Our Flash Sale on Nightwear continues
I’m so proud of British Boxers and that we treat our customers with a massive load of love. I mean, I know business has to be about making a profit, but what’s the point if there’s no joy, right? Also, I know it’s difficult to analyse data if it doesn’t exist, but surely you want your customers to come back for more next time? So, I’ll tell you the sorry tale of woe. Feel free to switch off if it’s too much. I realise this is technically a marketing blog post, and it’s probably taking the marketing experience to a level of abstraction that might not be what you signed up for.
Still here? Sitting comfy? OK. Two weeks ago I bought my child some trainers for her uncle’s upcoming wedding. She’s a teenager but has a disability and can’t do lady shoes. I haven’t got a disability and I can’t do lady shoes either. I mention this as a way to include her but am now questioning the wisdom of that too. It’s alienating when people say, “Mind you, I’m like that.” It’s not the same, is it?
Anyway, I digress. UPS say they delivered the shoes, but they aren’t here. They didn’t arrive. Now, I appreciate that there needs to be an internal investigation as to why they didn’t arrive, but surely that is for the trainer company to investigate with UPS whilst sending me a replacement pair of shoes? Am I wrong? So they have my money and they say it will take at least 10 days to investigate it all, and my daughter has no shoes. I find that really, really bad because the only outcome is that they’ve been either been nicked, lost by UPS or not sent by the shoe company, and in all of those cases the only fair outcome is to send a replacement pair of shoes or refund my money. Maybe the shoe company make more profit by being so inexorably difficult, but I will never ever shop with them again so maybe not.
They cannot analyse a non-sale very easily, so they don’t appear to care. I’ve just looked at their Wikipedia and they are the third largest athletic footwear brand in the US with a turnover of $6 billion which is potentially fabulous for their boardroom but horrific for me in the sense that I really don’t matter, do I? My little girl’s shoes to them are nothing and yet to her at her uncle’s wedding they were going to be sparkly and rose gold and they meant the world because she’d have felt glamorous in them. I mean maybe if the shoe company looked after their customers they’d make more money or less money, but I can tell you from huge experience that they’d be happier people with a happier workforce.
Yes, every business wants to make a profit, but unless there’s a spark of joy for the consumer and the brand, and a sense of pride and love, what’s the absolute point? We may as well all go home. I’m incredibly proud of the customer service we offer at British Boxers and we are so careful to go back to all customers and resolve any issues quickly. Why? Because you’re really important.
I’ll shut up now because otherwise I’ll start projectile crying like Gwyneth Paltrow at the Oscars, but before I leave I’ll also just say that there’s 20% OFF all full-priced sleepwear this week so we can clear stock down ahead of our impending warehouse move. And there’s 50% OFF loads of our gorgeous men’s and women’s socks too – proper treats for your feet they are, and they’ll arrive too!
