Mock Client Profile for COMM 2104: Free People

Organization Overview

Free People is a bohemian lifestyle brand and apparel company that sells products catered to women. They sell women’s clothing, shoes, accessories, intimates, and bathing suits. Free People is known for their timeless pieces, which can be purchased online through the Free People Global site, Free People UK website, and Free People France website. They also have 1,400 Free People stores globally, and can also be purchased at select department stores and specialty boutiques. Free People’s competitors include companies such as Show Me Your Mumu, For Love and Lemons, Reformation, and many more. Their mission is to have a strong emotional bond with their consumers through their passion for lifestyle merchandise. Free People strives to honor the values of cultural awareness and inclusivity. Free People is owned by URBN. URBN owns a collection of global brands such as Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie, Nuuly, Terrain, and so on. Free People communicates with consumers through Instagram, Facebook, Tik Tok, Pinterest and Youtube. They’re most active on Instagram and Tik Tok. Free People posts select products on Instagram with a short description and invites users to check out their website through the link in their bio. Free People posts mostly the same content on Tik Tok as they do on Instagram, but also upload some videos of staff talking about the brand and follow current trends to connect with their audience.

Issue Backgrounder

Free People has been questioned on their impact on the environment, as their sustainability score was ranked two out of five from the “Good On You” brand ranking site and therefore claimed to be “not good enough.” There isn’t evidence that they reduce their carbon footprint in its supply chain. Their supply chain also isn’t certified by labor standards, which guarantees employee health and safety (Robertson). Free People has been ridiculed as being a more expensive version of a fast fashion brand, causing their commitment to sustainability to be questioned.

What Can Free People Do?

URBN, the owner of Free People, has taken numerous steps towards improving their relationship with the environment. They’ve implemented using reusable shopping bags and making their stores’ lighting more energy efficient, while also working to reduce their fuel output for shipments. Free People launched the Care FP campaign to represent their mission to do better. Their mission states “from the social impact we strive for, to the footprint of our work, to our non-profit partners and connection to our community, we’re making conscious choices - both big and small - to protect our planet”(Free People). Through this campaign, Free People shares how they are taking strides toward responsible sourcing, circularity, and better fabrications standards. Their efforts to produce sustainable select styles has saved over four million liters in their production process and more than four hundred thousand kilograms of carbon dioxide that would have previously been released into the atmosphere. Free People developed a bag skip program with reusables/recyclables that allows them to save over four hundred thousand bags from landfills yearly, and they are working to find biodegradable materials in replacement of recyclables.

Free People has a numerous amount of complaints about their company’s customer service and the return/refund process. Reviews have ranged from not receiving a refund after being assured by customer service it was coming, to waiting months for their product with no updates on the shipping and not much help from customer service. Many unhappy customers also claimed that when they tried to get a refund, their account was restricted and they were no longer allowed to purchase from the company (Trustpilot).

Communication Objective

To start, Free People must find a way to incorporate stronger communication with their customer service department on orders and shipments, and also offer more training on how this department should be approaching customers. LinkedIn learning offers courses on strong professional development and communication that would be beneficial as a part of the hiring process for Free People’s customer service. The complaints regarding customer service are a key component in resolving the other shipment and delivery issue as well. The increase in communication between the two will allow for customer service to give accurate information to customers, teach them how to properly handle unhappy customers, and work to fix the root of the issue.

Improving brand perception is vital in order to resolve issues within Free People’s company. Implementing stronger customer service will help aid in improving the brands’ image; based on reviews on customer service and quality of certain items, customers think that Free People is money hungry and does not care about their consumers. Free People must work on ensuring consistent quality that accurately reflects their brand by executing an increase in quality checks. They must modify their return and refund policy in a way that does not negatively affect their consumers’ ability to continue shopping with them. Free People must address this business concern head on and put the customers’ experience first.

Robertson, L. (2018, March 18). How Ethical Is Free People? Good on You; Good On You.          https://goodonyou.eco/how-ethical-free-people/

Free People is rated “Bad” with 1.6 / 5 on Trustpilot. (2024, September 9). Trustpilot; Trustpilot. https://www.trustpilot.com/review/www.freepeople.com

Free People. (2020). Care FP. Free People. https://www.freepeople.com/care-fp/