Monday February 4 2019 THE NATIONAL MOTORCYCLE MUSEUM, BIRMINGHAM


award winners special ‘We’re constantly


looking for ‘what’s new’’ Lakeland buying & merchandising director Samm Swain explains why customer service is at the heart of this housewares business


with just a £2.99 delivery charge on orders under this amount. As with every aspect of our business, we’re constantly looking for ‘what’s new’. In recent years, we’ve made ourselves even more accessible to our ever busy customers, by introducing a live web chat facility and realigning shifts: mapping our team’s shifts to customer demand, so we have colleagues in the right place at the right time. We also have some exciting projects in the pipeline, which we’re looking forward to sharing in the near future.


“Customers are at the


customers around the world with innovative kitchenware and home solutions. Founded in the 1960s in the heart of the


L


Lake District, Lakeland now has 68 shops nationwide, a dedicated German mail order business (Lakeland.de), and stores trading in Australia and the Middle East. Our founder Alan Rayner used to say: ‘Look


after our customers, and the business will look after itself.’ For over 50 years, customer service has been at the very heart of our business. Looking after our customers has helped us


thrive since we first opened our doors and, as we've grown, we’ve never lost sight of what’s important... our customers! Our dedication to exceptional products, as


well as customer satisfaction, has set us apart from competitors and provided the loyal following that has established us as the UK’s leading kitchenware company. Customers are at the forefront of our mind in


everything we do, from product selection meetings and store layout planning to our famous three-year no quibble guarantee. They can return any product for any reason within three years; all we need is proof of purchase. We offer free UK postage on orders over £39.99,


akeland is now a multi-national as well as multi-channel housewares retailer, providing millions of


forefront of our mind in everything we do”


A key differentiation is that Lakeland has its


own customer ambassador, Wendy Miranda. Since her appointment over 12 years ago, it’s been her job to ensure that customers’ interests always come first, and their views are always heard at board level. Wendy has a unique position, where she has


the remit to influence anything that will affect Lakeland customers, from her key involvement in product selection meetings, to the design of store layouts and more.


Website comes of age Lakeland.co.uk was launched in 1999 and has continually evolved. It now offers more choice, information and advice than ever before. We know our customers use our website to


research what product is right for them. So, rather than just focusing on selling products, we’ve made sure the information we provide on products is genuinely helpful. In the past couple of years, we’ve added a


‘click and collect’ function, meaning customers can purchase online, and collect in-store after just one hour. More recently, we’ve added the ability for customers to check stock levels of products in their nearest store. Both functions, along with our added PayPal payment option,


have proved incredibly popular. We currently have around 5,000 products


listed on our website. We’ve done a lot of work to make it really user-friendly and easy to navigate, by housing products within our main categories of cooking, baking, cleaning, laundry, food, gifts and seasonal products.


Best sellers At the moment, we’re seeing a big trend with ‘back to basics’ cooking. Customers are looking for products to help them cook healthy, hearty meals from scratch, so we’re seeing products such as soup makers, bread makers, pressure cookers and peelers reappearing in our best sellers’ reports week after week. And Lakeland’s own-brand products are ever


popular. Once customers feel the quality of some of our staple items, such as foil and clingfilm, they don’t go back to supermarket versions. Similarly, more and more customers are


making the switch from generic cleaners to our specialist cleaning products - and aren’t looking back. We update our site many times a day so


customers always have access to the latest products. Product availability is maintained in ‘real time’ to ensure no customer is disappointed with items being out of stock. We regularly update our home page too,


to feature inspiring content and beautiful lifestyle imagery. We have a wealth of video content, from


product demonstrations and tutorials such as knife skills and coffee masterclasses, to hundreds of recipes - including some from famous faces including Mary Berry and Peter Sidwell. We also have tips and advice from our


buyers and Wendy, as well as special offers and access to our virtual catalogue. We even have the Lakeland blog which runs alongside the website, with even more recipes, lifestyle features, tutorials and competitions for customers to enjoy and be involved with.


• Lakeland is the winner of the Best Service (Retailer) and the Best Housewares Retail Website categories of The Housewares Innovation Awards 2018.


June 2018 • HousewaresLive.net • twitter.com/Housewaresnews housewareslive.net | 29


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