Retail Mix of Lush Cosmetics: A Comprehensive Analysis

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1Running Head: RETAIL MIX
RETAIL MIX
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author’s note:

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Question 1 (LO1).............................................................................................................................3
Question 2 (LO1).............................................................................................................................6
Question 3 (LO2).............................................................................................................................8
Question 4 (LO2).............................................................................................................................9
Question 5 (LO3)...........................................................................................................................10
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................12
Reference.......................................................................................................................................13

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Introduction
The company Lush, popularly known for its personal care products was founded by Mark
Constantine and Liz Weir in the United Kingdom in 1995. In this assignment, It will analyze
how Lush, as a retail mix addresses to its consumer needs and we will formulate strategies to
combat competition. In addition, contemporary retail marketing strategies and the benefits
offered by the company to its customers will be analyzed at a later stage. Critical evaluation and
observational methods are also followed to show integrations of mix techniques for providing a
clear and distinct image about the organization.
Question 1 (LO1)
Retail mix is considered as the plan that provides the retailers to focus on the position of
the brand so that a differentiation can be made from the competitors (Terblanche, 2017). The
retail mix consists of location, price, personnel, service and goods.
Therefore, based on the case study, the two elements of retail mix that defines Lush cosmetics
are:
Products or goods
It can be observed that in marketing, it is important that the customers guide the product
developments in accordance with their taste ad preference. Hence, Lush cosmetics have done the
same thing by offering a wide range of products so that customers reflect the typical Lush
cosmetics product personality and brand personality as well (Melis et al., 2015). Thus, it reflects
the ability of Lush cosmetics to use their personality in product development. They are very

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much focused on promoting novel and innovative products for the benefit of the society. This
reflected emotional brilliance to satisfy the subordinate needs of the consumers. Further, they
have focused on the innovation level through a series of advertisement that tends to dictate the
imagination level of the customers. This encouraged customers to design the Lush cosmetics
products with their own creation and post them on various social media channels. In addition to
this, Lush cosmetics have focused on certain aspects so that their products do not affect the
environment and they are socially accepted.
Service
Lush cosmetics are providing the services through increasing the brand personality that
relates to the well being of the consumers. Further, Lush cosmetics are also focusing on the
various aspects to fulfill the desires of the consumers (Kim, 2015). This is making the brand to
be more honest, pleasant and interesting towards the customers and offer several after sale
service. Thus, the brand image is helping Lush cosmetics to draw customers towards them and
build a communication touch point so that they are able to differentiate the products from other
companies. This is only possible due to their brand personality that serves as the basis of services
that their products are offering to the customers. Lush cosmetics have strong personality trait that
are being admired by the customers of Lush cosmetics. In addition to this, Lush cosmetics are
aiming to provide more personal care services which is mainly done through speaking with the
customers and implementing various changes that the customers’ demand (Mohammad, 2015).
One of the greatest services offered by them is the charitable service that increases the brand
recognition.
The changes that Lush cosmetics may bring in the two retail mixes are:

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Product
Lush Cosmetics with proper technology can develop the products, which will be more
economical and sustainable in nature. This will help in adjusting with the buying habits, which
will enhance the buyer seller relationship (Azeem & Sharma, 2015). Further, use of technology
will allow the customers to experience new trends, looks and other things. In addition to this, use
of better technologies will allow Lush Cosmetics to enhance and increase the sales level so that
they can focus on their online stores (Alnaser et al., 2018). Thus, implementing these things will
allow Lush Cosmetics to enhance their customer preference and increase the quality of the
products.
Services
Customer carries immense importance through which the brand is recognized all over the
world. Lush Cosmetics is no such exception to it. Below are the things they should do in order to
increase the customer service:
- It can be seen that the marketing style is changing by using the aspects of social media.
This will help Lush Cosmetics to increase customer service by taking their feedbacks and
implementing the changes within the products (Geppert, 2018)
- The online market is changing which is changing the efficiency products and increasing
the expectation level. Hence, it is an important aspect for Lush Cosmetics to provide
information to the customers at their fingertips
- Lush Cosmetics should provide 24X7 support to the customers so that they feel that they
are virally connected with them and are able to find information whenever they require

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- Lastly, Lush Cosmetics should enhance the e-commerce section for greater customer
convenience. This will help Lush Cosmetics to increase the delivery service and meet a
super quality product delivery standard (Melis et al., 2015)
Question 2 (LO1)
It can be observed that certain products appeal to the customer while others do not. This
initiates the buying process and the customers go through certain steps before making the
purchase decisions. Thus, below are certain strategies that could be implemented by Lush
Cosmetics for each stage of the buying process. These are:
Recognition of the problem
It is important that Lush Cosmetics should understand the problems that customers may
face during the time of making purchase (Geppert, 2018). These problems can easily range from
finding the right product to locating the stress where they will get the products made by Lush
Cosmetics. However, this can be an opportunity for the marketers of Lush Cosmetics. For
instance, it can be viewed that whenever a customer enquires about the, it means that the
customer is planning to buy the product. Thus, solving the problem is necessary for increasing
the potential to make the buying process.
Information search
After the problem is solved, the search process begins. This initiates the buying process
and the customers conduct various market research to buy the latest product within their budget.
For instance, Lush Cosmetics should increase their store location service and advertise the
products through various Google trusted sources (Alnaser et al., 2018). This will enable the

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search rankings of the products and shall provide the customers with a verified sense of customer
security through displaying their status on the website.
Evaluation of alternatives
Due to increase in competition, customers have become more and more active to find the
best thing within their budget. They start to conduct a detailed market research and compare
various options that are readily available to them so that they end up buying the right one. For
instance, the customers of Lush Cosmetics will compare and contrast the beauty products offered
by others and then they will initiate the purchase decision. Thus, through the help of this, it will
allow the customers to make a strong relationship and brand loyalty is built.
Purchase decision
Purchase decision is the stage where the customers make the purchase decision and plan
to buy the product (Kim, 2015). However, at this stage they could still walk away if their demand
is not satisfied. For instance, if Lush Cosmetics fails to provide the basic information about the
product, then they might walk away. Further, when they are provided with the information they
will initiate the purchase decision.
Post purchase evaluation or purchase
After conducting the purchase, the process has not ended. It is essential that Lush
Cosmetics should make enough conversation with the customer when the purchase is taking
place. This will satisfy the needs of the customers and help them to make future decision to buy
the products of Lush Cosmetics (Wang et al., 2016).

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Question 3 (LO2)
The main strategy of Lush is about using the normal cosmetics like bath products and
face cleansers with unique colors and smell. The customers get various benefits if they shop
directly from the store rather than from online (Blythe & Martin, 2019).
In-store retailing has the exposure of products to its customers which is not available
online or otherwise. Many consumers, while buying the products want to pick them up, smell or
even taste them in various cases. They also want to analyze whether the products they are
purchasing is as per their satisfaction. While they are buying their products, they want someone
to guide them, which will help them to pick up the right product for them (Listya et al., 2018).
In case of Lush retail store, the company’s policy is to keep the product naked without
making any packaging that makes the appealing and bright colours of the product as a central
feature behind the purchase of the product. This feature encourages the customers to explore the
products as they can physically touch and test the products when they buy them. The staffs of
Lush have a deep knowledge about the products, which helps the customers to get the right
explanations about the suitable ingredients they may need. This makes the customers feel that
they are buying the best quality products of the company (Aronczyk, 2016).
Most consumers love the handmade touch given to a product. In addition, many people
are conscious that the products, which they are purchasing, are made according to the
environmental guidelines or not. Many products are made by harming nature or animals, which
are not liked by environment friendly buyers (Hill & Westbrook, 2017). Lush company
humanizes the process of production and makes a label to every product that it is made by hand
and not by machines. This concept makes the customers to feel that the product was just made

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for them and they feel closer to the company and its employees. In addition, as the company’s
aim clearly states that, they do not test their products on animals. Therefore, many customers
who are aware of environmental laws or are animal lovers tend to get attracted towards buying
their products. Free samples of each product are being distributed among the customers prior to
their purchase, which creates a good impact on the minds of the consumers. These gives the
customers’ freedom of choice and even a test use of the product manufactured by the company.
Majority of the customers are attracted by the benefit that is provided by the company.
Question 4 (LO2)
From the research works of VanderWeele & Ding (2017), it has been found that
observational research is the process where observation is used to systematically analyse and
record the studies. Participant observation is the type of observational research, which is used to
collect data for any study based on the documented observation from the participants. For the
following study on the design elements of a nearest Lush Cosmetics store, Participant
observation was used consisting of 4 customers. From the observational research, it has been
found that there were two major design element flaws in the retail store of Lush Cosmetics. The
first one was the displays, which was found to be poor as well as lackluster which not only
affected the displays of the products in the stores, but it also did not allow the customers to see
the variety of the products. The second one is the poor lighting within the stores, which affects
the customers’ perceptions and views of the products. To improve the displays, Lush Cosmetics
should bring in new displays for their products. For the second issue, the stores should bring new
lightings so that the customers would be able to view the products easily.

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Question 5 (LO3)
a) As opined by Todorova (2015), communication mix is the process through which a
company is able to promote themselves as well as their products to the customers. For the Lush
Cosmetics, the three communication mix techniques used to communicate to New Zealand
customers. These are:
 Advertising: Advertising is the process through which the company is able to advertise
themselves as well as their products to the customers (Pouya, 2015). In the context of
Lush Cosmetics, the company is able to communicate with New Zealand customers using
advertisements in newspapers, magazines, billboards, TV, radio, and many more. This
allows the New Zealand customers to be up to date with the information of both the
company and their products.
 Internet Marketing: Internet marketing is the process through which the company is
able to advertise themselves to the customers using the internet (Rao & Raju, 2015). In
the context of Lush Cosmetics, the company is able to communicate to the New Zealand
customers through internet marketing using social media sites like Facebook, Twitter,
Instagram, and many more as well as the company’s official website.
 Public Relations: Public relation is an integral aspect of an organisation through which a
spokesperson representing the company is able to communicate to the stakeholders
including the public and the customers (Ribeiro et al., 2015). In the context of Lush
Cosmetics, the company is able to communicate with New Zealand customers through its
public relations. This allows New Zealand customers to be up to date with all the
different types of information pertaining to both the company and their products.

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b) To evaluate that the customers have a clear, distinct image of Lush Cosmetics and are not
confused by conflicting information based on the integration of the three communication mix
techniques, two integrated marketing communications criteria are applied. These are:
 Coverage: Coverage refers to a number of audiences that have been reached by the mode
or method of communication that has been applied by the company and way the
communication has reached the target market (Andrews & Shimp, 2017). For Lush
Cosmetics, the company’s use of advertising, internet marketing, and PR has been able to
communicate the information associated with the company and their products to the New
Zealand customers in an effective and consistent manner. Advertising is able to reach
older customers through newspapers, magazines, billboards, TV, and radio. For younger
customers, internet marketing using social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram,
as well as the company’s official website is able to communicate with them. For the
public, the PR of the company is able to communicate with them and relay the
information in an effective manner.
 Contribution: Contribution refers to the marketing communication of the company that
is used to create a suitable response and effects from the consumers (Světlík, 2017). For
Lush Cosmetics, the company's use of advertising, internet marketing, and PR has been
able to communicate with New Zealand customers in an effective manner. This has
helped to pique the interests of the customers and engage themselves with the company,
which helped to boost the customer base.

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Conclusion
The above-written study is able to critically analyse and evaluate the customer
communication and experience management of Lush Cosmetics with the New Zealand
customers. The study analyses customer knowledge and buying behaviour of Lush Cosmetics
and evaluates customer experiences as well as the strategies for managing these experiences.
Moreover, the study identifies and investigates the key issues in customer communication of
Lush Cosmetics.