Retailing Management: Conforama case study All data from public. Just for acedmic propose

1. Agenda
CONFORAMA case study
Wafaa
Yeyuan
Zhufang
Tiphaine
Charlotte
28th March 2013

2. Agenda
Agenda
1
Business Analysis
2
On-line Consumer behaviour
3
Consumer Complaints
4
Implemented Solution – Core Idea
5
Implemented Solution – Step 1,2,3
6
Digital Further Optimization
7
Conclusion

3. Business Analysis
Conforama – Position
Position of Conforama
We are Key Discount Retailer.
What Conforama lack in Digital Marketing
- Value Conveyor
Except discount price, our company is lack of other value conveyors.
Price is not enough.
Need to reinforce in selling-service, delivery service and after-sale service quality
- Customer Experience
The product selling in Conforama is high-involvement product. Even on-line store,
customer might takes long time to compare in price and advise.
To overcome the discrepancy of client expectation and reality product, we can solve
this problem by offering service in live chat

4. Business Analysis
Conforama – Position
IKEA
BUT
Background
- Swedish company (1943) - French company (1972)
- Manufacturer, Retailer
- Retailer
- 42 purchasing centers in
- 200+ stores France
36 countries (1300 vendors)
- Own design teams
- 280 stores in 26 countries
Strategy
- Value Sharing
- Word of mouth
- User-oriented design
- Full linear line from design
to retail
CONFORAMA
- French company
(1967)
- Key Discount Retailer
- Oversea department
in Europe
- 200 stores France
- Customer experience in- -Discount price
store by providing digital
devices
- New concept stores “But
City & But Cosy”

5. Consumer Behaviour
Characteristic and Desire of our consumer
Characteristic of On-line Consumer
The consumers who purchase on-line are focus more on the service, transparency of
price and the convenience to comparison.
What motivate client in online purchasing?
- Convenience: Easier
searching engine
- Product: More selection
and comparison
- Low cost: Discount & free
shipment or return
- Better service: faster
shipment or in-store pick
up

6. Consumer Behaviour
Difference between Physical Store & On-line
Brick & Motar stores
On-line store
Product
- High involvement & more expensive - Low involvement and less expensive
Service
- Need expert advice & explanation
- Details information & introduction
-Immediate response for questioning
-Longer decision time and delivery
time to rent van with costly
-Update new product
-Update special offers on-line
-Easy to compare the products online
with other stores
-Convenience ; delivery to home
Quality
- Higher demand
- Prefer to take trial before purchase
- Want to visualize real product
-Lower demand comparatively
-Always high brand loyalty clients
--Can visualize products with pictures
and simulations + comments
After-sales -Quick response
service in store
Service
with
-Face to face discussion
-Solution offer
customer -Quick response
-Problem discussion
-Solution offer

7. Consumer Complaints
What exact desire on-line customer need?
95% negative sound on Conforama on the Internet
Here are the main concerns
Department
Problem
Product
 Quality complaints
Delivery
 Overlong delivery time
 Asymmetric information
 No way to track order
Customer Service
 Inefficiency
 Insufficient attention on customer
complaints
 Lack of live chat system
Communication
 Inefficient and blur value delivery
 Negative impact of word-of-mouth
Apparently, discount is no
longer enough to appeal our
customers once Conforama
fails in tackling these issues.
What we need to think
Short Term: Existent
problems must be solved.
Long Term: a strong brand
loyalty should definitely be
built by CRM system since
brand loyalty can minimize
the negative impact
generated by any
unpredictable mistakes.

8. Solution
Core Idea
Support
Department
Product
•
•
•
Problem
CommunicationSolving
Short-term
•
•
Marketing
Department
Long-term
Optimize QC
system
Delivery
Clarify value
Establish
community
Process
The pyramid
towards loyalty
•
Loyalty
Building
Optimize information
system
Optimize logistic
Customer Service
Reorganize CRM
system
Relationship
From a vendor to
a mentor

9. Solution
Pyramid to build loyalty: Step 1 – Step 2 – Step 3
In our short and long term solution, we proposed to adjust our digital marketing in 3
steps:
Step 1: Pre-purchase – prevent customer complaints
Step 2: In-purchase – develop customer confidence
Step 3: After-purchase – build customer loyalty:
3
2
1
Build
customer
loyalty
Develop
Customer
Confidence
Prevent
Customer
Complaintss
STAGE
Achieve Customer
Delight
Satisfy Unstated
Customer Needs
Meet Basic Customer
Requirement
DISCIPLINE
PROCESS

10. Solution – 1st step
Meet basic customer requirement
1. Sales Service – Answer for client inquiry
As feedback from shopper, most of them desire to get answer rapidly.
Hereon 3 main immediately solution
Customer
expectations
Sales
service
Solutions
Reason
Expected
Result
79% of online
shoppers hope their
questions can be
answered
immediately.
Apply living chat
software to reply
customers directly
56% of shoppers
who love chat are
more likely to buy
form a website with
a live chat
Solving their
problem directly
Ask for feedback after
one sale transaction
Answer email within 2
hours
Prevent
complaints
Increasing
conversion rate
Increasing
average basket

11. Solution – 1st step
Meet basic customer requirement
2. Sales Service – Perception from Passive to Active
On top of quick response, we suggest to optimize our website design to be more
friendly and easy shopping.
Customer expectations
Website
design
Solutions
Reason
Expected results
Friendly and intimate
online shopping
atmosphere
Changing
expression
Customeroriented
psychology
Customer would
be more intended
to ask for help
Service Concept Relocation
We need to alter existing “A votre écoute” to “Je vous écoute” service concept.
It helps to improve the bad service image from passive to active & positive.

12. Solution – 1st step
Live chat system
Online shoppers are
more craved for
credibility as the
products aren’t virtually
visible. They need
more personalization.
79% of online
shoppers state they
hope their questions
can be answered
immediately.
91% netizens
show the most
effective and
efficient way of
communication
is live chat.
Live chat
system is good
entrance of
customer data
mining.
More personalization

13. Solution – 2nd step
Satisfy Unstated Customer Needs
Sales Service – Diversification in delivery and leadtime
Understand customers’ implicit desires could help to reinforce their confidence,
therefore we provide some concrete solutions:
Customer un stated
expectations
Solutions
Expected Result
77% of customers hope for
free shipping
Provide free delivery service
when attained specific
purchasing amount (For
example:500 euros )
Reinforce customers
confidence
Increase average basket
 Efficient delivery
Improve logistic service
Introduce tracking package
system (applied both in physical
and online store)
Shorten delivery process
Easy to track order
Shorter waiting time
Pick-up in store
Point de relay
More flexible delivery choice

14. Solution – 2nd step
Shift of Relationship by Experience
From a vendor to a mentor
Product
Proposer
Functionality
‘This website
works really well’
Familiarity
‘The website
understands me’
Solution
Advisor
Familiarity
Experience Hierarchy
Value
Clarification
Life
Mentor
Evolution of word-of-mouth
‘I love to share
the story of this
website!’
Evangelism
‘This website is a
part of me’
Internalization
Internalization
Savant
friend

15. Solution – 3rd step
Aligned shopping experience
More
Personalization
More Social
ecommerce
More Mobile
Shopping
More
Uninterrupted
Cross-Channel
Vendor
Live chat
Customer ID
Front office
Synchronized
Information
Customer
DATABASE
Sales
evaluation
Problem
Detecting
Back office

16. Information System
Customer ID system
A unique ID is
employed as Identity in
Conforama
Information System
CUSTOMIZED DATABASE
Basic information
Transaction information
Request information
Tracking information
Information save/load
Brick
Click
Customer ID
CBA Synchronization Triangle
Symmetric information
App
Customer ID will be the key to
open all the customized
information in this information
triangle. Due to our central
database system, we are able to
load customized information
before the service and finally we
can realize uninterrupted crosschannel service with the
synchronization of information.

17. Service evaluation
Achieve Customer Delight
After Sales Service – Answer for client inquiry
An effective and
efficient service
evaluation circle
is suggested to
work on
service/product
quality
monitoring.
Customer
potential
Customer
satisfaction

18. Problem Detecting
A digital community is
proposed to be created
at both external and
internal extent.
By a variety of
communication tools,
we’re able to hear
from our customers in
time as to our services
as well as goods.
Meanwhile, internal
systems will employ all
the internal resources
to find solution for
each specific problem
or a series of
homogeneous
problems.
1.Connecting to Customer
ID
2. Focused on the steps
involved in producing the
product or service
3. In control of the steps
involved in producing the
product or service
4. constantly working to
understand and order all
that is happening.

19. Agenda
THANK YOU

20. Online Issues
Different digital tools for Conforama communication
Conformation has a 95% negative e-reputation mainly because of
their on-line services: people complain about the delay of delivery
and even about the quality of the products.
People not satisfied at all don’t hesitate to share their anger on the
social media which impacts the e-reputation of Conforama.
• The website where the consumer can compare, choose and buys
its product
• Social media (Facebook fan page, Twitter account)
• SAV after-sales service dealing with the issues about the
purchases and the delivery of the items ordered on-line

21. On-line solutions
Proposals for online issues
•
•
•
•
•
Need to improve the client relation and communicate clearly with them on the social
media.
It is important for consumers to feel that what Conforama wants is to satisfy with the
clients : be active on the Facebook page and consumers blogs.
Create a page dedicated to after-sale service in order to be constantly in touch with the
clients
Follow the consumer from the beginning of their purchase process
before the sale with search engine optimization => make Conforama appear in search
results
during the purchase : make the website attractive and easy to use : do not hesitate to
emphasize the special offers, make special offers exclusively on-line
after-sale service : communicate with the client : real-time following of the items
purchased by e-mail (the consumer can know whan the product is sent to him and when it
will receive it.
For social media: Conforama has to respond to angry consumers and give them discounts
and special offers to repair the potential problems.
Show that it is reactive and answer the consumers.

22. Marketing Communication Analysis
Conforama and Competitor
IKEA
BUT
CONFORAMA
1. Through Ambassador clients
1. Through trendy header face
1. Through network of value
IKEA focus value and prefer
WOM. Their ambassador clients
will spread out information to
potential customers through a one
to one interaction.
Customers selecting this kind of
product always take higher
involvement - longer learning
process and expertise advice – like
trendy header (not only word of
mouth).
Only utilize the network in
“discount price” value of
Conforama
2. Through its products
2. Through a customer experience 2. Through its products or
reinvented + community
discount
management
Applied visual marketing
Always focus on Discount
(experience marketing) and
customer cognitive learning want.
Emphasize the product
performance rational benefit

23. APPENDIX
SWOT – Conforama and Main Competitors
IKEA
BUT
CONFORAMA
STRENGTHS
- Leader and Global brand: good brand
awareness
- Concept: strong and well designed
- Product: renewable and recycle, wide
variety 10000+ and good quality
- Price: compelling pricing and good
value
- Service: hard wearing and long-lasting.
Customer can pay more for it
elsewhere.
- Stores: large provide space to
showcase products and carry
supporting inventory
- Environmental Friendly – sustainability
WEAKNESSES
- France brand
- New technologies : new website and
involvement in social media
- New concept stores: “But City & But
Cosy”
- Reinvention of the customer experience
with digital store devices and community
management
- France brand
- association with international
celebrities to reach out to the
customers
- Seasonal attractive promotional
offers to attract consumers
- High brand loyalty in consumer
minds especially in premium target
group
- Has a strong workforce of over
13000+ employees
- some products are poor quality
- some items may be too involved for
the average customer to assemble
- Outmoded and old fashioned brand
- Rising raw material cost causes
increase in prices of products
- Brand penetration globally is less

24. APPENDIX
SWOT – Conforama and Main Competitors
IKEA
BUT
CONFORAMA
OPPORTUNITIES
- soft economy makes low price
- Gain market share against competitors
furniture even more appealing for
- Create proximity and consistency
consumers
- many traditional furniture retailers have
gone out of business
- Rising popularity of online shopping
- Expanding into specialized retail
store catering can provide specific
service to consumers
- More advertising and marketing
would help to increase visibility
- After collaboration with other
brands, brand hopes to make more
choice available
-Global expansion would help to
increase brand presence and brand
awareness
THREATS
- growth of competition
- economic crisis
- not all consumers are able to pick up,
transport and assemble the furniture
- Strong competition (Ikea)
- Kind of satured market with the financial
crisis
1.The customers have a higher
bargaining power and low switching
cost
2.Competitive environment in terms
of prices and availability