Strategies for Maintaining Customer Loyalty towards Burberry's Luxury Trench Coats

This research report analyzes the strategies used by Burberry to maintain customer loyalty towards its luxury trench coats. It explores the factors that drive customer motivations, the issues faced by customers, and the strategies employed by Burberry to overcome them. The report also includes a literature review, research methods, results, recommendations, and conclusion.

Inside the customers mind

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
Background of study...................................................................................................................3
Research Aim..............................................................................................................................4
Research objectives.....................................................................................................................4
Research Questions.....................................................................................................................4
Significance of research..............................................................................................................4
LITERATURE REVIEW................................................................................................................5
Factors that drives customer's motivations for purchasing luxury trench coats..........................5
Issues that customers have found in trench coats of Burberry....................................................6
Strategies used by Burberry to maintain brand loyalty of customers towards its luxury trench
coats.............................................................................................................................................7
METHODS......................................................................................................................................7
RESULTS........................................................................................................................................8
RECOMMENDATION ..................................................................................................................8
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
APPENDIX......................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Customers are the important part of a business entity that highly contributes in its
success. In order to gain competitive advantage in market, understanding the behaviour of
customers is highly essential. Proper knowledge about beliefs, needs and preferences of
consumers will helps companies in unlocking fresh insights that leads business towards success
(Azizi, Ghytasivand and Fakharmanesh, 2012). This research is based on Burberry Group Plc
which is a luxury fashion retailer that deals in fashion clothing, accessories, cosmetics,
fragrances, trench coats, sunglasses and ready to wear outwears. The company was founded in
1856 and is headquartered in London, UK. This research report is based on the topic consumer
behaviour and insights and its aim is to analyse the strategies that Burberry used to maintain
customer's loyalty towards its a luxury trench coats. The research mainly emphasize on the issues
that customers have found in trench coats of Burberry and the way company overcome those
issues and maintain brand loyalty of consumers towards its products. A literature review section
is also included that consist of information regarding various themes. Apart from this, methods
use in research, results, recommendations and conclusion are also covered in the report.
Problem Identification:
Burberry is a very famous brand dealing in accessories, clothing etc. There has been a
new launch in category of coats which includes trench coats. Burberry is willing to make new
strategies for marketing of their products. Digital media as a tool is being used for attracting of
customers. The problem associated with this brand is there is not much variety being offered and
limitation is leading to less choices. Other similar brands having more variety are preferred by
their target customers. Present research will help Burberry in increasing their present profitability
level and also in attracting customers from different segment of market if they are able to find
effective solution for problem their customers are facing. This research is based on identification
of problems or issues of customers and drawing of results for solving such problems so that there
is no negative impact on established image of Burberry.

Background of study
Consumers are the key part of business as its growth and success majorly rely on these.
Proper understanding of needs and requirements of customers helps companies in retaining
customers and maintain their loyalty towards brand for longer term (Breazeale and Ponder,
2013). Consumer retention and loyalty are very crucial aspects that requires to be consider by
business entities which are operating in fashion industry as their needs and preferences are
changing very frequently and their chances of switching the brand is very high. So, for gaining
competitive advantage in market, it is necessary for company to maintain loyalty of customers
towards brand. In fashion retail industry of UK, there are around 555,000 people employed in
sector. Many fashion companies are operation in industry such as Marks & Spencer, ASOS, Next
plc, Mulberry etc. which offers variety of fashion products to customers. Customer expenditure
on clothing is 56,048 millions GBP in United Kingdom. Burberry Group plc is one of the leading
luxury fashion house of Britain which offers ready to wear outwears, trench coats, fragrances,
cosmetics, sunglasses and fashion accessories (Caperello, Kurani and TyreeHageman, 2013).
The company was established in year 1856, around 163 years ago and its headquarters is located
in London, United Kingdom. The founder of business entity was Thomas Burberry and operating
in around 500 locations. The company mainly emphasizing on creation of outdoor attire and has
moved in high fashion market by developing Gabardine which is its first kind fabric that is
completely waterproof and breathable and made exclusively for brand. It is the largest firm on
the basis of its market capitalization. It is valued over $10 billion and had revenue of around 3.8
billion dollars in year 2017 (UK fashion industry statistics, 2019). Company sells its products via
wholesale and retail channels and around 77% revenues are generated from retail sales. This
research is based on the aim to analyse the strategies that company used to maintain loyalty of
customers for brand's luxury Trench Coats (Lukas, Whitwell and Heide, 2013). The objectives
and questions associated with the aim are mentioned below:
Research Aim
“To analyse the techniques that company used to maintain loyalty of customers for
brand's luxury Trench Coats. A case study on Burberry.”
Research objectives
 To determine the factors that drives customer's motivations for purchasing luxury trench
coats of Burberry.

 To identify the issues that customers have found in trench coats of Burberry.
 To examine the ways that Burberry used to overcome the issues that customers found in
its trench coats and maintain brand loyalty.
Research Questions
 What are the factors that drives customer's motivations for purchasing luxury trench coats
of Burberry?
 What are the issues that customers have found in trench coats of Burberry?
 How does Burberry maintain brand loyalty of customers towards its luxury trench coats?
Significance of research
The chosen research topic is important for company as this helps in analysing the issues
that customers of Burberry faced due to its trench coats and the strategies that it employed to
overcome the issues (Chen and Chen, 2012). It provides in-depth knowledge to the researcher
regarding the problems that customers have found in trench coats of company by conducting
secondary research and collecting data on reviews of customers regarding the product. This
assists in determining the factors that drives motivation of customer for buying luxury trench
coats. By the assistance of all the collected information, this research enables researcher to
provide recommendations to company that would help it in improving its declining profits and
maintain loyalty of customers towards the brand. The research is also significant for academic
purpose as it further helps scholars in gaining knowledge on the study area and conducting
further research on the topic (Koistinen and Järvinen, 2016).
LITERATURE REVIEW
Literature review can be define as the search and evaluation of books, journals, scholarly
articles and other sources in order to gather information on the selected study area or research
topic. Its prime purpose is to administer foundation of knowledge on chosen title and determine
gaps in research. This research is based on the analysis of strategies that Burberry used to
maintain customer's loyalty towards brand. To answer the objectives and research questions
mentioned above, the literature review section is crucial to explore theories and other data on
consumption of luxury products to see if the findings of netnography research will support or
contradict viewpoints hence, enables to conclude and recommend for further improvements in

the selected problem area (Navarro, Andreu and Cervera, 2014). The literature review on the
different themes associated with the study area are mentioned below:
Factors that drives customer's motivations for purchasing luxury trench coats
According to view point of Scott 2015, Motivation is a key started which is used by
organisations according to interests and behaviour of their employees. This is used as a directing
tool for employees as there are strategic tools which are used for getting behaviour of employees
in the desired manner. This is an act of stimulating employees and ability to use the skills an
competence of employees in the desired manner. Many times motivating employees is not a easy
task and is a complex procedure as it includes driving behaviour of employees.
As per the view point of Scott Davis, 2014, Burberry has historic transformation of
converting an ageing icon of Britain into global luxury brand. For becoming the most valuable
and beloved luxury brand and tripling its sales, company underwent a transformation from over
licensed, underperforming, decentralized and marginalised brand. Burberry transformed from
beige trench coat firm to leading voices on music, beauty, fashion and trends. The trench coats of
company represented below than 20% of sales in year 2006 (Burberry's Blurred Lines: The
Integrated Customer Experience, 2014). For motivating customers to purchase its luxury trench
coats, the company introduced its flagship stores and Burberry regent streets that brings people's
life of digital world into physical space for the very first time where people or customers can
experience each aspect of brand by immersive multimedia content in the similar way as they do
online. The Art of the Trench innovation of company defines as a living celebration of trench
coat and individuals who wear it. This helps company in attracting customers and motivate them
to purchase trench coats as this platform positions customers successfully as a hero and
administers a forum to them to show off their coats proudly and individual styling through selfies
posted on Pinterest or Instagram.
According to the views of Pamela K. Robinson and Linda Hsie, 2016, the company
created the material called gabardine which was extremely hard wearing, breathable and water
resistant material that leads firm towards success. Use of this highlystoo resistant material in
creating iconic trench coat is one of the factor that helped Burberry in attracting more customers
and motivate them to purchase it as the fabric used was of high quality and suited best with the
needs of military. In year 1920, the development of distinctive check lining led to introduction of
Burberry trench coat (Case analysis of Burberry, 2019). Apart from this, the design and features

of products and the heavy promotion of domestic manufacturing and traditional heritage attracts
and motivates customers to purchase trench coats of Burberry.
Illustration 1: Revenues and brand values of Burberry
(Source: Revenues and brand values of Burberry, 2019)
Issues that customers have found in trench coats of Burberry
According to view points of Rick Anderson, 2013 There are many issues which
customers across globe are facing nowadays. This includes many issues such as there has been
increase in number of options, this is a very big issues as it leads to lot of confusion among
customers. Apart from this there is also a issue of limited resources which has to be spend on
particular product. There are many instances in which customers experience a dissonance which
is related with the fact that they are not satisfied with their purchase. There can also be a
situation that the price which is being paid and product which is received is not worth according
to its monetary value.
In present scenario, Customers are facing many issues such as they are not satisfied with
the number of options which are being offered by Burberry. Trench coat is coming with high
quality and fabric is also good but the lacking factor of these coats is that there are no much
options which available with customers. There must be huge variety which should be presented
in terms of styles, colour, sizes all these can help in attracting customers. Customization is
offered by this brand, this is surely a very attractive feature but at same time customers are not
able to figure out appropriate design according to their suitability and may end up in making

wrong choices. Hence, this distinguishing feature has many advantages but at Same time can
affect choices.
Strategies used by Burberry to maintain brand loyalty of customers towards its luxury trench
coats
According to view points of Carol M. Kopp, 2019, Brand loyalty is a association of
consumers to attract a product with a particular brand. Customers can associate a product with
particular brand if they are involved in repeated purchase of a product. Many corporations are
investing a huge amount in building up of brand loyalty and maintaining it so that their overall
profitability can be maintained. Marketing campaigns have been designed to maintain and
increase the brand loyalty.
There are various strategies that Burberry use to maintain brand loyalty of customers for
its trench coats. Despite of using high quality fabric, trendy design of its trench coats, the
customers were faced many issues regarding the product. In order to overcome those issues and
maintaining loyalty of customers towards brand, Burberry is using various strategies. As per the
view point of Ayushya Na, 2016, the company has used strong social strategy to reach to
customers in digital space. In order to engage customers in large number, the company has
leveraged Burberry.com along with social media platform in a big manner (Case Study On How
Burberry Became A Digital Luxury Brand, 2016). The company is incorporating digital services
in order to enhance its image. The content of Burberry might be seen on Instagram by teenagers
that helps in generating their interest in brand. The firm has been the first mover in new digital
channels. The company designs such experiences for customers that delivers the promise to
target audience. Understanding the motivations and needs of customers helps in make them
loyal towards brand.
According to Cate Trotter, 2018, the firm was first brand which utilise Snap chat Snap
code and experiment with personalised experiences (Inside the retail strategy of Burberry, 2018).
These strategies also supports company in engaging customers more into the brand. The
Bespoke collection of Burberry enables customers to personalise the purchase of their iconic
trench coat and share on social media which provides power to them. Bespoke enables customers
to design their own customised coats by selecting from variety of options. This feature enables
customers to design their coat in the way they want. This unique feature is not provided by other

competitive brand which helps in making the customers loyal towards brand. The visual
merchandising and designs of stores attracts customers towards brand and its high quality trench
coats make customers loyal towards it (Cahill, 2014). The strategy of continue to innovate the
brand as well as experience of customers enables it to provide customers with the products that
they wants which ultimately helps Burberry in gaining loyalty of its customers.
METHODS
In order to answer the research questions and objectives, the chosen research
methodology is netnography. It is an online research approach which is originating in
ethnography. It is a set of research practices which is associated to collection and analysis of
data, ethics of research and representation and rooted in participant observation. Netnography
method compiles and analyse information regarding free social behaviour of people over internet
(Fauzi, 2017). The main reason behind choosing this research method is that it is far less
noticeable methodology. The investigation is conducted by utilizing customer observations
regarding the context that eliminates fabrication by investigator. This methodology is
advantageous as it enables researcher to take up inactive observational role or to visit online
forums without participating actively into discussion.
Advantages of Netnography:
This technique is more useful as this can be applied and used in case of personal;
observation made by research. There is no usage of any survey or questionnaire in this type of
research instead focus is more on reflection part of research. A more descriptive approach and a
method more adaptable as compared to other various methods of collecting data. This uses only
observational data and is more natural as compared to focus groups, personal interview of
surveys. As in case of interview respondents may modify their answers but in case of
netnography there can be no modifications can take place. There are honest observations made
by researcher and can be used for drawing of appropriative conclusions. In present research,
there has been a appropriate analysis made by researcher in terms of issues being faced by
customers and result can be used to make desired modifications.
Disadvantages of Netnography:
There are certain limitation associated with Netnography such as there is no direct
communication taking place between research and the respondent this may lead to certain wrong
interpenetration being made by the researcher. Such instances can have a very negative impact

on whole research and there can be wrong conclusion and results drawn. Further strategy
formulation can also get affected because of such practises.
RESULTS
There are certain results which has been found by the researcher after making adequate research
using of Netnography approach:
 Burberry is a established brand of UK and has successfully able to attract many
customers because of high quality of fabric and the marketing tools used by this brand.
New invention that is trench coats have lead to attracting of more customers but the re
have been certain issues with this new invention such as trench coats.
 Burberry has successfully able to analyse the behaviour of their customers and studied
their demands. This has lead to formation of strategies such as marketing techniques
which this brand is using is different from its customers and has helped them in
understanding of social behaviour of customers.
 New strategies can be formed further such as more launches will be made by Burberry
now ion terms of offering wide variety in their trench coats. This effort will be used for
reduction of the limitation in their new launches. Such effort will also be advantageous
as Burberry will be able to maintenance of successful brand image of their and customer
loyalty will be also be carried on in long run. Adoption of such strategies will lead to
covering of various loopholes in new launch of Burberry and increasing their present
sales.
RECOMMENDATION
Brand loyalty is a crucial aspect that shows the ability of customers to constantly
purchase the products of one brand over other. By delivering value to customers, engage with
them, taking their feedbacks, investing in eye catching designs etc. can help company in
attracting customers and make them loyal towards brand. As per the above discussion, it is
recommended to company that it should focus on middle class customers along with elite group
customers as this helps company in maintaining large consumer base and attracting more people
towards brand. Apart from this, Burberry should emphasize on providing 360 degree customer

service as the way it treats customers may depict the level of their brand loyalty. So, company
must focuses on hiring skilled and qualified staff that helps the customers by resolving their
queries and provide them with high quality service will help company in maintaining the loyalty
of customers towards brand.

CONCLUSION
As per the above mentioned report, it has been concluded that understanding the
behaviour of customers is critical to businesses. In fashion retail industry, the needs and
preferences of customers are changing very frequently which makes it necessary for company to
analyse those carefully and fulfil them by offering the products they require. There are some
factors like quality, design, fabric, need etc. that customers consider while making purchase of a
cloth. These factors drives motivation among consumers for purchasing trench coats. For making
the customers loyal towards brand, company uses various strategies such as creation of own
website, promoting products on social media, providing them with personalised experiences and
empowering them to select their own designs. All these strategies helps in retaining customers
and making them loyal towards brand.

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