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Shoppers Drug Mart CEO Shares Advice on Surviving a Recession
Saturday's edition of The Globe and Mail featured an excellent article by retail reporter Marina Strauss that looked at the impressive growth of Shoppers Drug Mart and explored whether the chain could continue its growth in a recession. For the article, Strauss interviewed the company's CEO, Jurgen Schreiber. He is, she writes, "well positioned to ride out a recession. He's a seasoned executive of health and beauty companies, having led a global retail giant's European operations before joining Shoppers as president in 2006. At A.S. Watson & Co. Ltd., the retail division of conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa Ltd., he spearheaded growth in cosmetics and fragrances, partly by introducing new brands in thousands of stores in 23 countries. And he oversaw the acquisition of the Drogas and Spektr chains."
Strauss points out that over the course of Schreiber's career "he's worked through recessions, watching the fragrance business soften and learning that promotional deals are needed to lure cash-strapped consumers in harder times." His other recession-fighting advice is: "…do not give up on your staff. The moment you start seeing a sales reduction, and you cut the sales force, or the people behind the counter, you have problems with your customers. Be relentless taking weak brands out, and putting new brands in."
This struck me as particularly sage advice. A recession is the time to buy carefully, quickly get rid of products that aren't turning, and make sure you have new, exciting goods and promotional deals to lure customers in. It is not the time to "have problems with your customers" because you've cut staff. Anyone who's visited a Shoppers cosmetic department lately can vouch for the chain's dedication to providing good service. There's no searching for a salesperson to help you or take your money at Shoppers. Is the same true at your store?
The wise and wonderful David Carr has written extensively on customer service for this magazine. This is a good time for you and your staff to review some of his advice. Good customer service will help you through the holidays and through a recession. Here are links to some of David's articles: Making Customers Comfortable; Losing Assumptions; Using Common Sense; Changing Retail; and The Comfort Culture.
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Lori Smith, , Editor-in-Chief
Lori Smith is the editor of Gifts and Tablewares, Canada's premiere gifts and tablewares magazine. Written for retailers of gifts, tablewares, housewares, stationery and home furnishing accessories, its objective is to help readers increase their sales and run their businesses more profitably by providing information on new products, merchandising, small business management, customer service, consumer behavior and industry news. The magazine is published six times a year by BIG Magazines, LP, a leading Canadian information company.
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This page contains a single entry from the blog posted on December 1, 2008 11:56 AM.
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