The Children's Place is consumers' top pick for young children's (10 and younger) apparel when the votes are indexed for the number of stores, according to new survey by Market Force Information, a leading customer intelligence firm. The Children's Place earned 17% of the votes, while Gymboree ranked second (13%), and Kohl's and Carter's tied for third with 12% (See Graph 1). For children 11 and older, Aeropostale was ranked favorite retailer with 17% of the votes, followed closely by Kohl's (16%) and then Old Navy (10%) (See Graph 2).
The findings emerged from a Retail Trends survey conducted by Market Force last month among its network of 300, women's jackets 000 independent mystery shoppers and merchandisers – consumers across the country dubbed "The Force?" by Market Force Information.
The study also looked at different elements of the retail stores to determine consumer preferences. Consumers ranked factors such as price, clothing/merchandise style, store atmosphere, customer service, dressing rooms, return policy and ease of parking. In the "Children 10 and Younger" category, Justice received the highest marks for dressing rooms and Gymboree came out on top for customer service. The Children's Place scored in the middle of the pack in virtually every category, earning its highest marks for the ability to put a whole outfit together in one store. In addition, it ranked in the top three for customer service, and in the middle for price (See Graph 3).
When these same factors were ranked by respondents in the "Children 11 and Older" category, the favorite retailer, Aeropostale, scored highest in customer service – proving that service is a huge factor in consumer preferences. Macy's took first place for its availability of specific designers, and Forever 21 was recognized for its dressing rooms (See Graph 4).
"We continue to see time and time again that consumers value customer service more than virtually every other retail characteristic—often trumping the all-important price element," said Janet Eden-Harris, chief marketing officer for Market Force Information. "Service is so important to the customer experience, in fact, that it can completely sway consumer preference for one store over another, regardless of how well a store performs in other areas. Retailers that invest in the training, auditing and rewarding of great customer service are seeing the gains in loyalty as the economy improves."
All of the survey participants indicated that they made a clothing or accessory purchase over the past three months. Within that timeframe, more than half (53%) said they shopped for clothing three or more times, with one-quarter of them opening their wallets to fashion retailers six or more times. The remainder (47%) shopped for clothing one or two times.
Fifty-eight percent of survey participants reported shopping for children's clothing in the past three months. Twenty-one percent shopped for children 11 and older, while 37% shopped for children 10 and younger. However, shopping for children's clothing seems to take up a larger percentage of parental budgets than these figures suggest, as only one in two of all respondents reported having children living at home.
The survey was conducted in October across the United States and Canada. The pool of 7,000 respondents reflected a broad spectrum of income levels, with approximately 70% reporting household incomes of more than $50,000 a year, and a blend of ages from 19 to 70 years old. Approximately
three-quarters of respondents were women - the primary household consumer purchasers, and an equal percentage work full or part time. Half of the respondents have children at home and two thirds are married.
About Market Force Information
Market Force Information, Inc. is the leading global customer intelligence solutions company for business to consumer companies including major retailers, restaurants, grocery and convenience stores, financial institutions, entertainment studios and consumer packaged goods companies. Market Force Information has pioneered the industry with a suite of customer intelligence solutions that provide clients with the business intelligence they need to delight their customers and drive bottom-line results. The company measures store-level operations and customer attitudes through mystery shopping, customer feedback, market audits and merchandising services, with the analytics to drive targeted improvements. For more information, please visit: http://www.marketforce.com and follow the company on Twitter @MarketForce.
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