Concern and consideration to customer comfort is becoming important. Factors that could win loyalty are the travel time to reach the store, ease of shopping, credibility of the outlet, value for money, product choices and the environment within the store. “Customers like surprises, delight and respect. Invest in retail attraction, make shopping fun, it’ll ensure multiple returns,” he said.

Mr Bijou Kurien, CEO, Reliance Lifestyle, agreed that with competition, the bottomline of retail companies was changing. “Attracting and retaining customers is getting tougher and more expensive. But unlike HyperCity, Reliance believes in loyalty programmes.” He recommended following the Baker’s Dozen philosophy, where customers get more than expected.

Reliance Retail’s loyalty programme, Reliance One, currently has 1.75 million members who are contributing 60 per cent to the company’s sales and 40 per cent to its transactions. “If you stay ahead of the pack in understanding the customer, then you will have loyal customers,” said Mr Kurien.