Peer Market Study Competition, Essay Example

In order to become more competitive in the local area, the management needs to increase the engagement in the community, reduce prices, and meet the expectations of customers. To complete the above goals, two guidelines need to be created: volunteer modeling standard operation, and guideline operation standards.

Volunteer modeling guideline operation

Volunteers’ training should be supportive and ongoing. Goodwill employs community service volunteers, while Resurrection Thrift Stores involve church members. Taking the example from the The Women’s Home / Cottage Thrift Shop (Structured Employment Economic Development Corporation, 2002), hands-on training for staff can be beneficial for community engagement and building competencies for competitiveness. Further, involvement of staff in the main charity is good for the reputation and creating awareness about the cause. In the example of Women’s Home / Cottage Thrift Shop, “the thrift shop manager, Hatcher attends all clinical meetings where residents’ needs are discussed” (Structured Employment Economic Development Corporation, 2002, p. 3). SMCA could recruit parents of students and past recipients of funding made possible by the store.

Standard operation for non profit thrift stores

The management should be selected from a pool of volunteers who have business and charity program experience.  The quality of the items is one of the most important determinants of purchase among low income families, according to Woodon & Woodon (2013, p. 5). Therefore, specific policies and procedures need to be created to follow up the path of the merchandise from the time it is donated to the point of sale, in particular focus on quality checks, correct location in the store, size display, and pricing. By having operations standards, a training formula can be created to ensure that customer service, quality of items, display, and information is constantly at the highest possible level. Managers would also need to develop checklists and procedures for new and existing staff.

References

Structured Employment Economic Development Corporation (2002) When good work makes good sense: social purpose business case studies. Retrieved from http://www.proveandimprove.org/documents/good_work.pdf

Wodon, D. & Wodon, N. (2013) Analyzing the determinants of individual sales at nonprofit thrift stores: a case study for Martha’s Outfitters in Washington, DC Washington International School, Washington, DC, June 1, 2013 Retrieved from http://www.amstat.org/education/posterprojects/projects/2013/SecondPlace7-9.pdf