The Kingston Department Store (KDS) is engaged in an 18-month review of its business strategy.
KDS is a well-established department store that has recently been refurbished at a considerable cost to the owners. While this had been undertaken as part of a plan to maintain and develop a customer base, initial results are disappointing in terms of company turnover and numbers of customers: turnover has not risen more than might be expected in terms of market averages and customer numbers are not dissimilar from last year’s. This suggests something more needs to be done to increase use of the store, customer numbers and so on.
The store’s managers have already decided to introduce store account facilities, on the assumption that this will enhance customer loyalty. However, they feel they need further information about customer motivations if KDS is to meet its strategic objectives.
The qualitative research set out to understand how existing customers could be encouraged to use the store more often and to spend more money at the store. This assignment focuses exclusively on the part of that research that focussed on female customers aged 45-60.
Research Aim
To establish motivations of this group of customers for using Kingston Department Store (KDS) and explore how they can be encouraged to spend more in the store.
Research Questions
1) What aspects of the store encourage/discourage use of the store and spending amongst this customer segment?
2) What changes/new developments might encourage greater use of the store and an increase in spend amongst this customer segment?
3) What encourages customers in this segment to spend money at KDS’s competitors?
Research design
For this assignment, you are must analyse the data in nine interviews conducted with 45-60 year-old female customers of KDS. These participants were recruited in-store on three consecutive week-day mornings in early December last year and were each taken through an interview in a small staff room. Convenience sampling was used: the interviewer approached women who appeared to be aged 45-60 and interviewed the first nine that confirmed their age as being in this range and that agreed to participate. All interviews were recorded and then transcribed verbatim.
Interview schedule
1. How often do you shop at KDS?
2. Why do you shop at KDS?
3. How long do you normally spend in the store?
4. What do you typically buy / come to buy at KDS?
5. Do you also look elsewhere for the things you have come here to buy?
6. Are there any products/range of products not currently stocked that you would like to see introduced in KDS?
7. Are there any products/ranges currently stocked that you never consider buying from KDS? Why?
The assignment
In the assignment you should demonstrate your ability to to use Excel to:
• develop and apply a coding frame to interview transcripts
• create data matrices in order to analyse the data
• report your findings and provide supporting evidence your claims
• make such recommendations as are appropriate to the authority and insightfulness of your findings
You should:
1) create a coding frame or code book
2) categorize the interview transcripts (source material)
3) create a data matrix for each research question in order to
4) analyse the data
You should submit two documents for this assignment:
1. a report of around 1,600 words in length that:
• states the research aims
• gives a short, critical description of the data collection and analysis methodology
• presents your findings and uses data from the interviews to support them
• presents conclusions
• present appropriately tentative recommendations to the management of KDS
2. an Excel spreadsheet with:
• coded interview transcripts
• your coding frame / codebooks
• your completed data matrices.
