Page 126 - DMGT553_RETAIL_STORE_MANAGEMENT

Unit 7: Store Audit

Notes
35% either had no opinion or disagreed that The Body Shop portrays its business
practices accurately to the public.
Customers
The Body Shop scored:

9 out of 10 for its ‘Against Animal Testing’ stance
7.8 out of 10 for its commitment to environmental responsibility
7.5 out of 10 for campaigning effectively on human rights, environmental protection
and animal protection
customer complaints rose from 18.3 per 100,000 in 1992/3 to 20.9 per 100,000
transactions in 1994/5
Suppliers
80% of suppliers recognised prompt payment, clarity of delivery and purchase order
requirements and fairness of quality assurance arrangements.
20% disagreed or strongly disagreed that The Body Shop purchasing and logistics
functions are well structured and efficient.
Community Trade suppliers
Despite a general fit with the Fair Trade Guidelines, a small number of partners, questioned
by an independent organisation, were still struggling to be commercially viable in the
conventional sense, even though there had been a range of social gains from The Body
Shop relationship. However, from the shareholders’ point of view:

90% agreed or strongly agreed that The Body Shop takes active steps to make its
business more environmentally responsible

only 29% thought that the company enjoyed the trust of the financial community
33% did not think that The Body Shop has a clear, long-term business strategy
Local community
In 1994/5, The Body Shop staff gave 19,500 hours to projects in the community, but this
commitment came from only 25% of the employees. As far as The Body Shop campaigns
were concerned, more than 3 million signatures world-wide were collected calling for
stricter enforcement of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, but
tragically a human rights campaign which started in 1993 failed to prevent the execution
of Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other Ogoni leaders by the Nigerian military government.
The Future – an On-going Process
A stakeholder audit must be evaluated on a continuing basis. The analysis of these results
enables The Body Shop to plan for the future. For example, there are plans for:
improved communications and more involvement of franchisees in decision making

better internal communications with employees
better indicators for monitoring customer satisfaction
improvements in communication with and support for suppliers
establishment of formal trading agreements with Community Trade suppliers and
the launch of a six point plan for the encouragement of community volunteering
Contd....

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