Kudler Marketing Focus

Kudler Fine Foods:

Marketing Focus

Ruth Linton

BSA/502 Business Systems II

University of Phoenix

Saleena Frazier

September 18, 2012

Kudler Fine Foods:

Marketing Focus

Introduction

Kudler Fine Foods is a specialty food store serving local consumers in the San Diego, California area. The company was founded by Kathy Kudler in 1998. Its three stores, located in fashionable shopping centers in the California cities of La Jolla, Del Mar, and Encinitas, offer upscale, gourmet domestic and imported foods and ingredients. Each store contains the following departments: Cheeses and Specialty Diary Products, Condiments and Packaged Foods, Fresh Bakery and Pastries, Fresh Meat and Seafood, and Fresh Produce (Kudler, 2012).

The mission of Kudler is to “provide our customers the finest in selected foodstuffs, wines, and related needs in an unparalled consumer environment” (Kudler, 2012). Because of the growth the company has experienced, Kudler has developed the following strategic marketing goals for increasing the loyalty and profitability of its customers:

* Expanding services,

* Improving the efficiency of operations, and

* Increasing the consumer purchase cycle through the use of a frequent shopper program (Kudler, 2012).

Information technology (IT) can be used to assist with the improvements and new programs Kudler will be implementing. This paper will discuss just a few of the possible ways in which IT can specifically support these programs.

Customer Databases

Kudler is in the process of integrating, into its point-of-sale (POS) accounting system, the ability to track the purchase behavior of its customers (Kudler, 2012). This integration will allow Kudler to develop and maintain a database of its customers and will enable the generation of reports about how often customers visit the store, which products are most popular, the particular product preferences of customers, and so on. Kudler can use this information to personalize parts...