What went wrong at Nordstrom?
According to a study conducted at the University of Texas, “Nordstrom’s…problems (in part) stem(ed) from a poor choice of inventory which has alienated somewhat its fashion conscious customers ,”
and…
“Nordstrom’s weakness in spotting new fashion trends would be expected to have been particularly punishing since its customers are among the most fashion conscious of any store. ”
There you have it. Even legendary customer service did not protect their competitive position. Nordstrom’s problems were caused by not stocking the right product. And their customers did not hesitate to defect the instant they could not get what they wanted.
This series of articles explores the role of customer service in business strategy.