Rice Epicurean
ACIS 5514 Case Summary---Rice Epicurean * Overview
Rice Epicurean was the self-reported oldest family-owned chain of supermarkets in Houston, Texas, which can be traced back to rice Boulevard, 1937. Although Rice Epicurean was a relatively small player within the Houston grocery industry, it tried to compete with the larger chains by maintaining a rich inventory of typical grocery store items as well as gourmet products, chef-prepared foods, high-quality bakery products, and full-service meat departments. Rice Epicurean engaged in home delivery, and announced its new Home Runs online shopping program, which was the only one still operating in 2002. Rice Epicurean utilized a third-party application service provider MyWebGrocer.
* Major Issues * The dot-com meltdown of 2000-2001 caused many Internet Grocery Shopping dead and wounded. There were still new online trading initiatives. What would be the future of online shopping? * MWG felt the economics of the scheme were compelling. Among the new costs were labor costs for picking and delivery, equipment, storage space, and a transaction fee paid to service supplier. When the MWG is applied, these costs should be considered. * Sometimes, it is hard to provide perfect customer service, since it is hard to guess a customer’s tastes through their online orders. For example, how ripe should the banana be? What size tomatoes do they want? * How to build customer relationship and gain customer loyalty through online grocery shopping sector is a big question. * Canteras were concerned with their privacy of the family’s purchase date.
* Lesson Learned * Customer loyalty and customer retention are major concerns in the online grocery shopping sector. The per basket revenues of existing customers might increase when customers switch from traditional grocery shopping to online shopping. * The online shopping service should be aligned with the company’s overall strategy. The
Rice Epicurean was the self-reported oldest family-owned chain of supermarkets in Houston, Texas, which can be traced back to rice Boulevard, 1937. Although Rice Epicurean was a relatively small player within the Houston grocery industry, it tried to compete with the larger chains by maintaining a rich inventory of typical grocery store items as well as gourmet products, chef-prepared foods, high-quality bakery products, and full-service meat departments. Rice Epicurean engaged in home delivery, and announced its new Home Runs online shopping program, which was the only one still operating in 2002. Rice Epicurean utilized a third-party application service provider MyWebGrocer.
* Major Issues * The dot-com meltdown of 2000-2001 caused many Internet Grocery Shopping dead and wounded. There were still new online trading initiatives. What would be the future of online shopping? * MWG felt the economics of the scheme were compelling. Among the new costs were labor costs for picking and delivery, equipment, storage space, and a transaction fee paid to service supplier. When the MWG is applied, these costs should be considered. * Sometimes, it is hard to provide perfect customer service, since it is hard to guess a customer’s tastes through their online orders. For example, how ripe should the banana be? What size tomatoes do they want? * How to build customer relationship and gain customer loyalty through online grocery shopping sector is a big question. * Canteras were concerned with their privacy of the family’s purchase date.
* Lesson Learned * Customer loyalty and customer retention are major concerns in the online grocery shopping sector. The per basket revenues of existing customers might increase when customers switch from traditional grocery shopping to online shopping. * The online shopping service should be aligned with the company’s overall strategy. The