McDonald’s: Healthier Menu Still a Work in Progress

Posted on September 27, 2013 by bermanevansretail
Despite its addition of fruit in children’s meals and other attempts at offering a healthier menu, McDonald’s receives a regular barrage of criticism from consumer and parent groups. It is, after all, still a fast-food chain — and the most popular one in the world.
So, McDonald’s is tweaking its menu again. As reported by Alan Git for CBS MoneyWatch:
“McDonald’s said Thursday that it will start offering vegetables, fruit, and side salads as substitutes for french fries in its value meals, a concession to people’s changing eating habits. The fast food giant, in partnership with the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, a group founded by the Clinton Foundation and the American Heart Association, also announced changes to how it markets its products to children. Among these changes, McDonald’s will promote and market only water, milk, and juice as beverage options in its Happy Meals. The company also will design its Happy Meal packaging to emphasize themes related healthy eating, children’s well being, and what the company calls ‘fun nutrition.'”
“McDonald’s did not disclose exactly when it will add healthier fare to its value meals. It said only that the new program will roll out in 20 countries, including the U.S., over the next few years. The company expects to have implemented the changes across all 20 markets by 2020.”
Click the image for a CBS MoneyWatch video on this. 

 

 

Posted in Part 1: Overview/Planning, Part 2: Ownership, Strategy Mix, Online, Nontraditional, Part 3: Targeting Customers and Gathering Information, Part 6: Merchandise Management and Pricing, Part 7: Communicating with the Customer, Part 8: Putting It All Together, Video Clips (non-career) | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Universum’s 2013 Listing of the Most Attractive U.S. Employers

Posted on September 26, 2013 by bermanevansretail
Universum has just released  its 2013 listing of the most attractive employers in the United States. This listing is based on a survey of 75,000 American students.
Among the top 100 most attractive business employers, many firms have a strong involvement with retailing, including these:
  2. Walt Disney Company
  5. Nike
14. Amazon
15. Nordstrom
19. H&M
21. Starbucks
23. Target
25. Macy’s
58. Ikea
86. Wal-Mart
90. Gap
92. Kohl’s
Click the image to read more from Universum’s report appearing as a supplement with the Wall Street Journal.

 

Posted in Career Useful Information, Careers in Retailing, Part 5: Managing a Retail Business | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Abusive Behavior by Customers: The Downside of a Liberal Return Policy

Posted on September 25, 2013 by bermanevansretail
We know that shoppers have high expectations with regard to company return policies. They want the returns to be easy and convenient, the terms of the returns to be liberal, and refunds/exchanges to be quick. Return policies often come up high in customer complaint surveys.
What do YOU think a truly customer-oriented firm to do if customer complaints are excessive?
Consider this scenario, as described by Michael Hess, writing for CBS MoneyWatch:
“For decades, outdoor retailer REI has taken back any product, no matter how old, no matter the reason, absolutely no questions asked. But, over time, the policy became badly abused: Customers were returning 30 year-old, hard-worn clothing just to get more current styles, and some were even boasting online about gaming REI’s system. So what’s a customer-loving company to do?”
“This summer, the company did exactly what it had to do when put in such an untenable position: It reined in its guarantee, accepting no-questions-asked returns for a year, and quality-related returns for life. Still extremely customer-friendly and generous, but more controllable. Yet even with a great policy still in place, some people complained, as if the company had lost its service ethic, when in fact it was a case of customers taking (at times outrageously) unfair advantage of that ethic and forcing REI’s hand.”
Click the image to read a lot more.

 

Posted in Part 2: Ownership, Strategy Mix, Online, Nontraditional, Part 3: Targeting Customers and Gathering Information, Part 5: Managing a Retail Business, Part 6: Merchandise Management and Pricing, Part 7: Communicating with the Customer | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment