Marketing Research at Kudler Fine

Marketing Research at Kudler Fine Foods Kudler Fine Foods has been fortunate in that the upscale nature of products offered are aligned perfectly with the purchasing patterns and interests of both commercial chefs and those consumers who cook more upscale meals and desserts at home. Kudler's core market strategies are not getting enough feedback and insight into how they are performing in the market, and the company also lacks insights into the specific nature of their segmentation.

Despite quick demographic analysis of surrounding areas which has lead to the company's expansion, there is yet to be amore thorough psychographic segmentation analysis based on how consumers see themselves. This is a critical need in the existing and future planning for Kudler foods. There are many other areas for improvement the company can embark on, it is only a matter of prioritizing them. Areas Where Additional Research Is Needed First and foremost Kudler Foods is doing little to understand who their true customer is.

Apart from the many promotional events they do in their stores, and the opt-in mailing lists for generating customer lists, Kudler is doing little to understand where gourmet cooking is today in the minds of their customers, and where it is going in the future. In addition the company has yet to explore the business development opportunities of starting a regional magazine much like Gourmet Magazine is nationally, and doesn't have any idea if its prices are too low or how elasticity of demand affects their sales.

There is also no customer satisfaction or Voice of the Customer programs in place. Kudler Foods needs to invite each customer to their development table (Columbus 2005) and give them each a voice into which products are purchased and why. Prioritizing their unmet market research needs starts with supporting their fundamental business model and building out from there.

Specifically in the area of gourmet foods and the plethora of options there are in product selection and pricing, Kudler Foods needs to gain insights into these core areas immediately: Pricing Studies On Existing Product Mix - As profitability is directly and significantly influenced by the pricing defined and given the pressure on retailers of all types of continually meet pricing targets that squeeze their margins; this is a critical unmet market research need in the company today.

Segmenting the product sets and testing pricing levels is a must-do for Kudler to get on top of the most critical marketing variable there is. Customer Unmet Product and Selection Needs - Another major area for improvement, Kudler does not have any programs in place at all today to measure what their customers are looking for but not finding in their stores. 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 regional brand. Using multidimensional scaling and attitudinal variables to create perceptual maps,.