Essay Example about Harvey Nichols

As part of being ahead of their competitors, Harvey Nichols has designed its chain of stores with the following features:

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Ambience

Harvey Nichols has realized that the biggest impediment among many shoppers is spending too much time in search of the item they need to buy. In consequence, they have designed stores that offer ambience, by dividing stores into different sections to enable customers to locate quickly the item they need to buy, and by doing so to meet the demands of their target market. Moreover, all the items at the Harvey Nichols store are given a luxuriant and bright appearance, which also serves to attract customers. Harvey Nichols has, thus strived to meet the needs of the target market, and shoppers who frequent the more already know what to expect. Ambience is not only an integral aspect of retail service provision but also helps demarcate the type of clientele a business is targeting. Moreover, it introduces the luxury aspect such that everything that is offered in the store appear luxurious and it is for this reason that many retail service stores across the globe have taken advantage of ambience. So as not to drag behind its main rival, Harvey Nichols has done the same. This strategy seems to augur well with Harvey Nichols since it targets middle and high-end customers who not only can afford the luxuriant items offered by Harvey Nichols but also are busy and do not have much time to waste while shopping, convenience is of great importance for this group of shoppers.

Customer Service Level

Harvey Nichols holds its customers with high degree of respect and this is reflected in the manner in which it offers a high standard level of customer service. For instance, at the entry and exit point is a door attendant who opens the door for incoming and outgoing clients. Moreover, it has employed various assistant personal shoppers who assist clients in locating the item they need and are there to offer advices to clients on why a certain choice is better than the other is. Again, this strategy goes well with the targeted market, middle and high-end customers, who always like to be treated with high regard and do not like complaining a lot.

Price Ranges

The other strategy employed by Harvey Nichols to meet the demands of its target market is by offering various price ranges. Since it target customers belonging to both class A & B socio-economic categories, it has priced its items at high cost. The reason for doing this is that these groups of shoppers believe that any pricy item is guaranteed to have quality and cheap items have poor quality. This marketing strategy also works well with Harvey Nichols, as they are able to sell their goods at high prices. In addition, customers benefit by having the chance to buy the latest fashion trends and prominent brands. Moreover, such strategy also introduces to the target market the notion that Harvey Nichols offers them expensive and luxurious items, which cannot be afforded by individuals of low socioeconomic class.

Opening Hours

On weekdays, Harvey Nichols opens at 10:00 AM and closes at 6:00 PM while on the weekends it opens at 10:00 AM and closes at 8:00 PM. This arrangement helps Harvey Nichols to meet the demands of the target market since shoppers are able to do shopping after working hours. Besides, it extends the closing hours for the weekend since most of its target customers are normally busy over the week, and, thus prefer shopping over the weekend to weekdays. Moreover, the extended closing hours also implies to target customers that Harvey Nichols has enough time to serve them and assist them whenever possible.

Visual Merchandising

Harvey Nichols also informs their target clients of the new items that they have for sale by displaying them on the windows. In consequence, Harvey Nichols, therefore is able to create awareness about the latest items on the store at zero cost, it does not have to pay for advertisement, to impulse buyers who will enter the store and make a purchase while those who do not have ready cash will return some other day to buy the product they saw being advertised on the window. Since, most of its target shoppers do not have ample time to impulse buying; they may not have time to go round the store and get to know of the latest fashion trends being offered. Therefore, visual merchandising makes it easier for them to notice how the collections appears. They make it even more tempting by offering huge discounts of 50 or 60 percent off their merchandise. It is for this reason that the number of customers going to the stores is on the rise and Harvey Nichols is making more sales, which in turn translate to more profitability for the store. Further, visual merchandising is also among the services that Harvey Nichols is doing to meet expectations of its target market.

Internet Service

Like earlier stated, Harvey Nichols targets working class who in most cases have busy work schedules. Internet service therefore comes in handy for them, as they are able to do shopping while at their workplaces. Apart from it being time saving, it also saves the target market the need to actually visit the store to get a glimpse of the latest fashion collection since they can do impulse buying by a click of the mouse. Moreover, it is easier for one to explore online the items being offered at the store as it is for one to go at the store and walking around looking for the different types of product available at the store.

Summary, Primark and Harvey Nichols have not only identified features of their target market but they have also adopted different policies so as to meet the expectations of their clientele. Moreover, Primark has done an extraordinary job in enhancing the customer service level, ambience, as well as visual display to make it make shopping more convenient, thus fulfill customer expectation. The change in the ambience of the store to allow more potential customers to do the shopping and also have easy time locating the right size and type of the item that they want. The store has also done an improvement in the level of customer service as there were numerous complaints regarding the attitude of some staff towards customers. The improvement of customer service has in return brought back existing customers felt aggrieved by the staff, were not willing to continue shopping at the store, and has attracted more potential customers. Moreover, visual display or merchandising has significantly brought in new customers. It is because of change and improvement of such services that the store has attracted new customers and won their loyalty, which has made it regain the ground it was almost losing to its main rivals. These policies have also worked well in meeting the requirements of target customers, for instance the issue of having different price ranges has made it possible for individuals belonging to different socioeconomic classes to identify themselves with the store since they are guaranteed of getting the right item and for the right price whenever they frequent the store. Furthermore, the store extends the working hours for both weekdays and weekends, which translate to more time for doing shopping after job, hence more income for the fashion store. Lastly, internet service has also helped meet the needs of target market since it has made it possible for those who do not have time to visit the store to order and have their merchandise delivered wherever they are at a click of the mouse. Concisely, Primark has gone to great extents in ensuring that it has met the expectations of its target market.

On the contrary, Harvey Nichols did not have to reconstitute its policies, but only needed to do slight changes to meet the demands of their target market. They have improved ambience, which has made it easier for a big number of customers to do shopping at the same time. Ambience has also enabled clients to have easy time accessing their intended merchandise. Customer service has also been pushed to attain high levels of quality and standards, which has in turn received a positive response from the target market. Prolonged closing hours is also another area that Harvey Nichols has amended in its intention to satisfy its clientele. Shoppers are now able to visit the store after their daily activities and they even have even more time to shop over the weekends when they are free without getting worried that the store will close early. Moreover, internet service has also been improved at Harvey Nichols and likewise it has helped meet the needs of target market by making it possible for those who do not have time to visit the store to order and have their merchandise brought to them wherever and whenever they are. Although the fashion store did not make much adjustment concerning visual displays, it has perfected the art of communicating to impulse buyers and actual shoppers the latest collection that it has in disposal. This has in turn saved the cost of advertisement for the store and has increased the sales of the latest trending items. Lastly, price range is also playing a big role in meeting the requirements of target market, middle and high-end customers. The clientele that shares the notion that all expensive items comes with good quality have identified and offered customer loyalty to Harvey Nichols since that is where they are assured of getting fashion clothing that meet their taste and preferences. Generally, Harvey Nichols have designed their policies to reflect the needs of their target market, which in turn has brought benefits to the store. Furthermore, there has not been any complain regarding the policies of Harvey Nichols or reports showing that the number of customers has dwindled due to policies.