Question

In July 2020 it was announced that Bed Bath & Beyond Inc., would be closing 200 stores over the next two years.

(i) Create a cause-and-effect diagram for this situation.

(ii) Provide a detailed description of the most likely causes of the situation.

Answer 1

Question # i. The following would be an example of a fishbone diagram for the reason of stores being closed:

Question # ii. For the most likely reason for some of the stores of a retail chain is being closed are related to the poor sales in the stores that may happen due to either the products available in the store are not of good quality, less variety of selection of product or there could be some pricing issue or there are not enough customers in the store catchment area. Another reason could be the dissatisfied customers due to problems related to customer support, or quality of products, etc. Another issue could be related to human resources like the incompetent sales team in the store which is not dedicated to serving the customer and does not give positive vibes to the customers who are visiting the stores.

Causes of 200 stores of Bed & bath are being closed High cost of operation Poor Sales Incompetent Sales staff Poor sourcing strategy Store location Poor promotion Strategy Less variety of product Higher taxes 200 stores of Bed & bath are being closed Product complaints Poor Quality of products Lack of good customer support Dissatisfied customers