Panera Bread - Case Analysis
Hyapatia Green
Panera Bread - Case Analysis
June 10, 2010
Overview
Panera Bread, also called St. Louis Bread Company was founded in 1981. Rated high as a bakery-café restaurant, they serve a variety of breads, soups, and salads. Panera is considered a “quick casual” restaurant offering sit-down dining and catering services. Panera Bread is now a publicly traded company with over 70 locations in 10 states and
Company highlights include:
* As reported by The Wall Street Journal, Panera Bread scored the highest level of customer loyalty among quick-casual restaurants, according to research conducted by TNS Intersearch.
* J.D. Power and Associates’ 2004 restaurant satisfaction study of 55,000 customers ranked Panera Bread highest among quick-services restaurants in the Midwest and Northeast regions of the United States in all categories, which included environment, meal, service, and cost.
* In 2005, for the fourth consecutive year, Panera Bread was rated among the best of 121 competitors in the Sandleman & Associates national customer satisfaction survey of more than 62,000 consumers. Panera Bread had also won “best of “ awards in nearly every market across 36 states.
(Thompson, Strickland & Gamble, 2010, C-8)
Panera Bread now faces unique characteristics as found in emerging markets including:
* Speculation about how it will function, how fast it will grow, and how big it will get * No consensus regarding which product attributes will prove decisive in winning buyer favor * Because Panera Bread is in an emerging industry, all buyers are first-time users. Therefore the primary marketing task is “induce initial purchase and to overcome customer concerns about product features, performance reliability, and conflicting claims of rival firms”. (Thompson, Strickland & Gamble, 2010, C-8) * Strong learning/experience curve effects may be present * Trouble securing ample supplies of raw materials and components
Panera Bread - Case Analysis
June 10, 2010
Overview
Panera Bread, also called St. Louis Bread Company was founded in 1981. Rated high as a bakery-café restaurant, they serve a variety of breads, soups, and salads. Panera is considered a “quick casual” restaurant offering sit-down dining and catering services. Panera Bread is now a publicly traded company with over 70 locations in 10 states and
Company highlights include:
* As reported by The Wall Street Journal, Panera Bread scored the highest level of customer loyalty among quick-casual restaurants, according to research conducted by TNS Intersearch.
* J.D. Power and Associates’ 2004 restaurant satisfaction study of 55,000 customers ranked Panera Bread highest among quick-services restaurants in the Midwest and Northeast regions of the United States in all categories, which included environment, meal, service, and cost.
* In 2005, for the fourth consecutive year, Panera Bread was rated among the best of 121 competitors in the Sandleman & Associates national customer satisfaction survey of more than 62,000 consumers. Panera Bread had also won “best of “ awards in nearly every market across 36 states.
(Thompson, Strickland & Gamble, 2010, C-8)
Panera Bread now faces unique characteristics as found in emerging markets including:
* Speculation about how it will function, how fast it will grow, and how big it will get * No consensus regarding which product attributes will prove decisive in winning buyer favor * Because Panera Bread is in an emerging industry, all buyers are first-time users. Therefore the primary marketing task is “induce initial purchase and to overcome customer concerns about product features, performance reliability, and conflicting claims of rival firms”. (Thompson, Strickland & Gamble, 2010, C-8) * Strong learning/experience curve effects may be present * Trouble securing ample supplies of raw materials and components
References: Thompson, A. A, Jr., Strickland III, A. J., & Gamble, J. E. (2009). Crafting & Executing Strategy (7th ed). New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.