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Have you ever purchased a product only to find it was defective when you took it out of the box? If so, you surely remember the unpleasant feeling associated with this experience. 

Now, imagine thousands of consumers like yourself experiencing this feeling at the same time.

This feeling is unacceptable for consumers. And for retailers that distribute defective products, these businesses could put their consumers as well as their brand reputations and revenues at risk, especially if a recall is needed or federal penalties are issued. 

For a company that sells faulty products, it may be difficult to gain a competitive edge if it fails to provide customers with the offerings they deserve. And even a single poor experience can leave a bad taste in a customer's mouth, one that may lead this consumer to consider a business' rivals. 

To better understand the impact of a defective product on a company and its customers, let's consider a recent product recall by American big-box store chain Meijer. 

In September 2014, Meijer was fined $2 million by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), which discovered the company distributed recalled consumer products. 

How could this happen? According to CPSC, "Meijer distributed recalled products through a system Meijer operated with a third-party contractor." Also, CPSC officials alleged that Meijer "failed to take action to prevent distribution of recalled products," which caused approximately 1,700 units of recalled consumer products to be resold to consumers between April 2010 and April 2011. 

Meijer products that were recalled included:

• Box fans
• High chairs
• Infant teethers and rattlers
• Sanders
• Toddler tricycles

Meijer's inability to prevent recalled products from reaching consumers clearly impacted a wide range of customers nationwide. As such, CPSC issued a fine against Meijer, but the true damage to Meijer may impact its bottom line and brand reputation. 

In the future, Meijer may need to work to rebuild trust with customers. And even after substantial time and resource investments, there is no guarantee that this company will be able to regain customers it may have lost due to its product defects. 

Furthermore, Meijer will need to reassess its day-to-day operations to ensure that only the best products are being released to consumers. This may require significant time and resources as well as a commitment from employees who are responsible for monitoring product quality and safety issues. 

How can a company benefit from an automated product quality and safety alerting system?

Businesses like Meijer could benefit from state-of-the-art alerting systems to identify and address product quality and safety defects. And with PolyVista Alerts+, businesses of all sizes can reap the rewards of a top-notch alerting system consistently. 

PolyVista Alerts+ is designed to help business managers take the guesswork out of monitoring product quality and safety issues. It enables managers to harness the product information that is available so they can use it to protect customers from potentially hazardous products. 

Moreover, PolyVista Alerts+ boasts an easy-to-navigate interface that allows users to set up alerts based on keywords and phrases. This enables business managers to ensure all safety issues in consumer complaints, product and warranty returns or other critical analyses of products are caught, reported and escalated to the right people. 

Let's not forget about the flexibility offered by PolyVista Alerts+, either. The alerting system offers customized parameters, user permissions and a workflow feature that helps users view and manage historical alerts. As a result, in the event of an audit, the application generates detailed audit trails for each different alert or product.

PolyVista Alerts+ can make the difference between releasing a first-rate product or a defective one. It empowers business managers with a versatile tool they can use to proactively monitor product quality and safety issues every day. And ultimately, PolyVista Alerts+ may prove to be a time- and money-saver for retailers around the country. 

Summary

A proactive approach to product quality and safety often serves as the best approach for retailers. With PolyVista Alerts+, business managers are better equipped to devote the necessary time and resources to minimize the risk that faulty products reach consumers. This tool can deliver long-lasting value, as it ensures businesses can meet federal product quality and safety requirements and reduce the risk of recalls that can cause brand reputation damage and revenue losses.