Fatemah: There exists various factors that influence customer perception on quality of product and services offered with a company; thus, influence brand recognition and equity. The factors that determine perception of quality includes; satisfactory customer services, location of the company, store layout, and capacity planning within the business. It is paramount for business managers of Carrefour and Testo hypermarket to consider the factors and incorporate technology to ensure they influence customer attitudes and behaviours to purchase from their store. In terms of quality, the hypermarkets can be compared as follows. When compared to Testo, Carrefour has excellent customer services and experience which leads to high client satisfaction since it offers gives its clients with unique and pleasant services after shopping which includes gift cards, warranties, free home deliveries, refunds and exchange, and rapid response to customer complains (Vo & Nguyen, 2015). Equally, Carrefour outsmarts Testo since it has numerous branches in major cities which results growth of its client base. Furthermore, the store layout in Carrefour hypermarket is racetrack type surpasses, a modern design that outsmarts the traditional repetitive design in Testo. In fact that gives Carrefour a competitive advantage since it is attractive thus it results to positive customer behaviour in shopping and visiting the hypermarket (Vo & Nguyen, 2015). Finally, one area of similarity between Carrefour and Testo is on capacity planning, in both hypermarkets, products are well arranged to limit empty shelfs which has a vital positive effects on product purchase. The recent surge in modern smart technology has brought a new epitome in customer experience management as retailers seek most effective technologies to offer an appealing and pleasant to enhance the shopping experience (Foroudi et al., 2018). Smart technologies like sensors erected in retail stores are used to collect complex data on customer behaviours during shopping which is used with retails to design the store layout to be more attractive (Foroudi et al., 2018). The technologies include mobile payment options and personalised promotion offers in which loyal customers obtain personalised offers and discounts. Finally, the self-service technologies are noted to enhance the service quality and enhance customer motivation. Particularly, self-service technologies gives customers time make decisions on the products they need to purchase. These technologies have a critical impact in influencing customer perceptions on products and service quality (Foroudi et al., 2018) . Conclusively, business managers need to but in consideration the key factors that influence customer perception of quality, the customer service, location of the organization, store layout, and capacity planning to ensure it meets customers’ needs. Finally, it needs to incorporate smart technologies to attain the desired data and boost customer experience leading to more customer attraction and retention. Nora al modbilll Carrefour Hypermarket Carrefour is a French multinational hypermarket that was established in 1959 by Marcil Fournier. In 2019, Carrefour generated 52% of its income outside France. Also, it tries to stay as close as possible with its customers in different countries and provides its supplies from local suppliers in the region. Carrefour gets nearly 1.3 million online shoppers each day (Carrefour G., 2020). Carrefour has about 15 hypermarkets in Saudi Arabia and offers more than 100,000 products to its customers while ensuring the value of money. It also offers online shopping and home delivery. In addition, Carrefour offers different types of payment methods such as credit card or cash on delivery (Carrefour G., 2020). The Quality of Hypermarkets Food shopping as we know it is changing greatly. There are a lot of new supermarkets offering different or rare types of food, home delivery, payment options, self-checkout, order customization, digital displays of helpful information and suggestions, as well as many other services that the consumer can benefit from. Also, many supermarkets are creating their website and app so customers can order from or request their order to be prepared before they pick it up. Technology is allowing supermarkets to evolve by making food shopping as interesting as possible. Quality assurance always aims for the same thing that is to offer excellent service to customers. Quality measuring in hypermarkets involves conducting many processes, such as sales audit, image control, technological advancement, and tidiness and cleanliness of the stores. In addition to complying with the quality policies and controlling all areas in the hypermarket. Offering excellent service to your customer means understanding their needs and wants and trying to fulfill them. This can be done via surveys, service evaluation forms, or market research (Mariel, 2019). Other Hypermarkets in Saudi Arabia In Saudi Arabia, there are many different supermarkets, but only a few that are recognizable among the consumers. Panda Hypermarket was established in 1987 and has about 200 branches across the Kingdom, which is considered the biggest retail company in the region. Panda aims towards offering the best goods at the best price. In addition, Panda has its own line of food, which is only sold in its shops. In 2013, Panda won the Global Brand Excellence Award. Panda also cares about technological advancement; it has its own website and mobile app so customers can order from (Panda, 2020). Managing a retail store is not an easy task, because there are many different criteria that the manager needs to pay attention to. The hypermarkets’ quality assurance can be summarized in specific criteria that are: 1) Store layout. 2) Customer satisfaction. 3) Inventory management. 4) Forecasting. 5) Capacity planning. 6) Location. 7) Scheduling. These criteria are important to run successful operations of any hypermarket or a retail store. Retail operations are defined as the business of managing different components that makeup or produce your business. Thus, managers need to develop a process that underlines all the different criteria to ensure that their business is being run effectively and successfully (Stevenson, 2018). Conclusion Technology is revolutionizing the way business is conducted. Industries are changing the way to execute services by using modern technology to fulfill their needs. Thus, technology has become a necessity in any successful business, especially in the retail business. However, technology alone is not enough. To have a successful business you need to have a comprehensive operational plan. A plan that addresses how to manage your supply, inventory, customer satisfaction, order fulfillment, and payment. To conclude, to have a successful business, you need to have a combination of technological advancement and a plan to run your operations.
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