Customer Service in the Retail Environment

So I just finished up a course on retail management and I had a couple “wow” moments on the chapter dealing with customer service so I decided to blog about the things I have learned! Customer service in the retail environment is a key component in creating customer satisfaction. It’s the set of activities and programs undertaken by retailers to make the shopping experience more rewarding for their customers. 85% of customers said that they spend and shop more at retailers who provide good service. I would totally agree with that statistic because I find myself shopping in stores even if I don’t “need” anything just to support the retailers that really care about the customers.

I was always taught that it costs a lot more to acquire a new customer rather than maintaining a present customer but when I found out that it costs 5 to 15 times more it really put things into perspective. I then started to think of the places that don’t provide great customer service and the one place I had in mind was Wal-Mart. I then understood that discount/warehouse stores don’t provide the best customer service because they focus a lot of attention on price. When asking the question “How do you feel about Wal-Mart’s customer service” the majority of people responded with negative answers. This made me think of how important Service Recovery (listen to the customer, provide a fail solution and resolve the problem quickly) is because 91% of dissatisfied customers will never shop there again and on average tell 9 people about their bad experience!

If you work in retail I hope you’ve learned a little about how important it is to treat your customers with respect!

Facebook Timeline!

So Facebook has changed once again only this time it’s the new Timeline setup. I must admit I am not a fan of this change. I haven’t gotten used to the excess amount of ads and the fact that people can see what I did the first day I got Facebook kind of freaks me out! Although I have strong opinions about the change I recently read an article titled “15 Must Know Tips to Rock Your New Facebook Timeline Business Page” and I’ve started learning some benefits that come from having the timeline. I am an intern at Rogue Vintage and promoting via Facebook is one of the things I do. Some of the tips were obvious like create a unique cover image and know the dates but others pertained to knowing the guidelines. You are allowed to but any branding images or logos up but there is to be no promotional items there (40% off or Download it at our website) also contact information, web address, email, or words such as like or share that permits call to action are allowed on the cover image. Another cool thing I found out is that fans can now send the business page private messages! This is an awesome way to communicate with fans on a more personal level. For instance sometimes we post promotional items on Facebook and when someone is interested they will comment underneath the post. Because Rogue Vintage sells one of a kind vintage clothing and accessories there aren’t more than one size of one item. With Facebook’s timeline customers are now able to ask (in private) about sizes if they choose to. This article helped me to understand some positives things about the new timeline and not to be annoyed with it but to embrace it and work it to your business’s advantage!

http://socialmediatoday.com/pammoore/476234/15-must-know-tips-rock-your-new-facebook-timeline-business-page

What a Wonderful Retail Experience!

My cousin came into town this weekend and we decided to go downtown on Sunday afternoon to eat lunch and do a little shopping. After eating at Basics we walked around stopping in different stores such as Island Passage, Urge of Edge, and finally Aqua Fedora. When we walked into Aqua Fedora there was one women working and she was sitting behind the counter. We commented on how awesome the record player (playing Led Zeppelin) was in the store and how the paintings on the walls gave the store a really cool personality. As we walked around the small shop the sales representative talked about our style, bonnaroo, and what type of music we liked. This was the first time either of us had ever been in Aqua Fedora and the look of the store already made a great impression on us but because the employee was so friendly and personable it made us like the store that much better.

I read this article titled “One Size Fits all approach doesn’t work for Retail” and it pretty much sums up my experience at Aqua Fedora. It explains that retailers must refresh their strategy so their operating model can quickly respond to changes and trends in the marketplace and among their customers. It says how important improving the in-store customer experience is by connecting the employees and the physical with the customers. It is important for retailers to differentiate themselves by reconfiguring talent, physical space and store operations to meet or exceed customer expectations. I think Aqua Fedora does this very well and I would recommend friends to go there and check them out!  

http://www.retailingtoday.com/article/one-size-fits-all-approach-doesnt-work-retail

Tweeting in the World of Fashion!

I read an article today from the UNCW library database online about fashion in the marketing industry. It was interesting to find that many companies are hiring people exclusively to manage social media. For example, Dallas from Neiman Marcus hired Jean Scheidnes to send out tweets full time for the luxury retailer. Jean talks about how wonderful her job is by saying: "Yes, yes, I get paid to look at the most beautiful fashion in the world and I get to meet designers and I get to tweet and write about it."

This shows how important social media is in the fashion industry. It gives followers the inside scoop on not only what's being sold in the stores but also what's happening in the stores. There aren't many people (especially women) who want to be fashion backward. Social media such as Twitter helps consumers become fashion forward by tweeting about fashion shows, new deals or taking pictures of upcoming merchandise. It's a way consumers can be invloved with the brand they know and love.

After reading this article I felt the need to check out Neiman Marcus on Twitter and see what Jean tweets about. These are two tweets I found, each provided a picture:



Clothes for the tribal story.



Colorful clutches and small #handbags at Ken's shoot

Jean is showing off the clothing and handbags and tweeting about it to exaclty 56,873 followers and counting. Each follower sees these tweets, takes a look at the pictures and then hopefully decides she needs these items and makes her way to Neiman Marcus. After undergoing a successful purchase they then Tweet back to Neiman Marcus telling them how great their service and quality of purchase was, making Twitter a way to communicate from retailer to consumer (or vice versus).

Jean is educating and hearing back from Neiman's consumers and doing it in 140 characters or less!