Martha Stewart is into premium fashion and does most of her handbags shopping at Michael Kors. Martha told me that the eponymous fashion brand offers a loyalty program called KORSVIP. KORSVIP is a customer loyalty program that includes free shipping, private events, and special services and. Offerings at Michael Kors are particularly generous offerings when you are at the top tier of their loyalty program. When you are at the top of the loyalty program, Michael Kors does not offer you items that are the bottom of their clearance rack but also offers high-quality trending handbags and accessories.
Martha Stewart is under 35, and she is into Gucci and designer handbags. She loves electric colors and patterns that are eye-catching and look good on Instagram. Martha is an ardent follower of celebrities such as Nicki Minaj, Cardi B, Selena Gomez and Kim Kardashian, and when she sees them wearing designer brands, she wants to emulate them. Martha joined the KORSVIP program because she gets awarded points for submitting reviews, adding items to wish lists, downloading the KORSVIP mobile app and 10 points for every dollar that she spends. Martha has previously received an annual membership gift and free in-store stylist appointments as a result of the membership.
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When compared to other high-end fashion brands like Gucci, Michael Kors offers its customer unique rewards, and this is what sets them apart. Michael Kors offers experiential rewards to its customers but what could set them apart from other premium fashion houses is to offer their customers an option to redeem the points for discounts (Zehir et al., 2014) . By doing this, Michael Kors could unlock great value by boosting their brand affinity and driving higher sales. This is how Michael Kors can take advantage of their loyalty program in order to gain a better understanding of their customers’ insights (Zehir et al., 2014) .
Discussion 2: Peer Forum Activity Conclusions and Executive Summary
Conclusions and Expected Insights
The fashion industry has been the main focus for activists across the world because of the enormous wastes that it creates, thus attracting much attention. This move has been attributed to mostly fast fashion that is made cheaply with fast-changing designs that are easily disposable while polluting the globe (Liu-Thompkins & Tam, 2013) . Sustainable fashion is a concept that embodies production practices that reduce the impacts of how clothes are manufactured and marketed on the environment. Kownki Designs understand that customers are interested in the life cycle of clothes, and more importantly, they desire items that are made from sustainable materials. The vision of Kownki Designs is to make customers feel good about their garments from the beginning to the end (Liu-Thompkins & Tam, 2013) .
All our customers will be interested in the sustainability of our products. Therefore, Kownki Designs will develop a reward program where customers will obtain luxury clothes based on the points they have accumulated in their purchases at our online clearinghouse. Kownki Designs understand that customers want fashionable and sustainable choices in a way that will help sleep well at night (Liu-Thompkins & Tam, 2013) .
Executive Summary
Product Description
Kownki Designs is an apparel store that provides signature and premium clothing lines for both males and females that are between the ages of 21 and 40. Kownki Designs is be developing an eco-friendly clothing line that is targeted at millennials. Kownki will produce a range of ready-to-wear clothes, accessories, jewelry, and sunglasses for fashion enthusiasts. Kownki Designs will care for a diverse range of clientele representing all personalities, cultures, shades, attitudes, and races so that everyone feels included. All garments and products at Kownki Designs will be carefully handcrafted to fit the tastes of our customers.
Millennials account for much of the purchasing power in the United States. Heo and Muralidharan (2017 ) state that millennials seek high-quality and long-lasting garments instead of easily disposable items. Before making any purchase, millennials always have to consider the product's life cycle and its ecological footprint, from design to production and shipping. Today, 50 percent of millennials are responsible for purchasing eco-friendly products so that they can protect the planet and live a more sustainable lifestyle.
One of the critical elements of my market research were the trends in the market and the impacts that they could have on the products and services that Kownki Designs will be providing. Sustainable and organic fashion is on a growing trend from a customers' experience and standpoint (Liu-Thompkins & Tam, 2013) . Another key element was how big the market size is in terms of sales and transactions. Based on current research and trends, Kownki Designs will be able to achieve a loyal customer base of 2,000 and a net profit of $350,000 by the end of the first year. Other elements in my marketing research included the supply and demand, the growth of the market, and the distribution channels in the market.
References
Heo, J., & Muralidharan, S. (2017). What triggers young Millennials to purchase eco-friendly products?: the interrelationships among knowledge, perceived consumer effectiveness, and environmental concern. Journal Of Marketing Communications , 25 (4), 421-437. https://doi.org/10.1080/13527266.2017.1303623 .
Liu-Thompkins, Y., & Tam, L. (2013). Not all repeat customers are the same: Designing effective cross-selling promotion on the basis of attitudinal loyalty and habit. Journal of Marketing , 77(5), 21–36.
Zehir, C., Sehitoglu, Y., Narcikara, E., & Zehir, S. (2014). E-S-Quality, Perceived Value and Loyalty Intentions Relationships in Internet Retailers. Procedia - Social And Behavioral Sciences , 150 , 1071-1079. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.09.120 .
Discussion 1: Response 1 - Chrystal Allen
KORSVIP and Rewarding Moments are both loyalty programs in the apparel industry. The only difference is that KORSVIP deals with premium clothing for grownups while rewarding moments concerns itself with children's clothing. From my comparison, different companies have different rewarding schemes and loyalty programs for its customers (Yang, and Yuan 80) . The rewards on the loyalty programs also depend on the purchase price on the times that the store is offering. For example, a regular handbag at Michael Kors goes for $268 against a stretch twill blazer for a 5-year-old child that goes for $22. I think the reason Michael Kors offers 10 points for every dollar spent is based on the purchasing power of their clients and premium fashion clothes and accessories when compared to Carter's loyalty program which offers 1 point for every dollar spent. I also think that the demographics for both stores are different in that children do not have a mind of their own, and they cannot choose what to wear, and their purchasing power is also limited because it is based on their parent's income and not their own (Molinillo et al., 2017) . Michael Kors and Carter's are two premium clothing stores catering to the needs of the millennials, and their rewarding schemes is a reflection on the kind of relationship that they have created with their customers (Molinillo et al., 2017) .
My problem question would be if the loyalty program at Carter's offer its members something to aim for? A tiered program gives customers a target to aim for based on the unique offerings of the different tiers that are relevant to them (Yang & Yuan, 2018) . I think Carter's need to use such an approach to maintain its customer base.
I think you feel dissatisfied with the loyalty program at Carter's because their loyalty program does not differentiate their brands from other children clothing stores. With the points expiring after 45 days, this means that you have to spend more to get more points, being a multimillion-dollar store I think Carter's do not value their customers and they need to align their brand with their customer values.
Discussion 1: Response 2 - Amanda Floyd-Martin
I think that the loyalty program at Starbucks and Michael Kors are aligned. This is based on the fact that their pogroms were designed to give their customers something to aim for and gives back something beneficial to those who use it (Zakaria et al. 2014) . Customer loyalty is something that both brands cherish and to show gratitude, Michael Kors and Starbucks reward their customers' loyalty and do not take their faithfulness for granted.
Starbucks did a review of their loyalty program in 2019 and developed a tiered approach in their program. I would like to know what happened to the existing points of both old and new customers? Were they doubled or reset to default? I think the rewarding model should be based on my years of loyalty to the company and based on how frequent I purchase from them. The points earned or awarded to a 15-year-old should not be the same as that of a person who joined Starbucks 3 years ago as I would not feel appreciated with such a program.
Based on the loyalty programs offered by both companies, these programs are responsible for generating customer loyalty, increased revenue and data for the companies to create meaningful relationships with their customers by creating personalized marketing efforts tailored to their customers need (Zakaria et al., 2014) .
References
Molinillo, Sebastian et al. "Building Customer Loyalty". Clothing and Textiles Research Journal , vol 35, no. 3, 2017, pp. 156-171. SAGE Publications , doi:10.1177/0887302x17694270. Accessed 17 Apr 2020.
Yang, Xinyue, and Qinjian Yuan. "The Effects of B2C Interaction on Customer Loyalty". Journal of Data and Information Science , vol 3, no. 2, 2018, pp. 78-104. Walter De Gruyter Gmbh , doi:10.2478/jdis-2018-0010. Accessed 17 Apr 2020.
Zakaria, Ibhrahim et al. "The Relationship Between Loyalty Program, Customer Satisfaction and Customer Loyalty in Retail Industry: A Case Study". Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences , vol 129, 2014, pp. 23-30. Elsevier BV , doi: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.03.643. Accessed 17 Apr 2020.
Discussion 2: Response 1 - Amanda Floyd-Martin
Based on the elements of your research proposal, I believe that it would have been vital for you to include the market segmentation based on the income, education, age, and sex of your customers. Based on your description, Philmore's Gourmet is conducting market research in order to identify the strategies that can be used to attract new customers and build a loyal customer base. I believe that your market research should focus on specific demographic groups and not all as most organizations develop products and services that are focused on meeting the specific needs of individual demographic segments as well as tailor their marketing campaigns based on those groups (Al Badi, 2018) . To broaden your perspective on your research, I recommend looking at the psychographic or lifestyle segmentation of your consumers. This will help in explaining why demographically people buy different products or why they need different messages to appeal to them. With this, you will be able to identify groups that show unique lifestyle patterns that will help you segment your market based on the differences in their lifestyle (Al Badi, 2018) .
Discussion 2: Response 2 – Customer Service in Public Schools
Before we being analyzing whether customer service exists in public schools, we should first begin by analyzing the four Ps of marketing, which are product, price, promotion, and place (Tarka, 2018) . The school's product should be based on how the school benefits the students or prepares the student based on the curriculum and the skills of the staff. The promotion will be evaluated based on how the beneficiaries and stakeholders understand the work of the school (Tarka, 2018) . This evaluation is critical in understanding the needs of the communities in which the schools are based. Besides, we can also look at the different roles that students play in a school's ecosystem. The different roles can be the student as a learner, client, customer, and a member of the society, as well as how the different services offered by our public schools map on to them (Tarka, 2018) .
California State University has enhanced its customers' experience by developing a mobile application. In trying to improve customer service in our public schools, we should first ask ourselves if there are inconveniences that customers experience? Furthermore, how do we address it? The mobile application provides information to things such as class enrollment, tuition, and bill payments, and the most interesting is their artificial intelligence-enabled chatbot dubbed Ask Matty that's devoted to answering questions and solving problems. This would be a great place to start.
To improve your executive summary, please look at how parents interact with the school. The school may be providing positive experiences to students in terms of a conducive environment and engaging lessons, but if parents have a poor experience when interacting with the school, this will act as their only point of reference.
References
Al Badi, K. (2018). The Impact of Marketing Mix on the Competitive Advantage of the SME Sector in the Al Buraimi Governorate in Oman. SAGE Open , 8 (3), 215824401880083. https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244018800838
Tarka, P. (2018). The views and perceptions of managers on the role of marketing research in decision making. International Journal Of Market Research , 60 (1), 67-87. https://doi.org/10.1177/1470785317744854
