I'm going to pick on Tesco. I know it might be an easy target.
Not unlike many British people, I spend a lot of money in Tesco. In fact, taking groceries, petrol and clothing all into consideration, my average monthly spend probably hovers in the region of £500 (or, for arguments sake lets call it £6000 per annum).
Now, if I was spending six grand on a business purchase, I'd have certain expectations. I'd expect quality. I'd expect good service. I'd expect there to be a level of trust between me and the supplier.
Tesco seems to take a different approach.
Want to try on clothes? You need to ring for an assistant to unlock the changing room first.
Want to go through the self service checkout? God forbid you have anything in your own canvas shopper apart from fresh air.
Want to buy a £3 DVD? Make sure it gets taken out of its security box at the checkout first.
Perhaps I'm missing something, but if you spent £500 a month with your local Prada store (not that £500 would go terribly further than a couple of pairs of shoes and maybe a scarf), they'd be serving you with champers upon your arrival every month, and waiting on you hand and foot.
So. Every little helps? I'm not so sure.
Very little helps. Perhaps.
Compare how many people go through a Prada store compared to Tesco. Then remind yourself what happens if security tags are taken away from the most stealable / desirable products. All they are doing is protecting themselves. Tesco is a brilliant company run by brilliant people. You can't argue with a business plan, which in about 15 years has elevated them above all the rest. No scumbag shopper will even know where Prada is let along try to steal from it. If they steal from Tesco they can easily sell it on to a mate in a pub, be it a DVD, cosmetics or clothes. If Tesco were more trusting, they'd get screwed. They rely on thousands of punters coming through the doors each day, rather than one posh Prada customer spending 2 grand.
ReplyDeleteIn the words of Jerry Maguire (and his late, great mentor Dickie Fox..... No relation): The key to this business is personal relationships. And suddenly it was all very clear. The answer was less money. Fewer clients. Caring about them. Caring about ourselves.
ReplyDeleteI'm not knocking their business plan. But their plan was set more than 15 years ago. The Market has changed. Money is more precious than ever. Customers have more choice than ever. Putting up with a service that treats us like petty criminals may not be the best way to develop over the next 15 years.
It certainly irritates me. And I can choose to go to any number of supermarkets (admittedly all as bad as each other) and spend my money there.
My point is: we have immense spending power. If we use it, we can get the changes we want, instead of accepting he status quo. Who were never a very great band anyway.
Fine. Go to Asda. The supermarkets understandably do not have time to meet and greet each shopper. What you are looking for is that when each shopper goes in, they scan their clubcard, which then rates how risky you are. It would let you try on the clothes with no assistance and wander around with DVDs (even out of the store if you fancy it), but the average person from the ASDA area would be followed by CCTV. I would hardly say Tesco don't care about their clientele, nor should Tesco be quaking in their boots about someone threatening to go elsewhere. The thing is, a small shop can afford to treat 6 customers as individuals and wait on them hand and foot, a supermarket cannot. If you don't like it, go to a corner shop where the person will know your first name and ask you how you are, but you will pay more for the same product.
ReplyDeleteTricia: you must ask yourself - what items do people care about stealing - what items can they quickly dispose of?
ReplyDeletePrada scarves? Nope. How likely are they to get a £500 scarf sold on to a mate in the pub even for £100? No chance. The things that people will steal will be cosmetics, electricals, booze, DVDs and so on. You have more chance of flogging them for a few quid. It makes business sense to protect those items. I don't see why it irritates you - if you buy them out of a tiny shop, they can rely on a security guard or CCTV. The supermarkets cannot. Did you not appreciate the extra time it took to complete your purchases? Did you really feel like they made you out to be a potential criminal?
By the way, my reference to 15 years was a general reference to Sir Terry Leahy. He was with Tesco for about 14 years. I doubt you can argue that way before he appeared, the previous board etc had the same plans that he pushed through.