when i was working in Robinsons a few yrs back, i saw how loyal customers can be and wondered wat exactly makes Robinsons stand out from a string of department stores (eg Tangs, Isetan, Seiyu). True, e sales staffs are friendly, service is thumb-ups but to me, it somehow lack e X factor.. perhaps cos Robinsons mainly cater to middle age customers and it was kinda not my type.. but right now i think i got a glimpse into e reasons behind its success..
by chance, i became a member of John Little (which is another department store under Robinsons & Co) a while ago and within two months of joining, i alr received invitation cum brochure/flyers to their exclusive for-members-only sales which features loads of discount which can be up to 40-50% off (there are plenty of discounts after discounts) and freebies etc.. & to think tt i join for free leh (no min purchase requirement etc) n all these privileges were extended to me liao.. & e frequency of such sales also impressed/surprised me.. they sure know how to treat members well..
im not too sure abt Robinson but my take is tt it will be similar..
IMHO, they offer e best deals to members.. more often than not, members were not notified of upcoming sales (tts from my experience, i can be wrong though) and membercard is often rendered useless during sales period.. this is not exactly of what i have in mind of rewarding card members.. on e other hand, Robinsons & Co is generous to its members.. perhaps it can afford to be generous cos it has been making healthy profits.. but to me, it make perfect sense to do so even if u r a small retailer.. 正所谓 “小财不出，大财不入” if u cant keep ur members happy and be regular patrons, u are possibly missing out large pool of customers (by referrals).. personally i feel that word-of-mouth marketing is one of the strongest tool ard, cos ppl tend to trust frens more than strangers and may be more willing to go by frens' recommendations..
so i guess success for retailers = word-of-mouth + good servies + resonable prices + z (any other factors).. verifiable thro regression.. lol.. if onli i can thought of this earlier, then i can use it as my thesis topic.. haha..
for me, i will start to recomend my frens to become members and confirm rooting for John Little when it comes to buying toileteries and comestics liao
