Optimising the service mix for Irish hoteliers: The challenge for small food suppliers

Purpose - This paper seeks to investigate Irish hoteliers' customer service requirements of their food suppliers and to measure the trade-offs that hotel buyers are willing to make during the purchase decision. Design/methodology/ approach - The study is based on a quota sample of 100 hotels throughout the Republic of Ireland. Drawing on earlier research and applying conjoint analysis, the study demonstrates how customer service improvements may be achieved through variations in the customer service mix. Findings - Findings indicate that, for short shelf-life products, frequency of deliveries and the ability to carry out emergency deliveries generate the highest levels of utility. More utility is created by lower prices in the case of long shelf-life products. Small food suppliers are found to perform better on product quality and are more responsive in terms of product delivery than larger suppliers. They are perceived to be weaker on pricing, product assortment, and innovation. Research limitations/implications - The small number of observations for both four- and five-star hotels in the sample limited the effectiveness of cluster analysis, which would greatly assist suppliers targeting specific markets with customer service bundles. Practical implications - By highlighting the trade-offs that buyers use in evaluating customer service, the findings provide suppliers with the basis for assessing their own particular service mix. An improvement in perceived customer service may be achieved by reallocating the given resources and effort in favour of those parts of the mix that generate most value for the buyer. The identified trade-offs also provide manufacturers with the criteria that can be usefully applied to evaluate competing distributors for their products. Originality/value - By focusing on the hotel sector, the paper provides insights into a much ignored market for food suppliers, which differs considerably from mainstream grocery in terms of concentration, buyer processes and buying criteria.