Wal-Mart Asda to use customer feedback to decide product range

Wal-Mart’s Asda customers will soon be able to call the shots when it comes to the sorts of products they want stocked in its UK stores, the local press reported. Asda will start e-mailing customers images and details of products from the store’s buyers in the Far East, asking whether they want to see them in stores. The programme is believed to be the first of its kind in the world. For example, when Asda is buying for the Christmas season in January and February, customers will receive pictures, descriptions and price ranges for gifts they might like to buy or receive. It is also planning on having customers review possible apparel purchases. "We're very keen on using the digital channel to enhance what we do and allow our customers into the business. This will give us more insight into what their current thinking is about what they want to see," said Asda Corporate Communications Chief Dominic Burch. The programme is set to launch in all of its UK stores in autumn. The retailer will e-mail pictures to its UK ‘Pulse of the Nation’ group of roughly 18,000 customers, who will have the option of giving products a thumbs up or down and Asda’s decisions on whether to stock the times will be influenced on what the shoppers are saying. www.planetretail.net