P4 Identify the competitive factors in the retail environment a selected

organisation faces.

For this task I will be researching on is Debenhams. This is an international business which sells
many different varieties of designers. The Debenhams I will be talking about is the one located in the
Oracle.

There are many businesses which are Debenhams competitors. As this is a retailing business, this
sector is even more competitive compare to any other retailing sectors. However, as Debenhams are
a retailer which sells many different varieties of products and services and also different designer’s
brands, many people will shop there and also this makes it easier for customers to compare
designers as they are all in one store. As Debenhams is located in the Oracle their main competitors
are House of Fraser, John Lewis, BHS and etc. as these are department stores. However businesses
like New Look and H&M can be their competitors in the fashion industry as many people would prefer
to go to these stores as their products would be more affordable as well as their clothes being trendy.

Also the position of the market is very important as customers might be in a rush and want easy
access to get to the store, for example as Debenhams has three floors, to make it easier and more
convenient they for their customers they allow entry in each floor, also the last floor they have access
from the river side and from inside the Oracle. They have many posters and window displays of their
latest trends, this helps to attract the attention of customers and show off their promotions at the same
time. However, their main competitors are House of Frasier as the business is located opposite on the
other end of the Oracle. Both businesses sell the same kind of products and have near enough the
same kind of promotions, However Debenhams products are quite a good quality compare to the
products in House of Fraser. Although Debenhams might sell different designer brands, they might
not sell a specific brand that only House of Fraser sells, this could be a big problem as many
customers might have a favourite brand that Debenhams doesn't have to offer to their customers.
However, they do have a lot of promotion and good offer going on which helps attract more
customers.

As Debenhams have other competitors as well such as New Look, Top shop and etc. Due to
recession and many other problems with people’s finances, they would be looking for cheaper
products. Although New Look and Top shop don't sell designer brands, their prices are a lot cheaper
than the prices are in Debenhams, also their products are just as trendy and more for what young
teenagers would go for. This is a disadvantage on Debenhams as they are losing out on customers,
which then leads to loss in profit. However, as Debenhams is a department store they have many
different kinds of products and services that they have to offer to their customers, they are able to
offer more than what New Look and Top shop. Also, as Debenhams sells designer brands this also
helps the influence of more customers coming in and buying their products or their services.

P3 Explain how focusing on the customer, by providing good customer service is essential to
retailing

For this task we had to find out and research why providing good customer service is important for a
chosen retailer which is Apple Store. By doing this we took part in a questionnaire which we sent out
for anyone around in the college to fill in. Apple is a very well-known business for their amazing
products which have hit worldwide and also the services they provide for their customers. However for
Apple to provide an excellent service and also as this is an electronic business it is essential they
provide training for their employees as the staff members will need to have quite a lot of knowledge to
be able to know what they are doing and helping their customers out with the help they might need
and this is very good customer service and they would be able to help their customers more efficiently
and be satisfied when they leave the store.

Do you think that employees have required knowledge of the product that they sell/service
they provide?
Yes 15 75%
No 0 0%
More or less 5 25%

Majority of the people who took part in this questionnaire ticked the yes box, however the rest of the
few people who took part in this said more or less. This might be because of their personal
experience with the Apple Store or they might not even have an Apple product. Although I personally
think Apple Store have trained their workers to have a quite a lot of knowledge as whenever I visit in
store they are able to help me out with any issues I have with my iPhone.

Do the staff approach you when you need help?

Yes 13 65%
No 0 0%
Sometimes 7 35%

Again, for the second question majority of the people who took part in this said Yes, however some of
them said sometimes. Again, this might be their experience wasn't so great or they don't really go in to
Apple Store much.

When you had a problem, how long did it take for the staff to sort it out?
They took about 10 to 15 minutes but they explained well. Not long enough, about less time. 15
minutes Took about 2 minutes to solve my problem. Took a bit longer Between 5 to 10
minutes Quickly the staff did thank a bit of time to respond but when they did they dealt with my
request swiftly and efficiently About 5 minutes 5 minutes 20 mins Not long and not that
quick. Immediately Not long not long Not too long they tried to solve it as soon as they could at the
best time as possible
How clear was the information the customer service representatives at the store give you?

Very clear 9 45%

Slightly clear 11 55%
Not clear at all 0 0%

For the third question not, many people said very clear, however more people said slightly clear. this
could be they might not understand or it might too complicated for them to understand. I believe from
my personal experience that they explain very well and if I don't understand I will always ask again
until I am sure I know what they are explaining to me.

How is the atmosphere in the store?

Friendly 12 60%
Average 8 40%
Unfriendly 0 0%

For the fourth question we asked how they felt the atmosphere of the store was like. Majority of the
people said the workers are friendly, however some of them said average. From my experience I think
the atmosphere of the store is very Friendly and the workers are always coming up to me and asking
me if I need any help.

Was the customer service experience at the store better than you expected?
Much better 4 20%
Slightly better 8 40%
About what you expected 7 35%
Slightly worse 1 5%
Much worse 0 0%

On a scale from 1-10, how would you rate the attitude and politeness of the employees?
7 6 5 9 8 10

How long do you have to wait before someone at the store offers help?

Too long 0 0%
Slightly long 9 45%
Immediately 11 55%

For this question most, people said they are asked for help immediately, however some people said it
takes slightly long. This might be that the team members are not always be free and busy with
another customer, however from my experience I do wait for a while, however once a team member is
free they come up to me straight away.

Would you recommend the products and services that store provides to your friends and
family?
Yes 20 100%
No 0 0%

For this question we asked people is they would recommend Apple to any friend and family. They all
said yes, this is because Apple have trained their workers to have enough knowledge and to be able
to provide excellent customer service as they believe in being very customer focused.

Overall on a scale from 1-10, how would you rate the customer service at the store?
7 6 5 9 8 10

Number of daily responses

P2- For this task I will be explaining the process of the distributing goods through the different
channels from the manufacturer to the customers.

Channel 3
Channel 2

Channel 1

Channel 1: This is where a business keeps two levels of intermediary, this is basically between two
businesses, the supplier and the buyer where someone bring out a settlement between the two
businesses. So, this channel is basically when the whole purchases from the producer but in big bulks
and then breaks this down in to small quantities to sell to the retailers for them to send to their
customers. However, with the smaller retailers they would need limited quantities, so for business's
like this having wholesaler is a great advantage as they would supply the limited amount needed. An
advantage of this is that the retailer is able to buy products in smaller amount needed by the
wholesaler, however a disadvantage of this is retailers sell products at higher costs because the
retailer pays the wholesaler more as the wholesalers bulk of these products to sell to the retailer in
small quantities.

Channel 2: This channel only contains one intermediary, as this doesn't need a wholesaler to break
down in small quantities for their consumers. An example of this type of channel is electrical products
as this can be sent straight from the producer to the larger companies like PC World, Tesco's and e-
retailers like Amazon. After these products have been delivered from the producer to the retailer, this
is then sent to their potential customers. This is an advantage as retailers are guaranteed products
being sold to them in the right amounts needed, however a disadvantage of this is the prices of the
distribution might be high because the producer is required to sell bulks of supply to many retailers, so
the cost of this could increase which will mean consumers have to pay more for products.

Channel 3: This channel is known as direct marketing, This is because once the products have been
produced, they are then sent from the producer straight to the consumers. an example of this is
Greggs as they baked their food every day and then straight away sell this to their customers. This
channel is cost effective as they do not have intermediary level and they sell their products directly to
their consumers. This is an advantage as this type of channel has better control of their reputation
as customers can directly complain to the producers instead of having a long process of sending
products back and also the cost of sending.