Mark & spencer

Comparison of Mark & Spencer and French Connection Company

Mark and Spencer Company is a well established retail business that has very wide business connection in many parts of the world. The company invests a lot of money in ensuring that the services and products it offers its customers are of high standards and extremely good quality. It is a British retail business with branches in many parts of the world. The eight hundred and eighty five stores which the company has are aimed at ensuring that its customers have easy access to its high quality yet affordable clothing products. Indeed its unique and superb refund and exchange policies have made the company to have a huge competitive advantage in the clothing industry over its competitors. Mark and Spencer Company has continues to improve its ninety (90) day refund policy in order to fully fulfill the needs and preferences of the customers. Contrary to the customers' expectations, the drastic reduction in the refund period has led to many of its customers being discouraged to continue trading with the company. The refund policy has been reduced from the previous ninety days to the current policy that allows refunds to be made in as low as thirty days.

On the other hand, the French Connection Company also engages in the sales of clothing products. Men and women's apparels, accessories for both men and women, and fragrance lines are some of the products that the company also engages in. Despite its continued investment policies, the company has always maintained a considerably low profile in the sales and marketing strategies. Due to the dire need and intention to fully satisfy their customers' needs, the company normally offer a full refund in case of any returns made in adherence to the companies terms and conditions of trade. Any merchandise returned within fourteen days after the original purchase is normally given a full refund. However, for items that are accompanied by a gift receipt, the company French Connection Company normally issue merchandise exchange or merchandise credit to the customers of the organization. In order to enhance security and safely for both the company's operations and the safely of its customers, any refunds that are in excess of one hundred and fifty dollars are settled though the issuance of home based refund checks that get processed in fourteen days. There are sales are always made on very regular basis thus leading to an ever increasing customer base.

Customer Attraction Strategies in the two Companies

Mark and Spencer Company mainly attract its customers through its strategy of aligning its services to the customers' needs. The company provides very flexible and customer friendly packages (Quilfer 2009). This minimizes the inconveniences which the customers would otherwise have to withstand should they decide to ship with other clothing companies. In additionally, the company has continues to diversify its services by providing other related products likely to be in high demand. At the moment, the company provides furniture and domestic products such as aluminium foil and washing powder. They also ensure that their products and services are very environment friendly.

Honesty, better quality, and enhancement of efficiency have been the greatest customer attraction strategies employed by both clothing companies. However, French Connection offer its customers very special services that include free shipping to the prescribed destinations, gift wrapping, and gift certificates that offer the customer unique privileges in the company's other sales stores. In France for instance, the French Connection has for a very long time exploited the controversy associated with the name of the company in ensuring that more customers associate with its products. Slogans such as ‘Fun Comes normally Kneeling', ‘fcuk this', ‘very busy to fcuk', and ‘lucky fcuk' are commonly used in marketing unique brands of shirts from the company. Such slogans are very appealing to men of the young age to their perceived meaning to the society.

Have OnlineFacilities Being Utilized

Mark and Spencer uses very efficient and customer friendly online sales and marketing strategies. The Company has provided its customers with the flexibility and greatly desired convenience of shopping online. Most of its products are always displayed on its websites and many other online sales platforms such as eBay. Websites, Ad sells, internet pop-up menus and attachment of web links to other websites are the other strategies utilized by the Mark and Spencer Company in its attempt to ensure that it remains very competitive in business and hence increasing its customer base and the overall returns (Quilfer 2009).

Online payment systems are frequently utilized and used in the purchase process and in most of the French Connection sales process. The online company facilities enable the organization to do an out of state frequent check-up in order to ensure that all the products are ever readily available whenever and wherever the customer demand. Master cards, visa cards and many other online payment methods are employment procedures with the aim of ensuring that flexibility is enhanced.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is very evident that even though both Mark & Spencer and French Connections companies ventures in the clothing business, their mode of serving customers and their other related products and business strategies are very different.