Wegmans Food Market

By Team B1, Section A

Ansu Thomas (10005) Mythreya Goparaju (10027) Natarajan K (10049) Ritin Rajendran (10071) Sudarshan Kashyap (10095)

Company Profile
Name of the Firm:Wegmans Food Markets, Inc. Founded: 1916 HeadQuarters : Rochester, NewYork Industry : Retail (Food) No. of Employees : more than 37000 Employees per store : 500 600 Locations : Rochester, Buffalo, Syracuse, NY, NJ and PA, Virginia Annual Sales : Over $ 3 Billion

1. How do customers judge the quality of a supermarket Customers judge the quality of a supermarket based on the following parameters Variety of products to choose from : A customer benefits from the availability of all grocery or food items under one roof. He need not travel to multiple stores to buy goods. Value for money : Pricing of products has to be competitive so that the customer gets value for every penny he spends, irrespective of his income levels. Defective product replacement : It is a hallmark of an order-winner which results in customer delight, where the company exceeds the customers' expectation. Availability of the product : A customer should be able to buy any brand or product he wants when he visits the market. If he does not get it on the first attempt, the probability that he will visit the store again is very low. Less Checkout time (lead time) : A customer values his time, and would not like to waste time in Checkout queues. Better communication of where products are available (layout) : Proper communication about where products are available in the store would reduce customer confusion. For example: Signage about Products, utilities and exits. Complementary food products should be placed together : A customer should not have to walk long distances to find complementary products like bread and butter, meat and wine, pizza and topping Customer - Employee Interaction : Companies that invest on employee training on good customer service benefit when those employees cheerfully answer customer queries and handle complaints. Ambience : Customers would like to make buying goods an experience, which would help them spend quality time with friends or family. Intrusive store employees who follow or interrupt a customer's shopping would generally negatively impact the ambience. 2. Indicate how and why each of these factors is important for the successful operation of a supermarket

1. Customer Satisfaction : It impacts repeat customers who would visit the supermarket again. So the super market would try to maximize customer satisfaction. The qualities discussed in the previous question would impact customer satisfaction. 2. Forecasting : Forecasting is done by using sales records from checkout counters, after factoring into special promotions, holidays, festivals. If there is too much inventory on hand, it will add to department costs, reduce food quality. If there are shortages, it will result in lost sales and dissatisfied customers 3. Capacity planning : Over-capacity causes operating costs that are too high while Under-capacity causes strained resources and possible loss of customers. Size of the store should be proportional to the expected long term demand of the locality. 4. Location : The store should be accessible to the customer either at home or while travel. Image of the company depends on the type of locality. From the management's perspective, stores should be near the warehouse, or to minimize transportation cost. 5. Inventory Management : Supermarkets that employ the Just In Time technique can reduce their inventory by accurately forecasting their demand. Fresh food products are valued by customers, so the supermarket cannot have a large inventory which can become stale. There is a tradeoff between whether to ply trucks between warehouse and stores or to keep larger inventories in stores. 6. Layout of the store : Complementary products should be placed together, The layout should help in avoiding crowding of customers at any location. Proper signage and directions for convinience of customers. 7. Scheduling : Purchases depending on total inventory levels and demand forecasting. Employee Working hours should be managed in shifts in such a way that there are no lean periods where customers cannot find a sales person in the supermarket

3. What are some of the ways Wegmans chooses technology to gain an edge over its competion Barcode technology allows Wegmans to obtain consumer preference data from checkout counters which along with past demand data helps in forecasting Vacuum Packaging for meat extends shelf life Specially desgined containers instead of large bins to avoid damage of fruits and vegetables. Centralized system to keep track of inventory.