Retail Working Enviroment

John Lewis, Central Milton Keynes

John Lewis in Central Milton Keynes has many features that enhance its point of sale; some of these are as followed;

1) Department store: Because John Lewis is a department store it has various different departments to suit customer’s needs. The shop sells everything under one roof from home and garden to clothing and electrical, and also sports and leisure. This will be attractive to customers as this means they could visit John Lewis and fulfil all their shopping needs without visiting another store.

2) Where the store is situated: As this store is located in Central Milton Keynes shopping centre it has a central location. By this I mean the shopping centre is central within the city. This will be attractive to customers because it is located within the main shopping centre which a prime location for shoppers in the local area and it is easily accessible.

3) Clean and tidy store: As John Lewis has a reputation to maintain, the store is always kept in a clean and tidy manor. The shop floor is neatly arranged and products positioned precisely in the right place in order to make the shop floor look attractive. Staff are employed through-out the day in order to maintain this high level of standard and to ensure that the shop floor is kept tidy so customers feel an effort has been made while they are visiting the store.

4) Several entrances/ exits: The store itself also has various entrances/ exits. This means that if customers know what they want to buy before they enter the store they can go to the entrance nearest to the department that they need to visit. This will save time rather than walking through the whole shop. Furthermore, when shoppers are leaving the store, they can leave from the nearest exit instead of walking back through the shop.

5) Free parking: John Lewis is also one of few shops who offer customers free parking directly outside their store. Although the spaces are limited, this is very attractive to customers. Not only is it free parking but they can park directly outside the shop and it saves time finding a parking space elsewhere in the city and having to walk to the entrance.

6) Various selling points: The store also has various selling points which enables customer’s freedom to browse the store and pay at the nearest till. This is attractive to customers because it should reduce queuing time as there are many points in which they can purchase their goods.

7) Brand name/ reputation: As John Lewis has a strong brand name and reputation, customers recognise John Lewis as a trustworthy retailer who has been trading successfully for many years. This is attractive to customers as they are aware of John Lewis’s background as a company and this gives shoppers confidence that products are price worthy and also of satisfactory quality.

8) Excellent service: Because of their brand name and reputation John Lewis also have to ensure that their service in store is at a very high standard to keep up with their reputation. Shoppers know that when they are in John Lewis they will receive a very high level of service which makes a store attractive to customers.

9) Shop layout: John Lewis has a very well structured shop layout, it could be confusing to some as the shop is so big but the signage does make it a bit easier to understand. All of John Lewis’s product groups are put into different departments which are allocated around the shop floor. For example; all home and furniture are grouped together, and so are men’s clothing and woman’s clothing. This is attractive to customers because if they know what they need they can go straight to the department instead of searching the shop hoping to find what they are looking for.

10) Shops signage: John Lewis have a very clear signage system in place which visibly directs customers to departments. They also have a lot of signs throughout the store with the company logo and image on. This is attractive to customers as it saves them time not having to search for the department they need.

The type of people I would expect to shop at John Lewis would be those from the Full Nest III part of the life cycle stage. This is because older married couples with dependant children would have more money than those who are newly wed with younger children. I would also expect those with an empty nest to shop at John Lewis as they will also have more money than those with children living with them. In addition to this I may expect those from the Solitary Survivor II to shop at John Lewis; however it would depend on the background of those individuals as not all retired persons would be able to afford to shop there.

From the Social-economic scale, John Lewis is more likely to attract customers categorised under the social grade A or B. This would be those with an occupation such as company director or middle manager. Reasons being, John Lewis is known as quite a high classed retailer which sells products of a very high standard as some products are pricey. I don’t think the store wouldn’t appeal to the younger generation, although in some cases some may shop there for sports and leisure because John Lewis provides good quality products in that department. John Lewis also supplies a lot of uniforms for schools so because of this a lot of families will have to shop there for their children.

The buying behaviour I would expect from these shoppers would be to be spending more than the average shopper. Reasons being that John Lewis sells products that are more expensive than the normal department store. However, the buying behaviour would depend on what the customer is intending on buying. For example; if the customer was purchasing clothes, I would expect the buying behaviour to be relatively high, especially if they intended on buying a whole new wardrobe of clothes. This is because John Lewis has very expensive quality clothing such as country classics, which is a very expensive brand. However, if the customer was to buy furniture for a new house than their buying behaviour would be much higher than usual as furniture can be very pricey at John Lewis.

John Lewis’s environment influences shopper’s behaviour for many reasons. These are as followed;

 Because John Lewis has a relaxed environment, this means customers can shop stress free. By this I mean, if the shop was busy and very noisy all the time then customers can become stressed as they won’t be able to shop freely and the noise could distract them from who they came in to buy. If this was the case then customers may be put off by entering the store