Case Study Discussion on Home Solutions (India) Limited – Kitchen Section

Shitanshu Pokhriyal

• Home Solutions - A venture of Pantaloon Retail India Limited, a Future group company• Future Group is India’s leading business conglomerate • Future Group Vision

– Everything, Everywhere, Everytime for every Indian customer in the most profitable manner

• Future Group Mission – Customers to be served by creating & executing future scenarios in consumption space leading to economic

development– Trendsetters in evolving delivery formats, retailing, affordable consumption for customer– Efficient, Cost conscious & committed to quality– Positive attitude, sincerity, humilty to be the driving force

• Future Group Core Values – Indianesss – confidence in ourselves– Thought & business Leadership– Respect & humilty– Introspection– Open & receptive to new ideas, knowledge & information– Valuing & Nurturing Relationships– Simplicity & Positivity

Home Solutions (India) Limited, A Future Group Company

Home Solutions (India) Limited – Kitchen SectionFundamentals under the Rust & Oliver three – component model

Service Product

Interaction Quality

Service Environment

Physical

Product

• High visual appeal at the stores• Creating high customer expectations - Service provisions displayed as electrical fittings, plumbing, interior decoration, modular kitchen, etc• Store divided into sections as – Exhibition, Market & Services• Hometown positioned as an amalgamation of value lifestyle propositions

• Products from all major manufacturers of several products as sanitary ware, bath fittings, fixtures, furnitures, etc. displayed• Customers given price, service & product guarantee• One year guarantee on workmanship of jobs undertaken from the date of job completed• Every product or service provided backed by reliable manufacturers and service providers• Exchange / Refund option with customer in case of any manufacturing defect

• Aggressive advertising with the USP of ‘Ab ghar banana asaan’• Full page advertisements, hoardings, Slogans used as part of the advertising and communication campaign• What you see is what you get pitch used with the customers• Focus on pre sale engagement with use of software to design fancy modular kitchens• Commitments and guarantee of delivery and installation within stipulated timelines

Home Solutions (India) Limited – Kitchen SectionService Quality (SERVQUAL)Dimension Description Instances

Reliability Home Solution’s ability to deliver the promised service dependably and accurately

• Mrs. Dogra’s trust on the big big brand name of home town/future group• Already placed an order for bathroom items and jacuzzi giving her higher conviction to go with Home solutions for kitchen• Substantial time spent during pre sales with the design incharge & technician giving further assurance to customer• Initial fee also paid by Mrs. Dogra after commitments given by the design incharge to deliver by the stipulated date

Assurance Knowledge & responsiveness of employees who are able to inspire trust and confidence

• Multiple assurances provided to Mrs. Dogra on the initial design chosen but the final product delivered was different• Timelines of 30 day delivery never met and rather a 90 day to and fro with total service failures from the company , hence never kept assurances on timelines• False assurances by Mr. Vipin and unsurity of delivery creating total ambiguity for the customer• Unprofessional acts by Mr. Vipin of not taking the customer calls, hiding away from face to face discussions with the customer

Tangibles Physical delivery against order, equipment and appearance of personnel

• Customer asked to review his product specifications as the earlier ordered product stock was no more available with the company and to get the same stock customer will have to wait for over 3 more months• The kitchen material later supplied was also short supplied•Also the plumbing work though approved by the technical team of Home town was still not in order• Work was finished will the plumbing problem still unattended• Material supplied finally was also different from the one selected by the customer as an alternative to the earlier specifications• Replacement material supplied to customer after several days from the commitment date , still customer was waiting for someone to come and refix the shutters and rectify the defects that still existed

Home Solutions (India) Limited – Kitchen SectionService Quality (SERVQUAL)

Dimension Description InstancesResponsiveness Willingness of Home town to help

customers and provide prompt service• Mr. Vipin consistently ignored the customer’s phone calls, dismay to the customer on such ill treatment• No pro active communication to the customer on delivery delays• Auto generated messages to customer complaints with no response for days together despite repeated reminders • Callous attitude of the employees towards committments to complaint customers• Multiple escalations to reach out to the senior employees in the hierarch for resolutions

Empathy Giving individual attention to customers; understanding and caring for the customer

• Ineffective display of empathy to the customer despite repeated follow ups and reminder sent from the customer• Indifferent attitude of employees post sales • Ineffective management of escalations and no considerations to customer’s agony of dismantling her kitchen and alternatively using the bathroom as kitchen in the given state

Home Solutions (India) Limited – Kitchen SectionKey Factors Leading to Provider Gap

• Gap 1 – Inadequate understanding of customer requirements and limited / no focus on service quality

• Gap 2 – Lack of communication– Between management and customers– Between contact employees and managers

• Gap 3 – Insufficient Relationship Focus– Focus on transactions than relationships –

• Gap 4 – Inadequate Service Recovery Process– Lack of encouragement to listen to customer complaints– Failure to make amendments – No appropriate recovery mechanism for service failures

Thank You