HALLENSTEIN BROTHERS CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE MODEL … · Customer Experience map that visually identifies every interaction a customer has (or could have) with Hallensteins brand through

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HALLENSTEIN BROTHERS

CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE MODEL ANALYSIS

BY HAI HA TA

POSTGRADUATE DIPLOMA IN BUSINESS

APMG 8119: DIGITAL ENTERPRISE

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR DR. NITIN SETH

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AUTHOR CONTACTS

NAME: HAI HA TA Mobile: 020 415 05614 Email: [email protected] Student ID: 1491643

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

AUTHOR CONTACTS ........................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

TABLE OF CONTENTS ......................................................................................... 2

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ....................................................................................... 4

BUSINESS BACKGROUND .................................................................................. 4

CONSUMER EXPERIENCE MAP ......................................................................... 7

CONSUMER REAL VITURAL EXPERIENCE ..................................................... 11

COMPARING KEY FINDING ............................................................................... 13

REFERENCES…………………………………………………………………………14

APPENDIX……………………………………………………………………………..17

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Hallenstein Brothers is a New Zealand based men's fashion brand at the cutting

edge of retail. Hallenstein Brothers has to recognise industry challenges

including the continuing globalisation of the fashion marketplace, lack of support

for young talented designers and the need of creating exportable and competitive

products in international marketplace. Because increasing competition happening

at both store level and online sales, Hallensteins should have effective strategies

to attract their targeted price conscious customers.

Hallensteins’ promised values are expressed continually during Hallensteins’

Customer Experience map that visually identifies every interaction a customer

has (or could have) with Hallensteins brand through awareness, consideration,

purchase, retention and advocacy stage. As there are several antecedents that

motivate and influence online users, effective use of digital attributes will

positively influence customer trust and satisfaction. Trust and satisfaction will

positively contribute to customer loyalty with Hallensteins. However, the

relationship between digital features and customer trust as well as satisfaction

can be limited by consumer’ online purchase experience.

After conducting a detail survey, I can conclude that digital features (web design,

order fulfilment, communication, merchandising, security and promotion) play

important roles in increasing customer trust and satisfaction. If online shoppers

trust and satisfy with the site, they will re-purchase and become loyal customers.

Recognising these essential theoretical implications can help the company

continue build and develop an effective digital site.

There are several managerial implications that are value for Hallensteins in

increasing online customer experience. Hallenstein Brothers should develop their

mobile-friendly and ipad-friendly websites that allow their customers to room in

and look at items in various angles easily. Hallenstein Brothers can also create

the like function in their digital site to let users like items that make them

interested. Buying anywhere at anytime via social media is one benefit that

Hallensteins can bring to their consumers.

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1/ BUSINESS BACKGROUND

a) Hallenstein Brothers, commonly referred to as Hallensteins, is a New

Zealand based men's fashion brand at the cutting edge of retail. The

company has its roots founded in 1873 in Dunedin by Bendix Hallenstein.

Hallenstein Brothers is part of Hallenstein Glasson Holdings Limited. Their

products are clothing, footwear and accessories which range from street

and lifestyle fashion to contemporary innovative suiting options.

HBrothers, the in house brand, is designed to mainly focus on modern

suits. Hallensteins has stores located in cosmopolitan areas throughout

New Zealand and Australia. Hallenstein Brothers serves worldwide and

according to Glenn Hunter, General Manager of Hallenstein Brothers, with

online business Hallensteins’ reach is “becoming more global.” Chairman

Warren Bell said “all the brands would continue to be aggressive in their

online marketing” since the group saw double-digit online growth for the

six months to February 2017 (Edmunds, 2017).

As a part of New Zealand fashion industry, Hallenstein Brothers has to

recognise challenges facing local clothing industry now. Continuing

globalisation of the fashion marketplace will increase competition and

bring more cheap and fast fashion to battle with middle price local brands.

Lack of support for young talented designers will eventually reduce

options of buying New Zealand made. As New Zealand is very small

market, local fashion needs to create products or services that have a

strong identity to be exportable and competitive in international

marketplace (Walker, 2015).

Hallensteins’ target customers are young men who are less concerned

about quality and durability and more about price and style (Harris, 2013).

Because increasing competition happening at both store level and online

sales, Hallensteins should have effective strategies to attract their targeted

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price conscious customers. In brick-and-mortar business, Hallensteins has

to compete with strong existing local competitors and competitive

international brands entering NZ market while the competition is even

more intense in online business because of the unlimited accessibility of

global products via Internet.

b) Engaging with company’s stakeholders is essential because it can help in

ensuring clear communication and addressing potential problems. Besides

important stakeholders, namely consumers, employees, competitors,

shareholders and government, the advertising/ communication agencies

and media are considered noteworthy for Hellensteins as they keep

customers informed on new available items and help spread information to

targeted consumers. Hellensteins also has to care about ethical fashion

when working with suppliers because NZ shoppers want to protect child

labour and stop exploitation in the garment industry by choosing ethical

brand. Fashion Industry New Zealand (FINZ) is the voice of New

Zealand's fashion and apparel sector. This organisation was formed to

provide representation and support for clothing industry.

c) Hallenstein Brothers is a New Zealand based men's fashion brand at the

cutting edge of retail. As a part of New Zealand fashion industry,

Hallenstein Brothers has to recognise industry challenges including the

continuing globalisation of the fashion marketplace, lack of support for

young talented designers and the need of creating exportable and

competitive products in international marketplace. Because increasing

competition happening at both store level and online sales, Hallensteins

should have effective strategies to attract their targeted price conscious

customers. Hallensteins’ important stakeholders are consumers,

employees, competitors, shareholders, government, advertising/

communication agencies, media, suppliers and FINZ.

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2/ CONSUMER EXPERINCE MAP

a) Hallensteins’ mission is to provide everyday clothing essentials to all guys

that are young at heart. Hallensteins can fit customer out for every

occasion from work to play. Hallensteins recognises that young men does

not like the restrictive feeling of traditional clothing, therefore the company

tries to bring the youth and the unique in each design. On the website, the

company affirms that Hallensteins creates “street inspired fashion and

high-quality suiting at a reasonable price point.” In order to express the

feeling of street inspired menswear, Hallensteins’ casual designs are

captured in street style images in an exclusive way. Contemporary suits

are introduced to bring a whole new level of freedom for young generation.

Customers do not see pictures of models wearing street style clothing in

metropolitan areas or wearing suits in the office background because

Hallensteins want to deliver their message of pushing the boundaries in

men’s fashion to their beloved customers.

b) A Customer Experience map visually identifies and organizes every

interaction, commonly referred to as “touchpoint”, a customer has or could

have with Hallensteins (Kramp, 2011).

i) In awareness stage, customer could passively receive information

about Hallensteins brand and products through online advertises, radios

or words of mouth from family and friends. Customers could also

actively search for the company brand via Internet. Online advertises

from Hallensteins always show discounted information, which is a good

point to attract price conscious customers and deliver brand’s value of

reasonable price point.

In consideration stage, customers’ search is likely to be tailored to their

requirements and interactions may be more specific like reading

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reviews or comparing similar products. Information processing and

perceived ease-of-use are two important antecedents. Because young

customers nowadays have good knowledge and experiences for both

clothing and online shopping, a range of website features including

merchandise information, delivery policy, privacy and so on will directly

influence customer experiences. Thanks to the videos included in the

product page, potential customers of Hallensteins know more about

items through videos that show a 360 view of the products on the

models. Hallensteins also has clear searching and navigating services

which help users save time in finding and selecting products.

At the purchase stage, the touch points are interactions between

customers and the site. This stage is definitely important because how

easy the site is to use and how fast is an online purchase processed

can immediately bring positive emotion to customers. At this stage,

Hallensteins has a fast and convenient purchasing process that has

positive effects on customer’s perceived ease of use. Hallensteins

allows their customers to read full reviews of other existing consumers;

therefore people will have more sense of control. Suggesting similar

products based on the taste of each individual contributes positive

perception about perceived benefits of customers.

In retention and advocacy stage, FAQ information and base knowledge

such as return policy are easily to search, so customer tends to be

happy and have more satisfaction about Hallensteins brand. Sending

promotions about needed products or newsletter also help in

maintaining communication with customers and create their loyalty.

ii) Because the focus of this assignment is a detailed analysis of

customer experience in a digital context, interactions between customer

and the site will be analysed at the states that have intense co-

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communications, namely the consideration and purchase state. The

model used to study in this assignment is The Proposed Research

Model and Hypotheses (Jin & Park, 2006).

Consumers continuously evaluate their online experience and past

experiences affect the probability of re-purchasing an online brand

(Rose, Hair & Clark, 2011). All features of digital site, namely web

design, order fulfilment, communication, merchandising, security and

promotion, will have a positive influence on customers’ trust and

satisfaction. As the perception of how easy a site is to use and how

useful a site is to meet users’ need are linked to positive online

experience (Rose, Hair & Clark, 2011), navigating service in web design

and merchandise purchase procedure are important contributors.

Hallensteins’ potential customers are young men who probably have

good understanding about fashion and online purchasing experience,

so they can be consider as skilled users. Internet provides unlimited

information so customers have a strong desire for control when

interacting with digital site. Hallensteins provided detail information

(description, size guide, return policy) and several pictures taken from

various angles for each product, which increase customers’ control over

their own access. Being able to read full reviews of other customers

positively increases users’ supervision. Security and privacy protection,

such as keeping personal information and payment method secure,

also support high levels of feelings of control among online users.

Online customers are looking for the feelings of reward and positive

benefits in digital sites, therefore exclusive promotion for online users

and 365-day returning time frame from Hallensteins site can increase

levels of trust and satisfaction of online shoppers. Recommending items

based on specific needs of each customer is a great benefit in online

shopping because it creates the feeling of being understood to

customers. Enjoyment is one of antecedents that determine the

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consumers’ likelihood of returning to the site. Impressive impression of

Hallensteins web design actively contributes to positive emotion of

young users who are inspired by the concept of beyond boundaries in

men fashion. Including videos which show 360 view of the products on

the models creates enjoyable experiences for users. Hallensteins’

online users can involve in showroom experience, and be able to

virtually walk around the product and get a better look.

As there are several antecedents that motivate and influence online

users, effective use of digital attributes, namely web design, order

fulfilment, communication, merchandising, security/ privacy and

promotion, will positively influence customer trust and satisfaction. In

my opinion, trust enhances satisfaction in online purchasing context.

Trust and satisfaction will positively contribute to customer loyalty with

an online retailer. However, the relationship between digital features

and customer trust as well as satisfaction can be limited by consumer’

online purchase experience. The more experienced customers are, the

more difficultly customer trust or satisfy with a digital site.

c) Hallensteins’ mission is to provide everyday clothing essentials to all guys

that are young at heart. Hallensteins can fit customer out for every

occasion from work to play. Hallensteins creates “street inspired fashion

and high-quality suiting at a reasonable price point.” These promised

values are expressed continually during Hallensteins’ Customer

Experience map that visually identifies every interaction, commonly

referred to as “touchpoint”, a customer has (or could have) with

Hallensteins brand through awareness, consideration, purchase, retention

and advocacy stage. In digital context, interactions and intense co-

communications between customer and the site usually happen at

consideration and purchase state. As there are several antecedents that

motivate and influence online users, effective use of digital attributes will

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positively influence customer trust and satisfaction. Trust and satisfaction

will positively contribute to customer loyalty with Hallensteins. However,

the relationship between digital features and customer trust as well as

satisfaction can be limited by consumer’ online purchase experience.

3/ CONSUMER REAL VITURAL EXPERIENCE

a) Three young people aged 19 to 29 were asked to interact with

Hallensteins site over a period of a week. After that, each person

participated in a survey about Consumer Real Virtual Experience.

b) The survey asked firstly about personal information to see participant

demographics, secondly about their online purchase experience such as

past online purchase or Hallensteins brand awareness, then finally about

Real Virtual Experience with Hallensteins site. Customer real virtual

experience was measured by the seven-point Likert scale (1= extremely

disagree, 7 = extremely agree). The mean was calculated an presented in

the following table:

I trust Hallenstein

Brothers website

because

Pictures are enlargeable, are not

photoshopped and are taken from various

angles. This website is well-organised and

navigation service is easy to use.

5.33

I satisfy with

Hallenstein

Brothers website

because

Pictures are enlargeable, are not

photoshopped and are taken from various

angles. This website is well-organised and

navigation service is easy to use.

5

I trust Hallenstein

Brothers website

because

This website allows to return products within

365 days of receipts to get a full refund,

provide information on delivery time and fee

4.33

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I satisfy with

Hallenstein

Brothers website

because

This website allows to return products within

365 days of receipts to get a full refund,

provide information on delivery time and fee

5.33

I trust Hallenstein

Brothers website

because

This website suggests items based on my

need and appreciate my orders by sending

thank you email, order confirmation

4.67

I satisfy with

Hallenstein

Brothers website

because

This website suggests items based on my

need and appreciate my orders by sending

thank you email, order confirmation

5

I trust Hallenstein

Brothers website

because

This website provide detailed information

about each merchandise (description, video,

size guide, return policy), and I can easily

read detailed reviews from other customers,

and merchandise purchase procedure is

easy and convenient

4.33

I satisfy with

Hallenstein

Brothers website

because

This website provide detailed information

about each merchandise (description, video,

size guide, return policy), and I can easily

read detailed reviews from other customers,

and merchandise purchase procedure is

easy and convenient

5.33

I trust Hallenstein

Brothers website

because

This website keeps my personal information

confidential and keeps my credit card

information secure

5

I satisfy with

Hallenstein

Brothers website

because

This website keeps my personal information

confidential and keeps my credit card

information secure

5

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I trust Hallenstein

Brothers website

because

This website clearly states available

promotion and allows me to sign up to get

20% discount

4.67

I satisfy with

Hallenstein

Brothers website

because

This website clearly states available

promotion and allows me to sign up to get

20% discount

5.33

Because I trust this website

I satisfy with Hallenstein Brothers brand 5

Because I trust this website

I will continue to purchase in Hallenstein

Brothers website

5.67

Because I satisfy with this website

I will continue to purchase in Hallenstein

Brothers website

5.33

4/ COMPARING KEY FINDING

a) Because we could not do hypothesis testing if the number of respondents

is less then 30, we just evaluate the information based on the mean value.

All the values are more than 4 that means neutral, therefore we can see

that in general three participants agreed that all online attributes (web

design, order fulfilment, communication, merchandising, security and

promotion) positively influence their trust and satisfaction. They also

acknowledge that trust precedes satisfaction and both trust and

satisfaction actively affect customer loyalty. One respondent who does not

know Hallenstein Brothers brand can be considered to be a low

experience shopper. Providing information about return policy or delivery

time and privacy protection did not make her feel trust about Hallenstein

Brothers site. The only male participant disagreed about the fact that

promotion can influence his trust and satisfaction. Interestingly, male

shoppers tend to feel uncomfortable when buying online. It seems like we

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cannot affirm that the relationship among digital features, trust and

satisfaction depends on customer experience.

Digital features (web design, order fulfilment, communication,

merchandising, security and promotion) play important roles in increasing

customer trust and satisfaction. If online shoppers trust and satisfy with

the site, they will re-purchase and become loyal customers. Recognising

these essential theoretical implications can help the company continue

build and develop an effective digital site.

b) As digital attributes increase the level of customer trust and satisfaction,

Hallenstein Brothers should continue focus on creating online experiences

that secure brand’s promised value. In order to continue provide benefits

to online users, Hallenstein Brothers should develop their mobile-friendly

and ipad-friendly sites which allow customers to room in and look at items

in various angle easily. Hallenstein Brothers can also create the like

function in their digital site to let users like items that make them

interested. Liked product will be automatically added on customer wishlist

and company can send customers updated information about stock,

promotion for these specific items they loved. And the website can update

information about how many likes each merchandise received so

customers can see how popular the item is. Enabling users to comment or

answer question of other customers about the product also can build the

feeling of control for users. Buying anywhere at anytime is one benefit that

Hallensteins can bring to their consumers. Nowadays, people tend to

spend more and more time on social networks to connect and keep in

touch with others. Creating a system that authorises users to buy from

Facebook or Twitter can immediately bring positive emotions to

customers.

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REFERENCES

Davis, R., Buchanan- Oliver, M., & Brodie, R. (2000). Retail Service Branding in

Electronic- Commerce Environments. Journal Of Service Research, 3.

EDMUNDS, S. (2017). Hallenstein Brothers, Glassons report double-digit online

growth. Stuff. Retrieved 20 August 2017, from

http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/91035313/hallenstein-brothers-glassons-report-

doubledigit-online-growth

Jin, B., & Park, J. (2006). The Moderating Effect of Online Purchase Experience

on the Evaluation of Online Store Attributes and the Subsequent Impact on

Market Response Outcomes. Advances In Consumer Research, 33.

Kramp, J. (2011). What is a Customer Experience Map? - Touchpoint

Dashboard. Touchpoint Dashboard. Retrieved 20 August 2017, from

http://touchpointdashboard.com/2011/08/what-is-a-customer-touchpoint-or-

journey-map/

Magazine, V. (2015). What's the Biggest Challenge Facing NZ Fashion Right

Now? - Viva. Viva.co.nz. Retrieved 20 August 2017, from

http://www.viva.co.nz/article/fashion/whats-the-biggest-challenge-facing-nz-

fashion-right-now/

Rose, S., Hair, N., & Clark, M. (2011). Online Customer Experience: A Review of

the Business-to-Consumer Online Purchase Context. International Journal Of

Management Reviews, 13.

Sathe, A. (2017). Adding value through customer touch points. LinkedIn.com.

Retrieved 20 August 2017, from https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/adding-value-

through-customer-touch-points-anil-sathe

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Tearfund | Ethical Fashion Guide Aotearoa New Zealand.

(2017). Tearfund.org.nz. Retrieved 20 August 2017, from

https://www.tearfund.org.nz/ethicalfashionguide

Venuto, D. (2016). Hallenstein Brothers continues to go global, not

local. Theregister.co.nz. Retrieved 20 August 2017, from

http://theregister.co.nz/news/2016/02/hallenstein-brothers-continues-go-global-

not-local

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APPENDIX

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