NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF FASHION

TECHNOLOGY (2020 - 2022)

Omni – Channel Retail and Sales Management

Consumer Behaviour

MFM SEMESTER – II
Study on Consumer Behaviour end and map customer journey through
role play on sales staff interaction.
Application of key concepts of omni channel Retailing.

A.R. VISHNU PRIYA (MFM/20/1279)

SNEHA.V (MFM/20/861)
KOTARU NAGA SRAVANI (MFM/20/868)
SHAIK ZUHASANAM (MFM/20/988)

UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF

MRS. JAYA MATHEW
ASSN. PROF, KANNUR.

DEPARTMENT OF FASHION MANAGEMENT, NIFT,

KANNUR, KERALA.

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 Declaration
We hereby declare that the report entitled Build on consumer Behaviour end term
assignment and map customer journey through role play on sales staff interaction at
various customer touch points with application of key concept of omni channel
submitted to NIFT Kannur is a record of original work done by us under the
guidance of Mrs. Jaya Mathew Assistant Professor, National Institute of Fashion
Technology, Kannur, and this project work is submitted in the partial fulfilment of
the requirements for the award of the degree of Masters of Fashion Management.

VishnuPriya Sneha NagaSravani Zuhasanam

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 Acknowledgement
We would like to express our sincere gratitude to Mrs. Jaya Mathew for her
continuous support, her patience, motivation, and immense knowledge. Her
guidance helped us in all the time of research and writing of this report.
We would also like to thank our fellow classmates for the stimulating discussions,
brainstorming sessions and the sleepless nights we were working together to meet
the deadlines.

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 Executive Summary

Uniqlo is a clothing store owned and operated by Fast Retailing Co., Asia’s largest clothing retailer.
They currently have a goal to open at least 200 stores in the United States by 2020. The company
hopes to be the number one retailer in the world, so growth in the United States market is a natural
progression. Uniqlo has recently gained popularity for its affordable basics offered combined with
its sleek and modern setting. Boston presents an opportunity for Uniqlo to expand its chain to the
Northeast, as it currently only has U.S. locations in San Francisco and the New York area. With a
similar demographic and a population made up of a large portion of Uniqlo’s target market, Boston
provides the company with the opportunity to open another U.S. location. The objective of this
research study was to determine whether or not there is an opportunity for another clothing store to
enter into the Boston market and succeed. Thus, an understanding of the shopping habits of Boston
consumers, as well as their personal preferences, must be understood. The survey was distributed to
29 students in the Boston area, specifically at Emerson College. Respondents were asked a variety
of questions related to their shopping habits, personal likes/dislikes in clothing company, and what
sort of qualities determine the popularity of one brand over another. The results from the survey
show that respondents were rather neutral towards Uniqlo as a company, with the overall evaluation
of the Top 2 Box % at 41% and a mean score of 3.41, however, 66% of respondents said that they
would consider shopping at Uniqlo if it were to have a location in Boston. Based off of the mean
scores found in the survey, the FGI conducted, and the additional information that was discovered
through the research study, the team as a whole recommends that Uniqlo move into the Boston
Market.

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 Table of Content
Introduction…………………………………………………………………………… 6
UNIQLO Stores………………………………………………………………………. 6
E – Commerce Business……………………………………………………………… 7
Developing Products of Exceptionally High Quality…………………………………. 7
Product Development Based on Customer Feedback………………………………… 7
Expert Technical Guidance at Factories Emphasizes Quality ………………………... 8
Becoming Japan’s Top Brand by Expanding Urban Market Share…………………… 8
Customer Journey……………………………………………………………………... 9
What is customer journey Mapping? …………………………………………………. 9
Consumer journey map and its benefits in retailing …………………………………... 10
Benefits ………………………………………………………………………………… 11
Customer Touch Points in Uniqlo ……………………………………………………... 11
Social Media …………………………………………………………………………… 12
Apps ……………………………………………………………………………………. 13
Customer Journey Map and Stages ……………………………………………………. 14
Education & Research …………………………………………………………………. 15
Purchase & Booking …………………………………………………………………… 15
Evaluation & Endorsement ……………………………………………………………. 15
Repeat Purchase & Booking …………………………………………………………… 15
Key Concepts of UNIQLO Omni Channel …………………………………………….. 16
Deliver System Supporting a clear brand Promise ……………………………………. 17
Product Development approach and efficient supply chain ……………………………. 17
Company Culture and Visionary Leadership ………………………………………........ 18
High Dedication to innovation …………………………………………………………... 19
Customer Journey Map …………………………………………………………………. 20
In Store …………………………………………………………………………………. 21
Pick Up Services ……………………………………………………………………….. 22
Purchase via App ………………………………………………………………………. 23
Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………………... 24
Recommendation ………………………………………………………………………. 25
References ……………………………………………………………………………… 26

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Introduction:
Uniqlo Co., Ltd. is a Japanese casual wear designer, manufacturer and retailer. The company has
been a wholly owned subsidiary of Fast Retailing Co., Ltd. Since November 2005.Since March
1949, a Yamaguchi-based company, Ogori Shōji (which, until then, had been operating men's
clothing shops called "Men's Shop OS") existed in Ube, Yamaguchi.In May 1984, they opened a
unisex casual wear store in Fukuro-machi, Naka-ku, and Hiroshima under the name "Unique
Clothing Warehouse".
UNIQLO clothes offer unique value to everyone, everywhere. UNIQLO negotiates directly with
materials suppliers around the world, placing large orders to ensure steady access to world-class
natural materials. We also work with top synthetic fibre manufacturers to develop new functional
materials. UNIQLO is known and loved by consumers worldwide for its ability to challenge the
conventional wisdom of clothing.

UNIQLO Stores:
UNIQLO Japan had 841 stores (including 30 franchise stores) at the end of August 2015. Since the
opening of the first store outside Japan in 2001, UNIQLO International has expanded to 798 stores,
including 467 stores in Greater China (Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan), 155 in South
Korea, and 108 in Southeast Asia and Oceania. We have enjoyed rapid store development in Asia.

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E-commerce Business:
Online sales in Japan totalled ¥32.4 billion in fiscal 2015, or 4.2% of total UNIQLO sales. Online
sales are also doing well in places including Mainland China, Taiwan, South Koria, Britain, the
U.S., Australia and Singapore. The Customer Centre deals with more than 270,000 comments and
requests annually. Appropriate departments act on them to improve products, stores and services.

Developing Products of Exceptionally High Quality:

To ensure the development of products of exceptional quality, UNIQLO has refined its SPA*
(Specialty store retailer of Private label Apparel) business model, allowing for control of the entire
business process — from planning and design to material procurement and sales.

Product Development Based on Customer Feedback:

Customer opinions and needs play a vital role in UNIQLO’s product development. The UNIQLO
Customer Centre receives approximately 90,000 comments from customers annually. Our
HEATTECH products, for example, have been refined each year based on customer feedback such
as comments asking for softer fabric, a function to keep skin both warm and prevent dryness and an
expanded range of colours. It is precisely this customer feedback that makes it possible for UNIQLO
to produce the high-quality apparel that it does. Material Procurement from Around the World.

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The UNIQLO Material Development Team is able to procure high-quality materials at low costs
through direct negotiations with and bulk purchases from material manufacturers globally. For
instance, take the denim fabric that is nearly synonymous with UNIQLO. This is woven, dyed and
manufactured to meet UNIQLO’s specifications by the global denim manufacturer KAIHARA Co.,
Ltd. In addition, it is efforts like this that have made it possible for UNIQLO to secure high-quality,
long-staple cotton — which can only be harvested from three percent of the world’s cotton plants
for UNIQLO’s popular Extra-Fine Cotton Plain T-Shirts.

Expert Technical Guidance at Factories Emphasizes Quality:

In order to produce millions of products of standardized quality, it becomes important to implement
quality control across factory production technology and management. UNIQLO has a team of
technical specialists, known as the Takumi Team, boasting many years of experience in the Japanese
textile industry. These specialists are sent directly to our partner factories in China to offer technical
instruction and share their abundant experience. At the same time, the supervisors from the
Production Department, based in the Shanghai office, make weekly visits to partner factories to
check the quality and progress of production.

Becoming Japan's Top Brand by Expanding Urban Market Share:

Since opening our first in-mall stores in 2004, UNIQLO's image has been transforming from a
suburban discount retailer to a high-quality, high-street brand. Commercial property developers
recognize UNIQLO's power to attract customers, and we receive many invitations to open stores
from prime large-scale shopping malls, urban department stores and fashion buildings.
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Our new global hotspot store, the BICQLO Shinjuku East Exit Store, has enjoyed great success in
a location formerly occupied by a prominent department store. We will continue to expand our urban
market share by aggressively opening stores in major cities. In spring 2014, we plan to open global
hotspot stores in Ikebukuro and Okachimachi, two thriving Tokyo commercial districts on a par
with Shinjuku.

Customer Journey:
A customer journey is a visual representation of the customer journey (also called the buyer journey
or user journey). It helps you tell the story of your customers’ experiences with your brand across
all touchpoints. Whether your customers interact with you via social media, email, live chat or other
channels, mapping the customer journey out visually helps ensure no customer slips through cracks.

This process also helps B2B business leaders gain insights into common customer pain points which
in turn will allow them to better optimise and personalise the customer experience. And this
customer journey typically comprised of five stages through a complete purchase funnel, namely:

● Awareness
● Engagement
● Evaluation
● Purchase
● Post-purchase

What is customer journey mapping?

Customer journey mapping (also called user journey mapping) is the process of creating a customer
journey map, a visual story of your customers’ interactions with your brand. This exercise helps
businesses step into their customer’s shoes and see their business from the customer’s perspective.
It allows you to gain insights into common customer pain points and how to improve those.

Firstly, all the possible customer touchpoints are mapped out, for instance, a website, social
channels, interactions with marketing and sales teams.

User journeys are then created across these various touchpoints for each buyer persona. For
example, a millennial buyer persona may typically become aware of a product on social, research it
on the mobile version of your site, and finally make a purchase on a desktop computer.

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The customer experience at each touchpoint should be included in a customer journey map. This
can include what action the customer needs to take and how your brand responds.

Consumer journey map and its benefits in retailing:

In my experience, understanding and empathising with customers is the groundwork for meaningful
interactions and successful business outcomes. As it happens, customer journey mapping provides
you with a system of values to understand and empathise with each of your customers.

Without customer journey mapping, you wouldn’t understand where a customer is in their
relationship with your brand or business. In other words, you wouldn’t be providing a good customer
experience because you haven’t given thought to what their struggles are, what information they are
seeking from you, and how they want you to deliver that information.

Not only that, customer journey mapping also helps a business analyse user behaviour to better
understand how their customers travel and how they feel about travelling through the sales process.

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Benefits:
❖ Allows decision-makers to stay focused on customers

Customer journey mapping enables businesses to better understand and be educated about how
customers view their products and services, what their intentions and values are, and how a customer
interacts with the brand or business at different touchpoints.

When stakeholders and product owners bring in their perspectives and biases about how things
should be, a customer journey map brings in real-time evidence and helps decision-makers
understand what’s really happening.

This ensures that everyone is on the same page about what needs to be done and their focus remains
on building better customer experiences and satisfying customer needs.

❖ Deeper consumer insights lead to improved ROI

The way a customer interacts with a brand or business through the different channels set up is called
a touchpoint. These are essentially pointing of contact and interaction that customers have with your
business.

Customer journey mapping helps identify these touchpoints and where maximum friction and
struggles occur, enabling you to improve these touchpoints and optimise each channel based on
real-time, high-quality data.

The more meaningful you make your interactions, you improve your chances of creating loyal
customers, who may, over time, become brand ambassadors, advocating on behalf of your business
without you having to ask!

Customer Touch Points in Uniqlo:

Every brand had their unique style in branding but creating hype and customer satisfaction touches
some brands only. Why? Because reaching their brand and style to the customer is only done by
some brands successfully, they reach their touch points to the consumer and give them satisfaction.

UNIQLO also puts a lot of effort on the design of its stores, as the store is the main touch point for
both of them, clothing retail specialists. Uniqlo stores all have a very modern, even high-tech feeling
to them with their TV screens, LED screens and glass displays, combining design with functionality.

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The wide range of colours of their products takes part in the design of the store itself, creating catchy
arrays of colours. Finally, Uniqlo has a strong focus on customer service. It hires a lot of employees,
spends a lot of time training them in order to offer the best shopping experience to their customers.
The check-out point is a testament to this commitment, with this full range of cashiers reducing
queuing time for their customers.

“The entire store is designed with customer service in mind,” said Shin Odake, UNIQLO USA CEO.

Social Media:

Unlike Zara’s strategy to create one global page on Facebook and one global account on Twitter,
Uniqlo has created one page for one country it is operating in. This allows the brand to offer specific
new products and sales to each country! For example, Uniqlo’s Facebook page for France: Uniqlo
hasn’t just stopped on these two popular social networks. One notable digital and really creative
project was launched on one fairly recent networking/image website…Pinterest! Uniqlo allied with
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digital agency Firstborn producing giant mosaics for five categories: men’s apparel, women’s
apparel, geek, fitness and sports. As the users scrolled down their page, they discovered “animated”
images of the brand!

Apart from the social media, there are also two features that we think ought to be mentioned as part
of Uniqlo’s digital touch points, features that are directly related to us: UNIQLOCK and UNIQLO
CALENDAR. Both are functional widgets designed to create brand awareness…with bloggers in
mind! When UNIQLOCK was launched in 2007, there were already 70 million blogs worldwide.
In January 2008, 27 000 blogs from 76 countries were using that widget, a widget that had been
viewed 68 million times in 209 countries! UNIQLOCK is a clock running 24/7 all year long with
catchy music and video clips with dancers wearing Uniqlo outfits. And this is probably the origin
of the music you are hearing right now!

UNIQLO CALENDAR goes right along the path created by UNIQLOCK: a functional app that you
can use in your daily life, flattering your senses, catching your ears and your eyes. Following the
success of the latter, Uniqlo has a stronger focus on digital elements for their advertising campaigns.
As an example, for Uniqlo's launch campaign in Singapore in 2009, 60% of the advertising took
place online, while outdoor advertising accounted for 25% and print for only 15%.

Apps:

For the iPhone and the iPad, Uniqlo has also launched UNIQLOCK and UNIQLO CALENDAR
apps. But there are also other apps such as UNIQLOOKS on iPhone that allows their users to take

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a photo of themselves and share with the community their “Uniqlo style”; and two other
apps/catalogues for their collections +J and UU/Uniqlo undercover for the iPad.

Customer Journey Map & Stages:

Consumer Journey Consumer Needs & Motivations Consumer Behaviour

Consumer Barriers/Concerns Media Touchpoints Consideration:

The consumer is looking for innovative products to enhance their daily lives and be the micro-
influencer in their group. The consumer is interested in being a trendsetter and has great knowledge
in their interests: technology and fashion. The consumer isn’t aware of the latest trends, they don’t
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know the features’ benefits and feel like they won’t make an impact in their product decisions in
society. Word-of-mouth, digital advertising, fashion blogs/websites, tech blogs/websites, social
media, website, in-store.

Education & Research:

The consumer wants to learn how technology can make an impact in their products. They are
looking for items that fit their fashion style, budget and technological knowledge. The consumer
seeks out information through social media, friends, influencers or third-party review sites. They
want to be a step ahead of others in terms of information. The consumer isn’t sure about the price
or impact the technological benefits of the clothing will have on them. They don’t understand the
terminology or information portrayed in the research. Word-of-mouth, influencers, brand websites,
review sites, social media.

Purchase & Booking:

The consumer wants the process online and in-store to be efficient and open for any questions if
faced with difficulties. The consumer makes online purchases, but is willing to have an in-store
experience. The website lacks directions and information needed to make a final purchase. Also, the
consumer is making a purchase for the first time and it leaves them anxious. Website/In-store.

Evaluation & Endorsement:

The consumer needs to evaluate their experience online or in-store. The consumer shares their
thoughts through social media, review sites, and word-of-mouth based on experience. They also
seek follow-up related to the item. The consumer’s experience impacts how they share their
endorsement. It can be no endorsement or a negative review. Brand’s social media, email reminders,
app.

Repeat Purchase & Booking:

The consumer needs to feel a part of a community, knowledgeable in what’s included in the items
and comfortable in making a purchase based on the experience. The consumer continues to check
out new content or repeats similar purchases based on first time purchase. The consumer has a bad
experience and doesn’t want to pursue another purchase or doesn’t feel strongly about making
another purchase due to how complicated it was. They don’t feel like they have a purpose in the
community. Brand’s website, Brand’s app
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Key Concepts of UNIQLO Omni Channel:

Uniqlo's image message encapsulates an unmistakable vision Uniqlo is a cutting-edge Japanese

organization that motivates the world to dress relaxed. The corporate procedure that has worked for
Uniqlo so far is to absolutely disregard design rather than pursuing quick style like its different
rivals. The brand theory "Made for All" positions its attire to rise above age, sex, nationality and
any remaining approaches to characterize individuals. In opposition to its name "Uniqlo" its
garments are basic, fundamental yet widespread, empowering the wearers to mix them with their
individualistic style.

This plan driven attire brand offers interesting practical execution attributable to in-house texture
and plan advancement. The organization separates itself from its cost driven rivals by marking its
unique developments with names like HeatTech, Life Wear and AIRism. Uniqlo gives a standout
actual shopping experience by perfectly dealing with its anything but a positive representative
culture and through in-store innovation like video instructional exercises that portray item credits.
● Deliver System Supporting a clear brand Promise.
● Product Development approach and efficient supply chain.
● Company Culture and Visionary Leadership.
● High Dedication to innovation.

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Deliver System Supporting a clear brand promise:
Two of the greatest difficulties for any brand is to characterize a reasonable brand guarantee and to
reliably convey viably on its image guarantee across all touch points of the client experience venture.
Effective brands are those that make strong authoritative and operational designs that work with the
execution of methodologies to follow through on the brand guarantee. On one hand Uniqlo has in
reality figured out how to effectively characterize an unmistakable brand guarantee for itself to give
top calibre, execution improved, all inclusive, essential relaxed wear at reasonable costs. Then again
it has likewise made a solid conveyance framework to follow through on this brand guarantee.

The company's product planning, design, manufacturing and abilities are all in-house, which implies
that it can remain nearby customers' needs dependent on the thing customers are purchasing in their
stores, permitting them to save costs on overproduction or unnecessary overheads. Stocks can be
updated inside only weeks or recharged inside merely days. By zeroing in on centre items in a
restricted scope of textures Uniqlo is able to consolidate its fabric buys into huge orders that give it
greater negotiation power against suppliers which translates into cheaper prices for its customers
serving its brand promise well.

Product Development approach and efficient supply chain:

Tadashi Yanai is partial to saying that "Uniqlo is not a fashion company, it's a technology company."
And for sure, the brand's way to deal with making clothing shares all the more practically speaking
with the iterative way to deal with item improvement embraced by the innovation business than the
recurrent, pattern driven beat of the fast fashion retail industry. While driving contender Zara has
constructed the world's biggest clothing business dependent on fast changing fashion trends getting
things from manufacturing plant to store in around fourteen days Uniqlo adopts the specific inverse
strategy arranging creation of its closet basics as long as a year ahead of time. Not at all like its
rivals who sell a huge assortment of in vogue designs propelled by the worldwide runway, Uniqlo
centres around creating a couple of styles of urban practical basics.
The company also runs a profoundly vigorous supply chain. Through improvement of a point by
point promoting procedure by the showcasing office for each season, merchandisers can change
creation by style to line up with requests well ahead of time. Idea gatherings with all key item
creation groups are held about a year prior to an item being dispatched. When a piece of clothing is
underway around 400 gifted staff individuals visit creation focuses to guarantee quality and resolve
remarkable issues.

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The Uniqlo worldwide creation habitats are situated in Shanghai, Ho Chi Minh City, Dhaka, Jakarta
and Istanbul. Customer concerns are additionally tended to by the creation division which keeps the
item groups connected to what the end buyer thinks as item and showcasing groups work intently
together around system and execution.

Company Culture and Visionary Leadership:

In 2019, Tadashi Yanai was positioned number no. 54 on the rundown over the best-performing
CEOs on the planet by Harvard Business Review. Since 2000, he has given 700 percent investors
return, and the market capitalization of Uniqlo has expanded to USD 39 billion. He is credited
generally for the tremendous achievement and dangerous development of Uniqlo in the previous 36
years because of his production of a solid organization culture which zeroed in on collaboration and
client experience.

Uniqlo's emphasis on cooperation is exhibited through its level hierarchical design with
representatives incredibly urged to give ideas. The qualities and objectives of the organization are
made an interpretation straightforwardly into cycles and measures displayed firmly by workers
everywhere in the world. Organization financials are totally straightforward to workers and deals
and outlined and posted day by day. The brand additionally puts an enormous accentuation on its
retail location experience and micromanages each customer touch point.

Staff training is a huge priority for the organization as each new representative is prepared for a
remarkable 3 months – route above worldwide industry normal. Each movement embraced by its
representatives are recorded and investigated – from clothing collapsing methods to the manner in
which retail staff returns Mastercard's to customers with two hands and full eye to eye connection.
Workers are additionally instructed to communicate with customers utilizing six standard
expressions including "Did you find everything you're looking for?" and all customers are invited
with "Welcome to Uniqlo!".

In 2000, the organization assembled a Uniqlo University in Tokyo where 1,500 new head
supervisors are prepared each year.

One model exhibiting Uniqlo's attention on the customer's experience is Tadashi Yanai's choice to
direct all activities in English in 2012 – a choice thought to be uncommon in Japan. This has added
to its worldwide achievement and is something other yearning worldwide organizations can gain
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from. Likewise, Uniqlo representatives continually hope to improve their interior cycles and thus
the client experience. In 2004, Uniqlo opened its first huge configuration store (more than 2,000
square meters in size) in Osaka in the wake of noticing its competitors Zara and H&M do likewise,
prompting an improvement in consumer loyalty and benefit. The Uniqlo Customer Centre
additionally utilizes customers' input to continually improve its items.

High Dedication to innovation:

As Peter Drucker said, innovation and marketing are the solitary two elements of any association.
Uniqlo comprehends this well the brand is notable for its texture advancements. The organization
likewise employs Japanese material bosses called "Takumi" who work closely with factories in
China and Japan to consistently develop high tech fabrics for Uniqlo.

One of Uniqlo's signature innovations is HeatTech, a fabric created related to Toray Industries (a
Japanese chemical company) that transforms dampness into heat and has air pockets in the texture
to hold that warmth. The HeatTech fabric is thin, comfortable which has empowered the brand to
make classy plans which are altogether different from the standard customary warmth clothing
portion. The HeatTech advancement continues to improve after some time with new fibre
innovation, permitting the brand to think of various assortments of warm attire. In 2003, 1.5 million
HeatTech items were sold while in 2012 more than 130 million units were sold across 250 products.

Besides HeatTech, Uniqlo has additionally made AIRism (a soft fabric with quick drying inner
fabric), Life Wear (a blend between casual and sportswear) and UV Cut (material designed to
prevent 90% of bright beams from arriving at the wearer) innovations. These new textures are totally
marked and protected, which represents a battle for contenders who need to attempt to endeavour
to coordinate with this place of separation. Tadashi Yanai has been cited to say that Apple is its
biggest rival as a result of the company's desire to be the most innovative company in the world.

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 Customer Journey Map:
In Store:

Phase of Journey Aware Enter Browse Consider Purchase Exit

Actions See a Uniqlo Walk in Store Browse Pick a few For the cashier to
Store products. products to check out.
try.
Use apple pay to make
Try the the payment.
products to
see if they
fit.

Decide
which
products to
buy.

Touch Points Store Store Interior. Store Store Store Interior.

Exterior. Interior. Interior.
Staff Staff
Staff Staff Staff

Customer Thought Are there any There are May I buy How long do How long do I need to
new quite many some new I need to wait?
products? customers clothes for wait?
inside the summer? Should I download the
Are there any Store. If there are app now to get a
sale What's the too many coupon?
discounts? Where is the texture of people
female the fabric? waiting, will I would leave if i need
Are shops section? I leave? to wait for more than
crowded? Are these 10 mins.
Clothes Do these
There is a available clothes fit Maybe I should not
discount. in my me? come to the store
Should walk size? where there are many
in to have a I Don't want customers.
look. What is to spend
the price time
after the
discount?

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 Pick Up Services:

Phase of Journey Aware Consider Purchase Products Arrive Pick Up

are ready Store and exit

Actions Notice Uniqlo Decide Buy Receive Go to the Ask a staff

offers in store when to use Products to the SMS store. member for
pick up this service the app. for picking help.
service up
products. Pick up the
products.

Touch Points Social Media - Mobile Mobile Pick up the Pick up the
app/website app counter. counter
.
Staff Staff

Customer Is this a free If I want to Which store It's faster Where I should
Thought service? buy can I than i should I pick find staff
products choose thought. up my for help
How can I use that are from? products?
this service? only Do I need Why don't
available When can I to bring a I saw a pick- they arrange
Can I ask my online, I pick it up? bag Up counter the staff at
friend to pick will use this myself? but why is the counter?
it for me? service. How can I there no
pick up my I can pick staff here? Expect the
Can I pick it products? it up on pickup
up any time? weekends Should I go process to
What's the or after inside to be smoother
Can I pickup work. find staff for and faster.
exchange or process? help?
return the
products? Can I ask
my friend
to pick it
for me?

Can I
exchange or
return the
products if I
use these
products?

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 Purchase via App:

Phase of Aware Install Browse Browse Add to Cart Payment

Journey Landing Products

Actions Uniqlo has a Go to app Look for Browse Add Pay the
mobile app store to new Products. products to order.
through their install the products. cart.
Facebook app Filter
page. Check if Products. Check and
there are confirm the
any products in
promotional the cart.
sales?

Touch Points Social Media. App Store. Mobile Mobile Mobile APP. Mobile
App. APP. APP.

Customer What feature Why is the The loading The product How can I How much
Thought does it offer? rating so time is too menu has add this item do I need to
low? long. too many to cart? pay?
Is it an E- layers and
commerce Why are There is a subcategorie How can I What is the
app? there so lot of s. remove this shipping
many information item from cost?
Is there any negative on the Why are the cart?
discount if I comments? landing. there no What
purchase Where can I filters on Can I change payment
through the find Male this product the amount options are
app? Clothing? listing page? and colour available?
of the
Why does it I want to products in Why cannot
show me filter the the cart? use Apple
female size and Pay?
products on colour. What
landing? delivery Why do I
How can I options are have to
How can I get to a available? input
switch to product payment
view male listing page Can I change details every
clothing with filters? the delivery time?
only? method?
Why can't I
enlarge the How long
product will it take
images? for delivery?

Which size How much

fits me? is the
delivery

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 What size is cost?
the model
wearing? How much
need to
spend to get
free
delivery?

How much
is the order?

Conclusion:
A major insight from the research was that people are simply not yet familiar with the Uniqlo brand.
This was somewhat anticipated by our team because Uniqlo is a foreign brand and is predominantly
a part of foreign clothing markets and cultures.
A majority (48%) of participants were neutral to the brand either because they did not know the
brand at all or they were just simply not familiar with what differentiates it despite having heard
about the brand before. This means that the brand has a lot of room for expansion and is sitting atop
an almost completely unutilized client base. The brand had a somewhat weak performance when
participants gave it an overall mean score of 2.76 for unique vs. different from other brands. The
students seemed to still have a positive overall attitude towards the brand but did not necessarily see
it as being extremely different from similar clothing brands.
This indicates that if Uniqlo were to make an entrance into the Boston market they would have to
position themselves in a much more exclusive and distinct manner. The clothing retail market in
Boston is already significantly saturated and full of brands that just appear to be imitations of one
another. Uniqlo must break through all of that and offer consumers a truly special and unique brand
experience; they already offer this in their other stores, but Boston consumers have yet to see what
is so different about Uniqlo. The participant scores for intention to shop were fairly low with a total
mean of 2.93. Consumers are either unfamiliar with the brand or they are not seeing too many points
of differentiation that would interest them in deviating from their current clothing brands of choice.
Consumers felt that the budget friendly aspect of the brand was the most attractive characteristic.
This is a very good sign because who loves a good price on clothing more than a college student?
The brand needs to continue to nurture this aspect of their reputation if they wish to have strong
breakthrough within the Boston market.

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By offering high quality, stylish clothing at a premium price, Uniqlo could develop a very healthy
and fruitful relationship with young college consumers in the Boston market.

Recommendation:
After extensive analysis of the data collected over the several months, our recommendation actually
contradicts that which would be concluded from pure statistical analysis. The recommendation is to
open a Uniqlo store in Boston. Although the mean scores of brand evaluation were relatively low
(3.41 on a 5-pt. scale) and there was an overall 31% purchase intention these scores are still above
average. The most important thing when considering whether or not to open a Uniqlo store in Boston
is the target audience. Predominantly the audience is budget conscious college students. Since 1 out
of every three people in Boston is a college student, it is important to capitalize on such a profitable
area. Uniqlo has already established itself in major cities on the West Coast and one in New York
City so the next step is Boston. The brand has well established competition in Boston like Zara,
forever 21, and the Gap; however, Bostonians are always looking of the next big thing within reason.
Uniqlo is just that. It is a go to for high quality basics at an affordable price. Not to mention the
phenomenal customer service that has generated a significant amount of buzz. According to the
focus group interview, students were thrilled by the heat technology, outstanding customer service,
instore tailoring, and most importantly the high quality at an affordable price. In fact, 100 % of the
FGI participants said they would shop at Uniqlo if it were in Boston. Also, they would spread the
word to their friends that Uniqlo is a great new store unlike its competitors. As far as purchase
intention, the participants were thrilled with the price point especially for how high-quality the
clothes are.
The recommendation would be to put the first store in either Downtown Crossing and/or Boylston
St. nearby some of the major department stores. Uniqlo stores are extremely large and spacious and
the two recommended locations have plenty of space to accommodate. These are high traffic areas.
Since the target audience of Uniqlo is college students, promotion will include a combination of
Facebook, Twitter, and word-of-mouth. FGI participants said that the most effective way to promote
the grand opening of Uniqlo in Boston would be a social media presence which would in turn
generate word of mouth. In conclusion, the recommendation would be to open a Uniqlo store in
Boston in either Downtown Crossing or Boylston St. near Lord & Taylor. The store should promote
the grand opening via Facebook and Twitter, along with ads around the city.

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Thank You

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