Stages of the Research Process
Stages of the Research Process
Jorge Benitez Jr
RES/351
November 11, 2014
Mr. David Gobeli
Stages of the Research Process
During my time at both Best Buy and Disney, the constant research being conducted is how to improve sales. The problem management has to define is how to manage its current resources, such as personnel. During the initial stage in the research process, both companies need to identify where the resources come from and how to implement them to the fullest functional impact available. There for, a question that is always asked by management is “how to schedule impact associates appropriately to meet sales quotas throughout the day.”
At Best Buy, for example, we used individual sales information that is gathered from various systems we used that indicated which sales associates had large volume sales, had installation and services sales, which have a large gross margin for the store, and so on. Once we identified these benchmarks, those sales associates are then moved to appropriate time slots on various key sale days to ensure that the stores meet weekly sales goals.
Another important factor that is used when scheduling is the retail customer experience. Using methods such as customer surveys, myBestBuy rewards and other systems, we were able to see what our customers were looking for and how to interact with them. Some of the topics covered in the International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management that Best Buy also uses to ensure sales are up by “creating a total customer experience by enabling customers to solve important problems, capitalize on the power of respectfulness, connect with customers ' emotions, emphasize fair pricing and save customers ' time and energy” (Shilpa & Rajnish, 2013). For example, in 2011, the retail industry was struggling to compete against Amazon.com and other online e-retailers to have sales in the stores. After conducting research in the early part of summer 2011, Best Buy began launching
Jorge Benitez Jr
RES/351
November 11, 2014
Mr. David Gobeli
Stages of the Research Process
During my time at both Best Buy and Disney, the constant research being conducted is how to improve sales. The problem management has to define is how to manage its current resources, such as personnel. During the initial stage in the research process, both companies need to identify where the resources come from and how to implement them to the fullest functional impact available. There for, a question that is always asked by management is “how to schedule impact associates appropriately to meet sales quotas throughout the day.”
At Best Buy, for example, we used individual sales information that is gathered from various systems we used that indicated which sales associates had large volume sales, had installation and services sales, which have a large gross margin for the store, and so on. Once we identified these benchmarks, those sales associates are then moved to appropriate time slots on various key sale days to ensure that the stores meet weekly sales goals.
Another important factor that is used when scheduling is the retail customer experience. Using methods such as customer surveys, myBestBuy rewards and other systems, we were able to see what our customers were looking for and how to interact with them. Some of the topics covered in the International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management that Best Buy also uses to ensure sales are up by “creating a total customer experience by enabling customers to solve important problems, capitalize on the power of respectfulness, connect with customers ' emotions, emphasize fair pricing and save customers ' time and energy” (Shilpa & Rajnish, 2013). For example, in 2011, the retail industry was struggling to compete against Amazon.com and other online e-retailers to have sales in the stores. After conducting research in the early part of summer 2011, Best Buy began launching
References: Cooper, D. R., & Schindler, P. S. (2014). Business Research Methods (12th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Li, S., & Vincent, R. (2011, June 23). Best Buy to downsize brick-and-mortar footprint. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved from http://articles.latimes.com/2011/jun/23/business/la-fi-best-buy-bigbox-20110622 Shilpa, B., & Rajnish, J. (2013). Measuring retail customer experience. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 41(10), 790-804.