Services Marketing Essay Sample

• Type Essay
• Downloads540
• Pages16
• Words3926

Part 1: Introduction to Services Marketing Essa

ASOS is a fast-growing company that deals with the sale of fashion products through the use of the internet. Ending 2000 and based in London, Asos is an online fashion and style retailer with a wide list of products that aims at young adults. The company has increased its clientele base to over 26 million active users across more than 200 markets, with an annual turnover of £3. 94 billion in 2023. As of 2021, ASOS has over 3,800 employees; it takes advantage of online business models to provide an integrated shopping experience and provides over 85 thousand products, including its own and from other designers and brands. The competitors are Boohoo, Zara and H&M. Controlling environmentalism, ASOS has seen the importance of programs such as ‘Fashion with Integrity’ in the ports to counter the problems of environmental degradation (Balaji, Roy & Quazi, 2020). This introduction provides a clear background to the study of ASOS’s market and its strategic directions.

Controlling environmental impact, ASOS has recognized the importance of programs such as ‘Fashion with Integrity’ to counter the problems of environmental degradation (Balaji, Roy & Quazi, 2020). This introduction provides a clear background to the study of ASOS’s market and strategic directions, making it a relevant topic for students seeking Assignment Helper in business strategy, e-commerce, and sustainable fashion practices.

Part 2: Define and explain the concept of services marketing as it applies to the company

Definition of Services Marketing

Services marketing is the marketing concept that deals with the delivery of services, which are non-storable, and are produced and consumed at the same place and time. Seriously, services cannot be sold – everything connected with them is totally different from tangible goods – ownership, storage, transportation and so on, which makes marketing of services rather specific. It has orientation in value creation based on customer interactions, relationships and sales. Services marketing is therefore important to ASOS which is an online based brand to stand out in the highly saturated fashion market (Bello & Jusoh, 2020).

Application of Services Marketing to ASOS

At ASOS, services marketing is crucial for heightening the service offering of online shopping. The utilised strategy is based on customer orientation, which means that every stage – from the shopping navigation to the customer support — is designed and adapted individually. Some of the features, such as the virtual try-on, customer support available round the clock, hassle-free delivery options, and simple returns to services are aimed at satisfying the customers (Zeithaml, Bitner & Gremler, 2020). The brand is also able to utilize analytics for the marketing messages that are directed to existing customers, therefore increasing commitment. Furthermore, ASOS incorporates technology in its services so as to provide methods that are swift as well as easy to navigate. This is in harmony with the idea of service marketing, concerning the provision of similar and superior quality experiences to the customers. Social responsibilities such as credibility, environmental consciousness and customers’ rights creates the brand more than just a service provider, they are a socially responsible and customer attentive company(Bitner, Ostrom & Morgan, 2020).

Predominant Service Category

Of the four categories of services offered by ASOS, namely people processing, possession processing, mental stimulus processing and information processing, the dominant is information processing. Information processing services therefore deals with the handling and usage of information to provide value to customer. ASOS is an E-commerce company where favour exchange is needed at a significant level. Yet from the moment a customer enters the website, information processing is at the centre: data collection and analysis of the visitor’s behaviour, offering targeted suggestions for products to buy, and ensuring safe payment. Also, ASOS employs information in the form of text, pictures, and movies, to include descriptions of the products, fashion advice, and feedback from other buyers. Information processing also relates to availability of products, supply chain management as well as inventory management. This kind of service is fundamental to ASOS’s offer and allows it to create a unique and engaging shopping experience in the maturing digital fashion environment (Chaudhuri & Ghosh, 2019).

Part 3: Critique how the company deploys the extended services mix

As a large international retailer specializing in online clothing and accessories, ASOS is exposed to multiple marketing challenges that are peculiar to services marketing, including: It is so because these challenges are common to the marketing of services, which does not apply to the marketing of tangible good. It is important for ASOS to grasp and manage these factors because the company’s objective is to ensure the customer satisfaction and experience. These challenges are well managed by ASOS through the use of the extended services mix implementation known as People, Processes, and Physical Evidence. (Chen & Lin, 2019)

Challenge 1: Intangibility

Intangibility refers to the fact that services cannot be seen, touched, or owned before they are purchased, making it difficult for customers to evaluate their quality. For ASOS, this challenge is particularly significant because customers cannot physically experience the products before purchasing them, given that it is an online-only retailer.

Addressing Intangibility with Physical Evidence

Regarding intangibility, a characteristic of services marketing, ASOS meets this problem by managing physical evidence, people and processes systematically. To overcome this challenge, ASOS ensures that it has quality physical evidence that is displayed online. The brand offers clear picture of the product and gives more images of the product which have bonus images where one can zoom in and out and the descriptions of the products give the material used, the size, and the proper washing directions. Besides, customer reviews and ratings also assume high importance as sources of social proof so that potential buyers are able to evaluate potential purchase in terms of quality and relevance based on actual experiences of others (Grönroos, 2021). The use of smart technologies as AR tools such as virtual fitting rooms takes this a notch higher since customers gets a glimpse of how the product will be like on them thus reducing uncertainty and perceived risk. In relation to people, ASOS optimises its call centre operators and its engagement with the influencers to improve the whole shopping experience. The staff of the customer service department is knowledgeable and always responsive, no matter if a customer reaches an agent via live chat or social networks. This form of human interaction brings comfort to numerous customers who possibly would not want to purchase items they cannot touch. Thirdly, the aspect of influencers demonstrates how ASOS’s products can be used in real life, which goes a long way in countering the virtual aspect of online shopping with the reality of customers’ expectations. Last but not least, addressing intangibility is possible with the help of processes in the framework of ASOS. To enhance the customer decisions and create more individual approach, the company uses targeted presentation based on the customer’s behaviour on the website(Gummerus & Pihlström, 2021).

Challenge 2: Perishability

With regard to services marketing, perishability is defined as the inability to stock services and use them in the future. As for ASOS, the effect of perishability is presented in the form of handling an inventory problem when it comes to fashion goods that are the subject of a seasonal trend or a particular trend setting. This has the implication that if these items do not move off the shelf quickly then that is equivalent to having no cash inflow.

In order to minimize the issues arising from the fact that services are perishable, ASOS makes good use of physical evidence, people, and processes. With regards to the physical evidence, to overcome the last issue concerning the perishability, the company updates the inventory information in the website and also gives limited time discounts. Such updates notify customers of their current availability, thus applying pressure to buy the commodity before it gets out of stock. Limited time offers also assist in the clearance of goods with seasonal demand to avoid having such products for a long period and become obsolete. This approach not only increases the company’s sales but also makes clientele content because their favourite products have not sold out (Gummerus & Pihlström, 2021). People play an equal role in the management of perishability in ASOS as they do in the organization of stocks. The supply chain management personnel are skilled throughout the company and supplemented with dynamic pricing specialists who can work actively in the context of changing market and consumer tendencies. These teams collaborate well to achieve that stock is not bought in large quantities that will lead to it being piled up or that certain goods that are in high demand are out of the shelves. Due to this influence, specialists in this area of the economy assist in management of inventories so that goods inside the market place are sold before the demand for them decreases. Even the processes are important in reducing perishability as it will be seen later in the chapter. The schemes of inventory management in ASOS are based on the analysis of the customers’ behaviour, sales trends, and other relevant data. The AI in the system gives an added advantage of trend prediction to improve the stocking capacity and pricing of products by ASOS in anticipation of future market demands (Huang & Zhang, 2021).

Challenge 3: Variability

Service consistencies mean that services marketing can be characterized by variation which means that the quality of services depend on who delivers the service, when, where and how. For ASOS, variability problem is seen in any area that is liable to cause negative impression for instance Customer services.

In the use of variability through physical evidence, ASOS adopts branding, UI design and services provided on all online platforms. The experience customers get while accessing the website and that that they get while using the app is the same in terms of design, flow as well as interaction. It also minimizes the chance of differences in the customers’ experience to come across so that they can meet surety in the shopping experience. In terms of people, ASOS focus on training of its customer service staff so as to provide consistent and quality service to its customers (Kotler & Keller, 2019). These representatives work in a professional way to handle customers, particularly the customers’ inquiries since they employ sets of directions that give homogeneity to the responses given to customers regardless of the channel involved. Moreover, ASOS deploys artificial intelligence methodologies for answering simple questions and thus eliminates variability in delivering answers to agents, which may depend on the time and day when the customer hits the company. Variability is also managed by means of the processes and flows. Customers can only contact ASOS through the web and this has made the company to use common scripts and automated processes in solving problems. This means that standards provided to customers are always implemented to the letter so that the customer has no differences between being served by a human agent and being served by an artificial one (Lamberton & Stephen, 2019).

Challenge 4: Inseparability and non-ownership

Non-ownership in services marketing seeks to point out that the customer does not own the service; they only have a feel of it and may use it at some instance without own the durable good. To ASOS, non-ownership is mostly an issue with respect to the perceived value and experience by the customer.

To tackle incompleteness and non-possession, several types of physical evidence are used by ASOS in its applications. The problem of inseparability is eliminated by virtual fitting rooms which enable the customer to see how the product would look on him before placing an order. More information about the product, as well as other customers feedbacks, give more proof for understanding and utilization of the offers, so the lack of touch-and-feel experience is not a critical issue. These tangible factors assist in trying to close the digital gap of online shopping and the physical touch point per se of the consumers. Finally, based on the People aspect ASOS engages the customer service team to offer customer-focused services and real-time support. As for the major issue of inseparability, this human interaction plays a decisive role since customers can address to representatives of this chain and get assistance during their shopping (Lovelock, Wirtz & Mussry, 2020). Thus, requests and concerns are met one on one and while it is still virtual the customer service interaction is more tailored. The availability and communication opportunities via the chat or phone allow customers’ expectations and issues to be addressed in the timeframes convenient for both the customers and the company, increasing overall satisfaction. The management of inseparability entails making sure that the company’s website and its application are integrated to ensure that there is a smooth service delivery of the two interfaces. Currently, ASOS has adopted the best recommendation techniques to ensure they give their customers a better feeling of the products they are offering, based on research data and details of the client’s behaviour in their website (Moorman & Day, 2019). Also, the convenient return policies can help solve the non-ownership problem because clients can easily return or exchange the products if those do not meet the requirements.

Services Marketing Essay Sample

Liked This Sample? Hire Me Now

Chris Moore 5 Years | MSc

Part 4: Using the GAPS model , 3 areas in which the company could improve its service offering

The GAPS model is one of the tools that help to define gaps between what the customer expects and what the company provides. The model comprises four gaps: These are known as the knowledge deficit, the policy deficit, the delivery deficit, and the communications deficit. Three important customer segments that offer scope to ASOS for developing its services, based on customers’ feedback, reviews, and, using the GAPS model are given below(Nguyen & Lee, 2021).

1. Knowledge Gap: Understanding Customer Expectations

The knowledge gap arises when there is a variation between what customers are expected to want, as in the case of the company, and what they want. For ASOS it can exist in the form of a deficiency of diversification of customer care services and/or recognition of the difference in needs of customers in different markets. It can be gathered that, although ASOS boasts of a wide product portfolio and an international presence, this feedback demonstrates that the retailer needs to better understand the expectations of consumers who form part of a particular segment (Rust & Huang, 2021). A report on one major customer concern as follows Most common complaint is that there is rarely an offer that is made based on one’s preference. While using algorithms to recommend goods, those provide no account of individual specifics of the taste, slim/plus size, and cultural differences. For example, customers in different areas can have different demands for seasonal clothing, sizes, or even fashion trends. These gaps of knowledge may be fulfilled, if ASOS invests in enhancing the advanced data analytic capabilities that take into consideration regional trends, consumer feedback in relation to ASOS, and the individual shopping profile for better recommendations. Thus, ASOS could provide exactly the suitable service to customer expectations and thereby minimize the rate of disappointments and improve the shopping experience (Sajtos & Chong, 2020).

2. Delivery Gap: Ensuring Consistent Service Quality

The need for the delivery gap originates from the discrepancy that may emerge between the service quality that the company aims to offer its clientele and the quality of service being offered. For ASOS, this gap is normally highlighted in complains concerning delivery period, correctness of orders through customers, and adequacy of their customer relation services. Nonetheless, many customers care about ASOS’s policies of fast and reliable delivery but they face different issues such as delivery issues, missing items, or even receiving the wrong orders. This can greatly affect the rating given by customers, most especially if it is in an area where competition is tight with services considering time delivery. Some of the customers’ complaints focused on delays in delivery beyond the stated date, or cases of missing or wrong items (Srinivasan & Bharadwaj, 2020). This can harm the customer – brand relationship leading to development of negative attitudes towards the brand. In an attempt to solve this delivery gap, ASOS should spearhead a crackdown of quality at the company’s supply chain to guarantee that the orders are correct and on time. Furthermore, it is also advisable to acquire better tracking technology for the orders and to real-time update the customers regarding the status of their orders to avoid high level of impatience. For instance, giving a loved-up message if there will be a delay in delivering the product or giving customers rebates if their products will not have been delivered on time increases trust and satisfaction among the customers (Van Doorn et al., 2020).

3. Communication Gap: Managing Customer Expectations

The communication gap arises when there is a difference with in the pattern of communication between a firm and its customers. This gap is most relevant with regards to the message ASOS communicates to the public and the actual feelings of the customers. As it has been seen, although ASOS positions itself as a pleasurable and convenient online shopping brand, some of its customers had strained experiences in terms of returns and refunds. The returns process usually emerges as a concern from customers and some customers even complain of long periods without getting their refunds or complain of the time-consuming process (Vargo & Lusch, 2020). While ASOS allow free returns, the messages that they relay to customers with regard to the process are quite confusing sometimes to the customers. For instance, the customer may not be in a position to know the number of days it will take to receive back their cash or the procedures of getting back their money causes bitterness and joke to the company. This leads to a breakdown of trust and any customer and their confidence level take a beating if the manufacturer fails to meet expectations.
Thus, to close this gap, it was suggested to ASOS to enhance the actual communication with the buyers on the issues of returns and refunds. This could entail giving the customers more specific particulars about the returns policy, giving the customers better directions on how to return the merchandise, and also, making sure that the customers are kept informed about the state of their refunds from time to time (Wang & Lo, 2019).

References

• Balaji, M. S., Roy, S. K., & Quazi, A. (2020). Customer e‐wom intentions and servicescape effects in online hotel booking. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 88, 102-402.
• Bello, K. B., & Jusoh, A. (2020). Service quality and customer satisfaction: The moderating role of engagement. Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing, 14(4), 431-455.
• Bitner, M. J., Ostrom, A. L., & Morgan, F. N. (2020). Service blueprinting: Transforming the student experience. Journal of Services Marketing, 34(6), 742-759.
• Chaudhuri, S., & Ghosh, R. (2019). The impact of website quality on customer e-loyalty: The moderating role of trustworthiness. Journal of Electronic Commerce in Organizations, 17(3), 58-71.
• Chen, S. C., & Lin, C. P. (2019). Understanding the service experience in the sharing economy. Journal of Business Research, 97, 230-239.
• Grönroos, C. (2021). Service management and marketing: Managing the service-profit logic. Wiley.
• Gummerus, J., & Pihlström, M. (2021). Customer engagement and service innovation: The role of co-creation and dynamic capabilities. Journal of Service Management, 32(3), 367-386.
• Huang, Y. C., & Zhang, M. (2021). The influence of customer participation on service recovery effectiveness. Journal of Business Research, 123, 66-77.
• Kotler, P., & Keller, K. L. (2019). Marketing management (15th ed.). Pearson.
• Lamberton, C., & Stephen, A. T. (2019). A thematic exploration of digital, social media, and mobile marketing. Journal of Marketing, 83(4), 20-44.
• Lovelock, C., Wirtz, J., & Mussry, M. (2020). Services marketing: People, technology, strategy (9th ed.). World Scientific.
• Moorman, C., & Day, G. S. (2019). Organizing for marketing excellence. Journal of Marketing, 83(6), 1-18.
• Nguyen, T. D., & Lee, M. T. (2021). Determinants of brand loyalty in fashion retailing. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 61, 102-507.
• Rust, R. T., & Huang, M. H. (2021). The service revolution and the transformation of marketing science. Marketing Science, 40(1), 3-19.
• Sajtos, L., & Chong, S. (2020). The role of social networks in service marketing: A content analysis. Journal of Service Research, 23(4), 536-548.
• Srinivasan, R., & Bharadwaj, S. (2020). Value cocreation and service innovation in digital ecosystems. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 48(6), 930-949.
• Van Doorn, J., Lemon, K. N., Mittal, V., Nass, S., Pick, D., Pirner, P., & Verhoef, P. C. (2020). Customer engagement behavior: Theoretical foundations and research directions. Journal of Service Research, 13(3), 253-266.
• Vargo, S. L., & Lusch, R. F. (2020). Institutions and axioms: An extension and update of service-dominant logic. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 48(1), 14-23.
• Wang, Y., & Lo, H. P. (2019). Customer value, satisfaction, loyalty, and switching costs: An illustration from a technology platform. Journal of Business Research, 102, 335-345.
• Zeithaml, V. A., Bitner, M. J., & Gremler, D. D. (2020). Services marketing: Integrating customer focus across the firm (7th ed.). McGraw-Hill.