Some Nifty Retail Strategies, Putting in Place a Superior Customer Relationship Programme and Introducing World Class Retail Technology and Practices, all have helped The Department Store Chain to be on top of The Retail Game.
The financial year 2010-11 was a good year for the K Raheja Group promoted Shoppers Stop. Two years after the financial downturn, the company recorded a positive double-digit growth for the first time. And there’s more! Even as the industry has been growing 15% annually (according to Retailers Association of India), Shoppers Stop clocked a promising growth of 20% last fiscal.
So what are the factors driving the financial growth of the company? Recalibrating its business supported by a good strategic plan helped Shoppers Stop steal the show from its rivals (read Pantaloon, which grew at 17%). “Our fine tuning of the business model was accomplished by undertaking rent correction, cost control and inventory rationalisation. We repositioned the brand as a bridge to the luxury space and the consistency of our standards in terms of the quality of merchandise & service along with the appeal of our customer loyalty programme helped a lot in the financial growth of the company,” says Govind Shrikhande, Customer Care Associate & Managing Director, Shoppers Stop Limited.
In fact, the chain’s customer loyalty programme, christened The First Citizen, has proved to be a huge success, so much so that there were 2.8-lakh First Citizen offers last year. It helped Shoppers Stop garner 60% of revenue generation from loyalty programmes alone. Loyalty programmes – that offer special discounts and easy rewards to regular customers – are structured marketing efforts to encourage customers to frequent a company’s outlets and spend more by offering them attractive rewards and discounts. In the fast-growing and competitive retail market of India, brand positioning depends a lot on customer loyalty. The trend for customer loyalty programmes has caught on fast and retailers such as Future Group, Landmark Group, Reliance Retail, Indus League and others are now making their loyalty programmes even more attractive by taking them to the mobile phone platform and even adopting a gender-based approach. Reliance Retail, ever since its launch five years ago, started its loyalty programme for the first time last year. Pantaloon has its ‘Green Card’ programme which enables customers to fill in their basic details. Currently, there are about 1.8 million customers under its loyalty programme.
Customer loyalty being the result of a well-managed customer retention programme, and as 50% of Shoppers’ Stop’s sales are drawn from Customer Relationship Management (CRM) initiatives, the chain has taken CRM to an even higher level. Going beyond its loyalty programmes, the company has now introduced customer experience management. This way, Shoppers Stop has converted the concept of retail into an experience, an indulgence. To gain insight into the international practice of customer service and new retail concepts, Shoppers Stop became the member of Inter Continental Group of Departmental Stores (IGDS), becoming the only Indian member among the 29 other celebrated retailers of the world. Says Shrikhande: “Our focus on best practices & systems have also added to our revenue and financial growth.”
So what are the factors driving the financial growth of the company? Recalibrating its business supported by a good strategic plan helped Shoppers Stop steal the show from its rivals (read Pantaloon, which grew at 17%). “Our fine tuning of the business model was accomplished by undertaking rent correction, cost control and inventory rationalisation. We repositioned the brand as a bridge to the luxury space and the consistency of our standards in terms of the quality of merchandise & service along with the appeal of our customer loyalty programme helped a lot in the financial growth of the company,” says Govind Shrikhande, Customer Care Associate & Managing Director, Shoppers Stop Limited.
In fact, the chain’s customer loyalty programme, christened The First Citizen, has proved to be a huge success, so much so that there were 2.8-lakh First Citizen offers last year. It helped Shoppers Stop garner 60% of revenue generation from loyalty programmes alone. Loyalty programmes – that offer special discounts and easy rewards to regular customers – are structured marketing efforts to encourage customers to frequent a company’s outlets and spend more by offering them attractive rewards and discounts. In the fast-growing and competitive retail market of India, brand positioning depends a lot on customer loyalty. The trend for customer loyalty programmes has caught on fast and retailers such as Future Group, Landmark Group, Reliance Retail, Indus League and others are now making their loyalty programmes even more attractive by taking them to the mobile phone platform and even adopting a gender-based approach. Reliance Retail, ever since its launch five years ago, started its loyalty programme for the first time last year. Pantaloon has its ‘Green Card’ programme which enables customers to fill in their basic details. Currently, there are about 1.8 million customers under its loyalty programme.
Customer loyalty being the result of a well-managed customer retention programme, and as 50% of Shoppers’ Stop’s sales are drawn from Customer Relationship Management (CRM) initiatives, the chain has taken CRM to an even higher level. Going beyond its loyalty programmes, the company has now introduced customer experience management. This way, Shoppers Stop has converted the concept of retail into an experience, an indulgence. To gain insight into the international practice of customer service and new retail concepts, Shoppers Stop became the member of Inter Continental Group of Departmental Stores (IGDS), becoming the only Indian member among the 29 other celebrated retailers of the world. Says Shrikhande: “Our focus on best practices & systems have also added to our revenue and financial growth.”
Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).
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IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
IIPM Best B School India
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age WomanIIPM's Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
IIPM Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri on Internet Hooliganism
Arindam Chaudhuri: We need Hazare's leadership
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri - A Man For The Society....
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
