A Brand I Love Makala Mulder
Professor Lo Sicco | FASM 415 | February 23, 2016
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Table of Contents History Retail Survey Digital Proposition Dimensions Site Speed Mobile Speed Mobile Checkout Customer Service Fulfilment International Product Detail Page Returns Search Social Strengths & Weaknesses Examples Conclusion Bibliography
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History Free People’s story begins in the 1970’s, a young man named Dick Hayne “planted a seed in the maze of streets and trees that make up West Philadelphia, Pennsylvania” (Free People 2016). Here in this city he opened a store and called it Free People, a brand that would nurture the young people who lived, worked, and breathed a life full of freedom by expressing it in the clothes they wore.
As the company grew, Dick Hayne changed the store from Free People to Urban Outfitters. His wife Meg Hayne took over Urban’s private label division. The business was doing such an incredible job that Dick and Meg decided to open a wholesale line which was also very well received, that Dick decided to separate the business. For many years the wholesale line took on many different names – Bulldog, Ecote, Cooperative, Anthropologie, and then in 1984 the brand finally became Free People, the brand we know and love today. Now the brand is sold in over 1,400 specialty stores worldwide – Nordstrom, Bloomingdales, Belk, Macy’s have all created instore concepts that enhance the beauty of the brand and also provides customers with the quintessential Free People experience. Free People has three wholesale showrooms – New York, L.A., and Chicago. The very first Free People boutique opened in Paramus, New Jersey of fall 2002. Today Free People has around a 100 stores in the United States, Canada, the U.K., Japan, and soon we will be expanding throughout Europe. In each of our stores the atmosphere and
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décor is vibrant, cozy – a relaxed environment. All the décor in the stores are handmade by the visual display team at Home Office as well as vendors around the world. Free People invokes the essence of femininity, courage, and spirit. The line is targeted towards twenty – something women who appreciate the line of clothing that is catered to their intelligence, creativity, and individuality. The Free People girl is described essentially as “a 26 year old girl, smart, creative, confident, and comfortable in all aspects of her being, free, adventurous, sweet to tough to tomboy to romantic. A girl who likes to keep busy and push life to its limits, with traveling and hanging out and everything in between. Who loves Donovan as much as she loves The Dears, and can’t resist petting any dog that passes her by on the street” (Free People 2016). In 2004, Free People launched FreePeople.com, the site has had such great success since, with online shoppers around the world who are looking for a brand that caters to exceptional customer service and carries clothes that exude to meaning of freedom and individuality.
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Retail Survey Free People provides a seamless shopping experience. Coming from someone who works, lives, and breathes the brand, I know that they are a fantastic multichannel retailer. On our site, it is very easy to find what you are looking for. The merchandisers and web designers at Home Office understand that our website needs to advance as technology is advancing. The brand must continue to keep up with our consumers wants and needs otherwise we will lose them. Free People is a brand that is serious about evolving with the times, the brand may express our love for the 70’s but it has changed, grown, and has a modern twist on every look. In order to keep up with the changes of the times, Free People’s digital proposition needs to be a step ahead of the consumer in order to keep up their wants, needs, and customer satisfaction. Digital Proposition Dimensions Site Speed Free People has an efficient site speed. The site is very easy to navigate through. It does not take a long time to load nor is it hard to find the item a customer is looking for. “The website has been developed using web standards and accessibility to allow for people of all abilities and disabilities to browse its content” (Free People 2016).
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Mobile Speed The Free People phone app is as seamless and efficient as the site. As a customer, I use the app to shop more than I use the website, only because my phone is on me at all times and my computer is not. The mobile speed is quick to load and easy to scroll through.
Mobile (MPOS) In our stores, Free People uses MPOS devices to restock, check inventory, and make customer purchases – online as well as in stores buys. With a MPOS, employees are able to check if we have an item in stock instead of running to the back to see if we have an item. This helps us especially on days where it is too busy to run to the back due to loss prevention and shorthanded help. Checkout The website has a very easy checkout. The customer is able to checkout as a guest or create an account. Adding items to the cart and removing them is a seamless process. If a customer wishes to cancel or change an order they can call this number (800) 309 – 1500 to fix their needs. There may be some instances where Home Office or the Distribution Center is unable to modify the order due to lack of sizes in stock or out of stock product.
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Customer Service At Free People it is all about pleasing the customer. The customer is the one that is ultimately funding the business, without them the company would not exist. When a customer is making a return whether it is online or in the stores, we provide the same experience. Though it is more difficult when it is done in store due to that fact that we have a 30 day return policy and many customers have returned past the 30 days. These customers know of the policy and some are grateful to receive the merchandise credit card while others are livid, especially if they spent $500. If they are extremely upset we will refund them because the customer is always right and we need to keep a strong brand reputation. It’s a loss for our business but the customer will return and that is the ultimate goal, to keep having customers buy and value the brand. Customers are also able to call the store to purchase items without having to come in to do it. Fulfilment Free People is great at executing customer orders. Packaging comes in cute shipping bags with designs and the Free People logo on it. The product is either placed in plastic or if it’s coming from the store, the stores will wrap the merchandise in tissue paper. The customer has the ability to pick the shipping, it normally takes an item 3 to 4 days to ship sometimes more
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depending on the location of the product and where the customer lives. The customer can pick 2 day shipping or overnight shipping. Sometimes items will be on backorder, the customer has the ability to put their email address down so they will be notified once that item comes back into stock. Sometimes we will also put products on the site from the new catalogs, the product won’t be available online but the customer does have the opportunity to purchase the item so when it is in stock it will be shipped automatically. International
Duties and taxes assessed by customs are the responsibility of the customer. Orders under $150 will be charged a flat rate of $35.00 USD. Order are generally received within 5 – 10 days from the ship date. FreePeople.com prices can be displayed in a variety of currencies. Free People does process exchanges for orders internationally. All FreePeople.com prices are quoted in U.S. dollars, and your credit card company will calculate the exchange automatically. Some items are not available for export, including all large furniture and Vintage Love items.
Shipping to Canada:
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Shipping to Australia:
Product Detail Page Every item on Free People has its own page describing the fabric composition, how to care for the item, customer reviews of the item, and how the item fits on the body. It also explains whether the product is an import or domestically produced.
Returns A customer has 30 days to make a return in order to get their full refund, otherwise they will receive a merchandise credit card. It used to be that the customer could not return damaged items but recently the company changed the policy due to many complaints. The refund usually takes up to a week to be refunded, the customer will receive an email when the return has been processed. Free People stores will gladly accept returns of items purchased on freepeople.com or from any Free People store. Items must be in original condition and must not be worn, used,
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altered or washed. Items returned to the stores must include a price ticket and accompanied by the original receipt. Returns with a gift receipt will be exchanged or refunded for the value indicated on the gift receipt with a merchandise credit card. Items from the Vintage Loves section online cannot be returned. Search The merchandisers have categorized the site to make it as easy and quick as possible for the customer. Products are sectioned off in their specific departments, the customer is able to search a color, fabric, silhouette and any those descriptions will show products of that style. Social Free People is on every social media application – Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, Twitter, etc. The brand also has its own social media account called FP Me – a social community built around the avid Free People customer expressing themselves and their style. FP Me allows the customer to share their style and inspired other Free People fans by creating and sharing their photos. The application is very similar to Instagram in the sense that you can “like” or “heart” a photo however if the customer likes the item that the FP Me user posted that customer is able to click on the item that they want and purchase it instantly.
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Strengths & Weaknesses Strength Examples Free People has a very strong brand image. There is not quite another brand as successful and unique as theirs. They have small business competitors but there are no other brands that carry a strong memorable aesthetic as Free People. The brand has five girls that express each of our customer’s style:
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Free People has great customer service, the brand is bringing in new customers from all demographics and is becoming more and more well known. Free People has 2.4 million followers on Instagram. Their Instagram expresses a bohemian lifestyle, young – wild – brave – free. Free People has many strengths, it is a brand that is all about living a free and fulfilling life of good vibes. Weaknesses Examples Returns and exchanges have been a problem for the company. There have been many customers that have returned items in the store that they did not order or an item that came in the wrong size, color, or a completely different style. “This was my first time buying something from the
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free people website I have shopped in stores for many years now and it's my favorite place to buy my clothes....I was looking for cute pair of shoes so I placed an ordered for the Minimal Lace Up Heel on May 21st I received a package on that Sunday but it ended up being the wrong shoes. I called the number and they told me they would do the 2 day shipping, I would receive the right shoes...it is now June 1st and I still haven't received the right shoes I'm very unhappy with free people online service I will never being shopping online from them again that's for sure” (H 2015). We’ve had this problem several times since I have worked with the store since June 2015. Though the company is at fault, they handle the situation the best they can. It is the distribution center that messes up the order. Another example of a weakness of the brand is that our items are priced so high and some of the quality of our items are cheap. The brand needs to focus on quality, it use to focus on quality and customers did not mind paying for the price but with the speed of production today and how fast companies want to get their products on the floor or online before their competitors, the construction of the clothes are poorly made. Not all of the Free People items are like this, all of my clothes that have been purchased are in great condition and I have had some of items for years. Conclusion Free People provides a seamless shopping experience. Like all brands, they have their ups and downs but they try their best to make up from their mistakes. They resend items for free if the customer received the wrong item. They always refund a customer’s payment and they always follow through with exchanges whether the item is damaged or not. This brand has a lot of meaning for me, it inspires me and motivates me. I have never loved a brand more than I love Free People. The brand creates beautiful clothes but it is not the clothes I love, it is the essence of the brand – the soul fulfilling, adventure seeking spirit that makes me feel so passionate about the company. I work, breathe, travel, and live the lifestyle of a Free People girl – nothing can compare to the feeling of being free.
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Bibliography Free People – Women’s Boho Clothing & Bohemian Fashion. (n.d.). Retrieved February 20, 2016 from http://www.freepeople.com/ H, E. (2015, June 1). Free People Reviews. Retrieved February 20, 2016 from http://www.sitejabber.com/reviews/www.freepeople.com