Going Direct
● Here’s what companies and brands need to know.
As brands deal with the pandemic, they are increasingly relying on clienteling to reach their most important customers.
Retailers are finding ways to romance shoppers amid the pandemic.
In the Hamptons and around New York City, a Jimmy Choo van makes house calls, showing up with the latest collection for an in-home preview party. Kate Spade and Coach offer Zoom dates with sales associates for consumers to view the latest assortment. Lingerie brands such as Cuup let shoppers chat with a personal fit expert and get measured for a bra by way of a video fit session. Anthropologie’s Bhldn has virtual style appointments for bridesto-be to view gown options at home. Alibaba offers live streaming, so shoppers can see products in showrooms on models and talk with an associate by video before they buy.
These are just a few of the examples of the ways retailers are using clienteling to stay connected to consumers while the traditional methods of retailing ( brick-andmortar stores) remain uncertain.
“Clienteling is about getting to the customer however they want to be gotten to,” Marcie Merriman, cultural insights and customer strategy leader at EY Consulting, told WWD. “It could mean if the customer wants to come into the store and they like being in that environment. Or, if they’re in a hotel room and they want a personal stylist to come to them. In our world today, of course, clienteling is much more about the company personally getting to where the consumer is, which for a lot of people is shopping at home.”
The definition of clienteling is as vast as the examples. But at its core, it’s the idea of a sales associate forming a relationship with his or her best customers to keep them informed on the latest trends by way of text messages, apps, social media or a personal phone call. The retailer’s history with the shopper means the sales associate to recommend products, services and sizing, and even anticipate future needs.
In today’s environment, these tools are essential. Because despite the recent rush toward online shopping created by the coronavirus pandemic, in-store shopping still makes up the bulk of consumers’ purchases. Thus, clienteling is a way for companies and brands to stay in touch with their most loyal customers — possibly even attracting new ones — while many stores around the globe remain closed and many more consumers remain fearful of going into physical stores.
Whatever the reason, clienteling is helping retailers drive revenues — and the practice is growing in popularity.
“Clienteling is where our world is going today,” Merriman said. “It’s increasingly going back to that world where the retailers actually know you and they bring you the stuff you need and when and where you need it.”
Once upon a time, retailers having oneon-one relationships with customers was the norm. Who can forget the milkmen who used to deliver products to clients’ homes each day before refrigerators became widely available, taking into account each customer’s shopping habits and food preferences? A number of smaller boutiques and leading fashion brands with their own stores have long relied on similar methods of commerce. Then came the rise of the department store and retailers scaling rapidly in order to sell to the masses. While department stores like Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom and Saks Fifth Avenue still relied on clienteling for their biggest spenders, in many cases along the way the intimate relationship between customers and retailers was lost.
Even so, these practices still exist in some industries today: think about a personal stylist who picks out clothing options for his or her clients, remembering each client’s style preferences and measurements. Or, the hairstylist who takes note of which styles and products work best for each person. These public-facing salespeople offer valuable insights into the consumers’ minds and potential to buy.
“A lot of the most important data is in the sales’ associates heads,” Nick Kramer, vice president, practice leader for digital transformation and advanced analytics at SSA & Co., a global consulting firm that advises companies on strategic execution. “There’s much more than purchase history. There’s psychographic data: What are the characteristics of this person from a segmentation perspective? What is their age group? What are their behavioral preferences? What is their household income? Do they have a family? It is incredibly nuanced.
“Once you have your arms around the data, then you can start taking actions that not only drive a more predictable outcome, but [actions that] generate their own learnings so that the retailer can continue to improve and hone its actions,” Kramer said.
In-home and store appointment versions of clienteling offer another unique attribute: the shopper isn’t browsing. He or she already likely has an idea of what they want. Rather, they’re looking for recommendations from the brands that know them best.
“Clienteling is getting more into the personal responses,” Sonia Lapinsky, managing director at Alix Partners, said. “It helps influence that shopping behavior and has better engagement. It’s a logical way for companies to reach out and connect and maximize as many sales as possible online to compensate for missed sales from brick-and-mortar.”
Technology plays a part, too.
In addition to the WeChat and
WhatsApp messages, social media contact and phone communications, brands are using video conferencing, artificial intelligence and virtual reality to connect.
“People still want to see people,” said Rori Duboff, managing director innovation and strategy at Accenture Interactive. “Thinking about your strategy, you want to make sure your people are still visible to your audience and customers.”
Mark Yuan, cofounder and chief executive officer of And Luxe, a livestreaming consulting firm that works with fashion brands throughout the U. S., China and Europe, tells clients to use live streaming services where models try on products and consumers can log on to see and comment. This starts a two-way dialogue between not just the brand and an individual, but between shoppers in different locations, thus creating a community around the brand.
“It’s almost like shopping in a group,” Yuan said during a recent
Alibaba livestreaming webinar. “This is a collective shopping experience. The customers are talking to each other. Customers feel like they’re building a direct relationship with the brand. It is very informal but social.”
Yuan added that when consumers get answers to their questions immediately, in a three-dimensional way, conversion rates tend to increase and retailers veer towards fewer instances of ordering products that don’t sell.
“You can have a live focus group before you put anything into production, because people are voting on what they like best [during the livestream],” Yuan said.
Merriman of EY Consulting pointed out that technology is not a requirement of clienteling, but it does enable companies and brands to try new things, such as online tutorials and consultations.
Shoppers can learn how to apply beauty products from professional makeup artists without ever entering a store by way of MAC Cosmetics’ YouTube videos. Virtual reality lets fashionistas try on clothing and makeup by way of a camera on their mobile device or laptop. Web sites like Stitch Fix or The Yes offer AI-driven recommendations based on data points. Christian Dior shoppers can experience the Champs-Élysées store in Paris online by way of 360 virtual reality that allows them to scroll around and look at products on shelves as if they were in the physical store.
“It’s about giving the people the feeling that they’re in this environment that they would have gotten if they were in the store,” Duboff said. “The idea is that you get close enough to the product that you’re able to feel confident enough to buy it.
“Being able to stay in touch with potential clients, shoppers, has been a lot more complicated because nobody is traveling to stores anymore,” Duboff continued. “It’s doing all these things that are increasing the confidence of consumers, because what we see is that the biggest barrier to shopping for items right now that one would normally buy in- store is confidence. That’s what clienteling is, extending the value proposition. How do you extend the value proposition in the post- COVID-19 world so you’re not just the product? A lot of it is through digital content.”
Of course clienteling is nothing new. (It’s been happening in the luxury space for years.) In addition to the New York-area Jimmy Choo van, which was launched in June, the luxury shoe and accessories brand has been making house calls to some of its top clients for years. Jimmy Choo fans can request in-home appointments in almost any city where there’s a store in the U. S. or Canada, or can set up Zoom viewing sessions with sales associates.
Recently, Jimmy Choo creative director Sandra Choi did a Zoom video session with some of Neiman Marcus’ top clients, as the store has done with other designers it carries. Attendees were able to see the latest collections while asking Choi questions about the brand and her creative process. ►