Introduction
There is a saying that shoe shoppers are the most shopaholic prodigal. One of the
surveys conducted by BAZAAR, a famous magazine in England, shows 50% of British
women have more than 30 pairs of shoes or even 100 pairs. Another story is 75% of
women are shoes-fetishists and 10% of women spend more than 1,000 pounds buying
shoes per purchase. These statistics show women are always eager to buy more shoes
than necessary.
Generally speaking, the marketing strategies of most brands and department
stores are not truly close to customers’ thinking. Although there are many published
books about the marketing of shoes nowadays, their investigations usually focus on
surface only. They seldom see it from customers’ perspective to realize what
customers need and what customers do not need. They forget customers’ direct
reaction to shoes styles, sale person’s attitude and the feeling of the store as a whole,
but think about how to increase market share and sales volume. We hardly know
about choices customers will make when they purchase products. Therefore, we will
analyze perception of the quality and influence of brands as well as customers’
requirements for them.
The project will be divided into 3 sections - customers, department stores, and
brands. We'd like to apply the 4Ps of marketing in our study. The first P is Product.
Customers' desires are aroused by products which are related with fashion culture and
appearance, characteristics and influence of a brand. The second P is place. Since we
would like to study the shoe counters in department stores, we'll focus on their
environmental characteristics. The third P is Promotion. How can brands make
customers keep eyes on their products? Advertising marketing and salesperson's
performances are the factors for make successful sale. The fourth P is Price. Many
customers are curious about how brands and department stores price their products.
We will deal these with market information, including relation between price and
product quality.
Through our research the brands and department store will have a clearer vision
about what customers want to possess. Especially in this time of economic necession
customer satisfaction is what every brand and department store should know. The
brand does not choose the customers, but offer more choices.
Through the results of our investigation, the readers will know that brands,
department stores and customers are inseparable. Every decision that brands and
department stores make would affect customers’ willingness to become their frequent
patrons. Relying customers to find more potential customers and bring buyers, sellers,
and middlemen a win-win situation.