Editorial Blog: May 2009 Archives

My Local Home Depot Discovers Customer Service. Will Others?

On the weekend I had the necessity to visit my local Home Depot. I'm not much of a DIYer so I hadn't been there for quite some time and I have to say that I was quite surprised by what I found.

Walking through the entrance, I was confronted by a large, well-lit customer service desk. Behind it was a large, well-lit stage and seating area for demonstrations. My Home Depot had had a bit of a face lift. But, those two features were not the most startling change.

I have never been a fan of my local Home Depot's customer service. Too often, I had wandered the aisles in search of an orange apron-clad staff member. Too often, once I'd found an orange apron-clad staff member I'd been told that he/she was just going on break. But Saturday was different. I asked a young lady where I might find screening material and she actually walked me over to the section and delivered me into the hands of an associate who worked there. I have to admit that I was shocked. In fact, I was gobsmacked.

Customer service in Canada too often takes the form of benign neglect. Today at lunch, a colleague related her story of visiting the Land's End department at the nearby Sears and finding no-one. I myself travelled to a Mark's Work Wearhouse on the weekend only to find it still closed, well past its opening time, with a huddle of customers waiting outside. I know no-one would argue with the fact that it's hard to spend money in a store when there's no-one there to take it. Maybe this customer service thing will catch on.

Posted by Lori Smith on May 4, 2009 5:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

How Does Canada Score on a Recovery Checklist?

I found a printout of an article titled Predicting the Retail Bounce-Back while cleaning my office last week. Published on www.portfolio.com on April 7th, the article ended with a "Recovery Checklist" that summed up what its writers consider to be "possible signs the bottom has been reached and a genuine recovery is under way." They are:

1. Higher employment
2. Stabilized financial institutions with new rules
3. Improvements in the flow of credit
4. Pickup in the housing market
5. Sustained stock market comeback
6. Resumption of growth in sales and profits
7. Disposal of toxic assets
8. Higher consumer confidence and spending

I am heartened by the fact that Canada seems to be holding its own on four of these signs. Statistics Canada reported on Friday that employment grew by 36,000 in April, largely as a result of an increase in self-employment. Granted 36,000 is not a huge number compared to the 321,000 jobs lost since October and for many, self-employment will not be as consistently lucrative as salaried work. But, at least, the unemployment rate (8%) remained the same unlike the U.S. where it continues to climb. So maybe we don't get a checkmark on the list but we don't get a big X either.

We also have the good fortune to live in a country that regulates its banks more rigorously than do our neighbors to the south so we can proudly check off #2. Then there's #4. On Thursday, May 7, 2009, The Toronto Star reported that the housing resale market in the Greater Toronto Area is improving. Business reporter Tony Wong wrote that "improved affordability, mostly because of lower mortgage rates and a drop in home prices have brought out buyers in greater numbers than expected." We're also making progress on #8. On April 23rd, TNS Canadian Facts released the results of its latest Consumer Confidence Index. The news was good. Its Consumer Confidence Index was up 8 percent; the Present Situation Index was up more than 3 points; the Expectations Index was up 11 percent; and the Buy Index was up 9 percent.

Of course, that leaves four significant areas we're falling short on. I hope the coming months bring improvements in the flow of credit; a sustained stock market comeback; resumption of growth of sales and profits; and "disposal of toxic assets." However, as several of the retailers and experts interviewed for the portfolio.com article pointed out, no-one has a crystal ball. I certainly don't. But, I do believe that while the Canadian economic cup might not be half full, there's reason to believe that it's sitting upright on the table, ready to be filled again. Let's hope that that's a beginning.

Posted by Lori Smith on May 11, 2009 5:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Where's the Middle Ground in Minimum Order Size?

In my interviews with retailers for the May/June issue's articles on gourmet foods and fashion accessories, I asked what suppliers could do to help them be more successful. Not surprisingly, the issue of minimum order sizes came up.

The retailers I spoke with had two problems with some suppliers' minimum order sizes: One, the actual dollar amount was too high. Two, the amount of product they had to order was too much for their trading area. It was pointed out that a store in a small town with a population of 2,000 or even 20,000 could not be expected to order the same amount of product as a retailer located in a city of 200,000 or 2,000,000. In terms of minimum orders, they felt that location should be a consideration.

However, minimum order size is a tried-and-true business practice that is essential for the efficient, profitable operation of a wholesale or manufacturing company. It weeds out buyers who are only interested in purchasing one item (quite often for themselves, or family or friends), and also serves as a deterrent to very small retailers, who are, it's argued, not cost-effective to deal with.

But here's the thing: For small retailers and small town retailers large minimum order sizes--and I do appreciate that "large" is a relative term--stand in the way of introducing new products and lines, which seems unfair and unfortunate--to the retailer and his or her customers. In an economy where retailers need all the help they can get, maybe suppliers should consider a sliding scale of minimum order size that takes into account selling area size, etc. Maybe some suppliers already do. In any case, prior to heading to the shows it might be wise to reconsider the minimum order size question. While retailers can't expect to be able to order as much--or as little--as they want, suppliers might think about how they can meet these small retailers half way and create a new, mutually beneficial minimum order middle ground.

Posted by Lori Smith on May 25, 2009 12:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Is Customer Loyalty a Casualty of the Recession?

I receive an aggregate enewsletter from the National Retail Federation (NRF) every weekday. It offers a round-up of news stories from around the world about the retail scene. Over the months, I've noticed that stories from Australia or Thailand might just as easily have been written here in Canada. Retailers around the world are experiencing the same challenges you are.

With that fact in mind, I thought you'd be interested in a blog by BBC Scotland's business and economy editor Douglas Fraser, which was included in this morning's NRF newsletter. Titled "Shoppers shop around," it explores some research from Experian, retail consultants in the UK. As Fraser writes, "It's not that people have stopped spending…but there are significant changes in consumer behavior…"

According to Experian, one such change is a marked drop in customer loyalty. More than 25 percent of the consumers they surveyed reported they were now more likely to "shop around" for the best deal. Another interesting finding was that 40 percent of respondents said that companies are "not fair" to consumers. Fraser quotes Experian's Joe Stanton, who says that he foresees a permanent shift to "promiscuous bounce-back customers," consumers whose loyalty must be "re-won every day."

Is this true of Canadian consumers? Has the economic downturn brought a decline in customer loyalty? And, if it has, how do you win consumers back?

Posted by Lori Smith on May 29, 2009 11:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Editorial Blog

Commentary on retailing, shopping, consumers and the gifts and tablewares industry today by G&T editor Lori Smith

May 2009 Archives

May 4, 2009

My Local Home Depot Discovers Customer Service. Will Others?

May 11, 2009

How Does Canada Score on a Recovery Checklist?

May 25, 2009

Where's the Middle Ground in Minimum Order Size?

May 29, 2009

Is Customer Loyalty a Casualty of the Recession?

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About May 2009