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.

For more, go to http://www.pushprint.co.za/?p=5415 or www.sowetan.co.za/News/Article.aspx?id=1076726.