Communication Characteristics of a Global Brand’s Store Staff as a Key CRM Tool, and Local Customers’ Satisfaction and Intention to Repurchase: A Case Study of UNIQLO Thailand

Abstract

The fast fashion business in ASEAN is growing rapidly because young consumers in the region now have higher purchasing power and are very keen on fashion. The business is also thriving particularly in Thailand (Kasikorn Research Center, 2013). In the past decade, UNIQLO, a Japanese leading fast fashion retailer run by Fast Retailing Co., Ltd., has become one of the most popular international apparel brands in this country.  This article, originally part of a paper entitled ‘Store Staff – Customer Communication for CRM: A Case Study of UNIQLO Thailand,’ will examine: 1) CRM strategy, exploiting store staff as the main players; and 2) the communication characteristics of the store staff that lead to customer satisfaction and repurchase intent. A Multi-method research strategy was employed. Quantitative data were gathered by distributing two hundred questionnaires to UNIQLO customers from five branches across Bangkok.  Qualitative data were collected via in-depth interviews with the brand’s first store manager (in Thailand) and with twenty questionnaire respondents.

The results show:

1)  According to its CRM strategy, UNIQLO Thailand expected their staff to be brand representatives and the main players in building customer relationships. In doing so, UNIQLO’s nine DNAs: Cleanliness, Tidiness, Politeness, Energetic, Punctuality, Briskness, Hospitality, Teamwork and Correctness were imparted to the store staff through several channels, like company training programs and daily morning meetings.

2)  According to the respondents, the most satisfying communication characteristic was ‘the store staff used polite language and tonality’, which reflected the ‘Politeness’ DNA; while the least satisfying was ‘the store staff were able to give advice in choosing clothes that fit you.’ In addition, among communication characteristics that affected repurchase intention, the respondents rated ‘the store staff gave a warm welcome and service with smile,’ which reflected ‘Hospitality’ and ‘the store staff communicated with polite manners,’ which reflected ‘Politeness,’ as the highest; while ‘the store staff had good product knowledge and able to provide right information’, reflecting ‘Correctness,’ was rated the lowest. At a significance level of 0.05, scores of satisfaction and repurchase intention rated by customers who were different in sex, age group, range of income, and from different branches, were statistically different.

The respondents could not clearly distinguish the store staff’s communication characteristics meant to reflect ‘Energetic’ and ‘Briskness’ (Haki Haki in Japanese) because, in Thai culture, the actions that reflected both terms were quite similar; while in Japanese culture, they are clearly different.