You will analyse an Australian retailer’s marketing effectiveness by experiencing their brand as a real customer. This hands-on assessment requires you to visit stores, make a purchase, engage with their digital platforms, and document

Assessment Briefing Document

Unit Code	MCX005	Total Weight	30%
Unit Name	Accounting Systems and Processes	Total Marks	30/100
Assessment Number	2	Due Week	8
Assessment Name	Individual Observation Report	Due Date (Please note relevant time-zone)	Sunday, 20 March 2026, 11:59pm (AEDT)
Assessment Type	Single submission	Word Count/Length (+/- 10%)	Report: 1800 words
File type:	Word, PPT	Rubric	Available in Moodle

1.  Assessment Task:

You will analyse an Australian retailer’s marketing effectiveness by experiencing their brand as a real customer. This hands-on assessment requires you to visit stores, make a purchase, engage with their digital platforms, and document your personal customer journey experience.

Key Requirement: You must personally experience the brand through actual visits, purchases, and interactions – this cannot be completed through online research alone.

2.  Assessment Instructions:

Company Selection

Choose ONE retailer from the list below. All have accessible locations in major Australian cities:

Harvey Norman – Electronics and appliances retail chain.

The Good Guys – Consumer electronics and home appliances retailer.

Sportsgirl – Youth-focused fashion retailer.

Witchery – Mid-market fashion.

Top Juice – Juice and smoothie bars.

Priceline Pharmacy – National health and beauty/pharmacy chain.

Mitre 10 – Hardware/home improvement chain.

Big W – Discount department store (Woolworths Group).

Coles Express / EG Ampol – Fuel and convenience-store.

Subway – International fast-food sandwich chain.

Domino’s Pizza – Quick-service pizza.

Officeworks – Big-box office supplies and tech accessory.

Target – Discount department store covering apparel, homewares and general merchandise.

Email your lecturer to confirm your selection by Week 4

Required Experiences (You Must Complete ALL)

1. Store Visit & Purchase Experience

You are required to visit 2 store locations (for minimum 30 minutes) and make an actual purchase (minimum $10 value – keep receipt).

While in the store you are to observe and document store environment, customer service, checkout process plus take 6-8 photographs of marketing displays, signage, layout (where permitted).

2. Digital Platform Engagement

You need to visit the company website and browse for 20 minutes minimum and follow on at least 1 social media platform (Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok) for 2 weeks and document your observations with screenshots (6-8 examples) of their digital marketing content.

You need to actually test customer service via website chat, email, or phone (ask one genuine question) and document your findings.

3.Customer Journey Documentation

Using the Buyer Behaviour model (from week 2) map your complete experience from awareness through post-purchase. At each touchpoint record your emotional responses and document any follow-up communications you receive after purchase.

Report Structure & Word Allocation

1. Executive Summary (150 words)

Brief overview of your chosen retailer and methodology noting your key findings from your personal customer experience and one main recommendation that could be the center of your assessment 3.

2. Physical Store Experience Analysis (600 words)

Store Environment & Marketing:

This section should describe what you observed on your visits in relation to store layout, visual merchandising, store atmosphere, in-store marketing materials and promotional displays. Compare and contrast any changes in customer flow and shopping experience design between your two visits.

Evidence: Include 6-8 labelled photographs

Customer Service Experience:

In this section you report on the quality of staff interactions and product knowledge and issues with checkout process efficiency and payment options, the overall service quality and brand consistency and any upselling or cross-selling attempts observed.

3. Digital Experience Analysis (500 words)

In this section you need to report what you observed in relation to their website functionality, noting things like: user experience and ease of navigation, product information quality and purchase process, and reflect on the integration between online and offline channels.

This section is where you report on your observations on the company’s social media presence. Topics to be reflected on here include their content strategy and posting frequency (based on 2-week following), and brand personality and messaging consistency.

Evidence: Include 4-5 screenshots with analysis

4. Personal Customer Journey Mapping (400 words)

In this section you need to report what you experienced through the full three stages of the customer journey of Pre-Purchase Phase, Purchase Experience and Post-Purchase Experience in detail showing insight.

5. Marketing Effectiveness Assessment

In this section you need to provide two specific recommendations for improvement based on gaps or issues you personally experienced. Importantly you need to support your view with marketing theory from course readings and include realistic, personalised, practical and implementable suggestions.

3.  Formatting & Submission Requirements:

Evidence Portfolio (Appendices)

Required Documentation:

1. Store Photos or drawings: 6-8 images with descriptive captions
2. Purchase Receipt: Evidence of actual transaction (can redact prices)
3. Digital Screenshots: 4-5 examples of website/social media content
4. Customer Journey Map: Simple visual timeline of your experience
5. Observation Notes: Key points from store visit and digital interactions

 

Academic Integration:

• Minimum 5 academic references from marketing literature
• Course Theory Application: Connect findings to Kotler textbook concepts
• Marketing Framework Use: Apply models like 4Ps, Customer Journey, Brand Experience

 

Documentation Tips:

Photography: Only where permitted; focus on marketing elements not customers

Note-taking: Use phone notes app to record observations immediately

Screenshots: Capture diverse content types (posts, website pages, customer service chats)

Organisation: Label all evidence with date, time, and location

 

Professional Conduct:

• Be respectful during all interactions
• You may identify yourself as a student if asked, but it’s not required
• Follow store policies regarding photography
• Ask genuine questions during customer service interactions

 

Marking Criteria

Criteria	Excellent (85-100%)	Good (70-84%)	Satisfactory (60-69%)	Developing (50-59%)	Unsatisfactory (<50%)
Quality of Personal Experience Documentation (35%)	Comprehensive, detailed documentation of authentic experiences with rich evidence	Good documentation with adequate evidence of personal experiences	Satisfactory evidence of personal engagement with some gaps	Basic documentation with limited evidence	Poor or insufficient evidence of actual experiences
Analysis of Customer Experience (30%)	Insightful analysis showing deep understanding of customer perspective and journey	Good analysis with clear customer insights	Adequate analysis of customer experience	Basic customer experience understanding	Weak or superficial analysis
Application of Marketing Theory (20%)	Sophisticated integration of course concepts with personal observations	Good connection between theory and experience	Adequate theory application	Basic theory integration	Little or no marketing theory applied
Communication & Evidence Presentation (15%)	Exceptional writing with well-integrated visual evidence	Clear communication with good use of evidence	Adequate communication and evidence use	Basic communication with some issues	Poor communication and presentation

 

 

4.  Important Information (do not edit this section)

 

Academic Integrity   Academic Integrity Policy Assessment Policy Academic Misconduct Procedure	Academic Integrity: Students must adhere to UBSS’ academic integrity policies in completing all assessments. The work submitted must be original. Please acknowledge all sources of material in an accepted academic referencing style. You need to paraphrase/rewrite and comment on others’ information in your own words. Please do not share any part(s) of your work with any other students for a single assessment or outside your group for a group assessment.
Referencing	Referencing: In-text referencing is required for all sources used and a complete References list (presented at the end of your report) must be provided. Suggested referencing style: Harvard.   Appropriate referencing and proper and insightful use of references are essential. Reports that provide inadequate, improper, or no references will be graded accordingly within the rubric.
Use of AI	Acceptable use of AI: The use of generative AI tools (e.g. ChatGPT, Grammarly, Quillbot etc.) is permitted in this unit for the following activities: Brainstorming and refining your ideas. Paraphrasing. Proofreading Finding information on your topic. Drafting an outline to organize your thoughts. Checking grammar and style. Fine tuning your research questions.