Starbucks: the retail experience Goals: Build observation and reporting skills.

Question

Starbucks: the retail experience

Goals:

Build observation and reporting skills.

Observe real-world customer interactions.

Analyze above in terms of our ongoing discussions and reading.

Observe that customers buy some combination of product, service and environment.

Identify systematic approaches to customer service.

Form impressions about the effectiveness of above.

Investigate and explain the Kano Model (and Client Centered Design) and how it relates to retail strategy at Starbucks.

Why:

The world is our sales lab. Much can be learned by simple observation and thoughtful contemplation enlightened by the concepts that we are discussing. Even seemingly simple retail exchanges can reveal the complexity of vendor-customer interactions.

Do:

Spend at least forty-five minutes in Starbucks and carefully observe the Starbucks customer experience.

You are welcome to make your observations in the company of another student or friend or family member, but don’t lose sight of your mission. Don’t get distracted and miss your chance to make the keen observations the insightful reporting of which will determine your grade.

This is not a team project. You will be graded individually. You are encouraged, however, to gather your observations with other people. Multiple observers are usually better than single observers as long as they are unobtrusive so as to not affect the behavior of the observed.

Buy a beverage or other product. Observe the process but do not reveal that you are working undercover. Take a seat and covertly observe a number of interactions between Starbucks employees and customers. Surreptitiously take notes. Please we sure to note the physical aspects of the store. How do they help or hinder the sales process? Note things like signage, product display, etc. Form an informed opinion about the entire customer experience, both yours and others’ in light of the goals listed at the top of these instructions.

Note: I have chosen Starbucks as our test subject for a reason. No other venue is acceptable. Do not let your personal feelings about Starbucks cloud your observation process, judgment or affect your writing. You do not need to purchase coffee but you must purchase something. (That’s part of the customer experience).

Turn in:

Observation/Interaction paper. Please include:

The observations above.

Observations about the product (only if they are relevant, ex. Too cold because of long pick-up time, etc.).

Observations about environment – does it add to or inhibit positive customer experience?

Citations that tie your observations to things you’ve learned in this course. (This is very important – failure to include these will negatively affect your grade).

Your assessment of average customer experience based on what you observed.

Suggest service/experience improvements. You must justify your suggestions with academic reasons.

Please Note:

This is a serious academic project and you should turn in a serious paper. APA format. Your paper should be long on scientific observations and analysis and short on personal narrative. We are trying to discover some universal truths about what people buy and why. You bare encouraged to do some research on Starbucks before or after you make your observations.

Explanation / Answer

Kano Model helps in developing a product in such a way that the product features move from satisfying a customer to delighting the customer. The features of a product are categorised into :

As per the observations in a Starbucks outlet, following outline can be drawn :

Undesirable Features : These features would make the product less attractive. Everything is desirable and appealing in the Starbucks outlet, so nothing can be put as Undesirable features.

Unimportant Features : features that generate neither a positive nor a negative reaction from the cutomer. In Starbucks outlet, the paint used in the washroom and the quality of tissue paper does not generate neither a positive or a negative reaction.

Assumed Features : customer asume certain features to be present in the product. in the case of Starbucks, the comfortable seating arrangement and a good quality coffee is assumed to be present in all the Starbucks outlet.

Desired features : Certain desirable features in the product which are a part of customer's existing expectations. Customers expect that a Wi-fi connectivity and properly air cooled outlet and would make the Starbucks outlet desirable.

Delighted features : Certain features which are over and above the cutomer's expectations and delight them. In a Starbucks the personal name of the customer imprinted on the coffee mug with a smiley face delights the customers and is beyond their expectations.

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