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Times, Sowetan 2009 Retail Awards click

“This shows we are not resting on our laurels,” says Mike Harvey, the MD of Clicks, which was awarded first place in the Specialist Health and Beauty Stores Category and fifth place in the Retail Grand Prix Award. “The company is a well-entrenched brand but we never take our customers' loyalty for granted. We are constantly looking for ways to improve our customers' experience in our stores.”
Consistent value, regular research pay off
Harvey attributes the company's success to its ubiquity, the company has 346 stores and 214 in-store pharmacies nationwide, and that customers know that they will get consistent value in any of the stores they visit throughout the country. He also points to the rapid expansion of the pharmacies to become the biggest pharmacy chain in the country as one of the pillars of the company's success.
The company regularly does intensive research and monitoring to ensure that customers' experiences and feedback are taken into account when management decisions are made about how the brand is run. “We ask customers and non-customers to describe what ‘good service' means to them. This results in us spending of millions of rand on training and staff incentivising each year, to optimise the customer experience.
Developing people
“We are making environmentally sustainable decisions in the way that we build and design our shops and we are developing great people within our business to ensure its sustainability into the future.” Sustainability is one of the major themes it is pursuing and which Harvey believes will help keep it firmly entrenched with consumers. “Our Private Label brands offer reputable quality at a significantly cheaper price, so that customers can get the best value for the lowest possible cost. We also have plans to improve our operating efficiencies. Better stock control means that stock is always available but it is also a green solution as it means less unnecessary deliveries.
“Finally, we are continually building our customer loyalty through our Clubcard programme, which was recently awarded second place in the Sunday Times Top Brands Awards,” he concludes.
The awards were held on Thursday, 8 October 2009.
The 2009 Times and Sowetan Retail Awards | ||||
Category | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | |
1 | Independent Chain Liquor Store | Liquor City | Ultra Liquors | Solly Kramer |
2 | Retail Chain Liquor Stores | Tops at Spar | Pick n Pay Liquor | Makro Liquor |
3 | Wholesalers National | Trade Centre | Makro | Boxer |
4 | Fast Food - Burgers | Spur Steak Ranches | Wimpy | McDonald's |
5 | Fast Food - Chicken | KFC | Nando's | Chicken Licken |
6 | Fast Food Pizza | Debonair's Pizza | Roman's Pizza | Primi Piatti |
7 | Family sitdown restaurants | Spur Steak Ranches | Wimpy | Ocean Basket |
8 | Family sitdown - Seafood | Ocean Basket | Something Fishy | Cape Town Fishmarket |
9 | Coffee shops | Mugg & Bean | Wild Bean Cafè | House of coffees |
10 | Shoe stores | Spitz | Nine West | Green Cross |
11 | Clothing Chains | Edgars | Woolworths | Truworths |
12 | Men Clothing stores | Edgars | Woolworths | Truworths |
13 | Womens Clothing Chain | Woolworths | Edgars | Truworths |
14 | Exclusive Brand Stores | Levi's | LaCoste | Uzzi |
15 | Specialist Baby and Child stores | The Baby Company (At Ackermans) | Reggie's | Toys R Us |
16 | Specialist Health and Beauty Stores | Clicks | Red Square | Diskom |
17 | Home Furnishing Stores | Mr Price Home | Boardmans | Sheet Street |
18 | Furniture Stores | Geen & Richards furniture | Morkels furnishers | Bradlows furnishers |
19 | Hardware and Building Stores | CTM | Builders Warehouse | Build It |
20 | Jewellery stores | American Swiss | Sterns | Arthur Kaplan |
21 | Specialist sport/outdoor stores | Totalsports | Sport Scene | Nike Store |
22 | Tyre and Auto Fitment Centres | Tiger Wheel and Tyre | Super Quik | Hi-Q |
23 | Forecourt stores | Engen Quick Shop | BP Express Shop (Pick n Pay Express/ Wildbean) | Woolworths food stop at Engen |
24 | Electronic, Computer and Gadget Stores | Game | Hi-Fi Corporation | Makro |
25 | Shopping Centres overall | Menlyn Park Shopping Centre | Sandton City & Nelson Mandela Square | Gateway Theatre of Shopping |
26 | Gauteng Shopping centres | Menlyn Park Shopping Centr | Sandton City & Nelson Mandela Square | Maponya Mall |
27 | W Cape Shopping Centres | Victoria & Alfred Waterfront | Canal Walk | Cavendish Precinct |
28 | KZN shopping centres | Gateway Theatre of Shopping | The Pavilion | La Lucia Mall |
29 | Best for bulk shopping | Pick n Pay / Pick n Pay Hypermarket | Shoprite | Checkers/ Checkers Hyper |
30 | Best for top up shopping | Shoprite | Pick n Pay / Pick n Pay Hypermarket | Spar/ KwikSpar/ Super Spar |
31 | Overall Grocery Shopping - quality,range,value,service | Pick n Pay / Pick n Pay Hypermarket | Shoprite | Checkers/ Checkers Hyper |
32 | Book Store | CNA | Exclusive Books | CUM book stores |
33 | Music Store | Reliable | Musica (CD Wherehouse) | TopCD |
34 | Retail Grand Prix Award | KFC | Edgars | Shoprite |
For more, go to http://www.pushprint.co.za/?p=5415 or www.sowetan.co.za/News/Article.aspx?id=1076726.
