STORE #1-
Costco is a warehouse retailer that is club membership only. The one analyzed is in the Inglewood area. Costco is a well known retailer of a huge variety of items, mostly food. They do however have other merchandise such as electronics, clothing, furniture, tires, house renovations, etc. They offer low prices for big amounts of a sole product. It attracts many small business owners, huge families, pretty much anyone who wants great prices for a great amount of merchandise. Electronics and appliance wise they carry huge variety and with lower prices than a regular retail store. Costco has been around since 1982, with the first one opening in Seattle, Washington. As of 2012 they have 622 location and its a worldwide company. with over 150 locations in other countries around the world. Their headquarters are located in Issaquah, Washington,U.S. There most recent revenue figures has been $97.062 billion for the fiscal year of 2012. Costco has been the only company that has gained $3 billion in sales in less than 6 years. Shows the success this retailer has had and continues to do so.
Costco is more of a warehouse looking store but still manages to have some of Underhill's concepts. They decompression zone of Costco is quite different than other retailers because of the way its set up. The entrance is quite ample, but has items placed directly on the both sides of the pathway into the store. Those items sometimes tend to go unnoticed unless its a specific item the customer is looking for. The decompression zone is not at its best but for some reason it doesn't scare away customers it actually attracts them more. There isn't much if the invariant right going on. The items are equally placed and customers just go through each section on their shopping trip. The petting goes on a different level. Costco is known for having huge layouts of items. For their clothing section they always have high,neat tables for the clothes to be folded on. That section of the store is really open and with many different items being on tables attracts customers to go on a petting spree. Petting is a huge thing in costco. No matter if its clothing, food, wine, household products, they all are there for a customer to pet and get to feel what they are purchasing. The bakery are has a great variety of products placed on tables that people can get overwhelmed but in a good way by this. The wine area is very neat also, it has bottles and bottles of wine that a customer can "pet", read the label and decide if it is what they are looking for. People respond to all the cues, they focus on the item pet it and decide elf they are going to purchase it. The other great thing about Costco is that it offers samples of products. This isn't an Underhill concept but i find it interesting to not briefly talk about it. The offering of samples is a great technique in order to sell the product. It allows the customer to try it and it creates a quick interest, therefore there is a higher chance of the customer to buy that product. The isles of the store a very wide and clean with no problem of the "butt brushing" concept to happen. People can easily get through every part of the store without having that issue. Many other stores have narrow and areas that are just to complicated to get past by but in Costco this really isn't an issue. |
STORE #2
Macy's is a well known department store and can be found in about any mall/shopping center. The one analyzed is located in the Westfield shopping mall. Macy's is a retailer of clothes, shoes, jewelry, makeup, perfumes, and other personal fashionable items. They also sell furniture, kitchen appliances, among other household items. There are Macy's that have a more upscale variety of things meaning they carry more prestigious designers and name brand items. Every Macy's however always has a great variety of merchandise. There are some that have a whole separate mens store, or a whole separate home store. The department store have been around for a really long time. Macy's was founded in 1858, that being well over 100 years. They have increased in locations ever since Robinson's May closed down. Macy's ended up taking that place. The headquarters are located in Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S and serve nationwide with 798 locations. Macy's has been successful for quite some time, their most known current revenue is 24.892 billion for the fiscal year of 2009.
Macy's uses a few of Underhills's concepts, the decompression zone doesn't always feel like a decompression zone. If its located in a shopping mall, the entrance is very wide and with counters placed like about 10 feet. Theres merchandise on the left side and right side as soon as you enter. They sometimes even have stands of a product right in front in sections. Most likely during the holidays. The placements of the products is to attract more sells. There has to be a decompression zone or it can overwhelm the customer. A Macy's usually has several entrance ways. They all pretty much look similar to the one on the left. They are ample but with so many products that you don't even know where to begin. In this particular store the invariant right is out of question. More people actually go to the left, it may be because the MAC makeup section is located there and therefore attracts more customers. They right side also has a makeup section but the brand on the left attracts more.
They do keep the walkways wide but still to place tables or mannequins with items to start catching attention. This is for everyone who passes by to be able to touch those items and start navigating deeper into the area/store. People respond to all the layouts of the merchandise. They stop and analyze the items and continue to look for other things of their interest. The store lays out everything by brand and for that specific brand they arrange the items differently. For Ralph Lauren they usually have nice, well polished wood tables to place the items on. A very sophisticated, american look. The idea is to have the same feeling as to being in a Ralph Lauren store. This gives the customer that comfort. Petting is huge in the makeup section of the store, throughout the years more and more samples have been brought out front so the customer can get a sense of what they'll be buying. Playing around with the makeup, or perfumes allows the consumer to create that relation the company wants you to so you can purchase it.
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There are areas of the store that fail on using Underhill's concepts. For example the shoe area is very constricted, some areas are hard to get past by because its to narrow, and to many big tables that aren't well arranged. This is the "butt brushing' concept that should be avoided, the costumers tend to not even go to that constricted area because it won't allow much movement and not wanting to go through the "butt brushing" or discomfort just avoid it all together. There wasn't much negotiating going on, but a lot of petting and analyzing merchandise.