CTE3809 FINAL EXAM STUDYGUIDE Kims model of the forecasting process CHAPTER 8 CONSUMER RESEARCH Apparel and supply chain purpose provide appealing and desirable prod and satisfy customer needs wants and aspirations Forecast begins with consumer Traditional product development PUSH system The Push System Production driven Manuf retailer pushes product to consumer new styles introduced seasonally doesn t sell marked downs Consumers then choose from abundance of products and only participate in the selection of the product Consumers only participated when they made a selection and that decision was reported in the sales figures Alternative product development PULL system Notice that shoppers were smarter more DEMANDING and more independent than ever before attention shifted to a pull system By late 80 s apparel market was described as consumer driven Manus had to shift from products that can be made conveniently in volume to products shaped by consumer input Only a continuous flow of consumer information can shape a product in such environment Demand activated product development EVOLUTION 1 First wave early 1980s BUILDING AN INFORMATION INFRASTRUCTURE Building info technologies and building infrastructure for a pull system When large companies began experimenting with information technologies and building the infrastructure for a pull system 2 Second wave TIME EFFICIENCIES AND INVENTORY REDUCTION Time efficiencies inventory reduction a quicker response QR system and reduced cost Emphasis on cost reduction efficiencies reduced cycle times and inventory reduction thru shared communication between firms in the supply chain 3 Third wave mid 1990s FOCUSING ON THE CONSUMER Leading companies were here Focus on the consumer center of the universe Order to delivery few months to a few weeks o Partnered with other firms in the Supply chain to deliver max response to timely stocking of goods continuous flow of consumer needs Second and Third waves emphasized information and accelerated schedules i e shipping time reduced from months to weeks 4 Fourth wave MARKETS OF ONE arrived when suppliers defined markets of one and segmenting down to the individual level with this approach supply chain partnerships deliver not just replenishment of desired products in a timely way but actually anticipate consumers needs and develop new products to satisfy them demand activated pull approach placing more emphasis on creating producing and delivering the right products for consumers Mass customization and Chris Anderson s The long tail Demand activated Product Development Strategy that uses info and manuf tech to efficiently produce goods with max differentiation with low cost production Mass production mass customization Listening to the consumer What creates customer acceptance What are the customers expectations Is the product competitive Does the prod surprise customers with exciting attributes Consumer spending behavior Impulse buying Or Routine purchases Lifestyle based shopping Are the consumers purchasing custom products or personalized services Consumer research qualitative vs quantitative Qualitative researcher listens to consumer talk or observes them in natural settings Quantitative researcher conducts surveys or experiments with a group of consumers sample to understand the larger group population Consumer research Asking why and what questions Focus group research or depth interviews 8 12 participants recruited by market research firms Focus group research A stimulus is used One or more people may dominate Not designed for consensus Depth interview One on one lengthy interviews for deeper understanding of consumer motivations Projective techniques allow people to reveal themselves in non threatening ways Used in focus and depth interviews Ask to select a picture that corresponds to their feelings about a prod brand or shopping situation Create collage representing the personality of a brand project deep emotions this way Collaborative filtering on the web person makes selections rating suggestions Software matches persons selections to the person s tastes Does so by comparing choices done by individual to choices by thousands of others Consumer receives customized recommendations Company learns about consumer preferences Consumer anthropology interviews teens in rooms and look in closets to understand individual tastes install video camera in store and researchers observe in store shopping behavior Relational marketing communicate with consumers through different media ads on TV or in print i e company that uses a collaborative filtering Mall intercept studies intercept consumers in the mall ask prelim questions study takes several weeks to design negotiate with study site and distrib research materials con time Style testing studies pretesting styles with consumers Consumers sit in front of computer screen and asked to indicate preferred color styles etc Aids early identification of winners losers To eliminate low interest styles from further development Survey research actual behavior may be different than survey In store testing measure actual behavior not attitude or intention Sales are a clear measure Done through showcase and laboratory stores test stores test merch groups where mega niche and lifestyle D brands can Showcase laboratory stores present their entire line as a billboard for the brand and educational environment fo retailers on the latest in visual merchandising and a research site for gathering intelligence about what consumers want which products in the line are heating up and which cooling down and which packaging and promo initiatives are most effective test sites Any store in the chain may be designates as a test tore and consumers are unaware specialty store chains selling store labels designate certain stores as Test stores of behavior Test merchandise groups less extensive approach Planted with reg Pop up and concept store pop up stores retail stores in place for a lim amount merchandise of time Panel research ask questions a group of consumers over time to track changes in attitudes and opinions provides directional information consumer segmentation and forecasting consumer generations diversity cross shoppers shop in disct stores to luxury stores CHAPTER 10 COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS The marketplace will favor one company over another Types of competitive advantages offensive outsmarting the competition exploiting their weaknesses defensive avoiding surprises search for