Complete 16 pages APA formatted article: Fashion and Buying. In today’s retail world there are thousands of competitors, and millions of items being pushed at a customer to buy. It is highly likely th

Complete 16 pages APA formatted article: Fashion and Buying. In today’s retail world there are thousands of competitors, and millions of items being pushed at a customer to buy. It is highly likely that a customer will be able to buy an item similar to yours from a competitor. So how do you keep customers loyal? It boils down to making shopping an individualized experience for each customer. Having top customer service, as well as tailoring each shopping experience to each individual shopper will ensure that customers remain loyal for years to come.

What exactly is customer service? It is something different for everyone, however we can simply define customer service as putting the customer first, and making shopping as easy and enjoyable for the customer as is possible. Using IT makes it easy to achieve this goal. These are just some ways to improve customer service and individualize the shopping experience online. There are things we can do in its stores as well. Since the goal is to make the customer as happy as possible, the more information you have on a customer, the better. One way to do this is to keep a log in the store’s computer of each item the customer has purchased. This way, sales associates can make suggestions for the customer’s future purchases based on items they already know he or she likes. This will give the customer a feeling that the sales associates really value them, and will increase customer loyalty as well as store revenue. In addition,We could also use these customer logs to send out notices of upcoming sales to customers.

Excellent customer service and shopping convenience is not the only way to increase a company's overall revenue. Employee satisfaction plays a big part in a store's success. Studies have shown that happy employees are productive employees. Simple things, such as creating a regular work schedule as opposed to having rotating shifts, can decrease turnover by 50%, thus helping to cultivate more long-term relationships between sales associates and their customers (Smith, 2003).

Employees are also happy when they feel they are good at their jobs. An excellent way for Gap to determine whether or not their employees are excelling at their jobs would be to keep track of each item the employee sells. If an employee is assigned to the women's department, however they continuously are making sales of men's clothing, the store manager will see this and can move them to the men's department, where they could potentially be more useful and happier.

Not only do happy employees stay with a company longer and are more productive, they also make customers happier (Glanz, 2003). When employees are happy, they create an atmosphere of friendliness and dedication. Shopping in such an atmosphere makes customers happy and relaxed. Only good things can come from this.

The new market place is all about customization and personalization. Knowing what each individual customer wants, and knowing how he or she wants it. No longer will product sell to entire segments of the market. With so many competing forces the masses demand personal touches.