Activity 4.4.1 – We Know Who Our Customers Are (Uses)
Evaluate the benefits to IKEA’s managers of having detailed research information about
their customers.
Market research refer to the process of collecting, recording and analyzing data regarding
the market, consumers and fellow competitors of a company. In this case, IKEA has decided
to do a market research and the benefits of it to company’s managers are being evaluated.
An advantage of having detailed research information is certainly having the ability to know
the needs of the customers and changes in demand of IKEA. By knowing such information, it
will be easier for the companies to identify what products should be offered to be market to
while still ensure the launch’s success and high demand. For instance, IKEA should be
offering more baby care products in their stores considering the result of the market
research showing that the majority of their customers have children. By selling baby care
products, it is likely that it will sell well considering the target market mostly has children.
Hence, having detailed information can help IKEA’s managers to decide which products
would sell well in the market and bring profit to the company.
Another advantage would be identifying how customers feel about the company and its
products. This can be seen as an advantage as it allows the company to identify their
weaknesses and flaws from the perspective of the customers. For instance, if the research
information shows that customers are not pleased with the kitchen appliances sold in IKEA
because they break every couple of months, using that obtained information, IKEA can try to
improve on the quality of kitchen appliances they are selling so as to fix the problem. By
making effective use of the information, IKEA can please more customers by improving in
areas customers find to be lacking. Thus, a detailed research information can help IKEA’s
managers in identifying rooms for improvement from the perspective of the market.
Though research information can be useful for IKEA, it can be costly when doing research
involving many people and will be very time consuming. Being too reliant on market
research can delay decision-making and decrease the productivity of the business.
Considering that the market always changes overtime means IKEA should conduct market
research quickly every once in a while to identify the changes happening, which can get
complicated. With all hard work to conduct market researches, the accuracy of the results
are also not guaranteed but can be seen as a prediction.
To conclude, market research can help IKEA in identifying what to sell and what to improve,
however, it can be costly and time consuming. Also weighing out the fact that accuracy is
not guaranteed, IKEA should not rely too much on market research. While they can conduct
market research once a year to identify changes, the company should stay true to their main
objective considering it is already a well-known company for selling furniture and home
appliances.
Evaluate the benefits to IKEA’s managers of having detailed research information about
their customers.
Market research refer to the process of collecting, recording and analyzing data regarding
the market, consumers and fellow competitors of a company. In this case, IKEA has decided
to do a market research and the benefits of it to company’s managers are being evaluated.
An advantage of having detailed research information is certainly having the ability to know
the needs of the customers and changes in demand of IKEA. By knowing such information, it
will be easier for the companies to identify what products should be offered to be market to
while still ensure the launch’s success and high demand. For instance, IKEA should be
offering more baby care products in their stores considering the result of the market
research showing that the majority of their customers have children. By selling baby care
products, it is likely that it will sell well considering the target market mostly has children.
Hence, having detailed information can help IKEA’s managers to decide which products
would sell well in the market and bring profit to the company.
Another advantage would be identifying how customers feel about the company and its
products. This can be seen as an advantage as it allows the company to identify their
weaknesses and flaws from the perspective of the customers. For instance, if the research
information shows that customers are not pleased with the kitchen appliances sold in IKEA
because they break every couple of months, using that obtained information, IKEA can try to
improve on the quality of kitchen appliances they are selling so as to fix the problem. By
making effective use of the information, IKEA can please more customers by improving in
areas customers find to be lacking. Thus, a detailed research information can help IKEA’s
managers in identifying rooms for improvement from the perspective of the market.
Though research information can be useful for IKEA, it can be costly when doing research
involving many people and will be very time consuming. Being too reliant on market
research can delay decision-making and decrease the productivity of the business.
Considering that the market always changes overtime means IKEA should conduct market
research quickly every once in a while to identify the changes happening, which can get
complicated. With all hard work to conduct market researches, the accuracy of the results
are also not guaranteed but can be seen as a prediction.
To conclude, market research can help IKEA in identifying what to sell and what to improve,
however, it can be costly and time consuming. Also weighing out the fact that accuracy is
not guaranteed, IKEA should not rely too much on market research. While they can conduct
market research once a year to identify changes, the company should stay true to their main
objective considering it is already a well-known company for selling furniture and home
appliances.
