HBS: The Coop: Market Research
Case Study Analysis
HBS: The Coop: Market Research
Task 1
Decision Statement of the Coop.
Where and how should the Coop invest money to retain the sales to their normal level? Why it is important to the company?
The Coop had been going through an impressive growth since the foundation of the restaurant chain in 1974. However, about 20 years later, it found itself struggling with a sharp decrease in sales of certain restaurants that represented 32% of the whole sales of the Coop.
If twenty stores among seventy-four go down in sales, the entire business is in danger and that was the case with the Coop. Therefore, certain procedures should be taken quickly and carefully to find the root of the problem whether it is related to quality, service, marketing or any other factors.
When sales decrease, revenue and profit decrease and the business becomes more difficult to maintain and improve. Thus, Buckmeister had to find the right method to face the sales decrease in order to retain the sales to their normal level and more importantly to maintain a steady growth of all seventy-four stores in the future. In addition to that, the brand image of the business might be hurt as well during a decrease in sales. Attempts to enhance the image of the business and its products can be difficult, especially when customers have stopped or became reluctant to consume your product.
The importance of addressing the sale decrease by the management of the Coop also extends to other competitors that were growing at a time where a big share of the business is losing customers. If they lose customers, other restaurants will gain them and that is a great concern for the Coop.
Buckmeister wanted to locate the error in the twenty stores and fix it but yet was unsure about the correct path to take in order to resolve this issue. Marketing research vs. Quality inspection. Both option seemed unnecessary for the CEO but in fact