1) Find a business owner and talk to them about their customers.
Ross - Dress for Less!
After talking to the Ross manager I found that their target costumer is middle class, middle aged women. Most of them items are stylish things to decorate the house or cute clothing that couldn't be found anywhere else for the same price. They advertise to families, but usually targeting the females because they will be the ones buying clothing for kids or different things for the house. Their costumer demographic is very similar to their targeted costumer; women between the age of 30 to 50, middle class women who are looking for easy ways to save money for their family while also trying to be stylish about it.
The only problem Ross faces is since most of their items are very low priced many costumers don't take care of them. The store is not considered to be high end and costumers tend to treat it this way. Items are sometimes returned damaged, and the store usually has no choice but to take them back causing even more issues.
2) Next, go and talk to 3 'target customers' -- using the demographics/psychographics the entrepreneur described.
Middle class, middle aged women
What was the last time you shopped at Ross? Tell me about it...
What do you usually go to Ross to look for?
Why do you prefer Ross over other stores like TJ Max or Bells?
Whats something that bothers you about Ross?
This one is such bad quality because I had to convert it.
3) Reflect.
I don't think the entrepreneurs takes in account so much the consumers needs or wants. But in the case of Ross and it being such a large corporate firm, there is only so much that can be done about these dissatisfactions on the consumers side.
Consumers see Ross as a cheap store and don't care too much about how they leave items or open boxes before purchasing them which is what drives down value of these items, losing money for Ross but also killing the chances for this firm to survive if they are going to continuously keep loosing money.
Hi Adna! It's great you chose a retailing outlet as your subject. I didn't know that they target middle-aged women, I would have assumed they target mostly all ages. Clearly Ross needs to reevaluate their customer service after listening to your customer interviews. I agree with you about the fact that it is such a large corporation and it may be difficult to satisfy all customers' needs. Great job, check out mine if you get the chance http://jenniecarmody.blogspot.com/2016/02/the-twenty-percent.html
ReplyDeleteIt's a surprise to know that Ross was targeting middle aged women. I was thinking that it would be students since UF is so close to Ross. Since Ross in Gainesville seems so much more busier than many other Ross I went to in different cities, I do agree that there needs to be more cashiers. Great results.
ReplyDeleteI think it's really interesting and exciting that you chose Ross. My mom shops there literally all the time and so do I! I think it makes sense that they target mid-age women because of their prices and the home decor items they offer. I appreciate the videos and the questions you asked, great effort even if the quality of the recording were not perfect. I actually learned plenty from your post.
ReplyDeleteHi Adna,
ReplyDeleteAs a guy I am kind of surprised that Ross was targeting females in the household. I guess it makes sense now that I think about it though. Its interesting that they advertise to the family but are trying to attract the women. Judging by the interviews, Ross definitely needs to take a look at its customer service. The open boxes are definitely a detractor for me and I am sure many others as well.
Unfortunately I missed the assignment, but you can check out my blog at: http://jrozent3003.blogspot.com
This is a really good group of people you interviewed. I think its nice that they seemed to be so receptive and enthusiastic about your questions. It also makes total sense their answers, Ross is great but there are always improvements that could be made. I like your idea a lot. If you are interested in checking out my interviews, the link is http://kyrstind.blogspot.com/2016/02/the-twenty-percent.html. Thank you so much for sharing.
ReplyDeleteHi Adna! I think you did a great job with pinpointing exactly what Ross is lacking in terms of what their customers needs are. I thought you did a great job in approaching people and getting great feedback from them as well. Maybe you can even apply this to your own business idea! Learn from their mistakes! Over all, great job. Here is a link to my blog: http://morganjohnsonblog.blogspot.com/?m=1
ReplyDelete