Categories Of Customers Research Articles

Categorization of customers by retail salespeople

Retailers should be interested in the way their salespeople categorize customers. Sales-people's descriptions of customer categories contain information about the nature of customers and how salespeople sell to customers. Customer category information can be used by retailers to aid in their selling, positioning, and promotion efforts. Using a survey of 229 salespeople from a department store chain, this paper examines two specific issues. First, we examine salespeople's descriptions of the categories of customers that visit a department store. Second, we delineate the differences among salespeople based on the manner in which they classify customers. The results indicate salespeople primarily list customers that visit the store as those who seek sales assistance and those who are searching for specific products. Additionally, three salespeople clusters with distinct categorization styles emerged from the analysis: “need based categorizers,” “decision styles categorizers” and “training based categorizers.” Implications of these findings and directions for retailers are also discussed.

Economic evaluation of a mature ATM network

The economic evaluation of a mature ATM network is presented. The authors discuss the issues involved and present two examples. Four customer categories are taken into account, namely residential, small business, medium business, and large business customers. The aim is to introduce a simple meaningful model, which incorporates the most important factors that influence the economic viability of an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) network, and to present the limits and limitations of the area of economic evaluation. The revenue, cost, and net income (of the network operator) are calculated for two different scenarios, that is with and without residential customers. >

Points systems for car insurance

Some data on car insurance premiums charged to 120 categories of customer, arranged in a 5×4×3×2 table, has been analysed. A method similar to analysis of variance was used to find how closely the data could be reproduced by additive combinations of parameters from the four dimensions, the unusual feature was that these parameters were restricted to be small whole numbers. The reason for this is the attractiveness of such a points system in marketability and in ease of comprehension by the customer.

Distribution of Bank Services and Branch Location

Because of the intangible and inseparable characteristics of the bank services, every bank needs to locate these services and branches at locations which provide accessibility to the greatest numbers of both major categories of potential customers—private individuals and firms (i.e. corporate customers). This article presents the major channels of distribution for banking services and the four main types of quantitative techniques available for bank branch location decisions—economic, spatial, bivariate and multiple regression methods. The article indicates the leading bank distribution strategies—defensive, offensive and rationalisation strategies—and attempts to assess the impact of new technology developments—particularly of Electronic Fund Transfer Systems (EFTS) and Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs)—on the future of distribution of bank services and branch location.

Selective Sequential Zero-Base Budgeting Procedures Based on Total Factor Productivity Indicators

The authors' purpose in this paper is to develop productivity-based sequential budgeting procedures designed to expedite identification of major problem areas in bugetary performance, as well as to reduce the costs associated with comprehensive zero-base analyses. The concept of total factor productivity is reviewed and its relations to ordinary and zero-based budgeting are discussed in detail. An outline for a selective sequential analysis based on monitoring of three key indicators of (a) implicitly budgeted total factor productivity; (b) revenue growth; and (c) profitability; is suggested. It is argued that this approach is instrumental in promoting a more systematic performance analysis, which is capable of revealing hidden efficiency shortfalls and is potentially cost and time saving. Additionally, this type of productivity-based budgeting is shown (via use of an actual application) to provide all the informational inputs for a full-fledged analysis of expected budgetary distribution of productivity gains among various categories of employees, shareholders and customers.

Marginal-Cost Pricing in American Utilities: A Further Comment

Stelzer's valuable note raises a basic point about price differentials, which I should have drawn more sharply. Let me try once more, with special reference to his points 2 and 3. Price differentials may reflect marginal costs or price discrimination or, like most differentials, probably some mixture of the two. A profit-maximizing utility (and which one basically is not?) under regulation will ordinarily gain by some, perhaps much, price discrimination. Since regulation induces and rewards (within certain limits) expansion of the rate base, the companies cannot be relied on to adopt only those differentials which would fit marginal-cost pricing prescriptions.' My own research suggested that, among the variety of existing differentials, many do approximately accord with marginalist patterns-that is, off-peak pricing. But very little conscious marginal-cost, peak-load pricing can be found, and even the seemingly marginalist utilities typically mix in anti-marginalist provisions as well. The marginalist toe-hold could be broadened with insistence, careful study and guidance,. but not simply by persuading commissions to ratify any price differentials which companies may prefer. Many differentials desired by utilities would violate marginalcost criteria. Yet, Stelzer appears to accept (in his points 2 and 3) whatever customer categories and pragmatic rate differentials the utilities may propose. Some commissions undoubtedly cling too much to uniform rates, out of aversion to possible discri ination. But the right answer to this is to increase commission resources for evalu-