Segmentation of shopping centers and customers of Food Centers

Introduction: Supplier Segmentation (SS) makes Supplier Relationships Management (SRM) easier, especially when the number of suppliers is large. SS creates value and synergy in relation with the supplier. SS as a step between the two strategic activities of supplier selection and SRM obtains distinct groups of suppliers based on their similarities. In the field of marketing, segmentation usually refers to the aspect of market demand, in which the goal of companies is to segment groups of customers with similar needs and demands. Past researches have usually considered one of the aspects of supply or demand for segmentation and have not investigated the issue of segmentation from both aspects (supply and demand). When a company (manufacturing or service) has segmentation information about the status of its customers and shopping centers at the same time, it can be successful in policies. In this paper, shopping centers (supply side) and customers (demand side) of Food Center Company (FCC) are segmented using the TOPSIS technique.
Methodology: First, the criteria related to the segmentation of shopping centers and customers are identified separately based on the literature and after localization by the managers of the FCC, they are classified in two objective and subjective dimensions. After localization of criteria, four decision matrixxs are formed for 109 shopping centers and 50 customers. By implementing TOPSIS steps on the decision matrixes of shopping centers and customers, the final score of shopping centers and customers is obtained in objective and subjective dimensions. Finally, shopping centers and customers are selected in four sections, namely shopping centers/customers with weak objective and subjective dimensions, shopping centers/customers with strong objective dimension and weak subjective dimension, shopping centers/customers with weak objective dimension and Strong subjective dimension, and shopping centers/customers with objective and strong subjective dimensions are placed. By sharing the segmentation results with the managers of the FCC and consulting with them, solutions for improving the performance of shopping centers and improving the relations of the FCC with customers in the areas of supplier relationship management and customer relationship management are presented.
Results & Discussion: After studying the literature, 19 criteria related to customer segmentation and 19 criteria related to shopping centers were identified. After receiving experts' opinions, 11 criteria for segmenting customers and 16 criteria for segmenting shopping centers were recognized as final criteria. Segmentation results of shopping centers show that 32 shopping centers were placed in Section 1, 4 shopping centers in Section 2, 31 shopping centers in Section 3 and 42 shopping centers in Section 4. Segmentation results of customers show that 19 customers were placed in Section 1, 4 customers in Section 2, 16 customers in Section 3 and 11 customers in Section 4.
The customers of Section 1 are the weakest customers of the FCC. FCC can remove these customers from its customer list or help improve their situation through incentive programs. For the customers of Section 2, solutions such as interaction in social networks and recording the voice of customers will be useful. For the customers of Section 3, solutions such as designing a communication calendar will be useful. The customers of Section 4 are the strongest customers of the FCC. For the customers of this sector, solutions such as providing free services and special appreciation for them can help to retain them for the company.
For shopping centers of section1, the FCC can remove them from its shopping list or help to improve their situation through methods such as holding training courses in order to promote these shopping centers and evaluate their performance after conducting training courses. For shopping centers of section 2, FCC can improve their mental dimension by improving the indicators of their position in the industry, after-sales service, customer relationship management, compliance with ethical standards, desire to share information and desire to learn and grow in these shopping centers. For shopping centers of section 3, FCC should help to improve the objective dimension of these shopping centers in improving the geographical distance of the shopping center to the customer, the frequency of sales of the shopping center, the quality of the shopping center's products or services, the variety of advertising by the shopping center, and the use of incentive policies by the shopping center. shopping centers of section4 are the best and most profitable shopping centers of the FCC.
Conclusion: Since the past researches have examined the issue of segmentation mainly from the aspect of supply, considering aspects of supply and demand, and application in the real world is useful for researchers in this field. The company should maintain these profitable shopping centers that are effective in the survival of the company and invest in creating long-term relationships with these shopping centers.