Improving Customer Satisfaction Sustainability

We believe that our stores are the frontline in communicating brand value to our customers. We operate a range of shops in different styles according to the area and the customer demographic we are addressing, from highly specialized shops to family-oriented shops, and lifestyle shops. Our aim is to create shops that make customers feel comfortable, and where they are happy to spend time, by focusing not only on our product ranges, but on appealing to the senses of our customers through store interiors, textures, music, and smells.

Sales Convention (Sales Staff Training)

The GOLDWIN Group provides a range of information directly to customers through our directly managed stores, from the functions and applications of planned and developed products to usage scenarios and cautions. We are focused on two-way communication as a new customer experience.

Although the convention was postponed in FY 2022 due to COVID-19, we plan to resume it as soon as possible depending on circumstances.

Our stores are also places that proactively show the attraction of sport, providing customers with opportunities to experience different sports. They are not only places to offer our products though. They are also where we hold various events and workshops, providing opportunities for valuable communication with customers.

We are also strengthening two-way communication with customers, not only in our stores, but also via the Internet. We are promoting online-merge-offline (OMO) retail, providing optimal purchasing experiences and information at all points of contact with customers, including our stores, website, e-commerce sites, social media, blogs, and e-newsletters. We believe that providing customers with the same information at the same time will lead to customer trust.

We also offer extra added value in the form of experiences, discoveries, and adventures, such as at the PLAY EARTH PARK event where participants create new ways of playing. The knowledge we gain from such communication with customers is fed back into the company and constantly linked to developing new products and services.

We have established the following three channels for responding to customer inquiries, depending on the nature of the query. In addition to responding in good faith to customer comments and requests, we are also deeply interested in their unspoken feelings as we work to build relationships of trust with customers. We employ the valued opinions of our customers as internal feedback to improve our products and services.

Improving Customer Service Quality

After customers engage with our Customer Service Center or GOLDWIN WEB STORE Support services, we ask them to complete a survey. In addition to feeding the survey results back to the relevant employees, we listen to recordings of the customer interaction to share positive comments and areas of concern with trainers so that the results can be utilized in future calls.

Mechanisms for Utilizing Customer Feedback

Once a month, details of inquiries received by our customer support services are digitized and compiled into a report, which is shared with all department managers. We also provide feedback on product quality-related issues to all relevant departments, including the Merchandise Department, Quality Assurance Department, and GOLDWIN TECH LAB, for use in efforts to prevent recurrence and improve quality.

Main Improvements in FY 2022
Improvement of THE NORTH FACE Baltro Light Jacket

We received complaints about the older style of jacket causing fabric to fluff or scuff due to the friction of the hook-and-loop fastener. We responded by changing to a softer hook-and-loop fastener.

As a result, fewer complaints about this have been received from customers.

Product Improvements through the Repair Center

Growing concern for the environment and other factors have led to a trend of products being used for longer periods of time. Consequently, the number of repair requests at our Repair Center has also increased. In 2004, we received around 3,500 requests per year, and in FY 2022, this had increased to 19,966. Customers who have requested a repair are asked to complete a questionnaire once their product has been repaired. The results of the questionnaires are provided as feedback to the relevant employees and used for new product development and improvement.

[Examples of Repair Improvements:1]

• Product: THE NORTH FACE Drizzle Jacket
• Details: The front zipper is a narrow double zipper, so its slider comes off easily
• Improvement: The zipper on the existing product was changed to an open zipper. Customers requesting a repair will have the zipper changed to an open zipper free of charge.

[Examples of Repair Improvements:2]

• Product: THE NORTH FACE Climb Light Jacket
• Details: The slider on the front zipper comes off easily and is easily damaged
• Improvement: The same zipper was used for the repair the first time, but on the second request, it was changed to a thicker specification zipper.

Recognizing that our employees are the first point of contact in customer satisfaction, we continuously provide various education programs to our employees.

Call Quality Training

Call quality training is provided every year at our customer support services. Each of the 23 staff members listen to about 40 minutes of randomly selected recordings of their phone calls, and together with a trainer, share what areas were good and what areas need improvement. Improvements are then implemented.

Style Photography Training for the GOLDWIN WEB STORE

More and more customers on our e-commerce website are making purchases after viewing “Staff Style” photos of our store staff wearing Goldwin products. We provide staff with training sessions on how to take more intuitive styling photos and videos. In FY 2022, two training sessions were held which were attended by a total of 62 employees.