O serviço como fator de diferenciação

: o caso Worten

Abstract

Retail has witnessed significant changes in the last years. If previously the focus was on the product, it is now centered on the service and the experience that companies offer to their customers. The experience assumes itself as a new form of competition between companies, in which the offering of a positive experience to the customers has potential gains in satisfaction, loyalty and trust, as well as supporting the image of the brand. The research question of this study is to understand in which way the changes in Worten’s business strategy fulfil the expectations of their customers. With this study, we pretend to understand the costumer experience model proposed by Verhoef et al., (2009) and, after that, enlighten how the changes performed in Worten’s business strategy correspond to the expectations customers have on the concept of the experience. The case study selected was Worten’s new store concept since it tries to explore this strategy. Inês Drummond Borges, Marketing Director of Worten, said that it “enriches, in a significant way, the buying experience”, making it “more experimental and relational”. For this purpose, we performed a qualitative study case, using the interview technique with key actors to the company. The analysis of the data obtained in the interviews proves the accuracy of the model at study. However, not every variable had the same significance. The crossing of the information obtained in the interviews with the information available about Worten led to the conclusion that the new company strategy is, in large part, aligned with the customers’ expectations.

Date of Award	19 Jul 2017
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Susana Silva (Supervisor) & João Luís Andrade Serra Moreira de Campos (Co-Supervisor)