Selling and Customer Experience: A Comparative Retail Analysis Report

This report presents a comparative analysis of customer service and selling techniques observed in two retail stores: Hautte Classics (high-end) and Hudson's Bay (mid-range). The author, a student, visited both stores, interacting with staff and evaluating various aspects of the customer experi...Read More

RUNNING HEAD: SELLING AND CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
Title: Selling and customer experience
Name of Student:
Name of University:
Author Note:

1SELLING AND CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
Introduction:
The customer selling service and the customer experience is one of the most crucial
factor in the total process of choosing a store and the company as well as the purchase
experience (Koenig-Lewis & Palmer, 2014). The process involved in the in store experiences are
inclusive of product, price, environment of the store and the customer service. Since a company
cannot control the influence of its competitors upon the customers, they can handle the store
experience within their control and can enhance the level of service they provide (Harris, 2000).
The present report will deal with the experience of my visit to one of the high end fashion store,
Hautte Classics and one of the mid range store Hudson’s Bay, both situated in Canada.
Detailing of the stores:
The high-end store that we visited was Hautte Classics, a reputed store for the fashion
goods in Canada. The store offers a wide range of luxury goods, particularly the luxurious and
designer handbags. The store, located in a very convenient area and at the heart of the fashion
street of the city, is very easy to locate and at the same time. The store is well spaced and well lit
with sober decorations. The customers are welcomed and assisted by two ladies who helps the
customer in the purchase and choosing the goods.
The Hudson’s Bay is actually the store, named after the brand itself. this is one of the
most budget friendly and the mid range store for clothing items. The main attraction of the store
is their budget tee shirts and shirts for women. The store has a wide collection off budget clothes
for both men and women.

2SELLING AND CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
Initial impressions about the stores:
Impression factors Hautte Classics Hudson’s Bay
1. Appearance of Store Classy, spacious, well lit Well lit, a bit congested
2. Appearance of Staff Sober, friendly, guiding Approachable and guiding
3. Layout of Store Wide entrance, designed with
sober and designer lights, small
place for distribution, wide place
for customer to navigate
Cluttered entrance, well lit, large
distribution with small place to
navigate.
4. Atmosphere Air conditioned, peaceful
ambience
Air conditioned, a bit chaotic
ambience
5. Placement of marketing
material
Eye level product display Eye level product display but
most of the products are not kept
in the display but are shown on
request
6. Signage Neon display Normal display with light
7. Parking Ability available Not available.
Experience while speaking with them:
did someone come over to you or did you have to search them out:
High end store- came over
Mid range store- we searching by ourselves and asking the staffs for any help if required

3SELLING AND CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
did the staff member serving us
High end- yes
Mid range store-sometimes
Introduce themselves:
High end store- Yes, they reached out to us and introduced themselves by telling their names
Mid range store- No
did they learn your name:
High end store- No
Mid range store- No
did they offer a business card:
High end store- Yes
Mid range store- yes, at the time of billing
did they have a name tag:
High range store- Yes.
Mid range store- No
did they shake hands:
High range store- Yes

4SELLING AND CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
Mid range store- No
your impressions on how they were dressed:
High end store: they were nicely dressed with sober coloured clean uniform
Mind range store- they had uniforms as well but the quality was not top notch
did they speak to both of you if you?
High end store- they greeted us both and talked with us with equal interest.
Mid range store- they spoke with us only when they were asked something
was there any rapport building :
High end store- the rapport building process in the high end store are largely present here. The
two ladies came and introduced themselves and accompanied us constantly and catered to our
needs.
Mid range store- there were hardly any rapport building process.
did they attempt to involve you in any conversation:
High end store- yes
Mid rage store- No
did they determine your needs or what was important to you:
High end store- yes
Mid range store- Sometimes, especially when asked

5SELLING AND CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
were they trying to find out what you “really wanted” or were the more interested in just
reviewing the features of the product:
High end store- they cared both for our needs and showed us exclusive products, however did
not pestered us for buying those.
Mid range store: they showed us what we asked for.
were they helpful and caring:
High end store- yes, to a great extent.
Mid range store- sometimes.
did they appear interested:
High end store: yes. To a large extent.
Mid range store- somewhat, only when they were approached.
did they attempt to make a sale:
High end store- they tried to show us their exclusive ranges and described them i detail, however
did not forced us to buy anything.
Mid range store- no
did they thank you for coming in:
High end store- yes. They were very polite and cordial and thanked us for shopping there.
Mid range store- Yes, at the billing counter.

6SELLING AND CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
verbal and nonverbal communication skills:
High end store- the staffs in the store were polite and caring and were cordial in their approach.
They had a positive approach and were prompt in their attitude.
Mid range store: the staffs were welcoming, however were not much caring. They were also not
interested in guiding us to select what we wanted.
Good customer service elements present:
Hautte Classics Hudson Bay
1. Value added service. 1. Good spread of the goods.
2. Friendly approach
3. Great departmental environment
The approach of the salesperson in the Huatte Classics was very sophisticated and sober.
They welcomed us cordially and asked politely about our choices. They assisted us in finding the
ones that will best suit us. They encouraged us in selecting from a wide range and did not
pestered us to hurry. I will recommend the store to my acquaintances not only for the quality of
the products, but for the nice experience as well that we had in the store.
Recommendation for the high end store:
1. They can enhance the pleasant feeling of the customers by appreciating the customers.
2. They can incorporate a timely notification for the customers that the can send via mail or
SMS.

7SELLING AND CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
3. They can make an effort to educate the customers by giving recommendations or
information tags. (Wilson, Zeithaml, Bitner & Gremler, 2016).
Recommendations for mid range Store:
1. Can arrange for the staffs who will direct the customers in finding what they want.
2. Can appoint two to three staffs per section for proper guidance. (Kursunluoglu, 2014)
3. Improve the customer satisfaction and purchase experience by helping them to guide in
the proper choice.
My first impression about the high end retail shop was that it would be highly sophisticated one
and I will be judged in the shop on the basis of my appearance or ignorance about the way of
shopping since I had never been in such high end stores before. The store was well lit and
decorated in a classy manner with lavish and comfortable sofas and a wide space for the
customers to navigate. The store environment was posh and the main decoration actually was the
careful investment in low key decorations. Apart from the lavish sofas and few finely crafted
architecture, there were barely any decorative entities. The two female staffs were equally polite
and friendly and asked if we had any fixed model to see. Knowing that we have no particular
preferences we were nicely guided and told about the varieties in the store. The bags were nicely
decorated in the showcases kept at the eye level of each customer and the best products were on
the display that easily caught hold of eyes. The exclusive products were placed in such a manner
that they can be seen perfectly from any point of the stores.

8SELLING AND CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
However, in the Hudson Bay Store, we encountered a shift from our assumptions about
the store. Being a mid range store, we thought that this particular store will have less number of
variety and mediocre decoration. On our arrival at the store we could not change our pre
assumed belief as the locality was quite chaotic and the entrance was a cluttered one as well.
Moreover, there was no proper parking area. However, our notion changed to a great extent as
the area inside was quite spacious and well lit. The goods were kept on the rack and each
category were demarcated so that we don’t have problem in finding the section. However, the
staffs, though were approachable were not found to be guiding the customers. They approached
only when we asked them about something. Over all though, I found a great range of difference
in both the store, however, it has to be admitted that the difference was largely because of the
amount of investment and the mentality of the target customer.

9SELLING AND CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
Reference List:
Harris, E. K. (2000). Customer service: A practical approach (p. 192). Prentice Hall.
Koenig-Lewis, N., & Palmer, A. (2014). The effects of anticipatory emotions on service
satisfaction and behavioral intention. Journal of Services Marketing.
Kursunluoglu, E. (2014). Shopping centre customer service: creating customer satisfaction and
loyalty. Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 32(4), 528-548.
Wilson, A., Zeithaml, V., Bitner, M. J., & Gremler, D. (2016). Services marketing: Integrating
customer focus across the firm.