about the brand. Gute Reise is an India based brand which sells travel gear for business, adventure, and leisure travel. It has both brick-and-mortar stores, and online retail channels. ‘Gute Reise’ means 'we wish you a happy and safe journey' in the German language. Different journeys demand different gear and all of it is available under one roof at Gute Reise. The brand was set up in India by the Swiss company Victorinox, best known for the original Swiss Army knife.
target group. Gute Reise is a targetting financially strong and stable people who also have enough time to spend for themselves and also happens to have interest in adventurous activities. Travel enthusiasts 25-40 Years old “Work hard-Play hard� Young entrepreneurs Weekend warriors Adventure seekers Affluent image Particular about quality
customer journey mapping.
4. Travel to the mall to visit the physical store.
(brick&mortar)
1. Need generation upcoming camping trip.
2. Asking for friends' opinions.
3. Looking up options online.
5. Store is not easy to find in the mall. Therefore, checking location of the store on the mall's website.
6. Entrance.
7. A motorized Swiss Army knife catches attention foremost.
8. The display is clearly zoned, and the customer can quickly navigate to the area of interest
11. Consumer moved to check out other product displays.
9. The visual merchandising gives a distinctly adventurous, while keeping the clean and simple aesthetics in place.
10. When asked, salesperson provided information about prices, range of products available, and specifications of individual products.
12. Salesperson demonstrated the use of different models of Swiss Army knives. However, he was unaware about the brand's online retail channels.
14. Payment at the cash counter. While paying, the customer's attention is grabbed by an LED screen behind the counter, playing a video demonstrating the use of a Swiss Army knife.
13. After examining multiple products, a purchase decision was finally made.
15. Customer ends up buying a Swiss knife - an unplanned purchase. The consumer journey resulted in a satisfactory purchase, besides a latent feeling of guilt about the impulsive purchase.
persona building. Kabir is a 22-year-old guitarist. He is a travel enthusiast. He has finally been able to find time for a backpacking trip across the country with his friends. He wants to invest in a good quality travel backpackfor this trip. The effective and contextual factors that will affect Kabir’s purchase decision include brand value, peer group influence and product specifications like capacity, number and types of pockets, fabric quality and zipper quality. Price, while important, is a secondary factor.
pros. (brick&mortar) •It’s refreshing to step out of the house for a shopping trip. •The display and visual merchandising of the store is exciting. The raw wooden texture and grass-mat-laden shelves make it a more relatable environment for the adventure-loving target consumer. •The consumer can feel and judge the quality of the products through physical touch. •The salesperson at the store adds a human touch to the experience. An interaction with the salesperson is in itself an interesting experience. •The salesperson is good at his job; even if the consumer walks in with a specific purchase in mind, the salesperson successfully generates interest in products related to the consumer’s need. For example, we went in with the aim of buying a camping backpack, but the salesman’s enthusiastic demonstrations got us interested in the Swiss Army knives display.
•The consumer gets to see the use of the product being demonstrated by the salesperson, which they would have had to figure out by themselves had they ordered online. •The customer knows exactly what s/he is paying for when s/he makes the purchase, as opposed to reading product specifications and trying to understand which specs are relevant to your needs. •Since there is no delivery period involved, the purchase leads to instant gratification.
cons. (brick&mortar) •Travelling to the store can be a hassle, especially for the connected consumer who is always short of time. •A connected consumer is bound to have checked the website prior to entering the physical store (unless they are there for window shopping). The website and the store do not follow a similar brand identity, apart from the logo. Therefore, the storefront is not easily identifiable. •Due to space constraints, stores cannot stock up on every single product variant available on the website. So, the customer is less likely to find exactly what s/he came looking for. •The salesperson, though good at his job, does not seem aware about the website. •You have to rely completely on the salesperson’s words, as the product display does not include specifications or descriptions of the product.
customer journey mapping. (online)
1. Searching for the brand.
2. Home page with brand advertisements, and clear navigation buttons.
3. Browsing specific product categories is easy.
4. Site allows sorting products across two parameters: price and discount.
5. Decides to sort by price: low to high.
6. Multiple images are provided on each product page, but not enough information in terms of product description or specifications.
7. After exploring a few options, the user adds one product to the cart.
8. Need to log in to make a purchase.
9. Fill in billing and shipping details.
10. Check your details and place your order.
11. Select payment method and make the payment to complete the purchase.
persona building. Ananya is a 25-year-old data analyst. She is a travel enthusiast. Her firm has planned a weekend camping trip as a corporate retreat for its employees. Ananya does not have time to go shop for a new backpack. But she wants to buy a good quality one before this trip as she has to maintain a status quo amongst her colleagues. The effective and contextual factors that will affect Ananya’s purchase decision include brand value, peer group influence, and price.
pros. (online) •Saves energy (be it manual energy or fuel) since it doesn’t involve travelling. •Saves time. •All variants of all products are available for browsing and purchase. •You can sort the listed products by price or discount. •Product specifications are mentioned with each product. •24 hours availability. •Easy to search for the required product. •Cancellation and refunds easier, on our own time.
cons. (online) •The visual merchandising of the website does not give an adventurous vibe. •There is no human element. •Lack of a salesperson means the customer navigates straight to the desired product without getting interested in checking out other products. •There are no demonstrations of usage. •The customer cannot be sure of the touch and feel of the product. •Not enough specifications are provided to facilitate the customers’ decision making process. •The waiting period for delivery leads to delayed gratification. •There are no sorting options or filters available apart from price and discount.
proposed solutions. 1) Changing user interface of website to match the store ambience. 2) Augmented reality added on website to guage the size and proportions of the products. 3) Interactive screens (digital catalogues) placed in store where people can browse products which are not physically available in store. Also used for showing demo videos. 4) QR codes consisting product specifications is placed near each product. 5) Followup email after delivery for feedback regarding buying experience.
improved journey map. (omnichannel)
1. Need generation upcoming camping trip.
2. Asking for friends' opinions.
4. Finds out about Guete Reise while serching up for multiple travel gear associated brands.
3. Looking up options online.
5. Visits website of Guete Reise.
6. Browses different products on website.
7. Visits mobile website and browses different products.
8. Uses augmented reality to judge the size and proportions of the product.
9. Visits the store
10. Scans the QR code kept near the bag to know about it’s specifications.
RUCKSACK 30L scan to know more. RUCKSACK 30L scan to know more.
11. He’s told that he can access intercative screens to purchase something which is not physically available in the store
12. Decides to purchase something by using the interactive screens.
13. Cart view on the interactive screen shows suggestions while checking out.
14. Receives delivery of package within specified time.
15. Followup email after delivery for feedback regarding buying experience.
satisfactory consumer purchase.
system thinking. kanika kalra pranav mishal