Consumer Literacy

We have looked at the shop and website of argos...

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Home.htm

Setting:
In store the products are out of site in the main warehouse. However, toys on promotion are displayed in prominent places such as the queue system and the display cabinets to optimise the appeal to young consumers. Browsers are also set up displaying the full range of products for customers to browse through at their leisure. The products are arranged in section categories. The website allows consumers to browse through the online catalogue or to search for particular items. The website is bight and colourful and easy to navigate around making it user friendly for young consumers. Pictures are used to capture the audience’s attention to promote sales.

Gender:
The catalogue separates boy’s toys from girl’s toys which is similar to the layout on the website. A similar theme runs throughout the store with items being marketed particularly for one gender i.e. lawn mowers for males and irons for females. Gift products are also marketed for specific genders as is jewellery and the latest technology. Generally, the way in which products are marketed remains the same throughout the business, however there is a noticeable difference in the products chosen for display.

The Consumer:
At 4pm, other people in the shop include adults and parents with children. There are a wide variety of displays aimed at every age range and gender throughout the store. As we looked around we noticed that the various sections on the jewellery counter were set out into men, women and children as were other general displays. The jewellery counter shows bias towards women, with fewer products displayed aimed at men and children, even though there is an equal range waiting for each group in the catalogue. This is because women are the assumed purchaser of jewellery. This differs to other parts of the store where displays are predominantly aimed at children.

Products:
Toys are directly marketed at children, and placed in strategic positions i.e. low to the floor, to make access easy for children. Information is displayed for parents such as product descriptions and prices, however the displays are made child friendly, bright and bold to attract the child’s attention in the first instance. As most products are kept in the main warehouse the store have made deliberate choices as to which products to display and how to display them to promote sales. E.g. Robosapiens were displayed around the queue system just after their launch to introduce them as a new product. This is similar to the website, having bright, moving adverts for new products. This is a common tactic to make the consumer aware of new products.

In store advertising:
Advertising in store occurs via big wall hanging posters, balloons issued directly to children, badges to promote new products, promotional T-shirts are worn by the staff to support new lines and important events. Argos also uses TV and Radio adverts which often target all members of the family.

Literacies:
Children would need to be able to recognise graphicacy used throughout the toy industry to represent various products. For example Tamogotchi’s use symbols to represent the brand as do Lego products. To use the internet, children would need to be familiar with how websites work and where they can locate the information they seek. The catalogue is easily set out and so would not present many problems to young users.