Table of Contents
Cover Page ..1
1.0 Introduction .3
2.0 Levis service blueprint and description of shopping bag and checkout processes .3
3.0 Strength and weaknesses analysis ..5
4.0 Recommendations 7
5.0 Conclusion ..8
6.0 References ..9
Figure 1 .4
1. Introduction:
The main focus of this report is to describe the shopping bag and checkout processes of Levis website journey using service blueprint in order to conduct an analysis of the strength and weaknesses of this processes. Moreover, it includes recommendations for better overall customer experience. Levis establishment dates back to 20th May 1873 when Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis obtained a U.S. patent on the process of putting rivets in mens work pants. This day is considered the birthday of blue jeans and it led to creation of a brand with iconic and well established image. Levis targets the mass market, but more specifically the Upper Middle Class. The brand emphasizes more on the age group of adventurous youngster, although it has its product range for people above 30 years old. Its strategy is having long-term relationship with their customers, achieving this through being truly honest and responsible brand.
2. Levis service blueprint and description of shopping bag and checkout processes:
The main reason a service blueprint process should lead to standardized service procedures is that only by such procedures a service provider can achieve high levels of efficiency using the blueprint. This blueprint process in order to be effective should aim to result in a service delivery process that satisfies customer needs (Shostack, 1984). Comparing the first statement to the Levis service blueprint there is clear disagreement about standardization as Levis incorporates high divergence in its blueprint process, contributing to a unique performance. On the other hand, the second statement applies fully to the Levis service blueprint as being effective and targeting customer needs, which are supported by Levis low complexity and clear strategy towards customer satisfaction.
Fig.1:Levis blueprint
Product Page
p
Remove
Choose Quantity
Select a Size
Change/Remove Quantity
Add to Bag
Continue Shopping
Shopping Bag
Apply Coupon Code
Cancel
Terms and Conditions
Checkout with PayPal
Same/Change Quantity
Agree
Registered?
Yes
Enter Email Address
No
Choose Pick up Location
Guest Checkout
Signing in
Enter Personal Details
Shipping Address Details
Choose Delivery Provider
Payment
Checkout Page
The customer journey of Levis service blueprint starts with the Product Page, where it is required to select a relevant size from the available ones and choose the desired quantity of the items. The page possesses most of the elements of a successful layout template: well-arranged with good use of whitespace and clear sections, different color choices, excellent size guide, noticeable promotions and breadcrumbs, product description and reviews sections, ending with cross-selling opportunities. There is a clear delivery charge, only one price, plus quickly detectable Add to Bag button colored in red, which promotes taking action. From clicking on this button Levis navigates through a rolling down mini-shopping bag, which disappears after several seconds automatically and leads to the dilemma to continue shopping or to proceed to the Shopping Bag. At this point there are multiple opportunities to select continue shopping, apply coupon codes, or again Change/Remove Quantity, before proceeding to the choice of PayPal paying option or visiting the Checkout Page. Then, the choice between guest checkout and Sign-in option follows before the entering of information such as personal and shipping details. After that, choosing a desired delivery provider from the available ones or the option of Pick up location if desired. All this stages of the processes regarding Levis service blueprint ends up with the payment.
3. Strengths and weaknesses analysis:
The journey from the Product Page to the Checkout of the Levis service blueprint shows that the retailer possesses very efficient narrow and deep navigation of the processes, which includes consistency of the different pages, the simplicity in their design and the context in regards to identifying the position in the webpage. Regarding usability Levis finds the right balance between its characteristics and not only strive for an ease of use, but incorporating all 5 Es of usability, which can be used to organize and analyze information from users. Furthermore, Levis has very strong approach towards the Add to Bag process as it makes clear that this step is completed by showing a pre-shopping bag for limited amount of time, which gives the opportunity to choose between continuing shopping or moving towards the Shopping Bag and the Checkout Page. Excellent impression is achieved by integrating a help service in the form of live chat, which assists the process of choosing the right product by collecting information about size and fitting, called Levis Indigo.
On the other hand, Levis services for customer interaction and more accurately the section of customers reviews hold some weaknesses. This particular channel is used to serve as a mechanism to increase site stickiness. Reviews that are perceived as helpful to customers have greater potential value to companies, for example increasing sales and conversion rate (Mudambi & Schuff, 2010, p.196). The reason that Levis reviews section fails to have an impact is the execution of it. The very good reviews section design and tools does contribute enough as there is not enough interaction from the customers. Even bad reviews to a certain extent are valuable for the customers in order to motivate them proceed with a purchase.
The last step towards the purchase is the checkout service page. Levis encompasses great checkout service, but there are some minor weaknesses as well. What makes it great are the speed of the process, the existence of no forced registration as this shows no barriers at all for new customers and contributing towards lower checkout abandonment rate, constant security reassurance, easy form filling, clear progress indicators, persistent basket summary and no presence of distractions. Levis adopts a one-page checkout guidelines, consisting of clear delineations of sections, fair error messaging, and fewer steps in processing the enclosed checkout. One guideline that Levis fails to establish is an alternative offer of a multipage checkout whether or not it is important for the customer (Retzlaff, 2016). Moreover, Levis applies persuasive techniques like entering address manually or finding the address via the postcode search, the ability to use billing address as delivery one, the ability to fully review and edit the previous processes and flexible delivery options. At this stage the weaknesses are not of substantial value, but there is always room for improvement. For example, there is a security assurance, but not in a way that will contribute to enhance trust as there is not a familiar security provider or money back guarantee and trustmark showing this. Finally, the last weakness is connected with the Click & Collect service as it has limited capacity towards orders and after reaching the maximum there is no room to accommodate the potential orders.
4. Recommendations:
A good way to ameliorate the online shopping journey and the online processes of Levis is by incorporating different future e-tailing strategies. One such strategy is called Go physical at the front end. It revolves around opening of physical sites for variety of reasons. In the case of Levis the sites are present and they should emphasize solely on the process of integrating new approaches towards improving the customer-brand interaction. For example, promoting a service in-store for trying out the Levis website in order to increase brand interaction and its web platform awareness. Another example is allowing the web customers to pay at local shops or at collection point, showing the customers the convenience and benefits of Internet shopping without requiring a credit card (Helft, 2000). Both these strategies will enhance the trust in Levis website and will definitely contribute to higher conversion rates and consequently increasing sales.
The Shopping Bag and Checkout Page processes of Levis have room for improvement in variety of directions. The registration frustration can be avoided by offering different incentives. The situation with the problematic reviews section of Levis website can be prevented by again offering incentives for reviews or encouraging the review of the review which is a very consistent way of learning about the customers beliefs and opinions. Another way to tackle the challenges of the reviews section of Levis is by acquiring a third party reviews provider, which is very useful to build a body for product pages without taking unnecessary time. A clearer and much more eye-catching emphasis on free returns, free shipping and promotions should be made on the sole purpose to strengthen the trust in the websites processes and desire to shop from Levis web platform.
5. Conclusion:
To sum up, this report concerns with the service blueprint of Levis website processes starting at the Product Page and ending at the checkout point just before entering payment details and placing the order. An extensive description of the processes is conducted in order to reach point where the strength and weaknesses analysis takes place. Considering all this information a section with recommendations is organized to show how possible improvements to this processes can be made and what are their potential outcomes.
6. References:
Giannis Kostopoulos, Spiros Gounaris, Achilleas Boukis, (2012) Service blueprinting effectiveness: drivers of success, Managing Service Quality: An International Journal, Vol. 22 Issue: 6, pp.580-591;
Helft D. Buy on the web, pay at the mall. Grok: the industry standard special reports on the Internet economyfocus on retail 2000;
Mudambi, S. M., & Schuff, D. (2010). What makes a helpful online review? A study of customer reviews on Amazon.com. MIS Quarterly, 34(1), 185200;
Shostack, G.L. (1984), Designing services that deliver, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 62 No. 1, pp. 133-9;
Websites:
http://www.wqusability.com/articles/more-than-ease-of-use.html
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