Westside Advantages and challenges

1. CONSUMER PULL FACTORS
 A critical factor in Westside’s success has been its strategy to attract shoppers
& keep them in stores- the amount of time shoppers spend in a store is perhaps
the single most important factor in determining how much they will buy. . In
having understood the pulse of the customers in India, Westside has clearly
established itself as a brand with an Indian heart.
 Over the years Westside has also developed and successfully introduced a
range of new brands especially suited to the Indian palate. These brands like
2F 4U have been a tremendous success amongst the new generation. What has
also given Westside a competitive edge is that in addition to an extensive range
of internationally renowned brands like Spykar, Lee and Fast Track they also
offer the option of a less known brands for low budget customers.
 All the three floors are carefully structured. Ist floor and IInd floor caters
exclusively to Women and Men respectively. Thus giving them privacy and
more freedom to look into their products.
 Women’s need more space and look for comfort. They are less likely to buy
if the place is congested and makes them feel uncomfortable. At Westside
sofas have been placed in the women section so as to make the females more
comfortable.
 Westside has been able to create a brand image and is consistently
maintaining its brand identity by new additions in products and catering to
the market need.
 They are catering to different age groups under one roof. For ex. On the IInd
floor which is men’s section both formal and college wear is available. This
way they are able to build a huge customer loyal base.
 Westside caters to not only the clothing needs and desires of its customers.
They have bed sheets, kitchenware, jewellery, perfumes, baby products,
household items, etc. This way a customer who enters Westside just to buy
one or two items usually ends up buying a lot more.
 The in-store experience in Westside is very delightful. Their fully skilled and
trained staff caters to the needs of the public in the right way. They don’t
pounce upon the customer as soon as he enters the store. They wait till the
time a customer starts selecting and then they come and help. This way the
customer gets acclimatize with the store and the environment.
 Price of brands available at Westside is not too high as compared to its
competitor’s brands. This is due to their cost effective supply chain
management. They directly pick up the goods from the manufacturer thus
ensuring low price tag at their store.

2. Recommendations
 To increase more footfalls more promotional activities must be carried out.
For this Westside can either offer more discounts or increase their
advertisements. Increase in the number of footfalls will lead to increase in
sales.
 Since Westside is not only catering to apparel need of the society a few
additions like Books, Music items, Electronic gadgets etc can also be added
to the products available inside their store. The demand for the above
products is always in the market.
 Allowing more space between the entrance of a store and a product gives it
more time in the shopper’s eye as he or she approaches it. It builds a little
visual anticipation.
 The number of trial rooms available at Westside is very less as compared to
the number of people coming. This usually results in long queues and
waiting by customers.
 Install more full length mirrors inside the store so as to assist the customers
to make better purchase decisions.
 Play light music inside the store to make the shopping a pleasurable
experience.
 They can also exhibit their new line of clothing through events like fashion
shows.
 Baskets should be scattered throughout the store, wherever shoppers might
need them. Many customers don’t begin seriously considering merchandise
until they have browsed a bit.

3. Limitations
This research has a number of limitations that must be acknowledged.
 First, the sample used for this study consisted mostly of college students.
Therefore, these results may not be applicable to the wider population in
general.
 Secondly, the results of this study are limited to a specialty retail branded
purchasing context.
 Lastly, it must be acknowledged that there may be numerous other variables
that contribute to the development of customer satisfaction, customer loyalty,
and word of mouth communication which are briefly touched upon below.
All of the hypotheses in the study were supported by the data. The hypothesis test
results indicated that both utilitarian and hedonic shopping benefits have a positive
effect on customer satisfaction. The results also indicate that customer repurchase is
positively associated with customer loyalty and word of mouth communication.
There are studies which have contributed for extending the consumer benefit/loyalty
framework to the retail branding context. Customer satisfaction is an antecedent of
word of mouth communication, but customer loyalty (favorable relative attitude)
must be present to mediate the relationship. This finding is important for theory
building in this and other marketing and consumer contexts.
In the increasingly competitive environment faced by today's retailers, the pursuit of
consumer loyalty is paramount. In order to be competitive, retailers must identify the
key ingredients of consumer loyalty and the relationships between the benefits
delivered to the consumer and important outcomes (i.e. satisfaction, loyalty, word of
mouth communication).
This study doesn’t identify two types of benefits mostly desired by the consumer:
utilitarian and hedonic. Retailers should understand this if they expect to provide
utilitarian benefits to consumers by way of having the right product on hand at the
right place and time. In addition, they must recognize that the consumer also desires
a hedonic benefit in terms of the shopping experience. The results of this study
doesn’t indicate that consumers expect the purchase experience to offer hedonic
qualities such as excitement, entertainment, escapism, fantasy, and fun. Retailers
that utilize the store-as-the-brand strategy should recognize this and work to deliver
hedonic value throughout the purchase experience. In addition, retailers should
recognize that their performance in the delivery of these consumer benefits is linked

4. to important outcomes such as satisfaction, loyalty, and word of mouth
communication.
Another important finding not undertaken in this study indicates that consumer
satisfaction is linked to attitudinal loyalty. Although one could argue that other
variables not examined in this study contribute equally to attitudinal loyalty,
satisfaction appears to be an important antecedent. Therefore, retailers should
recognize that in order to create a loyal customer base, they must satisfy the desires
and needs of the consumer. One way that retailers can provide satisfaction to the
consumer is through the delivery of value in the form of utilitarian and hedonic
benefits associated with the purchase experience. Retailers should recognize that
they must meet or exceed the consumer's expectations in terms of the benefits the
consumer is seeking. It is also important for retailers to understand the link between
satisfaction and other important outcome variables (i.e. attitudinal loyalty, word of
mouth communication) because satisfaction contributes to these outcomes.
The finding of this study doesn’t talk about the attitudinal loyalty which serves as a
mediator between consumer satisfaction and consumer word of mouth
communication. It is reasonable that attitudinal loyalty would mediate the
relationship between these constructs because it is a more enduring concept when
compared to consumer satisfaction. In their pursuit of customer loyalty, it is
important for retailers to understand this relationship and the associated
implications. Delivering a satisfying purchase experience can lead to attitudinal
loyalty, and in turn, that attitudinal loyalty can lead to the consumer engaging in
word of mouth communication about the retail store brand.
The extant body of literature on the consumer benefits/loyalty framework is in an
early stage of development. The primary goal for future research should be to
identify and examine the various types of consumer benefits that influence
consumers' satisfaction, loyalty, and word of mouth communication. In-depth
qualitative research in the form of personal interviews and focus groups would
provide a better understanding of the benefits desired by consumers. This qualitative
research would, in turn, contribute to the development of better measures to capture
each type of benefit. In turn, it is important to continue to examine the relationships
between consumer benefits and outcome variables that are crucial to the success of
the retail firm (e.g. customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, and word of mouth
communication). A particularly important area of investigation is the role of
attitudinal loyalty as a mediator between customer satisfaction and word of mouth
communication.
Future research should also focus on replicating this study with a different target
respondent. A large survey of consumers of various backgrounds in various
geographic areas could help to make the findings of this study more generalizable to
the overall population.