The White Company marketing proposal

Student Name: Wing Yan Chow Student Number: T0001707 Course Title: MA Fashion Marketing (Full-Time) Assessment Hand-in Date: 16 December 2016

MA FASHION MARKETING ASSESSMENT 1 Research and Develop a New Marketing Strategy for The White Company Word Count: 4801 words

ABSTRACT Research and Develop a New Marketing Strategy for The White Company Promotion is one of the key elements in marketing, and it may affect the brand’s market position and relationship with the customers. On the other hand, public relations and customer loyalty have become the two principal characters in the promotion stage nowadays. Therefore, this research project aims to identify how customer loyalty and public relations apply in the promotion trends nowadays and its importance to a brand.

There are four research objectives of this report, which are: - To research on the problems or issues that The White Company is facing - To research on the customers’ needs and their behaviour - To discuss the importance of building a good relationship with the consumers - To develop and suggest a new marketing strategy of The White Company Moreover, in order to achieve the aim of this report, a mixture of quantitative and qualitative strategies was used, including in-store experiencing, online questionnaire, focus group, and interviews. Also, information and data have also collected from secondary sources including books, databases, journals, articles, published reports and websites.

This report challenges the use of customer loyalty and public relations in the promotion stages and sees if they can affect the relationship between a brand and its customers.

Keywords: Marketing Strategy, Customer Loyalty, Public Relations, Promotion, Customer Behaviours, The White Company Paper Type: Marketing Report

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CONTENT Abstract

2

Ch1 Introduction

6-8

Ch2 Overview of The White Company 2.1 Background 2.2 The White Company’s Marketing Mix (4Ps) Analysis 2.3 The Customers 2.4 The Issues that The White Company facing

10 - 22 11 - 12 15 -16

Ch3 Literature Review 3.1 What is Marketing Communications 3.2 The Promotion Trends 3.3 The Customers’ Needs

24 - 29 26 27 - 28 29

Ch4 Methodology

32 - 34

Ch5 Discussion of Findings

36 - 38

Ch6 Further Recommendations #1 The VIP nights #2 Little Gift Boxes #3 Personal Shoppers

40 - 44 42 43 44

Ch7 Conclusion

46 - 48

References

49 - 50

Bibliography

51 - 52

List of Illustrations

53

Appendix Appendix I : Methodology Table Appendix II : Consent Forms Appendix III : Customers Interviews Appendix IV : Focus Group Appendix V : Online Survey Appendix VI : PESTLE Analysis of The White company Appendix VII : SWOT of The White Company Appendix VIII : Critical Path

56 - 72 57 - 58 59 - 60 61 - 62 63 - 64 65 - 66 67 - 68 69 - 70 71 - 72

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17 - 20 21 - 22

Ch1.

Introduction

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“ Marketing

is a contest for people’s attention.

– Seth Godin -

The White Company is a lifestyle and fashion retail brand in the UK that launched in 1993 by Chrissie Rucker. The White Company has become one of the fastest growing luxury multi-channel retail brands in the UK during those years, by having a full range of lifestyle products, including daily necessities to children wears. According to the data from Endole (2016), The White Company earned about £163.58m since March 2015, which increased 13.77% compared with the turnover of 2014. However, I discovered that there are still a bit customer services and promotion areas should be improved while I am working on the research.

Furthermore, communication and promotion are one of the most important elements of marketing nowadays.

Varadarajan and Clark (1994) stated that marketing strategy is concerned with the creation of a marketing mix that enables the business to achieve its objectives in a target market. (Slater, Hult and Olson, 2010) Having a strong and interesting marketing strategy is not a new business concept, and it cannot deny that there are more and more brands from different industries have allocates resources on the use of promotion and communication with their target customers among those years. Moreover, consumer behaviour is often affected the brands’ decisions and promotion plans. In order to have a successful marketing and promotion plan, the brands should have done enough research on their customers’ cultures, lifestyles, habits and region, also understanding consumer behaviour is essential to the brands, because it can allow the brands to understand the consumers’ needs. (Solomon, RussellBennett and Previte 2013)

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Therefore, I am going to recommend a new marketing strategy for The White Company in this report, which will develop from the current promotion methods from this brand. In additional, I am going to make use of my research to explore and try to identify the importance of customer loyalty and public relations in the promotion stages and sees if they can affect the relationship between a brand and its customers directly. To achieve the aim of this report, there have used a wide range of research methods, including case studies, interviews, online survey and furthermore. Therefore, this report will divide into three main parts: The White Company’s Overview, Discussions and further recommendations. I hope that my suggestions and analysis in this report may provide more ideas for The White Company future development.

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Ch2.

Overview of The White Company

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2.1 BACKGROUND

T

he White Company, one of the leading lifestyle and fashion brands in the UK, which was founded

by Chrissie Rucker in 1993. After years of effort, The White Company has become one of the UK’s fastest-growing multichannel retailers, by providing a wide range of lifestyle products, from home dÊcor to fashion products. Product in white is the signature of The White Company; and white is an inherently positive colour, which can associate with light, safety, cleanliness, perfection and softness. (Bourn, 2010) Since the beginning of the brand, The White Company insisted on providing high-quality products and attentive services to their customers. However, they were position in a luxury market, but the founder of The White Company, Chrissie Rucker, committed to offering and create designer-quality products without the designer price tag, in order to control their prices at a reasonable level. She has mentioned in an interview by The Guardian (Card, J. 2016) that it is crucial to have a strong and clear brand vision to have a try to be different with the competitors. As is known to me, brands with a strong branding image can provide a point of differentiation for the member and customer by leaving an impression on their mind.

For The White Company, they are good at identifying themselves as a luxury lifestyle brand more than a retail brand, and they have tried to provide a load of inspirations to their customer through different kinds of platforms.

Fig2

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Fig3

#1 The White Company’s Product

2.2 THE WHITE COMPANY'S MARKETING MIX (4Ps) ANALYSIS The marketing mix is a conceptual framework for the brands on configuring their offerings to suit the consumers’ needs. (Londhe, 2014) In traditional, marketing mix can divide into 4Ps – products, price, place and promotion. Grönroos (1994) said that the marketing mix is a powerful concept because it can let the brands to handle the marketing plans easily and also helping the brands to change the competitive positions in the market (see Londhe, 2014). The White Company’s marketing mix (4Ps) supports its market position as one of the leading lifestyle products retailers in the UK, and they have used the marketing mix and their strengths as ways of solidifying their brand image and position. By being a strong brand in the industry, they have shown how an effective marketing mix supports brand development and business growth, also has become a great business example among the market.

Fig4

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#2 The White Company’s Prices and Pricing Strategy

The White Company has a wide range of product lines for giving more choices to their customers, which involves personal daily necessities to furniture. The product mix of The White Company can focus on what the business offers to customers and achieve their customers’ needs. At this period, The White Company has provided the following product categories as their main product line: 1. Candles and Fragrances 2. Adults Clothing 3. Babies and Kids Clothing 4. Nursery Equipment 5. Furniture 6. Home Decorations 7. Bedding Collections 8. Daily Necessities 9. Gift Vouchers To become a one-stop lifestyle retailer, The White Company has launched their sub-brand, The Little White Company (LWC) in 1997, which selling good quality and affordable kids clothing and nursery equipment. With a perfect product mix, it leads The White Company having a huge amount of turnover in those years, by receiving 13.77% growth in £163.6 million turnovers currently (DueDil, 2016).

Pricing strategy can help us to know more about the company’s price setting and how they position their brand in the market. The White Company aims to create a brand that specialised in supplying designer-quality products that are at affordable prices. Although, The White Company has launched a few stores in outlets, which selling products at a lower price. Comparing with the other brands in the same industry of The White Company, some of The White Company’s products are often a bit expensive than the others.

However, The White Company works on a simple idea – if the consumer prefers to receive higher quality products and services, they will not mind paying a bit more. Therefore, the quality of goods has become their one of the key focuses.

#3 Place in The White Company’s Marketing Mix

#4 The White Company’s Promotions

Place is one of the elements of the marketing mix, which used to analysis the locations where the customers purchase the products and services. The White Company has over 50 stores in the UK and also having their official online website - http:// www.thewhitecompany.com for their customers to purchase their items. On the other hand, they started their business in the Middle East market in early 2015 by launched six stores in Dubai. However, according to their official website, they have closed their stores in the Middle East in the summer of 2016. In 2014, they made the first foray into the US market by launching a new website - http://us.thewhitecompany.com; in additional, Chrissie, the founder, has predicted in an interview (Craven, 2016), they were seeking a location for their first American store. This part of The White Company’s marketing mix shows how they adapt to changing times, technologies and market conditions; also to show how they have good research and foresight on global marketing.

This element of the marketing mix related to the communication strategies used to propagate the products to the customers. The White Company promotes its products mainly through online social media platforms, such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, blog and Pinterest. Also, they will advertise their products online by giving inspirations and showcases to their customers, in order to let their customers have a few more ideas on how to decorate the houses by using The White Company’s products.

However, The White Company has not given up the traditional promotion channel, which is sending brochures to their customers. The customers may request one at their official website or collect one in store.

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2.3 THE CONSUMERS

Around 25-30 years old

SPEND AROUND £50 -200 per purchase Fig5 The customers gender

The products from The White Company always win a good reputation among the mid to high market female customers, who are around in 25-50 years old, most of them are in a higher consuming ability. According to the results of the survey that has done (see Appendix V), most of the people will spend around £50 to £200 in every purchase; moreover, consumable products are the most popular products among the customers including fragrances, candles and home decorations products.

On the other hand, due to the low currency rate and introductions from the online blogs, The White Company has become one of the popular British brands among the oversea market in the recent years. With the rapid economic development, China has become one of the highest source markets for The White Company. According to the report from the World Travel & Tourism Council (Petroff, 2016), the Chinese tourists spent around $215 billion abroad in 2015, which rocketed by 53% compared with the data in 2014.

Fig6 The customers usually spend in every purchase

Fig7

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To know more about The White Company’s target customers and their habits, I have created two customer profiles, which showed at below:

Fig9

#1 Lauren Willson 29 years old Freelance designer | Traveller Lauren is a creative and freedom-loving person, who believes in the theory of “Less is more”. She loves to spend her time by sitting in the sunshine and reading some books or fashion magazines.

Also, she is a traveller by visited over 12 countries already. During travel, Lauren has inspired by different kinds of cultures that she can put onto her artworks. Lauren usually shopped at Whistles, COS and Zara but also interested in the timeless and handicraft fashion products. Her favourite places to purchase her beauty products and daily necessities are House of Fraser, Jo Malone and The White Company.

#2 Sadie Owen 26 years old Housewife | A Mother of a newborn Sadie is a 26 years old housewife who is living with her husband and baby in an apartment located in Leicester. At the weekends, she enjoys spending time with her family in the parks or having baking at home. Sadie is a meticulous person; she prefers to buy products from brands that provided high-quality products, such as Dirtyque, John Lewis and Chanel. In her home, you will always find a vase of fresh flowers and a burning fragrance candle. However, she prefers luxury brands with highquality products, but she also loves to experiment with new products and brands.

Fig8

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2.4 THE ISSUES THAT THE WHITE COMPANY FACING According to the PESTLE analysis that I worked on (see Appendix VI), we can found that there are many problems and issues have affected The White Company’s business currently. Below are some of the main issues that The White Company has to face.

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2.4.1 Brexit

2.4.2 Awareness of the Production Methods

There was a historical event happened in the June 2016 – UK will be splitting apart from the European Union (EU). In this issue, the economists stated the referendum has been predicting an immediate and significant impact on the UK economy. After the UK has voted to split apart from the EU, the currency of pounds noted a dramatically fall at the end of June (see Table 1). Despite the fluctuation, we can see British Pounds is still struggling to retain its value before Brexit. Theresa May, the Prime Minster of the UK, said that the currency had gone down to a three-year low against the euro (BBC, 2016a)

There are more people started to aware of the products production methods, and having a few requirements on the products’ quality. Producing products in an ethical way will be one of the trends for the retail market.

However, sometimes the organisations have to lower the products quality to trade the production costs with the well being of the organisation in the competitive sphere.

(Anon, 2016)

However, the retail sales in the UK recorded ascension from1.4% to 1.9% in July 2016 after the Brexit vote, which was the best performance for the month in 14 years. (BBC, 2016b). According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the decline in the pounds since the referendum, which leads vacations in the UK become cheaper for overseas visitors, and also attracted the tourists on shopping sprees for luxury goods (see Monaghan and Allen, 2016). The summer after the referendum, the sharp drop in the pound has brought a huge volume of business to the UK department stores and luxury shops. The tax-free shopping company, Global Blue, reported there is a 7% increase in the UK international tax-free shopping during the July of 2016; and the tourists from Japan, Indonesia, the US and China accounted as the largest portions of spending in the UK (Allen, 2016).

However, The White Company (2016) stated on their website that they understood their customers’ expectations and promised there would have a balance between the products quality and also making their products ethical. They will try their best on seeking a way of doing business with their suppliers and workers by not placing pressures on them and supporting the skilled workers.

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2.4.3 Importance of Corporate Social Responsibility

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Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a crucial component of a company’s competitiveness.

Overall, this strategy aims to achieve a positive impact on the brands and society. (Tennant, 2015) According to the definition from Caramela (2016), social responsibility divided into different categories, which including environment efforts, philanthropy, ethical labour practices and volunteering.

Table 1. The currency rate of British Pounds after referendum.

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For The White Company, they have tried their best to execute the social responsibility by partnered with three charitable organisations: Refuge, Place2Be and the Prince’s Trust; also, they have formed a charity group, The White Heart Foundation, for helping vulnerable women and children.

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Ch3.

Literature Review

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“

3.1 WHAT IS MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS?

Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.

– Beales, S. (2013)

Marketing communications can be defined as promotion; it is used to set up channels to receive, interpret and act on messages from the market to modify the company messages and identify new communications opportunities. In short, the purposes of marketing communications are to help the companies build up communication channels to the customers and allow them to establish the brand influence and brand loyalty. Fill and Turnbull (2016) have stated in their book: marketing communications can be used to engage with a variety of audiences and in such a way that meets the needs of the audiences. Also, they said that communications are essential, and it is used to increase the brand awareness, to act as a differentiator for a brand among its competitors, and to reinforce the current and target customers’ impression.

advertising, public relations, personal selling, direct marketing and sales promotion, and those activities are called as the promotional mix. Those activities in the promotional mix are necessary and indispensable because the strategies in the promotional mix are designed to complement one another, and it is used to create to increase the customers’ interest. (Anonymous, 2015)

In order to achieve the marketing goals, the brands usually have to work on a list of promotional activities, which included Fig14

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3.2 THE PROMOTION TRENDS Technology can enrich the overall customer experience; there are more leading fashion houses has been looking for the emerging analytical technologies in their retail and marketing today. (Agarwal, 2016) Thus, digital marketing has become one of the most significant promotion trends for the brands and companies nowadays, which are not the only phenomenon in the fashion industry. The social media platforms, such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, SnapChat have widely used among the promotion channels. In the past, most of the luxury brands would refuse to embrace the digital age, because most of them believe that online shopping would blemish their brand image.

However, there are more of them will try beginning with this strategy nowadays. Rogerson (2016) has forecasted that the global sales for women’s luxury fashion in the online clothing market will increase 17% by 2018, which equating increase of over £8bn. For the UK, there may have a growth of 18% in 2018, compared with the data in 2015.

On the other hand, there are more brands will start to keep an eye on the use of public relations and customer loyalty to target or keep in touch with the customers.

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3.2.1 The Use of Public Relations Public Relations can define as a management activity that tries to shape the attitudes of consumers through planned activities, and it included event planning, crisis communication, community relations, reputation management, media relations, internal communication and working with the digital media. In the fashion marketing communication mix, public relations have become a support role in supporting the products and brands images, also to build relationships with different stakeholders.

3.2.2 The Customer Loyalty In recent years, there are more people will pursue a better shopping experience.

Therefore, customer services and customer loyalty have become essential for a retail business. Moreover, the fashion industry is a high competitive industry; every brand will try their best to invest heavily in its brand image, marketing, product design, quality, price, locations and customer services.

(Mason, 2016) In the past, personal selling relied on face-to-face communication on contact via telephone and email. Due to the advance of technology, social media are the most common platfor ms in the promotion stage, and it leads to the trend of direct marketing. Odgen (2014) has also given a definition of direct marketing in his book, which direct marketing is an interactive method of delivering communications to a firm’s customer. The principle of direct marketing is to create a database, which contains with a load of customers information and shopping habits, and the brand will sell their products to the customers according to the information from the database. Direct marketing helps brands to search and target their customers and enhance the customers’ loyalty. Customer loyalty is a key objective in customer relationship management, and it is a kind of relationship that established between customers, companies, brands, persons or products. It is not only to help the brands bring repeat business but also to build up the brands marketing positions and brand identity. In additional, having a good customer relationship management can create customer satisfaction, thus, satisfied customers will feel valued and to be willing to become one of the “promoters” of the products or even the brand itself. (Kotler and Armstrong, 2015)

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The people always confuse with public relations (PR) and advertising. Although public relations and advertising both are using media to communicate with the public, however, PR is not a physical promotion method, and it is uncontrollable. Additional, the costs of public relations are often lower than advertisements; however, the presentation of the message may become positive or negative, and advertisements are mostly for a positive outcome. Odgen (2014) stated that public relations are the function and activities to support the company or brand image in the public eye, and it has played as an important role to provide positive communications for the business and its customers.

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3.3 THE CUSTOMERS' NEEDS It is important for the brands to u n d e r st a n d wh at th eir cu stomers’ needs; and to know more about the customer behaviour, can help them to have a better plan for the brands and products development and selling directions. The people have studied the consumer behaviour since ages ago; in academic subjects, it can divide into economics, sociology, psychology, neurology and anthropology. So, what is consumer behaviour? Blackwell et al. have stated that consumer behaviour is the activities people undertake when obtaining, consuming and disposing of products and services. (see Blythe 2013, p.5)

needs theory could lead us to have a better understanding of the individuals’ money attitudes; moreover, he believed that money might encourage people to pursue a higher level of psychological and social needs, such as cars, luxury products and memberships in clubs.

Therefore, the brands should understand their customers' cultures and behaviours, and try their best on satisfying them at the same time.

To know about customers’ behaviour and their needs, we should make sure we could understand what are needs and wants. Abraham Maslow has proposed a theory in 1943, which has called as Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.

According to this theory, there have divided into five stages: physiological needs, safety needs, belongingness and love needs, esteem needs and selfactualization. Maslow (1943) asserted that people are encouraged to achieve certain needs, and some of them may take preference over each other. Also, our basic need is used to achieve the physical survival, after we have fulfilled by the physical needs, we will try to pursue more. Further more, I found the work from Mark Oleson (2004) is absorbing. He said that Maslow’s human

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Ch4.

Methodology

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Apart from working on secondary research, by collecting data and information from the books and articles, I have spend a few more time on doing some primary researches, which is related to the customers behaviour. Primary research was an integral part of this research report, and this enabled me to know more about consumer behaviours and doing a few more analysis of the brand. Through a varied and extensive range of qualitative and quantitate research methods (see Appendix I), I was able to collect reliable data and get a better knowledge of the problems that The White Company faced.

Fig18 Fig19

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Ch5.

Discussion of Findings

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Fig21 Perceptual Map of The White Company

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According to my researches (see Appendix III - V), I found that most of the customers feel satisfied with the services that The White Company has provided, but they think that they may deserve a better shopping experience in stores. In additional, according to the discussions from the focus group (see Appendix IV), 13 out of 15 participants believe that customer loyalty is important for a luxury brand. Moreover, the participants all agree VIP system may help The White Company to provide a better service to the frequenters.

For the purpose to work on a few more analysis of The White Company, SWOT is one of the useful tools to analysis the brand current marketing strategy. According to the SWOT of The White Company (see Appendix VII) that I have done, we can found that The White Company is good at setting their brand position and brand image by having a great work on charity, also having consistent packaging designs and decorations in stores. Clare Rayner (2010) said that having an iconic visual merchandising design is important to a brand. It is because the display windows are the first impressions to the customer, and the entrance of the store can reflect the personality of the brand; also, it can encourage the customers to buy the recommended products by using visual merchandising’s displays. In additional, providing more choices for the customers is important. The White Company has done a great job on the products categories by offering a wide range of product lines for their customers, including household items, adults and baby fashion products, fragrances and candles. On the other hand, they also have done a great job on the promotion and communication with the targeted and current customers, by providing a huge range of traditional and digital promotion channels to communicate with their customers, including blog, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, newsletters and brochure.

those years. According to the perceptual map above, we can notice that they have to make sure their brand image is clear enough to stand in the market and fighting against with those current competitors, such as Jo Malone, Dirtyque, John Lewis and Harrods. In additional, there are more brands tried to set up a few more products lines and tried to enter the multi-channel retails market, such as H&M, ASOS, Urban Outfitters nowadays, and most of them will set their products at lower prices. Although The White Company has a strong market position in the market, it may too niche to develop its brand image. Therefore, it may be a bit difficult to evolve in the future. Although The White Company has to face and solve the critical problems imminently, there are still a lot of opportunities for The White Company to develop in the future, for example, increasing the customer loyalty to solidify its brand identity and expand their market target to a wider market.

Unfortunately, The White Company is facing a high competition in the multi-channel retail market in

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Ch6.

Further Recommendations

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#1 The VIP Night

The Showcase of our latest S/S 17 products 6/1 /2017 (Fri) 7:00pm to 9:30pm The Royal Horseguards 2 Whitehall Court, London, England, SW1A 2EJ, United Kingdom

In this chapter, I am going to recommend a new marketing strategy for The White Company, which is the VIP system. This VIP system has been inspired and developed from the current gift box and gift voucher services of The White Company. This recommendation aims to increase The White Company’s consumer loyalty and helps to expand their market range. Moreover, we will measure the success of this idea by receiving the customers’ feedbacks; also there will have introspections every six months.

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So how to be one of the VIP members? It totally depends on how much you spend with The White Company every month.

If you have spent more than £500 on our online store or physical stores every month, you may become our VIP members automatically. At the same time, you may also choose to pay £300 per year to become one of the members in the VIP system. This VIP system will decide into three main parts: VIP nights, little gift boxes and personal shopper.

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The White Night The White Company London Present

Fig23

This event will be named "The White Night", and it will be chosen to hold in the hotel exhibition rooms located in London and Edinburgh. In order to have a better crowd control, there will have two VIP nights in every season with maximum 50 people every time, which having products showcases and chances for the VIP members to purchase the latest products earlier than the others. We accept entries by first come first serve, and we will launch an event page in The White Company UK official website for the members to register. Moreover, this event will hold as a party format instead of traditional trade shows. We hope all our participants can enjoy and buy the products in a relaxed atmosphere.

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#2 Little Gift Boxes

#3 Personal Shoppers

Fig28

Fig24 - 27

This gift box is for everyone in our VIP system. This idea allows The White Company to promote their latest products to the customers by sending gift boxes to the VIP systems member in every season besides of sending brochures. Inside those gift boxes, there may have product samples or gift vouchers to let the customers test the latest flagship products. The gift box will have four different designs, which inspired by the four seasons - Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter.

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Isaia asserted that service would be the future of luxury (see Tungate, 2009).

By having an outstanding customer service, it may help the brands to create customers loyalty, also may increase the brand’s turnover.

Therefore, I am going to suggest the idea of personal shoppers. There will have a few personal shoppers in the flagship stores to welcome our VIP system members. Personal shoppers in stores can provide ideas and inspirations by referring the customers’ personal information in our VIP system database; also all of our personal shoppers would be given a proper training before serving our VIP clients. This idea aims to help The White Company to enhance their customer loyalty and building relationships with the customers.

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Ch7.

Conclusion

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In conclusion, this report has discussed on how customer loyalty and public relations may apply in the promotion trends nowadays and its importance to a brand. Moreover, this report has tried to make use of the research information to create a few future marketing recommendations for The White Company.

However, The White Company has done a great job on building the communication bridge between itself and its customers, but we can found that there are still a bit areas have to be improved, such as to improve the customers shopping experiences and being a better choice for the customers among the high competition market.

Although The White Company is facing the problems that mentioned above, we can still notice that they have a lot of brilliant marketing communication strategies to achieve their brand’s tone of voice and image. At the end of this report, I have proposed a development idea for The White Company by getting inspirations from its current gift box and gift vouchers services, which is the VIP system. I hope my thoughts and recommendations may help The White Company to have a bright future.

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List of Illustrations Table 1: The currency rate of British Pounds after referendum. Source: Bloomberg (p21) Cover photo of each chapter: Unknown Title. Source: Gratisography Figure 1. Unknown Title. Source: Google (p8) Figure 2. Unknown Title. Source: Notes From A Stylist (p12) Figure 3. The White Company Moodboard. Source: Own Image (P13-14) Figure 4.The White Company. Source: The White Company Instagram (p15) Figure 5. The customers gender. Source: Own Image (p17) Figure 6. The customers usually spend in every purchase. Source: Own Image (p17) Figure 7. Products categories that customers usually buy. Source: Own Image (p17) Figure 8. Customer Profile: Lauren Willson. Source: Own Image (p19) Figure 9. Customer Profile: Sadie Own. Source: Own Image (p20) Figure 10. Hands on the handrails on the subway. Source: SplitShire (p21) Figure 11. Unknown Title. Source: Negative Space (p21) Figure 12. Unknown Title. Source: Pinterest (p22) Figure 13. Logo of The White Heart Foundation. Source: The White Company Website (p22) Figure 14. The White Company brochure. Source: Own Image (p26) Figure 15. Unknown Title. Source: Mi Truenorthvision (p27) Figure 16. Shopping Bags. Source: Kaboompics (p28) Figure 17: Unknown Title. Source: Pinterest (p30) Figure 18. Unknown Title. Source: Charlottaatallah (p33) Figure 19. Unknown Title. Source: Notes From A Stylist (p33) Figure 20: The White Company. Source: Design Practice (p37) Figure 21: The White Company Perceptual Map. Source: Own Image (p38) Figure 22: Unknown Title. Source: Pinterest (p41) Figure 23: The VIP Night Poster. Source: Own Image (P42) Figure 24: The Spring Gift Box. Source: Own Image (p43) Figure 25: The Summer Gift Box. Source: Own Image (p43) Figure 26: The Autumn Gift Box. Source: Own Image (p43) Figure 27: The Winter Gift Box. Source: Own Image (p43) Figure 28: Unknown Title. Source: SplitShire (p44) Figure 29. The White Company Balloon. Source: The White Company Instagram (p47) Figure 30: Christmas Decorations in The White Company. Source: girlabouttownhouse Instragram (p54)

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Fig30

Appendix.

Appendix I : Methodology Table

57 - 58

Appendix II : Consent Forms

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Appendix III : Customers Interviews

61 - 62

Appendix IV : Focus Group

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Appendix V : Online Survey

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Appendix VI : PESTLE Analysis of The White Company

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Appendix VII : SWOT of The White Company

69 - 70

Appendix VIII : Critical Path

71 - 72

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Appendix I. Methodology Table

RESEARCH METHOD

Online Survey

Focus Group

SAMPLE

PURPOSE

STRENGTHS

WEAKNESS

On street (64 participants)

In order to find out The White Company current and target customers’ expectation and shopping habits.

It is not quite effective, because this method costs me a lot of time, and also it is difficult to ask additional questions after received responses from the participants.

In order to discuss the treats and opportunities of The White Company. Also to brainstorm what The White Company can develop in the future.

This research method will cost time to find enough replies. Also the participants may not fell comfortable to provide answers that present themselves in an unfavourable manner.

The research data can let to know more about The White Company’ customer shopping habits and their expectation.

15 participants

Can reach The White Company customers directly. Moreover, it is an online survey instead of traditional interviews; therefore the participants may not feel bored or awkward by holding the tablet and answer my questions.

In order to collect more detailed information by shopping experiences.

We can try and experience everything by ourselves, so that we can know and feel more directly.

I may get some official answers and ideas from the group, or some of them may not expect the depth of the areas that I planned to go through.

It has to spend a lot of time and money to finish this research.

This method provides me a chance to collect as much as ideas and point of views from the participants. And it can help me to set up the questions for my online survey.

In order to receive information, also to know more about their shopping experiences with The White Company.

We can have chance to get in touch with the current customers directly. Also allows for more in-depth data collection and comprehensive understanding.

Moreover, the participants’ body languages and facial expressions are more clearly identified and understood.

This research method costs time and money. Also some of the responses may deliver biased.

According to the experiences, we can know more about how The White Company wants to provide what kind of services to their customers. Also to look at how they should be in the future.

It is effective because it helps me to collect more ideas and directions for my researches, also I can get my responses directly and in a short amount of time.

In this interview, we can have more information about how a current customer’ need and their point of views.

It is quite effective, because it may allows us to gain more understanding about The White Company and their customers.

Store experience

Stores in Nottingham, London and Bicester Village

Interviews with the White Company current customers

3 participants

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This focus group can help me to generate ideas and reveal the customer needs and perceptions from the industry.

OUTCOME

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EFFECTIVENESS RESEARCH METHOD

This method is effective, because we can experience by ourselves.

Moreover, we can receive all the information directly and ask the staffs some questions immediately if there is a need.

Appendix II. Consent Forms

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Appendix III . Customers Interviews Drafted Questions: 1. What kind of products will you buy from The White Company?

2. Except The White Company, where will you go to buy those similar products?

3. How much do you usually spend in The White Company every month?

4. What reasons caused you to shop in The White Company?

5. How do you think about The White Company customer services?

Interview 1: Linda Chen (39 years old – Housewife) L – Linda M – Me

Interview 3: Rebecca Lewis (28 years old – Freelance Stylist) R – Rebecca M - Me

M: L: M: L:

M: I want to ask what kind of products will you buy from The White Company?

R: I love to buy the candles from The White Company, their fashion items are great too. And most of my bedroom products are from The White Company.

M: Except The White Company, where will you go to buy those similar products?

R: I wil go Jo Malone, Boots, Ikea and John Lewis.

M: How much do you usually spend in The White Company every month?

R: I think I have spent more than £200 every month.

M: What reasons caused you to shop in The White Company?

R: Because their products are in higher quality than the others, also I love their brand image.

M: How do you think about The White Company customer services?

R: They have done a good job on customer services, but some of the staffs are a bit unhelpful. But I don’t care.

M: L: M: L: M: L: M: L:

Hello, in this interview I am going to ask you about your shopping experiences with The White Company.

Hi. Take your time.

First, I want to ask what kind of products will you usually buy from The White Company?

Well, I will usually buy the fragrances products from the White Company. Sometimes, I will buy the home decorations products, especially when it is Christmas time.

Except The White Company, where will you go to buy those similar products?

I don’t have a specific store to shop that, if I find something that I like it, then I will buy it. But I usually go to John Lewis and Mark&Spencer.

Okay then. How much do you usually spend in The White Company every month?

I usually spend around £30 or more, it depends on what kind of products have I bought that month.

What reasons caused you to shop in The White Company?

Because I love white!

How do you think about The White Company customer services?

It is okay for me, the staffs are really nice.

Interview 2: Clare Pratt (32 years old – Office Assistant) C - Clare M – Me M: What kind of products will you buy from The White Company?

C: I usually buy clothes for my baby and son. Also I have buy a cardigan last week.

M: Except The White Company, where will you go to buy those similar products?

C: John Lewis, Next, House of Fraser, Babies R Us. M: How much do you usually spend in The White Company every month?

C: Around £80 or more? I sure not less than £50.

M: What reasons caused you to shop in The White Company?

C: Because they have provided a perfect quality of product with a reasonable price. Especially for the baby products, they are really comfortable for the babies to wear.

M: How do you think about The White Company customer services?

C: Actually, I am a great fans of The White Company. But sometimes, the staffs will not be as helpful as I think. Although the store isn’t busy at that moment, the staffs will not come forward to help you.

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Appendix IV. Focus Group Discuss Issues: 1. The Feeling of The White Company (Keywords Brainstorming) 2. How was The White Company customer services?

3. What should The White Company develop in the future?

4. Discuss on the current environment multi-channel retail market in the UK 5. Discuss the importance of customer loyalty

ay 100% agree VIP system m er pr ov id e be tt er cu st om services!

Keywords Brainstorming

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Appendix V. Online Survey Questionnaire Questions:

6. How long will you shop there per month?

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

Gender Age Group Have you ever shop in The White Company?

What kind of product(s) have you bought?

How much do you usually spend per purchase?

How long will you shop there per month?

How many marks will you give to The White Company current customer services?

(1: Worst! < 5: Very very good <3) 8. Do you think customer loyalty is important?

9. Have you ever joined the VIP systems from any other brands?

10. Do you enjoy those VIP systems?

11. If The White Company set up a VIP system, by holding the VIP night per season, free little gift box per season and providing a personal shopper in some of the flagship stores. Will you feel interested to join?

Questionnaire Link: https://coeychow.typeform.com/to/Iwu48g Participants: 64 people

Less than once (35 ppl / 65%) Once a month (12ppl / 22%) Twice a month (7ppl / 13%) Three times a month (0ppl / 0%) More than three times (0ppl / 0%) 7. How many marks will you give to The White Company current customer services?

(1: Worst! < 5: Very very good <3) 1: 4ppl / 7% 2: 7ppl / 13% 3: 11ppl / 20% 4: 21ppl / 39% 5: 11ppl / 20% Average Rating: 3.52 8. Do you think customer loyalty is important?

Yes (59ppl / 92%) No (5ppl / 8%)

Questionnaire Results: 1. Gender

9. Have you ever joined the VIP systems from any other brands?

(Yes - Next question) (No - Skip next question)

Lady (51ppl / 80%) Gentleman (13ppl / 20%)

Yes (28ppl / 44%) No (36ppl / 56%)

2. Age Group 18-25 years old (5ppl / 8%) 26-30 years old (6 ppl / 9%) 31-35 years old (15ppl / 23%) 36-40 years old (11ppl / 17%) 41-50 years old (16ppl / 25%) more than 50 years old (11ppl / 17%)

10. Do you enjoy those VIP systems?

Yes (20ppl / 59%) No (14ppl / 41%) 11. If The White Company set up a VIP system, by holding the VIP night per season, free little gift box per season and providing a personal shopper in some of the flagship stores. Will you feel interested to join?

3. Have you ever shop in The White Company?

(Yes - Next question) (No - Skip to question 8)

Yes (41ppl / 64%) No (23ppl / 36%)

Yes (54ppl / 84%) No (10 ppl / 16%) 4. What kind of product(s) have you bought?

Fragrance / Candles (39ppl / 72%) Home Decorations (33ppl / 61%) Baby / Kids Clothing (23ppl / 43%) Adults Clothing (17ppl / 31%) Furniture (11ppl / 20%) Baby / Kids Products (10ppl / 19%) Others (8ppl / 15%) 5. How much do you usually spend per purchase? £20 - 50 (12ppl / 22%) £50 - 100 (26ppl / 48%) £100 - 200 (11ppl / 20%) more than £200 (3ppl / 6%) less than £20 (2ppl / 4%)

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Appendix VI. PESTLE Analysis of The White company

Political - Brexit affected the British economy - Rising immigration rate in the UK - The government announced there will have a further reduction to the Corporation Tax main rate in 2020

Economic - Changing currency exchange rate - Economic environment in different markets - Wages are not increasing whilst inflation problem is affecting the UK - Growth of supermarkets and fast-fashion retail brands that sell similar products in a lower price

Social - Aging population problems in the UK - People prefer products to be produced in an ethical way – e.g. workers paid reasonable wages - People aware on customer loyalty and personalisation - Social responsibility become important to a brand

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Technological - Growth of online selling in the UK and world - Rising people who own computers and smart phones to access the internet - Development of hi-tech communication platforms or channels usage in-stores

Legal - Trade Description Act – advertising must be accurate and not misleading - Health and Safety at Work Act – a business must provide a safe environment for workers

Environmental - Awareness on the products sustainability and environment protection - Global Warming and other environmental issues in a global level

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Appendix VII. SWOT of The White Company

Strengths

Opportunities

- High-quality products with an affordable price - Clear and signature brand image - Consistent packaging and visual merchandising styles - Wide range and product mix - Excellent communication channels with the customers - Doing well on the charity â&#x20AC;&#x201C; The White Heart Foundation - Promised to take corporate social responsibility seriously

- More advertising - Increase the customer loyalty - Expand the market target to a wider market - Finding more ways to achieve their social responsibility goals and standards

Weaknesses - Not enough communication between the staffs and customers in-store - Too niche, hard to expand and develop - Not being well on working promotion â&#x20AC;&#x201C; public relations - High competition among the market - Have not updated their company information from time to time

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Threats - There are too many brands trying to enter the multichannel retail market - Difficult to stand out among the market - Should have a better cost control by facing the inflation problems in the UK - Should have a clear production methods and trying to be more sustainable

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Appendix VIII. Critical Path

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