What Customer Centricity Really Means

By Matt Pillar, chief editor

February 2014 Integrated Solutions For Retailers

When Orvis let customer satisfaction metrics drive its fulfillment, training, and customer support initiatives, measurable improvement ensued.

Customer centricity is quite possibly the most overused and entirely abused buzz phrase of the current retail age. Every retailer claims it. All vendors say they have it. But what does it really mean?

Let’s begin by defining what it doesn’t mean. It doesn’t mean your customers are important to you. It doesn’t mean you like having them and want to cater to their needs. That’s all just lip service.

True customer centricity requires a demonstrated commitment to building business systems and processes and operational change that are all based on what you know about your customers and their desires. And that demonstrated commitment requires unerring and factbased knowledge of those customer desires.

If you want to see real customer centricity in action, look no further than Orvis.