Retail Branding and Innovation - Formosa Asian Market - Case Study Example

Retail Branding and Innovation Name Professor Institution Course Date Executive Summary This report is about the merchandise assortment and store design of Formosa Asian Market that is located in sunnybank. The retailer is under specialty retailing and it mainly deals with Asian Foods and Groceries, as well as Asian kitchenware. The merchandise assortment elements that were assessed include consumer-interaction merchandise, quality and range of merchandise, frontstage Ops and backstage Ops, as well as breadth and depth of the products ranges. Under store design, the elements that were assessed include store infrastructure, Merchandise Spatial Planning, Visual Merchandising, and store layout. Observation was carried out in the retail store to establish the opportunities and weaknesses of the store. They were based on merchandise mix elements. The observations made led to the formulation of the recommendations for the store. The recommendations that were formulated for the store concern the infrastructure of the store in terms of the lighting system, as well as merchandise assortment in terms of product breadth. The two recommendations were justified as to why they should be implemented by the store. Table of Contents Introduction 4 Literature review 5 Retailer’s merchandise assortment and store design 7 Recommendations and justification for the retailer 10 Conclusion 11 . 11 Introduction In Australia for instance, there are a number of specialty retailers, and one of them includes retailers dealing with food and groceries. The food and groceries sector of Australia is fast growing because of the growth in the demand of their products by many individuals in the recent years. The main aim of the report is coming up with a retailer-rebranding project for the Formosa Asian Market, which is a specialty retailer in sunnybank dealing with Asian foods and groceries. In the report, the retailer brand will be addressed including the store design and merchandise. The brand elements concerning the retailer will also be addressed in the analysis and recommendations section. The report tends to focus on the Formosa Asian Market as a specialty retailer in Asian foods and Groceries in Brisbane Australia. For instance, Formosa Asian Market as indicated in the earlier text is located in sunnybank Brisbane. As a specialty in Asian foods and groceries, Formosa Asian Market has served the locals for an approximate period of 20 years. The retailer tends to provide quality products to its esteemed customers including fresh Asian vegetables and fruits, frozen Asian foods, as well as quality kitchenware. Any individual who may want to enjoy the products and services offered by the Formosa Asian Market is advised to visit their stores at their Brisbane Central Business District stores. In offering food and groceries products to their customers, the retailer tends to get the products direct from Japan and Taiwan so that customers may have the guarantee of having fresh products. This particular project was embarked on because of individual retail business problems in the store. Literature review In the retailing field, it is argued that store design and merchandise assortment is extremely important components of the retail mix. Because of the two tend to identify and affect the image of the store as well as the overall positioning of the retail store. Store image of the retailer can be defined in many ways, and one of the definitions is that it is the manner in which the customer perceives the products and services offered by the store in terms of quality. The perception of the customer on the products and services provided by a retail store is based on the functional qualities of the store, which refers to the elements of the retail store such as the layout of the store and the selection of the products or merchandise (Baker, 1986). Product depth and breadth for a retailer is usually included in the Merchandise Assortment. Factors that tend to affect the depth and breadth of a product include models, brands, product lines, as well as styles. It is argued that these factors are extremely needed by a retailer in the efforts of maintaining the image of the retail store as well as meeting the needs and perceptions of the customers (Lindquist, 1974, p.25). In the determination of store selection by the customers of many retailer stores, product quality and assortment are important variables in the consumer formation image of the retail store. For instance, a study was carried out by the Shopping Centre Patronage Research indicating that a wide range of Merchandise assortment and low prices for the products accounted for more than 80% of the variance in the share of choice (Finn & Louviere, 1996, p.204). The branding decisions of a retailer ought to determine a quality wide merchandise assortment. In rebranding their stores, retailers should first prioritize their consideration in what their target market value is. In addition to that, the retailers should be able to meet their own perceptions of merchandise quality that is ought to be reflected by the retail store. The perception of a consumer would be high quality brands for a department store, unlike that of a discount store, which would be of low quality brands (Martineau, 1958). It is argued that in the creation of a store image, there should be an emphasis on the national, manufacturer, as well as designer brands in the branding decisions of the retailer. Studies have indicated that based on the environmental factors of the retail store, consumers tend to make inferences about the quality of Merchandise and services offered by a retailer (Miller, 2008). The inferences made by the consumer based on the environmental factors of the store end up influencing the decision making process of the consumer in purchasing the products and services from the retailer. According to a study carried out by Baker, retail store design factors are part of the environmental factors of the retail store that affects the inferences of the consumer (Baker, Grewal, & Parasurama, 1994, P.332). The store design factors as per the discussion made by Baker include the layout of the store, fixtures of the store, as well as visuals of the merchandise elements. Generally, store design in retail branding should put in consideration the aesthetic values. It is crucial for retailing stores to consider aesthetic values in its store design because this interferes with the perception of the customer on the quality of products offered by the retail store. It is with no doubt that once customers of a certain retailing store found that the store is not well kept and less attractive, definitely they may perceive that the brand products offered by the retailing store are of the same quality (Ferrara, 2012). It is argued that retailing stores that tend to embrace aesthetic values in the design of the store consist of layouts that are creative, aisles that are broad and spacious, modern fixtures, retailing environment that is clean, as well painted in brighter colours that tend to attract customers (Floor, 2006). Retailer’s merchandise assortment and store design According to the requirements of this particular report, relevant information concerning the merchandise assortment and store design of Formosa Asian Market was gathering after conducting an observation on the retailer. In the rebranding efforts of Formosa Asian Market, merchandise assortment was an important aspect, as well as customer merchandise interaction (Mesher, 2010). At Formosa Asian Market, customer merchandise interaction was well performed in the sense that models for every product were placed in display without packaging to allow proper customer interaction with the products. Examples of the products that were placed on display without packaging for proper customer interaction included fresh Asian vegetables, fruits, as well as kitchenware. Other important elements in merchandise assortment include product range depth and product range breadth. The retailer store displayed a great depth of product range since it provides a good selection on styles, brands, as well as sizes concerning the Asian foods and groceries. On breadth product range, Formosa offered a great breadth of products range to the customers, although it was not that much efficient since it required an upgrade. Still under the merchandise assortment element, the quality and range of merchandise in the Formosa Asian Market retail store was an important element. It is considered important because customers of the store have a high expectation in the quality of products and brands offered by the store (Perrey & Spillecke, 2011). From the observation done on the store, a wide range of merchandise was supplied by the retailer to its customers including frozen Asian dishes, fresh Asian vegetables and fruits as well as Asian kitchenware. The products were of high quality with an extreme Asian touch since the store imports the products direct from Taiwan and Japan. The merchandise range and quality is vital for Formosa Asian Market since the Asian food and groceries are central focus to the retailer. Frontstage Ops and backstage Ops are other important elements of merchandise assortment that were observed in the store. It was observed that both the frontstage Ops and backstage Ops at Formosa Asian market were on point. In the frontstage Ops, the staff interacts well with the customers who visit the store for shopping. The backstage Ops of the store are also superb since they make the frontstage Ops a success in the store. In retail branding innovation for Formosa Asian Market, store design was an important element in its merchandise mix (Stephens, 2013). It was observed that the overall performance of the retailer on store design was great. The infrastructure of the store was on point with a well-designed architectural design, with its paintings being bright. To be specific, the store was painted in yellow, maroon, as well as red colours, which seem attractive to its customers. The store is spacious for its customers to do their shopping, and its carpet floorings are safe. The main entrance of the Formosa Asian Market was well designed since customers enter the retail store and exit with ease, which is an indication that the retail store is attractive to its customers. It was observed that store layout of the retail store was also considered as part of the store design (Tongeren, 2003). The store layout of Formosa Asian Market was observed to be forming a circular traffic flow of customers who visit the store to purchase various products offered by the store. It also tends to build sections in the store categorized by types of products that interconnect. The store layout seemed to differentiate sections of products, which is convenient to customers who visit the store to shop since it is easier for them to find the products they may need for their shopping. At the end of each section of products, there is located a checkout counter which also seemed convenient to the customers. The store layout for this particular retail store is also convenient for customers who are physically disabled and using wheelchairs. Such customers are provided with enough space in between narrower pathways. Therefore, from the observation made from the store layout of the retail store under discussion, it is clear that the store is attractive, and convenience to its customers in the sense in which it was designed. Merchandise spatial planning for the store was observed to be great. The store was well designed to accommodate a large number of customers at once without congestion. The store is highly spacious to allow ease of movement for customers. Visual merchandising was another element in store design that was observed in the Formosa store. Interior displays together with signage were used for visual merchandising. At the entrance of the retail store, a signage hanging was observed that guided the customers on which direction to take in the store in order to get whatever product they wanted. With the use of interior, various products were displayed well in front of each section of the store so as to communicate well to customers. Recommendations and justification for the retailer One of the recommendations that would be of great help to the retailer is broadening its breadth of product range. The widening could be addition of other Asian food products that the store does not offer. This recommendation can be justified by the fact that consumers value a broad product assortment, and this could eventually improve the store image of the retailer (Tongeren, 2003). Another recommendation for the retailer is to improve its infrastructure in terms of its lighting system. For instance, the lighting system of the store was harsh to customers since it was too bright. The brightness of the lighting system should be moderated so that it can be fair on the customer’s side. This recommendation is justified in the sense that store lighting affects the aesthetic value of the store. Suppose it disturbs the well-being of customers, it tends to lower the perception of customers towards the store quality. The store would be attractive if the lighting system is improved for the well-being of the customers (Miller, 2008). Another crucial recommendation that Formosa should implement is improving their visual merchandising by enhancing its signage services. For instance, the signage hangings should not only be at the entrance of the store, but also in other sections of the store. This is justified by the fact that it will enhance the movements of customers in the store while shopping (Mesher, 2010) The frontstage Ops of the retail store should be enhanced. It was observed that though the Ops are great, there was poor interaction between staff and the physically challenged customers. This recommendations is justified since if implemented it would attract more customers, especially the physically challenged to shop at the store (Baker, 1986). Conclusion From the observation that was carried out in Formosa Asian Market, it is clear that the store is a successful retailer in Asian Foods and Groceries in Brisbane. In addition to that, the store has an attractive image to its customers due to the great store design and merchandise assortment that was observed. Though the store is a great supplier in Asian foods and groceries, it experiences some weaknesses which have been indicated in the recommendations part of the essay. Suppose the store implements the suggested recommendations, it would improve its image to customers further. . References List Baker, J. (1986). The Role of the Environment in Marketing Services: The Consumer Perspective. Chicago: American Marketing Association. Baker, J., Grewal, D., & Parasurama, A. (1994). The Influence on Store Environment on Quality Infer-ences and Store Image. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science , 324-345. Ferrara, M. (2012). Innovation masters history's best examples of business transformation. Detroit: Gale: Cengage Learning. . Finn, A., & Louviere, J. (1996). Shopping Center Image, Consideration, and Choice: Anchor Store Contribution. Journal of Business Research , 203-205. Floor, K. (2006). Branding a store: how to build successful retail brands in a changing marketplace. London: Kogan Page. . Lindquist, J. (1974). Meaning of image. Journal of Retailing , 23-34. Martineau, P. (1958). The personality of the Retail Store. Harvard Business Review , 67. Mesher, L. (2010). Retail design. Lausanne: AVA publications. Miller, D. (2008). Retail Marketing: A Branding and Innovation Approach. Tilde: Tilde University Press. Perrey, J., & Spillecke, D. (2011). Retail marketing and branding a definitive guide to maximizing. Chichester: Wiley. Stephens, D. (2013). The retail revival reimagining business for the New Age of Consumerism. New York: Wiley. Tongeren, M. (2003). Retail branding: from stopping power to shopping power. Amsterdam: BIS. Read More