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PetSmart is a quite incredible chain of stores that provides pet products and services. You can buy a huge range of products, from personalized (dogalized?) identification tags, to crickets to feed your turtle, to grooming services, foods, beds; really, anything you can imagine that has to do with pets. Being one of those people that is constantly looking for something fun for my doggie, I love this store. Plus, you can take your pet inside and try things out on him, or ask the store's employees specific questions about what they think would be best for him. I know of no other pet store that lets you do this in the United States. The most outstanding feature of this store in my opinion is the amount of options available for particular products. For example, I went in to buy a travel cage for my dog and had a hard time deciding on which to get not only because the options in size were so close to each other, but because there were so many different types; all plastic, all metal, part plastic with metal door, half plastic-half metal, specifically built cages for airline regulations, etc. PetSmart fits into the retailer type "superstore," and more specifically "category killer," because of its "deep assortment in a particular category and knowledgeable staff..." (Kotler, 255)
The PetSmart I'll be analyzing is in Charlotte in the University Park section. It's located in a nice shopping complex (if you can use the word nice to describe one of these), within the sea of shopping complexes that this area is. The complex area (parking lot) is kept clean. Of course, with the flow of animals, there are always a few "messes" outside (and inside), but I think this is to be expected.
The exterior of the building is of typical newly built shopping complex type, cement walls with a big sign, in this case red, over top with the name of the store. There are four large double door sets that open at the front automatically, then an entranceway with mats, which opens into the store. This PetSmart also frequently hangs a banner on the outside wall, on which the information is written large enough to see from the road. Here they announce things such as dog obedience classes that they will be holding, playgroups for dogs in the area, or specials for prices on grooming.
The first physical aspect of this facility that I'll discuss is its size, and then its size in relation to the number of employees and what this means for its service. When you walk through the entrance, the immense size of the store strikes you. It is a warehouse type set-up with huge aisles. But first, before getting to these aisles, on your left are all of the small pet/pet food animals you can choose from; bugs of all types, mice, gerbils, guinea pigs, birds, etc. Also on the left, almost in front of the entrance is the automated machine which will make your pet tags once you provide information, and of course put in the tokens which you buy at one of the registers. On your right, you can see through a window into the grooming area, where employees are busy at work, and in front of that area are the registers; I believe there are only two. The store has very high ceilings and is "open;" there are no solid partitions. I believe that this aspect of the store's interior can be quite daunting to the customer; it certainly was to me. I would have had no idea where to start my first time there to buy the cage I wrote about earlier, except for that I was with my sister-in-law, who knew exactly which aisle, and which section of the aisle go to. I suppose, however, that this is the nature of the beast. I don't know of any store of this size that I have ever been to the first time and had any sort of idea where to go before exploring a little bit. Despite its size, or maybe because of it, the aisle sections' shelf areas are separated in a very organized way, with products for different animals in different places. For example, if you're looking for shampoo for your puppy, you don't have to look through shampoos for horses, cats, or other animals, only dog shampoos.
I'm sure there are some customers who leave this store before they find what they need, not because the store is badly organized, but because it is so large. I know people whom even when asked if they need help will say no, and fruitlessly search and search. This is not the type of store to say no to employees asking to help you, especially because the employees are very well trained and really do know what they're talking about. It seems to me that there are not enough employees in relation to the size of the store, although once you do find an employee, they offer you excellent service. They'll take you exactly where you need to go, stay with you and help you compare the options, and guide you through the selection process. PetSmart fits somewhere in between Kotler's definitions of limited and full service retailers. (Kotler, 254) More employees in the aisles ready to assist in the customers' searches would, in my opinion, not only make it al lot easier for the customer, but also be more profitable for the store. Also, What about the idea of providing customers access to some sort of search engine, which they could use to look up what, they need, and it would give them the exact location in the store where they could find their specific product? Although this may not be useful for all customers, either because they're not familiar with this type of search, prefer to talk to an expert employee instead of using a computer, or maybe they're not looking for anything in particular but just browsing, it may cut out the need for hiring more employees.
The second physical aspect I'll discuss is the layout of the store. As I mentioned before, when passing through the entrance, the machine for tag-making is directly next to the entrance. I suppose they placed the machine there due to the high volume of pet owners who come in just to make the tags. This placement causes a lot of congestion in the entrance area, and also makes the store seem a lot more crowded than it is, from the inside, and from the outside, as you can see people waiting in this line from the sidewalk. It is also very inconvenient that in order to make the tags, you first have to get in line at the register to buy the tokens and then wait in line at the machine. I waited about 45 minutes to make my dog's tag, and that was after I had waited for about 10 minutes in the machine line before I realized that you needed to buy the tokens first. This was not good, as all of us in line were pretty fed up. From a customer's perspective, the appearance of the store being crowded could be a big turn off; who wants to spend their time waiting in line? I think the store should relocate this machine somewhere that doesn't interfere with customer circulation. I also think they should make it an option to buy the tokens at the machine, or else have a separate line for buying tokens only.
Moving on to another aspect of PetSmart's servicescape, I will now discuss how this retailer has "tangibilized the intangible," with the personal attention the customer is given in the store (once an employee has found you), as well as with the offering of other services, like the obedience classes, for which you have to pay, and the playgroups, where are open and free for all. I also find it amazing that a store this big is capable of creating a sort of sense of community, or togetherness. Perhaps it's the type of people who visit the store and the fact that you can walk around with your doggie, but you really seem to talk to almost everyone you pass by, either because they've stopped to pet your dog/cat, or you've stopped to pet theirs. You get into a conversation about what park they go to, or what veterinarian. It's hard to put a finger on it, but PetSmart has created a very friendly, welcoming atmosphere within their walls, and it is not entirely due to the warmth of the employees. Must be the dogs! From a customer's perspective, I think the fact that you are allowed to actually take your pet into a store in this day in age makes everyone feel comfortable and friendly as well. Also, the idea of offering classes in pet training to the community is a very smart idea, because it brings people together in a social atmosphere, and makes customers feel as if the store cares about their lives and the well being of their pets.
Relating the suggestions I've made for PetSmart to a library setting, I started thinking about Davis library's size and lay out. Davis, in my opinion, is set up quite strangely. You'd think that the Reference Desk would be closer to the front on the library, maybe where the Circulation Desk is. After all, people go to the Reference Desk to ask for information and help finding what they're searching for. I think Davis can be quite confusing to a newcomer because of this, and also because it is such a large space. I think that when one enters any sort of place where they will be looking for something specific, the place where they can ask for help in searching should be quite close to the entrance, especially if the size of the building is very large. Of course, Davis does have many, many computers where customers can perform their searches, and find out exactly where the resource they are looking for is located. This is absolutely mandatory in any sort of library setting, and I believe, as I mentioned before, that it could be useful in a retailer store setting.
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