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The customer is king

To be successful in retail feedback is not enough - you have to act on it

Over the past four decades Fishers of Newtownmountkennedy in Co Wicklow has evolved from a niche shop to a very modern department store by listening to its customers.

The family-owned retail business began as a specialist purveyor of outdoor clothing in 1979. Today it is a unique retail destination offering a huge range of clothing – for men, women and children – plus a café. It also has artists’ workshops, a bedding store, beauty salon and a co-working hub. On any given day a visitor might find a fashion show or a farmers market taking place.

Everything it does is driven by what its customers want, and boss Becci Harrison knows what customers want because she asks them.

The team at Fishers routinely gathers email addresses and mobile phone numbers at point of sale, signing people up to its customer loyalty programme. It conducts both formal surveys of customers and informal ones, simply asking them for feedback on their visit at the till. “You build up a really good relationship with people that way, and they will tell you,” says Harris.

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The store began focusing on online sales during Covid and maintains this activity today, recently taking on a staff member to look after its social media activity. “We have found online customers are slightly younger and want a slightly different product. They prefer texting instead of phoning or coming in. They also like to direct message us via Facebook and Instagram,” she says.

Social media is time consuming but pays dividends, providing a fresh space to help customers by providing advice on everything from colour matching to how to wear a particular kind of scarf. “It’s about adding value to customers,” she says.

“It also provides a space to focus on the features and benefits of a product, such as its sustainability factors. That is very important to younger people and to us. And at a time of inflation, when costs are going up, you need to be able to justify to people why you are charging what you are charging, so those features and benefits are very important.”

The work Harris puts into gathering customer feedback mirrors similar activities at international retail giants such as Ikea.

According to Deborah Anderson, marketing manager Ikea Ireland, it uses digital survey tools to ensure constant customer feedback. Positive comments are passed back to colleagues, particularly where individual store assistants have been thanked for their help. Negative posts are addressed by private message.

“Customer feedback is key to how we develop relationships, constantly listening to our customers and improving our processes. We have a focus on our customer feedback tools across all touchpoints, no matter where we meet our customers, we want to know how we have performed,” she says.

To succeed in retail it’s not enough to be open to feedback, you have to act on it. “For example, if people are saying they can’t get gluten-free foods in our cafes we’re obviously not making the fact that they can visible enough,” she says.

Its loyalty club, Ikea Family, is “another way to keep in touch with our customers, with relevant content that supports their purchase and inspires, and to reward our members with discounts across our range – which change monthly – and free tea and coffee Monday to Friday. We also offer an added layer of protection with our Oops Assurance, if you break an item while assembling or transporting it home we will replace it,” she adds. All of this helps ensure a good customer experience from start to finish.

Staff are the key to developing good customer relationships, she says. That means not just looking for people who are “passionate about home furnishings”, which it does, but more. “We recruit for our core values. Ikea is about simplicity, caring for people and planet, and striving to always do things better. When we interview we look for people who can show evidence of that,” she says.

Sandra O'Connell

Sandra O'Connell

Sandra O'Connell is a contributor to The Irish Times