Again, this could become a major competitive advantage in the core markets the company sells into today purely from a location and demographic standpoint. Multichannel retailing and commercial distribution strategies based on customers' unmet needs - This is another major area that Kudler is not addressing today in any research, and this needs to become a strong focus if the company is going to continually attract new customers. Expanding into other geographic regions is just the beginning; the company needs to look to create an online store, also provide innovative and time-saving delivery options for commercial deliveries to restaurants and resorts in the area, as this will need to significantly increased sales.

Psychographics and needs-based segmentation study. There is also the need to define who their customers are over and above the specific demographic data that is easily obtained online from local governments and from free research providers. Kudler needs to get their customers "owning: the brand they are developing and these do this by providing them with a chance to define the future direction of the company. Alstyne, Marshall van, Erik Brynjolfsson, and Stuart Madnick (1997) have remarked that the best approach to gaining a sense of responsibility in a project is to impart ownership, and Kudler needs to do this in order for the store to grow into a very strong...

Using multidimensional scaling and attitudinal variables to create perceptual maps, Kudler will gain insights into their customer base not possible before.
The Contribution of Competitive Intelligence

This is another major unmet need for the company, and while their retailing competitors will be dealing with the same unmet research needs, Kudler needs to pay careful attention to promotional cost-cutting strategies, the use of loss-leaders, the encroachment of mass merchandisers in the gourmet space, and the competitive advantage of selection and endorsement play. Simply put Kudler needs to continually monitor competitors to strive and maintain their own unique positioning in the market and also deliver superior service for in-store customers with a unique and difficult-to-imitate product mix strategy.

References

Columbus (2005) - Best Practices in Voice of the Customer Programs. Louis Columbus. CRMBuyer.com. Accessed from the Internet on December 17, 2006 from location:

http://www.crmbuyer.com/story/45901.html

Alstyne, Marshall van, Erik Brynjolfsson, and Stuart Madnick (1997). "The Matrix of Change: A Tool for Business Process Reengineering." MIT Sloan School Working Papers available on the Internet, accessed on December 17, 2006:

http://ccs.mit.edu/papers/CCSWP189/ccswp189.html