Goodwill Industries Case

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Goodwill Industries, Inc. has been helping people with disabilities and disadvantages in Minnesota since 1919. In 1984 Goodwill joined forces with Easter Seal to expand the school and reach of its mission. Goodwill provides, retail and technical sales training, employment services, and community programs. One half of Goodwill’s total revenues are derived from the resale of donated goods. Goodwill is interested in increasing the amount of revenue generated by their stores. In response, DKM Research (a St. Thomas student group) conducted research to learn more about Goodwill’s existing customers and why they shop Goodwill. The purpose of this research is to identify who shops thrift category stores, where they
Thomas, the Internet, and Goodwill/Easter Seal, MJS Research had several resources that provided information on the trends and competition within the thrift industry. Goodwill provided MJS Research with promotional and marketing materials identifying programs and services. The program brochure, annual report, and corporate newsletter lend a current account of the viability and direction of Goodwill. Internet search for information on thrift shopping concludes that shopping for used and discount merchandise continues to be a growing trend in retailing. In addition to visiting Goodwill’s website, MJS Research also explored the home pages of Savers Value Village. MJS Research attempted to find home pages for the Salvation Army and the Disabled American Veterans Retail Stores, but while had success finding information on the activities of these organizations; they were unable to find their specific home
It identifies which shopping variables are most important to these shoppers and provides comparisons between Goodwill and Non-Goodwill customers. Selection and price received the highest percentage of “Very Important” ratings form the Non-Goodwill shoppers interviewed by MJS Research. 75% of the respondents rated Selection as “Very Important” and 74% of them rated Price as “Very Important.” On a scale of 1-4 with 4 being very important, the average rating for importance of Selection is 3.69 for Non-Goodwill shoppers compared to 3.45 for Goodwill shopper. The average rating for Importance of Quality for Non-Goodwill shopper is 3.59 versus 3.46 for Goodwill