Custom «Tweaking Retail Operations» Essay Paper Sample

This article basically tries to analyze and evaluate the different changes that the modern customer is yearning for in order to feel satisfied in their buying mission: they are purporting to at least receive the latest kind of service that would value their participation rather than the old conventional way that has been constantly used by retailers who have vehemently refused to step up their sales game. Most stores have faced stiff competition from web –based services that practice online purchasing (Lariviere, pg1). The reason for enormous online purchase service is the fact that the issue of traffic has been transformed to trigger exorbitant sales by modern companies while companies like ‘Best Buy’ has decided to create more jam out of foot traffic within their own premises.

The shopping trends of both men and women have tremendously changed and the author of the article is advising retailers, which have decided to remain behind, to wake up and embrace the new approaches of attending to customers. Customers want to walk into a store and buy a product at a speed that would not waste their time and energy. The author further goes ahead to advice companies to free up their employees so as to allow more time being spent with the customers.

The major finding that the author points out is the fact that stores need not hire more forefront workers in order to improve customer service but rather find channels through which the time, an employee spends on other tasks and duties such as stocking and restocking shelves, is reduced and the saved time is channeled to selling to customers.

Activities are divided into: service oriented and task oriented. In service oriented model, which I personally perceive to be the most favorable platform, involves paying full attention to customers by helping them find products they intend to buy and also explaining alternatives that are available in case they feel dissatisfied. On the other hand, task oriented model is the one that ignores the presence of the customer in the sense that employees lack the tendency to handle customers issues but rather deal with matters pertaining to refilling of shelves or chasing after carts in the parking lots (Lariviere, pg1).

I do agree with the author on this model since it’s perceived as platform through which value is added to both the company and the customer.

A good example of an outlet that portrays this kind of model is Apple stores. The way this company runs its customer services provides a proof that this model is realistically practicable. This store has perfected the art of sales to a whole new level and its striving hard to improve on their already-accomplished model. It will be wise to say that the praise that comes with how this company operates is worth the talk.

Apple store has perfected the art of customer service to a point that every customer is fully engaged to a sales person and there are minimal restocking activities going on hence creating a larger selling area over which massive amount of sales is recorded. Apple store has also figured out that putting better trained personnel on the ground maximizes sales since they guarantee customer satisfaction.

It’s evident that overcrowded stores do not provide any interaction environment with sales associate in fact its makes it difficult to even come across one of them. As much as there are a high number of customers in the store, it does not necessarily mean that purchases would be high since most customers walk out of this crowded stores frustrated due to lack of attentive customer services.

Unlike other retailers Apple store has immensely invested in this model so that in the near future purchasing from its store would be the same as purchasing on online sites. Apple announced that it was going to release a software application that would enable a customer walk into one of their stores, pick a product to purchase and go head to pay for it using his or her gadget and walking out of the door in less than twelve minutes.

This feature is meant to cut the time that is wasted when customers Queues waiting to pay for the product manually. Personally I feel that the model would be a success and it is very much possible to implement it within an organization setting. Customers have over time been treated in the same old fashioned way but with this, modern, e-commerce environment it would be either ‘you’ as a company step up your game by providing for your customers needs first or embark your employees on arranging and stocking and thus risk loosing sales at a very great margin.

This article has been an eye-opener and I would personally recommend that any business firm or individual that would aspire to increase sales get to know and understand the useful findings portrayed in this article. The author of this article has effectively used illustrations to make its understanding easier.