NO .. says Robert McGee, Global Fashion Industry Strategy Director-Infor (a US software company specialising in enterprise software ranging from financial systems to resource planning to supply chain to customer relationships. The following article is based on an interview given by Robert to a leading publication. He talked mostly about offline retail but the same can be applied to online retail as well.
Whether it is e-commerce giants like Amazon, Flipkart, Snapdeal etc. or smaller e-commerce players, everyone seems to be bitten by the ‘discounts’ bug to attract customers and the mantra for everyone seems to be more the discounts and deals, more the sales. However, 40 years of Robert’s experience and expertise in the global fashion industry says that retailers who chose to be original showed better results in the long run.
Robert was one of the first US apparel executives to start sourcing from China in the 80s. He has vast knowledge and expertise in retail, manufacturing, sourcing and product development in the fashion industry.
PRODUCT DIFFERENTIATION. Yes, that’s the key to success. Recent examples show that almost every product from every brand looks same or similar. When this happened, there was only one form of primary differentiation – pricing. So the general mentality seems to be – if you can’t differentiate your products based on original designs or product features, then let it be cheaper than other brands or retailers.
The reason customers are so focused on deals and discounts now is because retailers have conditioned them to think on those lines by bombarding them with discounts every other day. But original and different products will stand out more and customers who have the means will not mind paying a premium for value-add products, as long as the products are worth the prices. Customers have a lot more information at hand now, so they can make out when quality is being offered to them.
Nowadays, the concept of shopping and buying are different. Shopping consists of research and browsing, and buying means the actual action of purchasing a product. Online shopping facilitates shopping without time limits as customers can browse through options at their convenience at any time of the day.
After dwindling with her family business, into travel and hospitality, for more than 3 years, Pooja Vishant found her true love in writing. Happy-go-lucky and cheerful, she loves pink; so pink is the way to go if you want to get into her good books. The Associate Editor keeps track of even a leaf that has moved in the ecommerce world!
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