Robinsons’ Retail Communication Mix

The objectives of Robinsons’ communication mix is to inform, persuade and remind their existing or acquiring customers about their latest offerings from the departmental store. One of the two popular communication approaches adopted by Robinsons is Sales Promotion and Salespeople.

Sales promotions are targeted at three different audiences: consumers, resellers, and the company's own sales force. Sales promotion acts as a competitive weapon by providing an extra incentive for the target shoppers to purchase or support one brand over another. It is effective to spur unplanned purchases and boost the customers overall connection with the retailer.

Sales Promotion

Robinson carries out sales promotions on a regular basis in order to boost their sales from time to time, maintain its overall sales target every month of the year and connects with their customers about updates to boost loyalty and anticipation.
One of the popular sales promotion tools that Robinsons is using the Robinsons Expo Sale which is organized every 3 to 5 months. Usually, this event will be heavily advertised in the papers or the internet, sometimes during television commercials. The discounts can go up to as high as 70% for a wide variety of items and assortments targeted at households such as bed linen and appliances. They even provide assortments for various high end brands such as Braun Buffel, Trucco, Defry, etc.

Besides having Expo sales at different times of the year, Robinsons also have its own in-store promotion on a regular basis to bring in the crowds during weekends and especially public holidays. They have put in a considerably effort to roll out extensive promotion and even changed the outlook of the departments consistently to relate to the theme of the promotion. One good example is the on-going Staycation promotion that they are having.
The “Staycation” is inspired from the word “Vacation”. As the economic outlook is not very positive these days, Robinsons has taken this opportunity to create a promotion plan that caters to their customers’ budget which has decrease moderately due to their frugal habits in this bad global economy on the whole. Hence, instead of not having plans to go overseas to enjoy themselves, Robinsons used the “Staycation” which in order words, means staying in Singapore for a “vacation” at the Robinsons store. Coupons and further debates are given and informed to customers who have the Robinsons Platinum card by mail and this method has proven effective many times.

Sales People

No matter how good Robinsons are at making decisions for the business, they will never be perfect. The customer will never have all the facts about new trends, new products & services, new ways of doing things if there isn’t a person there to guide them along, updating them on the company’s products.
Hence, in order to live up with their corporate mission of offering quality, value and service, Robinsons believes strongly in developing their people to the fullest potential so as to provide the customers with the highest level of service with the best retail experience
A sales associate is responsible for maintaining outstanding customer service as per company standards, generating sales, merchandising, and safeguarding the company assets. An effective sales associate will find ways to approach their customer when they first notice them entering the department. Next, they will be available as and when the customer needs any assistance. If the customers should have any enquires regarding the products, the sales associate will there to clear their doubts with their product knowledge. With a good service and product knowledge, the customer will tend to give credence and trust to what the sales associate says. Hence, they have become the trusted advisors and important asset for the success of a retail organization such as Robinsons.

For example, when there any enquiries on upcoming promotions or special discounts already available, Robinsons Sales Associates will inform the customers during their shopping experience and delight them by giving extra service. When the customers are informed about the special discounts available and the benefits that the company is giving them such as lucky draws, freebies, or rebates, they will be very pleased that they are not left out and missed the opportunity. As many loyal customers of Robinsons can be too busy to read their mails or email, these Sales Associates will be able to communicate the latest offerings and update them instantly at the store itself.

E-learning via Watch & Learn



a. Describe the retail sector as spoken by Lynn Bavage.
The retail sector is a sector whereby many jobs opportunities are being offered. It is a very flexible sector which allows the employee to request for their own working hours according to their schedule. This could enable the job to fit right into their lifestyle and similarly allowing the lifestyle to fit into the job.

b. Why did Lynn Bavage say that retail is the best job in the world?
She believes it is an exciting and enjoyable job as the employees would be working people and many different products.

c. Briefly explain what Tilly’s coffee shop looks for when employing staff.
Ability to communicate, Good time keeping, Reliability & Trustworthiness

d. Name the other retailer showcased in the video.
Tesco

e. Briefly describe the important skills that are outlined in the video. What are the benefits for the retail employees in the video?
There must be confidence to build on the customer service skills. They get to build on their skills by themselves along the way and also they will have their colleagues to guide them along.

f. Outline any two retailing careers that are available at the retailers that are mentioned in the video.
Manager and Check out team leader.

5 Pitfalls of Inadequate or Poor Customer Service given by Retailers

1. Customer Service Consistency

The consistency of the customer service is very important especially in a well established retail brand such as Robinsons. Customers may get frustrated, confused and can start to complain if they keep receiving a different standard of service each time they patronise the store. This can happen at different aspects of service such as a conversation via their hotline or a face to face enquiry on the products or services.

Example: If a customer calls up the customer service hotline regarding the enquiry of a certain product, he/she is attended to by a very polite customer service consultant over the phone but however when the same customer decided to visit the store itself, the service personal she met there speaks to her in a different tone or rather rudely. This can get the customer confused about its impression of service standards. The image of the service standards of Robinsons can be tarnished easily through word of mouth in this way, regardless how many good services Robinsons associates have given to other customers.


2. Not Going-the-Extra-Mile

Many or in-fact almost most of well-established retail stores such as Robinson, TANGS, Swaroski, etc are facing up the challenge of providing excellent customer service. Going-for-The-Extra-Mile campaign is also encouraged by the government. Hence, in today's established retailers' context, it is considered a must or a need to implement the spirit of excellent customers service in order to grow in the competitive retail industry and survive in the long-term. As a result, customers nowadays are aware and become increasingly particular about this level of service which they expect if they are paying a higher price for good value.
Hence, if just one minor sales associate happens to disregard this mindset and serve his customer in a relunctant or very mediocre manner, that customers may just made a very nasty complain and bring the matter up very seriously in the store. A few of these category of customers can easily bring the image of the store down as onlookers in the store will notice the situation and derive negative comments.

Example: Upon a customer’s intention of purchasing a model of dress in Robinsons, the service personal apologized kindly to inform the customer of not having the stock. However, customer is not satisfied as the personal did not go the extra mile to even bother to check in another store or outlet to find out for the customer nor did he offer other alternatives. The customers became furious and blew up the matter to the supervisors and department manager.

3. Poor Service Recovery

This situation arises when a complaint is not taken seriously specially by an angry customer who has had bad experience with a certain product or service. Service recovery can either make or break the faith in a customer. Impressive good service recovery can retain a customer and change their impression they had earlier. However a bad service recovery can lead to loosing a customer forever.

Example: If a customer makes a complaint that there is a fault in the product that he just purchased within a week of purchase and comes back to change but is attended rudely by service staff or refuse to change for the customer, it can actually make the customer more frustrated and hence the company would loose out on the customer.

4. Personal problems reflected in work

When an employee’s personal life is in crisis or out of control, they may exercise aggression and negativism towards customers in an attempt to put some part of their life in order. This can bring out their frustration out at work and affect their communication and interaction with customers.

Example: If the staff is in a bad mood due to family problems, he/she could accidentally vent out the anger on a customer and cause serious trouble. This could then mean losing the business from the customer for the company. Solution: Clear communications with employees: If their personal life is affecting work performance, talk about it. Time off, access to counseling or just listening may prevent more serious problems.

5. Lack in Product Knowledge

There is nothing worse than dealing with an employee who listens to a problem, then shrugs and says they have to ask someone else in the company to intervene and provide a solution.

Example: When you ask a staff for help regarding a problem, the person just puts you on wait instead of helping you get over the problem. This displays their lack in product knowledge which can hinder them from helping their customers with problems or queries. Solution: Send employees for training and workshops.

Retail Store Management

Tutorial 8

Question 1:
· Who is responsible for employee scheduling?
There is fixed pattern for all Robinsons staffs which include, senior supervisors, assistant supervisors, senior sales associate and sales associates.

The pattern of the schedule is firstly designed and prepared by the Human Resource Management and the timetable is given to the staffs when they first joined Robinsons. After that, the Sales Manager and the Supervisors have the right the edit and change the schedules according to special reasons and activities of Robinsons conducted internally such as extra training sessions. The Sales manager of that department has to inform of any changes. Other reasons for changing include taking leaves and adjusting of schedule to go on a long holiday, etc. For each department in Robinsons, the schedule of each staffs is arranged together such as there will be available and ample staffs or personnel throughout the day, especially during weekends. Sometimes, the Sales Manager of the department will re-arrange the timetable for special reasons and inform his or her staffs.

· How far in advance is the schedule made?
The schedule is already fixed according to the pattern above. Any changes have to be done at least 3 days and the sales manager must be informed.

· How are breaks and lunch periods planned?
Break times for staffs having for their different schedules

· How are overtime hours determined?
Overtimes are determined immediately on that day and the manager or supervisor. It is recorded in a file for reviewing purposes weekly. The hours are clocked and given back where appropriate or upon the staff request to the sales manager.

· On what is the total number of budgeted employee hours for each department based?
The budgeted employee hours are based weekly or as required, sometimes as frequently as everyday especially for part-timers. Sometimes when the manger foresees that there would not be must sales for the day, he/she would send the part-timers off early by 2-3 hours hence helping the company in managing costs.
Also, full-timers especially if they are salesperson who get commission are forced to take no pay leave at least once a month when sales fall low and not much labour is required. This way, they plan out the number of hours that the available employees are supposed to work, also helping to cut down on labour costs.

· How is flexibility introduced into the schedule?
Flexibility has always been implemented and is part of the requirements of the employees to address and adapt to changes implemented.

· How are special requests for days off handled?
Special requests at the eleventh hour will not be entertained except for really valid reasons or emergencies. Due to the limited labour, it is difficult to cover up for a missing staff. However, if a staff happens to take leave, the rest are required to adapt and help to cover for the missing staff. For normal leave requests for full timers, it depends on the numbers of days of leave they can take. However they have to consult the manager before they decide to apply for leave.

· How are peak periods (hourly, days, or seasons) planned for?
Peak periods are usually planned monthly. Sales forecast is predicted by the marketing department and hence a monthly sales target is issued for each department of the store.

· What happens when an employee calls in sick at the last minute?
If an employee is called sick at the last minute, they are in fact encouraged to return home to take rest and seek medical attention. As Robinsons is a retail business, they prioritize customers as first and would not want to bring any harm to their customers by making an unwell staff to work.


E-learning:
Research Topic: Professional Skills Programme in Singapore
This programme is brought forward by Singapore workforce development agency. In another words, it is a programme by our government. This programme is subsidised by the government.

Professional Skills Programme
The Professional Skills Programme brings together the entire range of skills upgrading and job assistance initiatives under the programme. It targets the Professionals, Managers, Executives, Technicians (PMETs).

There are two main functions under this government programme. Skills conversion and skills upgrading.

Skills Conversion
Conversion Programmes enables PMETs to switch to a range of new occupations such as registered nurses, occupational therapists, preschool teachers, property officers, media and digital media professionals, workplace safety and health managers. This includes the Professional Conversion Programmes.

There are situations whereby an individual could not find a job under the set of skills he have. This may be due to reasons such as recession, an industry that has limited spaces for employment or other reasons. This workforce should not be neglected. Therefore the workforce agency came out with such a programme to re-equip this workforce with other set of skills such that they can go into the other industry to work. The ultimate aim of this skill conversion programme is to effectively distribute Singapore workforce to the available spaces of employment in Singapore.

Skills Upgrading
Helps PMETs to improve their skills and employability within the same industry. These include industry-specialised training.

Programmes that equip skills to an individual can be skill upgrading as well. Singapore workforce agency realise the importance of equipping the workforce with the newest set of skills such that the workforce remains competitive.

What has it got to do with the retail industry in Singapore?
This programme is supposed to benefit every industry in Singapore. However, this programme is tied closely to the retail industry for now and the next few years. This is because Singapore government is focusing Singapore finance on the tourism industry. It wants its tourism industry to be the biggest diversement against its port tradings, such that the financial state of Singapore in the future is more stable.

Evidence:
1) Biggest investment of Singapore in the recent years – The integrated resorts
2) Building a casino in IR helps in the boosting the tourism industry but goes against the culture of Singapore government.
3)The Singapore Tourism Board has set targets to achieve 17 million visitor arrivals and $30 billion tourism receipts by 2015

While it focuses in tourism industry, the retail industry flourishes. Here, I will like to highlight a point. The retail industry and the tourism industry is inseperable and co-exists. What happens on tourism industry will affect the retail industry, vice versa.

The tourism investments such as the the integrated resorts will find a surge in its manpower needs. The majority of these manpower demand arises from the retail industry. However, there will not be enough available workforce in the tourism/retailing industry to meet this demand. This is where the psp programme comes into picture. WDA aims to train 36,000 non-tourism workers to take on various jobs. This is the application of skills conversion under psp. By equipping available labour force with relevant skills such that they fit into the relevant industry. The retail industry will be greatly benefited by this programme, as there will be enough workforce to meet the demand.

A good example of how retail industry will be benefited by this programme is the casino. As such a retail format is not seen in Singapore previously, we lack expertise in this field. There is a lack of such a workforce, and therefore needs to be created. Psp skill conversion will be the function in creating such a workforce and then distributing it into the retail industry. In this case the retail industry being the casino.

As Singapore does not earn a good name in servicing customers, the government sees a need in improving the customer service level. This is an important factor in contributing to the tourism industry. This is where the skills upgrading function of psp comes into picture. By upgrading the customer service level in the retail industry, such that it flourishes the tourism industry.

Evidence: WDA is developing the Certified Service Professional programme (CSP), based on its Service Excellence Workforce Skills Qualification (WSQ) framework.

What is Customer Service?
Customer service refers to the ability of knowledgeable, capable, and enthusiatic employees to deliver products and services to their internal and external customers in a manner that satisfies identified and unidentified needs and ultimately results in positive word-of-mouth publicity and return business.

What are the customer service approaches adopted by Robinsons?
The company total approach to developing staff for service excellence is innovative. It recognises that service excellence is not just about training. It has a comprehensive approach that comprises:

• the establishment of clear service performance standards for staff
• a well-integrated and structured programme for developing people to provide excellent service
• monitoring service quality through fortnightly service audits
• systematic service briefings at the start of the day, five times a week covering product knowledge, customer service and sales promotion

A set of clear performance standards has been established for all service staff under the Service Standards Index. It comprises five basic non-negotiables for customer service. These are: greeting the customer, up-selling, promoting the use of the Robinsons card, encouraging customers to complete the feedback form and thanking the customer. These basics are communicated to staff to ensure that they are clear about what is expected of them. The Index provides the basis for service excellence training as well as measuring the performance of both the individual and the organisation. It is used to conduct service audits and derive a fortnightly score for tracking service quality.

The Robinsons Group believes it is important to develop all staff for service excellence. Hence, the service excellence mindset is deployed to all levels of staff in all functions. It involves both new and existing staff, sales and non-sales functions and managers. It is even extended to sales promoters who are not in the organisation's payroll.

The impact of Robinsons people development is significant. It has contributed to a 9% increase in total sales turnover, a 2% increase in sales turnover per staff, as well as a 20% increase in sales generated from new product lines. There was also a three-fold increase in the number of customer compliments received between 2000 and 2001.