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Here’s a great lesson related by Anass Basha on the importance of listening to your people:
It was 2013 in Sydney Airport Duty-Free. A team was assembled to greet Chinese passengers who were coming to celebrate the year of the horse. A Chinese ‘pavilion’ with a range of core products that the category team forecasted would sell. In principle, it was a great idea, the people involved were full of energy, however, the pavilion faltered when it came to sales performance.
The core reason? The entire product assortment was chosen centrally by buyers using historical data — the line-up did not appeal enough to Chinese customers. The use of quantitative data is of course valid — but the lack of qualitative inputs was missing — from people on the ground or customers. Ageing or clearance product was also added, rather than a specific or targeted buy for this initiative.
In the aftermath, time was taken to talk to employees on the floor about customer requests and browsing patterns — direct customer feedback was taken too.
The pavilion was re-merchandised to look more appealing to the Chinese consumer based on the feedback and also relocated to the departure terminal later on in February. The pavilion was a great success and led to a number of innovative selling techniques in the travel…
