Primary research will be used to analyse current consumer opinion of Waterstones and the issues that it may face in the present or future climate. An initial questionnaire will canvas 200 consumers, investigating their lifestyles and buying habits in areas such as online retail and how reading currently fits into their lives; assessing whether Waterstones is still a relevant brand to consumers. To ensure a wide sample I have segmented the respondents into age categories via the generations outlined by William Schroer (Schroer, W, 2004, Online), questioning 40 consumers from each segment, 20 male and 20 female. This will be followed by more in-depth interviews with 4 respondents from each age segment, 2 male and 2 female, to gain more detailed knowledge of what they are looking for from brands. These respondents will also be asked to complete a store mapping analysis, asking them to fill in a blank store layout, to seek what are the most important areas within stores. Finally my primary research will also consist of a retail diary, analysing how different areas of Waterstones stores are used, and which are the most popular.
Secondary research will surround the current market situations and potential future trends that may impact upon Waterstones and their strategies. Books, journals and online sources will build a foundation of knowledge on the British high street, online retailing and Waterstones at present. These sources will also analyse the current situation of Waterstones’ competitors and find if there are any lessons to be learnt from them. Furthermore databases and reports such as Mintel and GMID will assess consumer lifestyles and future trends in retail. There are limitations to this methodology, namely the sample size of my questionnaire. Whilst 200 participants is a high number, they are spread over a wide range of ages and this number is therefore not proportionate to the number of consumers in the UK. Furthermore due to the timings of this project the questionnaire, subsequent interviews and the retail diary may see elements of bias due to the Christmas shopping season, however I have attempted to combat this through the questions asked, and the length of time spent compiling the diary.
Waterstones Introduction Methodology Market Trends Consumers Waterstones Competitors Summary
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