BE200 Research Assignment Paper: Carrefour Company Case

CARREFOUR
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Carrefour
The primary reason why the company segmented its clients is to create better customer satisfaction where their needs are matched with their wants. Through segmentation, the company can effectively match what clients need and what they want. People are different and seem to need different things or even like different things. Segmentation provides the company with the opportunity of identifying the exact thing that people want and need. Once the people are in segments, it can be easier to know what different groups like and prefer hence creating policies that will assist customer satisfaction. As people grow older, their likes and dislikes change together with their buying behavior. It is essential to identify these changes to continue making profits. Another reason for segmentation was to enhance profits. When the organization focuses on what the clients like, it creates customer satisfaction hence attracting more customers. The organization took advantage of this and is receiving new customers every day. Segmentation is necessary for every organization because it not only helps in matching people’s needs and their wants, it also better communication. After identifying the needs then advertisements targeting a more specific group of people can be made. When popularizing a product or service, it is vital to have a target audience in mind and failure to which is just a waste of resources.
Types of buying behavior
The first one is the complex buying behavior, it involves when the buyer is actively involved in the transaction and there are major differences between the brands. Here the customer has to collect all the significant information about the features each brand and choose the features that he/she likes (Kim and Kim, 2014:20). On the other hand, the marketer must provide all the information that is necessary regarding the product. Then there is a dissonance in buying behavior. This occurs when the client notices that there are very few differences between the features of the different brands (kotler et al., 2011). Here the buyer can purchase any item because of the minor differences in features. Habitual buying behavior also affects how people buy things. Here there are minor differences between the brands, but the customer already has his/her preferred product of choice in their head. When purchasing a cell phone, I would rely on the complex buying behavior which involves collecting information on the features. Today there are many brands of cell phones with different features. It is important that I identify the best features that a cell phone can have and look for one that has all those features. This is the best method to apply when buying electronics and machines. The habitual behavior can also be applied because people seem to have a preferred brand. For instance, Americans prefer the iPhone as opposed to the Chinese people.
Carrefour challenges to expansion
According to BE200 the company is quick to react to a market. The example of Russia has been mentioned in the article. The company had identified a market gap and thought it was time for expansion, so it expanded to Russia. It opened hypermarkets in Moscow and Krasnodar. The company was forced to sell its business and close down others due to the hard economic circumstances in the country. According to recently concluded research, this is among the major reasons that are likely to hinder the expansion of the company. Some countries have hard economic conditions that the company might find difficult to adapt to (Durand and Wrigley, 2009:13). In some countries, governments have issued heavy taxes to foreign organizations. This is posing a challenge for expansion because should the companies move to those countries they are assured of low profits. Other nations for instance Greece are experiencing difficult economic times. This may hinder an organization in this cases Carrefour from expanding to such a country regardless of its willingness.
In the case of Thailand, the company helped organize a market for local goods while it is still making a profit. In Thailand, the company moved there and identified an opportunity which it utilized. However, other countries lack these opportunities. Some countries lack chances where the company can invest and get more profit at the same time....