Effectiveness

Efficiency

Argos is a catalogue merchant based in the UK. The company has about 740 high-street stores across the UK and Ireland and it is the largest general-goods retailer in the UK. Argos website is promoting a wide selection of products ranging from jewellery and clothing to cross trainers and sewing machines. The website is quick to load. Argos website also has simplicity to its design which satisfies customer’s need of simple and quick online shopping. It is very easy to navigate through the site owing to an appropriate choice of the white background colour. In a click of a mouse and thanks to clear listing, - all goods are available on the top of the page. The utilisation of Argos website is clear and simple: once a customer opens the webpage, he can quickly find the wanted product, “put it in his virtual shopping bag”, register, arrange the delivery and pay. On the whole, Argos website is designed in a straightforward, transparent way and is effortless and coherent to use.

The company has an efficient distribution system: when it comes to shopping online, Argos website is a good choice since it has special online exclusives goods which cannot be found in stores, apart from having a better overall stock availability and a wider online range of products as well. Argos has a range of delivery services depending on the type of products a customer orders, shipping anywhere in the mainland UK and Northern Ireland. A customer purchasing a product online will be shown a list of available dates to pick from during the checkout process. Most bigger items can be delivered to the room of customer’s choice.

Pricing strategy: Argos website provides price transparency and the customers can compare the prices of similar products easily. The company offers free £5, £10 vouchers, clearance, price cuts, and sale on selected range of products on a regular basis. Apart from having the usual discounts on products during the Christmas time and summertime, Argos applies dynamic pricing tactic in its marketing by offering goods that are in clearance section and a regular website visitor can see how the price of a certain product fluctuates during a passage of a week or a month. Argos pricing strategy appeals to its target audience ranging from working class to middle class and the company’s wide selection of goods captures all age groups - from young to older people.

Effectiveness

The technologies used by the company are up to date so Argos can compete with its rivals well. Argos customer service includes availableness of rapid ordering of goods online via technological applications for such mobile devices as iPhone, iPod touch and Android users keep using Argos services instead of turning to its competitors.

There is a facility of secure online shopping at Argos of securing customers’ personal details using SecureCode and supplementary security steps when transactions are made. Argos also utilises the Secure Socket Layer (SSL) for all orders placed which prevents its customers from inadvertently revealing any personal information.

The company is not globally visible, but has an online presence in Spain and Ireland and aims to deliver the same high standard of service its customers await from Argos UK website. When using Argos.ie and Argos-spain.co.uk customers can pay for their orders in Euro currency. Website users who shop from Spain can easily change the language to Spanish. Argos also aims to provide easy online shopping by delivering to mainland Spain and Balearic Islands and the company is dedicated to bringing its consumers valuable internet deals on over 11,000 selected products.

Argos aspires to create a strong relationship with its customers with the help of personalisation: the website recalls customer’s former order by offering the variety of similar products and the front page of Argos website is personalised due to customer’s former purchases. It is easy to spot that the website was personalised due to your previous order and this service is free of charge.

Success

As one of the UK's leading catalogue-based retailers, Argos provides a unique offer of choice, which contributes to Argos' strong brand presence and quality service reputation. Argos solid reputation and popularity were established thanks to its well-known catalogue and a coherent “less is more” concept to high-street outlets construction. The brand-new simplified 3-steps shopping process “Select, Order, Collect” offers customers a logical and considerably improved both online and in-store shopping experience which also contributes to Argos trustworthy reputation and substantial brand image.

Argos customer’s benefit from the adjustability of shopping online: there are no sales advisors who would pressure into buying or burden with their excessive opinion. Furthermore, some items are delivered directly from Argos’ suppliers and separately from Argos warehouses.

Argos website gives its visitors better, more specific information than in-store staff members, providing product description and high-quality images. Argos also takes into regard the importance of customer feedback, and the website has such functions as product summary, overall rating, recommendations and individual customer reviews, plus a facility to share a certain product with other websites such as Twitter and Facebook. There is also a significant advantage of an opportunity for customers to discuss their purchases: any satisfied customer can leave a review and create ratings under the product information, which is visible for all registered and not registered customers. All these factors significantly improve consumer’s web shopping experience.

Bibliography:

http://www.argos.co.uk/

http://www.argosonline.es/wcsstore/argosspain/faqs.html

http://www.i-amonline.com/our-clients/argos

http://www.homeretailgroup.com/ar/2012/review/argos/

Дата добавления: 2015-10-30