Steve-Comparison of Two Service Industry Competitors

Steve Wang

7-11 Logo (7-ELEVEN, n.d.)

Family Mart Logo (FamilyMart 全家便利商店, n.d.)

7-11 and Family Mart are the two big convenience stores in Taiwan. So, naturally, people will ask which store has better service. From questioning the small group of people around me, more people chose 7-11 over Family Mart. Furthermore, 7-11 has a greater market share compared to Family Mart (Statista, n.d.). Why is that so? Is Family Mart lacking? To figure this out, this research will look into the physical evidence and the people involved in the service package of these two competitors. Furthermore, this research will also be looking at the brief history of both stores to find out if the history of the company has affected their service.

7-11 started in 1927 when a few icehouse companies merged to form the Southland Ice Company in Dallas. As time passed, they switched from selling ice to doing retailing. When the Great Depression arrived and the company went bankrupt. Some time later, they decided to reopen with a new emphasis on food and drinks. During the year 1946, the store was renamed 7-Eleven to bring attention to its operation hours which were from 7 am to 11 pm. It also operated on all the days of the week which was quite unique. During the late 1950s, 7-11 started expanding beyond Texas and opening stores along the east coast. It was only until 1961 that they would expand their operations overseas in countries such as the US. Sometime during its history, 7-11 started setting their customer focus on young people (Lewis, 2020). To cater to the customer's needs, 7-11 introduced products such as Slurpees and hot dogs (TheCaseSolutions.com, n.d.). 2 years after that, some outlets began to be open 24 hours a day (Lewis, 2020). HE 7-11's first store in Taiwan opened in 1979 after Uni-President Enterprises Corporation entered into an agreement with 7-11's parent company (Salmonsen, 2018). During that time, 7-11 helped strengthen the concept of convenience stores in Taiwan. To do this, 7-11 franchised the operation and welcomed the local needs of customers which became a part of the localization strategy of 7-11 convenience stores in Taiwan. Another strategy 7-11 used was controlling the floor plans, the products, the operating time, and the location of stores. They also stopped selling kitchen appliances which were widely available at other retailers as well. Furthermore, 7-11 introduced hygienic foods at a low price. Tea eggs are an example. 7-11 Taiwan further added to the business model by adding more and more conveniences. Some examples include e-services like pre-ordering, online booking and picking up orders. Other similar services include taxi service booking, telecom services, sitting areas, and more healthy snacks (TheCaseSolutions.com, n.d.). Today in Taiwan, 7-11 has become synonymous with convenience because of the many convenient services it offers, almost anywhere in Taiwan.

In 1988, Family Mart established itself in Taiwan (FamilyMart, n.d.). It was Family Mart's first base outside Japan. Near the end of 1988, Family Mart's first store was opened in the business district in front of Taipei Station. After six years, they broke even in 1994 during which they opened even more stores. At that time, there were 192 established Family Mart stores. Presently, Family Mart has the second largest market share in the convenience store industry in Taiwan (Statista, n.d.). Unfortunately for Family Mart, their competitor 7-11 takes the crown. Family Mart was at a big disadvantage because Family Mart, the whole thing, started only 1 year before 7-11 started in Taiwan. While 7-11, already had more than 30 years of experience compared to Family Mart. Family Mart only joined the fight in Taiwan in 1988 (FamilyMart 全家便利商店 企業網站, n.d.). That allowed 7-11 9 years to pull ahead of Family Mart. That may have been a contributing factor to 7-11's dominance in market share.

This research is mainly focused on answering the question of which convenience store competitor 7-11 or, Family Mart has better service. The researcher went to one Family Mart and one 7-11 to conduct an in-depth study. This research is mainly focused on the people factor and the physical evidence factor as outlined by the 8p analysis for the service industry. These two points were chosen for this research because they can be clearly defined and recorded. It is of very high importance for customer perceptions in face-to-face service encounters. The people because of the service they directly provide and the physical evidence because that will affect the ease of shopping for the customers. For the “people” factor, this research looked at gender, speaking tone, and the uniform state of the staff. For the physical evidence, the brightness of the store, the cleanliness of the floors, and the layout of the store were recorded. To record some of those things, some special tools were needed. For example, to record the brightness, the researcher used an app on the phone called Lux Light Meter Pro. Which is available on the App Store and Google Play.

Downloading Lux Light Meter Pro on iphone

Another example is the layout of the store. To get the size and dimensions of the store, the researcher used an iPhone's Measure app to measure the distance between points. Pictures of researcher using iPhone's Measure app:

Measuring store

More measuring

The researcher went to both stores in the morning. At 7-11, there were 2 workers, one male, and one female. Their uniform was clean enough, there were no obvious stains on the uniform of either worker. Both employees had their name tags on. Looking at the environment, a lot of dirty things on the floor were spotted. The brightness was 209 lux. A phone light sensor was used and the sensor was pointed from when the researcher walked in from the door. The following is a general blueprint of the store. On it, the main products of each shelf were recorded.

7-11 store blueprint

At 7-11   At Family Mart, the researcher realized it had some products that 7-11 did not. That aside, the floors of this were dirtier compared to the 7-11 store. Some instances of uncleanliness could be found at this Family Mart Also, the brightness was 194 lux. There was one male employee in his uniform. His uniform did not display any obvious stains. All services of the store were managed by this one man.

A part of 7-11

A part of Family Mart

A 2 out of 5 cleanliness score was given (click to see what score means) for Family Mart and a 3 out of 5 cleanliness score was given (click to see what score means) for 7-11. Both stores were not very clean but Family Mart was dirtier compared to 7-11. They really should clean their store more. Also, the 7-11 store was slightly brighter compared to the Family Mart store. Both stores could have been brighter or it could have been that my phone sensor was not accurate. However, according to (The greenage, 2016), a retail store should have at least 500 lux so, both stores should be brighter.It was observed by the researcher that at Family Mart service was not as good as 7-11. The cashier did not greet the customer and did not tell the customer if the payment was successful. Also, the customer had to prompt him for some things. For example, to ask if the payment was successful. It almost seemed like the customer was the one giving the service.

Looking at the results, it is clear that 7-11 had the better server between the two stores. The 7-11 store was brighter cleaner, and more well-staffed. That being said, none of the stores had very good service. How do we improve it? The most obvious solution is probably hiring more people. For example, hiring cleaners to clean the stores. All of it will cost more so probably none of the convenience stores are going to do it. They are a business. Everyone participating in it has to gain something. To hire workers, they will probably only lose money. One solution to this problem is, to give the current workers a raise but require them to do more work. So, the store creates a better and cleaner environment for workers and customers alike. They can do this with little extra money spent. Even so, it is unlikely stores will do anything about this issue. The customers are not going anywhere. It is Taiwan's culture to buy things from convenience stores. People have become reliant on it. As long as one store does not become too much worse than others, most people would just go to the one nearest to them. Knowing this, the respective companies would probably not do anything to improve service because they gain very little and might have to spend a lot more. Above, it was mentioned that Family Mart has some products that 7-11 did not. These are some examples:

Products 7-11 does not have but Family Mart has

This affects the service a little bit because if I wanted a product Family Mart did not have I will go shop at 7-11.

Another important factor of service is the layout of the store. The layout of the store can affect the speed and efficiency of service. For 7-11, the store layout was not very good. The place had small hallways considering the size of the store. The main problem is the placement of the ATMs and the printers. They were in placed in a small corner at the side of the store near the counter. It is difficult to realize that was there or that it could be used until I had payed multiple visits to the store. However, one thing I thought was great was, they had a lot of toys at the front of the store. It would attract younger customers and their parents in. Even so, I have never see anyone buy those toys. I guess they just wanted to stand out in some way. 
 Moving on to Family Mart, I thought it was weird that the alcohol was at the very front of the store. Kids under eighteen would not be attracted to those things. However, they made up for it by putting candy where it could easily be seen when you walked it. One bad thing I saw was, the ATM and hot foods were very near the door. That could cause the entrance to be blocked if the store is busy. A way to fix it could be to place the ATM somewhere else.

Comparing those two blueprints I would say both are not very good for different reasons. For 7-11, the tight hallways and the slightly inaccessible areas. For Family Mart, the main problem would be the alcohol and the lack of attraction of underage customers. Both are not the best designs I have seen and both have room for improvement. One thing both of those stores can improve on is the size of the walkways. If I had carried a slightly bigger bag, I might not have fit between the hallways. Looking at the layouts more closely, I realised that there are a few similarities between those stores like have warm food like tea egg, and sausages at the front of the store. Those things might be good for attracting customer to come into the shop.

In conclusion, if we are solely talking about the service, this case study shows that 7-11 has better service than Family Mart. However, this study is not for all 7-11 or Family Marts. This is a case study done on one 7-11 and one Family Mart. This is a franchise store so service can be different at each store. The same case study would have to be conducted in a lot more stores. Also, all the information was recorded only once. Multiple visits to the same store would have made the results more accurate. If there needs to be a definitive answer with conclusive evidence of which store's service is better, many more stores would have to be visited multiple times.

Levels of Cleanliness

A part of 7-11

A part of Family Mart

Mesuring with iphone measure app

Mesuring with iphone measure app

Downloading Lux Light Meter Pro on the App Store

Products 7-11 does not have but Family Mart has

7-11 Store Layout

Family Mart Store Layout

Comparing Results

1. How 7-11 entered Taiwan: TheCaseSolutions.com. (n.d.). STRENGTHENING OF 7- ELEVEN IN TAIWAN Case Solution And Analysis, HBR Case Study Solution & Analysis of Harvard Case Studies. TheCaseSolutions.Com. Retrieved October 8, 2022, from https://www.thecasesolutions.com/strengthening-of-7-eleven-in-taiwan-70027

2. Taiwan Convenience Stores market share: Taiwan: Market share of convenience stores by brand 2021 | Statista. (n.d.). Statista. Retrieved October 11, 2022, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/1235523/taiwan-market-share-of-convenience-stores-by-brand/

3. FamilyMart 全家便利商店 企業網站. (n.d.). Retrieved November 23, 2022, from https://www.family.com.tw/Web_EnterPrise/page/information_en.aspx#tab_tic_5

4. 7-11 history: Lewis, R. (2020, October 29). 7-Eleven | History & Facts | Britannica. Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/7-Eleven

5. Salmonsen, R. (2018, January 19). 7-ELEVEN celebrates 40th anniversary in Taiwan | Taiwan News | 2018-01-19 12:23:00. Taiwan News. https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3344848

6. 維基百科. (n.d.). 全家便利商店—維基百科，自由的百科全書. 維基百科. Retrieved October 9, 2022, from https://zh.m.wikipedia.org/zh-tw/%E5%85%A8%E5%AE%B6%E4%BE%BF%E5%88%A9%E5%95%86%E5%BA%97

7. The greenage. (2016, June 6). What are lux and how much light do you need? - TheGreenAge. The Greenage. https://www.thegreenage.co.uk/lux-much-light-need/

8. 7-ELEVEN. (n.d.). 7-ELEVEN. Retrieved November 24, 2022, from https://www.7-11.com.tw/

9. FamilyMart 全家便利商店. (n.d.). 全家就是你家 FamilyMart. Retrieved November 24, 2022, from https://www.family.com.tw/Marketing/