From the pages of Images Retail (August 2009)

The Wow! Factor
By Nupur Chakraborty

However, even with a deep understanding of their customers, many retailers are struggling to become customer centric. The reason is that attaining true customer centricity requires a fundamental, enterprise-wide shift in thinking and reorientation of your value proposition. At the same time, your company must realign itself around the customer – moving away from a business organised around functions or products, a report from Harvard Business School points out.

The elusive WOW! Element Why are modern retailers in India finding it increasingly difficult to influence the buying decision of customers? Clearly, even in the best of times, the compelling requirement for any retailer’s sustainability is to retain its customers, possibly by refreshing and reinventing certain Wow! features from time to time. However, in the event of a general economic downturn and subsequently slowing sales, retaining customer loyalty can make the difference between longevity and an ungainly demise.

And price-led promotions are not the only tool to achieve this sanguine outcome. The problem is, most retailers typically resort to discounting – almost as a measure of best practice – to arrest sliding sales. Customers, on the other hand, while not averse to saving a couple of rupees here and there, are also searching for differentiation in service, differentiation in merchandise.

Manjula Tiwari, chief operating officer, Esprit, says, "Every time I have a great first impression backed up with quality, service and ambience, I have a ‘Wow’ moment.” In her personal opinion, no one does ‘Wow’ better than Esprit – and the brand is able to do this because there is a concerted effort to infuse freshness every month with a new collection and a completely new look and feel.

"It’s a dozen guaranteed ‘Wow’ moments in a year for me!" she adds. Esprit abides by the philosophy of ‘one kitchen, many tables’. And the ‘oneness’ of the product line is maintained globally. Tiwari further underlines, “Every store and season in Esprit is a labour of love – and I’m glad it manifests itself as a fantastic experience for the customer. There is absolutely no compromise on the quality and fashion quotient of our offering, and similarly the experience surrounding that reflects the painstaking attention to detail, whether it is in store ambience or our retail staff."


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