We have moved into the era of the customer which means focusing, understanding and connecting with the customer is imperative to compete in the consumer products and retail industries. As the Consumer Product & Retail industry practice here at Perficient considers these industries, we use examples from companies – Burberry and Apple – even though they are not our clients.
Why?
In terms of thinking – connecting to their customers – they have the best vision in the retail industry.
I’m sure there are those who would argue with that statement, but Apple, arguably the most successful retailer in terms of performance, based on sales/square foot/year $5900+, has voted – they have chosen Burberry’s CEO, Angela Aherndts, as their new head of retail.
What was Burberry’s vision/strategy that Apple was so interested in?
Connecting the customer in every way they could which resulted in serving their customers better than anyone. From launching Burberry World Live to their strong digital engagement to outside investment, Burberry has focused on and invested in the best and most effective ways to engage with their customer. Angela Aherndts understands the importance of the customer connection: “You have to be totally connected with everyone who touches your brand. Our vision is that a customer has total access to Burberry, across any device, anywhere.”[1] Apple will be looking to Angela to utilize her experience and knowledge from her time at Burberry to expand and redefine Apple’s customer connection and shopping experience.
We’d love to help our clients, to do the same.
[1] Source: http://www.salesforce.com/customers/stories/burberry.jsp