Retail Experiences - Miss Selfridge, Trafford Centre

Miss Selfridge in the Trafford Centre had two window displays showing both day looks and evening looks. There was also a large poster in one of the windows that said 50% off SALE which attracts customers into the store. Also in the doorway, there was another poster which informed you about having the chance to winning prizes, again drawing people into want to have a look at it. 

 Figures1-3. Miss Selfridge entrance. Own Images

As I was walking around Miss Selfridge, I could see that the layout of the store was very organised in terms of colours and categories. There was a section of pastel colours, ready for the spring, also a denim section (blues), a petite section, and a shoes and jewellery section. Personally, I loved the pastel colours because the colours and style match this season and I also wanted to buy everything in that section. 

Figures 4-8. Miss Selfridge. Own Images

In order to go to the fitting room, you have to walk right through the store as they are at the back. This is usually the same for most stores as they make you walk past everything therefore encouraging you to look at more products and want to try more things on. The same goes for the Sales section in Miss Selfridge, you have to walk past the other products before getting to the old ones on sale. They had products that were £20 and under, £10 and under and even £7 and under. 

Figure 9. Miss Selfridge Sales. Own Image

I loved the overall look of Miss Selfridge, products were clear the find because of how organised they were in terms of colour/style and it was also neatly laid out as well, nothing was thrown about or on the floor which I also liked. Also throughout the store, there were signs showing that students got 10% off. 

 

Retail Experiences - Victoria's Secret (PINK), Trafford Centre

Figure 1. Victoria's Secret. Own Image

As you can see from figure 1, the Victoria's Secret store is very bright and clearly visible from a distance, also shown in figure 2 below. The store sign is also very brightly lit up and matches the colour of the brand name if it isn't already obvious. 

Figures 2&3. Victoria's Secret PINK. Own Images

Upon entrance, you see pink spots PINK or LOVE PINK written all over the wall which separates the look of the PINK store with the Victoria's Secret store however both stores are still connected. 

Figures 4-7. PINK. Own Images

Walking around the store, you can tell that it is a very girly store, the whole layout is pink and throughout the store, they have the big Victoria's Secret PINK signature dog on display. As well as this, all of the mannequins are white with pink spots, again matching the brand colours.  

Figures 8&9. Signature dog. Own Images

PINK is mainly known for selling sportswear, swimwear and some beauty products such as body sprays and lotions. They also sell things like sweatpants and hoodies that you may just want to buy to chill in. 

Figures 10-11. PINK. Own Images

The tills in the PINK section were closed for some reason so you had to go back through to Victoria's Secret to checkout. Near the checkouts were the Victoria's Secret sprays, body lotions and moisturisers which were on offer - 7 for £30, 3 for £24 or 1 for £13 so getting 7 saved me a lot of money and not only did I treat myself, I also bought some things for my mum for Mother's Day. There was also a giant screen on one of the walls which was showing the latest Victoria's Secret catwalk. This is similar to what stores like Hollister do. They have a big screen showing the beach which links in with the brand. 

Figures 12-14. Victoria's Secret. Own Images

So I ended up spending £30 on the sprays and moisturisers in Victoria's Secret and because I spent over £10, I was given a voucher that is valid between 30th March and 28th April. The voucher can either be worth £10, £50, £100 or £500 but you can't find out what you have won until the voucher is valid. I thought this was a great idea because it will make people want to purchase products and spend over £10 in order to get one and have the chance of winning up to £500 to spend in Victoria's Secret and PINK. 

The girls who worked there were also very friendly and helpful. As I was looking at all of the body sprays, I couldn't decide which ones to get so I kept smelling them all and one of the girls gave me a tip. She said when they were trained to work in the store, they were taught to smell their elbows after smelling each spray. This would take the previous smell away so that they could smell each spray properly and not get them mixed up. I tried it and it worked. 

Retail Experiences - Marks and Spencer, Trafford Centre

The first thing I spotted when walking towards Marks and Spencer were the window displays that were based on Mother's Day. There was a large image of roses, window stickers saying 'Because she's your MUM' and an electronic screen advertising Mother's Day gifts at M&S. I also noticed that it had a bright and wide entrance making it easy to see the products at the front of the store, both upstairs and downstairs. 

Figures 1&2. M&S Entrance. Own Images

The first thing I saw when walking into the store, was more Mother's Day related products stacked on shelves. Gifts like alcohol, flowers, photo frames and cushions. I didn't get chance to go downstairs to the ground floor however on the first floor, there was the womenswear range. 

Figures 3&4. M&S. Own Images

I liked how they organised the clothes in different colours. The pink section, green and blue section and an aqua coloured section as seen in the images below.

Figures 5-7. M&S. Own Images

On the second floor, there was women's underwear and nightwear as well as a small cafe in the corner. The majority of this floor had different types of underwear spread out and there was a slightly smaller section of nightwear in the corner.

Figures 8-11. M&S underwear and nightwear. Own Images

Once again I saw another Mother's Day display on the top floor next to the nightwear. It was nicely set out with some pyjamas, bath products and other little gifts, perfect for Mother's Day. This shows that Marks and Spencer are constantly reminding customers.

Figure 12. M&S Mother's Day gifts. Own Image

When looking around Marks and Spencer, I saw that most of the customers were older people, both men and women which matches M&S's current target market. I don't think I saw anybody around my age in the store. I liked the layout of the store and how spread out everything was rather than products being squeezed together in a small amount of space. Everything was easy to find and employees were scattered around so there is most likely going to be someone there to assist you if needs be.

Retail Experiences - Selfridges, Trafford Centre

Last Wednesday, I went to the Trafford Centre in Manchester, not only to do some shopping but to also go around different stores and look at how they attract and draw in their customers in terms of the store layout, lighting, music, window displays, store employees and in some ways, the smell. The first store I walked around was Selfridges which according to their website, was the first store to open outside of London. 

Figure 1. Selfridges. Retrieved from http://www.selfridges.com/content/store/manchester-trafford/

It has a wide and open entrance and is located on two floors of the shopping centre. You can access it from both outside the shopping centre, near the car park and inside the shopping centre. Because of it having such a wide entrance, there were no window displays, however I don't think that matters so much because you can see products clearly even if you just walk past the entrance.

Figures 2 & 3. Selfridges Entrance. Own Images

It was clear that I went just before Mother's Day as there were signs hanging from the ceiling and posters throughout the store reminding you to purchase nice Mother's Day gifts. I noticed that as you walk into Selfridges on the ground floor, you see mainly beauty related brands like Mac, Nars, Chanel and Jo Malone and towards the back of the store, you see clothing brands and handbags like Saint Laurent, Givenchy and Boss, therefore you have to walk through the beauty products in order to get not only to the clothes and other similar products but also to the escalators. With the beauty products being at the front of the store, you instantly smell the different smells from the brands that are really nice, another way in which they attract customers because they want to know what the lovely smell is and therefore go looking for it throughout the store. I could see that at a lot of the beauty stands, there were friendly professionals giving expert advice to customers as well as giving them make overs and letting them try out the products before they decide whether to buy them or not. The lighting in Selfridges is very bright making the products easier to look at but it also makes the store stand out. 

Figures 4-8. Selfridges. Own Images

When I visited another Selfridges store which was located in London, I noticed that a lot of the brands gave out Selfridges bags when a product was purchased whether it was from Mac or Mulberry, where as at the one in the Trafford Centre, the bags matched the brand, for example Jo Malone sold their products in Jo Malone bags rather than Selfridges bags. I especially liked Jo Malone in this Selfridges as one of the women who worked there was very friendly and helpful. Certain expensive stores that I have been in, in the past, left me feeling inferior because people would sometimes look at you as if they thought you were about to steal something, where as in this store, they were polite. I also liked the layout of the products at Jo Malone as shown in the images below. 

Figures 9&10. Jo Malone, Selfridges. Own Images

Overall my experience in Selfridges was very good and I would definitely go there again, even if I just went browsing.