Target: A Case Study in Customer Loyalty
By now most of us have bid our farewells to Target Canada. The big box giant, after attempting to make waves on the Canadian retail scene (and arguably it did, although in the end these were no more than ripples), fell quite short of expectations and as a result is no more. Target has really proven to be a perfect case study in customer loyalty.
Target Canada faltered, almost from the very beginning, for a number of reasons. One of the biggest was the empty shelves that seemed to constantly loom large for shoppers looking for a deal. Another was the prices; Canadian shoppers entered Target Canada for the first time expecting an American equivalent and were usually disappointed. Those Canadian shoppers who fell in love with the discount superstore from the U.S. continued to have their customer loyalty tested.
By the end of the road, Target Canada seemed to give up, but refused to go out without a bang. Check out this great article from The Huffington Post, “The Unbearable Lameness Of Target Canada’s Liquidation Sale”: http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2015/02/07/target-canada-liquidation-sale_n_6633616.html. After building up the hype about the liquidation sales Target would host in order to get rid of stock, customers again found themselves wondering why they’d even bothered.
The article features of number of Twitter images of customer’s experiences, from empty shelves, to higher prices masquerading as sales, to aisles that were almost impossible to navigate due to the mess. In the end, people did turn up for what they assumed would be great deals, but many just left after a largely lackluster event.
If Target Canada can teach us anything after only 2 years here, it is that customers need to feel as though their needs and wants matter. Customer loyalty is becoming increasingly difficult to retain, and even the slightest hitch in today’s retail sphere can have major impacts.
Marketsupport has the tools and tips to help you boost your customer loyalty. Call us today at 1-877-421-5081.
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