdays. They just fluctuate about the average which is 20. The same level of complaints will continue in the future until more focused and effective strategies are implemented.

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I split all the complaints – 184, in 12 categories:

✓ Out-of-stock - 61

✓ Overcharged - 18

✓ Poor store maintenance – 16

✓ Long check-out waiting time – 14

✓ Defective products – 12

✓ Uncomfortable store temperature – 10

✓ Meat not fresh – 9

✓ Wrong price/under charge – 8

✓ Could not find items – 8

✓ Employees not courteous/helpful – 6

✓ Fish not fresh – 5

✓ Others – 17

The category Out Of Stock has the most number of complaints - 61 and the category Fish Not Fresh has the least number of complaints - 5.

The category Others includes all other complaints that minor complaints like: ATM ate card, lost wallet, dislike store decoration, etc.

The problems that I found in this case are the following:

➢ As with most supermarkets, it does not function perfectly.

➢ Low Quality of the products with increased number of customer complaints.

➢ These complaints cover a wide range of areas mainly:

o Customer Service

o Checkout Logistics

o Broken/Expired Products

o Store Atmosphere

Below you can see a short analysis about the problem “out of stock”

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In order to solve the out of stock issues I will make the following things:

- Implement a perpetual inventory system:

o Goods will be ordered as they are sold

o Allow Tip Top Markets to observe trends in different markets and be able to stock goods that will sell more in certain stores.

- Creation of a Point of Sale (POS) system

o Inventory System will be automated so there will be less paperwork, meaning managers can focus more on marketing, advertising, loyalty programs, etc.

o Will need to train employees on how to use the POS systems efficiently and accurately.

- Better Forecasting

o If Tip Top Markets creates a forecast model, it will allow them to look at past data of sales and determine which products needs to be ordered more frequently.

- Implement Radio Frequency Identification (RFID):

o With item level RFID, staff can know instantly if a particular item is in the store, and can track it down immediately.

o When an item becomes out of stock, the staff member can simply scan the EPC tag on the shelf and calculate the next best item to place in that open spot.

Below you can see a short analysis about the problem “customer service/store management”

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In order to solve the customers service issues I will make the following things:

- Hire service reps with prior technical/functional experience and/or train employees on different customer interactions.

- Get Customer Feedback

o Conduct feedback surveys regularly, and work on it with both management and employees.

- Train employees in their areas to be able to answer specific questions about the products

o Example: The bakery should be able to answer questions about the different products the bakery makes.