ケースに取り組む前に、まずは事例への理解を深めることが重要です。このレッスンでは、適切な回答ができるように事例で問われる質問のタイプを的確に把握していきます。
a. Which company are you applying to?
b. What do you know about the company, the culture, strategies, and the services that they offer?
Read the following case (Solene) with your teacher.
THE SITUATION
Solene is a luxury skincare brand that sells its products in high-end department stores like Galeries Lafayettes in France, Harrods in the UK, Ogilvy’s in Canada, and Bergdorf Goodman in the US. They are also found in specialty stores, such as Sephora. The brand’s product offerings include moisturisers, serums, eye creams, cleansers, and anti-aging products. Solene utilises a team of skilled beauty specialists in department stores that play a crucial customer service and sales role. Some of these functions include:
- Selling the products
- Answering questions about the products’ benefits and ingredients
- Fostering customer satisfaction with the goal of customer retention and loyalty
- Attracting passive customers with the goal of increasing customer acquisition
The company hires the specialists either directly or through a third-party recruitment agency. Each store in each country then trains and pays the specialists independently. The specialists are expected to meet certain sales targets every month.
THE PROBLEM
With the rise of e-commerce platforms and a consumer shift toward online shopping, Solene is beginning to feel the downturn of department stores. Their beauty specialists are significantly less effective than when the stores were full. Gone are the days of customers walking into department stores wanting to be served by these specialists. Instead, most customers are looking online to get the information and help they need. Solene’s CEO has hired you to assess their current situation and evaluate whether they should move to a virtual channel and train the current beauty specialists to offer the service online.
Whenever you read a case, figure out what type of answer the case requires. There are three types of questions a case asks:
- Should we do something?
- How big will the project be?
- How would we make this change?
Take the case that you just read with your teacher. Consider the three questions below. Is it a should we do something, how big will the project be, or how would we make this change type of question?
- Would shifting the service online be profitable for the company? Is this the route that the company should be taking? Would it increase sales?
- What should Solene consider in order to successfully make this work? What needs to be done in order to move their services online?
- How could Solene ensure that all shoppers, even physical store shoppers, are happy with the new online experience? How would you convince loyal shoppers who prefer the personalised experience of a physical service to switch to an online one? What features would they want?
Answer the three questions above.