Competitor Instore Experience

When I visited the Hollister store in Meadowhall shopping centre in Sheffield I also visited some of Abercrombie and Fitch's / Hollister's competitors stores to compare their instore experiences.

I visited:

- Jack Wills

- H&M

Jack Wills:

Storefront:

> The store has quite a small store front with no window displays apart from large red sale banners, which is very similar to the store front of Hollister. Due to the time of year and stores running their annual after Christmas sales this could be the reason why there was no window displays showing mannequins or products. 

Interior:

> The interior of Jack Wills gave off a similar feel to Hollister which was that the store was more of a luxury shopping experience rather than just a general high street store as the interior seems unique to that brand. For example the Jack Wills store features wallpaper with their signature pink and navy stripe and decals stating their slogan "Fabulously British".

> The Store also featured a very 'British' theme as on the walls were hung frames showcasing traditional British things such as Oxford and Cambridge, the Union Jack and portraits of kings and queens showing that the brand sticks to their British beginnings.

Products:

> Jack Wills sells similar products to Hollister such as casual fashion like t-shirts and hoodies with the brand name as the selling point.

> Jack Wills however sells more formal wear than Hollister with the store featuring dresses an shirts.

> I believe that Jack Wills' hero products are their items with their signature pink and navy stripe design as they stand out as Jack Wills with people knowing that the product is Jack Wills even if the product doesn't show the brand's name anywhere.

> The clothes are displayed in a very similar way to Hollister with the majority of them being folded on a table.

> A slight difference in items seems to be that Jack Wills push more towards their jumpers where as Hollister had an abundance of short sleeve t-shirts which I think shows the origins of each brand as Jack Wills is a very British brand and so will sell clothes to accommodate for Britain, such as warm jumpers, where as Hollister is an American brand and so makes sense to sell t-shirts for the typically warmer climate of America showing that Hollister potentially needs to differentiate their product line more for different countries.

H&M:

Storefront:

> Unlike Hollister and Jack Wills the H&M storefront is very light and bright replacing black with white and small with a large open doorway which gives off a very welcoming feeling to the store.

> H&M also has mannequins displayed in the window showcasing the newest styles on offer instore.

> The window of H&M also displays information about online orders such as their "click & collect" offer showing that they have multiple channels of purchasing so that customers can experience both online and instore shopping.

Interior:

> Similarly to Hollister and Jack Wills, H&M also displays large, bright red sale banners.

> Opposite to Jack Wills, which didn't have any mannequins in the store, H&M had multiple showcasing the newest items with them available to purchase right next to the displays.

> H&M's interior is very simple compared to Hollister and Jack Wills with there being no unique decorations or signatures colours, but the store is much brighter with better lighting making the clothes easy to view.

Products:

> H&M has a much bigger range of clothes on offer, varying from casual and basics to formal and party wear.

> H&M doesn't sell 'branded' items where as Jack Wills sells products with its name or their signature pheasant logo and Hollister with their seagull logo.

> I think that H&M is more of a typical high street store as it is cheaper than Hollister and Jack Wills and people would be more likely to shop at H&M specifically for 'fast fashion' and for something cheap, where as they would shop at Hollister and Jack Wills for a better quality item that will last longer.