Mapping shifts and trends in the luggage market together with defining the customer journey and customer profiles for a luggage manufacturer and retailer

Abstract

Within this section, the objectives of this project will be discussed, together with a brief description of the methodology used, the results found, as well as the recommendations. Several objectives have been defined at the beginning of the project. The first objective was to get a better understanding of the market sizing, including future shifts and trends. The second objective was to map the customer journey of bags and luggage by looking into changing buying behaviour and new travel trends. Based on these insights, the third objective was fulfilled being the creation of new customer profiles. To tackle the objectives, several research approaches were used. A combination of primary and secondary research, as well as qualitative and quantitative research were conducted. The focal point of this market research project is mapping the European market. To make this mapping possible within three months, all research approaches focussed on four countries: Germany, United Kingdom, France and Italy. To get a better understanding of the market sizing, including the future shifts and trends within the travel and luggage industry, both external and internal data were analysed. In a first step, information from the Euromonitor database were retrieved to get an overview of the general travel and luggage market. In a next step, internal SAP data from the Samsonite Group were analysed. In a last step, the Global Blue database was analysed. Focus groups were used to gain insights regarding travel behaviour and luggage preferences. The sampling frame consisted of 15 persons of different generations. The insights gathered via the focus groups were used as an input for the design of the survey. The goal of this survey was similar to focus groups, but on top of that, the customer journey insights were also used for the renewal of the customer profiles for the brands Samsonite, American Tourister, and Tumi. The survey was shared amongst 250 participants in the four countries mentioned earlier In this section the results of the three research parts will be briefly discussed. To start off with, the information search for a new suitcase was analysed through the survey and focus group. The most prominent information sources that were mentioned during the survey are the following: own previous experience, recommendations from family, online product information, and online reviews. With regard to the type of information people search for, prices, deals, and features were mentioned as top priorities. The feature that was researched in both the market overview and focus group was hard-and soft case. The former is rising in all markets, while soft case, even though sometimes still growing, is losing market share. In terms of price and deals, discount sales have been rising in general over the past few years and over all buying channels. Nevertheless, from the focus group could be derived that people still associate Samsonite with good value for money, expensive but worth the investment. Respondents of the survey consider Samsonite as a wellknown brand, targeting business people, and offering price-quality. However, 20-year-olds were less familiar with this brand. The associations linked with Tumi are more diverse. On the one hand, it is linked to luxury and robustness for business purposes. On the other hand, people know it as very heavy suitcases. According to people that participated in the focus group, American Tourister has a young and colourful image, linked to simplistic designs at reasonable prices. Nevertheless, the survey pointed out that Samsonite still has more recognizable designs. In order to map the consideration phase, the buying channels were extensively analysed. Overall, both ecommerce and retail are considered to be the most important growing buying channels for the Samsonite Group. Wholesale, on the other hand, is stagnating but still remains the biggest channel. In the survey, results pointed out that retail is the most considered buying channel. They perceive that retail is the most reliable and offers a better service (e.g. repair service, delivery, warranty, etc.) compared to e-commerce. The latter, on the other hand, scores better than retail on the following items: convenience, ease of gathering information, and broad assortment. Other than buying channels, a renting service as an alternative business model was suggested to the participants. Participants of the focus group could see the benefits of this business model, but it would still be a big hurdle for them to actually use this service. Also, in the survey, the willingness to actually try out a renting service was far below the average. Next to mapping the customer journey, customer profiles were developed as well to finish of the research findings. Five profiles were created, namely: the deliberated buyers, the convinced buyers, the price-sensitive buyers, the overthinkers, and the impulsive buyers. Based on the results found in the report, several recommendations can be made. To start off, some advice can be given based on the market overview. The Samsonite Group should focus on continuous innovation within the backpack category as well as constantly improve the ease of online browsing and purchasing female bags and accessories on the official website. This is because both categories show a significant category growth. Next, it can be seen that the hard case share of Samsonite is more rapidly growing than the overall hard case share. However, the company should not forget to defend its prominent position in the soft case segment. Furthermore, Samsonite should strengthen its position in both the retail- and e-commerce channel, as these are rapidly growing. Lastly, data showed that discount sales have been growing over all channels in the past few years. Samsonite should reflect on its sales strategy and check whether its current practices of offering frequent discounts is not harmful for its brand image of ‘high quality, high prices’. It is important that in the mind of the customer, the discount price should not be seen as the regular price. Next to recommendations based on mapping of the luggage market, further advice can be given based on previous buying behaviour- and customer journey insights gathered during the focus groups and survey. Data gathered on previous buying behaviour showed that Samsonite clearly does fit the needs of the customers, as 40% of those who already bought Samsonite suitcases would recommend it. Because Samsonite customers clearly fuel the positive brand image, the Samsonite team could think about distributing some extras to its clients. For Tumi buyers, on the other hand, 57% are unhappy about their last purchase. Therefore, research should be conducted to clarify the dissatisfaction among Tumi buyers. Customer journey analysis showed that during the information search, a lot of importance is attached to own previous experience, family, online product information, and online reviews. Most control can be exercised over the online product information, which needs to be easily understandable, accurate, and comprehensive. Furthermore, online reviews should be frequently analysed. Within the category of reviews, posts of influencers are considered as least trustworthy. Therefore, influencers should not be used as primary brand ambassadors as part of a marketing campaign. On top of this, advertising as a whole is not considered as a useful information source. One should therefore focus more on e.g. design during a commercial instead of feature specifications. Next to advertising, sales representatives are also not considered as very reliable. Therefore, more screens could be placed in shops that clients can use to match their needs with the perfect suitcase. During the information phase as well as the evaluation phase, most potential buyers look into features and deals. Keeping this in mind, the Samsonite Group should ask themselves first of all whether the price quality ratio of its product portfolio is well-balanced and meets customer expectations. Furthermore, they should question whether clients would be looking for discounts as frequent as they do now, if discounts would be offered less often. Next to prices and discounts, customers are also evaluating the convenience to get the suitcase. With Samsonite’s new retail stores nearby and a strategy to improve the convenience of Samsonite’s online shop, this benefit could be stressed even more. When comparing e-commerce and retail, it turned out that the latter is still the most preferred channel when buying luggage. People in Europe perceive retail as more reliable than ecommerce and offering a better service, which are two important items customers are looking for when buying a new suitcase. Therefore, Samsonite should continue investing in the expansion of its retail shops. The Samsonite Group should also focus on the strengths of e-commerce, namely a source of detailed product information and an extensive product overview. In order to improve the former, the Samsonite Group could, for example, allow customers to scan suitcases they see on their way and redirect them to the correct product page on the Samsonite website. Lastly, some brand-specific recommendations can be given. Respondents do not score American Tourister high on affordability, despite the fact that this brand belongs in a lower price range compared to the general luggage market. One way to solve this would be to communicate the price range of American Tourister more clearly through its website/brochures. Lastly, twenty-year-olds perceive Samsonite as a less known brand than older people do. This means that Samsonite is losing its prominence among the youth. In order to counteract this, Samsonite should find a way to communicate the values of their brand to this specific young segment.