Enhancing the In-Store Experience

Enhancing the in-store experience

for female customers of Tommy Hilfiger

Achieving more together

Foreword

The ‘Anton Dreesmann Leerstoel voor Retailmarketing’Foundation - supported by a group of leading retailers in the Netherlands - has chosen Rabobank as its partner to host and co-organise its annual congress. The partnership started in 2011 and we have prolonged this successful collaboration until at least 2020. We appreciate the opportunity to share our knowledge and views on retail with key players and other stakeholders in the sector.

The January 2017 congress, ‘Retailing Beyond Borders – Working on Transition’took place in the Duisenberg Auditorium in Utrecht. During this congress the ‘Rabobank Anton Dreesmann Thesis Award´ was granted to Samira Darkaoui for her thesis entitled ‘Enhancing the in-store experience for female customers of Tommy Hilﬁger´. Part of this award is the publication of the thesis as a book. The result of which is now in front of you.

Capturing and embedding knowledge is important, both for Rabobank as a knowledge-driven ﬁnancial organisation and for retailers. We therefore support the initiatives of the Foundation to combine scholarly knowledge with retail practice. The ´Rabobank Anton Dreesmann Thesis Award´ is one of these initiatives.

The thesis of Samira Darkaoui, who graduated from the Delft University of Technology, discusses an actual and interesting case at Tommy Hilfiger, the well-known fashion player. The problem for Tommy Hilfiger is the lack of connection that women have with the brand. In order to address this issue, a systematic approach is followed. A wide number of topics is taken into account including brand identity, store interior and (female) consumer behaviour in order to understand the complete shopping experience. Based on the various studies, several recommendations are made, including: (i) introducing a specific womenswear label to improve brand identity, (ii) changing the store interior; this includes digital elements like the development of a Fashion Inspiration Wall; all changes are aimed at a better and more coherent (omnichannel) shopping experience, (iii) increasing customer loyalty and consumer engagement. An implementation plan was set up in order to turn the recommendations into actions. This approach can serve as an example for other (fashion) retailers to address the challenges in their companies.

I trust that the thesis will energise and inspire you to go out and grab the opportunities in the retail market. Kind regards,

Jos Voss

RaboResearch - Sector Specialist Retail March 2017

Foreword

3
Master thesis for Tommy Hilﬁger Europe B.V. February 2015 - August 2015

GRADUATION PROJECT BY

Samira Darkaoui | 400805 BSc Architecture, Urbanism and Building Sciences MSc Design for Interaction Industrial Design Engineering Specialization: Retail Design

SUPERVISORY TEAM

Delft University of Technology

dr. H.H.C.M. Christiaans | Chair Applied Ergonomics & Design (AED) Industrial Design Engineering

ir. L.M.M. de Wit | Mentor The Architecture of the Interior Architecture and the Built Environment

Tommy Hilﬁger Europe B.V.

ir. D.J.M van Ingen | Mentor Concept Architect, Store & Concept Design

ing. S.E.P. Lucas | Mentor Director Store & Concept Design

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Enhancing the in-store experience

Acknowledgements

These past six months have been a bumpy ride with the occasional highs and (mostly) stressed out lows. However, when I am writing this, I have almost made it and it would not be without the help of others. In this section I would like to thank the people that helped me come this far. Not only those who helped me in completing this thesis, but also those who have been there from the start.
Of course, I am also thankful for all the women, who have participated in my research and took the time to put the eﬀort into contributing to my project. You ensured that I got constructive feedback, resulting in a concept that would really be appealing to the shopping women out there.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank my best friend, who is extremely dear and special to me. I want to thank you for your constant and continuous support over the years that I have known you. You have always been there for me and helped me come out at the other end when I was getting too stressed. Your presence has kept me from going insane these past few months.
First of all, I want to thank my company mentors Jannelien van Ingen and Suzanne Lucas for giving me the opportunity to work within their team on my graduation project. They have helped me gain extensive retail knowledge and gave me new insights to work with. Jannelien has been great in helping me structuring my thoughts and letting me think out of the box, whereas Suzanne also helped me with maintaining a holistic view on the shopping experience.
Furthermore, I want to thank my parents and other loved ones, who were there for me and have supported me throughout my studies. It is their constant support and belief in me that has helped

me come this far.

Next to that, I want to give my gratitude to my two

university coaches, Henri Christiaans and Leontine de Wit. They were the ones that kept me on my toes and stimulated me to research and execute this graduation project to the best of my abilities. You were the ones to reassure me when I was being too much of a perfectionist yet again.

Also, a special thanks to all the employees of the Tommy Hilfiger HQ office, the Tommy Hilfiger stores in Amsterdam, The Hague and Oostende. They enabled me to perform my customer research and user studies and really gave me the idea that I was part of a team, even if it was only for a couple of days.

Acknowledgements

5

Executive Summary

Tommy Hilﬁger is one of the world’s leading lifestyle brands. Its style is recognised as classic American cool with a preppy twist. It delivers premium styling, quality and value to its worldwide customers. The brand has a wide variety of collections and products. One of those collections is women’s sportswear (WSW): Womenswear. not ﬁnd what she was looking for, e.g. the Womenswear area. They often do not know if the store sells female clothes, because is not made clear. They feel that the focus could be more on women.

•

The overall female customer knows the brand Tommy Hilfiger, but does not shop at their stores or even online. It does not fit with their style or it is too expensive. They also have the impression that the brand is more focused on men than on women. They are of the opinion that if Tommy Hilfiger wants to attract more women to their stores, that Womenswear should get a much stronger identity.
The problem definition lies in the lack of connection that women have with the brand. There is a stronger focus on the men’s division, which results in a more prominent location instore, namely the front. This causes many female customers to think that that specific store does not sell Womenswear. All of this results in a lower conversion rate for women.
Even though there are three types of customers, all customers can enter the store with a different mind state: locating, exploring or dreaming. However, it can be concluded that customers, who enter a Tommy Hilfiger store with a locating mind state, will in most cases always return to the store. This has to do with the fact, that a large part of the loyal customers enter the store with a locating mind state. They know beforehand which brand they want to visit that day. However, to attract other customers, the exploring and dreaming mind state should be addressed better.
To approach this problem, several studies were conducted. They can be roughly subdivided into three categories: brand identity, interior specific and overall shopping experience. A brand identity study was carried out to see how both employees and customers perceive the brand. The brand is known to have a high brand awareness, but the image and identity is not properly conveyed. Employees have an inconsistent opinion about both the product and target group, whereas customers are rather neutral or have negative things to say about the brand.
To address the exploring and dreaming mind state, a holistic, overall shopping experience should be created. This will make the brand more appealing to women and will ensure them to stay longer instore, which will again result in a higher conversion rate. This means that the interaction between the customer and the brand should be inspiring, exploring, involving, effortless and intuitive.
Based on the customer journey in The Hague, three types of customers could be defined:

•

The loyal Tommy customer is satisﬁed with the brand and its products. In most cases they come for the product (and brand) and will buy it if they like it.

•

Bouncers are customers who enter the store and leave within 10 seconds. In most cases the bouncer left quickly, because she could
To achieve this holistic shopping experience, the whole customer journey should be taken into account.

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Therefore, five steps in the customer journey are defined to be part of the holistic vision: 01. Entering the store 02. Browsing 03. Fitting 04. Checkout
Subsequently, with such a holistic vision it is difficult to see what and when everything can be incorporated. Therefore, an implementation plan is set up to give the company insights into the best possible approach. The implementation is split into three phases:

05. Leaving the store

01. Brand identity - Introducing Hilﬁger Woman

and (re)connecting with both loyal and new customers.
02. Customer experience - Implementing the proposals to address the exploring and dreaming mind state.
Before even implementing a holistic vision in-store, women should ﬁrst feel connected to the brand. Therefore a recommendation has been made to create an own Womenswear label, named Hilﬁger Woman. This will be a positive adjustment to the female customer as she will feel a more personal bond with the brand.
03. Customer loyalty - Maintaining connection with customers and staying up-to-date.

The customer journey starts with an attractive, interesting shop window and inviting entrance, where other products of Tommy Hilfiger are also shown. Next, the customer will walk towards the women’s area to browse. When they are browsing, it is the ultimate chance to inspire them more and let them explore other options of which they maybe never thought about. Therefore, a focus moment is created to where the customer is drawn, named the Fashion Inspiration Wall. This Wall consists of a fixture with clothing items and large digital screens, behind it showing dynamic content and the latest fashion looks. When the customer grabs an item, a complete outfit will be shown on a model on-screen. She can flip through fashion combinations and pick a look she likes best. After she has collected all the items she wants to try on, a pleasant and comfortable fitting room experience is waiting for her. Having a smart mirror in the fitting room allows her to change the lighting, view suggestions, etc. After she has paid for her items, she can enjoy a drink at the bar, where she can share her latest looks in the Tommy Hilfiger app.

Executive Summary

7

Table of contents

Foreword

3

5

Acknowledgements

Executive Summary Introduction
6
10

Part I - Analysis

14

15 44 56 77 80
01. About Tommy Hilfiger 02. Competitors of Tommy Hilfiger 03. Customers of Tommy Hilfiger 04. Retail context 05. Overall conclusions

Part II - Ideation & vision

06. Design goal

83

84 86 91
07. Idea generation 08. Vision & requirements

Part III - Final Design

116

117 122 125 130 133
09. Concept ‘Fashion Inspiration Wall’ 10. First user study 11. Adjustments 12. Final user study 13. Recommendations ‘Fashion Inspiration Wall’

Part IV - implementation

14. Applications in store design 15. Implementation plan

136

137 144

Part V - Reﬂection

16. Project reﬂection

150

151

References Glossary
155 160 162 163
Colophon Disclaimer

8

Table of contents

9

Introduction

10 Enhancing the in-store experience

Tommy Hilﬁger is one of the world’s leading lifestyle brands. Its style is recognised as classic American cool with a preppy twist. It delivers premium styling, quality and value to its worldwide customers. The brand has a wide variety of collections as well as a range of products. One of those collections is women’s sportswear (WSW): Womenswear.

New sportswear concept explanation

As was mentioned above, a new Sportswear concept was developed. The main objectives of the concept were as follows (Tommy Hilﬁger, 2014b):

•••

Light, airy and fresh look More femininity in the women’s area Customer service and retail experience.
The brand has built a wide-ranging distribution network in over 90 countries. Currently the brand has more than 1,400 retail stores in North America, Latin America, Europe and the Asia Pacific area (“Company overview,”n.d.). This resulted in global retail sales of $6.7 million in 2014 (PVH, 2015).
Figure 01 on page 12 shows the general store layout of the new SPW concept. The store is divided into four areas: windows, Menswear, the Bridge and Womenswear. Having the Bridge as the center element makes it possible to divide the store into different areas with each having its own atmosphere (Tommy Hilfiger, 2014a). The Bridge is where all service-based options take place. Customers can try their items on, pay for them and enjoy a cup of coffee. They also have access to the Tommy world due to the presence of an iPad (Tommy Hilfiger, 2014a).

Problem deﬁnition

Although Tommy Hilfiger is a lifestyle family brand, women do not really have a strong connection with the brand. A lack of connection that normally draws the female customer in-store and the fact that in most cases women do not know that Womenswear is sold as there is a stronger focus on the Men’s division (which is often placed in front of the store), result in a lower conversion rate for Womenswear. The Tommy Hilfiger stores are currently more masculine than feminine. The company has already been working on responding to this problem by developing a new Sportswear concept and making it more feminine by using lighter colours, lighter fixtures, different materials, etc.
In Figure 02 on page 12 a few renders of the store are shown to give an impression as to how the standard store would look.

Introduction 11

SPW B/C Zoning

General store layout

MENSWEAR

fashion collecꢀon

core products accessories

BRIDGE

service desk

coﬀee

WOMENSWEAR

fashion collecꢀon

core products

payment

accessories

Tommy.com dressing rooms accessories

Figure 01.

General store layout of the new SPW concept (Tommy
Hilﬁger, 2014f).

Figure 02.

Renders of the new SPW concept. From left to right and from top to bottom: the façade, the Bridge, WSW accessories and WSW area (Tommy Hilﬁger, 2014f)

Assignment & design goal

The assignment of this graduation project consists of two parts. The first part is about a study into the factors why female customers do not feel connected to the Tommy Hilfiger brand. The second part consists of addressing this problem by coming up with solutions and designs, which will enable female customers to feel more connected to the brand. Therefore, the design goal is to enhance the in-store experience for female customers in order to keep them longer in-store, resulting in a higher conversion rate. The designs should fit within the newly developed vision for Sportswear, so it can be rolled out as a part of the concept.

Report outline

This report will start with a thorough analysis of the company, its competitors and context and last, but not least, of its female customers. After the analysis, the report shall delve into the conceptualisation part, where conclusions of the analysis phase are translated into ideas. Here a holistic vision will be presented as well as one concept, which is further developed. To follow up on the conceptualisation phase, an implementation plan will be presented to give recommendations as to how and when the parts of the holistic vision should be implemented. Finally, the report will end with a project reﬂection, which will give the reader insight into the thesis trajectory and its up and downs.

Introduction 13

Part I

Analysis

01. About Tommy Hilfiger 02. Competitors of Tommy Hilfiger 03. Customers of Tommy Hilfiger 04. Retail context 05. Overall conclusions

01. About Tommy Hilﬁger

Before delving further into the scope of this thesis, it is vital to go back to the basics. This chapter entails the company’s heritage and identity, and ends with a critical analysis about the brand and elements in retail.

Company

This paragraph will give the reader insights into the founding of Tommy Hilﬁger and how it has grown from a two-person to a global, corporate company.

History

The company is named after its founder, Tommy Hilfiger. At age 17 (1968) he bought 20 pairs of old jeans from the backstreets of New York City. He did this together with his friend Larry Stegerman and sold these old jeans from the trunk of their car. In 1969 they opened their first store, called People’s Place (Rosee, 2011). He wanted to bring “cool big city styles”from New York to his friends in Upstate New York (“Biography,”n.d.). It became rather successful, which resulted in several People’s Place stores on college campuses over New York state (Hilfiger, 2013). Their clients were young people in love with music and fashion. They also dressed

Figure 03.

Tommy Hilﬁger working in people’s place (Hilﬁger, 2013)

famous people, like Bruce Springsteen. Bands from over the world came to People’s Place, which

oﬀered the latest trends (Rosee, 2011).

Hilﬁger started his own label in 1985: Tommy

Hilﬁger (“Biography,”n.d.).

There were ten People’s Place stores before it was

declared bankrupt. It turned out to be the best lesson for Tommy Hilfiger. He got back on his feet and wanted to create his own brand, where he wanted to do something with preppy clothes. Subsequently the idea of “preppy with a twist” followed, which was actually a more colourful, more casual and comfortable look (Hilfiger, 2013). Together with the support of Mohan Murjani, who wanted to launch a men’s clothing line, Tommy
The elements of his first designs, namely the relaxed and youthful attitude, are still characteristic for every design collection that followed. For almost 30 years, Tommy Hilfiger brought classic, cool American garments to customers all over the world. It is the foundation that lies within this global brand (“Biography,”n.d.). After starting as a menswear label, Tommy Hilfiger launched its women’s line in 1996 at over 400

Analysis 15

major department stores (“Tommy Hilfiger”, n.d.; “Tommy Hilfiger Corporation”, 2003). The women’s line was derived from the men’s line, as it was mostly sportswear: the casual style to wear to work (“Tommy Hilfiger Corporation”, 2003). At that moment it made Hilfiger one of the few menswear designers to incorporate a women’s line into the mix. Over the years it has become clear, that even though there is a women’s line (hereinafter referred to as Womenswear), the men’s line is still the main selling point of Tommy Hilfiger: it was more stable. Besides that, customers were complaining that Womenswear was becoming too trendy and did not fit well into the style of Tommy Hilfiger. After these complaints, Tommy Hilfiger changed the line and went back to the basic preppy, though modern, look (“Tommy Hilfiger,”n.d.). portfolio of “iconic lifestyle apparel brands,”but Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger still represent most of the company’s profit with 85% (“Our Company”, n.d.). An overview of all brands can be found in Appendix A. PVH uses its infrastructures around the world, enabling brands to grow in established markets as well as letting them expand into underdeveloped markets and enter new markets. PVH is about harnessing the brand’s identity and producing products, which fit into the brand’s portfolio as well as connecting with its customers by developing deep relationships (“Our Strategy”, n.d.).

Proﬁle

In 2010 Tommy Hilﬁger was acquired by the Philips – Van Heusen Corporation (PVH). PVH is one of the largest global apparel brands, focused on global growth and brand building and at the same time staying true to their own core values, seen in Figure 04 (“Our Company”, n.d.). Over the years PVH has acquired several companies, with the big acquisitions of Calvin Klein in 2003 and Tommy Hilﬁger in 2010 among others. These acquisitions have led to a diverse

individuality

partnership

passion

integrity

accountability

Figure 04.

PVH’s logo and its core values.

CEO

chief executive officer

ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE

CSO

CBO