Market Research at Kudler Foods

Market Research at Kudler Foods

The market segments Kudler Fine Foods markets and sells into is significantly different than many of the more mainstream grocery stores and supermarkets. Where the mainstream stores cater to the homemaker or family on a budget looking to feed their families while making ends meet, Kudler is attracting amateur and professional or commercial chefs. They are also very effective at cultivating a following of "foodies" or those who have food preparation as one of their primary hobbies. In creating a market research strategy to encompass all these segments, it's critical they take into account not just these high-value customers' functional or cooking needs, they also need to consider how they can cater to their need for mastery of cooking and the enjoyment of it. In short, they need to anticipate and have an excellent experience every time they visit the store, and these experiences must be included in any research strategy (Norton, Pine II, 2009). Kudler Foods needs to consider how it can expand its traditional market research to include social networks so that additional insights about customer needs can also be taken into account (Bernoff, Li, 2008).

Defining the Kudler Foods Research Strategy

Amateur and commercial chefs are thought leaders throughout the culinary community and present an excellent opportunity for the store to gain valuable insights into product and price-related preferences and perceptions. Creating a panel of customer experts for example would provide Kudler with the opportunity to determine price elasticity by product and service area, in addition to defining the optimal mix of products for the store shelves (Thompson, Stanton, 2010).

A second strategy Kudler Goods need to consider is analyzing customer sales data and the results of preference surveys that could be used for defining consumer behavior preferences, profiles and product purchase patterns. Kudlers stocks many very difficult-to-find accessories and cooking items, and could benefit from using customer purchasing and preference data to better plan their inventory and store shelf product mix.

A third area Kudler needs to concentrate on is understanding the psychographic segments of their customers, including how they perceive themselves as part of a broader group (Wagner, 2010). This is essential for them to gain greater insight into how best to manage these key influencers as part of a broader panel and gain critical intelligence on how to position their business.