IT IS NO LONGER ENOUGH TO SATISFY CUSTOMERS.

YOU MUST DELIGHT THEM PHILIP KOTLER

SHOPPERS STOP
After launching a number of consumer loyalty programmes in 2002, Shoppers Stop Ltd is in the process of implementing new customer relationship management (CRM) initiatives. The objective behind the move is to enhance customer retention, create clear differentiation in terms of benefits and rewards across each of the tiers (Classic, Silver and Gold cards) and set up exclusive first citizens cash counters for express check-out at Shoppers Stop outlets across the country. With the move, the company hopes its overall sales turnover to grow at an additional rate of 25 to 30 per cent next year, informs Shoppers Stop senior manager marketing and services

FIRST CITIZEN PROGRAMME

At Shoppers Stop priority is given to customer convenience with customer friendly signage, alteration desk, customer service desk with gift wrapping service and off course most importantly the exclusive First Citizen Members lounge to name a few. First Citizen is one of the very significant loyalty programs of Shoppers Stop. First Citizen program has 1.5 million active members across India. With this program customers become part of the First Citizen club where they have to submit an application form along with the application fee of Rs. 150. Membership to regular customers is provided in three stages Classic Moments, Silver Age and Golden Glow. The core customer for First Citizen program fall under the age group of 16 to 40 years. Benefits come hand in hand with First Citizen program: Customers gain reward points each time they shop at Shoppers Stop stores or shoppersstop.com Exclusive benefits & privileges Exclusive offers on purchase Updates on various products at Shoppers Stop Exclusive cash counters which help customers to spend more time shopping than waiting in a queue First Citizen Program contributes nearly over 50% of Shoppers Stop sales annually. The rapidly growing First Citizen Program clearly proves the fact that Shoppers Stop has been able to successfully connect with their customers through their service and special promotional offers which has converted many of them into loyal customers.

CUSTOMER LOYALTY INITIATIVES

In this fast growing and competitive retail market of India, brand positioning depends a lot on customer loyalty. And Customer loyalty is the result of wellmanaged customer retention program. 50% of the Shoppers Stops sales are drawn from Customer Relationship Management (CRM) initiatives. It is considered that Shoppers Stop has taken CRM to a new extent and now its loyalty programs are considered as Customer Experience Management. Other than their key loyalty program First Citizen Program, they also offer a co-branded credit card with Citibank for their members. Shoppers Stop also introduced a loyalty program SKIDS specially for children of First Citizen club members.

USE OF TECHNOLOGY
The ardent need of new technologies can be understood no better than Shoppers Stop. Shoppers Stop is one of those first few retail chains which introduced the use of scanners and barcodes and also encouraged the use of fully computerized operations. It is also one of those very few retail chains to have ERP (Enterprise Retail Planning), which is considered one of the best retail planning system in the world. ERP helps in quick decision making process. With this Shoppers Stop can open new stores faster and can get necessary information about merchandise and customers online. Shoppers Stop uses a mix of technologies and systems like JDA suite for retail business and SharePoint portal for their internal and external collaboration. It also uses Microsoft Exchange and Communication Server for messaging. Technologies like Oracle Financials is used for financial accounting, NetApps' SAN and NAS technologies for storage consolidation and virtualization, Business Objects for reporting, blade servers and multi-core servers with VM Ware for application deployment, and Wi-Fi networks in offices. For stores and distribution centers they use operational activities with Symbol wireless scanners.

Shoppers Stop replaced its legacy system in 1998 and selected JDA. JDA solutions ensured consistency and uniformity of fixtures across all its stores thus enhancing the efficiently and helping the chain grow profitably as well as ensuring the companys success particularly that of its new hypermarket business. JDA solutions have helped Shoppers Stop in many ways: Optimizing floor space and visualizing the layout prior to construction Inventory planning improvement through planned and systematic forecasting Provide a high magnitude of analysis and reporting Efficiently manage high inventory turns and volumes Improve the management of metrics, including service and inventory levels Shoppers Stop also insists on the use of PeopleSoft HRMS, business intelligence solutions, e-learning solutions, customer feedback systems and mobile point-of-sale systems.

DRISHTI
it was a tall order, especially since the chain wanted a single view of its 1.5 million loyalty customers across all six of its businesses and three loyalty programs. (Most retailers use analytics for specific formats or segments of merchandise.) Project DRISHTI, Shoppers Stop's data warehouse and mining project, was set up to do just that. Conceptualized in 2007 and launched in early 2008, the project combined a never-before-attempted stack of best-of-breed solutions from various technology domains. But like all pioneering IT projects, although the technology was tricky, it wasn't the biggest challenge. "Getting users out of a 'reports mindset' and into thinking analytics was," says Gupta.