Customer-Centric Retail Innovation from India in Dmart : Investigating the Incorporation of Consumer Feedback in the Creation of New Products
Lakhani, Amick (2025)
2025
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2025073023732
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2025073023732
Tiivistelmä
This study examines the influence of customer feedback on innovation for customer value creation at Dmart, one of the top retail chains in India. The study looks into the participation of different employees in various organizational tiers in the collection, understanding, and integration of customer feedback for organizational innovation and practices. Based on the Customer Insight Value Theory, the Feedback Loop Model, and the Stimulus Organism Response Model, the study employed qualitative tools within the framework of semi-structured interviews with three Dmart employees in strategic, supervisory, and frontline positions.
Thematic analysis revealed the collection of customer feedback as an incrementally paced Dmart innovation with the use of digital surveys, suggestion boxes, and informal and formal face-to-face interactions. Absence of standardized procedures caused within documentation and escalation. The findings from interviews demonstrated the extent customer insights drive innovation with respect to product assortment, store layout changes, and service improvements in the form of incremental innovations that support operational efficiency and customer satisfaction. On the other hand, systemic barriers such as the need to work within tight timelines, centralized control, inadequate training, and operational redundancies stifle responsive feedback and innovation across stores.
The study pointed out the facilitators of feedback integration like leadership backing, informal organizational channels, and feedback technology systems. There was an engagement gap within the perception hierarchy where store managers seemed more engaged in customer-driven innovation relative to frontline employees who were operationally overburdened and had very little control.
This research highlights the innovation-performance relationship in retail and the reliance on feedback systems. For Dmart, the gaps identified included lack of documented processes, lack of training guidance, and overly centralized decision making, which weakened the feedback systems. Addressing these gaps would enable Dmart to more actively close feedback loops, enhance customer responsiveness, and sustain innovation at scale.
This study enhances the understanding of customer-driven innovation in retailing, particularly in emerging markets, and emphasizes the crucial need for feed-back alignment within organizational systems to gain a competitive edge.
Thematic analysis revealed the collection of customer feedback as an incrementally paced Dmart innovation with the use of digital surveys, suggestion boxes, and informal and formal face-to-face interactions. Absence of standardized procedures caused within documentation and escalation. The findings from interviews demonstrated the extent customer insights drive innovation with respect to product assortment, store layout changes, and service improvements in the form of incremental innovations that support operational efficiency and customer satisfaction. On the other hand, systemic barriers such as the need to work within tight timelines, centralized control, inadequate training, and operational redundancies stifle responsive feedback and innovation across stores.
The study pointed out the facilitators of feedback integration like leadership backing, informal organizational channels, and feedback technology systems. There was an engagement gap within the perception hierarchy where store managers seemed more engaged in customer-driven innovation relative to frontline employees who were operationally overburdened and had very little control.
This research highlights the innovation-performance relationship in retail and the reliance on feedback systems. For Dmart, the gaps identified included lack of documented processes, lack of training guidance, and overly centralized decision making, which weakened the feedback systems. Addressing these gaps would enable Dmart to more actively close feedback loops, enhance customer responsiveness, and sustain innovation at scale.
This study enhances the understanding of customer-driven innovation in retailing, particularly in emerging markets, and emphasizes the crucial need for feed-back alignment within organizational systems to gain a competitive edge.