Information Technology Strategies Automotive Retailers Use to Improve Customer Retention

Business managers in the automotive retail industry face challenges in retaining customers in sales operations. Automotive business managers\u27 failure to retain customers negatively affects sales, revenue, and sustainable business performance. Grounded in expectation-confirmation theory, the purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore the IT strategies some business managers use in the automotive retail industry to retain customers. The participants comprised 4 business managers from 2 automotive retail dealerships in the Western Region of Saudi Arabia, who used IT strategies to retain customers. Data were collected from semistructured interviews, interview notes, and company documents. Four themes emerged: customer engagement, e-commerce platform, change management and customer loyalty programs, and virtual showroom and customer feedback. A key recommendation includes utilizing e-commerce platforms as an IT strategy to retain customers for improved financial and business sustainability. The implications for positive social change include the potential for business managers in automotive retail dealerships to create job opportunities, provide social amenities and welfare to the local people to improve and promote the regional communities\u27 economic development

Strategies Retailers Use to Build Brand Loyalty and Improve Customer Experience

The use of strategy to build brand loyalty and improve customer experience by retail managers is essential in driving sales revenue and increasing profitability. Retail managers should perceive customer experience strategy as a tool for product differentiation, which could be leveraged to attain benefits, such as, repeat business, positive word of mouth, increased sales, and the competitive advantage. Some retail managers may not fully comprehend customer experience strategy, and may solely focus on individual facets such as, customer service and employee training. This qualitative multiple case study explored the strategies retail managers used to build brand loyalty and improve customer experience. Olivier\u27s confirmation- expectation theory was the conceptual framework for this study. Ten retail managers from Castries, St. Lucia, who performed their roles for a minimum of 4 years, were selected to participate in semistructured interviews using purposive sampling. Data was also collected from company documents, such as, merchandising policy, the company\u27s website, and past campaign fliers. Three of the themes that arose from the thematic analysis of interview data and company documents were, building and sustaining brand loyalty, store image, and competitive advantage. Findings from this research may contribute to positive social change by providing retail managers a better understanding of customer experience and brand loyalty strategies as additional avenues to achieving operational results such as increased sales revenue, improved sales margins, and increased profitability. Local communities may experience increased employment opportunities, enhanced business activity, and increased tax receipts

Strategies to Improve Customer Care Services in Urgent Care Businesses

Healthcare industry owners who have unsatisfactory customer care services may experience a financial risk and create dissatisfied patients. The purpose of this case study was to explore customer care strategies that managers of urgent care businesses used to improve customer care services and patient satisfaction. The target population consisted of 1 urgent care manager from 3 separate urgent care clinics with the highest customer satisfaction ratings in Alabama. The urgent care managers were knowledgeable about effective customer care strategies that improved customer care services and patient satisfaction. Customer loyalty theory with emphases on customer behavior, customer attitude, repeat patronage, and loyalty was the conceptual framework for the study. Semistructured interviews and patient survey forms were the data sources. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis which identified similar codes, patterns, and themes. The 3 primary themes that emerged from thematic analysis were patient-focused care, social media outreach, and employee engagement. The implications of this study for positive social change include the potential to enhance the quality of healthcare experiences, which may empower individuals to seek medical care. The patients might become trusting of healthcare providers and become collaborators in responding to medical care requests by medical staff to improve their quality of life

Classificação de espaços residenciais com base na sua exposição ao crime: uma abordagem construtivista

A sensação de segurança e a existência de criminalidade no espaço residencial é algo que está sempre presente na mente de cada residente e que afeta diretamente a atividade não só das autoridades policiais como, também, do mercado imobiliário e do governo local. Estas entidades têm demonstrado uma preocupação crescente, não só em melhorar os aspetos negativos dos espaços residenciais, como em potencializar os aspetos positivos já existentes e que possam contribuir para uma melhoria contínua das condições de vida de cada cidadão. Nesta perspetiva, a presente dissertação combina técnicas de mapeamento cognitivo com a abordagem Measuring Attractiveness by a Categorical Based Evaluation Technique (MACBETH), de forma a construir um modelo mais informado e transparente para a classificação de espaços residenciais de acordo com o seu nível de exposição ao crime. A diferença entre a proposta que aqui é feita e as atuais práticas de avaliação reside no facto de as informações recolhidas serem obtidas, diretamente, junto de especialistas em matérias de crime, planeamento e imobiliário urbano; e que lidam diariamente com este tipo de adversidades. As implicações práticas do modelo construído serão também objeto de análise e discussão.The feeling of security is an increasingly important factor in choosing a residential space. This study proposes the development of a multiple criteria evaluation system for the classification of residential areas based on their exposure to crime. By combining cognitive mapping and the measuring attractiveness by a categorical based evaluation technique (MACBETH), this paper strives to increase transparency in the classification process of these spaces, allowing improvement initiatives to be identified and crime rates to be reduced. Based on a realworld application, the information collected from criminal, urbanism and real estate experts, who deal with crime adversities on a daily basis, was analyzed and discussed during face-to-face group meetings, allowing realism to be incorporated into the evaluation mechanism. The results, which were validated both by the participating panel members and the Superintendent Chief of Operations and Deputy National Director of the Public Security Police (PSP) in Portugal, demonstrate that cognitive mapping allows the cause-and-effect relationships between determinants of criminality and sense of security to be identified and better understood, while MACBETH introduces realism into the calculation of respective trade-offs. The limitations and managerial implications of the system created are also discussed