New Ideas for Nordstrom\'s Customer Service Approach

Nordstrom began as a shoe retailer, and eventually transition into a fashion and apparel department story, but all along it was the strong desire of management to provide "the highest level of customer service" with "top of the line, high quality merchandize" (Chapter 5). This paper points to the need for Nordstrom to continue to expand its great customer service, and the risks it might take in that regard.

Nordstrom and Customer Services

How can a great company known for exceptional customer service continue to provide that service and at the same time boost customer loyalty? Given the extraordinary measures that Nordstrom already has gone to -- and goes to -- how can they continue to provide services that go above and beyond what other upscale department stores? These are the salient questions for this paper. Ideas for continuing to provide great customer care services are provided in the following paragraphs.

Child Care at Nordstrom

One service that could be implemented is child care for shoppers -- while they shop. While some Nordstrom stores provide child care for employees, why not provide it for customers? Let's say a woman with a 3-year-old child is shopping for Christmas gifts, and her usual day care services are not available on this particular day. Since Nordstrom had a licensed child care provider in a very child-friendly facility in the store, it would be a very helpful customer service for the mother. The licensed provider could be a registered nurse, who would also be competent to see to it that the health of the child was good, albeit, Nordstrom doesn't want to get into the healthcare / doctor business. Still, this would be a wonderful way of going the extra mile for mothers who bring their children to the store.

Fundraising and Support for Nonprofit Community Organizations

This is a project that would be very attractive to many customers who are involved in volunteer work for nonprofit community organizations, or for customers that make donations to certain community groups working for social change or are advocates for certain segments of the population. For example, customers will receive a form at the checkout stands that explains how to nominate a favorite nonprofit group for potential benefits to be received from Nordstrom stores. Sally from a rural town comes into Nordstrom to shop once a month. She serves as a volunteer for a local wildlife rescue organization; once a week for four hours she volunteers on the organization's phones. Citizens call in with reports of injured wildlife, and she arranges for other volunteers to pick up the injured bird, for example, and bring it to the rehabilitation center. Sally nominates her group to receive benefits from Nordstrom; she asks specifically for the store to donate clothing for a silent auction her group is holding on its next fundraiser.

So, continuing the proposed program, the Nordstrom store would have an attractive box available for the filled-out forms to be deposited in. And numerous nonprofit donation suggestions from customers would be accessed once a week; one nomination would be selected at random, and the store would move forward by providing items of apparel or gift certificates so the nonprofit may benefit financially. It is already known that Nordstrom has a store in New York's Soho district called "Treasure & Bond," which was designed so it can "donate its profits to charity" (Martinez, 2011). Hence, profits from this store could be donated to one of the weekly winners in the fundraising strategy mentioned in the paragraphs above. Instead of donating merchandize or a gift certificate, those whose community nonprofits were chosen to be helped, a check could be sent (a 501c3 is a federally licensed public charity) to that organization (after it has been vetted) and that would be a tax-exempt donation.

Benefits for Customers

Nordstrom has a special benefits program for customers who spend $10,000, and also for customers that spend more than $20,000 annually as well. It would be very gracious and generous for Nordstrom to also offer special benefits for customers that spend $1,000 in a year's time. The middle class or lower middle class consumer is often a person that is trying to climb higher in the socioeconomic ladder in America. Nordstrom wants people from various socioeconomic situations to shop, either online or in person. Hence, a $1,000 a year customer might be offered mark-down prices on children's clothes two days a month. The $1,000 a year customer would receive an invitation with a UPC code on it that allows them to get up to 40% off on certain items for children, or for maternity items. In other words, this is brand loyalty being promoted, and a marketing strategy that is customer-centric. Why only have benefits for affluent customers for whom spending $20,000 is normal? I suggest opening up good deals for those shoppers that are not affluent.

Concierge Services

At Nordstrom stores in almost every instance there is a person who greets new customers coming in. That is a classy way to welcome people to the store, and though Wal-Mart also has "greeters," those at Nordstrom are well-dressed, well coiffed, and offer directions to specific departments, in a business-like way that clearly outshines the Wal-Mart strategy.

What I suggest is for the concierge to be a resource in addition to the person greeting customers as they come in. The concierge would be available in less than a minute on any cue from the greeter. Let's say it is raining hard and the customer is double parked in a busy Chicago store because all the available parking spots are full; the greeter zips a message to the concierge who instantly arrives and takes the customer's car keys and parks the car in a safe lot that is reserved for Nordstrom customers. The concierge could also run errands for the customer, although this would have to be very carefully thought out. There is a risk involved of course if the car is in an accident while the concierge is parking the car.

The person greeting customers by the way will immediately offer the child care service if a mother has a baby in her arms and the child may be old enough to be handed to a licensed child care professional.

What are Nordstrom's Greatest Risks? Who are Their Competitors?

To begin with, one of the greatest risks Nordstrom could take would be (as a cost-cutting measure) to not continue all the benefits and perks -- and solid customer service that goes beyond any other store -- they now offer. Also, it would be a disaster if Nordstrom abandoned its "no questions asked" return policy. It would be risky to stop empowering employees. Nordstrom is a company that is "…supported by rigorously maintained standards and training, not just one sentence in an 'employee handbook'" (Solomon, 2014).