The Requirements to Manage Harrods - Essay Example

of the Written ment for Review Harrods is a store that in no way intends to be modest about accepting the fact that it is a premier luxury brand and hence its customers do expect it to provide them with products that come with a difference. Harrods is all about blending reputation, tradition and legend. There is no denying the fact that every person is supposed to visit Harrods when in London. Harrods is an integral part of the essentially British culture and taste and has an image for luxury, which would take nothing less than an act passed by parliament or a civil war to change or alter. However, aligning Harrods with tradition and heritage does not mean that the brand is old fashioned in its approach towards business. For Harrods it is all about retaining its traditional associations with luxury, while continually redefining the image in consonance with the latest, the best and the most coveted in fashion and design. It would not be wrong to say that Harrods do qualifies to be labelled as one of the world’s most prestigious luxury store and the store is well aware of the fact that it takes a continual dedication to and cognizance of the needs and aspirations of its high end customers to retain this status. Harrods offers a massive range of brands and designers to its fashion savvy customers. Thus Harrods is the right place for anyone who is passionate about fashion, who wants everything under one roof and who is not willing to compromise when it comes to comfort and luxury. Harrods places emphasis on the ability of its personnel to get to know the choices and aspirations of its customers. It goes the extra mile to let the customers understand the fashion brands and designers available at its premises so as to enable each customer to create a look that is unique to one. Certainly the customers shopping at Harrods expect high standards and Harrods seldom fails in providing them with products affiliated to a point of difference and that carry the essential WOW factor. Not to mention, it is easier said than done. It is very difficult to get into the minds of a clientele that prefers to be different and exclusive and that too at one’s own terms. Harrods believes in being extraordinary in all the aspects of fashion retailing. The store has to offer the brands that are regarded as the pinnacle of style and designing across Europe. It not only offers to its customers the most luxurious brands, but also does take care to display those brands in just the right aesthetic ambience to match them. Harrods extends to its customers a huge array of fashion brands, which includes everything from contemporary designer wear to the more traditional Savile Row tailoring. The approach is to create just the right and correct mix of concepts, brands and new and traditional trends. Harrods believes in practicing the same service and attention to detail in all the aspects of its fashion retailing are it womenswear. menswear, sportswear or kidswear. For example the designer sportswear that Harrods offers to its customers are fabricated while keeping in mind that no matter what sport activity a customer pursues, one should look good and sophisticated doing it. Managing Harrods requires much tight rope walking. It is important to alter the available brand and design mix to suit the changing style and fashion trends. However, at the same time, it is also vital to look to it that the changes required to create an exclusive and differentiated own buy offer do not dilute or erode the traditional image and reputation of the brand. The brand is open to change, but the acceptable change needs to be in tandem with the traditional brand image and the exclusiveness and high expectations of the kind of clientele that shops at Harrods. The customers at Harrods have been exhibiting preference for glamour and luxury for more than a century and a half. It takes a lot of expertise, skills and hard work to bear the weight of customer expectations that are tagged to exclusivity and style. Harrods has been known since decades for some of the most lavish and sometimes eccentric window displays. To visit Harrods is to get involved in an experience hallowed by magnificence and bling. It is not a surprise that the store attracts more than 15 million shoppers per year and its motto is Omnia Omnibus Ubique- All things for All People. The very motto defines the typical customer that visits Harrods and the product styling that one requires. The styling and designer brands defining the product mix at Harrods needs to be traditional in their association to luxury, quality and comfort, while being innovative enough to cater to the unique aspirations and sometimes the eccentricities of the customers who afford to buy the best in the world. Not only the products need to be exceptional, but they need to be backed by an exceptional and world class service. Nothing is too much for the customers dedicated to luxury and extravagance. The store has certainly succeeded time and again in achieving much of its awesome objectives and goals. It’s very success in keeping the recession at bay, courtesy its iconic status and its sheen of luxury, more than testify to this fact. It would not be irresponsible to claim that many a time people do not visit Harrods to seek value for money. It is often more about coming out of the store holding that carrier bag with that distinctive trademark, and yes, sometimes a bit of nose in the air snobbery for some. Harrods is a brand that has a class of its own. At Harrods it is not about branding value. It is quintessentially about branding prestige. It’s about branding timelessness. It’s more about branding class. People not only like to shop at Harrods, but the actually do prefer to be known as being associated with Harrods. Harrods is not only a brand, but an institution in itself. Read More