• 패션비즈니스
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• 제25권6호
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• pp.81-101
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• 2021

Traditional department stores have been struggling to attract customers for several years. Many retail stores have closed in recent years, even before the COVID-19 pandemic. The reinvention of in-store shopping value and experience is imperative to attract customers and reinvigorate retail business. The purpose of this study was to discover which in-store components can improve customer experiences and loyalty while also identifying dissatisfaction issues in consumer experiences in department stores. The data was collected from two consumer groups-luxury department store (Selfridges) customers and mid-market department store (Debenhams) customers-to identify the types of value and experiences they seek most often. The findings showed that to enhance their store patronage, Debenhams should reposition their brand image in a way that allows customers to connect with their self-image and lifestyle by improving efficiency and convenience and prioritizing the utilitarian and social value types. By contrast, Selfridges should enhancetheir store atmosphere, visual merchandising and sensory experiences by maximizing slow retailing experiences and emphasizing the aspirational self-concept image for symbolic and hedonic value. This research uncovered the existence of numerous overlappingvalue dimensions, each of which contributed to the enhancement of the others. Several young customers expressed their support for ecologically responsible, cost-effective second-hand luxury products. Instead of focusing merely on conventional value dimensions, department retailers should determine how environmental and ethical objectives can be fulfilled. This study explained how department stores can craft their in-store environments to appeal to their customers' preferred value types to ensure success in a competitive market.

• 복식문화연구
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• 제25권5호
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• pp.577-592
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• 2017

The purpose of this study was to propose various directions for effectively proposing window displays that satisfy changing consumer needs by investigating and analyzing the characteristics of unexpected expressions used in recent Christmas windows. Research was conducted by investigating unexpectedness in window displays through literature reviews and previous studies. To observe unexpectedness in Christmas windows, website-based case images of window displays from the six years between 2010 and 2015 were collected from the department stores of Bergdorf Goodman, Printemps, Selfridges, and Isetan. Unexpected expressions in department-store Christmas window displays could be categorized into four expressive methods of hybrid expressions, figurative expressions, amusing expressions, and exaggerative expressions. The results were as follows: First, hybrid expressions are interpreted by consumers as having new or diverse meanings that change the original external forms of subjects or objects. Second, Christmas colors are used in the window backgrounds' figurative expressions, but these windows do not use excessive expressions; furthermore, these windows personify people as animals and anthropomorphize animals as people, using subjects to depict other subjects to show unfamiliar images. Third, amusing expressions are used to decorate windows with unique and novel ideas that provide stimulation and amusement for customers and capture their attention through the composition of windows that entail childish props and elements that create funny. Fourth, exaggerative expressions deliberately stretch and expand subjects or objects in windows to elicit customers' curiosity and interest through emphasis.