Retail Comparison CUSP & Forever 21 Julia Zheng 10/7/14
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What year did the company start? How many stores do they operate? –
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Are all the stores carbon copies of the same model? –
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The clean store reflects off of the clothing as well. All the clothing looked sleek, sharp, clean and minimalisQc.
What type of decoraQons, graphics, and ‘lifestyle’ elements are in the store? –
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They display the same simple, minimalism effecQvely. The color scheme of grey, black and white are also shown on the exterior and interior of the store.
How do the aestheQcs convey the type of merchandise offered? –
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Their visual displays on the sales floor is simple yet gets straight to the point. The simplicity really caught my eye and drew me into the merchandise.
How do the exterior and interior of the store relate to one another? –
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CUSP is modern and minimalisQc.
What is the aestheQc of the interior? –
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CUSP sells contemporary women’s clothing, handbag, accessories and shoes. They also provide free 2-‐day shipping and returns on all orders online.
What is the overall look of the store’s facade? –
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CUSP doesn’t have a flagship locaQon.
What type of merchandise do they sell? What services do they provide? –
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No, each store feels like their own bouQque.
Where is the flagship located? –
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Neiman Marcus first launched the CUSP brand in 2006. There are currently six brick-‐ and-‐mortar bouQques. CUSP is also located in selected Neiman Marcus stores.
There was a big fake tree in middle of the store and it was used to display the handbags.
What was your experience in the store? –
I received great customer service at CUSP. I was greeted within 30 seconds of walking into the store. The ladies working were nice and asked to make sure I was finding everything I needed.
Website
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Does the website support what you saw in the store? –
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What was on their home page? How does that compare to what you saw in store windows or prominent locaQons on the floor? –
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There is a model on the home page dressed in fall clothes. When I went to CUSP at the Water Tower Place, all the mannequins in the windows were wearing monochromaQc dresses and skirts; there weren’t any ou`it ensembles for fall. Instead, there was fall merchandise on the floor.
What is the aestheQc of the website? How does it compare with the brick-‐and-‐mortar store? –
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Yes. I recognized many pieces I saw online in the store.
The website is clean using black and white as their main color. The layout of the website reminds me of the sales floor because they both contain very neutral color paleaes such as grey, black and white.
What was your experience on the website? Was it easy to navigate? User-‐friendly? –
The website is easy to navigate and there is a helpful search box to look up specific items. The items are categorized under tabs, so it’s easy to find clothing, handbags and shoes.
Social Media
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What type of social media presence did you find? On what sites are they acQvely present? – CUSP acQvely use Facebook, Twiaer, Instagram and Pinterest. They are constantly updaQng all social media outlets and trying to connect with their customers. Describe their ‘personality’ on these sites. – They are the cool, chic, modern girl wanQng to have fun. Are their social media presence, in-‐store and web presence cohesive? – Yes, all three pla`orms are cohesive by using similar color paleaes and clothing. Do they seem to be targeQng the same customer through each outlet? – Yes, they successfully target the young adult audience through their photos and updates. Would you like to work for this company? – I would love to work for a company like CUSP. They know how to dress the contemporary women
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What year did the company start? How many stores do they operate? –
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Are all the stores carbon copies of the same model? –
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They don’t have decoraQons in the store because there isn’t any room for them. There are tables for clothing, but that is all.
What was your experience in the store? –
The way the clothing is styled is targeted more towards a younger audience.
What type of decoraQons, graphics, and ‘lifestyle’ elements are in the store? –
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The exterior was white with big windows and was very simple.
How do the aestheQcs convey the type of merchandise offered? –
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The store was secQoned off into different rooms, and each room had their own theme. The wall colors would vary depending on the theme. The tables and shelves were all white, and the overall interior was simple.
How do the exterior and interior of the store relate to one another? –
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I felt overwhelmed because the store was big and there was merchandise everywhere. The store wasn’t well organized and it was hard to find specific items.
What is the aestheQc of the interior? –
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Forever 21 sells clothing, accessories, jewelry and shoes for women. They also carry plus size and men’s clothing. They provide free shipping on order over $50 on online orders.
What is the overall look of the store’s facade? –
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Forever 21 has opened flagship stores in Texas, Miami, Los Angeles, Pasadena, Chicago, and Canada.
What type of merchandise do they sell? What services do they provide? –
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Yes, they aren’t idenQcal but all stores are very similar.
Where is the flagship located? –
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Forever 21 was founded in 1984 by Do Won Chang. Forever 21 has over 480 locaQons in the United States and abroad.
I had a hard Qme figuring out the themes of each secQon of the store. There were so much clothes everywhere and it was overwhelming.
Website
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Does the website support what you saw in the store? –
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What was on their home page? How does that compare to what you saw in store windows or prominent locaQons on the floor? –
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Models are wearing their fall clothing line on their home page. The home page gives the same vibe I received when I was at the store. They use the same theme of black, white and gray.
What is the aestheQc of the website? How does it compare with the brick-‐and-‐mortar store? –
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Yes, they had most of the items in store. Some merchandise were online exclusive.
The website has a cleaner look and feel to it whereas the store feels cluaered and not as sophisQcated.
What was your experience on the website? Was it easy to navigate? User-‐friendly? –
The website is fairly easy to navigate, but because they have so much merchandise it’s hard to look for specific items. It also takes forever to search items in the search engine because it pulls up hundreds of opQons.
Social Media •
What type of social media presence did you find? On what sites are they acQvely present? –
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Describe their ‘personality’ on these sites. –
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Yes, they are all cohesive.
Do they seem to be targeQng the same customer through each outlet? –
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Friendly and wanQng to connect with other people.
Are their social media presence, in-‐store and web presence cohesive? –
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Forever 21 has a great social media presence with millions of followers. They are currently acQve on Facebook, Twiaer, Instagram and Pinterest.
Yes, I can tell that their audience is teenagers and young adults. It is reflected through their social media and website.
Would you like to work for this company? –
No, there’s way too much merchandise. I wouldn’t be helpful to customers if they were to ask for something specific.
Comparison Similari'es •
Similar color paleaes: Grey, Black and White
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Using mannequins for window displays
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Both carry women’s clothing, accessories, handbag and shoes
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AcQvely using social media to promote their items
Differences •
CUSP focused a lot on interior appearance, but Forever 21 couldn’t because of their abundant merchandise.
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CUSP used “it” items of the season and put them up for clean display. Forever 21 didn’t really have displays in the store.
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CUSP thought of creaQve ways to display their handbags by hanging them on a big tree.
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Forever 21 wasn’t organized and had clothes everywhere. The clothing racks were packed with clothes, making it hard for customers to look through the clothes.