What is meant by a customer?
A customer
is an individual which buys products and services created by another person or
organisation, in this case Asda and Kellogg’s.
Customers
are the most important component of a business because, without them the
business would not be able to sell goods/ services therefore they are unable to
generate any profits.
Two different sections of the market:
·
Mass
market is when a product or services is aimed at a huge population of people.
·
Niche
market is when a product or service is aimed at a smaller population of people.
There are
different types of customers which can be broken down into different groups.
These groups are used to identify which products would work better and sell to
almost every different customer type.
Typical
customer groups rely on; Age, Gender, Socio- economic group, hobbies and
culture.
EXAMPLES:
Age – under
16, 16-24, 25-35, 36-50, 50+
Gender –
male or female.
Socio economic group -
Class 1, Group A, Higher Professional,
Class 2, Group B, Lower professional,
Class 3. Group C1, Non – Manual,
Class 3, Group C2, Skilled Manual,
Class 4, Group D, Semi Skilled,
Class 5, Group E, Unskilled/ unemployed.
Class 2, Group B, Lower professional,
Class 3. Group C1, Non – Manual,
Class 3, Group C2, Skilled Manual,
Class 4, Group D, Semi Skilled,
Class 5, Group E, Unskilled/ unemployed.
Hobbies – Sports, science, reading, outdoorsy people etc.
Culture – Christian, Indian, Muslim, Jamaican, Jewish etc.
As well as
the above divisions, there are 8 other categories that customers can be divided
into, for example, these can be used by businesses to determine the different
number of each customer type visits their business.
Individuals –
People who visit alone.
Groups - A
group of people.
People of
different ages – 2 or more people who aren’t the same age.
Young
children – People below the age of 12.
Business men
and women - People that are associated in a business.
People with
specific needs - People who aren’t full able. i.e. partially sighted
Non-English
speakers – People who are unable to speak English or use another language.
People from
different cultures - People from different countries and have different
lifestyles to the local community.
Internal or External?
Customers
are external stakeholders of a business as they aren’t a part of the business
in terms of working. They only have interests in buying products from the
business and receiving high quality services. They too have an influence on the
activity of a company as they determine their profit levels.
What do customers hope to gain from Asda and Kellogg’s?
Involvement –
customers want to feel as though a company values their feelings and takes them
into consideration, this can be done in many ways by both Asda and Kellogg’s,
for example, asking their opinions on how a particular Asda store could develop
further to make it an all around better shopping experience or for Kellogg’s,
they could undergo a survey asking customers what they feel could be added onto
their line of snack bars.
Speed – A customer
is highly likely to return back to your company if your customer service is
efficient, for example, with Asda they have now developed self service
checkouts, where people with fewer items can process and pay for their products
a lot quicker which means they do not have to waste time waiting in a queue.
Also, for both Asda and Kellogg’s if deliveries are quicker than their
competitors then a customer is likely to be satisfied and undoubtedly will
return to business to purchase additional products.
Friendly
staff – Customers love having friendly, helpful employees around them if they
are in need of help, for example, a customer isn’t very likely to spend money
in a business where the staff are rude, and they are more likely to go to their
competitors or another place where the staff are friendlier. As Kellogg’s do
not have stores, this would not apply to them. However, over the phone services
could relate to this, as customers want to experience friendly staff on the
phone too.
Skilled
services – Customers view the employees to be skilled, this is also a part of
the experience which they pay for as they almost idolise the employees in terms
of knowledge about products. For example, an Asda employee working in the
electronic department is highly likely to know a lot more about technology in
comparison to the customer; it also allows the customer to learn new things at
the same time of buying products.
Good quality
products – Customers want good quality products from a business otherwise they
are unlikely to purchase anything; this will affect the business as their
profits will be deteriorating. Also, good quality products lead to repeat
customers as they are likely to be satisfied with what they have brought. For
example, Kellogg’s are based around food products, if they were to produce a
high quality snack bar then customers are more likely to buy it again. These
are also a part of both Asda and Kellogg’s aims, they shouldn’t fail to live up
to their aims as it will lead to unsatisfied customers.
Cheap prices
– Customers rely on cheap prices from both Kellogg’s and Asda, this is also a
part of the companies aims as they have to stay on top of their competitors.
Especially in the current economy, every customer is finding it hard to afford
products of a higher price, however, Asda and Kellogg’s both have reasonably
priced products as they want to keep their customers happy but they cannot put
them too low as they will be losing out on profit. However, if a product is
priced too low, then a customer is likely to recognise that the product may be
inferior to products of a higher price range, this may lead to the business
losing out on profits too.
How do customers influence the aims of Asda?
Customers
have a major impact on the aims of Asda, this is because they are the reason
for why the company creates profits in the first place.
One of Asda’s
main aims is to provide good quality products, this is why they have developed
a “Chosen by You” brand for customers. This is where customers have input on
the products that Asda’s provide by tasting and testing products, such as cakes
or drinks, and giving their opinion on them.
These
processes will help boost the profit of Asda as they know that their customers
will purchase these goods as they have been tried and approved by them.
Examples of
products from the “Chosen by You” range are shown below.
Here is an
article which explains the development of Asdas “Chosen by You” brand.
Here is an
advert below which shows you some of the products available from the “Chosen by
You” range.
How do customers influence the aims of Kellogg’s?
Customers
also have a large impact on the influence of Kellogg’s as they are the
businesses source of profits.
One of the
main aims of Kellogg’s is to increase the relationship of fitness and the
business, this is done by including the customers as they are asked to take
part in a variety of activities and competitions.
An example
of an event that took place was called the Swim-tastic award. This was to help younger
children develop their swimming skills and it also helped Kellogg’s as they
will be eating their branded products to help their fitness levels increase for
swimming, therefore, increasing profits.
Below is an
article which explains the different awards available for people to win.
How the will the customers interests conflict with other stakeholder at Asda and Kellogg’s?
Example 1 –
(Customers and shareholders) This one mainly relates to Kellogg’s, there could
be conflict due to the fact that customers want to purchase their products at
lower prices, whereas shareholders want to make a better profit on their
investments, these both have to be balanced in order to keep them all
satisfied.
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