Consumer and User Experience Design in the Retail Industry: A Critical Analysis of Marks and Spencer

This report analyzes the impact of consumer and user experience design on the retail industry with a critical analysis of Marks and Spencer. It includes a specific consumer persona and their journey, along with key trends in CX and UX design.

Managing
Consumer
Experience
and User
Experience
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Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
Brief Outline of the organization............................................................................................3
Critical Analysis of consumer and User Experience Design in the retail industry................4
Specific Consumer Persona....................................................................................................6
Consumer Journey for the selected consumer persona...........................................................8
Assessment of the effectiveness of the consumer journey in achieving their goals...............9
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFRENCES.................................................................................................................................12
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INTRODUCTION
Consumer Experience is defined as the factors associated with a business which impact a
consumer’s relationship, feeling and perception of the enterprise. (Akram and et. al., 2021). In
the current age the terms consumer experience and user experience have become a top priority of
businesses across industries and sectors because they play an important role in satisfying and
retaining consumer. This assignment looks at the consumer and user experience in context of the
retail industry with the selected organization being Marks and Spencer. A summary of M&S
products and critical analysis of the consumer and user experience in retail industry is provided.
In addition to this, a specific consumer persona for the audit and effectiveness of their consumer
journey is analysed in this assignment.
MAIN BODY
Brief Outline of the organization
Marks and Spencer was established in the year 1884 and since has seen rapid growth both
domestically and international. The headquarters of the company is located in London, United
Kingdom with outlets present in 100 countries. Marks and Spencer has strong physical
distribution channel with a widely recognized brand name. Finally the company also has a
workforce of 78,000 employees who support the company in surviving thee cut throat
competition in the retail industry (ABOUT US, 2022). Marks and Spencer retails many known
brands along with wide range of own bend products.
In addition the this the company also has an own brand children toys range and
regularly invests in innovation for providing consumers better versions of current products and
supporting creation of new unique product range. This includes vegan food product range along
with sustainable clothing range which was introduced by Marks and Spencer in order to attract
responsible consumers who are environmentally conscious (OUR PRODUCTS, 2022). In this
way the product development and innovative environment at Marks and Spencer has helped the
firm survive for more than a century in the retail industry and become a globally trusted brand.
Critical Analysis of consumer and User Experience Design in the retail industry
CX and UX design within retail industry
The concept of consumer experience and user experience design within the retail industry
is heavily affected by the rise of digital transformation. Recently because of COVID-19
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pandemic along with rising demand of online journals for shopping the retail industry is shifting
towards increasing digital.
The positive impact of rising this decision of consumer experience and user experience
within the retail industry is that it supports better online shopping experience for consumers and
they are also able to deal with any problems related to their product or online activities by
connecting with consumers support staff through online channels.
On the other hand the negative impact of digital technology on consumer experience and
user experience design within the retail industry is that it introduces cyber security issues and
vulnerabilities which can damage shopping experience of the consumer and also harm the
consumers in cases of cyber fraud or crime (Alalwan and et. al., 2021).
Market leaders in retail industry
In terms of consumer experience the market leader in the retail industry is the United
Kingdom retail giant Tesco. The respective enterprise, uses data insights about consumer
behaviors through its loyalty initiative Clubcard so that consumer purchase patterns feelings and
perceptions can be understood in a more profound manner (How analytics helped Tesco improve
its customer satisfaction amid Covid: An Economic Times Coverage, 2021).
Through loyalty card sales data machine learning Tesco was able to create advanced
analytics connected data ecosystem to create a better consumer experience ahead of its
competitors by a few days or weeks. This has enabled the company to increase its net brand
index score by 4.2 points to 29.5 by the end of February 2021. Advanced technology has helped
Tesco improve consumer experience and stay market leader in UK retail industry.
When it comes to user experience Amazon is considered industry leader with positive
perception from multiple generations of consumers. Amazon is an American ecommerce retailer
which has succeeded in offering consumers high quality user experience by offering a minimal
search oriented user interface that accommodates both digital natives and Internet newcomers
(Amazon’s User Experience: A Case Study, 2019). Amazon search function is state of the art
which offers personalized content to the user’s search interaction in order to better enable future
purchases and also has features which support personalized recommendations and better
engagement with its online website.
Key CX and UX trends within the retail industry
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 Data Analytics: Retail companies are utilizing data analytics any big data for improving
consumer experience and user experience whether it is for physical shopping or online
shopping. This is because it gives better idea about consumer expectations and demands
so that the consumer experience can be curated to exceed their expectation and minimize
any problems faced by the consumer.
 Personalization: Both online retailers as well as offline retailers are adopting new and
unique ways for improving personalization of consumers this involves using big data
technology along with artificial intelligence to ensure that consumers get personalized
experience every step of the way and their shopping journey becomes easier (Ali and et.
al., 2021).
 Speed and Responsiveness: Consumer in the current age are extremely time poor and
wastage of their time is a key factor including consumer retention and satisfaction. This
means that the current trend off consumer experience and user experience design is to
improve speed and responsiveness for each and every consumer so that the experience
right shopping and using the company’s products or website is faster when compared to
other businesses.
Specific Consumer Persona
Buyer Persona: 1 Ben
Background:
 Assistant finance manager at
accounting firm.
 Completed graduation degree
at University of London with
masters in finance from
London Metropolitan
University.
 Has two pet dogs and lives
alone in flat in Liverpool.
Media Consumption:
 High social media
usage
 Twitter and Linked
in for professional
communication
 Watching digital
series and shows
Challenges:
 Enhance
professional
credentials for
career
advancement
 Struggles with
responsibility of
new job
 Inexperience
Demographic:
 Male
Hobbies and Interests:
Likes:
Common Objectives:
 Improve time
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 Age 34
 Annual income Is 62,000
pounds
 Lives in urban area which is
close to various physical
retail stores.
Watching good TV shows
and movies, talking to
friends and family,
collecting art and other
pieces of media related to
popular intellectual
property.
Dislikes
Physical shopping and
travel, wasting time with
consumer support, getting
stuck in achieving a goal
and interacting with
strangers.
management
 Learn about
financial
management
development
Goal:
 To become senior finance
manager within three to five
years
 Salary increase to £90,000
 Improve Online Networking
Biggest Fears:
 Getting stuck in
the job of assistant
financial manager
 Being late at the
workplace
 Fear of missing out
from the latest
social media trends
The positive aspect of the consumer persona is that the consumer is time poor and requires better
in my experience in order to reduce time wasted on shopping so that other goals of the consumer
can be achieved. In addition to this the consumer also requires better do you still experience
while shopping which is another reason for start of their consumer journey.
The negative aspects of this consumer persona is that the consumer is not inherently
interested in shopping which means that the idea of shopping is not appealing to the consumer.
This affects the ability of the company to retain the consumer. Apart from this another negative
aspects of the consumer persona is that The consumer dislikes physical shopping which can be a
barrier in attracting consumers from this persona for a longer time.
Consumer Journey for the selected consumer persona
Awareness
The first stage of the consumer journey is developing awareness of a specific brand or a product
where the consumer determines a conscious need and which needs to be addressed by specific
product or service (Baicu and et. al., 2020). In context of the buyer persona the awareness stage
involves returning the need for a specific product such as daily use groceries. The buyer then
looks to address this need from a specific trusted brand.
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Interest
The second stage involves developing interest in a specific brand or company which offers the
product or service that can fulfill the desire and need of the consumer developed in the first
stage. For the buyer persona described above the second stage involves using social media to
identify the best brands for purchasing specific grocery product.
Consideration
In the third stage the buyer considers buying a specific brand because it has all the features
needed by the buyer to fulfill their desire completely (Cano, Castro and Vicente-Ramos, 2021).
Here the buyer persona of Bill compares different brands of grocery retailers to find the most
affordable bland which also supports online shopping.
Intent
Then comes the stage of intent which Usually occurs when leads have already pursued their own
education through search and in doing so they enter the consumer journey at the interest or
consideration stage. Here the consumer is already fully aware about the product as they have
come to know about the specific brand through influencer friends or families who have referred
them the product. In context of the respective buyer persona the intent stage occurs when they
are introduced to a specific grocery brand through a social media friend or any influencer.
Evaluation
After this comes the stage of evaluation where the buyer analyses advantages and disadvantages
of specific brand so that a final decision can be made (Chaimankong and et. al., 2021). In case
of the respective by persona Internet social media and advises from close friends are used by the
by personnel to get detailed information about the specific brand or retailer of groceries so that
right decision is taken for purchasing the product.
Purchase
In the final stage this transaction is completed as the buyer purchases the specific product from
the decided brand. After this stage effective consumer support is needed so that the buyer can be
retained and their overall consumer experience and user experience with the company is positive.
In case of the buyer persona of bill the final stage involves purchasing the specific grocery
product which was desired through online channels.
Assessment of the effectiveness of the consumer journey in achieving their goals
Awareness
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Marks and Spencer is highly active on social media and utilizes digital marketing effectively.
This can help the company support their respective buyer persona achieve their goals during the
first stage of their consumer journey. This is because social media is one of the main channels
for learning about brands and availability of specific products on E commerce retail sites (Gu
and et. al., 2021).
Interest
Marks and Spencer is able to build interest about their brands by collaborating with different
digital artists and social media influences which helps the company reach out to millennial
buyers such the respective buyer persona.
Consideration
In context of the consideration stage the user experience of Marks and Spencer website as well as
application is easier when compared to other retail organization which makes it effective in
attracting consideration of consumers who are this relative and prefer online retailing.
Consumers can be easily persuaded by more well-known brand who use data based targeting on
social media channels (John and Thakur, 2021).
Intent
The intense stage for Marks and Spencer is also effective because of the continuous affiliation of
Marks and Spencer with social media influences were able to draw consumers directly to the
intent stage of the consumer journey directly to the intense stage by referring the products
offered by the brand.
Evaluation
The evaluation stage for Marks and Spencer is not that effective because there are other better
online retailers who offer exceptional consumer experience through their personalized websites
such as Amazon and Tesco.
Purchase
Finally Marks and Spencer has not also been able to develop a quick and highly responsive
delivery and distribution channel on a global scale like Amazon which affects the final decision
made by the consumer in the purchase stage. Online shopping is dependent on speed as different
companies offer different type of experience to consumers (Naeem, 2021).
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CONCLUSION
From the above report it is determined that consumer experience and user experience play an
important role in consumer journey. The retail industry is depends on effective consumer
experience as well as user experience to improve the consumer journey and retain consumers for
a longer time. It is also concluded that different types of consumers require different consumer
experience to maximize their satisfaction. It is important to develop consumer persona so that
likes dislikes hobbies challenges and goals of a specific consumer segment can be determined
and their consumer journey can be curated to provide them positive consumer and user
experience. This helps retain consumer for a longer time period and identify their specific
requirements in different stages of the consumer journey.
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REFRENCES
Books and Journals
Akram and et. al., 2021. Impact of digitalization on customers’ well-being in the pandemic
period: Challenges and opportunities for the retail industry. International Journal of
Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(14). p.7533.
Alalwan and et. al., 2021. Et-moone and marketing relationship governance: The effect of digital
transformation and ICT during the COVID-19 pandemic. Industrial Marketing
Management, 98. pp.241-254.
Ali and et. al., 2021. Assessment of Customers E-loyalty in digital banking During COVID-19:
An application of 8C model. International Journal of Disaster Recovery and Business
Continuity, 12. pp.1054-62.
Baicu and et. al., 2020. The impact of COVID-19 on consumer behavior in retail banking.
Evidence from Romania. Management & Marketing. Challenges for the Knowledge
Society, 15(s1). pp.534-556.
Cano, L., Castro, D. and Vicente-Ramos, W., 2021. Relationship marketing in customer loyalty
of commercial galleries in times of COVID-19. Business: Theory and Practice, 22(2),
pp.426-435.
Chaimankong and et. al., 2021. THE IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON THAI CONSUMER
BEHAVIOUR IN USING DIGITAL BANKING. Academy of Strategic Management
Journal, pp.1-9.
Gu and et. al., 2021. Impact of the covid-19 pandemic on online consumer purchasing
behavior. Journal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Commerce Research, 16(6),
pp.2263-2281.
John, J. and Thakur, R., 2021. Long term effects of service adaptations made under pandemic
conditions: The new “post COVID-19” normal. European Journal of Marketing.
Naeem, M., 2021. Do social media platforms develop consumer panic buying during the fear of
Covid-19 pandemic. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 58. p.102226.
Online
ABOUT US, 2022. [Online] Available through <
https://corporate.marksandspencer.com/aboutus>
Amazon’s User Experience: A Case Study, 2019. [Online] Available through <
https://medium.com/@the_manifest/amazons-user-experience-a-case-study-
fb567f79b51f>
How analytics helped Tesco improve its customer satisfaction amid Covid: An Economic Times
Coverage, 2021. < https://www.tescobengaluru.com/news/how-analytics-helped-tesco-
improve-its-customer-satisfaction-amid-covid-an-economic-times-coverage/>
OUR PRODUCTS, 2022. [Online] Available through <
https://corporate.marksandspencer.com/aboutus>
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