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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Client: Sakura Sushi Sakura Sushi is a fast food sushi restaurant that serves a variety of sushi in addition to other Asian dishes. It is located at 7084 N. Mannheim Road in Rosemont, Illinois in an outdoor shopping center next to the Allstate Arena. Problem: There is a loss of possible customers due to the many competitors in the surrounding area. We were asked to create a customer loyalty plan to keep current customers as well as attract new customers. Solution: We created a customer loyalty plan based on our research findings in order to increase sales and the customer retention rate.

Research Methods
Manager Interview
Key Findings: A large amount of consumers do not know the restaurant exists despite having visited the strip mall. Consumers have the wrong impression that Sakura Sushi only serves sushi. There is not a customer loyalty program that encourages customers to continue coming back. Current and potential customers have no access to important information about Sakura Sushi such as promotions and discounts.

Customer Survey

Student Survey

Strategic goals: Develop a new website and adopt social media strategies to attract and inform customers. Create consumer awareness to increase market share. Implement a customer loyalty program in order to increase customer retention rate.

Proposed investment: The total cost of the proposed customer loyalty program for one year is around $11,610. This number was estimated through the cost of the activities that would be implemented in the new customer loyalty program.
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II. INTRODUCTION A. Description of the business or organization Sakura Sushi differs greatly from well-known fast food restaurants. When entering the restaurant a customer sees earth tone decor accented with Asian style lanterns and lights, and paintings that line the walls. In the background soft cultural music plays to add to the atmosphere. Other than these slight highlights, Sakura Sushi reminds customers of most modern day casual restaurants, except that they serve unique dishes compared to sandwiches and pizza. Sakura Sushi
Interior Dcor of Sakura Sushi

serves not only a variety of sushi, but also serves other Asian dishes such as Teriyaki Chicken. When ordering for the first time some parts of the menu can be a little confusing because there are many choices. However, as one looks at it the menu starts to make more sense. A customer can order from pre-decided meals labeled with a number, but can also replace or add to that meal from an option menu. The price of the food is between $4.00-$10.00, and the portion size is well worth the price. The food is
One of the many Asian dishes served at Sakura Sushi.

brought to your table by an employee on a white plate with an Asian design. All of

the main dishes include white rice, and a side salad.

B. Description of the community (economic, geographic, demographic and socioeconomic factors) Sakura Sushi is located in Rosemont, Illinois in a strip mall that houses Target, Subway, Coldstone, and Office Depot, along with a few other small stores. It is

A satellite image of the strip mall where Sakura Sushi is located.

also located across the street from the Allstate Arena, a multi-purpose arena that hosts sporting and entertainment events. This strip mall gets a lot of traffic and many cars pass by on Mannheim Road and Touhy Avenue, making it easy to get the attention of a large amount of people. This is shown in the picture to the left. Even though Sakura Sushi is located in a busy strip mall, it is still somewhat hard to see because it is a small restaurant. This location also causes a problem because of the variety of restaurants in close proximity, which can be viewed as competition. People who live in nearby neighborhoods, such as Des Plaines and Park Ridge, tend to take their own means of transportation to
Sakura Sushi is located on the corner of E Touhy Avenue and Mannheim Road

work. 88.6% of people in Des Plaines drive their own vehicle to work

(Graph 1), and 83.6% of people in Park Ridge drive their own vehicle to work (Graph 2). The data shown in these charts is important because in order to go to Sakura Sushi during a lunch break people need to have their own means of transportation. If there are a lot of employees that drive their own vehicle to work then they are more likely to go out on a lunch break than someone who takes another form of transportation to work such as the train or bus.

Graph 1: Means of Transportation to Work in Des Plaines

Means of Transportation to Work in Des Plaines

Walk or Bicycle 421 (3.1%) Work at Home 247 (1.8%) Others 80 (.59%) Private Vehicle 12,110 (88.6%) Public Transportation 791 (5.79%) Taxi 19 (.14%)

Graph 2: Means of Transportation to Work in Park Ridge

Means of Transportation to Work in Park Ridge

Walk or by Bicycle 365 (2%) Work at home 719 (4%) Others 42 (.2%) Private Vehicle 15,105 (83.6%) Public Transportation 1,781 (9.9%) Taxi 48 (.3%)

C. Description of the businesss target market. Primary Target Market: A large amount of customers that go to Sakura Sushi work professional jobs and therefore visit during their lunch break or after work. Also customers that go to Sakura Sushi want to experience new things, and desire a healthier and unique alternative to their average

meal. Our target market can afford to eat out when they choose, and also attend professional conventions, given that the AllState Arena is across the street.

Secondary Target Market: Our secondary target market is people who do not know Sakura Sushi exists, do not know of its location, or have the wrong impression of the restaurant. Many of these people have visited stores near Sakura Sushi or have been to the AllState Arena, but have not noticed the restaurant. The people that have noticed Sakura Sushi but will not eat there are people who do not like sushi and have the wrong impression that the restaurant only serves sushi.
Graph 3: People who have been to Sakura Sushi Graph 4: People who knew Sakura Sushi was by Target

People who have been to Sakura Sushi

People who knew Sakura Sushi was by Target

Yes 16 (13.7%)

Yes 41 (31%) No 59 (69%)

No 101 (86.3%)

In a student survey, given out to Maine West High School students, 86.3% of students said that they have not been to Sakura Sushi. 69% of students said that they did not even know Sakura Sushi existed, even though they have been to that same strip mall that it is located in. In order to gain more of the market share we need to get Sakura Sushis name out and increase awareness.

III. RESEARCH METHODS USED IN THE STUDY A. Description and rationale of research methodologies selected to conduct the research study In order to gain more information about Sakura Sushi and their current customer loyalty program we created interview questions for the manager (Survey 1). Also, a customer survey (Survey 2) was created in order to gain information on the customers opinion of the restaurant. Finally, we created a student survey (Survey 3) to hand out at Maine West High School to gain information about the awareness of Sakura Sushi. These three research methods helped us gain valuable knowledge that was taken into account when creating our customer loyalty program.

B. Process of conducting the selected research method(s) The process of conducting our research consisted of handing out over 200 student surveys to random students in all grade levels, 9-12. We then entered the data into a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet and totaled the students answers for each question. This gave us a visual representation, and easier access to the data we had collected. To conduct our manager interview we scheduled a meeting with the manager and asked him the questions we had created to better our knowledge of the current target market, and customer loyalty program. We then analyzed the mangers responses and took them into account when creating our customer loyalty plan. In addition to gaining the managers view point of Sakura Sushi, we developed a customer survey to obtain knowledge of current customers opinions. To collect customer data we emailed several people who have been to Sakura Sushi. In addition to those emails, we visited the restaurant to talk to customers in person and find out what they thought about the

restaurant. We then reviewed the data and took the customers opinions into account when creating our customer loyalty plan.

Survey 1: Customer Loyalty Interview Questions for a Manager 1.What is your customer loyalty program as of now? 2. If so how long have you had it? 3. How do you train employees to encourage customers to return? 4. Can you explain the percentages of customers per time of day? 5. How do you advertise your business? 6. How and where do you get your products? 7. How long have you been at this location? Are there other locations? 8. What kind of customers do you see daily? Age? Nationality? 9. Can you describe your lunch rush? 10. How do you deal with customer dissatisfaction?

Survey 3: Student Survey 1. Have you been to Sakura Sushi in Rosemont? YES NO 2. Did you even know Sakura Sushi was by Target? YES NO 3. Are you a fan of sushi? YES NO 4. Did you know they serve food other than sushi? YES NO 5. Do you like trying new food? YES NO 6. Would you be willing to go there? (If you have not been) YES NO

Survey 2: Customer Survey Continuum: Agree, Somewhat agree, Somewhat disagree, Disagree 1. You are a frequent visitor 2. The food met your satisfaction 3. There was a good amount of food choice 4.The menu was easy to understand 5. The price was reasonable 6. The service met your satisfaction 7.You liked the atmosphere of the restaurant 8. You came here to try something new 9. You have tried sushi before 10. You will return 11. You will recommend us to a friend or family member

IV. FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS OF THE STUDY A. Findings of the research study Through the use of a student survey we found that 83.6% of people do not go to Sakura Sushi and are not aware of its location, despite having been to stores in the nearby location, such as Target. Also the name, Sakura Sushi, suggests that the restaurant only serves sushi even though there are other Asian dishes offered. 31.7% of the students that took the survey said they do not like sushi and therefore have not gone to Sakura Sushi. In the manager interview we found that there is no specific customer loyalty plan to attract and keep customers. We also found that most customers visit Sakura Sushi during lunch, and the majority of customers are business people.

Manager Interview
Current Customer Loyalty Program
Happy hour s from 3 to 5 pm Have had happy hour for 2 years since we opened Employees trained to be positive and treat customers well

Customers
Most customers are seen during lunch Most customers are business people

Awareness
Currently in directories at nearby hotels Rely on customers to spread awareness

By having customers take a survey we were able to find that the people that went to Sakura sushi enjoy trying new food. The customers like the food at Sakura Sushi, yet most visit less than once a month. This is because there is no customer loyalty program to encourage customers to keep returning.

Customer Survey Results

85% of people visit less than once a month

77% of people like the food

78% of people went to try something new

Customer loyalty Survey

B. Conclusions based on the findings After looking over the data from all three research methods we found that Sakura Sushi does not have immense brand awareness in the surrounding communities, and current customers do not visit often. We also found that the current customers that go to Sakura Sushi are generally business people. Our customer loyalty plan needs to include strategies that create recognition in the surrounding communities and also encourage current customers to keep returning.

V. PROPOSED STRATEGIC PLAN (Including application of marketing concepts and technology usage) A. Goals/objectives and rationale (short- and long-term benefits to the business of enhancing or introducing a customer loyalty program into current operations) Our goals are to implement social media strategies in order to increase awareness and keep customers informed. We also want current customers to continue coming back more often. More information will be collected about the customer, giving us an opportunity to adapt to their needs, encouraging them to keep coming back. Benefits to implementing our customer loyalty plan include an increase in yearly sales, more customers per year, and an increase in the customer retention rate. Also, our customer loyalty plan will create recognition throughout the community, which will bring in more customers to Sakura Sushi in the long term.

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B. Proposed activities and time lines Table 1: Timeline of proposed activities Month Activities Website Facebook Photos Samples All-State Arena Wi-Fi Rewards Card Tabletop Tablet Email Item of the month Feb. March April May June July Continued

Above is a chart of the activities included in the proposed customer loyalty program. The check marks indicate the time at which the activity will be implemented.

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Website- A new website will be created in order to attract and inform customers about Sakura Sushi before they visit. As of now, Sakura Sushi does not have a functioning website, which leaves potential and current customers frustrated with the lack of information available. This in turn causes potential customers to become irritated, which leads them to choose a different restaurant. By creating a new website, customers will be able to look at the menu, contact the restaurant, and view photos of other customers experiences. A functional and appealing website will attract new customers and convince current customers to keep coming back.
Proposed website for Sakura Sushi

Facebook Page- We want to create a Facebook page to inform customers about upcoming events related to Sakura Sushi. A Facebook page would also allow potential customers to gain knowledge about the restaurant before they go there. It is important to implement a Facebook page because many people use social networks to interact with friends and the community. This will help increase Sakura Sushis market share because we are reaching out to a large amount of people in our target market.

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Photos on Facebook- Because people do not know a lot about Sakura Sushi, or have the wrong idea about the restaurant, we want customers to be able to upload photos to Facebook. They would then tag themselves and then receive a discount to the restaurant. This is beneficial since it encourages customers to come back to Sakura Sushi because they have a coupon, and it also lets potential customers know what they will experience when eating at Sakura Sushi.

Samples- Samples will be given out in the months of May, June, and July in front of Sakura Sushi. Giving out samples during nice weather will benefit Sakura Sushi because it allows customers to try the food before they commit to buying it.

AllState Arena ticket stub discount- Customer will be able to bring in their AllState arena ticket from a prior event and receive a discount at Sakura Sushi. This will attract new customers and encourage current customers to keep coming back. There are a lot of people that go to the AllState arena for events, so we are reaching a very large amount of people fairly easily.

Free Wi-Fi- This will benefit Sakura Sushi because it adds something to the restaurant that customers use daily. People use Wi-Fi for work and searching the web. If we implement free WiFi into Sakura Sushi then customers can sit down and work on their laptops or Smartphone. Customers would be more likely to come to Sakura Sushi, than another restaurant that does not have it.

Rewards Card- We would like to implement a rewards card into Sakura Sushi where customers would receive a menu item for free on a random visit. Customers will swipe the rewards card

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each visit and the cashier will let them know if they have a free menu item on their card. Customers will receive items based on what they usually order, so that the free menu item will be something they enjoy. Customers can also sign into the website to check what deals they have on their card, this in turn leads customers back to the website where they can look at photos and other upcoming events. This will encourage customers to keep coming back to Sakura Sushi because they will want to see if they can get another free item. The rewards card will also gather information about the customer such as their name, date and time of visit, and items purchased. This will be used to calculate the customer retention rate.

Touch screen on table- By putting a touch screen on each table we can ask customers to take a quick survey while their food is being prepared. We can also put a touch screen at the end of the counter so if people are waiting to get food to go they can also use it. This will allow us to track and analyze data, and help Sakura Sushi adapt to customers wants and needs, creating a constant feedback loop. In turn this will increase customer loyalty because Sakura Sushi will be constantly adapting to what the customers want, making them want to keep returning.

Email Coupons- Emailing coupons will encourage current customers to come back to Sakura Sushi. People checking their email at work can then print the coupon and then go out for their lunch break.

Item of the month- Each month customers will be able to vote for a special menu item of the month. Voting can take place on Facebook or the website and will increase customer involvement with Sakura Sushi. Also, when a customer buys the menu item of the month, 10-

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20% of the sale will go to a local charity chosen each month. This will attract new customers and keep current customers returning because they are supporting a local community that affects others around them.

C. Proposed budget (identify costs associated with potential strategies) Table 2: Budget Item Wi-Fi Device Wi-Fi Touch screen Tablets Rewards Program Website Design Website Hosting Package $150.00 $130.00/ Month $400.00 Each $150.00/ Month $2,000.00 $100.00/Year Cost Total Cost Per Item $150.00 $1,560 (1 Year) $6,000.00 (15 Tablets) $1,800 (1 Year) $2,000.00 $100.00

Total Cost: $11,610

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D. Proposed metrics to measure return on investment (ROI), sales, customer retention, customer satisfaction, etc. Graph 5: Sales Projection for 1 Year
840,000 820,000 800,000 780,000 760,000 740,000 720,000 700,000 680,000 660,000 Increase in Sales Current Sales Future Sales

15% Increase in Sales in 1 Year

Revenue Customers Retention Rate

Current 90,000 36%

After 1 Year 104,000 46%

Profit Gross Profit

Current $720,000

After 1 Year $828,000

After our customer loyalty program is implemented, Sakura Sushi will see a 15% increase in their yearly sales from $720,000 to $828,000 which will be shown in the income statement. Also, Sakura Sushi will see 14,000 more customers per year along with a 10% increase in customer retention rate. This will be calculated using data obtained from the rewards
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card database. The database will contain information such as customer name, date and time of visit, and items purchased. With better customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty Sakura Sushi will benefit from an increase in sales in the first year and for the future.

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VI. BIBLIOGRAPHY "Des Plaines, Illinois (IL) Profile: Population, Maps, Real Estate, Averages, Homes, Statistics Relocation, Travel, Jobs, Hospitals, Schools, Crime, Moving, Houses, News, Sex Offenders." Stats about All US Cities - Real Estate, Relocation Info, House Prices, Home Value Estimator, Recent Sales, Cost of Living, Crime, Race, Income, Photos, Education, Maps, Weather, Houses, Schools, Neighborhoods, and More. Web. 13 Oct. 2011. <http://www.city-data.com/city/Des-Plaines-Illinois.html>. "Park Ridge, Illinois (IL 60068) Profile: Population, Maps, Real Estate, Averages, Homes, Statistics, Relocation, Travel, Jobs, Hospitals, Schools, Crime, Moving, Houses, News, Sex Offenders." Stats about All US Cities - Real Estate, Relocation Info, House Prices, Home Value Estimator, Recent Sales, Cost of Living, Crime, Race, Income, Photos, Education, Maps, Weather, Houses, Schools, Neighborhoods, and More. Web. 13 Oct. 2011. <http://www.city-data.com/city/Park-Ridge-Illinois.html>.

"Rosemont IL 60018 Demographics, Rosemont 60018 Population Statistics." Movoto RealEstate, Homes for Sale, Real Estate Agents. Web. 13 Oct. 2011. <http://www.movoto.com/neighborhood/il/rosemont/60018.htm>.

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