For this project, I have chosen Nordstrom to perform my retail anthropology. Nordstrom is a high-end fashion retailer with over 300 stores in the U.S. and Canada. It was originally opened in 1901 in Seattle, Washington as a shoe store and a shoe repair shop. The Nordstrom I chose to study was located at Somerset Mall in Troy, Michigan. I focused my research on trying to discover just who the Nordstrom customer is. To do this, I decided to go with three different methods. I began with direct observing in which I spent hours in the store over the span of several days silently examining the behaviors of the Nordstrom customers. Next, I myself posed as a mystery shopper to get a feel for the Nordstrom experience. Lastly, I conducted interviews …show more content…
They have stores all over the U.S. and Canada with a large customer base. Hundreds of loyal shoppers file into their stores every day. Nordstrom continues to hold their customers at the highest regard, giving them a top-of-the-line shopping experience. I have come to find out exactly what it is that keeps Nordstrom’s customers coming back. Specifically, I have discovered what aspects of the company customers truly love. All of these factors help to keep Nordstrom in the position of a top fashion …show more content…
I chose 4 day out of the week that I felt would give the greatest read on their customer base. I primarily chose to be at the store any time after noon based on my own previous shopping history. I noticed these times to be the busiest shopping hours. I wanted to observe the store during the week day as well as the weekend. It was no surprise that the Saturday I chose to go to the store was much more crowded then the previous days I had visited. I wanted to spend my first three visits simply observing to begin to identify patterns within the customer base. I dedicated one day to mystery shopping. This allowed me to get a good feel for the customer service of the brand and the overall experience of the store. I had chosen to conduct personal interviews with 5 random shoppers. I wanted to pick their brain and see what is it they valued about Nordstrom. I wanted to hear their recommendations for anything they would like to see Nordstrom do differently. I also wanted to know what keeps them returning to the store. I was open to hearing both the positives and negatives regarding the customers outlook on the store to better understand the relationship between the shoppers and
Macy’s intended to deliver enhanced shopping experiences to its consumers through dynamic department stores and online sites. In this regard, the company developed a North Star strategy that allows it to improve its sales growth and to develop its existing core activities. The company’s consumer research monitors, analyze and anticipate their needs and wants based on the changing market trends. This allows it to strengthen its customer base and also helps it in identifying new markets and customers. Macy’s also identifies different styles and designs based on various occasions and events that allow it to capture the changing preferences of its customers. The company also celebrates various iconic events to interact with its customers which
Nordstrom is one of the top retailers in the United States. With a solid brand image and a sound financial situation, Nordstrom is relentless in their expansion in the US, and are beginning to expand into international markets. Nordstrom takes pleasure in providing state of the art client support and having experienced sales people. In order to hold their position as the most successful high-end retailer in the United States, Nordstrom must continue to figure out ways to improve their brand image and customer satisfaction. Nordstrom’s current business working strategy is successful but I believe there are a few ideal solutions that the organization could apply to further enhance the organization. Due to the aggressive characteristics of the fashion retail store market, it is crucial that Nordstrom preserves an aggressive advantage providing the highest level of customer support as possible.
Over the years, the American department store has developed and evolved as not only a commercial business but also a cultural institution. While it has weathered many storms and changes since its inception and throughout history, its most predominant enemy has been a change in the lifestyle of the American people (Whitaker, 2013). As the customer’s needs and wants have shifted, department stores have struggled to keep up with demands. It has been argued that the decline of the department store has been ongoing for the last 50 years (Whitaker, 2013). This dissertation aims to understand how the department store has historically played a role in consumer culture and spending, and additionally, how this has evolved and changed in today’s retail market. Although department stores may not be able to take all the credit for inventing modern shopping, they certainly made its conventions and conveniences commonplace. They set a new standard for the way the consumer should expect to be treated, the type of services that should be provided, and the convenience that should attend the process of acquiring the necessities and niceties of life all in one place. They made shopping into a leisure pastime. This environment meant shopping was a means of freedom to look around, pick up objects with no obligations to buy. As one historian remarked, department stores: “encouraged a perception of the building as a public place, where consumption itself was almost incidental to the delights of a sheltered promenade in a densely crowded, middle-class urban space” (Whitaker, 2006). Although this perception and view of the department store has changed over the years, this paper aims to follow the trail of how and why that happened.
My company of choice for this report is Macy 's. 'The Magic of Macy 's ', as the company advertises it, has inspired me to shop there, take advantage of their incomparable discounts and great online shopping experience. Macy 's, Inc. is one of the largest department store chains in the United States of America. Macy 's manages stores under the Macy 's and Bloomingdale 's brands. I enjoy shopping at both of the company 's store brands, Macy 's and Bloomingdales. Bloomingdales provides a more personalized experience
Levy, Michael, Barton A. Weitz, and Dhruv Grewal. Retailing Management. ed. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education, 2014. Print.
Nordstrom retail stores have large hallways, and everything is presented in a very classy manner. The color scheme includes pale yellows, whites, and gold, to provide a more elegant appearance in the store in order to make the shopped feel special. The design is also seen through product organization. Compared to stores like Macy’s, which organize their products based on brand, Nordstrom organizes their products based on lifestyle. Because of this, it is easier for shoppers to find clothes similar to their style as opposed to by brand. In effect, shoppers will purchase more products. This also is a type of experiential retailing, where Nordstrom customers are able to experience the elements of their lifestyle within one section. More so, the product presentation will draw people’s eyes to products, even if they are not looking for it. This gives Nordstrom a competitive advantage in relation to other similar retail stores because it makes their store look more glamorous and high-end. While other stores may focus on value, Nordstrom utilizes the retail positioning strategy to make a customer feel more high-end and
The goal for my ethnographic study is subjected to the study of the people of Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart is a place that varies from city to city, but still attracts many of the same people. Everyone knows the weird people that wear ridiculous things to do their normal routine of shopping. That is why I have chosen to do my mini ethnography one day while shopping as an insider at the local Wal-Mart in Auburn, Alabama. Wal-Mart is a large center for shopping that attracts many different types of people, while creating an environment within itself.
Nordstrom’s has a particularly well-known marketing strategy based around its costumers. In a world of cutting prices to get consumer attention they maintain profitable prices while profiting much more than those who cut prices. This is due to the fact Nordstrom’s carefully tailors itself to the customer experience it wants to give to all its customers. The way the people in Nordstrom’s definitely differ in the way employees treat the customers. At Nordstrom’s it is felt the customer should feel a personal connection they help you out specifically to you, they remember repeat customers. Nordstrom workers do not just simply tell you where an item is located they bring you there personally to make sure you get what you wanted. Where as in a store
As technology get more advance, people use cameras, tracking devices in the stores to track customers shopping behavior. The retailers apply every detail that they get from anthropologists to get people buy their products. Some people claim that the surveillance of consumers by retail anthropologists is manipulative and unethical. However, the claim is not entirely true. Many retail use the data they get from anthropologists and apply it to their store to create great experiences for their customers, encourage customers to revisited, and ultimately improve business performances.
Martineau, P. (1958). The Personality of the Retail Store. Harvard Business Review , 36 (1), 47.
Nordstrom’s product offerings are not only of the best quality available, but are also presented in a fashion appealing to customers. The reputation Nordstrom has built in the industry has sustained their success for over a century. Nordstrom’s further expects to enhance their company philosophy in the future by implementing additional differentiation tactics that will continue their market dominance in highly volatile economy.
Today, the retail market is an integral part of economic development because it provides abundant power for the country’s interests. To succeed, retailers must usually update new information and techniques, or find different ways for attract customers from using cameras; loyalty cards of surveys that could help retailers compete with rivals. Most of people believe that the surveillance of consumers by retail anthropologists is manipulative and unethical. In fact, the retail anthropologists should survey to customers for many reasons such as access to customers demand, change and organize marketing strategies, and bring benefits to customers.
The SWOT analysis is a useful tool for identifying our personal strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to our plans and goals. According to a “Fuel My Motivation” article (2010), this analysis considers internal influences that can positively or negatively affect our ability to achieve our goals. The internal factors are our strengths and weaknesses. Also considered are opportunities and threats, which are external influences that can have a positive or negative impact on the ability to achieve our goals. I will share how the self-assessment instruments and self-exercises in this course have contributed to assessing and understanding my strengths and weaknesses. I will also discuss techniques I will use to leverage my strengths and understand my weaknesses. In addition, I will consider opportunities that I can take advantage of and the threats that can possibly impede my progress.
As research focus is on the retail environment, this will include desire to interact with others in the store, enjoy the environment of the store, patronage intentions, recommending the store to friends. Where as avoidance behavior would be opposite to approach (Donovan & Rossiter, 1982). Zeithaml (1996) defines behavior intentions as “The customer’s willingness to provide positive word of mouth, to visit the restaurant again in the future, to stay longer than anticipated, and to spend more than anticipated”. Further focusing on the approach and avoidance behaviors can generate four different outcomes such as: (1) a wish to remain or depart; (2) a desire to explore and interact or a tendency to want to leave and not explore the store; (3) a desire to communicate with others or to ignore them; and (4) thoughts of happiness or unhappiness (Hoffman & Turley, 2002), (Chebat & Michon, 2003).It is a human nature that if a consumer build up a greatly positive or negative experience with a retail store .It will results in approach or avoidance behavior in the future (Zavotka, 2007).Turley & Milliman (2000) also found out that there is significant relation between atmospherics and shopping behavior.
test whatever it's a bad effect or not. So when it used on humans, we