Operates Management

Customer Relationship Management (Need one more page)

An effective marketing research campaign is an important aspect of doing business in order to be able to compete. It is true that information technology and collecting data to improve sales can be very helpful for Target to achieve its goals of maintaining its loyal customers which the company calls “Guests”.

In today’s global economy, it is important for Target to differentiate themselves from their competitors. Many companies try to build customer loyalty on price alone. But customers not only look at price or brand when considering to purchase, they also look at the added value that the company give s them. In Targets case, their competitive advantage is that they are an upscale discount retailer with clean store and excellent customer service. The organization successfully uses its internal data to determine their customer’s needs. By analyzing customer-driven data from market basket analysis and sales by category Target Corporation is learning new ways to market and merchandise products within its 1,700+ big-box stores (Hauss, 2010).

The system of gathering customer information works at Target in the following way. Each customer is assigned a Guest ID which is correspondingly tied to their credit card, e-mail and name. Demographic information can also be added to such a file (Hill, 2012). Each file is connected with a particular customer. The company collects all possible information about the activities of this customer, their shopping preferences and products this consumer purchases. On the basis of this information, Target managers may promote new goods, offer news about discounts, sales and special offers. For these customers, each data set is adapted for a certain customer segment or even certain customer.

Target CRM system allows them to have access to their customers information in any of their stores, website and call centers almost instaneously. For example, if a customer...