Since the first opening of TK Maxx in Bristol back in 1994, the company has continued its success in the UK market over the years and currently now operates 367 stores spread all over the nation (Hanbury, 2018) and plans to expand this project in other European countries and the rest of the world.
TK Maxx’s main aim and what they are famously known for is their highly discounted price for men’s, women’s and children’s apparels. Big labels and designer labels are reduced by up to 60% off its original price (TK Maxx, 2018). Furthermore, they also offer relatively cheap homeware products, footwear, toys etc.
Website Analysis
Following the work of Simeon (1999) and the idea of the AIPD framework, the purpose of TK Maxx’s website is to display the different variety of products available in the website at a discounted price in every department of the store. The introduction of ‘Gold Label’ and ‘Mod Box’ for both men’s and women’s apparel highlights TK Maxx’s unique selling point and the ‘treasure hunt’ nature of the business which many bargain-hunters crave for (Jahshan, 2018). With this competitive advantage, TK Maxx is able to select their desired position.
The website design is simple and easy to navigate. The front page of the website provides all the necessary information for customers and links to all products of the company sorted into different categories. Moreover, the front page includes a promotional offer as seen on the screenshot below.
Competitor Analysis
According to Google Trends (2018), TK Maxx was the third most searched up discount retailer website within the UK during the past 12 months. Statistics show that TK Maxx is averaging a score of 41 followed by Primark with 59 and ASOS leading with the score of 86.
Customer Segmentation
As discount retailers, the main target market of TK Maxx are customers who possess an interest in high-end fashion designers and luxury goods with low income, therefore, making the company’s customer segment are individuals with medium to low incomes. Additionally, TK Maxx caters both genders and all ages considering the store offers many products with their various departments particularly adults and young adult/teenagers.
Customer Persona
Using the two different personas shown in figure 1 below, two possible customer journeys were created which represents TK Maxx’s target audience. Persona 1 is a 21-year-old university student in his final year studying Fashion with Business Studies and Persona 2 is a 30-year-old Fashion Stylist Assistant. As mentioned before, certain products, particularly designer labels, are discounted up to 60% (TK Maxx, 2018) in an offer that is enticing for these personas due to the fact that they are within the range of medium to low income therefore will entice them to buy as TK Maxx offers affordable luxury apparels.
Figure 1
Customer Journey
Demonstrated on the table, it highlights the key touch points of Persona 1 (Ralph Simons). An important touch point for Ralph was when he considered the prices of the product from TK Maxx’s competitors and compared them. Although Ralph had a positive experience of the purchase of his jacket, he experienced an issue of where he would purchase the jacket. Unlike Persona 1, Persona 2 (Rachel Greener) had an overall positive experience with her search for the jacket as she didn’t experience any issues. As a matter of fact, her experience was very positive that she also made extra purchases and signed up to the website so she is informed with future offers and deals.
References
Simeon, R., 1999. Evaluating domestic and international web-site strategies. Internet Research, 9(4), pp.297-308
Hanbury, M. 2018. ‘TJ Maxx has a different name in Europe and Australia, and there’s a simple reason why’. Business Insider https://www.businessinsider.com/tj-maxx-and-tk-maxx-are-same-company-2018-8?r=UK&IR=T [accessed 10/12/18]
TK Maxx, 2018. ‘How we do it’. TK Maxx https://www.tkmaxx.com/uk/en/how-we-do-it [accessed 10/12/18]
Jahshan, E. 2018. ‘Bargain hunters help TK Maxx parent company record surge in sales’. Retail Gazette. https://www.retailgazette.co.uk/blog/2018/05/bargain-hunters-help-tk-maxx-parent-company-record-surge-sales/ [accessed 10/12/18]
Google Trends. 2018. TK Maxx, ASOS, Primark. Google Trends. https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?geo=GB&q=tk%20maxx,asos,primark [accessed 10/12/18]
