Problems

 

1. Quality - At this specific Crate & Barrel pop-up location, quality is not a highly prioritized competitive capability. The reason this pop-up store does not prioritize quality is because their main focus is liquidation, their goal is to sell everything on the floor. Even if the Crate & Barrel inventory has defective products, the employees must still put it on the floor and sell it at a discounted price. Due to the fact that this store offers 2nd quality products, the customers are aware of that and they are not allowed to return products in exchange for cash, only store credit. The inconsistent level of quality along with the limited return policy  results in a negative impact for the brand since it delivers low value and little support for its customers. 

2. Delays 

1. Assembly Delays - Every morning specialized employees known as stock associates are required to unload the inventory delivery trucks which start promptly at 8am. After unloading the trucks, stock associates are then required to assemble the items and bring them out to the sales floor. Stock associates are also required to assist customers with large furniture. Delays are created when stock associates are failing to build products in a timely fashion and customers are forced to wait for their products. Since stock associates are not required to finish assembling a certain amount of products, in a certain amount of time; delays are an expected outcome. Delay is known as a lean system waste and it also has a negative impact on high quality and customer satisfaction. 

2. Pick up Delays - Since the Crate & Barrel pop-up store does not have an implemented policy for stock associates to efficiently assemble products and transport them to the sales floor, they often delay the process. Stock associate responsibility also includes helping customers with loading large products. The days that the stock associates have delays with product assembly, customers may be forced to wait for an employee to become available to help load products into vehicles. This delay creates a negative impact on customer satisfaction. 

3. Price - Value is one of the important quality dimensions that must be perceived by a customer in order to increase customer satisfaction. After analyzing the reviews written on the google reviews for the Crate & Barrel location in Eatontown, it has come to our attention that some customer dissatisfaction has rooted from the price of the products sold. Several customers complained that products were heavily damaged and the items were only discounted 20%. When a product is defective, a company tries to increase the value of the damaged product by offering a discount. However, in this case, the customers are not satisfied with the value in the products since the discount is not adequate with the level of imperfections. 

4. Employees - The stock associates are seen as a part of the problem of customer dissatisfaction because they are the ones that cause the main problems related to customer delays. The stock associates can also potentially contribute to the level of damage from the inventory if the employees are careless with assembly and/or with transporting the assembled inventory onto the sales floor. 

5. Environment - Psychological impressions is an important factor of quality that a company must take into consideration when trying to increase levels of customer satisfaction. After analyzing the reviews written on the google reviews for the Crate & Barrel location in Eatontown, it has come to our attention that some customer dissatisfaction has rooted from the disorganized layout of the store. One customer in particular, complained that the store did not look visually pleasing because there were still signs posted from the brand that was occupying the warehouse before, Lord and Taylor. 

6. Methods - The Crate&Barrel assembly crew, also known as stock associates lack an efficient method for assembling products. Due to their lack of efficiency, this creates customer delays since not enough new products are displayed on the sales floor evenly throughout the day for customers to see, thus forcing customers to wait.