DDi - July 2012 - (Page 32)

32 | Department Store Focus “Just because she is standing in your handbag section, doesn’t mean she’s not purchasing from another store, in another city, who has it in another color and a better price.” —Alannah Weston, Selfridges (United Kingdom) underwent a 300-million-euro renovation at its Haussmann store in Paris. “We made the investment to focus on the experience and indulge in ‘retailtainment’ with exceptional store design and brand assortment,” said Paolo De Cesare, chairman and CEO, Printemps (France). Since the renovation, sales have increased 50 percent at the Haussmann store, and 30 percent chainwide (the company is innovating the other 15 stores one by one). “Our average ticket on the ground floor rose from 6 euros to 600 euros,” De Cesare said. With 21 stores across Japan, J. Front Retailing is in a constant and fierce competition for customer loyalty. Tokyo alone has 23 department stores within city limits, and specialty stores, foreign retailers and online shopping have all led to the shrinking department store market share in Japan. As a counter to this trend, J. Front has enacted a “Gaisho” sales assistant model for its Daimaru and Matsuzakaya department store brands. A Gaisho is an out-of-store sales assistant that calls on customers at their homes to sell goods and supports personal shopping in stores when customers do visit. “It leads to more personal service in the store and out,” explained Tsutomu Okuda, chairman and CEO, J. Front Retailing. “Gaisho sales now account for 21 percent of our total sales.” At Printemps, understanding today’s customer and adapting to her needs is what the company believes it does best. De Cesare emphasized that his best customer buys five categories, while a customer he doesn’t know may only buy one category. “We need to own the relationship with our customers,” he stated. “We need to understand what they need. Our best customer comes 18 times per year. We need to respect them.” Growth in the department store sector requires change, innovation, risk-taking and—perhaps most importantly—partnerships that can be taken to a new level. Part of the success of the two-day summit laid in the ability of the event organizers to gather the biggest competitors in the industry together in one room for open conversation about the challenges they all face. From this spilled the successes they’ve shared, and the failures they have been willing to admit. To email this article, visit www.ddionline.com/magazine. Like more creative panel mounting options? N G E U I N E D T E A N R R WA O R I standoff system w w w. p i z a z z s y s t e m s . c o m | July 2012 Number 17 at www.ddionline.com/readerservice G I N A L www.ddionline.com http://www.ddionline.com/magazine http://www.pizazzsystems.com http://www.pizazzsystems.com http://www.ddionline.com/readerservice http://www.ddionline.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of DDi - July 2012

DDi - July 2012
Contents
From the Editor
From the Show Director
Newsworthy
Shopper Insights
Greentailing
Editor’s Choice
Design Snapshot
El Palacio de Hierro
Global Department Store Summit
Liverpool
Neiman Marcus
State of the Fixture Industry Roundtable
2012 Fixture Leaders listing
2012 Fixture Leaders company index
Fixture Products
Right Light
Product Spotlight
Calendar
Advertisers
Classifieds
Think Tank

DDi - July 2012