Essay on market assignment

In my free time, I visited Nordstrom retail store located in Seattle, Washington, in the United States of America. The following is the summary of the findings from the store.

Summary of Findings

Positioning Statement
The positioning statement of the retail outlet is “ Free Shipping. Free Returns. All the Time.” I believe this to be the case because of a number of reasons. Firstly, the retail outlet has a strong online presence. Customers can purchase items from its website and pay using credit cards and other forms of online payments. In order to tap onto this market, the company ships items bought to any place in the United States for free. As part of the company’s policy, any returns of the items shipped are made free of charge. This is in case the customers did not like what was delivered. This is very alluring to online shoppers because they enjoy shopping without the extra cost of shipping and returns. This policy positions the retail outlet above other competitors in the market.

Depth and Breadth of Product Carried

The retail store shows immense depth and breadth in the products carries in its allies and shelves. In terms of product breadth, the retail store carries footwear, handbags, beauty products, accessories, party and gift ideas, designer wear, clothes for kids and juniors and men and women. In terms of product depth, the retail store had different items from the same product line. For instance, the retail store had stocked items from different designers, different fragrances, different sorts of shoes and different designer handbags. The store also sells fine jewellery and customized items such as engraved items.

Pricing

The price range in the retail store was diverse. There were bestseller products, designer products that were highly priced compared to other similar products but of a less quality. Standard shipping for items bought was done free of charges. The delivery of items was also charged fairly. For instance, Saturday deliveries were charged at thirty five dollars, those that took two business days were charged at fifteen dollars and those that extended by a business day were charged at thirty five dollars.

Level of Service

The level of service in the store is of premium quality. The store has many tills where payments can be made. This is in order to avoid long queues of customers waiting to pay for their items. There is also an express till for customers with less than six items of their carts. Additionally, the modes of payment are also diversified in order to increase efficiency. Customers can order and make online payments before they are given their orders. There are shop attendants ready to help stranded shoppers. Additionally, there are those tasked with helping shoppers fit into their garments. The store also has catalogs to help shoppers sample the items that are on display even before they come to the physical store. This comes handy for the online shoppers too.

Store location

The store is located in downtown Seattle. This part of town is very populous leading to increased traffic. The store is also situated next to other business making it preferable to customers who have other items to purchase.

Increasing Traffic

In order to increase traffic in a retail store, one has to make their store stand out above its competitors. In order to increase traffic in the retail store, I would recommend that Nordstrom holds a sale. Technological advancements have made sales very lucrative in increasing foot and online traffic in a retail store. Nordstrom can create a database of the customers, who come for the sale and through emails, remind them of forthcoming sales and promotional events. Additionally, foot traffic can increased through recommendations by satisfied customers from the sale.

Company’s Website

http://shop. nordstrom. com/