One of the areas of marketing I was and am always so passionate about is the Customer Life Cycle. Why? Because it just makes sense from the perspective of companies/brands/products building RELATIONSHIPS with customers rather than making things that sell.
One such company who do it well are Rigby and Peller.
On the purchase of breastfeeding bra's, you get a discount for your first purchase of "normal" bra's. Someone, somewhere figured out that eventually women stop breastfeeding, and since the shape of their breasts change (sorry if this comes as a shock to you), they need new bra's. Useful for the customer and for Rigby and Peller, Kerrrching!
Alas, I was disappointed when buying some underwear there today. I had 3 panties (or briefs or knickers depending which word you use in your country) and each were priced differently: 17.95, 19.95 and 21.95. WHAT?? When I discovered this, I asked the sales lady who seemed just as mystified as me. She checked with the manager, who sheepishly explained that "old stock was priced lower and new stock was subject to the stronger Euro"). I'm sorry, but when did your stock issues become MY problem? If they were really smart they would have:
- offered me all 3 for the price of the lowest and admitted that you simply cannot price the same product in 3 different ways AND
- re-pricing all stock at the higher price and increasing overall margins
A company simply should not expect a customer to pay 3 different prices for the same commodity. Currency fluctuations and inventory are NOT the customer's problem and retailers should not expose their clientele to this.
A final digital note: while R & P are well ranked in Google, if you type the name in with any variations e.g. "Pellar" instead of "Peller" or with ".co.uk" instead of ".com" you do NOT get redirected. Surely companies should be anticipating typo's and claiming these URL's? Or am I the only dumb cluck who doesn't immediately always use Google....?
