Customer Empowerment Essay -- Economics

Customer EmpowermentThe Choice is YoursThe Internet has permanently changed the relationship betweenconsumers and the retail industry. Electronic craft has providedconsumers with more options, more alternatives and more opportunitiesthan ever before.Consumers are no longer limited to physically visiting main streetor big-box retailers. Instead, they are open to choose from productsand services from companies large and small, located all over theworld, without leaving their homes.Tangible points of comparison between retailers, which now can beautomatically aggregative by software buying agents in seconds, includemore than selection and price. Shipping costs, return policies,privacy practices and personalization of products are examples oftangible points of comparison.Equally as pregnant are intangible points of comparison, specificallythe node experience. Everything from the look and feel of the homepage to the shopping and buying process defines this experience. Itencompasses e verything the customer sees, clicks, reads, or otherwiseinteracts with. The customer experience is the key to dotcom survival.Consider the options available at the Lands End Web site. Consumerscan browse the catalog online or shop with a friend, speak with acustomer representative on the phone or online, create a model to tryon clothes virtually, ask questions about specific products, habitation anorder and track past orders. Concern over the customer experience hasclearly driven the design of the Lands End business model, creatingnumerous options unavailable in the physical world.Of course, this overlooks the most powerful and fundamental option toconsumers on the Internet the ability to leave one store and enteranother within seconds. And if a satisfactory purchase cannot be made,online auctions provide alternative shopping venues that directlycompete with many traditional retailers.Central to the creation of a positive, unique and personalisedshopping experience are technologies employed to remember customerpreferences. Tracked preferences help expedite, and sometimes fullyautomate, the shopping process while offering targeted market anddiscounts.Online chat, bulletin boards, user reviews, auction sites, consumerfeedback, online help and other customer-oriented features are als... ...e the price was just too high (because of the pricing error). Iasked him if he could change it and he said no. He also knew that theywould be throwing out the oranges soon if they didnt sell. Hisfrustration in not being able to correct such(prenominal) an obvious problem inhis own department was evident.The Lesson.I tell these two contrasting stories because they relate directly tocustomer satisfaction and profitability as a function of employeeempowerment. Two good grocery chains with two very differentapproaches to management.At Fresh Fields, every employee is aware of his or her jounce onprofit and is empowered to final payment independent action to maximize it.The deci sion to give two expensive cookies to a customer is not an unnoticeable decision. It is a business decision that may influencethe relationship between a store and its customer.Unfortunately, it is a decision that most employees in traditionallymanaged organizations spend a penny no authority to make.My hope is that these two examples will clearly show how customers andprofits can be won or lost when employees are enabled to takeownership of day-to-day problems. Once again, it just makes sense.